Battle Angel (Immortal City 3)

Maddy put her hand on his shoulder.

“Jacks, what you did . . . ,” she said. “The deal you must have made with Linden to get me and Tom to safety . . . I don’t know what to say.”

“I wanted you to be safe. And . . . not alone,” Jacks replied. “I never thought we’d survive the demons.”

Jackson moved closer to Maddy.

“You loved him, didn’t you?” he said.

She hesitated, looking at him.

“Yes,” said Maddy. “I did.”

She turned away. Jackson reached out to touch her shoulder, triggering her to turn back around to face him.

“I’ve loved you,” Jackson said. “I never stopped loving you.”

All of a sudden, Maddy was overwhelmed by a rush of tenderness. Every emotion she’d ever felt for Jackson hit her all at once.

“Jacks . . .”

But before she could get the words out, Jacks was kissing her. She reached her arm around his waist and pulled him in closer. Opening her mouth, she embraced the kiss, their lips and mouths becoming one.

The human-Angel war, the demon sinkhole, their fight on the carrier, the siege, the loss of Tom, Angel City brought to its knees—it all collapsed in on itself at this moment.

None of it mattered right now. She just needed him. And he needed her.

Together they breathed deeply as they kissed, their bodies pressed close—a perfect fit, as if melded together.

Maddy took one small, slow step back, then another, and drew the Angel toward her. As they continued to kiss, Jackson pulled his jacket off her, one arm at a time. Her body no longer felt cold.

He softly laid the jacket on the ground behind her and then slowly lowered Maddy down onto it. She reached up and pulled him down to her, rolling his shirt off as she did.

And she realized this was how it was going to happen. Of course. It was perfect.

Jacks pulled at Maddy’s shirt, and she let him take it off. Then, shivering from excitement rather than cold, she wrapped her arms around his bare torso and let every muscle, bone, ridge, and valley of his chest press against her. She wanted to feel him as close against her as she could so she could feel the warmth of their bodies commingling in the early-morning air.

Jacks pulled back slightly and looked at Maddy, his face silhouetted by the waning moonlight. With a whoosh his wings emerged. Maddy ran her hands upon the strange new wings, which bristled and felt hot under her touch. The sensation was both familiar and strange—part old, part new.

“Is everything all right?” Jacks asked.

“Yes,” she breathed, and they kissed again.

Finally they broke apart, catching their breath. Jackson’s gaze glimmered toward her.

“Do you want to?” he asked after what seemed like an eternity.

Maddy nodded, biting her lower lip. “Do you want to?”

“Yes,” Jacks said.

Maddy curled up into a shadow, slightly embarrassed.

“I’m feeling shy,” she said.

Leaning forward, Jacks placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead. “Maddy, you are beautiful.”