dark places - jb & ag {completed}

{seventeen}

"Angel?" I gasped my question. "I'm an angel?"

Justin nodded, but before he looked away, there was a look of distaste evident on his face, reminding me right away of what he'd said about angels being a threat to his kind.

Something happened inside of me, a feeling that I couldn't name, but I knew that I was wondering what this meant for us – me and him.

"You thought I was your mate," I said.

Justin's head snapped to my direction, and his eyes were hard when he said sternly, "I know you are my mate; it's the truth."

"How come?" I asked. "You said that angels were a threat to your kind, so we can't be mates."

"I don't know, Ariana," he started, his voice holding so much sadness. "I know what I feel in my heart. I know that every beat is calling your name. I know that I love you more than anything or anyone in the whole two worlds. I know that what I feel for you is what I should feel for my mate. I know I'll always feel it even if you never love me back," his voice cracked as he said the last words, and it broke my heart.

My legs moved on their own, taking the few steps that separated us until I was standing right in front of him. He wouldn't look into my eyes. He still looked away, so I touched his face with my hand, trying to bring his attention to me.

His head leaned into my touch, his eyes closed for a moment before he opened them to look at me, his eyes full of passion. I refused to let him think that mine held any less emotion than what he held for me, so I had to tell him exactly that.

"How could you think that?" I asked, not really looking for an answer. "I've spend the last year, from the moment I saw you, from the moment we met and until we met again, doing nothing but grieving over my best friend and aching because of how much I missed you," I told him, because he had to understand.

His eyes widened slightly, and I felt his skin heating even more under my touch, if that was possible. He looked shocked, and I disliked that he didn't already know this. "Justin, how could you think I don't love you back?" I wondered. "I've been in love with you since the very first time you called me 'Angel'."

Justin's lips parted and he breathed out my name in disbelief, "Ariana.." as if he was asking silently and with just a simple call of my name if what he'd just heard was true.

So I confirmed it for him once more. "I love you, Justin," I said. "And my love for you is so great that I don't think there's a place in my heart to hate anyone or even anything. I love you more than I could possibly explain. I don't know how I can be your soulmate when you're a demon and I'm an angel, but I know that I could never love anyone more than I love you. I love you."

Without a warning, Justin's lips pressed to mine, warm and hard, but tender and nice at the same time. He pulled my bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it, causing me to moan and to finally react and kiss him back. I sucked on his top lip, tasting him with my tongue when his touched mine. His hands pulled me to his body, tightly. And I felt his wings spreading out behind him. My legs almost gave out when his hand moved up my back from underneath my top where he kneaded my skin, warming it under his touch even more.

"Justin," I murmured his name when his lips left my own and began trailing kisses down my neck. My head was already spinning with all of the things I was feeling, and a strong desire grew in my heart for him to touch me more, to hold me more, to ... love me more.

"Ariana," he breathed into my neck, sending fire-hot chills down my spine. "I want you, I want you so bad," he panted.

"Yes." I said without hesitation. In an instant he had his other hand – the one that wasn't on my back – under my thighs from behind, and then he carried me bridal style, walking us a few steps to a spot where the grass was a bit thicker, and the purple flowers were surrounding it.