17. Chapter Seventeen

When we appeared silently in Jovie's room, she was asleep in my arms, knocked unconscious by the intensity of my magic. I couldn't blame her. She was exhausted and not used to traveling through the shadows. It would be too much for any human to endure unfazed.

I gently laid her on the bed, helping her out of the rest of her clothes, leaving her lying nude in the moonlight. Fuck, if she wasn't the most stunning creature I'd ever seen. Beautifully breath-taking and entirely mine.

I could have gone anywhere, done anything, considering my newfound freedom, but all I wanted to do was be closer to her, watch over her as she slept. I started to back away, content to watch her from the corner like I had for the past three years, but her whispering voice caught my attention.

"Aether," she said. The sound of my name on her lips sparked a heat in my chest I couldn't explain, and her eyes flitted open.

"Yes, my precious mortal?"

"Will you stay?" I could tell she was fighting to stay awake. I smirked at the thought of her wanting me near, no longer afraid of me the way she had been so long.

"Of course. You'll have me forever," I assured her, dipping my head. "You don't have to worry about that."

Her head shook slightly, a divot forming between her eyebrows. "No, I mean stay with me." She patted a hand on the mattress beside her, and I froze.

I'd watched her sleep here for years, spent countless hours in this very room with her, and yet I'd never curled up next to her to fall asleep.

"I…" I was at a loss for words, the tender sentiment chipping away at my hardened heart. "If that's what you want."

She nodded and scooted over toward the wall as I undressed, my robe landing in a pile on the floor. I climbed in next to her, the bed hardly big enough for both of us, and pulled her into my chest. The way her body conformed to mine was perfect, like she was made for me.

For all I knew, she very well could have been. She was the mortal destined to save a fallen angel and give him a second chance at living, even though she wasn't exactly mortal anymore.

Being bound to an eternal being had its perks, and one of those was having a soul that never died.

"Thank you for saving me," she said sleepily, burying herself in the crook of my arm. I reached for the blanket and pulled it over us, tucking her in before pressing my lips to her forehead.

"No," I said, brushing her dark hair away from her face. "Thank you, precious mortal, for saving me."

Within seconds she was asleep, her soft snores the only sound in the quiet room. I closed my eyes, running my fingers through her hair as I dwelled on everything that happened that night, wondering how I ever got so lucky.

I'd fought for this. I'd die for this, and no one, god or otherwise, would ever take it from me.