Yes. For her, he’d burn again.
“I thought so.” He sighed. “Now I think you’re finally understanding this game.” The floor squeaked as Sam left.
Silence reigned and the minutes ticked by. The darkness grew heavier. And then …
Nicole’s lashes began to flutter. He forgot Sam and leaned forward, holding her hand tighter. “Nicole?”
Her lips curled into a smile even before her eyes fully opened. “I was dreaming about you,” she whispered and blinked slowly.
His heart raced in his chest and he kissed her, a quick, hard kiss. “You scared me.”
She shook her head and her hair brushed over the pillow. “I wasn’t leaving you.” So simple and sure.
His gaze searched hers. “If you had, I would’ve just followed you.” The angels wouldn’t have been able to keep him away from her.
“I know.” Her grin widened a bit.
He brushed back her hair and knew that he had to tell her everything now. “I … didn’t realize what was happening. Why I watched you so much …”
Her eyes didn’t judge. Didn’t question.
“I should have stopped the vampire sooner.” That would haunt him. “I should have—”
“We can’t go back, and I don’t want to.”
She pushed up so that her face was only inches from his. “I meant what I said before. I love you, Keenan.”
She was … everything to him.
“Az was right,” she said, and the words had his head jerking in immediate denial. “I’ve killed. I’ll probably kill again. And I’ll always need blood.”
She’d always have him to give that blood.
“I’m not perfect—”
To him, she was. Fangs, claws and sinful lips—perfect.
“But I want to be with you. I just want … you.”
He swallowed. “I’ve seen everything this world has to offer.” Good and bad. Nightmares, battlefields, and miracles. “And you’re the only thing in my existence that has ever made me feel.” That should be a warning to her, but she was looking at him with soft eyes.
She didn’t understand the danger.
He forced his hands to lift from her. “You’re all that matters to me here, Nicole. Your life, your happiness—I’ll do anything to protect you.” He’d killed for her before and would do it again because he knew those times would come. The world wasn’t an easy place. Too many hated vampires. Too many hunted.
No one will take her.
“Don’t mistake me for a normal man,” he warned her. “I’m not human, the feelings I have—” Lust, need, jealousy. “Sometimes they can make me very dangerous.”
“You’re not dangerous to me.”
One touch to kill, one touch to give pleasure.
“You’re not dangerous to me,” she said again. Her eyes seemed to see straight into his soul.
“No, sweet.” He’d sooner burn again than hurt her. “But I’m no angel.” Not anymore. He knew his eyes would be darkening to black.
“Neither am I,” she whispered as she twined her hands around his neck. “Neither am I.”
She kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth and giving him that perfect taste of sweet sin.
Die for her—yes.
Kill for her—yes.
Love her?
Yes.
Heaven and hell could wait. He had paradise right there in his arms.
She was a temptation he’d never be able to resist. And, oh, hell, yes, she’d been worth the fall—and the burn.
For her, he’d fall again.
Any damn time.
EPILOGUE
Az had told Nicole that she would be dead within ten days, and angels didn’t lie.
But a month had now passed and she was feeling as strong as ever.
She stared up at the St. Louis Cathedral. Her gaze drifted slowly over the thick crosses and then down to the round head of the white clock on the front of the cathedral.
Midnight.
Her gaze didn’t stray to the alley that had shown her hell and heaven. No point in going back there.
Keenan had never asked her about what happened that night when the holy-water-laced bullet had thudded into her heart. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to know.
I died.
No, angels didn’t lie. And when Az spoke of her coming death, he hadn’t been lying.
She didn’t worry about her soul being damned anymore. She’d seen what waited after this life. She’d heard the whispers of angels and felt the flutter of wings.
No, she didn’t fear death. She’d chosen to live.
And decided to come back to earth for the man she loved.
“Nicole?”
She turned at his voice and found Keenan striding from the shadows toward her. Handsome and strong.
She still saw his wings, dark shadows that stretched behind him. She loved the sight of those wings and she loved the way he trembled when she stroked them.
Loved him.
“Are you ready to leave?”
Because they were leaving New Orleans. Heading north to snow and strangers who would never recognize her. “Yes.” She wasn’t afraid anymore of what the future would hold for her.
Her future was right in front of her, and he was the best thing she’d ever seen.
She took Keenan’s hand and they walked away from the cathedral and the ghosts that haunted that old alley. She didn’t look back. She didn’t want to see the memories anymore.
She just wanted her fallen angel—good, bad, and everything in between.
Not perfect. Not pure.
Hers.
Forever. And for a vampire and a fallen angel, forever would be one very long, hot time.