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“He’s just another angel,” I whispered to myself as I walked beneath the overhang, the spray of the water misting my skin. “Nothing special. A bit more powerful, that’s all. He puts his pants on one leg at a time, like the rest of us.”
When I rounded the bend and stepped into the large cave that was lit by crystals dispersed between the stalagmites littering the floor close to the walls, my gaze immediately snapped to him. His presence filled the room, made the generous space of the natural chamber seem far smaller than it was. His energy suffused the air, a heavy press of power that crashed against my senses, making my instincts quiver. But what truly stole my breath, as if someone had punched all the air out of my lungs, was the sight of him.
Broad-shouldered, with muscles that spoke of regular fighting exercises and hard-earned prowess in battle, he stood with a poise that exuded effortless authority. He was dressed in the typical combat garb among angels—leather-braided armor reinforced with titanium plating that gleamed silver in the low light of the crystals, over a dark pants-and-tunic combo, his bare forearms protected by vambraces. At his belt hung a long sword, and I could make out daggers strapped to his thighs as well.
All that paled, however, in comparison to his face, to the intensity of his expression. I’d seen many a beautiful angel here in Heaven, both male and female. Our kind didn’t lack for looks, that was for sure, and I should have been well used to this level of gorgeousness, maybe even desensitized to it. I’d thought I couldn’t be stunned into silence anymore by esthetics, but clearly, I’d been wrong.
I hadn’t met him yet.
As it was, I stared—open-mouthed, to my disgrace—at the impossible mix of hard, rugged masculinity and achingly elegant beauty that was his face. Strong lines drew his features, from his jaw to his cheekbones to the straight nose, his mouth the only hint of softness. And his eyes…tempests of silver underneath black brows, broiling storms of emotion that struck a chord deep inside me.
For a second, the instance our gazes met, a connection snapped into place, so powerful that it made me sway on my feet. Everything else fell away—the cave, the crystals, the roar of the water outside the entrance—and what remained was a pulsing bond between me and this angel whom I’d never met before in my life, this angel who, in this very moment, looked at me like I was the answer to all his questions, the long-yearned-for sunrise after a night of suffocating darkness.
And there, in the depths of my soul, chimed an echo of that impression, a note of bruised-and-beaten hope for an unnameable, unknown treasure once lost.
It only lasted a heartbeat, and then the moment passed, and I blinked at the angel, confused and slightly dizzy, a headache forming behind my temples. I frowned and rubbed my forehead, closing my eyes against the throb of pain.
“For the record,” the angel said, drawing my attention back to him, “I don’t put my pants on one leg at a time.” His smooth, deep voice sounded entirely serious, the glint in his eyes the only hint at the humor behind his words. “I conjure them onto my body with my mighty seraph power.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my face flaming hot. “You heard?”
“Every word.” Those sensual lips twitched up into a smirk.
“But I whispered! And the waterfall was so loud!”
He laughed softly, and it was utterly unfair how much more drop-dead gorgeous he became when his face lit up with genuine humor, those silver-gray eyes of his sparkling with mirth. Tapping his ear, he said, “Seraph hearing.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, then pressed my lips together to hide my growing grin at the way he’d deliberately defused my nervousness with a well-aimed joke. “Okay, fine, point taken. No need for me to be anxious. You’re not a big, bad dude.”
“That’s debatable,” he muttered under his breath.
“So, do you—” I said, then stopped short because I’d completely forgotten protocol here. Whether he was easygoing or not, he was still a seraph, which made him my superior by three whole ranks, and here I was, just babbling at him as if he were a good buddy of mine on the same rung of the hierarchy ladder.
I uttered a small squeak and then went down on one knee, bowing my head. “Apologies, my lord. I should have greeted you properly. I meant no disrespect.”
A pulse of power—distinctly angered—throbbed through the air, raising the hairs on my arms and neck. The next second, he was right in front of me, pulling me up to standing with a gentle grip on my arm. At his touch, a faint electric shock coursed over my skin, making me shiver. His expression was thunderous, and I shrank away a bit.
Shit, I’d really offended him with my blunder, hadn’t I?
His fingers softly grabbed my chin and lifted my face so I looked straight at him again, his other hand still holding my arm. “You,” he said, his voice half a growl, “don’t ever bow to me.”
CHAPTER 4
I had trouble breathing. His power pressed against my skin, the intensity of his gaze searing me down to my bones. “Okay,” I whispered.
He cleared his throat, wrenched his energy back under control like one would a rambunctious hound, and stepped back. “By that I mean I don’t care for protocol. Not for these meetings. You may address me as an equal.” Something flickered in his storm-cloud eyes. “Call me Aziel.”
It felt inherently wrong to address a seraph of his power level by his name only, but at the same time, something about it just seemed right. It made no sense.
I nodded. “All right. Nice to meet you, Aziel. I’m Chaya.”
Again, that flicker of something I couldn’t quite grasp in his eyes. “So I’ve heard.”
A beat of silence stretched between us, and I had the distinct feeling he was holding back from saying something more. His energy had such a familiar taste to it, plucking at parts of my memory like a faint déjà vu. But for the life of me, I couldn’t remember meeting him before. I would never have forgotten that face.
I started fidgeting and cleared my throat. “So, um, the training? That we’re here for? We should probably, like, get on that. I’m sure your time is precious…”
“I have time enough for this,” was his silken reply.
