An Angel's Christmas

As a Christmas present to my readers, I thought I would give you all a glimpse of Christmas at the angel warrior’s compound. Enjoy!

-Stephani Hecht

An Angel's Christmas


“You know, maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Michael protested as he pulled on the back of Cam’s shirt to make him stop.

Cam heaved one of his suffering sighs as he turned around to give his uncle a bored look. Or at least Michael thought it was a bored look. Half-incubus, Cam always wore dark glasses to hide his demon eyes, so he couldn’t read his gaze. But, he knew his nephew well and he could tell Cam was annoyed, bored and a bit amused too. They were standing in the middle of one of the angel warrior compound’s long hallways and all around them various angels were rushing around. While some of them nodded their heads respectively at Michael, most were too busy with holiday plans to give him notice.

“Look,” Michael tried to reason. “The last thing a group of angel warriors wants is their Chief to show up at their Christmas party. They’ll be too self-conscious to relax and have fun if I’m there.”

“You’re their uncle.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t know that until a few years ago.” Michael ran a hand through his collar length, shaggy, dark blond hair. “Your brothers and sister still see me as their Chief first.”

A young female empath ran over and handed Cam a candy-cane. He gifted the angel with one of his trademark smiles before he thanked her. The female giggled and ran away as fast as her feet would allow. Michael worked hard not to roll his eyes. While his followers look at him with fear and respect, the empath’s worshiped their leader, Cam.

“I’m going to be honest with you here, Uncle Mike.” Cam opened the candy cane and licked one end. “I kind of promised Ana you would be there and there is no way in hell I’m going to disappoint my only sister.”

“She only invited me out of some twisted form of family obligation.”

“Maybe she invited you because we actually want you there.” Cam threw out a cocky smile, which was in direct correlation to his usual spiked hair and arrogant swagger. “I see it as we can do this one of two ways. One, you come willingly with a smile. Two, I get my seven brothers to help me drag your ass there. Either way you are going to that party.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Michael growled. “You may be the leader of the empaths, but I’m still your Chief. All angel warriors answer to me.”

“Not on Christmas,” Cam countered. “Today you’re just Uncle Mike and all bets are off.”

There was a stretch of silence as Michael weighed his options. Never in all of his immortal life had he celebrated Christmas with anybody. Usually he patrolled for demons or holed up alone at home. To actually entertain the idea of spending it with others was foreign. Hell, to think that others actually wanted to spend it with him was even more foreign.

“Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll go, but only for a few minutes.”

“See.” Cam beamed as he threw an arm around Michael’s shoulders. “That wasn’t too hard. Who knows, you may actually have some fun.”

Somehow Michael doubted that, but he let Cam lead him to Ana’s quarters. Once they got there he hung back while Cam knocked on the door. When Ana answered it, Michael observed how much she looked like her mother. Her long blonde hair was pulled back with a large red bow and her blue eyes were nearly sparkling with excitement.

“Did you bring him?” she asked.

“He’s right behind me.” Cam jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Michael stepped closer so she could see him. “Hi Ana, thank you for asking me over.”

He could see the crowded room behind her. Not only were all his nephews present, but so were all their friends, mates and God knew who else. Taking a step back, Michael was prepared to search for a graceful way to bag out. Then he saw the ecstatic smile on Ana’s lips and knew there was no way he could disappoint her.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said as she reached up and gave him a hug.

“Of course I came.” He squeezed her back. “There is no other place I’d rather be.”

“Don’t worry,” Ana whispered before pulling back. “All the guys are under direct orders to treat you just like any other family. Today you’re not our Chief, you’re just Uncle Mike.”

“So I heard.” He smiled over at Cam.

“Come on inside.” Ana tugged on his hand and urged him forward.

Ana got him a drink and ran off to mingle with the rest of her guests. Michael situated himself in a corner and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. Surprisingly, it had been easy to do. Aside from a, “Hey it’s Uncle Mike!” and a, “Uncle Mike is here!” the clan acted like he was just one of the gang.

“Michael, you came.”

Startled, he looked up and saw Rachael standing in front of him. As always, his reaction to the female archangel was instantaneous. His gut clenched, his heart rate skyrocketed and his cock grew so hard it hurt. She was wearing a tight red skirt, with white boa trim and a long-sleeved matching top. Completing the look were thigh-high stocking and red stilettos. Her long, raven, curly locks were free and spilled over her shoulders and her deep, blue eyes were snapping with amusement.

“Ray, I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said in a choked voice. He hoped to hell she didn’t notice his slip in composure.

“My brother is Ana’s mate,” she reminded him with a smile. Michael notice, not for the first time, how cute her dimples were. “Of course I’d be here.”

Michael wondered if she would still freely smile at him if she knew how many sleepless nights he spent thinking about her. Wanting her. Would she still talk to him if she knew that she and she alone brought alive needs and desires he’d long thought dead?

“Hey, look at that!” Cam called from across the room. “Uncle Mike and Ray are under the mistletoe.”

Blushing Michael looked up and saw that they had indeed ended up under some mistletoe. Heart hammering, he tired to think of a graceful way out of this mess, but none came to mind. Then he realized that was because he didn’t want to get out. He’d often wondered what it would be like to taste her lips and now that he had a chance damned if he wasn’t going to take it.

Burying one hand in her soft curls, he cupped the back of her head and brought his mouth down to hers. A soft gasp escaped her parted lips right before he claimed them in a soft, gentle kiss. Even though every part of him was screaming to give into his hunger, he held back and took his time.

Then she gave a little moan and started to kiss him back, her hands wrapping around his neck. Ray parted her lips in invitation and he took it, slipping his tongue in to sample the sweetness inside.

Heaven. He’d found Heaven on Earth and it was in her arms. Even though he knew he could never claim this female as his own, he allowed himself this one moment because he didn’t have the strength to deny himself. Ray deserved more than him, better than him.

A cough and someone clearing their throat reminded him they had an audience. Michael reluctantly pulled back and stepped away from her. Ray looked as stunned as he felt. Her eyes were glazed over with passion and her full lips were swollen from his kiss.

“Sorry, I forgot myself,” he muttered.

“We both did,” she responded, brining her fingers up to her mouth.

“I got to go.” Yeah, he had to go quick before he did something really stupid like telling her how much she meant to him.

“Don’t go on my account. We could—“

“I have guard duty. I promised Uriel I would take his shift so he could spend some time with his family.” Feeling every inch the coward he was, Michael retreated to the door. “Merry Christmas, Ray.”

“Merry Christmas, Michael.” He took exactly two steps before she added one last zinger, “By the way, how long do you think you’re going to be able to deny what’s going on between us?”


All material copyrighted by Stephani Hecht 2008