22. Theo

22

I stare into Hayliel’s dark blue eyes, knowing I’d answer any question she could think to ask me. “Anything. Always.”

“How come you’re training so hard? You’re a talented fighter, so it doesn’t really seem like you need the extra practice.” She keeps her voice soft, seeming genuinely curious.

I swallow, unsure how to answer, and she squeezes my hand reassuringly, mimicking my actions from earlier. “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it. I understand.”

Of course she does. This beautiful, selfless angel in front of me has so much compassion and empathy in her heart. It’s shocking for someone who’s been through as much as she has.

I don’t want her to think that I’m holding back because of anything she’s done, and in truth, I’m not even sure why I am. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a while now, but I just didn’t know how.” I sigh, sitting up straighter and preparing to share the horrors of my past. “You know how I sometimes grow a little distant, mostly when demons are around, though sometimes all it takes is just the mention of them, like at the assembly, for me to zone out.”

She nods. “Or like at the barn.”

I give her a sad smile, not even wanting to think about the way I cowered that day. “Well, those are panic attacks, sort of. Past trauma rearing its ugly head, or so I’m told.”

Her brows turn inward. “Past trauma?”

Swallowing takes more effort than it should, but finally I manage to speak. “When I was a teenager, I was best friends with this shy girl who didn’t really fit in with my other friends. Serah was beyond kind, and when she was comfortable around someone, she’d be the weirdest angel, but in the best possible way. My cheeks always hurt from smiling so much whenever I hung out with her.”

My heart fractures just saying her name out loud, something I haven’t done in far too long.

I can tell Hayliel has questions, but however curious she might be, she stays silent, letting me continue at my own pace.

It makes me fall for her even more.

“A friend of mine took an interest in her romantically. He was always hounding me to set them up or invite her to come out with us to the skatepark so she could get to know him. I always refused until finally I just gave in and asked her. I didn’t expect her to say yes, but she did. If I had just kept my mouth shut, she’d still be alive.” My eyes prick, tears threatening to build, but I hold them back.

She squeezes my hand gently. “I’m so sorry.”

Pushing through the hurt, I continue. “The skatepark had always been safe. Rundown? Absolutely. But in all the months we spent there after school, we never saw any violence. Except for that day.”

I stare off at the far wall of mirrors but don’t notice my reflection. “A demon showed up that afternoon. The asshole killed my best friend, and it was all my fault.” Try as I might to hold it together, the words come out fractured. Broken. Just like me.

“Oh, Theo,” Hayliel says, tears running down her cheeks. “It’s the demon’s fault. Not yours.”

“No. She was only there because of me! Because I invited her to hook up with that piece of shit coward. Do you know he ran away? He never tried to save her.” My hands ball into fists, shaking with the rage flowing through me.

She latches on to me, her strength pulsing into me. “What he did was awful, and what happened to Serah is a tragedy, but neither of those things is your fault. She chose to go. The demon chose to attack. Neither of those are things you could have controlled, Theo.”

I finally look at her, my eyes burning with the pain of everything I couldn’t change. “When we almost lost you, it brought everything back. I couldn’t save Serah back then, and suddenly it was happening all over again, and I couldn’t save you either.”

Remembering that day hurts just as much, if not more. I thought we’d lost her, and I honestly don’t know that I would have survived if we had.

She grabs my face in her small hands, staring straight into my eyes. “I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll help you train, all of us will. And if you ever come face to face with the demon who took your friend, you’ll make him pay, and I will gladly help you do it.”

I sense the depth of her conviction through every cell in my body, and suddenly I’m admitting things I should probably keep inside. But life is too short. Nothing is guaranteed, and I need her to know how I feel.

“I love you, Hayliel. You don’t have to say it back, but I just needed you to know.”

Her eyes widen in surprise, but I don’t give her the opportunity to reply before my lips are on hers, my tongue teasing, bolstered with every ounce of feeling I possess for her.

Her touch turns hungry as she pulls me closer still, but it’s not enough. Never close enough.

She straddles me as the kiss turns feral, grinding herself against my trapped erection and shooting blasts of pleasure through me. Fucking hell. This woman will be the death of me.

“Theo,” she pants into my ear as I trail kisses down her neck.

“I know, firefly. I’ll give you what you need.”

I tear off her sports bra, tipping her back and sucking a pebbled nipple into my mouth. She gasps as I tease her with my teeth, knowing exactly how she likes it.

When I switch to her other nipple, her moans fill the space around me. The way she grinds down on me, I know she’s close to tipping over the edge. As much as I want her to come all over my cock, there’ll be time for that after. For now, I just need her to fall apart.

Thrusting up to meet her grinding hips, I pinch one nipple and swirl my tongue over the other before sucking just a bit harder than I’d previously done until she stiffens beneath me for a microsecond as bliss takes control.

Her hips cease their movement but I don’t let up, grinding against her and prolonging her orgasm tenfold. She’s come so hard, the crotch of her leggings is soaked, and fuck if the sight doesn’t make me almost cream my pants as well.

“I need inside of you, firefly, but I can’t let you go. I’ll never be able to let you go.”

She pulls me up so that our lips meet, grinding on me again, and I think I might just lose my mind. With a growl, I stand with her still held against my dick and then slowly lower her to the floor.

“Take them off before I destroy them.” I barely manage to get the words out as I pull my own clothes off, tossing them to the floor without a single care for where they fall.

She peels the soaked fabric of her pants down, revealing her drenched panties slick with her arousal and I drop to my knees, desperate for a taste. Her sweet scent fills my nose as I lap up her juices, thrusting my tongue over her clit until she’s moaning my name, desperately close to coming again.

“I can never get enough of you,” I tell her. She whimpers as I bare her completely and lick her slit one last time. “On your knees on the bench. Face the mirror.”

She follows my command without question, and I stare at the beauty in front of me. The soft curves of her hips, her sleek back and plump ass. Without realizing it, I’ve advanced toward her. I stroke my cock, watching her give up on waiting for me to make a move and reach back to play with the metal barbel at the tip of my dick. Fuck. She turns to me, need filling her eyes, her thighs glistening with desire, and I can’t hold back any longer.

I don’t want any barriers between us. Not even a millimeter of space. So I step forward until my dick presses against her and groan when it slides easily between her thighs. I thrust a few times, letting my tongue explore her mouth while my hands roam over her body, pulling her hair, tweaking her nipples, and grazing over her swollen clit.

“I’m going to fuck you now, but I can’t promise it’ll be gentle. Can you handle me rough, baby?”

“Yes,” she moans. “Please, Theo. I need—”

Her words cut off as the tip of my cock presses into her tight pussy and I swear the world tilts. I press in further, reveling in her stretching around my thickness, her core pulsing and spasming already.

“Take more of me, firefly. I know you can do it. Fuck. Just like that.” As I fully seat myself inside her, our eyes meet and I press a gentle kiss to her lips.

“You are so perfect,” I whisper, giving her every ounce of softness I have before my hips thrust forward like I want to destroy her. And maybe I do want to, for as surely as she destroys me, I want to be the cause of her own ruination. I want to bear witness to her crumbling apart by my touch alone.

I’m gripping her hips, probably too tight, but I’m past the point of being able to loosen my hold. I pull her back to meet my powerful thrusts. Her mouth falls open, a silent scream leaving her as each pump of my hips brings her ever closer to yet another release. And when she floods against my cock, I know I won’t last long.

My balls tighten. I grunt. But by the grace of the Archangels, I manage to hold off my release a little longer.

“You can come for me again, can’t you, baby? Just one more. Please. I need you to fall apart with me.” The words sound unhinged, but I don’t care.

I shift my hips, and when I sink in again with hard, desperate thrusts, I know I’m hitting that special place inside because her eyes roll back, body tightening for a split second before she loses control at the same moment I do. We’re thrown down a tunnel of bliss, the light in the room seeming to expand and shatter all at once as I fill her sweet pussy with my cum, while her inner walls grip onto me like she never wants to let me go.

And I hope she never, ever does.