Page 30 of Soul Redeemed

Hooking his leg over hers, he flipped her over onto her back and straddled her, pinning her arms into the gravel. “Say yes. Or you’re on your own.” The last thing Karinna would want was having to partner with another angel and use her body to track down Fallen angels. Xander made it easier for her, by going undercover on her behalf. “Say it, beautiful. You’re mine.”

Struggling against him was futile. She was strong, no doubt, but when it came to Xander finally striking a deal with her—one he’d been pining after for a long-ass time, he could damn near take on a half dozen of her kind at once.

“Big bust like this will give you a promotion. Cozy little office in the heavens. Archangels rubbing your shoulders. You avert a war, and they’ll make you a hero.”

After minutes of writhing, twisting, and a piss-poor attempt to kick out at him, she finally stilled. “Fine. You have a deal. And what happens when the heavens find out, huh?”

“They won’t.” Leaning forward, he rolled his hips against her thighs as if fucking her right there on the rooftop. “I didn’t say I’d stick my dick in you.”

“I’m not watching you fuck another woman in front of me.”

He grinned at that and curled his fingers into hers. “I just want one taste of the forbidden. I’m starving for your pussy.” At her shiver, Xander laughed and stared down at her. “We’ll chat in a week.”

16

Ava sat beside Calix on the couch in the billiard room. The male hadn’t stopped smiling since they’d left his bedroom.

“There’s so much blood to clean up in there. Probably going to have to sleep down here. Not sure I can deal with another female’s birth fluids.”

“Stop being a male for a minute.” Ava chuckled, pulling her knees into her chest. “I think it’s beautiful that life began there. It’s like … sacred now.”

“Sacred? Maybe. Nasty? Absolutely.”

She punched him in the arm. “What if that was me? Is that how you’d act?” No sooner had the words fallen from her lips, Ava instantly regretted them. She couldn’t be certain, but she sensed that whatever had been done to her by Oliver ensured that she’d never know a beautiful experience that way. She’d give birth to a baby maggot, just like The Fly movie she’d watched years ago, and everyone would scream in horror. A shiver rushed down her spine, and her expression must’ve changed, because Calix leaned forward, gripping either side of her face, and kissed her.

“It’d be different in that case,” he whispered.

“Why?” Ava knew the answer, but after what’d happened, she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted to know there was still a male who desired her that way, and not as a hollow vessel to deposit some disgusting maggot sperm.

“Because you’d be mine. The baby would be mine.”

Blowing out a breath, Ava gently nudged Calix away and leaned forward, suddenly needing air. “Calix … I have something to tell you.”

The knock at the door, followed by the clearing of a throat, brought both of their attentions toward Logan who stood filling the frame. Brows furrowed, he seemed unwilling to look at her, his gaze directed toward the floor. “I um … can I … talk to Ava?”

Ava sensed Calix’s muscles tense beside her, and setting her hand on his arm confirmed as such. Yep, he didn’t like the idea. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

Calix rose from the couch and strode toward the door, pausing just outside the room beside his brother, as if he might say something, but still, Logan refused to lift his gaze. After a quick glance back at Ava, Calix kept on, leaving the two of them alone.

Logan stepped inside the room, and it was then she took a moment to appreciate how enormous the male was. How easily he could crush her if he wanted. He cleared his throat a second time. “Are you … did I hurt you?”

Her spine carried the vestiges of a dull ache, but nothing overtly painful. “No. I’m okay.”

The sag of his shoulders told her the news relieved him, and he stepped deeper into the room. “I um … a lot of things … I said some … you know, I was just …”

Jesus, Ava had never seen the male so soft-spoken and tongue-tied. In the few times she’d met Logan while she’d dated Calix, the most she could say about the male was that he growled a lot. “You worried. For her. And for the baby. I understand.”

He shook his head. “What happened before, when you took her from me. You almost killed me. I thought she was dead then.” His brows pinched into a frown, as if the pain of that moment had stabbed him in the heart right where he stood.

“Sorry isn’t enough, Logan. I betrayed you. And Calla. All your brothers. Calix. I’ve regretted it every day since. I’ll understand if you want me to leave.”

His brow flickered with his harsh swallow, as he continued to keep his gaze from her. “What you did back there.” He gripped his skull, running his hand back and forth across his short-cropped hair. “When I thought I’d lost them both. That was … the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Really … it was … no big deal.” Her eyes widened with horror. “I mean, I know it was a big deal, but it was …” She shook her head, stifling the next disastrous string of words before they could tumble out of her mouth. “Thank you.”

“No. You saved my girl. Both of them.” His cheek dimpled with the hint of a smile, as if he couldn’t talk about his baby girl without that single emotion getting the best of him. “It’s the biggest fucking deal of my life. So, thanks.”

“She’s beautiful.”