Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Gabriel let out a nervous laugh, and ants ran down his shoulders where Abaddon gripped them. “I suppose you might have different kinds of pets in Hell. He’s harmless, I promise.”
Cloud meowed.
Gabriel sensed the shudder passing through Abaddon. To see someone so strong, who’d just killed a man and disposed of his body, back away at the sight of a cat was among the most baffling things Gabriel had ever experienced. It was so jarring with everything he believed in that all of a sudden the angel’s presence here seemed more real. Because why the hell would Gabriel’s mind have conjured something so ridiculous? He could have maybe tested his sanity by taking a pill, but he’d shoved them into a deep crack in the floor!
“I don’t think I want to be in its presence,” Abaddon said in a voice that sounded like a knife rubbing over rust.
“Um… okay, but it is his home,” Gabriel mumbled and leaned down to pick up Cloud. Abaddon towered over them as Gabriel’s mind raced with confusion. Cloud generally roamed the corridors of the orphanage at night, sometimes even bringing his owner little gifts of mice, but if Abaddon was to stay a few days—
No. The angel wouldn’t stay, because he wasn’t real, and Gabriel would obtain new meds as soon as Dr. Rogers was up.
Abaddon eyed the animal with suspicion, pressing his back to the wall as Gabriel passed him, but his body language relaxed the moment the fluff ball was out.
Gabriel cleared his throat, trying to not stare at the massive eye tattooed in the middle of his chest. “So… would you like to eat before showering?”
Do angels eat?
The handsome features, which had been chiseled out of flint and brimstone, brightened. “I’m starving, actually,” Abaddon said and patted his bare stomach, rubbing in the sweat that had accumulated on him as they worked to get rid of the evidence. “What can I get?” he asked before rolling back his shoulders and passing his gaze over the small space.
Gabriel liked his little apartment, yet it now felt painfully inadequate for entertaining a guest, let alone the Lord of Locusts. His kitchen in the corner consisted of a few stained cupboards he’d inherited from the orphanage after a refurbishment a few years ago. They housed a small fridge, a microwave, a toaster, and an electric kettle. Not an ideal space to cook in, but it served his needs of reheating food or making instant coffee.
His skinny self didn’t eat that much anyway, but he imagined sustaining a body like Abaddon’s would require all the calories, so he grabbed jam and peanut butter, and put some bread in the toaster. He could only hope his comfort food would please his guest as well.
“Three minutes.” He turned to the angel with a nervous smile, which died on his lips when he realized the shuffling he’d heard behind him had been Abaddon dropping all of his clothes.
Gabriel had never seen a grown man’s genitals so clearly. In fact, other than thirsting for a builder fixing the roof last summer, he barely ever got to meet men close to his age.
The man who claimed to be God’s messenger most had all the human equipment on a bed of dark pubic hair.
The toaster might have as well been scorching him instead of the bread because unless the heat inside him died down, he’d soon burn to a crisp. Despite the wave of arousal, his whole body stiffened, and he clenched his fingers on the countertop behind him.
“Oh. So… I didn’t think angels had… anything down there.”
Abaddon looked him dead in the eye and said, “The Lord made us perfect. We don’t lack anything.”
Gabriel bit his lip as his gaze met the eyes tattooed over Abaddon’s stomach, and then slid lower, to the cock that was definitely not lacking in the size department, even when soft. His mouth went dry around the words he wanted to yet shouldn’t utter, but the toaster saved him by spurting out the bread with a loud clang.
“Here we go!” He turned around to make the sandwich, painfully aware of the naked presence behind him.
He should have taken those pills.
Then again… wasn’t he allowed a little bit of fantasy for once in his life? At least this one wasn’t about murder, so he might as well let it continue a little bit longer.
“I am so grateful. I’ve only been awake for a couple of hours, and this hunger hit me like a ton of bricks,” Abaddon told him, stepping uncomfortably close. Gabriel’s body hair bristled when he sensed the warmth of the other man’s body without it touching him.
Going crazy had never felt so good. In fact, in the angel’s presence, everything felt more real. The scent of jam was fruitier, the sunlight coming in through blinds left harsher lines on the floor than usual, and his own body felt more alive.