Chapter Nine
1007 Words
Chapter Nine
Nemesis POV
“Mmm…fuck…ah,” I moan out as Azrael pinches and tweaks my n*****s.
“f**k, Azrael, I’m trying to study,” I say, and he smacks my textbook off the bed.
“Why do you insist on finishing high school? I can just make you a diploma,” he murmurs before focusing back on my breasts.
“Because I like learning,” I respond, trying to sit up so that I can retrieve my fallen textbook.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he growls playfully, grabbing my waist and sliding me under him.
I immediately feel myself start to get turned on. Any position where he ends up pressed against me is…a huge turn on.
“To get the textbook that you rudely smacked off of the bed,” I return with a smile.
He brushes a strand of hair out of my face, leaning down to kiss me when suddenly our bedroom door barges open. I immediately pull down my shirt and feel my face turn red from embarrassment as my parents stand in front of me.
“We have a problem,” Athena says, glancing at Hermes awkwardly.
“And that couldn’t hold off until after I got some pu—”
I interrupt Azrael by slapping a hand over his mouth.
“Shut. Up,” I hiss, and he removes my hand before giving me a smug smile.
“Raphael’s escaped,” Hermes says. Azrael goes stiff as a board beside me, and I look at my parents in confusion.
“Who is Raphael?” I question.
“He’s a very, very bad man. After he kidnapped Echo, we imprisoned him in our mount Olympus prison. But after hearing of you, he somehow managed to escape. Which is very problematic, because there’s little room for doubt that he’ll want to force you to be his mate.”
“What?!” I squeak out. There’s no way he could make me be his mate! I already have a soulmate.
Without warning Azrael pulls me onto his lap, and I hear him inhale my scent deeply, probably in an attempt to calm himself down.
He wraps his arms around my waist and I wrap mine around his neck in return, allowing him to find comfort in holding me close.
“What’s the game plan?” I ask over my shoulder.
“As of right now, there is none. Increased security with you, however. Azrael, you will be accompanying her everywhere. You’re stronger than Raphael so you can protect her.”
Azrael nods into my neck, tightening his hold on me slightly.
“Please, leave us. I need to calm down,” he says, surprising me with his reasonable tone. Without responding, Hermes and Athena exit the room. I hear their steps echo down the hall, and after a few moments hear the front door open and shut.
Azrael looks up from my neck and deep into my eyes before leaning his forehead on mine.
“I’ve been waiting for a mate for so f*****g long, Echo. And I will not lose you. I will not allow anything bad to happen to you. So I beg you, please don’t fight me. I know you’re independent and a strong young woman, but please don’t try to stop me from being with you at all times. Because if I lose you, I will go insane.”
This is the most vulnerable I’ve seen him be with me yet, and it causes my heart to warm.
“Please,” he says, and I can see tears in his eyes as he pulls back.
“I won’t fight you, Azrael. I understand and validate your concern, and it makes sense that you want to protect me. If the rolls were reversed, I’d want to protect you, as well.
He nods his head before dropping it back on my chest. I glance out of the window to see that it’s already nighttime, and stars light the sky.
Maybe some fresh air will cheer him up.
“Hey, how about a walk in the garden of eden? I think it’ll make both of us feel a bit better.”
Azrael looks towards the window, and nods at me.
“Sounds good.”
I slip on a sweater to combat what I’m sure will be a chilly night, and smile at Azrael as we walk out of our room, through the mansion, and into the night. He takes my hand as we continue down the path to the most beautiful garden in existence.
As we step over the threshold, and overwhelming amount of peace seems to just settle between us. The silence is only broken when Azrael utters three words that cause my heart to race.
“I love you.”
Where the f**k did that come from?
Turning towards him, I raise my eyebrows in surprise and confusion as I think over his statement.
Love… love?
He… love’s me?
After such a short period of time?
I feel guilty for not being able to say it back, because I haven’t even thought of love being part of this relationship so soon. Commitment, sure. Lust, definitely. But love?
“That’s a bad decision,” I mutter.
“How so?” he retorts.
I look away, slightly ashamed as to what I’m about to say.
“Because I’m not sure what love really is, Azrael. I don’t even know that I believe in it.”
I watch as his face drops slightly, but he doesn’t look completely bummed. Just a bit disappointed.
“You’ll know it when you feel it,” he whispers, before taking my hand and continuing to walk.
I feel uncomfortable that in the last half hour alone he has been incredibly open and vulnerable to me, but I remain closed off. So I decide to do something I never thought I would for anyone.
I tell him one of my poems.
“I knew a boy who loved to draw.
He drew pictures that nobody saw.
His artistic skills were best at night,
In the bathroom,
Out of sight.
Ge kept a secret that nobody knew.
His mouth remained shut, his gallery grew.
But his drawings were different…
No paper or pen.
Though he needed a bandage,
Now and again.
We stood by the river, under the stars.
He rolled up his sleeves and showed me his scars.
He felt embarrassed and looked at his shoe…
But then I smiled.
Rolled up my sleeve,
And said “I draw, too.””
Azrael stares at me with wide eyes.
“I’ll give as much as you do in relationship, Azrael. Thank you for your vulnerability, and in return, here’s some from me.”
- Writer
