Shadow Warriors

Chapter twenty

Sarah woke the next morning in the biggest, softest bed she had ever come across. Axin was a tall, muscular guy and he needed the space, but she got lost in the soft covers.

The night before, after Axin carried her to bed with their lips locked together, she'd had the best sex of her life. Not that Sarah had sex often, what with a huge cloud of smoke following her around most of her life, but it was different with Axin. He took his time, exploring her body, and making sure he kissed every inch of her.

She smiled, thinking back to how wonderful he made her feel, over and over again, and how he held her so tight before they fell asleep.

After a midnight snack, they sat on the bed, both naked, and laughed and joked about their lives. Sarah explained the meltdown in high school to him. It was all over a boy. She wanted to go to the movies with him, but her grandmother had seen something about him that warned her off. Turned out she was right. Mark Daniels was serving nine years in prison for beating up his wife countless times.

Axin told her about his living years. About what life was like over a thousand years ago. He didn't have an easy life. Sold into slavery at the age of five by his mother. She was too poor to feed him, and it was the only way he would survive. He never knew his father.

They spoke about how he was found in Purgatory by Nilu. The day he and Raz met. They also spoke about the day of the accident. Sarah expected to feel sad about reliving that day, but having Axin close to her, knowing he was by her side, gave her the strength to recount the details. He filled in a lot of the blanks for her.

Like the fact that he also saved the driver of the truck. The man hadn't been wearing his seatbelt and flew out of the front window when the crash happened. After he saved Sarah and knew there was nothing he could do for her parents, he healed the truck driver's broken neck but left a few of the outside wounds for the doctors to heal.

They spoke about the crusade. How he banished himself to Purgatory for hundreds of years, tearing himself apart with guilt. Nilu and Raz tried everything to get him back, but he refused. It was only when he heard that Jake was about to be sent to the living world that he returned to fight him. The day the accident happened. It was after that, that Axin chose to return to Nilu's ranks and fight for the living. Or as Axin said, to fight for her.

They made love again after that, and Sarah fell asleep in his arms, listening to his heart beating in his chest.

A gentle caress on her cheek made her open her eyes to find Axin kneeling next to the bed, a smile on his face.

"Morning, beautiful." He whispered, raising a hot cup of coffee for her to see.

She moaned, rolling onto her back with a long stretch.

"Morning," She sat up, reaching for the cup, "You're up early."

He took a seat on the edge of the bed. "I had some stuff to do. How did you sleep?"

"Like the dead. This bed is amazing."

He chuckled, "Nice pun. And I never knew just how great this bed could be until last night."

She grinned, "Last night was really amazing."

"Yeah, it was. I want every night to be like that."

She sipped her drink, perfectly content with her life at that very moment.

Axin rested his hand on her leg, "Jake is here."

She frowned, "Here?"

"In the shadow world. He's at the command center talking to Nilu. He came in last night."