Faith (Soul Savers Book 7) (45 page)

With that, they
disappeared, leaving me nodding and crying at the same time.

* * *

Tristan and I flew to
Hades before we headed home, hoping to plea to our son, but Hades had
been deserted, as far as we could tell. The Shaman village near the
main entrance had been abandoned, and the back entrance, the ice cave
Vanessa and I had gone through last time, had been collapsed. There
was no telling where Dorian was now. All we knew was that he didn’t
want to be with us.

By leaving with the
Daemoni, with the harsh words he’d barked at me, I couldn’t
help but feel that he’d disowned us. But my hope for him didn’t
waver. My love for him would never falter.

We took our time flying
back to the U.S. and The Loft, allowing our hearts and souls to mend
somewhat before we had to jump in and face the new reality before us.
When my mind didn’t focus on Dorian, Charlotte, Heather, and
the rest of our losses, it wandered into the future. Questions with
no immediate answers circled in my brain, such as how the world would
rebuild itself, who would emerge as leaders, if the countries and
states would stay as they used to be, or if new boundaries would be
drawn. When could I take a long, hot shower again with my man? Would
we ever be able to eat fresh food? How long would it be before we
could begin manufacturing again or rebuilding the power and
communication networks?

“
It’ll
take time
,” Tristan answered my thoughts. “
The
Daemoni did a lot of lasting damage. The world may never be the same
again. Which probably isn’t a totally terrible thing.
”

No, it wasn’t. In
the Before time—before the Daemoni ruled and the Demons walked
the Earth—many Normans believed the world could use a push of
the reset button. Now, they’d been granted that wish. If only
nature herself wasn’t so desolate.

As we flew farther
south and entered the States, we left the dirty, gray snow behind,
finding the warmer weather of spring. And a surprise greeted us.

Tristan, look.
Green!

Speckled against the
monotone landscape of Earth were various flecks of green. I
immediately dropped to the forest of bare trees to inspect. We landed
on the top of a huge redwood, most of it gray and seemingly dead.
Except for the one branch in front of me.

“A leaf!” I
squealed as I gingerly lifted it under my hand. “An honest to
God green leaf.”

Liquid silver trickled
down the branch toward the tree’s thick trunk, and Tristan
swiped his finger through the rivulet. He held it to his nose, and
after inhaling, he smiled before bringing it under mine.

“It smells like
Sasha,” I said. “Baby powder.”

My heart twanged at the
thought of Sasha, who’d disappeared after the battle, which
brought on thoughts of Dorian again. I hoped she was with him,
protecting him from the evil of his so-called people, serving as a
constant reminder of us and our love.

“My guess is
Angel blood,” Tristan said, bringing me back to the here and
now. “And I’m thinking everywhere where there’s
green, Angel blood fell.”

I glanced around the
forest, seeing only specks of color in the gray. Just like it had in
the Otherworld, the battle for humanity must have waged all around
Earth. “Their blood is healing the world, like mine.”

He nodded. “It’ll
still take time, but at least we don’t have to drain you.”

I punched him lightly
in the shoulder. He gave me a beautiful grin, and I couldn’t
help but return the smile. He was my light in the bleak world,
keeping me hopeful for brighter days ahead. His gaze fell to my lips
and lingered, and when his eyes lifted to mine again, my stomach
dropped. In a good way. His expression smoldered with desire,
igniting a low burn within me.

I backed up until I
pressed against the trunk, and he advanced predatorily. He lifted his
hand under my jaw, held me still as he gazed into my eyes for several
pounding heartbeats before his eyes dropped to my mouth again. My
lips felt dry and chapped as my breaths came shallow over them, and
my tongue slid out to wet them. A low, playful growl rumbled in him
before he leaned down and captured my mouth with his. His lips were
firm, but soft as silk, urgent yet giving. His tongue implored my
lips to part, and when they complied, it delved inside, tasting me,
devouring me.

My psyche must have
needed his touch, his love to become physical, because passion
instantly rose. My heart sped. My belly quivered. My thighs already
shook with need. And we were still only kissing, deeply, pressingly.
My chest heaved, my breasts pressing against him. He moaned into my
mouth, and then slowly pulled away. My lips tried to follow.

I’m not done
kissing you!

He chuckled. I opened
my eyes.

“Let’s find
somewhere a little more accommodating,” he suggested.

Granted, balanced at
the top of a redwood with branches blocking our wings in, this was
not an opportune place. Tristan leapt off, and I followed him. He
landed in a clearing next to a flowing stream. I landed in front of
him. Our wings disappeared. I rushed into his arms.

As our mouths found
each other again, our hands moved frantically to undress each other.
I pulled his shirt over his head, and he unzipped my vest, freeing my
breasts that ached with demand for his touch. I forgot about the ugly
scar and being self-conscious. I needed him to touch me and love me
like I’d never needed him before. His hand immediately found
one breast, cupping it, fondling, pinching and pulling my nipple. My
fingertips skated over his hard chest and up and down the ridges of
his abs. They flexed under my touch, causing a ripple of pleasure to
run through my own belly. We parted long enough to remove our boots,
each of us eyeing the other, our breaths already coming in pants. I
yanked down my shorts—what was left of my leathers—as he
removed his.

A jolt of pleasure at
seeing his naked body in all of its perfection shot through me,
causing me to shudder.

His brows pinched
together.

“What’s
wrong?” I asked.

“Are you sure
about this?”

I smiled. “Absolutely!”

He glanced down at my
not-quite-flat belly. “I don’t … want to hurt
them.”

Now I chuckled. “You’re
practically a doctor. You know better than that.”

He glanced down at
himself, and then his gaze came back up at me, a cocky grin on his
face. “But look at this! Aren’t you even a little
afraid?”

Full-on laughter burst
out of me. His eyes fell to my shaking breasts and all humor left
them, replaced by flagrant want. That look he gave me … Oh
God, that look. My laughter disappeared as warmth and wetness pooled
between my legs.

“Not even in the
slightest,” I panted before I leapt high onto him, wrapping my
legs around his upper torso and my arms around his head, pressing his
face into my breasts.

He grunted out a
laugh-moan before his mouth became occupied, kissing and sucking its
way up and over the round flesh, until he found its tight and
puckered tip. His hands pressed into my back, and I leaned against
them. My shoulders arched over them and my head fell back as he
pulled my nipple and part of my breast into his mouth. His tongue
swirled and flicked. His mouth sucked, and his teeth grazed. My hips
ground against him, teasing the tip of his erection as it pressed
against me. He moved his attention to my other breast, and my hands
dove into his hair, my fingers curling around the locks. As his mouth
worked, I whimpered and moaned, moving myself against him. Every part
of my body screamed for more. My thighs clenched and quivered.

Unable to hold back a
moment longer, I loosened the hold of my legs just enough so I could
slide down onto him. We both gasped with the beautiful sensation.

“Lexi,” he
moaned against my throat as he plunged inside of me. “My sexy
Lexi.”

I lifted and descended,
meeting his upward thrusts, relishing the strokes against the hot,
swollen flesh inside me. He was my rock. My light. My love. My
everything. My glorious lover making sweet, hard love to me. We
rocked together, skin against skin, hearts pounding, minds opening,
sensations flowing and twisting together, heightening, expanding,
soaring … exploding.

“Lex!”

“Tristan!”

We hung there in pure,
unadulterated oblivion, convulsing against each other, melding
together, drawing out the bliss for as long as we could make it last.
And slowly, we drifted back, our muscles trembling, grins spreading,
eyes full of love and adoration.

“I love you,”
we both said at the same time.

“Forever,”
he added.

I smiled and whispered,
“And always.”

5 Months Later

“CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOO.” Alexis pushed the air through her
clenched teeth while gripping my hand in one of her fists and
Vanessa’s in the other. She squeezed so hard, my skin turned
white, and I wished there was some way I could relieve her pain, but
there wasn’t. All I could do was be there for her.

When the contraction
passed, Carlie’s head popped up from between my wife’s
legs, where she sat on a low stool at the end of the bed. Alexis lay
on the mattress we’d brought back from the shelter to the
Caribbean room specifically for this occasion, her legs propped up on
pillows. She’d insisted our babies be born here rather than in
an underground bomb shelter, even if it did have the ironic name of
The Loft. So Owen, Blossom, and I had been busy preparing our house
in the Florida Keys, creating a protective bubble around it and
cleansing the air and everything else within it.

“You’re
doing fine,” Carlie said, giving her patient an encouraging
smile. “We’re getting close.”

I squeezed Alexis’s
hand. She looked up at me with glassy eyes that quickly filled with
pain.

“Argh!” Her
teeth gritted as she breathed through another contraction.

“Good.”
Carlie’s head disappeared for another moment. “You’re
doing great.”

She didn’t come
up, and I peeked over Alexis’s legs to see her hands moving
around.

“I … have
to … push,” Alexis groaned.

“Whoa, whoa,
whoa. Hold on,” Carlie ordered.

“I can’t
fucking hold on!” Alexis yelled as she gripped my hand harder.
Vanessa and I exchanged a look, her eyes filled with humor and her
lips pressed together.

Carlie lifted her head
and nodded. “Okay, go ahead. You can do this.”

Alexis’s torso
lifted from the bed as she bore down. My arm slid to her back,
supporting her as she screamed and groaned. The contraction passed,
and she fell back, panting.

Carlie let out a noise
of excitement. “I think … Yep …” She bent
over and peered closer before letting out a little squeak. “I
see a head!”

I leaned her way until
the stretch lifted Alexis’s arm from the bed, trying to see for
myself. She released her grip on my hand.

“Go,” she
said between pants. “I know you want to.”

Blossom rushed over and
took Alexis’s hand. Vanessa’s arm slid under Alexis’s
back to brace her for the next contraction. I hesitated, not wanting
to leave my wife’s side.

“Go!” she
barked.

“Get over here,”
Carlie snapped at me. “Hurry!”

I joined her at the end
of the bed, and my gaze landed on the most frightening and most
beautiful view I’d ever seen.

“You can do this,
Lex,” I said as Carlie moved to the side so I could kneel down
in front of Alexis.

She came off the bed
again, groaning and pushing.

“There’s
the crown,” Carlie said excitedly. “Get ready to catch,
Tristan.”

I positioned my hands
in preparation and listened to my wife scream in pain as our child’s
head emerged from her. I gently clasped it between my palms and held
it still as Carlie cleaned out the nose and mouth. A few moments
later, with another push, the rest of the body slid out and into my
palm.

Carlie went to work
immediately, but I could only stare at the tiny human.

Tears filled my eyes as
Carlie lifted my hands to lay the baby onto Alexis’s stomach.

Alexis lifted her head
off the bed, her hair plastered to her sweaty scalp, and her mouth
stretched into a tired smile. “Finally. A girl.”

Carlie clamped the
umbilical cord and pressed scissors into my palm. My normally calm
hands shook as I cut through. Sheree took the baby to towel her off,
and the little thing let loose a loud cry while she was wrapped in a
blanket. Just as Sheree was about to pass her back over, Alexis
bolted up, screaming again.

“Baby B!”
Carlie rushed back over to the end of the bed, and I hurried to join
her.

After several pushes,
the head crowned, followed by the body sliding into my hands. And I
was no less awestruck the second time around. Sheree and Carlie both
gasped, followed by Vanessa and Blossom. My own breath caught in my
lungs, and my vision blurred as I tried to blink away the tears. My
whole body shook now as I cut the cord and lay the baby on Alexis’s
stomach, my cheek muscles aching from the grin on my face.