AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Someone like me?” Theo’s head tilted, a tiny twist to his lips showing amusement, though Daniel was anything but.
“Don’t laugh at me. I’m being serious here.”
Theo grinned. “You are, I’m sorry.”
“What. The. Fuck,” Daniel ended in a sharp whisper. He jabbed a finger into the table. Theo’s mirth faded, his shoulders slumping. Eyes downturned, he wilted like a flower too long without water.Damn. He hadn’t wanted to hurt Theo’s feelings.
“Maybe I should go…” Theo pushed from his seat.
Daniel held him in place, a hand on Theo’s forearm. “Don’t. Please.”
Theo landed heavily on the stool, the legs scraping across the tiled flooring. He didn’t look at Daniel as he adjusted his paper plate, lifted his cup of hot chocolate, and took a sip.
As he lowered his cup, Theo asked, “Why should an angel like me, one who loves with his whole heart, his whole soul, receive such a gift? An amazing wish I never knew I could have granted? Why did my King bless me so?”
Theo stared at Daniel as he continued, “Why you? Why the human who signed on with the demons? The one charged with carrying out their devious plans? The one whose soul cries out for redemption? Who seeks aid even as he already works to make himself better, to distance himself from the demon’s evil ways?
“Tell me, Daniel, why not pair the man who seeks to turn from bad to good, from hate to love with one who fights that which is bad? With one who knows love?”
“So you’re saying that because I’d already turned away, God saw me and gave me you?” Daniel couldn’t quite believe it even as he said the words.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Theo answered, “but that sounds about right.” That tiny smile of Theo’s returned to charm him.
Daniel harrumphed. “I figured I’d have to do a hell of a lot more to gain the big guy’s favor.”
“You’re committed, and that alone is worthy of His notice.” Theo’s gaze softened before he directed his attention to the food on the table. He cut his baklava in half and then handed the knife to Daniel. “Shall we share?”
Daniel accepted the plastic knife and cut the massive cinnamon roll in half. They swapped pieces and dove in. Daniel couldn’t stifle the moan that bubbled up when he took his first bite of the flavorful pastry. Theo chuckled.
“Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve indulged in anything this sweet.”
“Feeling guilty?”
“Hm, then and now.”
“Well, I think you deserve a reward.”
“Really? Why?” Daniel thumbed a dab of frosting from the corner of his mouth and stuck his thumb in his mouth.
Theo stared and Daniel gleefully basked in the attention. Maybe he took it too far, drawing Theo’s eyes to his mouth, but whatever. Theo was gorgeous, and it didn’t hurt his ego any to have a hot guy want him, even if the circumstances were sketchy. Would Theo lust after Daniel if he was just a regular Joe-Schmo human… and not commanded by God?
Doubtful, and that there was the ultimate cold shower. Back to business…
“Yeah, so, I want out. A void was left by Mr. March. I had one brief month of peace after you and the other angels sent him back to Hell, but it was short-lived. Troy swooped in and lassoed us back into the fold through manipulation and blackmail. He threatened the lives of my family. It’s bad enough they hate me for the things I’ve done, but they don’t know the half of it, and I can’t tell them the truth either.”
Thelial
Thelial remained quiet, his mind turning away from his lustful thoughts. He sent a pulse of kindness towards Daniel and watched as Daniel went from beet red with anger and frustration to a pale pink of warmth and ease.
“I will help you,” he said. “You can trust in my King, and in me, to help you. We want Troian gone. We want to repair that which has been broken, and we want you to complete your turn, to findtru’vawith Him.”
“We?” Daniel’s lips pinched.
Theo rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. He wasn’t seeing the roof, though, but what was beyond that. He received an infusion of love that felt like whenever Adonai smiled at him with approval. Theo covered his mouth to stifle the joyful noise of happiness welling up from his soul. Elation at finally being chosen suffused him with warmth from his head to his toes.
He’d been genuinely glad for his friends that had been blessed with their other halves, but he’d also harbored a tiny hope that he too might be given a mate to love. It’d been fine to watch Malachi and Leo paired with females, for his heart had never leaned that way. The other “Cupids” had shunned him for his desires, pansexuality preferred among his peers.Yofiel, the archangel overseeing all the Angels of Love, wisely placed him on cases where he could help those who identified outside what society considered the norm. Gay, bi, trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, ACE all fell to him. Thus, when He began pairing cis-male angels with cis-male humans, his hope grew by leaps and bounds.
As Theo gazed at his chosen mate, his feelings of joy settled into a dull roar in his chest. A new hope blossomed that he would be wildly successful both in defeating Troian and in attaining Daniel’s love, because all too often in the past, he’d felt like a failure, having done the bare minimum to help his fellow warriors. However, doing “just enough” wouldn’t secure him his soulmate’s love. He would need all of his friends’ help in destroying the demon in order to give Daniel and him a chance.
