Oops! Angel

(Accidental Mates, Book 3)

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

Copyright 2019 by Anitra Lynn McLeod

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This novel is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Copyright Page

About This Book

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

About the Author

About This Book

During a fight, Luke Reid accidentally summons his guardian angel, who not only steps up to protect him but sets his sights on seducing him. Gabriel isn’t like any angel Luke has ever heard of and resisting his charms is next to impossible, but rebelling against heaven has consequences. Will Luke be able to let his angel go or will he find a way to keep a piece of heaven on earth?

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This paranormal M/M romance contains a lonely virgin with trust issues, a horny rebel angel who loves leather jackets and motorcycles, and a heaven-sent HEA that will warm your heart. 32,000 words or 128 pages.

Chapter One

“Come on and fight, you fucking coward.” Dustin yanked his blue T-shirt over his head and tossed it on the ground.

“I’m not a coward.” Luke picked up Dustin’s cast-off T-shirt and pulled it on.

Most of the guys surrounding him and Dustin laughed or at least snickered.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Dustin snarled so hard his upper lip almost touched his nostril. “You’re not getting out of this with some stupid stunt.”

“What stunt? Now everyone can tell us apart. Shirts and skins.”

“You were already wearing a shirt, dumbass.”

“Shirts. Not shirt. I needed more than one. And yours is waaaaay better than mine.” Luke rubbed his hands up and down Dustin’s shirt. “Soft as butter on velvet. And it smells nice too. Which fabric softener do you use?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Dustin shook his head so hard he managed to tangle his product-heavy hair.

“Hey man, I’m just asking.” Luke lifted his arms, hands out, shrugging hard. “If you don’t want to share your laundry secrets, I’m okay with that.”

“I’m gonna fuck you up for fucking with my girlfriend.” Dustin spit at the cracked pavement and then danced around, his fists held at the ready.

Luke had hoped injecting a little humor into the situation might calm his housemate down but no such luck. At least the parking lot behind their boarding house was mostly empty on a Friday afternoon. Patchy mounds of snow still covered the blacktop but the sun kept everyone warm. Of course, once the sun went down, the mountain town of Lakepine, Colorado would turn downright frigid. Spring in the Rockies made dressing in layers a necessity.

“You don’t miss your shirt now, but you will later.” Luke got another chuckle out of the other guys but not from Dustin.

“You’re gonna be missing your front teeth, asshole.”

When humor didn’t get him anywhere, Luke tried some straight talk. “I didn’t do anything with Misty except give her a ride home.”

“Oh, yeah? Gave her a ride, huh?” Dustin circled around, his fists clenched and ready to start jabbing. One hit powered by those seventeen-inch biceps would turn Luke’s rather nice face into shredded beef. “Gave her a ride on your dick is more like it.”

“I gave her a ride in my car.” Luke spoke slowly and clearly, over-enunciating the words to penetrate Dustin’s testosterone-riddled brain. “You were drunk, passed out on the sofa, and she had to get home for her grandmother’s funeral.”

Dustin pulled back at that but only for a moment. “I could have driven her home.”

“She tried for twenty minutes to wake you up.” Luke had done the right and honorable thing but Dustin and Misty had some seriously messed up ideas about relationships. They seemed to live for making one another jealous over the stupidest crap. Luke wouldn’t be surprised at all to find out Misty had told Dustin that he’d hit on her. Or worse. As they said, no good deed went unpunished. Luke should have let Misty walk home or—damn. Too late he realized he should have called her a cab. He would have gladly forked over twenty bucks to avoid this drama. He would have had to live without energy drinks for a week but it would have been worth it.

“I wasn’t that drunk.” Dustin just kept on dancing around while the guys who circled them closed ranks.

Even if Luke wanted to run, he wouldn’t be able to. What the hell was it that made almost all the guys their age love to watch two guys fight? What did anyone get out of it? Luke honestly wondered. Seemed to him all anyone got was busted lips, broken teeth, and damaged hands. Nothing ever got resolved.

“I said I wasn’t that drunk.” Dustin spit again, hitting one of the guy’s shoes.

“Fuck, dude. I just got these.” The guy pulled away from the group, giving Luke his shot, which he took.

Luke darted for the hole in the circle but one of the guys grabbed the back of his two T-shirts and tossed him back into the ring.

“Coward.” Dustin snarled and lunged for him but Luke avoided the blow.

“Yeah. I am a coward.” Luke saw no reason to pussyfoot around. “I don’t want to fight with you, Dustin, especially about something that never happened.”

“Misty said you felt her up.”

“I didn’t.”

“Misty said you tried to rape her.”

Instead of defending himself, Luke realized that either Misty had filled Dustin’s ears with an absolute bullshit story or Dustin was tossing out accusations to see what stuck. Either way, this wasn’t going to end with a few punches and then the guys tossing back a couple of beers. This could end with one of them—Luke, the smaller and less aggressive of the two—ending up either seriously injured or dead.

For the first time in his life, Luke felt genuine fear. He didn’t have big hopes and dreams, but he’d always figured he’d get through college and find a decent job. Maybe buy a house. Maybe meet the right guy and settle down. Adopt some kids or maybe a couple of dogs. Not once had he ever thought he’d get killed in a stupid fight over a stupid thing that had never even happened.

“I didn’t touch Misty.” Luke tried to get one of the guys around them to meet his gaze but they darted their attention away as soon as he made eye contact. Luke felt his hopes for getting out of this without a major hospital or undertaker bill getting lower and lower.

“She says you did.”

“I say I didn’t.”

“So now you’re calling my girl a liar?” Energized by the slight, Dustin pumped his fists at Luke, getting perilously close to hitting him.

Luke jerked back but the guys around him shoved him toward Dustin.

Finally, Luke said, “Either she’s lying or you are.”

“You fucking piece of shit.” Dustin took a jab that got so close to landing Luke felt the wind ruffle his blond hair. Only Luke’s fast reflexes saved him but when he bumped into one of the guys in the circle, he got shoved back toward the center and into Dustin’s waiting fist.

Pow!

Dustin’s blow landed dead center into Luke’s face. Right into his nose.

Luke screamed and backed away, clutching his hand to the bridge of his nose. Pain caused his eyes to water so intensely he couldn’t see anything but a kaleidoscope of colors and then blood poured out of his nostrils, dripping down onto his chest, covering the shirt he’d yanked on in jest. If nothing else, maybe Dustin wouldn’t want to stain his own shirt.

“Stop!” Luke screamed as loud as he could, hoping to get one of the neighbors to come to his rescue, but of course, they didn’t. Every time their house had a party, the neighbors had complained. Half the time when all they were doing was studying with some loud TV in the background, the neighbors complained. Once, they’d complained to the cops when they’d mowed their lawn at seven in the morning instead of eight. They complained constantly. About everything. About nothing. But not today. Not when Luke needed them to step up and save his life. Even nosy Mr. Jenner didn’t lift up the edge of his battered lace curtains. The one time when Luke really needed someone, no one was there.

Story of his life.

Luke laughed even though doing so pissed Dustin off. He couldn’t help himself. Somehow, it seemed almost fitting he’d die getting beaten up by some alpha asshole. Luke just always thought he’d get killed for the truth about who he was and not some lie about a girl he didn’t give two shits about. Not that Misty wasn’t worthy of love. She was. Everyone deserved to be loved. But Luke didn’t even like Misty. She was as shallow and useless as Dustin. Nothing in heaven or on earth could ever change Luke’s mind about either one of them.

Luke wanted a man. Not some posturing idiot who thought flinging his fists around actually meant something, but a real man, one who knew that kindness and compassion and a commitment to true strength mattered more than all the iron pumping in the world.

Luke wanted an honest, true-to-the-heart hero.

He’d sworn that he wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Give me a hero or leave me alone had been Luke’s battle cry. So far, it had worked. He’d been alone since high school and didn’t see college changing that.

“I’m not gonna stop until you tell the truth,” Dustin said, pumping his blood-covered fist.

“The truth is I would never hit on Misty because I’m gay!”

Everything in the world went so silent Luke’s ears rang.

“You’re a fucking fag?” Dustin asked.

“Yeah. I’m a fucking fag. Can we stop this now?”

“I’m gonna beat your ass for lying.”

“I’m not lying.” Luke wiped his hand over his eyes, trying to clear away the tears so he could see, but all he did was wash blood down his face. He shook his head, flinging blood from his still dripping nose then used his other hand to wipe at his eyes.

“You’d say anything, wouldn’t you?” Dustin punched him again.

Luke clutched his battered nose and stepped back. “Leave me alone!”

“Get back in and fight.” Someone shoved Luke back into the circle.

Luke slapped his bloody hand to his chest and found himself flying backward into three guys, knocking all of them flat. Since he landed on top of them, he didn’t get hurt any worse than he already was.

Out of the clear blue sky, a bolt of pure white light slammed into the blacktop, cracking the surface and sending everyone still standing staggering back. Most landed on their butts but a few stayed on their feet.

“I have been summoned.”

Luke peered up through blood and tears to see a glowing man. White light surrounded him, making it impossible to see details other than he was tall and wide and, well, big. Really big. Like The Rock big. One punch from his mighty fist would crash a hole right through Dustin’s skull.

“Holy fucking shit!” Dustin bellowed loud enough to wake the dead. “What the fuck is that fucking thing?”

“I am a guardian angel.” His voice was so rich and deep he seemed to be playing half an orchestra when he spoke, all low-bass brass and some woodwinds with a rumble of kettle drums thrown in for good measure. That kind of voice made people sit up, listen, and then obey. Of course, that kind of voice also did things to Luke that he probably shouldn’t be thinking about. The man was an angel, after all.

“Let me help you.” When the angel came over to Luke, the guys he’d landed on scattered. Luke might have run too but something about the feelings the light around the angel evoked—compassion, kindness, and an overwhelming sense of empathy—made him hunger for his touch.

The angel pulled Luke into his embrace the held him with one might arm while he stroked tender fingers over Luke’s face. The pain disappeared in an instant.

“What did you do?” Luke asked.

“I have healed you.” The angel turned his attention to the gobsmacked group of guys that now formed a rough semicircle around Luke and the angel. “Which one hurt you?”

When the glowing man unfurled wings easily three times as wide as he was tall, all the guys around them scattered.

“Should I follow them?” the angel asked.

“They’re not worth it.” Luke thought maybe he was dead and his guardian angel had shown up to make sure he went toward the light.

“How did you get here?” Luke asked.

“You summoned me.” He touched Luke’s chest. “You made a sigil with your blood.”

“A sigil?”

“A symbol with magical power.”

“Is that what tossed me back into the other guys?”

“Sigils are very powerful.” The light around the angel’s face flickered, going gray. “You did not mean to summon me.”

“I don’t know. I was scared. I needed help.”

“I will protect you.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Gabriel.”

“The archangel?”

“I’m not that Gabriel.” The angel sighed long and hard as if he’d had to explain this a million times. “Are you the only Luke in the world?”

“I’m not even the only Luke at my college.” Luke placed his hand on the angel’s shoulder. Oh, man. Did he feel goooood. All strong and kind of mildly shocking like static electricity flowed over his skin and—Luke realized he’d gotten lost in his own thoughts. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to confuse you for another angel. I don’t know a lot about the bible and heaven and all that stuff. I guess now I’d better read up on it, huh?”

“It won’t do you any good. Most of what humanity has written about those topics is misleading or completely false.”

“We got one of the names right, though.”

Another gray darkening of the light around the angel’s face.

“When your light fades, does that mean you’re pissed off?”

The light darkened so much that Luke could actually see the details of Gabriel’s face. And what a face. Luke had taken an art appreciation class his freshmen year. The teacher had talked about the golden ratio and symmetry. The more closely the person’s features incorporated those two functions, the more beautiful or handsome they would be considered by most people. She’d said perfect symmetry simply didn’t happen, but Luke was looking right at a face that had breathtaking symmetry. If he took the time to count each of those long, thick eyelashes, he’d find the same amount and length on each eyelid. Same with his eyebrows. And then his gaze went to the angel’s mouth.

“You look at me with lust.”

“Sorry.” Luke tried to look away but found he couldn’t.

“You’re not sorry and you keep looking and lusting.”

“You’re just so beautiful.”

“Of course I’m beautiful. I’m an angel.” Gabriel peered down at Luke, assessing him. “You are quite handsome for a human. Golden hair, golden brown eyes, and those freckles.”

“You like my freckles?” Luke had always hated what his mother called angel kisses but he found himself changing his mind.

“I like them very much.” The light darkened around the angel again, allowing Luke to see more details. What he saw shocked him deeply.

“Your hair and eyes are the same color.” Black. The darkest black he’d ever seen. Pitch black, jet black, depth of the void black. Instead of frightening him, Luke found the darkness comforting. Gabriel held everything in the universe in those fathomless eyes. Luke couldn’t stop looking. He didn’t even want to take time to blink. “How come I can see you now?”

“Because I’m letting you.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“Maybe you should close your mouth so I can kiss it.”

Surprise made Luke do the exact opposite. He opened his mouth, making the Gabriel laugh. Oh, God. What a sound. Like a chorus of perfect voices all singing in stunning harmony.

“Close your mouth.” Gabriel pressed one big finger under Luke’s chin.

Luke closed his mouth.

Gabriel lowered his face and kissed him.

Oh, God. Luke felt all the good things in the world at once. Getting an A on a test he forgot to study for. Making it through the railway crossing right before the arms swung down. Getting an extra onion ring at the bottom of the bag. But this was better than all of that. Kissing Gabriel was all of that mixed together and then pumped up to maximum volume.

“Breathe, my little human.” Gabriel moved his head back.

Luke started breathing again. He hadn’t even been aware that he’d stopped.

“I will take you home.”

“To heaven?”

“It’s not your time yet.” Gabriel put Luke on his feet. He swayed almost drunkenly. Gabriel held onto him, keeping him from falling.

“I’m sorry. I feel so dizzy.”

“I will tone down my light.”

Gabriel turned to normal brightness, popping the bubble that Luke had been in. The rest of the world came crashing down on him with terrifying violence. Traffic noises and the stench of the dumpster and the sounds of people talking. Everything seemed loud and grating and almost painful to his soul. It took almost a full minute for Luke to remember this was the way the world was. This was normal. He didn’t like it but this was the world he lived in. He’d never realized until this moment how much he hated it. How ugly it all seemed. How cold and cruel and cutting.

Of course, anything compared to the beauty of an angel would seem hideous.

“Did anyone see you?” Luke examined the windows of the nosiest of the neighbors. He didn’t see anyone peering out.

“No one can see us.” Gabriel smiled, lips closed, and Luke’s heart threatened to stop.

“Can you make yourself less, well, glowing? Humans don’t glow. If you do, it’ll make you stand out. You know. When people can see us again.”

“I understand.”

Another bubble popped. Gabriel kept his devastating handsomeness but he wasn’t so mind-numbingly compelling anymore. Of course, the change didn’t make Luke look upon him without lusting.

“I will take you home.”

“We’re here.” Luke pointed in the general direction of the house. “I’m home.”

“Then I will leave you.”

“No.” Luke grasped Gabriel’s arm. Hard muscle and heat. So much heat. And then he realized the angel who stood before him was nude. Stunningly, gloriously, perfectly nude. Just like with his face, his body had complete symmetry. Strong pecs, taut nipples, and an eight pack that put—wait. An eight pack? Luke lowered his hand and counted the horizontal lines across Gabriel’s abs.

“What are you doing?”

“You have an eight pack.”

“What do you have?”

“A layer of fat over what kind of feels like a four pack. Or a pair, maybe.” Luke had been meaning to step up his fitness game but school and sleep always seemed to come first.  

“Let me feel.”

Luke lifted up his blood splattered shirt so Gabriel could feel his abdomen. He didn’t even think about the fact he was standing in a parking lot with a naked angel and they were feeling one another’s muscles. When it dawned on him how strange the moment was, Luke laughed.

“You are ticklish?”

“Very. But that’s not why I’m laughing. This is—I’m dead, right? This is like my brain just running stuff through the last of the electrical sparks in my gray matter, right?”

“You are very much alive.” Gabriel lifted those fathomless eyes to Luke’s face. He didn’t look into Luke’s eyes but lingered on his mouth. “I wouldn’t have kissed you if you were dead.”

“No?” Luke reluctantly took his hand away from Gabriel’s washboard abs and refused to look any lower.

Gabriel pulled him close and kissed him again.

Luke had the same reaction as before, only this time, he kept breathing. He wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s shoulders and pressed his body the length of Gabriel’s. Luke felt something a million times better than an actual climax. It was like his soul climaxed. And kept on climaxing. All he wanted to do was rip off his clothes and let this gorgeous creature take him right here and now.

With a shuddering breath, Gabriel stepped back. Breathing hard, licking his lips, and then stroking over them as if he couldn’t quite understand why they felt the way they did. Gabriel locked his gaze on Luke, holding onto him with that astonishing depth of darkness.

Luke realized if he didn’t do something or say something he was going to fall into those eyes and never be free. Tearing his gaze away, Luke swallowed hard and said, “I know you have to go. I understand.” Luke figured having a guardian angel show up to protect him would probably force the other guys to leave him alone for the rest of his time at college. “I’m sure Dustin has calmed down by now.”

“I am not leaving you.” Gabriel stroked his finger over Luke’s lips, making that low-level flash of electricity dance on his skin. “I will stay here and make you mine.”

Chapter Two

Luke allowed himself to melt into Gabriel’s embrace. He let himself kiss the beautiful angel again. He even let himself feel Gabriel’s hard cock against his stomach when they pressed against one another. But when Gabriel cupped his big hands against Luke’s ass, pulled him tight, and ground against him, Luke realized he had to stop even when everything in his soul told him to keep going.

“Wait.” Luke placed his hands against Gabriel’s shoulders and tried to push himself away but his hands started exploring. He ended up clinging tighter to him.

Gabriel kissed him again and Luke forgot why he was trying to put a stop to what felt so perfect and inevitable.

Angel. Right. Luke couldn’t make out with an angel. He didn’t know a lot about heaven, hell, or any of that stuff but he didn’t need to know any of that to know getting freaky with an angel of the lord had to be on the no-no list. Worse, getting gay freaky with an angel had to be even more wrong.

“This is a trick.” Luke wrenched himself back, gasping from the effort. He’d moved two feet and felt as if he’d run twenty miles. “You’re an angel. You’re not supposed to be doing things like this.”

“God would not give me the urge if it were wrong.”

“That’s why it’s a test. You’re supposed to resist. Or I am.” Luke knew himself well enough to know he’d never be able to resist a man like Gabriel. No, he reminded himself, Gabriel wasn’t a man but an angel. And he’d better keep reminding himself of that fact or he would end up on the fast track to hell. Luke knew himself well enough to know that he’d never be able to resist Gabriel’s allure. Not for long.

Turning his gaze away, Luke strengthened his resolve and said, “This is wrong.”

“Nothing that feels this good could ever be wrong.”  Gabriel stroked his finger from Luke’s shoulder down his arm. When he reached his skin, the electricity flashed over him, making all the little hairs on his arm stand up while tightening his cock to the point it hurt.

“Well, jerking off feels great and that’s wrong.” Luke managed to pull his arm away from Gabriel’s hand but Gabriel moved it right back, this time stroking down the front of Luke’s chest.

“Who said that was wrong?” Gabriel palmed Luke’s nipple then twisted gently with his strong fingers. If not for the two layers, Luke probably would have shamed himself right in the middle of the parking lot.

“Like, everyone. All the time. You’re not supposed to do that to yourself.”

“Why?”

“Because.” Luke struggled to find a reason and couldn’t manage to find a single one. “Because that’s the way it is. You’re not supposed to do things like that. Or this.” Luke took another step back and felt his lust come down a little but falling back ten feet while perched on the top of Mount Everest didn’t really change much in the greater scheme of things. “You’re not supposed to have sex until you’re married.”

“Then we will get married.”

“I can’t marry you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re an angel. You’re supposed to be up in heaven, watching over me.”

“I can watch over you better from down here.”

“I don’t think God would agree.”

Gabriel smiled. “You know the mind of God?”

“I’m not saying that.”

“But you are.” Gabriel stepped toward him, every part of his body moving in perfect sync, every part managing to show off every other part, and yet Luke couldn’t stop looking there. Down there. Down at that perfect cock. Long and thick with dark hair at the base and a heavy sac drawing his gaze to those muscular thighs that could power fuck him for days.

“You are saying that you know what God wants of you.” Gabriel cupped Luke’s chin, lifting his hungry gaze to his perfect face. “That you know what God wants of me.”

“I’m pretty sure God doesn’t want his angels banging humans.”

“Banging?” Gabriel repeated the word and then laughed. “Ah. Like a drum. It’s not a bad metaphor.” His gaze washed over Luke. “I would bang you gently at first since you’ve never taken a lover.”

“What?” Mortified, Luke told a familiar lie. “Of course I have. Lots of times.”

“I can tell when you lie.” Gabriel grinned and stroked his hand along Luke’s chest again. This time he teased his other nipple then went lower still. “You’ve thought about it. Dreamed about it. But you’ve never let a human do that to you.” Gabriel forcefully held Luke’s gaze while he kept his hand moving down until he finally palmed his cock.

Luke closed his eyes.

“You never let any man have you because you never trusted one of them enough. Couldn’t trust them with something so meaningful.”

“Virginity is a social construct.”

“Not to you.” Gabriel gently squeezed Luke’s cock, making him groan and sway on his feet. “Your innocence matters to you.” Gabriel moved close and breathed into Luke’s ear. “And it matters to me.”

Luke had come close several times but something always held him back. He’d needed more than just a fuck. Needed to be more than just blowjob buddies. Needed more than any guy had been willing to give.

“I will give you everything you ever wanted.” Gabriel kissed his way from the edge of Luke’s ear to the most sensitive spot on his neck. Gabriel licked that spot then kissed it while sucking gently, marking him. A true angel kiss.

Luke’s eyelids fluttered and he opened his mouth to say yes, take me. Fuck me. Give me everything you have and more. But Gabriel’s words rolled through his mind a second time, like a slow moving train picking up speed as it careened downhill. I will give you everything you ever wanted. Everything you ever wanted. Everything.

If ever a devil would make him an offer he couldn’t refuse, isn’t that what he’d say?

“It’s a trick. You’re not an angel. You’re a devil. That’s why you have black eyes and why you’re trying to tempt me into sleeping with you and—and—I’m not falling for it.”

“You honestly think an angel would tempt you to sin?” Gabriel smiled at that. A closed mouth smile that made him appear dangerous. Sexy as hell but still dangerous. “There is no sin in sharing one’s body with another.”

“So says you.” Luke moved back and almost collapsed. The heat of Gabriel’s hand remained against his cock until the wind whipped it away, turning him so instantly frozen his cock shrank at an alarming rate. “I think you should go now.”

“I think I’ll stay.”

“You can’t walk around like that.”

“Like what?”

“All naked and hot and distracting.” Luke imagined Gabriel would be like the Pied Piper. He’d have a whole line of people following him everywhere he went if he didn’t put something on. Even if he did get dressed, he’d probably still attract people in droves. He could start his own religion. Or a cult. Luke forgot what the difference was. Everyone would probably willingly drop to their knees and worship his spectacular cock.

“Oh, God.” Luke realized he couldn’t stop looking there no matter what he did. “You have to go back to heaven. You’re only going to cause trouble here.”

“I’m not going back.”

“But you have to.”

“No. I don’t.” Gabriel glanced around at the buildings then at Luke. “I will blend in.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen unless you wear a bucket on your head, a suit of armor on your body, and clown shoes on your feet.”

Gabriel narrowed one eye. “I believe that outfit would make me stand out more.”

“I mean that even if you wore human clothes, they wouldn’t cover up your beauty.”

“You think I’m so beautiful all humans will worship me?”

“Well, yeah!” Luke nodded forcefully. “Have you seen you?”

“Not in many, many years.” Gabriel touched his face. “I need to see myself and get dressed. This is your home?” He pointed to the big old rooming house that had been turned into mini apartments with a common kitchen and a shared bathroom on each floor.

“Yeah, but you can’t—”

“I will find something that fits until I can get something better.” Gabriel strode toward the house as if he owned it, giving Luke a long and lingering look at his backside. With those thighs and that ass, Gabriel would be able to go for not just days but weeks.

No. No more of that. No more looking and lusting. Luke dropped his attention to Gabriel’s feet.

“Watch out for the—”

“What?” Gabriel asked, without breaking his stride.

“The broken bottle.” Luke examined the shards of glass for blood but found nothing. “It didn’t even cut you.”

“I am impervious to such things.”

“Wish I was.”

“You say that without grasping the full impact of what it means to be impervious.” Gabriel grasped the doorknob.

“It doesn’t work. We have to go around to the—front.” The door came open as if the knob were brand new. “How did you do that?”

“If you were impervious, you wouldn’t be able to be cut open for surgery. You couldn’t get a shot to keep you healthy.”

“Neither can you.”

“I am an angel. I have no need of such things.”

Luke let the matter drop. He also didn’t ask twice about how Gabriel had opened the back door. He didn’t think he’d answer and a part of Luke really didn’t want to know. He still couldn’t decide what Gabriel might be. His wings had disappeared. Did devils have wings? But he’d come on a beam of white light. That meant something, surely. But he had black eyes. Maybe he should stop trying to find morality in the color of things and look more at what Gabriel had done.

Gabriel had stopped Dustin from killing him. He’d healed the broken nose Dustin had given him. And he’d made Luke know without a shadow of a doubt that he’d never be attracted to anyone but another guy. Of course, if he gave in to temptation and banged his guardian angel, no guy would ever be able to live up to that.

“Which room is your room?”

“Very top. On the other end.”

Gabriel took the stairs, giving Luke yet another opportunity to watch his fantastic body move. He’d heard the term poetry in motion but he’d not grasped it until now. Every move Gabriel made was like a song.

“This?” Gabriel grasped the doorknob. “Yes.” He smiled. “This one is yours.”

“How can you tell?”

“I can feel you here.” Gabriel opened the door without using the key tucked into the front pocket of Luke’s jeans.

Luke almost wished he had that skill but kept his mouth closed. If he were a good guy, he wouldn’t have any need to open up locked doors. Maybe all of this was a test of some kind. Luke had to resist the physical temptation of Gabriel and all the cool things he could do with his angel magic.

Gabriel paused just inside the room.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

“You have so little.”

“I don’t need a lot.” Luke huffed. “I’m not poor.” But he was. And he tried really hard not to let anyone know. He’d managed to keep up the show for almost two years now. If he could just go another two years, it wouldn’t matter anymore. He’d be able to get a job and stop taking handouts.

“You misunderstand.” Gabriel turned to face him. “You are an essentialist.”

“A what?”

“You have what is essential and little more.”

“Hey, Puke.”

Luke jumped almost a foot in the air and spun toward the staircase. Dustin stood there, smiling his nasty smile.

“Where’s your big fucking—oh, shit!”

When Gabriel poked his head out of Luke’s room, Dustin fled down the stairs.

“Okay, that’s a skill I seriously wish I had.” Luke entered his room, closing the door behind him. His small room seemed positively constricting with Gabriel in it.

“Today wasn’t the first time Dustin’s hurt you.” Gabriel stroked over Luke’s nose.

“He picks on everyone.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Yeah. Dustin picks on me all the time. He—I flinch. He thinks it’s funny. He says really shitty things and then says he’s just kidding. But he’s not. It’s some kind of stupid power trip. And he always uses the word fuck. He uses it for everything. For nothing. It’s like the only word he really gets.” Luke took a deep breath then realized he’d never told anyone how he felt about Dustin’s behavior. “Sorry. I shouldn’t swear around you.”

“Words don’t have the power to hurt me.” Gabriel’s strong fingers continued stroking along Luke’s face to his ear and then settled against his neck. “Your heart beats so hard.”

“You’re touching me.”

“I make your heart pound?”

“You practical make my”—penis pound. Thankfully, Luke stopped himself short of saying something so disgusting to an angel. Or who he thought was an angel. He decided that he would choose to believe Gabriel was an angel until he did something that wasn’t angelic. Something other than hitting on him.

“I excite you.” Gabriel smiled again, closed mouth, which made the smile seem oddly innocent. “I’m pleased that you find me pleasing.”

“How could anyone not find you pleasing? Seriously. You’re like the best of all the guys I’ve ever lusted after rolled into one.” Luke considered. Maybe he only saw Gabriel the way he wanted to see him, as an amalgam of all the guys he’d ever had crushes on. How could he test his theory? He supposed he’d have to ask someone else. Or get a picture of Gabriel. Then again, everyone might see him the way they wanted to see him.

“I don’t care if other humans find me pleasing or not. It only matters to me what you think.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m your guardian angel.”

“Yeah. My guardian angel who wants to bang me like a drum.”

“That’s what you need.” Gabriel stroked the outer rim of Luke’s ear, making him imagine that touch on another part of his body. “I would be an abysmal guardian if I didn’t give you what you need.”

“Except I don’t think sex is what a guardian is supposed to do for their charge, you know? I mean if you look at this in the sense of a guardian like a parent, then it’s downright creepy that you want to have relations with me.”

“I’m not your parent,” Gabriel practically snarled the words. “I am your protector. Your defender. Your keeper.” Gabriel’s teasing finger started up again, working down to Luke’s nipple. “I would happily become your lover.”

“I think we need to stick with being just friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yeah. I thought about it once, for a long time, actually, about what I really need more, a friend or a lover. And I decided that I really needed a good friend. Someone who would be there for me.”

“Someone who would comfort you.”

“Yeah. Through thick and thin.”

“To honor and keep you in sickness or in health.”

“Right.” Luke grinned. “For better or worse.”

“For richer or poorer.” Gabriel cupped Luke’s chin, lifting his face. “I promise to do all of that. I will also honor and cherish you.”

“You will?”

“If you vow to do the same for me.”

“Of course I will.”

“Then we are agreed.”

“Yeah. Friends to the end.”

“Bound together from this day forth until death do us part.”

“Wait, what?”

Instead of answering, Gabriel kissed him. He kissed him sweet at first, a chaste kiss of the just friends variety but then he opened his mouth. When Gabriel snaked his tongue into Luke’s mouth, the kiss turned wanton and slutty.

Luke got hard again and this time when Gabriel palmed him, the heat of his touch made him rock his hips. No matter how he tried to stop, his body wouldn’t listen. He ground his cock against Gabriel’s palm. When he felt the inevitable rising up through him, Luke tried to stop, to step back, but then Gabriel slipped his other hand around Luke’s body, using it to cup his ass and encourage him to thrust harder.

Lost in the need to feel release, Luke stopped fighting. He stopped doing anything other than feeling how strong Gabriel’s arms were, how perfectly he held his hands, how rich his mouth tasted, and then how the electricity from his touch cascaded over his skin, hardening his nipples, tightening the base of each and every hair, and then jolting upward from his balls and out the tip of his cock.

Luke climaxed so hard he wanted to curl up into a protective ball, but Gabriel wouldn’t let him. He pressed hard through Luke’s jeans, right against his hole, making his climax even more spectacular. And still, he kissed him.

Finally, the after shakes left, Luke sagged against Gabriel’s hold.

“I have you.” Gabriel picked him up and carried him over to the bed where he placed him on his side. “Sleep now.”

“But what about”—you? Luke never got to finish asking. Sleep came and forcefully took him away.

Chapter Three

Luke shot awake, sitting up in his narrow bed, his heart pounding and mouth so dry it almost hurt to breathe.

“Here.” Gabriel handed him a glass of water.

“Thank you.” Luke drank and drank but the glass never got more than half empty. Clearly, he was still asleep. “What’s going on?”

“You needed to heal.” Gabriel tried to get Luke to lie back in his bed but Luke refused.

“I’m fine.”

“This I know, my husband.”

“I’m not your husband.”

“We exchanged vows.”

“There wasn’t a minister here. You can’t just say vows and make them mean something. You have to say them in front of witnesses.”

“You were my witness and I yours.” Gabriel placed the water glass on the bedside table then went to the dresser against the wall. “There’s no point in arguing about this with me. We are bound and that is that.”

“You can’t just trick me into marrying you. There are rules. And laws.”

“Man’s laws do not apply to me.” Gabriel pulled a T-shirt from the battered chest of drawers. He held it up to himself and peered into the full-length mirror that had come with the room. Most of the silver facing had worn away, making everything reflected back chunky and slightly distorted, but that didn’t detract from Gabriel’s beauty.

“And the rules?” Luke asked. “You don’t think you have to follow the rules either?”

“What about the rules?” Gabriel folded the T-shirt, put it back, and took out another one.

“That’s—no. Don’t wear that one.”

“Because you like it too much?” Gabriel pulled the dark blue T-shirt over his head.

Luke had gotten it for his last birthday. He’d loved the color and thick cotton fabric but the shirt hung on him like a sack, hitting the very edge of his ass. He’d worn it for a nightshirt once but felt uncomfortable sleeping in nothing but a shirt after Dustin had broken into his room.

“I can read the story in the shirt.” Gabriel brushed over his shoulders and chest as if washing the truth away. “He won’t come in here again.”

“Dustin shouldn’t have come in a first time.” Luke’s gaze went to the slide lock on his door. It wasn’t engaged, something he never forgot to do, but then again, he’d never had an angel in his room either.

“I’m here to protect you.” Gabriel opened the next drawer and went through the underwear. When he didn’t find anything, he went to the next drawer.

“I don’t think my jeans will fit you.”

“There has to be something I can wear while we go shopping.”

“How does an angel know about shopping?”

“I’m a guardian angel, not a living-under-a-rock angel.” Gabriel bent over to examine the contents of the last drawer. He had perfectly symmetrical body hair that started somewhere between his buttocks and then thickened as it went down to his thighs and calves. More than anything in the world, Luke wanted to part those buttocks and see exactly where all that hair started.

“I should tell you that I can hear your thoughts.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“Am I?” Gabriel reached back and parted his buttocks, giving Luke a quick but revealing look at the most intimate part of his body. His body hair flowed down from his heavy balls, bypassing most of his cleft but for a bare bit around his hole. A perfect bit of hair around a perfect hole that—Gabriel released his buttocks. They clapped back together, cutting off Luke’s view, but it didn’t matter. The image of that perfect ass would stay in his mind forever.

“How did you know—” Luke cut himself off. He knew how Gabriel had known. He’d told him. “You know everything I’m thinking?”

“Not everything. Only when your thoughts are very loud.” Gabriel lifted something out of the bottom drawer and turned. “What’s this?”

“Oh, God. No.” Luke tried to shut off his thoughts but everything came flooding back in an instant.

From the expression on Gabriel’s face—bemused, but not condescending—he’d heard it all. Instead of putting the green, black, and blue tartan fabric back in the drawer, Gabriel draped it around his hips. “It matches the T-shirt almost perfectly.”

“I noticed that too.”

“I did not know Reid was a Scottish name.”

“It’s supposed to mean red.”

“You’re blond.”

“That’s why I never made the kilt.” Luke grimaced and looked away. “Are you going to go through everything in my room and find every embarrassing secret I have?”

“Why do you feel ashamed by this?” Gabriel gathered the fabric at his waist, considering how it flowed against him. “You thought you might be Scottish. You wanted to honor that heritage by making a kilt.”

“But I never made the kilt and I’m not really Scottish.”

“Your name is.”

“But I’m not.” Which begged the question of how Luke had gotten a Scottish name when he was more likely Scandinavian.

“Your father isn’t your father.” Gabriel kept gathering the fabric against himself.

“What?”

“You’ve known this truth for a long time.”

“You shouldn’t just say something like that.” Luke got to his feet. He wanted to say something mean back but then all the wind just dropped from his sails. He’d known. He’d known for a long time. He’d known since he realized everyone in his family had red hair and freckles while he had blond hair and freckles. He didn’t have the same nose as anyone else or the same shaped ears. After a moment to collect himself, Luke asked, “Do you know what happened to my real father?”

“I could find out. If that would please you.”

“Find out how?”

“I could touch you and read the truth.”

“But I don’t know so how would that work?”

“The truth is written in your DNA.”

“You mean like...” Luke tried to find something to compare it to and came up empty.

“You—who you are, how you were formed, the legion of people who all came before you to create you—that story is written in your DNA. That’s part of what DNA does. Think of it like a recipe that made you.” Gabriel turned to the side, examining how the draped fabric looked around his hips. “Or think of DNA like a book that tells the story of where you came from by revealing the story of those who came before you.”

“And your DNA?”

“I’m an angel. I do not have DNA anymore.”

“Right.” Luck mocked. “I’ll bet you don’t have fingerprints either.” He marched right over and lifted up Gabriel’s hand. His skin wasn’t smooth. He had lines. But they were symmetrical. Even. The same on every fingertip.

“I am different, my husband. I know you keep trying to find ways to disprove this to yourself, and I will allow you to keep doing so until you are satisfied, but the truth is the truth. I am an angel.”

“An angel who married a human against his will.”

“Against your will?” Gabriel turned, dropping the fabric so that it pooled at his feet. “Renounce me.”

“What?”

“Renounce me and I will go.”

“Renounce you? What does that mean?”

“You know what it means.”

Luke did. He knew down to his bones what renouncing Gabriel meant. He thought about doing it but found he couldn’t. He still didn’t quite believe Gabriel was an angel but he didn’t think he was a devil either. Until he had more information, he wouldn’t feel comfortable casting him out of the world.

Gabriel picked up the fabric. He folded it in half over his shoulder then gathered it around his hips with a wide black belt.

“Where did you get that?”

“I found it.” Gabriel considered his feet. “I will have to get shoes.”

“Yeah, shoes would be good but you should really tell me where you got that belt.” Luke didn’t have a lot of stuff which meant he knew exactly what he did and didn’t have, and he didn’t have a belt. Period. He never wore them because he actually bought jeans that fit. Sagging pants had always made him uncomfortable.

“Change your underwear and pants and let’s go.”

“Why do I need to change?”

Gabriel dropped his gaze to Luke’s lap, prompting him to do the same. The wet spot had dried while he slept, but the outline made the origin of the stain pretty damned obvious.

“If you’re proud of what I did to you, so am I.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Luke yanked his pants off and his underwear, tossing both in the hamper. Crap. He’d just washed those fucking jeans. He had two other pairs to get him through the next week. “Don’t make me do that in my pants again.”

“I won’t.”

“How about you just don’t make me do that again at all?”

“You’re my husband. Giving you pleasure is part of my joy.”

“What about you?” Too late, Luke realized he shouldn’t have asked. He shouldn’t be talking about giving orgasms to his guardian angel or whatever he was. They shouldn’t be talking about sex at all. Ever.

“I would enjoy you giving me pleasure.” Gabriel moved close but Luke darted away.

“Maybe later.” Luke yanked out a pair of underwear and a clean pair of jeans. “Wait. I was wearing shoes when we came up here, wasn’t I?”

“I took them off and put them by the door.” Gabriel pointed. “I thought you’d be more comfortable without shoes on.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Luke pulled his shoes on.

“You’re welcome.” Gabriel opened the door.

“Wait.” Luke pushed the door closed.

“Do you wish for me to read your DNA?”

“No.” Luke had figured out the truth a long time ago but today he decided he didn’t care. For whatever reason, his parents hadn’t told him. He decided he was better off not knowing. Besides, it didn’t matter. Knowing who his real father was wouldn’t change anything. “I don’t have any money. I mean I have some money but not enough to buy you shoes and stuff.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Gabriel kissed Luke’s forehead and opened the door. “I can take care of myself.”

Feeling as if he might still be asleep, Luke snagged his backpack off the floor then checked for his keys. He fetched them from his other pair of jeans then shoved them in the front pocket of his new jeans. He grabbed his jacket, locked the door, and hurried after Gabriel.

Instead of going out the front door, Gabriel exited from the back.

Luke expected to feel something when he stepped into the parking lot again but he felt nothing. Almost as if the encounter with Dustin had never happened. There was a thought. Wouldn’t it be nice if he’d never met Dustin at all?

“Wait.” Gabriel stopping in the middle of the parking lot. He closed his eyes and breathed deep.

“I didn’t mean it,” Luke said.

“What?”

“Don’t get rid of Dustin.” The last thing Luke wanted was a death on his conscience.

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought you said you could read my thoughts?”

“When I’m focused or when they’re loud.” Gabriel laughed lightly. “I’m not monitoring your every thought. Now be quiet so I can feel my way.”

Luke closed his mouth and stood silently while Gabriel hummed softly to himself with his eyes closed.

“There. That’s where we’ll go first.”

“Where?”

“To get shoes.”

Instead of trying to get him to explain, Luke just hiked his pack over his shoulder and followed along.

Gabriel seemed oblivious to walking with bare feet on the uneven concrete. It had to be cold but he didn’t seem to care. It took about five minutes to walk into the commercial district of the town. Not like it was huge or anything. Lakepine had three stoplights along Main Street. They had a gas station, a grocery store, a pawn shop, a café, and a few other odds and ends.

“There’s not much here,” Luke said. “Everyone shops online now.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“No money.”

“If you think any of these places are going to give you credit, you’re wrong. This is a little college town. College students don’t have a lot of money.”

“Dustin does.”

“He’s the exception.”

“You’re the exception.”

Luke wanted to turn away and hide but he didn’t. So Gabriel knew he didn’t have any money. Maybe he was just trying to tempt him with the promise of easy cash. The devil loved to make deals for souls and money motivated a lot of people.

“I’m not trying to get your soul.”

“So you say.”

“I already have your soul.”

“No, you don’t.”

“We’re married. That means your soul belongs to me and mine belongs to you.”

“Doesn’t God own your soul?”

“Why would God want my soul?” Gabriel stopped in front of the thrift store. “Here.”

“There’s never anything good in here. I’ve—” Luke shut his mouth and followed his guardian angel into the store.

Instead of watching them like a hawk, the clerk didn’t seem even remotely interested in either one of them. She glanced up from her book, nodded, and went right back to reading.

Perplexed, Luke found himself constantly looking back at her while trailing after Gabriel.

“These.” Gabriel held up a pair of black engineer boots. Luke remembered looking with longing at them but they were too big for his feet.

“Those aren’t going to fit you.” While Luke stood staring at the shoes, they grew. Right before his very eyes, they grew until they would fit Gabriel. He knew even before he tried them on they would fit his feet perfectly. “Why didn’t you just make boots appear at home?”

“I can’t do that.”

“You can’t make things out of thin air but you can change things to suit yourself?”

“That’s how it works.”

“That’s—what are you doing now?” Luke watched as Gabriel altered the size of several pairs of jeans.

“I can’t wear the same thing all the time. Not unless you want me to stand out.”

“I don’t want that.” Luke had thought Gabriel would stand out because of his epic beauty but the clerk hadn’t seemed to even notice. Worse, she didn’t care that they might be stealing stuff. Every time Luke had come in here, by himself or with another college student, the clerk followed them all over the store with her suspicious gaze and judgmental eyebrows.

“She doesn’t care about us because I told her not to care.”

“You can do that?”

“Yes. I can do that.” Gabriel laughed lightly again. “That’s why I told you that I could do that.”

“I don’t mean to doubt you. This is all a little new for me. And a lot strange.”

“Would you rather she follow us around the store with her muddy-eyed gaze?”

“No. I’d rather she trust me.”

“She’ll never trust you. She doesn’t trust any men. If your father had hit you constantly, you probably wouldn’t trust men either.”

The information shocked Luke. He’d just thought the clerk was a bitch who didn’t like college students. He had a feeling Gabriel was going to change his mind about everyone he thought he had pegged in the little town and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Chapter Four

“What do you think of this?”

Luke turned around and almost squealed. He controlled himself, just barely. Gabriel had found an old black leather jacket. He’d flipped up the collar and titled his head to the side, making himself look like a rebel without a cause.

“Well?” Gabriel asked. “What do you think?”

“It’s—” Luke cleared his throat and tried to clear all the dirty images out of his mind. “It looks nice.”

“Nice?”

“Okay, it looks real badass.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Gabriel considered himself in the lone mirror. Using both hands, he slicked his hair back, pouted those perfect lips, and transformed into a 1950’s bad boy.

Luke turned away, trying hard not to look back. Had Gabriel been digging deeper into his thoughts than he’d let on? Or was this just who he really was? Unsure, Luke tried to keep all the thoughts out of his head by reading the nearest book. When it turned out to be a book on religious writings, he put it back and hummed lightly to himself.

“You don’t have to do that.” Gabriel pressed against him, making Luke’s mind go so instantly blank he worried he’d hurt himself. “I already know about that sexy fantasy you play out when you’re trying to sleep.”

“You—you’re just saying that.” Luke grabbed another book but didn’t even get past the title.

Gabriel tugged down the edge of Luke’s jacket and licked that spot on his neck before sucking there, marking him just a little more. “I want to give you everything you need, my husband.”

“I’m not—please don’t do this to me in public.” Luke had a hard-on that he wouldn’t be able to hide with his jacket. He’d have to awkwardly carry his backpack to hide his shame.

“It’s not shameful to be aroused.” Gabriel pressed against Luke’s backside, rubbing his thick, hard cock right into the split of Luke’s ass.

“The last thing I need is to make a mess in another pair of jeans.” Luke whirled around and faced Gabriel directly. “Please don’t do this to me.”

Gabriel appeared ready to argue the point, but his gaze drifted to Luke’s neck. A prideful smile crossed his face. “As you wish.” He nodded and then turned away.

Luke went to the mirror to see what Gabriel had been looking at. A small but noticeable hickey marked the side of his neck. It wasn’t vulgar or tacky but...possessive. A way of marking him so that other men knew to stay away. Conflicted, Luke couldn’t decide if he liked the mark or felt ashamed. When he caught himself stroking over it and getting more aroused, he turned away. Clearly, he liked it. But that didn’t mean he should let Gabriel keep adding to it. Or make him cream his jeans again.

In the end, Gabriel found a leather jacket, several T-shirts, three pairs of jeans, and the boots. He also took all the money out of an old Monopoly game.

“What are you doing with that?”

“You’ll see.” When it came time to pay, the clerk rang up the purchases and Gabriel slid the brightly colored Monopoly money across the counter.

To Luke’s astonished eyes, she made change as if he’d handed her real money.

“Keep the change.” Gabriel tucked the rest of the fake money into his pocket.

“Come again.” The clerk didn’t smile but she didn’t frown either.

Luke held his tongue until they got outside. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“What?” Gabriel continued down the sidewalk, checking out the stores as they passed. Luke also thought he might be checking himself out. He needn’t have bothered. He was gorgeous. Luke still couldn’t figure out why Gabriel wasn’t getting mobbed left and right.

“You can’t trick people into taking fake money. It’s not right. She works hard and she should get paid.”

“She does. That little transaction isn’t going to hurt anyone.”

Luke argued but eventually quit when it became clear he wasn’t going to change Gabriel’s mind. Wasting his breath making a point wouldn’t help either one of them. However, it did make Luke put a checkmark in the possibly a devil column. Gabriel still had more checkmarks in the possibly an angel column, but the day was relatively young.

“I’m hungry. Let’s eat.” Gabriel entered the café and chose a booth against the windows that faced Main Street. From here, they could view a good chunk of the town. For a Friday, Lakepine had a lot of activity but the café turned out to be pretty quiet.

“Something to drink to start you off?” A waitress handed each of them a menu then whipped out her order pad. Luke recognized her from school and she recognized him too. Instead of saying anything, they gave one another the standard nod.

Gabriel ordered coffee with lots of cream and sugar.

Luke shook his head. “Water’s fine.”

“I’ll be back for your order in a minute.”

While Gabriel considered the menu, Luke looked out the window. The smell of food made his mouth water and his stomach grumble but he’d long ago gotten used to that feeling. He ignored it by thinking about something else. Mostly computer stuff. Sometimes math. Occasionally a book he’d read. Rarely did he think about sex but with Gabriel sitting right across from him, not thinking about sex became increasingly difficult.

“I’m going to get the Big Breakfast.”

“That’s three plates of food and twenty-two dollars.”

“Yes.” Gabriel put his menu flat on the table. “What are you getting?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re hungry and you need to eat.”

“I’m not going to steal from people by giving them fake money.”

“You’re not the one giving them fake money. I am.”

“If I’m benefiting from it, it’s like I’m doing it too. No thanks.” Luke met Gabriel’s eyes with firm conviction. “I’m not a thief, not even secondhand.”

“Why does this matter so much to you?”

“Because I wouldn’t like it if someone did it to me. Okay? That means I’m not going to do it to someone else. If you’re okay doing it, go ahead. But I’m not.”

“Quite the little moralist, aren’t you?”

“If you’re asking if I know right from wrong, the answer is I do.”

“It’s fifty dollars’ worth of clothing and thirty dollars’ worth of food.”

“Did you look at our waitress? I did. She’s a college student. She’s in two of my classes. She needs real money to pay her bills, not Monopoly money.”

“This truly bothers you.”

“If you keep taking things without paying for them or making a fair trade for them, I’m going to assume you’re really a devil in disguise.”

“I’m not a devil. I’m your guardian angel and your husband.”

“That’s what you keep saying but you’re not acting very angelic like.” Luke left the husband thing out of the equation entirely. He leaned across the table. “Tell me, while looking right into my eyes, that God is okay with you stealing when he literally carved ten commandments into stone and one of those just happens to be Thou shalt not steal.”

“For someone who doesn’t know a lot about the bible and such, you sure seem to know a lot about the bible and such.” Up went one perfectly sculpted brow. Whenever Gabriel twisted his face away from symmetry, he made himself better looking somehow.

“I don’t know if every single religion on the planet has something in its code against stealing, but I can’t think of a single one that encourages it.”

Gabriel pursed his lips while staring intently into Luke’s eyes.

Luke struggled to resist his allure and succeeded only when he thought of how Gabriel’s casual stealing made him angry.

“Fine.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I will pay with real money.”

“And you’ll go back and pay at the thrift store too.”

“Yes.” Gabriel sighed. “Will that make you happy?”

“It’s a start toward getting me to put more checks in the possibly an angel column.”

“If I pay with real money, will you eat?”

“I’d rather go buy food and cook it at home.”

“Where Dustin will steal it?”

“How did you—he doesn’t do that all the time.” Luke didn’t want to talk about Dustin or even think about him.

“He does. And you let him.”

“What’s one more guy taking advantage of me?” Luke turned his attention to his backpack.

“Give me a dollar.”

“Why?”

“Just give me a real dollar.”

“Okay.” Luke had several in his wallet. “Here.” Luke handed it over. “But I don’t know what you think you’re going to get with that. It won’t even pay for the cup of coffee you ordered.”

“It will pay for the whole meal.” Gabriel placed his hand on top of the one dollar bill for a moment. When he removed it, the bill had become a fifty.

Luke’s mouth dropped open.

“It’s real money.”

“Is it?” It certainly looked real. “Are you only making it appear real? Like you did with the Monopoly money?” Although, in that case, Luke had seen the money for what it was. Only the thrift store clerk had thought the fake money was real.

“I can change things, real things, to suit myself. That’s how I fixed the broken lock on your backdoor. That’s how I made the boots the right size for my feet. This is a real fifty-dollar bill.” Gabriel pushed the bill over to Luke. “Now that I can pay, I want you to eat.”

“Fine.” Luke examined the bill but he couldn’t see anything wrong with it and handed it back to Gabriel.

When the waitress returned with coffee and water, Luke ordered French toast and scrambled eggs while Gabriel got the Big Breakfast.

“You know,” the waitress casually glanced back toward the kitchen where the other waitress stood talking with the cook. “We’re not supposed to let you do this, but you can share the Big Breakfast if you want. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.” Gabriel smiled. “But we’re really hungry. We’ll take the French toast too.”

“Okay. You got it.” She wrote everything down then passed the order to the kitchen.

“See? That’s what nice people do.” Luke closed up his backpack and pushed it toward the side of the booth seat. “They try to help other people.”

“She felt pity for us.”

“Yeah. I’m sure she recognizes me from school. She knows, like I know, that college students are struggling just to get by.” Luke considered. “Why didn’t she flirt with you?”

“I don’t look to her the way I look to you.”

“So you are making me see you as perfect.”

“No, I’m making other people see me as less than ordinary.”  Gabriel offered him that closed mouth smile. “You just figured this out, Luke. Trust your instincts.”

“You mean that I saw the fake money for what it was, meaning I see the truth and other people see a lie?”

“Do you want me to let them see the real me?” Gabriel lifted his hand as if he would snap his fingers and give Luke the chaos he seemed driven to ask for.

“No.”

“Then let’s talk about something else while we wait for our food.”

“How about we talk about who you were before you went to heaven?” Luke would love to know the story on that. “How does someone become a guardian angel?”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Gabriel unfolded his napkin from his utensils then arranged them on the table.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter now?”

“I’m a rebel angel now. Well, I’m still your guardian angel. I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you, but I’m not exactly reporting in.”

“And you’re supposed to be doing that?” Luke envisioned police angels swooping down to arrest Gabriel and then do something horrible to Luke for tempting him. He found himself looking up into the sky for another bolt of white light.

“Police angels? Seriously? What do they have, little lights on their wings?”

“I don’t know.” Luke shrugged. “Stop reading my thoughts. It’s rude.”

“You’re just angry that you can’t read my thoughts.”

“It would be a little more fair if I could.”

“Do you really want to know what I’m thinking?” Gabriel dropped his voice into that dangerous devil tone, the kind that caused good men to sin and bad men to sin worse. He slid his hand across the table and captured Luke’s hand before he could pull away. “I’m thinking that I want to give you that fantasy of yours. Take you away on my motorcycle. Take you far away from everything and everyone you’ve ever known, lay you down in the thick green grass next to a river, and then explore every inch of your body until I know it by heart.”

Luke swallowed hard. For a tiny moment, he let himself imagine what it would be like to feel Gabriel touching him in all his secret places. Licking and kissing him. Making him writhe against that soft green grass that smelled as pure and clean as the water in the river. Birds would flitter in the trees around them and they’d hear the rustle of other creatures in the underbrush but soon the rest of the world would fade away and it would be just the two of them. Gabriel would rise above him and then sink into his body, taking pleasure but giving it back twice as much.

All too soon, the real world crashed in. They’d need condoms and lube. And it might hurt. And when he finished using him, Gabriel would probably run right back to heaven. No. Luke was better off keeping Gabriel at arm’s length.

“Luke?”

“Just thinking that a motorcycle in this weather would be pretty painful, you know, wind chill. And the river is mostly frozen this time of year. And we don’t have any of the stuff we need for sex and—should I go on?”

Instead of getting angry, which Luke had been pushing for, Gabriel smiled. Instead of that closed mouth smile, he showed his teeth. Perfect teeth than made Luke rethink everything he’d just thought. It wouldn’t be a romantic seduction but hot and heavy and almost out of control. Gabriel would tease him until he couldn’t even think straight. When he finally slipped that thick cock inside him, Luke would be in tears—from need. And he’d cry out with longing for Gabriel to give him more, and more, and more.

Luke tugged his jeans.

That was what sex with Gabriel would be like. It might start out sweet and romantic but it would get down and dirty pretty damn quick. And Luke found himself wanting that more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Before he could say anything in answer, their food came.

Gabriel’s meal took up most of the table but he encouraged Luke to eat whatever he wanted.

“You’re going to need your strength.”

“For what?”

Instead of answering with words, Gabriel just flashed that smile that told Luke he had to figure out a way to keep distance between them or his determination to keep his hands off Gabriel, regardless of whether he was an angel or a devil, wouldn’t mean a damn thing.

Chapter Five

They walked home along the same path they’d taken into town.

“Thank you, for that. For breakfast and for leaving her a big tip.” Luke walked close to Gabriel but not too close. Distance. What they needed to do was keep some distance between them.

“You’re welcome.” Gabriel stopped at the thrift store window. “Wait here.”

Before Luke could ask why, Gabriel ducked inside. He returned five minutes later.

“What did you do?”

“I traded her real money for the fake money.”

“You did?” Luke added another checkmark to the possibly an angel column.

“I also put the fake money back in that game so if someone buys it, they’ll have all the pieces.” Gabriel met Luke’s eyes. “Does that make you happy?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Luke leaned up to kiss his cheek but Gabriel turned his head at the last second, landing Luke’s kiss on his mouth. Luke tried not to enjoy it but he did anyway. Kissing Gabriel felt fantastic and no amount of lying to himself would ever change that. “We shouldn’t be kissing in public.”

“You’re worried everyone’s going to find out you’re gay?”

“It’s not like I go around advertising it.”

“You screamed the truth to everyone in who was standing in that circle this morning.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Luke had forgotten all about that.

“Dustin has certainly been telling everyone he knows and probably people he doesn’t know.”

“You don’t know that for a fact.”

“Actually, I do.”

“Maybe he’ll stop. Maybe people won’t believe him.”

“Dustin knows the truth for a fact after what you two got up to in the dark.”

“I’m not going to talk to you about that.” Luke picked up the pace and tightened his grip on his backpack.

“Fine.” Gabriel’s long legs allowed him to keep up without any trouble at all. “But not talking about the truth doesn’t make it go away.”

“Oh, that’s rich. You wanting to talk about the truth when you’ve been—” Luke cut himself off that path. Getting pissed off at Gabriel wasn’t going to change what Luke had done with Dustin. All it would do is make both of them feel like crap.

“I’m sorry.” Gabriel took Luke’s hand. “I shouldn’t have thrown that in your face.”

“You shouldn’t have. I forgive you, though. I don’t like—I just—I thought...”

“You thought you could trust Dustin.”

“I did.”

“He’s a very good liar.”

“It’s not really a skill I’d call good.”

“Okay.” Gabriel squeezed Luke’s hand. “How about...Dustin is very good at lying?”

“That’s true. Painfully true.” Luke squeezed back. “You must think I’m such a hypocrite.”

“Why would I think that?”

“Here I am, complaining that you’re taking advantage of people when I bury the truth so far down in my own mind so I can try to convince myself it never happened.”

“Do you think maybe that’s why Dustin treats you the way he does? He knows he can get away with it because you let him.”

“What am I supposed to do? Fight him? Tell everyone that he used to sneak into my room and—and—” Luke cut himself off from finishing but Gabriel read the truth in his mind anyway.

“What Dustin did to you shapes your behavior more than you want to admit.”

Luke sighed hard and opened his mouth to say something but a car went flying by and someone screamed out the window, “Fags!”

Gabriel turned around and flicked his fingers at the car.

“Don’t!” Luke expected him to roll the damn thing and incinerate the idiots inside but all Gabriel’s gesture did was stop the car in the middle of the street.

“I’m not going to hurt them.” Gabriel met Luke’s gaze. “I’m going to go over there and educate them.”

“Just leave it alone.”

“You know why guys like Dustin take advantage of guys like you? Because they can. You know why these guys are hassling us? Because they think they can. I’m about to set them straight.”

Luke tagged along behind Gabriel. He honestly didn’t know what else to do. How in the world had his life changed so drastically in twenty-four hours? He’d planned on spending the weekend catching up on his sleep, then studying, and then trying to figure out how to stretch his money so he could make it to the end of his sophomore year without taking on any more debt. Now, he found himself married to either an angel or a devil and trying desperately to hang onto the last damn thing he had of any value.

“Evening, gents.” Gabriel leaned into the driver’s side. “Problem with your ride?”

“Hey, man.” The kid with more hair in his eyes than along the back of his head leaned away from the window as far as he could. “We don’t want any problems.”

“That why you yelled a discouraging word toward me and my husband?”

“Husband?” The entire car of boys, five in total, echoed the word as if they’d never heard it.

“That’s legal now, boys. A man marrying another man. You might want to keep that in mind while you’re driving around, looking for people to hassle.”

“We weren’t hassling you, man.”

“No?” Gabriel smiled a smile that if Luke had been on the other side of it he would have shit himself. “Pop the hood.”

“Wh—what?”

“Pop the hood. I’ll see what’s wrong with your ride.” Gabriel went to the front of the car.

Luke had the horrible vision of the car springing to life and running him over like Christine from the Stephen King book. Luke wanted to say something. To tell Gabriel not to take the risk even if he were impervious to everything in the world. Luke believed that if Gabriel didn’t go back to heaven, God would eventually revoke Gabriel’s immunity clause. Eventually, probably when he least expected it, he’d get hurt. More than anything, even more than resisting his charms, Luke didn’t want Gabriel to get hurt.

The guys popped the hood and Gabriel leaned over the engine. He flicked his fingers here and there then shouted, “Try it.”

The car roared to life.

Luke almost shit his pants. He’d never been so afraid. Not even in the circle this morning. Funny how his fear for himself never came close to the terror he felt for another person’s safety. Unfortunately, when he tried to tell Gabriel to get away before they ran him down, nothing came out.

“There. That’s got it.” Gabriel came back around to the driver’s side. “But there’s a catch here, boys.”

“What catch?” the driver asked.

“You scream anything from this car, and I mean anything that disparages another human being—you know that word, boy? Disparage?”

“Yeah. Means, like, to put someone down.”

“That’s right.” Gabriel patted the kid’s head then ruffled his hair. “You utter a disparaging word toward anyone, your car will stop. Dead stop. And the only person who can bring it back to life is me. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s try that another way.”

“What?” the kid asked.

“Say, ‘Yes, sir,’” Gabriel said.

“Yes, sir,” the kid echoed.

“Well, then. I think you’ve all learned a valuable lesson here today. Why don’t you get on your way and try real hard to be an asset to your community?”

“Yeah,” the driver said.

“What was that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There you go. Be on your way.” Gabriel stepped back and the car went on down the road, only this time, they didn’t blast music or scream at anyone. They kept to the speed limit and kept whatever comments they had about the people on the sidewalks to themselves.

“Now.” Gabriel returned to Luke’s side, tucking Luke’s arm into his. “Where were we?”

“I honestly don’t remember.” Luke struggled to make sense of what had happened. “I thought you were going to rip them new ones. Tear off their heads. Blow up their car.”

“They wouldn’t have learned anything from that.” Gabriel patted Luke’s hand. “And you would have been very angry with me if I had used violence against them.”

“I would have been.”

“So now, you don’t have a reason to be angry anymore, do you?”

“No.” But Luke tried to find one.

“Don’t bother trying to find a new reason to be pissed off at me. I haven’t given you one.”

“What are you trying to do?” Luke wanted to understand Gabriel’s motives but failed.

Gabriel stopped just short of the backdoor to the apartment boarding house. He took Luke’s hands into his and faced him directly. “I’m trying very diligently to be a good husband.”

“Why?”

“Because I want this to work.”

“You do?”

“I do.” Gabriel lifted Luke’s frozen hands. Now that the sun had gone down, the cold of the high-altitude night crept in. “I want you to be happy. I want you to feel safe with me. More than anything, I want you to trust me.”

“I...” Luke wanted that too. He wanted that so much. Yet he couldn’t escape the feeling that all of this was some kind of show. A fake out. A trick.

“I’ve made up for all the wrong I did.”

Luke considered and then shook his head. “You tricked me.”

“How?”

“You recited vows and made me recite them too when I didn’t know that’s what you were doing.”

Gabriel sighed and nodded. “I did trick you.”

“You did.”

“But I also gave you a way out.”

“You did?”

“You can renounce me.” Gabriel braced himself. “All you have to do is say that you renounce me. Tell me to go and I will.”

Again, Luke had a chance to end this. He discovered he couldn’t. He liked Gabriel. Sure, he’d done somethings that weren’t really the right thing to do but he’d stopped doing them and then made up for them. Renouncing him would be like renouncing everything he’d ever wanted, and Luke couldn’t do that.

“What if God gets mad?” Luke asked.

“Mad at you for not renouncing me?”

“Mad at me for keeping you here. You said you were a rebel angel. That can’t be something God takes lightly.”

“I don’t know.” Gabriel moved closer, his dark eyes filling Luke’s world until he saw nothing else beyond those fathomless depths. “All I know is that I must protect you. I will do anything to keep you safe. And I’m not satisfied with being only your guardian angel.”

“No?”

“No.” Gabriel lowered his head so that his cheek brushed against Luke’s cheek. “I want to claim you. To know you. To have you be completely and utterly mine.”

“I want that too.” The truth came right from Luke’s heart. He’d wanted a man like Gabriel to come to him, to overwhelm him, to make him forget the past and help him put an eye to the future. “But—”

“There is no but.” Gabriel put his finger against Luke’s lips, silencing him.

Luke gently but insistently removed his shushing finger. “There is too and you’re the one who pointed it out.” Luke turned away, trying to hide his embarrassment, but Gabriel gently yet insistently turned him back. “Dustin used me.”

“He did.”

Luke whimpered, torn between shame and pain.

“Dustin committed the wrong, not you.”

“I knew he wasn’t a good guy but I was so lonely and I thought...” Luke clenched his eyes so tightly closed he actually hurt his face. “I thought if I let him do what he wanted that eventually, he’d see how worthy I was. That he’d want me. That he’d...”

“Change.”

“Yeah.” Luke felt so stupid.

“I don’t care about him. I don’t care about what you did with him—”

“But—”

“Let me finish.” Gabriel cupped Luke’s face in both his hands. “I don’t care about what you did with him other than it hurt you.”

“I sucked his cock.” Luke grimaced and cringed.

“You thought he would love you back.”

“I did.” Luke sobbed and turned away. “No, I didn’t. I’m not going to lie to you. I knew Dustin would never love me. But I wanted someone to hold me. To be close. To share just a few moments with me.” Luke had never been ashamed of who he was until he’d met Dustin. “He took and he took and I guess I just didn’t know when to stop giving.”

“You did know.” Gabriel stroked gently over Luke’s back. “You just didn’t trust yourself to follow through on what you knew.”

“Is that it? That’s why I’m such a loser? I don’t know when to say no?”

“You do know when to say no.” Gabriel kissed Luke’s lips. “You’ve said no to me again and again.”

“But you’re not—”

“Real,” Gabriel finished for him. “I’m not angry, my husband. You can play the game of ticking off my actions as either good or bad, angelic or devilish. You can pretend none of this is real if you want, but somewhere deep inside your heart, you know what we have is real. That I am real. That the vow we made matters more than any other vow you have ever made.”

“Marriage vows are different.”

“Are they? How?”

“They’re supposed to be said in front of your friends and family.”

“Would your friends and family stand up for you if they found out you wanted to marry a man?”

Luke hated to admit the truth but if he expected Gabriel not to lie, then he couldn’t either. “No. I don’t think they would. In fact, I know they wouldn’t. My family, I mean. They wouldn’t come. I don’t really have any friends.”

“You made a vow to yourself. Several, in fact. No one paid witness to them and yet you’ve stuck to them.”

“How do you know about that?” Actually, Luke should have asked to which vow Gabriel referred.

“You swore you’d stop biting your nails.” Gabriel lifted his hand. “And you stuck to that.”

“Yeah, but that’s not life or death or even something big.”

Gabriel frowned. “You don’t really have a lot of positive things to say about yourself, do you?”

“I’m not much.”

“To me, you are everything.”

Luke felt his resistance melting away. Instead of finding ways to put distance between them, he found himself trying to think of ways to bring them closer together.

“You also vowed that you’d wait until you met a man you could really trust and you’ve held to that one too.”

“Until you came along.”

“All I’ve done is kiss you.”

“And get me to grind one off against your hand.”

“That isn’t going all the way.”

“Don’t call it that. It makes it sound so juvenile.”

“Fine. I haven’t had intercourse with you. Does that sound better?”

“Sounds really clinical.” Since he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, at least not while standing around in the parking lot, Luke entered the back of the building then hustled up the stairs. Mostly, he didn’t want Dustin or any of the other guys to hear him and come and see that he had Gabriel with him. He knew the guys would pitch a fit despite the fact they had girls stay over all the time. They applied the rules differently to Luke. Besides, they wouldn’t want him sharing his room with another guy. For supposedly educated and enlightened young men, they reverted to toxic masculinity at the drop of a hat. Beyond all of that, Luke also worried what Gabriel might do to them if they pissed him off. He probably wouldn’t hurt them but he certainly wouldn’t do anything nice to them.

“Maybe just some body buddies,” Gabriel whispered from behind Luke.

“What?”

“I wouldn’t hurt them but maybe they’d stop harassing you if they had more personal problems, such as fleas. Perhaps a cold sore. Warts can be very frightening when they appear in the genital region.”

“Do not give my housemates genital warts.”

“I won’t do anything unless I ask you first.”

“Thank you.” Luke fished out his keys only to discover his door was unlocked.

“Let me.” Gabriel stepped in front of him, pushing the door open slowly. He flicked on the light.

“Well, at least I don’t have a lot of stuff for them to ruin.” But what he did have his housemates had destroyed beyond repair. They’d turned his clothing into a mound of rags. Same with his bedding. They’d left the mattress intact but when he got closer he realized they done something worse than cutting it up. Thankfully, he’d kept his laptop with him. He’d bought all of his textbooks as ebooks and kept backup copies on a flash drive and a free cloud storage site.

“He’ll regret this.” While Gabriel stood in the middle of the chaos, the ruffled edge of his wings grew over his back.

“No, he won’t.” Luke pressed against Gabriel’s back, urging him to keep his wings folded. The two of them wouldn’t fit if he unfurled in the tiny room. “If anything, his parents will pay for the damage and smooth everything over. That’s what they did when...”

“When what?” Gabriel prompted.

“When Dustin did this very same thing to Tristan.” Luke had never thought too much about that whole situation since it had happened before he’d moved in, but now he did. Now he thought about the timing of the trashing and how quickly afterward Tristan had moved out. Luke had moved right into the same room, as a matter of fact. The room right above Dustin’s room. When he’d snuck up here, Dustin hadn’t worried about anyone hearing them. He probably hadn’t worried about it with Tristan either.

“You think Dustin did to Tristan what he did to you?”

“That’s exactly what I think.” Luke gave Gabriel a look. “Do you know if Dustin had the same kind of relationship with Tristan?”

“Is there something here that Tristan used?”

“The chest of drawers came with the room.”

“I didn’t feel anything when I went through those.” Gabriel moved to the headboard of the bed and put his hand on it. He yanked it away as if he’d been burned. “Yes. He did—not the same thing, exactly.”

“Worse?”

“Worse,” Gabriel confirmed. “But he didn’t do that to you.”

“Only because I stopped him before he could. But he’s had it in for me ever since.” What Dustin had called brojobs hadn’t been enough to satisfy him. When he’d pushed for more, Luke had said no, and things had gotten ugly.

“I won’t let him hurt you.”

“I believe you. Only, I don’t think I can stay here. Not when I have a husband.”

Gabriel’s smile made the shitty situation a whole lot better.

“But we’ve got to figure out a way to make it work for tonight.”

“I can make it work.” Gabriel took Luke’s hands. “Would you like me to do that?”

“Please.”

Gabriel laid hands on the bed, magically erasing the urine then making it bigger. He grasped the tattered blankets, putting them back together, just as he did with all Luke’s clothes.

“They’ll know something is weird if all the stuff they destroyed—”

“It was only Dustin. And let him wonder how you have everything back. We won’t be here long enough for it to really matter.” Gabriel rose to his feet and stood staring at the bed.

So did Luke.

Sure looked like he would be sleeping with his husband sooner than he’d thought.

Chapter Six

“I can sleep on the floor,” Gabriel said.

“No. I...I trust you.” It felt weird to say it out loud. Luke couldn’t remember ever saying it to anyone.

“I’m not so sure I can trust myself.” Gabriel took off his leather jacket, sending the scent of his musk and hot leather straight to Luke’s libido.

“There really isn’t enough room on the floor. Or enough blankets. And...”

“And?” Gabriel leaned against the wall to balance himself while he unlaced his boots.

“And maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible if we...”

While Gabriel waited for him to finish, he slipped off his shoes and socks, setting them by the door.

Luke followed suit, mainly to give himself time to think about what he wanted. And there was the problem. He didn’t know what he wanted. He wanted everything and nothing all at the same time.

“We can touch one another without going too far.” Gabriel helped Luke slip off his jacket then he hung both of them up in the closet. “I can leave my pants on if it helps.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“I would. But it’s also for me. I’d trust myself more with some clothing between us.”

“Couldn’t you just magically make everything disappear?”

“Even if I could do that, I wouldn’t do that.” Gabriel offered his hand to Luke.

Luke took hold and felt safer than he ever had.

Gabriel settled on the edge of the mattress. “Guardian angels get to pick who we watch over. I picked you on purpose.”

“For what purpose?”

“Because you needed someone who would always put your needs first. I think, once I got down here, I forgot about that. I think, the longer I stay, the more human I become. Wanting things my way. Wanting you to trust me when I really haven’t given you much of a reason to.”

“You saved me from Dustin. That counts for a lot.”

“I want to do more.”

“What more do I need saving from?”

“I don’t think you need to be saved. I think you need help. I think you’ve gotten so used to doing everything by yourself that you’re afraid to ask for help.”

“Not so afraid that I didn’t ask you for help in cleaning up my room.”

“Actually, I offered, and you agreed to accept my help. But your face, your thoughts—you were going to sleep in that pile of rags as if that’s all you deserve.”

“It’s not that. I guess I just got tired of fighting all the time. Fighting to be heard. Fighting to be treated fairly. Fighting to just stay alive.” Luke realized he’d gripped onto Gabriel’s hand so hard he had to be hurting him. He released the tension and sighed. “At some point, it just felt so overwhelming it seemed easier to just...”

“Give up?”

“That. Or go passive.” Luke scooted over so that he could rest his head against Gabriel’s shoulder. “You felt sorry for me. That’s why you picked me.”

“I thought if someone actually helped you, you’d be able to stand up for yourself.”

“Look how well that’s turned out.”

“Pretty well, I’d say.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You stood up to me to tell me stealing was wrong. Tricking people was wrong. You made me make it right.”

“Because I knew you weren’t going to hit me.” And Luke got it then. He’d always gone along and got along rather than get beat up. He’d never realized until now how often just the threat of violence had held him in check. Most guys didn’t even have to actually hit him. They just had make it clear they would.

“You said Dustin would fake throw punches at you, and you would flinch. That’s how he knew. He realized he could keep you compliant with the threat of violence. That’s why the clerk at the thrift store not trusting you cut you so deeply. You’d never hurt her. And on some level, you knew she was like you. That’s why her distrust hurt so much. You wouldn’t hit someone just to get your way.”

“I wouldn’t hit anyone.”

“If they were hurting another person, I think you would, but you wouldn’t start it and you’d stop hitting as soon as you got the person free from the abuser.” Gabriel let go of Luke’s hand and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Face it. You’re a good man who would rather talk things out than fight them out. You’d rather leave here than deal with more of Dustin’s abuse. That’s how he keeps this whole place running in his favor.”

“Everyone’s afraid of him.”

“That. And if they start to show signs of not flinching anymore, he buys them something. Smooths over that masculine pride in a way so that everyone saves face.”

“Like the party nights.”

“Yep. He buys all the liquor even though he’s underage. He makes sure all the guys know who came through for them.”

“It’s more pot than beer now, but, yeah. It’s the same thing. They treat him like he’s the king.”

“And that’s exactly why he got so angry with you.” Gabriel kissed the top of Luke’s head. “You pulled off his crown and saw the frightened little boy hiding below.”

“Misty never said anything to him.”

“Only that you gave her a ride home. Dustin took it from there.”

“I’m so tired.”  

“Then we will sleep.”

“I don’t even know what time it is.”

“Does it matter?” Gabriel stood and pulled the covers down. “If you’re tired, sleep. Things will look better once you’ve rested.”

“But the door.”

Gabriel did something with the doorknob, fixing it, maybe, and then he engaged the slider bar. For good measure, he also tucked the chair up under the knob so even if they got a battering ram, they weren’t going to get in.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Gabriel slept on the side by the door, putting Luke in the safest place in the room. The only way anyone could get to him here was either through the side of the building or they’d have to defeat Gabriel. Luke grinned. Good luck with that one.

“I should brush my teeth.”

“One night won’t hurt.”

“Yeah.” Luke struggled to keep his eyes open.

“Sleep, my husband.”

“You really like saying that, don’t you?”

“I do.” Gabriel turned to his back then urged Luke to curl against him.

“I thought you didn’t trust yourself with me.”

“As much as I would like to explore every inch of you, I think you need sleep more than you need sex.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve been waiting my whole angel life. Another night won’t hurt me.”

Luke nodded and almost fell asleep but what Gabriel said penetrated his brain. “Wait. You’ve never had sex either?”

“I’m an angel. We don’t do that with one another.”

“Why not?” Luke rose up on one arm so he could look at Gabriel’s face.

“In heaven, no one has any fun bits.”

“Seriously?”

“We don’t even have bodies up there. We don’t eat or sleep or fuck. We watch. We protect.”

“Is that why you’ve been nothing but a hound dog since you got here?”

“Probably. Well, and you are awfully enticing.” Gabriel’s smile gleamed in the dark.

“Awfully?”

“Dangerously enticing?” Gabriel cupped Luke’s chin. “I shouldn’t have pressured you.”

“Yeah, but I can understand why you did.” Luke found his gaze wandering down from Gabriel’s chest to his jeans. “You haven’t climaxed since you’ve been here.”

Gabriel shook his head.

“Do you want to?”

“I think a more important question is if you want to.”

“I already did.”

“I mean if you want to help me climax.” Gabriel cupped his bulge through his jeans. “Or maybe watch me.”

“I want to touch you.” Something about the mostly dark room allowed Luke to tell the truth without blushing. “I mean, you are my husband, after all.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Good, because I got something else at the thrift store.” Gabriel fished around in the front pocket of his jeans and brought out two gold rings. “I paid for them.”

“I believe you.” Luke stared at the rings.

“You don’t have to if you’re not ready.”

“I just...”

“A vow matters whether someone hears it or not,” Gabriel said, his voice soft. “I made a vow to you and I meant every word.” Gabriel lifted Luke’s hand, holding the ring out, ready to slide it on. “You need to decide if you meant your vow to me.”

“I meant what I said too.” Luke took Gabriel’s ring into his hand.

“Do you want to do this? We can wait until morning. There’s no rush.”

But Luke felt as if there were a rush. He had no idea why but that didn’t change how he felt. “I want to be with you.” Luke pushed the ring onto Gabriel’s finger. It fit perfectly.

“I want to be with you.” Gabriel slid the ring along Luke’s finger. Again, it fit perfectly. “There.”

“It feels...I don’t how to say it other than right. It feels right. Like it’s always supposed to have been there.” Luke had never liked wearing jewelry of any kind but now he couldn’t imagine his finger without Gabriel’s ring.

“I think to make it official we’re supposed to kiss.”

“Just to make it official?” Luke laughed and then leaned over until his lips almost but not quite touched Gabriel’s. “I think I’m falling a little bit in love with you, my husband.”

“I think I’m falling a little bit in love with you too.” Gabriel closed the distance between them, kissing Luke so gently it almost tickled. When he cupped the back of Luke’s head and drew him closer, ticklish turned to a spark of electricity that raced over his skin then darted to his cock, making him groan and hunger for more.

Luke rose up over Gabriel, kissing him while stroking his chest. “Can I take your shirt off?”

“Let me.” Gabriel pulled it over his head and tossed it somewhere on the floor. “Better?”

“Much.” Luke explored his husband’s chest. Strong and powerful but he had a real heart too. A strong sense of kindness. Maybe he’d just had to remember what being human was like. How hard it could be at times.

“You think about philosophy while touching me?”

“When else would I think about it?”

“In the shower. Like most people.”

“I’ll remember that.” Luke lifted his hands, pressing against Gabriel’s chest. When he reached his nipples, he stroked and twisted, doing his best to mimic what Gabriel had done to him earlier.

Gabriel groaned and arched upward.

Luke grinned and continued to explore. Thick muscles covered Gabriel’s arms, giving him plenty to explore, but eventually, he returned to his chest and inevitably he worked his hands downward.

“Can I unfasten your pants?”

Gabriel nodded.

Luke tugged at the waistband then eased the zipper down. No underwear meant that when he reached a certain point, Gabriel’s thick cock jutted from his jeans.

Luke mumbled something. A swear, praise, maybe both. He’d never seen a cock so perfect. And thick. When he wrapped his hands around the shaft, the feeling of life and heat almost made him dizzy. He looked up and met Gabriel’s intense gaze then slowly stroked his hands up and down. He didn’t squeeze too hard or go to fast. He teased him lightly. Feeling every flicker of awareness, loving every gasping groan that his husband made. When precum slicked the tip, Luke palmed the wetness and used it to ease the friction from his hands.

“Can I rub my cock against yours?”

“Yes, my husband. Don’t take your hands from me.” Gabriel reached down and unfastened Luke’s pants. “You should not wear underwear anymore.”

“I think one of us should.”

“Why?”

“We don’t want to make this too easy.”

Gabriel laughed.

Luke jolted when Gabriel’s big hand cupped his cock and gently pulled him free of his jeans and briefs. When Luke pressed their cocks together, he closed his eyes and let himself simply feel the moment. He’d never done this with anyone. Guys always wanted to rush toward release the way shoppers rushed Black Friday sales. Luke wanted to take a walk around the mall first. Gabriel let him. He tucked his hands behind his head and simply watched while Luke rubbed and stroked their cocks.

“You lick your lips as if you can’t wait to taste me.”

“I am? I am.” Luke hadn’t even realized how his mouth had been watering. “Can I?”

“I would enjoy that more than words could say.”

Luke slid down and licked his way slowly up Gabriel’s shaft, smelling him, tasting him, breathing all of him in until he reached the top and licked over the tiny slit. Ambrosia. Gabriel tasted salty and sweet. When Luke looked up, he found his husband looking down. Their eyes locked. Luke slipped his tongue around the crown and then over the slit again.

Gabriel’s eyes widened then narrowed then closed altogether when Luke pulled him inside his mouth.

“I am so close,” Gabriel said.

“Really?”

“You mock me?”

“No. Sorry. That’s not—”

“Ah. I see. You weren’t putting me down but inflating your own ego.”

“Well, bringing an angel to his knees that quickly is somewhat impressive.”

“I am not on my knees.”

“I meant metaphorically.”

“I will bring you to your knees quite literally.” Gabriel grasped Luke’s hips and drew him upward until he could pull Luke’s cock into his mouth while Luke straddled him.

Luke tried to keep his eyes open and watch but that electrical spark washed over from Gabriel’s mouth, down his shaft, and into his balls, tightening them. He got so close to climax the only way to hold himself back was to close his eyes and think about complex multi-chaining program functions.

Gabriel released him, grinning. “I think we have too many clothes on.”

“I think so too.” Luke climbed off and slid his pants and underwear down.

Gabriel pulled his jeans off without getting out of bed. He patted the top part of his thighs. “Come back and rub us together again.”

“I wish I had some lube.”

“We have no need.” Gabriel patted his body again. “Come.”

Luke slung his leg over Gabriel’s hips and settled close. He pressed his cock along the length of Gabriel’s, smearing precum over his shaft. When he tried to wrap his hand around both their cocks, he couldn’t.

Gabriel reached down and managed to almost engulf them both, leaving only the head of his cock uncovered.

“Here. Let me...” Luke wrapped his hand around the tip of Gabriel’s cock. “Slowly.”

“Slowly.”

Luke rocked his hips and Gabriel followed his pace. Between the two of them, they made plenty of precum, which only encouraged them to rock faster and for Luke to press harder.

“Are you close?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Look at me.” Gabriel latched onto Luke’s gaze, holding him with those fathomless eyes. In that darkness, Luke saw everything and nothing. He saw all the world could be and all that it might be. But most of all he saw hope. “That’s it. Right there.”

When Luke climaxed, Gabriel smiled and he climaxed too.

Luke had never felt anything like it. The energy that had been dancing over his skin focused and intensified and seemed to shoot out of his cock and land on Gabriel’s mighty chest.

Gabriel covered Luke’s hand with jizz, growling like a beast for each spurt.

Between them, they made a sticky mess.

Luke didn’t care. He settled against his husband and closed his eyes. “Am I too heavy?”

“You are perfect.”

Luke fell asleep with the praise in his ears.

He woke up on his side, still pressed close to Gabriel, who seemed to be asleep. Luke didn’t wake him up. He just stayed there with his eyes half open, marveling at how beautiful Gabriel looked with his long lashes resting against his cheeks.

“I feel you looking at me.”

“Sorry. You’re just so very handsome.”

“I watched you sleep last night and thought the same thing.” Gabriel’s eyes opened. “I wondered how could I have been so blessed?”

“Because you deserve it?”

“I think I do.” Gabriel frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“A dream.” Gabriel shook his head. “We need to wash and then we will find another place to live.”

“That might be easier said than done.”

“Which?”

“Either. Both. College is in full swing. The rentals are all taken. As to the other...”

“What?”

“You ever seen a bathroom that three guys share?”

Thankfully, Luke’s toiletries and towels had escaped Dustin’s rampage. With towels wrapped around their hips, they went down the hall to the bathroom.

When Gabriel stepped in, his face said it all. “I’m sure this is how the plague got started.”

“Probably.”

“How did you ever bear it?”

“I cleaned it right before I used it. I don’t really get dirty so I only shower every couple of days.”

“Have the other two ever cleaned it?”

“I don’t think so. One of them had a girlfriend who cleaned it but she didn’t last long. They never do. I think women are getting too smart to clean up after loser guys anymore.”

“Give me a moment.”

“What are you doing?”

Gabriel touched lightly over the bathroom, turning the dingy gray porcelain gleaming white.

“Okay, now that’s something I want. No question. I’ll sell my soul for that power.”

A flash of red caused Luke to stumble back into the tub while Gabriel stepped forward, the edge of his wings fluttering dangerously against his back.

“A devil?” Luke figured the shiny red skin and hooved feet said devil. Then again, what did he know?

“Begone, foul one.” Gabriel flicked his finger as if he could make the thing disappear with a gesture.

“He offered to sell his soul for the power to clean things.” The devil looked around Gabriel’s shoulder, making eye contact with Luke. “You did say that, didn’t you?”

“In jest.” Luke had never had so many weird things happen to him.

“Begone, foul one.”

“Fine. I just wanted to make sure—Oh, hey, Dustin. How’s it hanging?”

Luke’s eyes about fell out of his head. The devil knew Dustin? From the way he spoke to him, they were old friends.

Dustin stepped up to the bathroom door, saw Gabriel, and made a beeline down the hall.

Luke had never thought Dustin would be so stupid as to literally make a deal with the devil, or a devil, but it certainly explained all the good luck that seemed to fall his way. Luke wondered what the particulars were then decided he didn’t care. That was Dustin’s problem, not his.

“I’ll catch up with him later.” The devil turned his red-eyed gaze onto Gabriel. “How about you? If you want to stay here without the Big Guy finding out, I can make that happen.”

Gabriel’s wings emerged another foot and ruffled harder.

“Okay, okay.” The devil lifted his hands and clattered backward on his hooved feet. “Don’t get your wings in a wind. I’m going.”

The devil left in a puff of red-black smoke that smelled horrible.

“What is that smell?”

“Brimstone.” Gabriel wafted his partially extended wings a few times, sending the cloud out the bathroom door before closing and locking it. He offered his hand to Luke and pulled him out of the tub. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Wish I was more surprised about Dustin knowing a devil but I can’t honestly say that I am.”

“I should have known.”

“Why didn’t you know?”

“I didn’t touch him. I didn’t really look into his eyes.” Gabriel removed his towel and Luke’s, hanging them up. “Go ahead and shower first while I guard the door.”

“You really think he’s going to come back?” Luke put his shampoo and soap on the little shelf near the claw foot tub.

“No one is coming in here.”

“Okay.” Luke got the water going and stepped in, closing the curtain around him. “What did the devil mean by that?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you in trouble?” Luke lathered up his hair. When he didn’t hear Gabriel answer, he rinsed and swore he heard him mutter under his breath. “What was that?”

“Nothing. Are you done yet?”

“I just got started.”

“Should I help you?” Gabriel thrust his arm through the slit where the two plastic curtains met.

“I think you should wait your turn.” Luke pushed his arm back out. When he finished, he left the water running and stepped onto the mat.

“Clean?”

“Of body.” Luke grinned.

Gabriel stepped in and Luke shaved over the sink. Not like he had much more than peach fuzz, but still, he liked a smooth face.

Gabriel finished quickly and shaved while Luke watched.

“There. Come test to make sure I got everything.”

“Test?”

“A kiss. That’s how you test a shave.”

“I had no idea kissing was used for so many things.” Luke kissed Gabriel but pulled back before things could get out of hand. “Does this mean that Dustin has no soul?”

“He still has it for now.”

“Meaning what, exactly?”

“Depends on the deal he made with that devil.”

“Is there more than one? I thought it was the devil not a devil.”

“Devils are like angels. There are a lot of them.”

“What about demons? Are they the same thing?”

“Different in a lot of ways.” Gabriel frowned. “Why does this matter?”

“Just curious.”

“You thinking about trading me in for an evil model?”

“Not a chance.” Luke kissed Gabriel’s nose. “I’m just wondering when Dustin will get his comeuppance.”

“Well, it might be when Dustin dies. It might be when the bill comes due.”

“Meaning?” Luke offered Gabriel his extra toothbrush then brushed his own teeth with the one he had opened.

“Some devils have a time limit.” Gabriel peeled off the plastic then slathered toothpaste on the bristles. “It really depends on the deal Dustin made with that particular devil.”

“Oh, okay. So devils are like independent contractors.”

“You could say that.”

Luke waited until Gabriel spit out his toothpaste and rinsed. “And why did he offer you a deal?”

“Because devils offer everyone deals. It’s what they do.”

“If there wasn’t something wrong, he wouldn’t have offered you a deal to make it right.”

“What makes you say that?” Gabriel gathered all their toiletries and shoved them back in the bag then hurried down the hallway.

“I just said why.” Luke followed him back to their room, where he closed the door, engaged the slider, and tucked the chair under the doorknob.

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at.” Gabriel put the bag back in the closet then hung up his towel.

“Yes, you do.” Luke wanted to put his towel on Gabriel so he wouldn’t be distracted. Instead, he kept his attention on his husband’s eyes. “Now stop playing games and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong.” Gabriel grasped Luke’s shoulders then rubbed his hands up and down as if to comfort him. Or distract him. Luke wasn’t sure. “Let’s just get dressed and get out of here so we can find a new place. Okay?”

“Okay.” For now, Luke would leave Gabriel alone with the problem. Eventually, he’d tell him what was going on. He’d have to. Luke just hoped he didn’t wait until they had no way to fix it except by making a deal with a devil.

Chapter Seven

Luke waited until the office manager of the apartment building left the room, leaving him and Gabriel alone in the master bedroom.

“What do you think?” Gabriel turned in a slow circle, his arms outstretched as if to encompass the entire apartment.

Luke moved close and whispered, “This is way beyond our price range.”

“It’s perfect.”

“It’s amazing but that’s not the point.” The master bedroom had a walk-in shower big enough for the both of them and a double-sink vanity. The living room had a gas fireplace and the kitchen...

Luke sighed with longing. He could see himself in that white contemporary kitchen. He saw himself making pancakes while Gabriel came up behind him and distracted him by nuzzling his neck. He saw that so clearly his heart hurt when he had to tell himself no. Now, he had to tell Gabriel the same thing.

“It’s fantastic, and I love every inch of it, but we can’t just...”

“What? What can’t we just?” Gabriel pulled Luke into his arms. “This is what you deserve.”

“There’s a difference between what I deserve and what I can afford.” A huge difference. A distance so vast it could straddle the Grand Canyon with room to spare.

“You’re not alone anymore, remember?”

“I know that. And I appreciate that.” Luke found himself calmed by the heat and scent of his husband. “But we have to be realistic.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s how reality works.” Luke pulled back and allowed himself one last look out the picture window. It faced the tallest peak in the valley. He could easily imagine waking up to that view. And going to sleep by it. He could picture a king size bed that they’d make love on every night and every morning. He let himself imagine all of that then made himself stop.

“I have money.”

“Turning a couple of one dollar bills into fifties isn’t going to cut it. We’d have to have a bank account with five grand and a credit history with more than just my one credit card.”

“I have all of that.”

Luke took a step back. “How do you have all of that?”

“I just do.”

“Gabriel, what did you do?”

“Nothing. Well, okay, I did something, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself?”

“Okay. I just created some documentation for myself.”

“And when did you manage to do this?”

“Last night while you were sleeping.”

“Did you take my ID?” Luke touched his wallet but didn’t pull it out of his pocket. He wanted to trust Gabriel so badly it hurt to even ask him questions about what he’d done, but Luke needed to know.

“I didn’t take anything of yours.” Hurt furrowed Gabriel’s brow.

“Did you take someone else’s?”

“He left his wallet and his belt in the bathroom. Clearly, he doesn’t take care of his stuff.”

Luke had wondered where Gabriel had gotten that belt for the impromptu kilt. Now he knew. “You have to give those back.”

“It’s too late. I’ve changed them and I’m not changing them back. Besides, the way I look at it, Dustin owes you.”

“That doesn’t mean he owes you.”

“In a way he does.”

“Gabriel, there is a part of me that wants revenge on Dustin. I mean, I’ve had some pretty dark thoughts about things, but I would never actually do anything to hurt him. Him or anyone. That’s not who I am and that shouldn’t be who you are either.”

“I’m not hurting him.”

“You’re stealing his money.”

“What? No.” Gabriel nodded to the apartment manager and called out, “We need just a few more minutes.”

“Take your time.” She’d been so charmed by Gabriel, she’d probably let them spend the night for free.

“I’m not stealing anything from Dustin other than the plastic.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Like I explained with the money, I can’t make something out of nothing. I have to have a real piece of money and then I can change it.”

“So you needed real pieces of ID so you could change them to suit yourself?”

“Yeah. All Dustin knows is he lost his belt and his wallet. He’s not going to starve or really even be inconvenienced. His parents will take care of him. They always do.” Gabriel opened his wallet and showed Luke his ID.

“Gabriel Fletcher?” Luke scanned the information on his driver’s license. The picture showed him the way others must see him. Handsome, but not the jaw-dropping beauty he had in his true angel form.

“What’s wrong with my name?”

“Nothing. I’m just—I immediately thought of Jessica Fletcher, from Murder, She Wrote.

“Funny, I thought of Irwin Fletcher, from Fletch.”

“How do you know about Chevy Chase movies?”

“How do you know about Angela Lansbury television shows?”

“My mom loves that show.” Luke waited for Gabriel to answer but he moved over to the window. Luke almost asked him again but he decided it didn’t matter. Maybe he’d seen something in the thrift store that had Chevy Chase on it.

“Look at this view.” Gabriel again lifted his arms as if hugging what stood before him. “That’s what I want to see every morning after I wake up to your face.”

“I want that too.” Luke had rarely let himself crave things he knew he couldn’t afford but this place...

“We can do this. I promise. I have money in the bank. I have a credit history. I can get a job.”

“Doing what?”

“Auto repair.”

“Really?”

“I’m not just another pretty face.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“No, you didn’t say that, but you seem to think I came into your world with nothing. I didn’t. I know about things here. I know about pop culture and other references. If I really need to know something, I can get an answer.”

“You can just ask the air?”

“Not exactly like that but close enough.”

“Great. You can take all of my exams from now on.”

“That would be cheating.” Gabriel pulled Luke close and placed his lips above his, close but not quite touching. “My husband told me that’s a bad thing to do.”

“He’s right.” Luke kissed Gabriel gently. “Isn’t that what this is, though? Cheating?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not taking anything from anyone.”

“The money has to come from somewhere.”

“It comes from everywhere and nowhere.”

“That’s not really an answer.”

“Do you have any idea how much money there is in this world? How many different forms of money there are? Even if I generated an extra million dollars—”

“A million dollars!”

“Shh. You want to ruin this for us?” Gabriel darted his gaze to the other room. “I didn’t say I’d done that. Listen to me, please.”

“Okay.”

“I said even if I generated an extra million dollars, it would be a drop in the bucket. No one would notice. No one but you would care.”

“I just—I don’t want to do anything to hurt anyone else.”

“I’m not.” Gabriel shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Except for Dustin but he deserves a little pain.”

“And you’re not in trouble in any other way?”

“I’m not.” Gabriel moved back and stroked his finger in an X pattern over his chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Don’t say that.” Luke grasped his hand and kissed his finger before letting go.

“Then we’re going to get this place?”

“I...” Luke felt he should say no. But when he thought about why he should say no, he couldn’t pinpoint an answer other than he just should because he should. He hadn’t earned it. That was the part that irritated him.

“Luke?”

“Give me a minute.” If Luke decided to go for this, he had to stop worrying about it. Either he deserved this and Gabriel could make it happen without hurting anyone else or he didn’t deserve it no matter how he got it. Here, he’d be safe. He’d be comfortable. Dustin couldn’t ever get to him again, not without getting past building security and Gabriel. More than anything, that idea sold him. “I think we should get this place.”

“Yes!” Gabriel picked him up and twirled him around. “You’ve made me very happy.”

“It’s mutual.”

“This is all going to work out. You’ll see.”

Luke nodded, determined to face the future with a more positive mindset. He supposed changing the place he lived was just one of the many changes he needed to make.

“I think I’m falling a little bit more in love with you, my husband.” Gabriel kissed Luke’s neck, right against the mark he’d made.

“I think I’m falling a little bit more in love with you too, my husband.” Luke kissed his lips and tried not to whimper in need but he did anyway.

When Gabriel pulled back, heat flared in the depth of his black eyes. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

“I know.” Luke blushed. “I mean that I want you too. That way.”

“If you’re still afraid, we can wait. We have no reason to hurry.”

“I feel ready.” Actually, Luke felt if he didn’t consummate his marriage with Gabriel soon, he might never summon the courage. On one hand, he knew Gabriel would never hurt him, but on the other, he just couldn’t handle all the what ifs. What if he wasn’t any good in bed? What if Gabriel was simply too big for him to take? What if—

“You might try thinking about all the ways it could go right.” Gabriel smiled gently. “What if instead of judging each other on good or bad we work together to make it good for both of us? What if I make sure you’re ready before I even try to fit my cock inside your cute little ass?”

“You know, you listening in on my thoughts might get annoying.”

“Especially when I stop you from overthinking.” Gabriel didn’t wait for a retort. “Let’s go deal with all the paperwork and then get a bed.”

“I doubt we can get one in here tonight.”

“Ye of little faith.”

Turned out that Luke really needed to have more faith. Gabriel, through hook or crook, managed to not only get them an immediate lease so they could move right in, but he managed to find a pet bed at the thrift store that he turned into a massive king bed. Using his angel powers, he also got them blankets and then used Luke’s laptop to order everything else online.

“By Tuesday, we’ll have most of what we need.” Gabriel closed the laptop and put his credit card away.

“It’s all happening so fast.”

“Would you rather move slowly?”

“Well, no. But usually life goes that way. You want something and you don’t just get it right away.” Try as he might, Luke couldn’t shake the feeling that something or someone would show up, laugh in his face, and promptly yank everything out from under him.

“No one is getting in here.” Gabriel had told security about Dustin and he’d taken other precautions. Mostly he made sure Dustin and his buddies couldn’t follow Luke to their new place.

“Eventually, Dustin will figure out where we live. Lakepine just isn’t that big.”

“He will, but I’m hoping by then it won’t matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’ll have a new guy in your old room.”

Luke’s heart hammered hard against his chest. He hadn’t thought of that. His leaving left the door open for Dustin to find another guy to take advantage of.

“Oh, I know that look.” Gabriel pulled Luke close. “We can’t stop him from doing what he does. He has free will.”

“So did those guys in the car the other night.”

“Right. I didn’t stop them from shouting at me. I just made them consider the consequences of screaming slurs at people. See the difference?”

“I just feel I should warn the new guy.”

“You could.” Gabriel nodded. “But do you think he’d believe you?”

“No.” Luke slumped.

“I love that you want to protect the world, but you can’t. You can’t interrupt everyone’s path with what you think the best direction is for them to take.”

“But I should do something.”

“Think of it this way. What if the next guy is the one who changes Dustin?”

“I don’t think that’s any more likely to happen than you do.”

“That’s not the point. The point is, if you stick your nose in a situation that’s not your business, you might mess something up. Something that might change a whole lot of other things.”

“Do you know something you’re not telling me?”

“I don’t. I swear. I’m not playing games. I’m saying you are not in charge of making the world safe from Dustin.”

“What if the next guy gets really badly hurt. Killed, even?”

“Then that’s on Dustin’s head, not yours. Now let it go.”

Luke didn’t want to but he also realized he had no choice. Besides, he had no reason to think anyone would believe him about Dustin. Frankly, when he’d moved in, if someone would have told him about what Dustin was up to, Luke wouldn’t have believed them. No one was going to believe the poster boy for all things hetero liked to fly his gay freak flag under the cover of darkness. Well, some people might believe it, but it wouldn’t change anything. In the end, Luke had to admit that Gabriel was right. He should stay out of Dustin’s life.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s get pizza.”

“Pizza?”

“Yeah. With double cheese and triple pepperoni.”

“I think that might be a bit much.”

“We’ll get a little safer pizza for you.” Gabriel picked up the phone in the kitchen.

“I’m sure that isn’t hooked up.” Frankly, Luke hadn’t seen a house phone in ages. Everyone had smartphones now.

“Yeah, hi. You deliver, right? Great.”

Of course, he’d forgotten about Gabriel’s talents. While Gabriel ordered dinner, Luke returned to the bedroom and fussed with the bed. He kept straightening and re-straitening the covers then double checking that he’d put the bottle of lube in the night table.

“You’re going to overthink it.”

“I know. I can’t seem to stop.” Luke dropped down on the edge of the mattress.

“I think we should wait.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re too uptight about it.” Gabriel offered out his hand. “Come on. We’re going to go play cards until dinner comes. Then we’re going to eat and then read until we’re sleepy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Gabriel pulled him to his feet.

They did exactly what Gabriel said. Cards, food, reading. When Luke started to yawn, Gabriel took him into the bathroom to brush their teeth. Luke found himself smiling at their toothbrushes sitting in the cup together.

Instead of feeling nervous, he climbed into bed with a sense of calm. Even when Gabriel took off all his clothes before getting under the covers, he didn’t worry. One more night for him to get comfortable with the idea. He could handle that. But then Gabriel spooned up against him. He wasn’t hard but Luke was. And getting harder. Gabriel’s scent enveloped him. The feel of his strength tempered by his kindness. The sound of his slow breathing and the stroke of his moist breath on the back of Luke’s neck.

“Husband?” Luke whispered.

“Mmm?” Gabriel asked.

“How angry would you be if I changed my mind?”

“About eating more pizza?”

“No.” Luke laughed. “About putting it off for another night.”

“Not very.”

“I think I’ve changed my mind.” Luke rolled over and found Gabriel grinning. “What’s that smile about?”

“I had a feeling that you’d change your mind if I took the pressure off.”

“You did?”

“You did last night.”

“Good point.”

“And speaking of points.” Gabriel slid his hand against Luke’s cock. “You’re very hard.”

“Because of you.”

“What did I do?”

“Exist?” Luke grinned. “You smell good and feel good and—I want you.”

“I want you too.” Gabriel pulled him close, kissing him while stroking lightly over his body. Gentle touches turned more heated. Soon, Luke found himself on his back, his leg lifted over Gabriel’s hip. While teasing his fingers around Luke’s oh-so-sensitive puckered skin, Gabriel kept on kissing him. And then he twirled his tongue around Luke’s tongue the same way he teased that finger around his hole.

Luke hit a level of lust he’d never known before, which made him rock his hips and groan softly. Adding slick lube to the mix just made Luke whimper in earnest.

“Are you ready for more?” Gabriel asked, pulling back so they could see one another in the milky moonlight spilling through their picture window.

“Yes. Please.” Luke grasped Gabriel’s arm, holding onto him while he eased one finger inside. Luke’s eyes rolled back and he spread his legs wider.

“You look so perfect.” Gabriel leaned over him, covering his mouth, kissing him while sliding that thick finger in and out at a pace that made Luke frantic for more. Just when he didn’t think Gabriel understood what he wanted, he slipped another finger in beside the first. Luke moaned so loud he thought for sure the animals in the hills heard him. Hungry for even more, he rocked his hips more insistently in an effort to encourage Gabriel to go faster and deeper, but he held to that steady beat.

“Are you ready for more?”

“I’m ready for you to be on top of me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Luke had dreamed of this moment so many times but he’d never imagined he’d be with a man like Gabriel. Not just a man, but his husband. His guardian angel.

For once, Gabriel looked worried.

“What’s wrong?” Luke cupped his face. “Oh, Gabriel. I never even—I just kept thinking about myself. If you’re not ready, I can wait.”

“You’re sweet, but that’s not it. I want to do this with you it’s just that you mean everything to me and I don’t want to hurt you.” He cupped Luke’s face and kissed him very gently.

“Then don’t.”

“Right.” Gabriel laughed lightly. “Keep looking at me. I need to see you. To make sure.”

“Okay.” Luke felt a quiver race through his whole body when Gabriel rose over him. He didn’t feel fear. Not a bit. He felt anticipation. Longing. And a walloping dose of lust.

“Your thoughts encourage me.” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows.

“I’m so glad you came to me.”

“I’m so glad I took the risk.”

“What risk?”

But Gabriel claimed his mouth and pressed the head of his cock against Luke’s hole, making him forget everything in the world other than their joining. Slowly, insistently, Gabriel pushed against him, easing his way inside while keeping their gazes locked.

When Luke gasped and clenched up, Gabriel backed off. Only when Luke regained his breath did Gabriel continue. Eventually the head of his cock popped inside, causing a flare of pain that quickly receded. Gabriel held steady above him until Luke nodded.

“And you?” Luke asked.

“I’m okay.”

“You’re shaking.”

“From holding back.” Heat flared in Gabriel’s gaze. “There is a confusing tug between wanting to go as slowly as possible so as not to hurt you but also to go as fast as possible to claim every inch of you.”

“Slow first, fast later.” Luke wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s shoulders.

“Wise.” Gabriel kissed him while holding steady, allowing Luke to become used to the feel of him inside his body.

Ready for more, Luke lifted his hips, claiming another inch of his mate’s cock.

Gabriel groaned. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Luke’s. “The feel of you, your heat, the way your ass pulls me in even when I’m trying to hold back...”

“I can feel your heartbeat throbbing in your cock.” Luke kissed Gabriel’s neck and then bit him gently before latching on and sucking.

“Oh, my husband.” Gabriel’s breath shuddered against Luke’s chest. “I do not know if I can last.”

“Try.” Luke sucked against his neck, feeling insane pride at marking him.

“For you.” Gabriel pulled away from Luke’s biting kiss then claimed his mouth.

Carefully, Gabriel continued to slide inside Luke until they’d joined completely. When that moment happened, they pressed their foreheads together and held still, breathing hard. After what felt like the longest yet shortest moment in the world, Luke opened his eyes. A second later, Gabriel opened his. And then he began to move. Slowly at first, pulling almost all the way out then sliding all the way back, he worked his cock along Luke’s channel with gentle perfection. Each slide rubbed against Luke’s prostate, making sparks fly over his body. When Gabriel kissed him, the sparks came from two places, his lips and ass. Ever so slowly, Gabriel increased the pace. Luke tightened his hold on his mate’s shoulders and then wrapped his legs around his hips.

“Oh, God.” Luke struggled not to climax. He dug his fingertips into Gabriel’s shoulders and his feet into his muscular ass. “Oh, God.”

“I think you should not say my boss’s name while I’m making love to you.”

Luke laughed, which made Gabriel laugh too.

“Sorry,” Luke said. “I didn’t even realize.”

“At least now I’m not so close to climax.” Gabriel rolled his hips, drilling himself deeper into Luke’s willing body.

“I never thought it would be like this.”

“What, fun?”

“I thought it would be serious and, I don’t know. I’m just really, really glad I was wrong.”

“Me too.” Gabriel kissed him then rocked his hips forward.

“Oh, my—that’s... yeah. Do that again.”

Gabriel rolled and rocked his hips.

Luke uttered a whimper of need.

Gabriel growled then lowered his mouth to Luke’s neck. He bit him again and then sucked at the mark, darkening it. While he tugged at Luke’s flesh, he increased his pace, then he rose up, balancing himself on his elbows so that he could hold Luke’s face between his massive hands. His fathomless gaze darted over Luke’s features, watching for pain, for anything amiss. He found nothing. Luke spread his legs as wide as they would go, wrapping them hard around his husband’s hips, digging in his heels to make him go faster.

Gabriel drew a deep breath then increased his pace.

Just like Luke thought, Gabriel’s powerful body allowed him to fuck good and hard without tiring. Sweat covered them both and their breathing grew erratic.

“I cannot last.” Gabriel pressed his forehead to Luke’s.

“I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.” Luke cupped Gabriel’s face the same way Gabriel held his.

While looking right into one another’s eyes, they rocked their bodies faster and faster until that moment of no return...

Luke gasped when he came. Reflexively, he tightened around his husband’s cock, crushing him in rhythmic pulses.

Gabriel said something dark and dirty in another language then pinned Luke down by thrusting his hips so hard against him he pushed Luke into the mattress, making it so he couldn’t move.

Luke felt the pulse of his release, felt the gushing heat of his climax, and smiled. What in the world had he ever been afraid of? This was the best thing, the most powerfully pleasurable thing, he’d ever done in his life. Nothing else came close to this, to the honesty of this. He almost wanted to cry at how beautiful their first time had been.

“I can hear your thoughts.” Gabriel kissed him and then rose up. “I feel the same way. I thought... Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. I was wrong.”

“Me too. I thought it would be so serious and I never thought I’d laugh but it was more than I’d ever hoped for.” Luke hugged him hard with his arms and legs. “You’re probably tired from holding yourself up.”

“Not at all.” Gabriel kissed him then grinned. “As you noticed, I have powerful muscles that...how did you put it?” Gabriel tilted his head. “Ah, yes. I could probably fuck for hours if not days.”

“Is that what I thought?” Luke pretended to consider. “Doesn’t sound like me. Me being all prim and proper.”

“I won’t argue with that.” Gabriel kissed the tip of Luke’s nose. “I had to marry you just to get you to take off your pants.”

“Well, you’re an angel. You can’t just go around banging people all willy-nilly.”

“Right.”

“Actually, now that you’re married, you can’t bang anyone but me.”

“I have no interest in anyone but you.” Gabriel kissed him.

Working together, they moved to their sides, facing one another.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Gabriel asked.

“Making everything in my life right for a change.”

“Everything?”

“Most everything. I’m happy. And I honestly never thought I’d be happy until much, much later.”

“You deserve to be happy now.”

“Everyone does.”

“If only they could meet their guardian angels.”

Luke thought about asking Gabriel some questions on the topic, but he yawned. Now was not the time to get into a long discussion. Tomorrow, or even the day after that, would be soon enough. Then again, after a few days, maybe everything that seemed to be such a pressing worry wouldn’t be one anymore. Luke began to suspect a lot of the things he worried about were just mirages. If he drove on by, the illusion of a problem disappeared. For tonight, at least, he had no worries.

Chapter Eight

Two months later, the spell broke. But during those two months, Luke lived his dream life. He cherished every day he had with Gabriel. He reveled in every night they spent discovering new ways to join their bodies and give one another pleasure. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they gasped, but always they enjoyed what they did together.

Luke loved his husband with every fiber of his being. Luke honored him, accepted him, and even let the pancakes burn because Gabriel distracted him with intoxicating kisses. Nothing mattered but building a life together. While Luke attended college, Gabriel found a job repairing automobiles and motorcycles. The local garage loved having him. He had an almost preternatural ability to diagnose engine troubles and Gabriel honestly enjoyed helping people. Whenever the person didn’t have enough money, Gabriel made sure they somehow got enough money to cover the repair.

Luke found himself falling more and more in love with his husband every day.

Dustin didn’t bother them. He’d found another young man to rent out the room on the floor above his. Luke had no idea if they were sleeping together or not. He wished he didn’t care but, of course, he did.

“You can’t change who you are.” Gabriel pulled him into his embrace. He smelled of grease, gas, metal, and all things from the garage. Luke discovered he loved those scents when they merged with the smell of his husband.

“I guess not. I keep thinking it would be better if I didn’t care but I do.”

“That’s not a bad thing, my husband.”

“I just—I care about you too, you know.”

“But I’m fine.” Gabriel pulled back and smiled that smile that had started to wear just a little bit around the edges.

“I know.” Luke forced himself to smile despite the fact that they both knew something wasn’t quite right. Luke wanted to ask but every time he tried, Gabriel found a way to put him off, a way usually involving his very talented mouth. Kissing, sucking, lightly biting. Whatever Gabriel did made Luke forget what he’d been talking about. Gabriel turned out to be very good at distracting Luke.

But one night, Gabriel didn’t come home.

Anxiety ate at Luke, making his hands shake and cold sweat turn his armpits into a winter swamp. Calls to the garage went unanswered but Luke tried not to worry because they would be closed by now. He called the bar where Gabriel sometimes went after work for a beer with his coworkers. He wasn’t there. Luke called every place he could think of but turned up nothing. Gabriel always told him if he wasn’t going to be home on time.

Always.

As the night grew darker, Luke found his overactive imagination coming up with all kinds of horrible things. Gabriel had a lot of abilities but he also had a secret. Something involving his boss. Luke hadn’t allowed himself to think too much about the fact that Gabriel, despite working at a local garage, also still worked for God.

And God could be extremely vengeful.

Luke tried to focus on his homework. He tried to keep a positive attitude that Gabriel had just gone off to help someone or maybe he’d gone to someone’s house. The guys he worked with really liked him. Maybe instead of going to the bar, they’d gone somewhere else and Gabriel had just forgotten to call him and tell him.

Only, Gabriel always came home. A little late, a little drunk, but he came home and he swept Luke up into his arms and kissed him silly on the way to the bathroom so he could clean up.

Tonight, when the clock struck midnight and Gabriel hadn’t returned, Luke bit at his lips and chewed at the edges of his nails. He hadn’t done either in almost a year. Tonight he couldn’t help himself. Where had Gabriel gone?

Luke wanted to call the police, but instinctively knew they wouldn’t do anything. As an adult, Gabriel had the right to come and go as he pleased. The police would probably laugh at Luke. They’d say that maybe Gabriel had gotten bored and found another guy to be with.

Luke couldn’t imagine Gabriel with another guy no matter how hard he tried. Gabriel wasn’t that kind of man. He’d taken their vows seriously. He always made sure to tap their rings together before he left and when he came home. Gabriel loved him. Of that, Luke had no doubt.

Something, or someone, had kept him from coming home.

Two things stuck in Luke’s mind. One, the devil had said that if Gabriel wanted to stay here without the Big Guy finding out, he could make that happen. Two, when Luke had been grateful that Gabriel had come to him, Gabriel had said that he was glad he’d taken the risk.

Luke had been shoving the problems to the back of his mind. Instinctively, he’d known if he let himself think too deeply about them, he’d overthink them and come up with some scary conclusions. Of course, all he’d really done was try to pretend there weren’t any problems when there clearly were. Surely, guardian angels were supposed to stay in heaven. Luke had managed to accidentally summon Gabriel. And Gabriel had stayed when he shouldn’t have.

Had God called Gabriel home?

When he found that thought just too terrifying to think about, Luke decided he had to think about something else. Or someone else.

As the night turned to morning, Luke wondered if Dustin had done something. Dustin hadn’t made any effort to contact Luke since he’d moved out, but that didn’t mean Dustin had moved on. Even with another guy in that room, Dustin could still be holding a grudge.

Luke fell into a troubled sleep then went to school the next day but he couldn’t pay attention. They said a big chunk of life was just showing up. He hoped that counted for something because his focus and concentration were far from the classroom.

Mostly, Luke tried to figure out a way to summon Gabriel again. During the fight with Dustin, Luke’s blood had splattered down onto Dustin’s shirt, creating a sigil. If Luke could recreate that design, he should be able to summon Gabriel a second time. Of course, if God had called him back to heaven, nothing might happen. Or maybe he’d summon a different angel if Gabriel was still on earth. Instead of worrying about that, Luke decided he should focus on trying to recreate the sigil first.

He doodled in his notebook, trying to remember how the blood had looked, but he’d had tears and blood in his eyes. Worse, he’d only seen the design upside-down. When a new thought hit, he sat up so straight he cracked his back, drawing the attention of nearby students.

Dustin’s T-shirt would have the design on it!

All he had to do was go home, get that T-shirt, and—

Luke slumped back down. Dustin had destroyed both T-shirts during his rampage in Luke’s room. Closing his eyes, Luke tried to think of something else that he could do, but his mind kept returning to that pile of rags on his floor.

Gabriel had fixed everything. He’d taken the tatters of the clothing and returned them to their pre-shredded shape. Everything but for Dustin’s blue T-shirt.

“Because it hadn’t been in the pile.”

“What?” the guy next to Luke asked, yanking him back to the classroom.

“Nothing. Sorry.” Luke pretended to take notes on the lecture but he actually returned to his deep thoughts. Dustin’s T-shirt had been light blue. Not navy blue like the T-shirt Gabriel had found in Luke’s drawer and worn with the fabric he’d turned into a kilt. That meant Dustin had taken that light blue T-shirt. Dustin had gobs of clothing. He also bought new things all the time, giving the other guys his castoffs, something he did to spread goodwill toward himself but could there be another reason? What if part of Dustin’s deal with the devil somehow involved him using magic? Could Dustin have put some kind of spell on his old clothing?

The other guys really had followed Dustin almost blindly. No matter what he said or did, no matter how outrageous, they always seemed to go along. Like in that circle during the fight. Not one of them had stepped up to say maybe it was a bad idea, that they should try to get along. They’d all practically been cheering Dustin on. And too, not one nosy neighbor so much as made a peep when that had never happened before. Luke had figured it all had been just his bad luck but maybe his run of misery had another source than just him drawing the short end of the stick.

Luke remembered the one time Dustin had given him one of his extra shirts. It had hung on him but Dustin encouraged him to wear it anyway. To wear it as a nightshirt, even. Luke remembered feeling queasy at the thought. Not because of Dustin, but because of the too-big shirt his family had given him. Dustin’s gift had felt like just another reminder that he was a scrawny loser. He’d told Dustin he would wear it but then he’d thrown it away. Not at the apartments, but at school. Luke hadn’t wanted to take the chance that Dustin would see the shirt in the garbage and get his feelings hurt, but maybe he’d actually been instinctively protecting himself.

Had Dustin taken that blood-stained shirt and used it to hurt Gabriel?

If he had, why wait for two months?

The answer came and made Luke sick to his stomach. Dustin would have waited on purpose. Just like he had when Luke moved into that room, Dustin didn’t leap on him the first night. Dustin had taken his time. He’d smoothed the way for asking for more by asking for little things at first and then giving Luke more than what he’d taken. If Dustin borrowed a stamp, he gave Luke back two. If he borrowed some paper, he gave back a new pad of paper. Each time, Luke felt more and more in Dustin’s debt so that by the time he asked for what he really wanted, Luke felt he couldn’t really say no. He’d also thought he could trust Dustin.

In this case, Dustin would have wanted Luke to feel happy and safe before he yanked the rug out from under him. Dustin would want it to hurt. Not just hurt, but he’d want the pain to cut Luke right to the bone.

And it had.

If he’d lost Gabriel that day after he’d saved him from the fight, it would have been sad but Luke wouldn’t have been attached, not in the way he was now. Two months had turned falling a little bit in love into being full-on, no holds barred, totally consumed by love. Now, Luke couldn’t imagine his life without Gabriel.

But to believe that, Luke had to believe that Dustin would go to great lengths to hurt other people. Luke hadn’t wronged him in any way. All he’d done was cut Dustin off from his late night visits. No more brojobs in the dark. At the time, Dustin had shrugged and acted like he didn’t care. He’d even said he could just go hookup with another one of the guys. Luke had wished him well and gone back to studying. A few days later, a lot of little things had started to happen. Luke’s food disappeared from the fridge. Luke’s mail disappeared from the mailbox. Luke’s rent payment never made it to the landlord, necessitating he drop off cash. The landlord lived on the other side of town, meaning Luke had to put more gas in his car that he already could barely afford. A lot of little headaches added up to a major migraine. Of course, Luke had blamed his bad luck. He’d never once thought Dustin had been retaliating against him.

He did now.

But where would Dustin have taken Gabriel? And how? Gabriel could effortlessly defend himself against Dustin. Well, physically he could, but magically? Luke really needed to know exactly what kind of deal Dustin had made with that devil. Since he wasn’t likely to discover that anytime soon, Luke decided he might be better off tracking Dustin.

Luke opened his laptop, connected to the school’s wi-fi, and then opened a program one of his fellow computer geeks had been playing with. By plugging in a phone number, the location of the phone could be had with simple GPS tracking. Luke didn’t have a cellphone, but he did have a virtual number. People could call and leave him voice messages that the service turned into text and emailed a transcript to him. That way, no one knew that Luke couldn’t afford a phone. The service also kept track of all the numbers that called him. It took less than sixty seconds for Luke to get Dustin’s phone number and enter it into the other program. It took about ninety seconds for the program to locate Dustin’s phone.

Dustin wasn’t at school.

From the readout, Dustin was at home.

Luke frowned. He checked Dustin’s social media, which showed him in class.

Luke opened another program and hacked his way into the school’s computer system then pulled up Dustin’s class schedule. Chemistry. Why would Dustin tell everyone he was in school when he was really at home? Whenever Dustin took a day off, he had no problem posting his exploits all over the place. No teacher would ever call him on it when Dustin’s family name graced the front of two buildings on campus.

Instead of sitting there wondering, Luke gathered his things and ducked out the back of the classroom. The teacher gave him a dirty look, but Luke didn’t care. He had bigger things to worry about then getting docked a few points for attendance.

Luke drove toward the boarding house turned apartment building but he didn’t park in the lot behind. He didn’t want anyone to know he was coming. Instead, he parked up the street two blocks. Instead of taking his backpack with him, he locked it in the trunk. He didn’t want anything to get in his way if he had to break in. Of course, that made him reconsider. How did one break into a building?

Since he had no clue, Luke emptied his school supplies out of his backpack then filled it with random tools. He also included duct tape and WD40. As the saying went, if it moved and it shouldn’t, use duct tape. If it didn’t move and it should, use WD40. He also took a hammer. If all else failed, he’d break a damn window. He also tossed in his winter gloves. No reason to cut up his hands. He shoved in some rope too just in case. He thought it would be better to be prepared.

After a deep breath, he slammed the trunk and took off toward the building.

He scanned the neighborhood for anything suspicious but didn’t see anything out of place. Things looked the way they always had. A few little kids played in the front yards with watchful mothers on the porches. A few dogs barked from backyards, stopping once Luke went out of their range of hearing or sight. All and all it seemed like a perfectly ordinary spring day.

But the hair on the back of his neck stood at full attention and he kept getting jolts that made him taste metal in his mouth. Something was wrong. Only Luke couldn’t see what. Then again, it might not be something he could see. It might be something he felt on some wavelength. He’d heard that when two people had a strong connection, they could feel when the other was in trouble. If Luke had a spidey sense, it was definitely tingling. Then again, he was doing something he shouldn’t be doing, or at least planning to do something he shouldn’t be doing. Luke hadn’t been much of a criminal in his short life. The most he’d ever done was swipe some ketchup packets and even then he’d felt bad about it.

Finding Dustin’s car in the parking lot made him reassess. Could he be home sick? Only, Dustin’s car wasn’t parked in his usual spot. He’d claimed the lone spot that put him closest to the path that went around to the front door. If anyone else parked there, they only did it once. Luke had never made that mistake after watching Dustin hassle someone who had.

Instead, Dustin’s car was parked close to the concrete stairwell that went down to the basement of the building.

Luke shivered. As part of his lease, he’d been allowed some storage space down there, but one look at the ill-lit and cobweb infested space made him refuse. Not only did he not need to store anything, but even if he did, he wouldn’t put it down there. Now, though, when he thought about that mostly open space, he thought about what someone could put down there. Given how thick the floor between the basement and the first floor was—at least two feet and it had been stuffed with insulation—Luke figured it wouldn’t be that difficult to keep someone locked up down there.

“No one would hear them even if they screamed.”

Luke clapped a hand to his mouth. He wasn’t one to talk to himself but right now he felt like anyone but himself. And the truth was, he wasn’t himself. Not anymore. Being with Gabriel had changed him. Instead of going home to wait and wonder, Luke took action. He might be quaking in his boots, but he swore he’d do anything to protect Gabriel.

After casually glancing around, Luke padded down the steps, thankful he’d worn his sneakers. Maybe that’s how they got the name. The soft rubber sole allowed him to sneak around. When he reached the bottom, he took a deep breath then pressed his head against the door.

Luke had prepared himself for just about anything other than what happened.

The door came open, he fell inside, and found himself looking up at a familiar face.

Chapter Nine

“So glad you could join us.” Dustin’s devil grabbed Luke by the front of his jacket and yanked him to his feet as if he weighed no more than a sack of laundry. He shoved Luke toward the far end of the open basement then closed and locked the door.

“What was your name again?” Luke tried to keep his heart from pounding its way out of his chest.

“I didn’t give it but you can call me Thrash.”

“Seriously?”

“Shut up, Puke.” Thrash shoved Luke again, but Luke had prepared himself for it and kept on his feet. He also took a look around. Thrash or Dustin had covered up all the windows with newspapers. It gave feeble brown-tinged light but more importantly it gave them complete privacy for whatever despicable deeds they wanted to get up to. Luke didn’t think there was another way into the basement but from the outside door.

“Where’s Gabriel?” Luke hoped his voice sounded as calm to Thrash as it did to his own ears.

“Aw, do you miss your guardian angel?”

“Why else would I ask?” Luke decided that the devil probably couldn’t do a lot to him. From what little Gabriel had shared about how devils worked, they made deals. They couldn’t torture or harm someone to get them to agree to make a deal. They had to offer something the person wanted, something more valuable than their own soul. In Luke’s world, the only thing he considered more important than his eternal soul was his husband.

“Don’t worry. Your guardian angel is here.” Thrash grinned, showing off hideously sharp teeth. Frankly, he seemed to have too many teeth to fit in his mouth. “And he has a friend.”

“Friend?” Luke asked, gripping tightly to the strap of his backpack.

“You’ll see.” Thrash kept shoving Luke toward the far end of the basement, the place right below the kitchen. At first, the blackness confused him, until he realized someone had strung up black fabric, encasing the last twenty or so feet of the room.

When Luke stumbled through the curtain, he realized it wasn’t real but like a hologram or a glamor spell. On the other side, he found Gabriel, gagged so he couldn’t talk and bound to one of the concrete pillars that held up the house.

“Gabriel.”

Fear widened his husband’s eyes.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t hurt him.” Thrash put his arm around Luke’s shoulders but spoke to Gabriel. “But I will if you don’t behave.”

Fury turned Gabriel’s eyes darker than black. For a second, Luke feared they would become like black holes and consume all the matter in the room.

Movement drew Luke’s attention to the other pillar.

“Dustin.”

He didn’t even look up. Blood covered his face, his chest, and most of what else Luke could see. Dustin looked as if he’d been thrashed with a weed whacker.

“What did you do to him?” Luke asked.

“Tried to make a deal but he refused.” Thrash laughed and tightened his hold on Luke. “Some people can be so stubborn.”

“You can’t force him to make a deal with you.” Luke examined Gabriel. He seemed unhurt. Bound and gagged, but no injuries. “That’s not how it works.”

“And what do you know about making deals with the devil?” Thrash lifted his chin as if to point at Gabriel. “Did he tell you how it works?”

“So what if he did?” Luke wasn’t about to lie but he saw no reason to tell the truth either.

“You think maybe he lied to you?” Thrash leaned close and breathed in Luke’s ear. “Why would he tell you the truth and let you make a better deal than what he gave you?”

Instinctively, Luke wanted to get as far away from Thrash a possible. He reeked of brimstone and felt twice as hot as a normal human. Luke quashed that instinct. If he wanted to know what Thrash had been up to, pretending to be interested would get him a lot further than showing his true repulsion.

“I sincerely doubt you could top the deal he offered.” Luke rolled his eyes dismissively but used the gesture to get more details about the space around him. He didn’t see anything he could use. Apparently, Thrash didn’t need tools to torture Dustin. From the appearance of the injuries, he’d been using his claws.

“Anything he can do, I can do better.”

“Isn’t that from a song?” Luke sighed. “Cut him free and we’ll be on our way.”

“You haven’t even heard my offer.”

“Well, then, spit it out.” Luke lifted his brows and shrugged.

“How about I give you back your husband?”

“And?”

“And?” Thrash asked.

“You can’t keep him here forever.”

“Says who?”

“Says anyone who realizes this isn’t how you want to be spending your time.” Luke eased his way out from under Thrash’s arm. “You’re going to get sick of this long before anyone else does.”

Thrash glared hard enough it almost hurt but a quick look at Gabriel revealed a grin. Luke figured Gabriel might have thought he’d make a deal for his freedom but Luke knew he didn’t need to do that. Two months ago, Luke might have panicked and done anything Thrash wanted but he knew better now. Luke had learned how to stand up to bullies. He’d taken baby steps with Dustin but those tottering steps allowed him to stand strong against Thrash.

“This one will give me what I want.” Thrash moved to Dustin’s side and lifted his face. “Eventually.”

Blood-encrusted claw marks ran from Dustin’s hairline to his chest and probably lower but Luke stopped his gaze from going any farther.

“Okay.” Luke shrugged.

“What do you mean, okay?”

“Your deal with Dustin has nothing to do with me or Gabriel.”

Thrash’s upper lip curled exactly the way Dustin’s had that day during the fight. Contempt. Condescension. Both? Luke wasn’t entirely sure but he also didn’t give a fuck. Thrash’s opinion of him didn’t matter in the least. And then Thrash’s right eye narrowed. Not a lot, just enough for Luke to realize Thrash hadn’t expected him not to care. Luke cared but not enough to put Dustin above himself and certainly not above Gabriel.

“My deal has a lot to do with you.” Thrash tried to drape his arm over Luke again but he sidestepped the gesture. Another curl of his lip and an even narrower side-eye. “Make a deal or I’ll tell your husband exactly what your relationship with Dustin was about.”

“He already knows.” Luke refused to be intimidated.

“Does he?” Thrash smirked then turned that red-eyed gaze to Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded and looked positively bored.

“Then I’ll tell you what Gabriel did.”

“Gabriel’s told me everything I need to know.”

“Oh, I doubt that very much.”

“I’m not making a deal with you for information that I either don’t need or already have.” Luke went to Gabriel’s side and realized Thrash had duct taped oven mitts over his hands. Now Luke knew why Gabriel hadn’t been able to free himself. Gagging him had also prevented Gabriel from ordering the devil to leave.

“Don’t touch that.” Thrash yanked Luke away from Gabriel.

“Go away.” Luke returned to Gabriel’s side.

“I’ll tie you up too.”

“You can’t.” Luke wasn’t afraid of Thrash at all anymore. If he could have done something, he would have. If only Luke could remember what Gabriel had said to make Thrash leave the bathroom. The phrase had made the devil cringe.

“What makes you think that?” Thrash asked.

“You can’t touch me unless I let you.”

“I touched Gabriel.”

“No, you didn’t. You had Dustin do the dirty work because you couldn’t.”

Another glaring sneer.

“I’m just going to wait until you get sick of this.”

“You’ll get sick of it before I will.”

“Not likely.” Luke leaned against the wall nearest Gabriel.

“I figured if Gabriel could break the rules and stay here, why couldn’t I?” Thrash put his arm around the bound Dustin then licked his face, making Dustin whimper. “Why should anyone follow the rules when breaking them is so much more fun?”

“Still don’t see what that has to do with me or Gabriel.”

“God will come for him.” Thrash squeezed Dustin’s shoulder, turning his whimper into a scream that would have filled the basement but for his gag.

“That’s between Gabriel and God.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Thrash slapped Dustin’s face but kept his gaze on Luke.

“Nothing’s wrong with me.” It took everything Luke had not to wince or show any kind of reaction. He didn’t want Dustin to get hurt, but the only reason Thrash could hurt him was because Thrash owned his soul. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to lay a claw on him. “I’m starting to wonder what’s wrong with you.”

Dustin mumbled something.

“Quiet, boy.” Thrash slapped his face, causing the gag to loosen.

“Needs body.” Dustin gasped the two words before Thrash could stuff the gag back in and then tighten it.

“Never mind him. He doesn’t know what he saying.” Thrash stomped on Dustin’s foot with his hoof, making Dustin scream and then slump down. “Look what you made me do.” Thrash slapped Dustin a few times but he didn’t wake up. “Now where were we? Ah, yes. A deal.” Thrash grinned at Luke. “Let’s make a deal.”

“No.” Luke thought he had the pieces put together. Thrash wanted to stay here but in order to do that, he needed a human body. He wanted Dustin’s, but apparently Dustin was smart enough not to let him in, probably because he wouldn’t be able to kick him back out. And then Luke remembered what Gabriel had said to him in the bathroom. “Begone, foul one.”

Thrash shivered all over then his skin roiled as if a million little bugs all lived beneath the outer shell.

“Begone, foul one.” Luke threw everything he had into the command.

“Let me in!” Thrash grasped Dustin’s shoulders and shook him. His head lolled boneless, bashing into the cement column with a sickening sound like a wet sponge. “Let me in!”

“Begone, foul one!” Luke screamed the words over and over.

“I’ll make you pay for this.” Thrash disappeared in a puff of red-black smoke that smelled of brimstone.

Luke rushed to Gabriel’s side. He pulled off his gag and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Now that you’re here, I am.”

Luke gave him a quick kiss then yanked off the duct tape that held the oven mitts on. Once he freed his hands, Gabriel made quick work of the rope then pulled Luke into his arms.

“I knew you’d find me.”

“I kept thinking something was wrong but I didn’t want to believe it.”

“You did everything exactly right.” Gabriel moved back just enough to kiss Luke as if they’d been separated for days instead of hours. “I thought he’d get you to panic.”

“Someone taught me I had the right to stand up for myself.”

“You certainly do.” Gabriel kissed him again then turned his gaze to Dustin. “If not for him, none of this would have happened.”

“I knew Thrash couldn’t have tied you up.” Luke felt a little sorry for Dustin but he’d made the mess he now stood in.

“Right, Thrash couldn’t have done it, but he knew what to have Dustin do. Summoning me with the blood-soaked shirt then binding me so that I couldn’t use any of my powers.” Gently, Gabriel removed Dustin’s gag and the bindings then let Dustin slide down into a seated position.

“I’m so sorry.” Dustin kept his head down. Luke couldn’t blame him. If he’d helped a devil tie up an angel, he’d be ashamed too. “I had to do what he wanted.”

“You’re always going to have to do what he wants.” Gabriel lifted Dustin’s face. “But if you ever come near me or Luke again, I will kill you.”

“You’re an angel.”

“And you no longer own your soul.”

“Maybe I’ll call him back and let him in.” Dustin smiled with his blood-coated teeth.

“Do that.” Gabriel let go and stepped back. “Let’s get out of here.”

Luke had a dozen questions but he kept silent until he and Gabriel got in the car. Once he had them on the road, Luke quietly asked, “Why in the world would you tell Luke to let a devil into his body?”

“Because he thinks, just like Thrash, that he can manipulate people into helping him. I’m not going to help Dustin. If he lets that devil into his body, I’ll kill him. If he comes near you, I’ll kill him.”

“He won’t be able to do anything to me, though.” Luke turned down Main Street. “And if he has a devil in him, he won’t be able to hurt you either, will he?”

“No.” Gabriel made a fist then slowly released it.

“You’re in trouble, aren’t you?” Luke didn’t expect Gabriel to answer so he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t. They got all the way home, parked, and entered the apartment before Luke tried again. “Are you in trouble?”

“We need to talk.” Gabriel whipped off his jacket and his boots. “But first, I want to wash the stink of brimstone off me.”

Luke followed him into the bathroom, stripping off his clothing as he went. He hadn’t even been down in the basement that long but he reeked of brimstone and nervous sweat. Naked, he stepped into the shower with Gabriel. He soaped up his hands and rubbed them against Gabriel’s back. Luke took the time to appreciate the feel of every single muscle. When he washed his hair, he tried to imprint the feel of each and every strand.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not trying to hide it from you.” Luke allowed Gabriel to wash him. He noticed Gabriel took the same time and attention while washing him. Luke felt tears threaten but he held them off. All along he’d known this was coming. He could have, no he should have, done something long before now. He hadn’t because he kept thinking something would happen. New information or a maybe even a deal that would save them both from the inevitable.

“I’m sorry.” Gabriel stroked down along Luke’s buttocks. “I shouldn’t have broken the rules.”

“Why did you?”

“Because I wanted to be with you.” Gabriel kissed his neck. “You were worth the risk.”

“Then stay.”

“I can’t.” Gabriel tried to turn Luke around to face him but he wouldn’t. “Not looking at me isn’t going to change anything.”

“I just don’t want you to see me cry.”

“I never meant to hurt you.” Gabriel pressed his forehead against the back of Luke’s neck. “I just wanted so very much to be with you.”

Abruptly, Luke turned and plastered himself against Gabriel’s chest. “I never trusted until I met you. I never knew I could stand up for myself until I met you.” Dropping his voice to a whisper, Luke added, “I never thought I’d love anyone until I met you.”

Gabriel claimed his mouth and kissed him, saying it all without saying a word.

And then he was gone.

Luke finished showering and then stepped out. He wrapped himself in a huge towel then wandered around the house. He half expected everything Gabriel had owned or changed with his angelic powers to have disappeared, but everything remained. Luke couldn’t decide if he was happy about that or not. Mostly he tried not to think at all. He tried not to feel.

He tried to go as numb as he could.

He went to the picture window in the bedroom and stood there for hours. He watched the light slowly fade from the sky then watched the stars come out. He might have stayed there all night but the need for sleep urged him to climb into bed.

Luke slept.

In the morning, he didn’t get up. He rolled over and went back to sleep. When the phone rang, he got up, went into the kitchen, turned the ringer off, and went back to bed. Eventually, he couldn’t fall asleep anymore so he got up and stared out the window again.

Day after day followed the same pattern until Luke decided he couldn’t keep wallowing in misery. He had to move forward even when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Gabriel wouldn’t want him to fall apart. But what really made Luke get up and get back to living was remembering that his guardian angel was still up there, watching over him. A week or so to mourn his loss and then Luke slowly picked up the pieces of his life.

He went back to school and made up all his missing homework.  

Luke figured he’d have to find a new place to live, but the agent told him otherwise.

“Your husband got a great lease because he paid for six months in advance.” She frowned delicately. “Didn’t he tell you that?”

“He might have but...” Luke really didn’t know what to say so he said the truest thing he could. “He’s gone.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She clutched Luke’s arm instead of hugging him.

Too late Luke realized that sounded as if Gabriel had died but he didn’t correct her. How in the world could he explain that his husband had gone back to heaven? She’d either think he was lying or nuts or both. Instead, he thanked her then asked how long Gabriel had signed a lease for.

“A year.”

“Okay.”

“We’d be happy to have you stay on after that, of course.” She handed him a stack of paperwork. “If you can get close to that rent, we’d we willing to work with you.”

“Thanks.” Luke didn’t agree or disagree. Right now, he just needed to find out what he owed, how much, and when. Until he had a complete financial picture in his head, he couldn’t commit to anything.

When he started looking into exactly what Gabriel had done, Luke found himself smiling and crying in alternate waves. Just like a true guardian angel, Gabriel must have known he would have to go back to heaven. He’d done everything he could to give Luke the best boost forward that he could. Not only had he paid the rent in advance, but he’d banked money for the utilities too. Luke didn’t really have to worry until summer. At that point, he’d be out of school and able to devote the time needed to finding a new place.

Luke decided that what Gabriel would really want him to do was focus on his education, so that’s what he did. Sure, in one way he used it to distract himself from the pain of losing Gabriel, but he also needed to work on himself.

Night was the hardest time.

Often, Luke couldn’t sleep. He found himself staring out the bedroom window and wondering what Gabriel was doing. Of course, Gabriel had told him they didn’t have bodies in heaven. They didn’t eat or sleep or do anything other than watch.

Luke hoped he didn’t disappoint Gabriel.

He also prayed that God hadn’t punished him. Luke never had been all that religious but he thought offering up his prayers certainly couldn’t hurt.

Dustin disappeared from school, from town, from his online accounts.

Luke didn’t worry about it. Dustin might have made a deal with his devil. He might have tried to outrun the deal he’d made. Either way, it didn’t affect Luke. No matter what he did or didn’t do, he couldn’t have helped Dustin. He’d made his own choices and had to suffer the consequences.

“And I guess I’ve made mine too.” Luke pushed himself hard and got good grades. When the end of the year came, he took a week off to hike and think and figure out what he wanted to do over the next year. If he stayed in Lakepine, it would be his last year. He decided he’d rather do that than try to start over in a new town and a new college. He could do one more year.

He had to let go of the beautiful apartment, but that was okay too.

Every room reminded him of Gabriel. Good memories, to be sure, but he wouldn’t be able to really move on until he found a new place.

A room at the old boarding house turned apartment building came up, but Luke refused to even go and look. Staying there would be a step backward and Luke was determined to move forward. He kept looking and pushing and scouring everything until he found a little place for rent.

“It’s not much, but, for the right person, it could be a great place to live.” The real estate agent showed him a guest house behind a huge estate. “It’s only big enough for one or two, and the owner also wants someone who can look over the big house.”

“So they need someone fulltime?” Luke wasn’t about to take on more than he could handle. “I’m a fulltime student.”

“That’s perfect. Exactly what the family wants.” The agent handed Luke an application form. “They only come here a few weeks out of the year but they want someone on the property. You know, turn on the lights, flush the toilets, stock the fridge when they’re coming up. It’s not going to take much time at all and, for the right person, it means free rent.”

“What? Free?” That had to be his favorite word in the world.

“If you agree to their terms, yes.” She smiled. “After the way you left the apartment, I’m more than happy to put in a good word for you. I think you’d be the perfect caretaker.”

“I would be. All I do is study.” And mourn, but he left that part out.

Finally, some good luck. Luke got the rental and a three-ring binder that listed all the stuff he needed to do.

“I know it seems like a lot, but really, they’re just thorough.”

“It’s great, actually. I like to be organized. Lists make that easy.” Luke took a tour of the main house and struggled to keep his mouth closed. He’d just never seen anything so jaw-droppingly beautiful, other than Gabriel. Every window had a view, even the one in the bathroom.

“A week before they come, they have a cleaning service go through from top to bottom. Your only job then will be to pick up a few things from the grocery store.” She handed him a card. “They’ll put money on the card for that purpose. This is also if you need to call for a repair. There’s a list of numbers in the binder.”

“I can do that.”

“If you have any problems or questions, call me first, since I’ve been managing the property for a long time but if you can’t reach me, call the owner.”

“Got it.”

It took a good month for Luke to feel comfortable in the big house. It took ten minutes for him to feel that way in the guest house. Compact and tidy, the place had everything he needed, even a little laundry nook. Well, everything except Gabriel. Luke sighed and stared down at his ring. Eventually, he’d have to take it off, but today was not that day. Maybe that day would never come.

“Thinking of taking that off?”

The voice yanked Luke’s attention from his laptop to the door. “Gabriel.” Luke didn’t believe his eyes. He blinked and rubbed them but when Gabriel didn’t disappear, he rose so fast he bashed his thighs on the desk.

“Are you okay—oof!” Gabriel caught Luke in his powerful arms and held him tight.

“Please tell me you’re real.”

“I’m real.”

“Please tell me I’m not dead.”

“You’re not dead.” Gabriel squeezed him and then settled him on his feet, moving back just enough so they could look at one another. “Somehow you got even more handsome.”

“Me? Look at you.” Luke just now noticed the ill-fitting clothing.

“Yeah, I know. I came back naked and went to the apartment.” Gabriel grimaced at his outfit. A way-too-small T-shirt and what looked like women’s shorts. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

“I don’t care about any of that.”

“You just want me to walk around naked.”

“Sure. Yeah. I’m okay with that.” Luke started crying and didn’t even understand why.

“It’s okay. I’m here now.” Gabriel lifted him up.

Luke wrapped his legs around Gabriel and swore he’d never let go again.

“I’m not going to disappear.”

“I just—I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Gabriel moved over to the loveseat and sat down while keeping Luke wrapped around him.

“Why did you leave?”

“I had to.” Gabriel brushed back Luke’s hair. “Did you stop cutting your hair?”

“I was getting around to it.” Luke grabbed Gabriel’s hand. “Don’t worry about that now. What happened?”

“Thrash happened.”

“I thought he couldn’t hurt you?”

“He didn’t. But when he found out I was breaking the rules, he decided he could too. And that meant other beings would start breaking the rules.” Gabriel sighed. “It would have been total chaos.”

“Yeah.”

“So I had to go back. I didn’t want to leave you but if I had stayed...”

“God would have yanked you back anyway.”

“And  probably given you another guardian angel.” Gabriel stroked down Luke’s chest, across his shoulders, over his arms, as if confirming he was whole and safe. “He said that loving you and then leaving you was punishment enough.”

“Punishment?”

“For leaving heaven in the first place.”

“But I summoned you with that sigil. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. That’s why God forgave me. There’s supposed to be a wall between heaven and earth. You broke a hole in that wall.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“I know.” Gabriel kissed his forehead. “But that allowed Dustin to break a hole in the wall between hell and earth.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Then are you only back to tell me?”

“I’m back to stay.”

“Really?” Luke didn’t want to hold out hope only to have it yanked away.

“Really. Truly. Honestly.” Gabriel gave Luke a kiss that set his whole body on high alert. That electrical feel to his touch was gone, but he’d never needed that to get Luke’s engine running. “God let me come back because I earned it.”

“How did you do that?”

“My first life, my human life, I sacrificed myself to save two kids. They were going to be run down and I tried to scoop them up and run but I ended up throwing them out of the way.”

“You got run over?”

“By a dump truck, of all things. Loaded with gravel. The driver couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to.”

“Did you know the kids?”

“No. But they lived. Went on to have good lives. And I became a guardian angel. That’s how you get in the program. Or one of the ways. Self-sacrifice.”

“Does every guardian angel get a chance to come back?”

“That’s what the whole thing is about. Although, when they come back, they don’t remember who they were. They can’t go back to the people they left behind. Basically, they get to start over.”

“But you got to come back as you were.”

“I’m a special case.”

“You certainly are.”

Gabriel grinned.

“Tell me the rest.”

“I’m trying.” Gabriel sighed. “Where was I? Right. So, other angels have rebelled and fallen from heaven.” Gabriel leaned close and whispered, “They go to hell.”

“Scary place.”

“Yeah. But so is earth.”

“It is?”

“You don’t know heaven so you can’t compare but no one wants to live on earth. The pain. The suffering. All the misery that we can’t fix.”

“You can fix some.”

“Not enough to feel like we’re making a difference. It’s torture. But when I came, I wanted to stay because I could make your life better. I know I can’t fix the world but I made my little corner of it better.”

“Like with the people you helped at the garage.”

“Yeah. I didn’t do that for me. I was honestly trying to help them. The only thing I did that was selfish was helping you.”

“How was that selfish?”

“Because when I helped you it allowed me to help myself to you.”

“Well, that’s not really—”

“Are you arguing with God?”

“No.” The last thing Luke wanted to do was piss off God.

“Good. Anyway...” Gabriel trailed off then started up again. “Basically, I did more good than bad, more selfless acts than selfish acts. I earned the right to live again as a mortal man.” Gabriel lifted his brows. “That is, if you want me.”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I want you.”

“Wait. There’s—I’m not the same as I was.”

“What do you mean?”

“No more cheat codes. I can’t read your mind. I can’t alter things to suit myself. I’m one-hundred-percent human.”

“And you think that means I don’t want you?”

“Well, I just think you should be given the chance to decide.”

“I want you. I don’t care about any of that.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.” Luke glanced down at Gabriel’s hand. “The ring is gone.”

“Yeah. Lost it when I lost my body up in heaven. But we’ll get another one. Have a real ceremony in a church. Make it all legal.”

“What about your name? I kept your ID but if you can’t use it...”

“I get to keep what I had.”

“And your job?”

“I can probably get it back.”

“I told the real estate agent you were gone. I’m pretty sure she thinks you’re dead.”

“God took care of that by altering everyone’s memories a little. I’ve been gone because of a family emergency. It’s not really a lie if you consider God and everyone in heaven my family.”

“They were. Now there’s me.”

“Now there’s you.” Gabriel leaned in to kiss him but Luke pulled back. Gabriel sighed. “What now?”

“Your skills. Do you still remember how to fix cars and stuff?”

“That’s what I did when I was human.”

“Oh. And your charm?”

“That’s all me, baby.”

“You’re wearing women’s clothing.”

“So? I’m secure enough in my masculinity.”

“No, what I mean is you should be naked.”

“Yeah. How is it I’m not naked yet?”

“I’m slipping?”

“Clearly.” Gabriel rose to his feet, taking Luke with him. “Which way to the bedroom?”

“That a way.” Luke pointed.

“Excellent.”

Once Gabriel got him in the bedroom, he got him out of his clothing faster than Luke could strip him of his clothing.

“Well.” Gabriel considered the full-size bed. “That’s going to be a tight fit.”

“We’ll make it work.”

“I love your can-do attitude.”

“And I love it when you’re on top.” Luke climbed on the bed then tugged on Gabriel’s hand.

He laid down beside him, kissing him until he panted and squirmed. “Don’t be in a hurry.”

“Says the man who’s been gone for over half a year.”

“Has it been that long?” Gabriel considered. “Sorry, time moves differently up there.”

“Just stop teasing me and—oh, Go—ooh.” Luke caught himself at the last second. He really had to stop saying God while they were having sex. “You are so very good at doing that.”

“At this?” Gabriel teased his finger around the puckered skin of Luke’s ass.

“Yes, that. And kissing me. And making me so crazy for you I just can’t wait.” Luke grabbed the bottle of lube from the bedside drawer.

“You kept that?”

“You were watching me from heaven. You know that there were nights where I couldn’t sleep until I—until I took care of myself.”

“I loved watching you do that.”

“You really did watch?”

“How could I not?” Gabriel brushed back Luke’s hair again.

“I think you’re obsessed with my hair.”

“I think I didn’t realize how beautiful the color was before. My eyes were different.”

“They are different.” Luke realized they were dark brown, like espresso. “And you can watch my hair all you want.” Luke slung his leg over Gabriel’s hips. “I’m going to let you watch me all you want too.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Watch.” Luke lubed up Gabriel’s cock then impaled himself.

“No foreplay for you.”

“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to feel you inside me again.” Luke could barely keep his eyes open, Gabriel’s cock felt so good.

“Whoa. Take pity on me.” Gabriel grabbed onto his hips. “I haven’t had a human body in a while.”

“First time fast, second time slow.”

“How can I say no to you?” Gabriel helped Luke lift and lower himself while slowly circling his hips but right when Gabriel got near the edge, Luke dropped all the way down and stayed there. “What are you doing?” Gabriel asked.

“Watch me.” Luke added a bit more lube to his hand then stroked his own cock while clenching and releasing his channel around Gabriel’s cock.

Gabriel said something dark and dirty in another language.

“Is it proper for a former angel to swear?”

“Better than him screaming the Lord’s name.” Gabriel’s eyes rolled back and his grip tightened on Luke’s hips. “How are you doing that?”

“I’ve spent a lot of long, lonely nights thinking about you.” Luke had never thought he’d get this chance again. Now that he had Gabriel here, in his bed, he was going to make every erotic dream come true. “Are you watching?”

“I’m really trying to but I can’t seem to get my eyes to focus.” Gabriel gasped and rose up. “I’m so close. So very close.”

“Hold on.” Luke stroked himself a little faster, determined to bring them off together. “Ready?”

“Oh, yeah.” Gabriel leaned up a little so he could help Luke rise and fall against him again while Luke kept right on stroking his own cock.

When Luke felt Gabriel release inside him, he tightened his grip and climaxed all over his husband’s chest. It seemed to take forever for the shakes to leave them but when they did, Luke collapsed on top of Gabriel.

Gabriel ran his fingers through Luke’s hair then along his back until he reached his buttocks, palmed them, and squeezed. “I can’t tell you how much I missed this. Missed you.”

“It’s very, very mutual.”

“We need a bigger bed.”

“You’re in my bed. Trust me, I have everything I want.”

“I shouldn’t be greedy.”

“You really shouldn’t.” Luke licked Gabriel’s nipple, getting one last twitch out of his cock. “We have everything we need.”

“Everything?” Gabriel asked. “I think I’m going to need some clothes.”

“I saved all your stuff.” Luke rose up. “The only thing we have to replace is your ring.”

“Today.”

“Today?”

“I want it official today.”

“I think the only place you can get married that fast is in Las Vegas.”

“Road trip.”

“No.”

“No?” Gabriel pouted. “Don’t you want to marry me?”

“Absolutely. But not in Las Vegas.” Luke told Gabriel about the hikes he’d been taking. “There are some truly beautiful places. That’s where I want to marry you.”

“But I thought you wanted it in a church?”

“It’s the church God made.”

“I like the way you think.”

“All we need is the ring.”

Eventually they got out of bed, got dressed, and found the perfect ring in town. With a few provisions in a backpack, they hiked up to Luke’s favorite spot, repeated their vows, exchanged rings, then made love in the grass, just as Luke had always imagined they would.

About the Author

Reading, writing, and white-water rafting are the three things Anitra Lynn McLeod enjoys the most. She is the author of erotic gay romances from contemporary to science fiction and everything in between. Even though her tales range from sensual to sizzling, with settings from the high rises of New York to the distant shores of an alien world, one thing all her stories share is compelling characters involved in unforgettable romances.

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