Chapter Ten
How long am I supposed to wait? I need to see you, Sunny. Give a guy a break, why don’t you?
You’re killing me here....
Sunny smiled, reading Jamie’s latest message on her iPhone. He’d texted her repeatedly during the past three days, and every time Sunny had indicated that it wasn’t time yet, but that she definitely wanted to see him. That she had some big news. Something that would give him hope, but she needed time.
She’d been reading and delving into every book on angelic guardians, messengers, and hosts that Shay could shuttle over to Sunny’s apartment. And the more she read, the more convinced she became that because of her love for Jamie, she truly could exercise her own free wil . That she wouldn’t turn dark as a result, not if guided by her faith—and no matter how hard she prayed, she always received the same answer: that she was meant to be with Jamie. Even though it seemed to fly in the face of everything she’d been cal ed to do—and even though it contradicted Kiel’s initial chastisement—she knew it was her destiny.
But she’d needed time enough to prove that to herself before tel ing Jamie such big news.
And he’d just about gone bonkers with the waiting. Patience, she was learning, wasn’t high on James Angel’s list of virtues.
Stil smiling, she texted back, I’ve been working on something for you. . . . Patience, big guy.
Almost immediately he fired another vol ey:
Are you saying we can be together? Are you implying you figured out a way? I can’t take much more of this. . . .
When she didn’t text back right away, her phone began to ring, and she beamed. It was kind of sil y, but it felt good to be pursued—and felt more than wonderful for Jamie to be the one doing that pursuing.
She answered the phone and he plunged right in. “I’m al out of patience,” he blurted. “Are you home? I’m walking out to my truck right now.... I’m coming to see you.”
“Real y?” she said demurely. “Right now?”
He was silent for a moment, as if he’d expected her to object or dodge. “You . . . It’s okay if I do?” He sounded entirely disbelieving, stunned even.
“Do you like lasagna?”
Another pause, then, “Hel , yeah. Wait, you want to cook for me?”
“James Dixon, you sound so shocked. I’d reckon you were used to dinner invitations from single women.” She opened her pantry and began retrieving spices and spaghetti sauce and pasta. “I mean, aren’t you supposed to be God’s gift to every girl in Savannah?”
“Not anymore. There’s only one girl I want, and you know it,” he answered very quietly, and then she heard him suck in a breath. As if he were bracing for her rejection, for words she would never say again, the dreaded, We can’t be together.
But she wouldn’t give him her news over the phone. It had to be done in person, when she could kiss him and hold him for hours afterward.
“Wel , good, then,” she said lightly, “I’l even have fresh bread for you. See you in a little while.”
And with that she hung up the phone before he could cajole her for more information. It was thirty minutes from Isle of Hope to her apartment. She had a lot to accomplish in that very short amount of time.
Jamie took the steps to Sunny’s apartment two at a time. He’d driven here at breakneck speed, lucky as hel that he’d not been stopped for a ticket, but he couldn’t have slowed down if he’d tried.
She had good news; she had to. Something he wanted to hear. And she knew that there was only one thing that he would count as a happy announcement right now: that they had a future together.
He paced around on her stoop and ran a hand over his hair, trying to neaten it up. He’d been so hel -bent on storming her gates that he’d not even bothered to shave or change into nicer clothes.
He was wearing faded jeans and a frayed green polo, but he didn’t even care. He just wanted to be with Sunny, was desperate to hear her say that she’d found a way for them to be a couple.
Before he could ring the bel , Sunny opened the door. She leaned against the doorjamb smiling up at him with a sexy expression in her eyes. “Wel ,” she drawled, “you must’ve broken the sound barrier with that drive over here, James Angel.”
He was speechless. Unlike him, she’d made herself absolutely gorgeous, wearing a sleek pair of black jeans with a black cashmere turtleneck. Her hair was pul ed back with a brightly colored silk scarf patterned in purple and red and black. He wanted to take that fabric between his teeth and untie it so he could run his hands al through her light brown curls.
“I . . .” He blushed, staring down at his scuffed boots, feeling stupidly shy now that he was here. “I couldn’t get here fast enough, sweetheart. But you already know that.”
“What’s with gabbing on my front stoop, then? Come here.” She grabbed hold of his arm, pul ing him inside the apartment.
The moment the door was closed, Sunny was wrapping her arms about his neck, tugging him down for a kiss. Unlike al their previous kisses, this time she was bold, not hesitating for even a heartbeat as she backed him up against her front door. It turned him flat on, Sunny being so direct and aggressive.
It also caused his heart to slam inside his chest. Sunny wouldn’t be so eager if . . .
He broke the kiss they’d begun. “Sunny, baby.” He gasped. “Are you tel ing me . . . Can we . . . Is this al owed?” He didn’t quite dare hope, even as he’d spent the past days desperately praying and dreaming of this very moment.
She beamed up at him, her almond-shaped eyes alight with fire and passion and . . . love.
Cupping his face between both palms, she blessed him with a radiant smile, one that was lit with just a touch of her supernatural glow. “Yes, Jamie,” she whispered, bobbing her head.
“Al owed to be together? To fal in love? To be lovers?” he rushed to ask, clinging to her hips.
“Please tel me I’m understanding this right.”
She nodded again, her smile widening. “Yes, my love, I believe we can be al those things.”
His vision instantly blurred and he sagged against the door behind him, a heavy, crushing weight instantly lifted off his body and soul. “H-how?” he stammered, bunching her sweater in both hands. It was almost as if he feared she might stil fly away, that he might lose her, so he had to hold her tight.
She leaned her cheek against his chest, sighing contentedly. “I final y understood what could be done after Kiel came to me again. That night of the demon fight . . . when I was driving out to stop you.”
“You shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that,” he admonished. “Not for me.”
“Of course for you! I love you; why wouldn’t I?”
He sucked in a sharp breath, desire and hope spiraling like crazy inside his heart. Had she real y just confessed her love for him?
“You love me?” he murmured, cradling her even closer against his chest.
She pul ed back and stared up into his eyes. “I’ve chosen to fal so I can be with you. I think some angels might consider that love.”
“Sunny, no, no,” he argued, panicking. “You can’t do that. Fal en angels turn into demons. They become evil and dark.... No way, sweetheart. Not for me.”
“You don’t know as much as you think you do, hunter,” came the answer from behind her, a rumbling noise like the sound of thunderclaps and music combined.
A bright beam of light fil ed Sunny’s living room, and he tried to avert his eyes this time, but thankful y the gigantic angel toned down his glory somehow. Kiel stood in the center of the room, appearing mostly human, although his golden-tan eyes were unlike any Jamie had ever seen in a mortal.
“Young ones, it was a difficult test,” the entity sang, a broad smile fil ing his face. “As Sunera now knows, God ordained and al owed your new love to endure a trial. For a purpose . . . that you would know the strength of your feelings for each other. Know the importance of being destined to love and fight together.”
“Fight together?” Sunny asked in surprise, but Jamie noticed that the rest of the mighty angel’s announcement didn’t seem to shock her at al .
“James Angel, you have a new battle partner in Sunera. You wil pair with her as you fight demons and darkness. And, Sunera? You are now reassigned to James.”
“What wil that entail? I’m not sure I understand.”
Kiel’s eyes gleamed like diamonds. “Your role wil be different from when you were with Kate—
and she wil be given a new guardian. You and James Angel wil fight as one, true battle partners.
Angelic strength matched with his hunter’s skil s. You’re meant to complete and balance his power. Your faith, dear one, had to find this way . . . and it did.”
Sunny turned to face Jamie. “I read the lore,” she admitted sheepishly, and only then did he notice the smal stack of leather-bound books on her coffee table. “Shay kept bringing me books, volume after volume. No matter how much I kept thinking I should give up . . . I couldn’t give up on you, Jamie. On us.”
Kiel beamed. “But you did not learn everything, Sunera. As of this moment, you are now this human’s partner, his mate . . . and his wife.”
“His wife?” they blurted simultaneously. They hadn’t gotten married; they’d barely even kissed before tonight.
“It is declared so by heaven itself. No earthly ceremony is necessary.” The angel’s eyes sparkled. “Unless you want one, that is.”
Jamie gaped. He’d spent years terrified of settling down, of making a commitment to any woman—much less marrying one. But as he gazed back at Kiel, the messenger’s words seeping into his brain, he felt lighter and more alive than he had in years—and was shocked to realize he wasn’t afraid at al .
“So we’re already married, and she’l stil be an angel of sorts?” Jamie clarified. “My own personal guardian angel?”
“I don’t have to fal ?” Sunny chimed in, her dark eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
Kiel stepped much closer, seeming larger and tal er the nearer he came. “It is a kind of fal , to become human in this life and mate with a mortal,” he answered Sunny, the words vibrating so strongly that the potted plants rocked where they sat on the windowsil . “Your wil ingness to fal in order to experience love has set you on an uncharted course. And what happens after that, Sunera? It wil be as unknown to you as it is to al humans.... Your future in heaven remains a mystery. That is what it means for you to fal . That you live out your years as a human . . . although one with certain special angelic abilities. But you wil not be given answers about the afterlife or future missions.”
Jamie looked into Sunny’s eyes, needing to know that she was comfortable with the arrangement, but al he saw reflected in her gaze was joy and genuine love. No doubt glimmered in her warm brown eyes, not even the slightest hesitation.
When he turned back to thank Kiel, the angel had already vanished, leaving a radiant glow in the center of the living room.
“This means,” he said, spinning Sunny back into his arms, “that tonight’s our honeymoon night, sweetheart.”
“This can’t be the way you imagined things happening between us,” she whispered apologetical y.
“Everyone always said I’d have a shotgun wedding one day. I just never imagined an Angel would wind up with an angel.” He laughed, untying the scarf from her hair. “I like it loose, so I can run my hands al through your curls.” He twined a particularly tight ringlet around his pinkie, loving how soft it felt.
Sunny stared up at him through half-lowered lashes. “Jamie Angel, you have a fixation with my hair.”
“Because it’s sexy as ever-living . . .” He coughed, seeming to catch himself. “Uh, heaven.”
“But be serious for a minute,” she argued as he angled for a ful -mouthed kiss. “I know this is total y sudden.”
He slid both hands low about her, cupping her perfectly rounded ass in both palms. He gave a rol ing squeeze, tightening his hold until she gasped in pleasure.
“Sudden?” he murmured against her lips. “This past week’s been one long, slow-motion hel for me. Wanting you, needing you . . . tasting the bitterness of denial. And before that? Years of loneliness and emptiness right up until the moment I found you. No, this isn’t sudden, Sunshine.
This is my destiny. You are my destiny.”
With a graceful motion, he bent down and scooped her up into his arms. “And this is you, my darling, about to be carried over the threshold to the start of our happily-ever-after. Where I’m going to make you ful y and truly my wife . . . in every way.”