Warning for diabetes-inducing fluff and a mild NSFW scene.
"I'll stop her, I promise," she vowed.
She had to do this. They'd sacrificed too much for her to fail.
As she gazed into her angel's beautiful, glory-filled gaze, she heard the tinkling of broken glass and saw his face in Yassper's mangled body. She heard Lilith's voice and saw herself slashing him open in the heavy rain. She felt the horrid stickiness of his blood running down her arms.
Cold terror gripped her.
A warm hand curled around her cheek, bringing her back to the present.
"You will."
Edvardiel's touch was a balm to her soul. He leaned in and captured her lips. His wings shone with silver lightning and steam billowed from the water. She pressed into him and his gaze flickered to the wet dress clinging to every outline of her body. His kiss grew hungry. When she parted her lips, gasping into his mouth, his control snapped.
Gone was sweet and gentle. Tonight his lips demanded, his grip bruising, and Issa surrendered willingly to his claim. She hadn't realised how long she'd been waiting for this. How much she'd wanted this. Deep down, she'd always been afraid to touch him—afraid to soil him with her hands.
He caught the flesh between her neck and shoulder between his teeth and the delicious sensation tore her away from her dark thoughts and back into his arms. When his tongue laved the tender spot, her breath caught. She was far from inexperienced but her angel's every touch sent giddy tingles through her body.
"Tell me what you want," he whispered.
Everything, she wanted to say. She wanted everything and anything he'd give her and she'd be grateful for it. But he was her Keeper and the compulsion worked its sinister magic.
"I want to taste you," she said.
His brows rose and she licked her lips, feeling oddly inhibited. Then she reminded herself that this was his first time—not hers. She cupped his face tenderly between her hands. "Let me show you."
She kissed his mouth, his neck, his chest, taking care to press kisses all around the glory cage and softer ones on his demonised skin. She used her tongue and her lips, tasting him the way she'd always fantasised about doing. It felt surreal to allow herself to enjoy him this way, and even more so that it felt right.
Her angel was wonderfully responsive. A faint glow lit up his skin and his breath came in shallow pants. Issa pushed him to sit at the edge of the water and kissed down his stomach. His fingers tangled in her hair, the muscles in his abdomen flexing. He was already hard. She licked around the sensitive head, teasing, and felt him shudder.
She glanced upwards. There was a vulnerability in his gaze that she'd never seen before.
"Good?" she asked.
He nodded but didn't relax.
She pressed a kiss to his thigh. "I'm going to make you feel good, Edvardiel," she promised, looking at him from beneath her lashes. "So, so good. Do you trust me?"
"More than anyone." His voice was hoarse.
She pressed another kiss to his thigh. "My angel," she murmured. "My sweet angel. I love you."
She'd always called him that in her head but this was the first time she'd said it out loud.
Edvardiel glowed.
Issa gave him a long lick and took him deep into her mouth. His answering groan was music to her ears.
"Issa."
She started slowly, listening to his breathing and watching his face. He was still too tense. She caressed his thigh, reaching out with her free hand to interlace her fingers with his. He gazed down at her. Between reassuring kisses, she coaxed and teased, stoking the fires of his desire until he gave himself over to her. She hummed in approval. Gradually, she moved faster, finding a rhythm that built and built. His muscles pulled tighter and tighter, his wings lower and lower, and he seemed almost as though he were in pain.
She saw the exact moment she pushed him over the edge.
Glory rippled over them like dappled moonlight.
Issa savoured the sight and drew out his pleasure. Her tongue flicked out, stroking the underside of his length until he was spent. He was still trembling with the aftershocks when she crawled out of the shallow water. She bent over him, feeling deeply satisfied as she took in his limp form.
His arms came around her waist. He looked stunned. "I… That was—"
"There's more where that came from," she whispered in his ear. "My angel."
He glowed again and tried to sit up.
"Issa, I–"
"Shh. I just want us to stay like this for a while. Please."
She needed this. She needed to feel the solid warmth of his body. To press her ear to his ribcage and hear the reassuring beat of his heart.
He softened. "I love you."
Her chest felt tight. Her silly angel loved her more than she deserved. He'd been taking the brunt of Lilith's wrath for her even before he knew what she was. He'd chosen her every single time. He'd stayed when no one else did. He'd given her what she'd ached for.
A place where she was wanted.
A place she belonged.
A home.
In his arms, she finally felt at peace.
Her eyes stung. If she started sobbing now, she'd never stop.
"I love me too," she only said.
He laughed quietly and kissed her forehead. "About time."
Issa clutched her angel. She wasn't going to let anyone take him away from her. Not the people of Eden, not the king of Heaven and most certainly not the queen of Hell.
Sometime during the night, Edvardiel had gotten up and flown them both back to the cottage. She'd opened a bleary eye and then closed it again. Edvardiel wiped the dirt off them both with a fluffy towel and settled into bed, his wings curling around her. Sunrise came in a blink of an eye.
It was their engagement day.
Edvardiel kissed the side of her neck. "Ready?"
"I've never been more ready." Issa sat up. She wanted to get the ceremony over and done with and then she was going to blast every last fucking demon back to Hell.
Edvardiel traced her cheek with his thumb, a crease between his brows. "You don't look well."
Issa glanced at herself in the mirror. Rosalie had said the same. She supposed she looked wan, but she'd also nearly bled out bringing an angel back to life. Besides, she wasn't the one whose heart was rotting into demon flesh.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Let's do this."
Edvardiel nodded. "I'll go ahead. I need to make sure everything's safe."
He turned to leave but Issa caught his arm.
"Wait."
She tugged him close, giving her angel a long, sensual kiss. His lips were so soft. When she brushed her tongue against his, lightning flashed across his wings.
Smoke filled the air.
They broke apart, both of them madly thumping the mattress to put out the flames.
"This is not how I imagined breaking the bed," Issa remarked.
Edvardiel turned a deep gold.
The room temperature rose a couple of degrees and he edged towards the window, looking so embarrassed that Issa felt almost bad for teasing him.
She strode over and rose on her tiptoes, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I love you."
It was amazing how easily the words came to her now. The flush of pleasure on his face was worth every mental wall she'd had to knock down. Edvardiel took her hands. "I want you to know," he said, his eyes brilliant with glory. "I'd do anything for you."
"I just want you to be safe," she said.
He hugged her and did that thing where both his arms and his wings swaddled her in their soft warmth. Issa melted. Too soon, he let go, giving her one last kiss before soaring out their bedroom window and into the skies, his wings painting a magnificent silhouette against the sun.
Issa watched him until he landed somewhere in the centre.
Time to get ready. Issa sat at the dressing table, staring at herself in the mirror. She'd done this a hundred times under Lilith's command—alone in dirty rooms that stank of urine, on plush couches helped by stony-faced attendants, and everything in between. She'd wrap her body like a poisonous gift with silks or lace or whatever flimsy, pretty cloth the occasion called for. It always ended the same way.
She picked up a tube of rouge and smeared it on the back of her hand.
Red as blood… but also red like Edvardiel's angelfire.
Her angel brought sweetness even to her most bitter memories.
She applied the rouge to her lips and dabbed some colour onto her cheeks. She outlined her eyes with kohl and smudged it around her lids. Her practised fingers worked quickly. Within minutes, her face was painted and her hair was pinned up, loose strands arranged elegantly around her face.
Only two things left.
"Engagement day," she murmured, tugging at her dress. "You know what to do."
Her dress flared to life, twirling excitedly.
In a flash, it had moulded itself into the beautiful gown from yesterday. Except…
"What's this?" Issa frowned at her skirt. There was a slit dangerously high up her thigh which had not been there yesterday. Her back was wholly exposed and when she moved, the entirety of her right leg too.
The dress remained still, ignoring her.
"I'm getting engaged," she said sternly. "Not preparing for the bedroom."
The dress swirled impatiently, as though telling her it saw no difference.
Issa cleared her throat. "Come on now."
Grudgingly the slit lowered to the middle of her thigh. Issa cleared her throat again, and it shifted to just above her knee, tightening there and not budging an inch.
Issa sighed.
Now for the most important part. She thought of last night when she'd made her angel come apart with her lips and tongue and tried to summon her glory.
Nothing.
She tried again and again with different memories: Edvardiel's wings regrowing. Him telling her he loved her. She tried with the memories of finding Alice in Eden. Desperate, she even imagined the forbidden—a wish she'd stuffed deep in the shameful corners of her heart, an alternate reality where her parents were something other than vile. She imagined her mother hugging her. She imagined flying with her father. She imagined pride instead of contempt in his eyes.
Her head pounded and she felt vaguely sick.
She shook her head.
If anything was making her sick, it was her twisted imaginings—her father would sooner kill her than take her flying, and a rock would show her more affection than her mother. She headed downstairs and forced the stupid thoughts from her mind.
Edvardiel would help her.
Until she recovered from her ordeal with Lucifer's body, she had a Keeper who could help her direct her glory. In the meantime, she'd protect herself the human way.
Issa fumbled in her angel dress for her gun. She found Lucifer's vial, Edvardiel's slightly crumpled I love you note, and… Eve's necklace. The one that had been in Lucifer's unmarked tomb, the one with Michael's feather—the gift that hinted at some kind of relationship between her parents. She held up the shining feather to the light and briefly considered burning it with glory.
"Issa!"
Jessica was standing at the doorway in a floral-themed gown, breathless. "I'm supposed to help you dress but you look like you're done!"
"You look nice." Issa lowered her hand.
Jessica's eyes followed the movement.
"Is that an angel feather?" She didn't look particularly fazed. "I wouldn't touch it. It'll give you nightmares."
"What kind of nightmares?" Issa only remembered this one being filled with Eve's ruthless schemes.
"They're filled with memories," Jessica said. "Mostly of the angels' last moments—their wings are the last to disintegrate when they turn into demons. There used to be lots of them floating around Eden but we tried our best to get rid of them."
Her eyes shifted from Issa's face to her gown and finally to her feet. She clapped a hand to her mouth. "Crap!" she said. "We forgot all about your shoes!"
Issa looked down at her toes.
Where were they supposed to find shoes now?
"Oh fuck it," Issa said. "The dress is long enough."
She'd been content to walk barefoot through ruined cities, she could attend her engagement party the same way. Who the hell wore nice shoes in the middle of an Apocalypse anyway? If it weren't for the sake of uniting Eden, Issa would've sworn off the whole thing.
Jessica giggled. "I didn't think you'd swear. You don't look like the kind."
Issa shifted her weight awkwardly but gave the girl a weak smile. She found her gun and weighed it in her hand.
"Bullets?" Jessica pulled out a couple of Edenium ones from her hidden pockets and held them out.
"Thanks." Issa loaded her empty gun, feeling herself warm up to Jessica. "Ready to go?"
Jessica giggled again. "Girl, I should be asking you that! I am so ready. Did Edvardiel tell you about your red carpet?"
"What red carpet?"
Jessica's eyes danced. "You'll just have to see, won't you?"
I know I promised action but our two lovebirds put down their foot. Wings were involved. I may have been threatened with glory. Action is on its way! I do hope the alerts will be working by then.