“If it makes you feel better, it wasn’t intentional, seeing as I don’t even know who you are.” Yup, she was a little drunk.
He laughed. “Oh, I’m not upset.” He walked up to stand beside her at the railing, looking out at the rolling fields. “It isn’t my place to judge. Just collect.”
Oh.
Oh.
“Oh, fuck.” Like the proverbial lightbulb, she figured it out in a flash. She went rigid, watching the man, wide-eyed. “Oh, shit. Oh—”
He raised his hands in a show of harmlessness and laughed. The corners of his eyes creased when he smiled. “Calm down, calm down. I’m not here to start any trouble.”
“But—but you’re…”
“I am very happy to make your acquaintance.” He held out a hand to her. “Azrael, the archangel of death, at your service.”
* * *
Gideon nearly collapsed atop Maggie.He was utterly spent, feeling the sweat that beaded on his back begin to cool. Resting his forehead against her shoulder, he let out a long, satisfied groan.
He enjoyed honeymoons, he decided.
He enjoyed them a great deal.
Maggie was panting beneath him, coming down from her own cloud of ecstasy. He rolled over, sprawling onto his back beside her, and stretched his arms out in an attempt to cool down. “You’re going to kill me someday, Marguerite.”
“Better—like this—than other ways.” She was still gasping for air. He hadn’t been kind to her tonight. To be fair, she had asked for more. “Trust me.”
Chuckling, he shut his eyes and simply basked in the afterglow. Not just in the act of vigorous lovemaking they had just completed, but in everything. In her. In their new lives. In the love that they had found, against all his best efforts, could still be stitched together and made anew.
“I love you.” He reached for her and hugged her to his side. With a contented hum, she rested her head on his shoulder and draped an arm over his chest. They were both in need of a shower, but it could wait.
“I hadn’t noticed.” That was her way of saying it back to him. She loved to tease him every chance she had. And he couldn’t have minded any less.
Kissing the top of her head, he let out a long, sated sigh.
“What happens next?”
Surprised at the question, he opened his eyes to look down at her. “Hm?”
She traced a circle along his chest in a slow pattern. “It’s so weird. I have the whole world ahead of me. I have nearly unlimited resources and actually unlimited time. We could do anything. Go in any direction. But…”
“You feel as though you have no purpose? No goal?”
“Right.”
“Why do you think I meddle in international affairs, and pull the strings of organized crime? I needed a hobby.” He smiled and kissed her head again.
“Can you teach me to be a spooky mob boss?” She grinned. “I wanna be a spooky mob boss.”
“May all the gods forgive me if I do. I would be unleashing an agent of chaos upon the world. I would almost feel bad for your enemies.” The mental image was astounding, however. He rather did think he’d like to see her in stilettos and dress, ordering around grown men like they were children. “You might have to not call yourself a ‘spooky mob boss,’ though.”
“Pah. People need to take themselves less seriously.”
“I agree. But still. Decorum is key.”
“That’s why I have you.” She propped herself up on her elbows. “Don’t forget, I can make you teach me to be a spooky mob boss.” She tapped her finger on the end of his nose.
“We talked about you using my soul to compel me to do things. It’s unnerving, generally uncomfortable, and I despise it.”