32. Caleb

THIRTY-TWO

Caleb

With our lips still locked, I held her close to my chest and swept us back up and into the air. She gasped against my lips, fingertips digging into the soft shirt I wore.

“It’s okay, I won’t let you fall.”

“I trust you,” she breathed the words against my neck. The close contact—the warmth of her breath—sent a surge of adrenaline through my veins that was even greater than the joy of flying again after so many years without my wings. I pushed them hard, enjoying the feel of the air flying past us as we swept above the landscape below.

“Josie, you are the heart that beats in my chest. The power that fills my spirit. The heavens have ordained our match, for now and for eternity.”

Tears filled her eyes as I spoke, and she bit her bottom lip. If I couldn’t sense the joy pouring off of her, I would have been a nervous wreck. Instead, I was just elated. I’d spent so much time thinking I could never have her, all that was left was euphoria at how wrong I’d been.

She’s mine .

“As you know, there is a special bond that an angel can bestow on only one other being, for the whole of their existence.” I spoke slowly, watching her face as each and every word sank in.

She was wide-eyed, digging her nails into my pectoral muscles through my shirt without realizing it. I relished the bite of pain. It meant she was solid and real in my arms.

“I know. You’ve told me of the Chosen . But you told me you and I could never have that bond, because no angel has ever bonded with a human before.”

“Well, I was wrong. Apparently, our match was determined years ago, but it wasn’t the right time. But we overcame every obstacle we thought prevented us from being together. Sometimes, it’s just meant to be, no matter the odds. You are the one for me, the one written in the stars since the beginning of time. Josie, will you accept your place as my Chosen, and seal this bond between us?”

“Yes!” Her voice shook with emotion, but her hands didn’t when she reached up and cupped my jaw, drawing my lips back down to hers with fierce possession of her own.

How did I get so damn lucky to have her? I wasn’t sure, but I was never going to question it again.

Our tongues tangled in a feverish kiss. Her fingers dug into my hair, pulling me closer. I let my wings drive down hard, lifting us up into the clouds so that we were wrapped in our own, private cocoon.

Using my power, I held her secure as I reached down and played with the hem of her shirt. It was a sensible hiking tank top, but it didn’t diminish the fire I felt when I looked at her. I was determined to take it slow, make sure she enjoyed every second—but Josie was driving full steam ahead, not the least bit interested in slow . She reached down and peeled her top off, leaving her in a baby-pink sports bra that framed her cleavage perfectly. I sucked in a breath as I got a full view of her breasts, the perfect curve of her making me groan with need.

“Uhm, where do I put this?” She looked around, blinking slowly as she seemed to realize where we were, and that there was nowhere to put the clothes.

“Do you want me to take care of our clothes?” I asked, voice husky with desire.

“Yes.” Her pupils were blown wide when she dove back into our kiss, so I plucked the top from her fingertips.

Josie wound herself around me like a vine, locking her heels behind my back. I let both of my hands roam up her back, stopping at the band of the sports bra, teasing the sensitive skin over her spine.

She tugged at my hair, impatient for me to get on with it. Between one heartbeat and the next, I had all of our clothes off of us, and deposited them in the bedroom at my house. She gasped against my lips at the feeling of all of our skin, suddenly bare. She was smooth, soft perfection from head to toe, and I let my head fall back at the sensation.

“My Chosen, my perfect Chosen.” I let my hands slip down and cup the soft globes of her ass, kneading the flesh beneath my fingertips.

Now, it was her turn to moan and drop her forehead to my shoulder. I could feel the wet head of her center pressed against my abs, and I couldn’t wait to taste her again.

I dropped kisses down the column of her throat. “Do you trust me?” I murmured against her collarbone.

“With my life,” she answered.

I may as well have been struck by lightning, the way her words affected me. I was thrumming with need for her, and my desire to take things slow evaporated in an instant .

“Lie back. My power will hold you.” She didn’t even hesitate, leaning back and letting her hands skate down my sides to rest on her thighs. Her hair floated around her like a curly halo, and the sight was sheer perfection. I was harder than steel and dying to sink into her tight heat.

With all of her on display for me, I let my lips and tongue tease every bit of available skin. I cupped her breasts, teasing first one side and then the other with my tongue until she started grinding against me, using her heels to pull me tighter and tighter against her center.

“Somebody is impatient.”

“I’ve been waiting seven years , Caleb. I’m still a little afraid you’re going to disappear.” Her eyes were closed, head dipped back in bliss, but I couldn’t let that stand.

I dragged her up flush against my chest. Her nipples were hard peaks, chafing against my chest and driving me to distraction. But this was important. She had to know everything.

“Look at me, Josie.”

She bit her bottom lip between her teeth and looked up at me under her eyelashes. Her aura was tinged with vulnerability, and I knew every word I said next was important.

Fuck, I never want her to stop looking at me like that.

“I’m never leaving you again. My power is going to bind us together permanently.”

Josie nodded, but I knew that little worry line between her eyebrows was only getting erased in one way. She’d feel it when the seal locked into place, and she’d know.

I kissed her, hard and fast on the lips, and then urged her to lean back again. Once she was sprawled back out, I unlocked her feet and lifted her hips until her core was even with my face. Her thighs trembled as I hooked them over my shoulders, but she cried out in pleasure as soon as my lips met her pussy .

I feasted on her, licking and sucking and kissing straight through her screams of pleasure as first one orgasm, then another rolled through her. I didn’t stop until her hands landed on mine, where I held her hips.

“Caleb, I can’t take any more. Please. I need you. Please, please—” She moaned again as I pointedly worked her clit with the flat of my tongue.

And then she unraveled again, screaming her bliss and arching against my hold as her honey dripped down my chin. I held her hands as she rode out the orgasm, and then let her slowly sink back down my body.

When our foreheads were touching I held her there, wrapped in my arms. Her eyes were glazed as she pressed little kisses to my cheeks.

“Why did you stop?” she asked, wiggling her hips against me.

“Are you ready? Once we complete the binding, it can’t be undone, not for any reason. It’s forever.”

She gripped my chin, her eyes clearing as she looked into mine. “I’m sure. No more stalling, Caleb.” Without waiting for my answer, she leaned down and nipped my bottom lip.

I lowered her the last bit, the blunt head of my cock meeting her slippery folds. She arched her back, and I let her take control as she guided herself down onto me. She slowly took me, inch by inch, and my power turned golden in the air around us.

When I was fully seated inside her, she clung to me, breathing hard as she took a moment to adjust. Her palms pressed tightly against my shoulder blades, as if even now she was afraid I was going to disappear.

“Look at me, Josie,” I urged as the pleasure tore through me like a living thing .

When her eyes fluttered up to mine, I began to move, slowly at first. Long strokes in and out, holding her gaze the entire time. She pumped her hips in time with mine, crashing into me faster and faster as the power spiraled higher around us, in a beautiful golden cascade.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes! Caleb, ahh—” Her channel locked into a vice grip as she orgasmed around me, and she nearly drove me over the edge before I was ready. I stilled for a second, trying to concentrate over the incredible sensation of her. When my left hand was exactly where I wanted her to wear my mark—across her upper thigh—I started moving faster, driving her higher in the midst of her release, not letting her come back down.

If I had my way, she’d never come down. We’d live in this bubble of bliss forever. But first, I had to bind us, complete the seal.

When I was on the precipice of my own release, I let the power I’d been holding so tightly go in a rush. It surged through my veins, concentrating in my palm as golden light flared between us.

She screamed, the ecstasy it added too great for her human senses to comprehend. Her body bowed, seating me even deeper inside her as my own release took me, burning down my spine in a molten wave. I shouted her name, unable to hold anything back as I filled her.

We stayed locked together until the light faded, and then I pulled her close. Our bodies were damp, with water from the clouds and sweat from our exertions.

She trembled lightly in my arms as I brushed a curl back from her forehead.

“That was… incredible. What was that, at the end?”

“That was the seal. You’ll wear my mark here,” I let my fingers trail over the smooth flesh of her thigh, where a golden wing glowed under my touch. “And I’ll wear yours, here.” I pressed her fingertips back over my shoulder blade where she’d held me, her own matching mark permanently branded into my skin. To a human, they would look like any other tattoo. But any time a bonded angel touched their mate’s mark, it glowed, the divine energy inside it proof of the sealed bond between them.

“It’s really real, then. I’m your Chosen,” she whispered in awe, tears glittering along her lower lids. I kissed along her cheekbones, chasing them away.

“You’re my Chosen, now and forever.”