Her Guardians Lost(87)

He shook his head in dismay. My father was a beautiful man with bright eyes and curly brown hair. All angels were beautiful. But he couldn’t see the beauty that surrounded me. He couldn’t see the devotion Alexander and I had for each other.

“He is no good for you, Arianne. Can’t you see that? Simeon looks just like him. He is a good boy. Why can’t you be with him? Why don’t you want to be with him?”

I gripped my eyes tight and shook my head. Why couldn’t he see what I saw? “He’s bad, Father. He pretends to be Alexander.”

“Don’t be preposterous, child. You’re making allegations that could lead to some serious consequences. You can’t flippantly wave something around like that. It isn’t right.”

Why didn’t he believe me? Why couldn’t he just see? “But I’m telling you the truth, Father. Please believe me.”

He shook his head. “What I believe is that Alexander has brainwashed you into believing this. You have been spending too much time with him, Arianne. It’s time it stopped. As of now, I forbid you to spend any more time with him. It’s obvious to me that he’s corrupting you.” Turning his head towards me, he sighed. “Now you have two choices, Arianne. You stay here and be mated with Simeon, or you can be sent on a mission. It’s your choice. I will give you a few days, but you must come to me with a decision. It’s now or never, Arianne. But no more Alexander. I don’t even want to hear his name mentioned anymore. Do you hear?”

I did hear—loud and clear. I could hear too much. I wanted to scream and shout and put my foot down, but I couldn’t. I was the daughter to a high-ranking Archangel. I could never disobey him, no matter how much I wanted to. He was my leader, my proprietor, my father.

“Do you hear, Arianne?”

Bowing my head, I nodded. No matter how much I hated it, I had to give in. I had no other choice.

Scrambling away from that memory, I was quickly swept into another. I could see Alexander as Arianne held onto his hand.

“Come to me tonight, Alexander. Come to me so we can be mated. I can’t live without you. I have to be with you no matter what.”

I could see his hesitation. I knew he wanted this as much as I did, but something was holding him back. “But what if your father finds out? He will hurt you. I can’t have that happen, Arianne. I won’t let that happen to you.”

Gripping his hand tighter, I willed him to listen. “Please, Alexander. I want this. I need this. Ever since we were little, I wanted you to be mine. You know that as much as I do.”

“Yes, but at what cost, Arianne?”

I had to make him see. If we were mated, nothing could take that away. It would be for life. “The cost is us, Alexander. The cost is us being together. Joining as one union  . You and I know we haven’t mated with anyone before. I’ve always saved myself for you. Don’t you know this by now?”

Alexander dipped his head and smiled. “Yes, I know.”

“He will never have to know, Alexander. We will come together as one and share in each other. This is something he can never take away.”

Nodding, Alexander kissed my hand. “Okay. Tonight, I will come to you. You know I can never stick to the rules anyway,” he smiled with a wink.

Feeling lighter than air, I gently kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Alexander. I will be waiting.”

A sudden whoosh of air surrounded me as I was faced with another memory. A memory of Alexander and me together, making love.

Closing my eyes, I let my own memories sweep over me. How could I forget this, Alexander? How could I forget you?

Keeping my eyes closed, all I could hear were the sounds of our heavenly cries as we joined together. I daren’t open my eyes as it would seem like I was a peeping Tom to my own memory. I could remember it, though. I could remember every kiss, every touch, the feel of his skin on mine. The build-up of knowing we had become one made it all that more explosive.

How could I have forgotten that?

Feeling the tears slip down my face, I waited until the memory faded. I didn’t need to see anymore. I remembered everything.

“If we ever break apart for any reason. Promise me you will find me, Alexander. Promise.”

Taking my face in his hands, he momentarily closed his eyes. “I promise you, Arianne. You are my life now. You were always my life.”

Sinking to the floor, I let the pain wash over me at what happened next. I remembered it as clear as day now.

Another whoosh of air snapped my eyes open as I gazed upon me the very next day. I was so in love with Alexander, I couldn’t think straight. Suddenly, there was noise. Lots of noise surrounding me, and the pain of knowing what was coming next was excruciating.