Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
His pet was already at the sleek white food bowl that sat in one corner, next to an equally sleek water bowl. He knew Aodhan had hand-made them even before he got close. The man had put tiny golden sparkles in the material, then burned in Smoke’s name in a darker gold.
She happily began to crunch at her dry food after he filled up her bowl. While she’d eat anything, she’d always had a preference for crunch over what many would call more deluxe meals. “You’re a survivor, aren’t you?” he said as he put away the rest of the bag. “And so are we, me and Aodhan. The rest of it, we’ll figure out together.”
Illium would let neither the strange fear that overcame him at times, nor Aodhan’s nightmare memories, hinder their journey.
We have all the time in the world, Blue.
Yes, they did.
Illium, I forgot to tell you. Aodhan’s voice in his head. Smoke prefers to go outside when she needs the facilities so I set up an area for her and she’s made a beeline for it every time. She’s learned how to catch the elevator but never goes outside the Tower precinct.
Illium’s already soft heart turned ridiculously mushy. I told you she’s a prodigy, he said, because he couldn’t put the enormity of his feelings into words. Also a bit feral after growing up on a building site and hanging out with me in a tent—or in the open air when it got too hot.
Leaving Smoke to her breakfast on the feel of Aodhan’s mental kiss, he wandered into the bathroom for a quick shower to more properly wake himself. Angels did better with switching time zones than mortals, but it did still take their bodies time to catch up—especially after a long span in another region.
He wasn’t the least surprised when Smoke poked her head inside the open doorway after a minute, her suspicious form a smudged shadow against tiles of black riven with silver. “Still here,” he said from the wide expanse of the tiled shower room. “Not murdered by water.”
Smoke, for all that she’d spent her formative months next to the ocean, was of the opinion that water was the enemy, to be vanquished. The first time she’d seen him submerge himself in a pond, she’d jumped in after him in an attempt to drag him out.
He’d finally taught her that he didn’t need rescue, but she continued to believe him dim-witted to get so close to water. Today, she gave him the feline side-eye from the door; it said that she was not amused by his decision to drench himself, but she still didn’t return to her breakfast until he’d switched off the shower and was drying himself.
Did Smoke guard you in your shower, too? he asked Aodhan.
While Illium had a bath in his suite as well as the shower, Aodhan had only the shower. A deliberate choice on Raphael’s part when he’d built this iteration of the Tower. The archangel knew that Aodhan hated baths—an aversion born of the torture he’d endured where he’d been buried in water that drowned him over and over again.
No. Smoke finds me acceptable, but she wouldn’t pine for me if I died under the wrath of the shower. You’re the only one she finds worthy of guarding while you undertake the idiocy of voluntarily subjecting yourself to sprays of water.
Laughing so hard, he snorted—damn but he’d missed Aodhan’s dry humor—Illium finished drying off before pulling on fresh jeans along with a simple black shirt that had zippered closures at the bottoms of the wing slits. Shrugging it on over his shoulders, he did up the buttons down the front, closed the wing slits, then rolled the sleeves halfway up his forearms.
His hair he styled by thrusting his fingers through the strands.
When he walked out of the bathroom, Smoke indicated the desire to be let out. He opened the door, then called the elevator for her. “See you after you’re done.” No doubt she’d already trained other Tower residents to do her bidding when it came to summoning the elevator back up.
Leaving the suite door ajar for her return, he grabbed a cup of coffee and made short work of the croissant dusted with flaked almonds that had appeared in his kitchen while he was showering. Beside it was a plate of sliced fruit garnished with raisins and sugared cashews, all of it arranged around a small pot of his favorite blueberry oatmeal.
Illium’s face went hot in a flush of pleasure, his body feeling weightless. Being spoiled by Aodhan wasn’t anything he’d have ever said he wanted, but now that it was his reality?
Wow.
Stomach full and butterflies dancing in his bloodstream, he walked out to sit on the balcony railing he’d asked Aodhan to have installed before he came home. It made it harder for him to take off from this spot, but it meant Smoke could play safely here.