How Deep The Roots Go ( Book One)

Chapter 29

Roman hesitated for a moment. The wet of her lips were softly on his, enkindled with a raw need he now suddenly felt. He knew he was not to become intimately involved with Temperance; it would only cloud his judgment and put both of them in danger. She was temptation; and he was given fair warning of the rules, by his council. But those words of wisdom and his solid sense of discernment, fleeted quickly from his mind, as he allowed her mouth to overtake his. He joined her there, matching each lash of her tongue to his. She tasted like peppermint and fruity wine.

He groaned, allowing her to consume him like a wild, merciless fire. She wasn't exactly as he had expected, but instead rode to the edge of brazen. It surprised him, and had him wanting her even more. He cradled her tightly, as if he had done it a thousand times over; her body closely nestled into the safety of his arms. She was limp and vulnerable, and it took every bit of willpower to extinguish the primal male need that was shooting through him like a dagger. He was a gentleman, and this one carried a blood he would not — could not stain.

He pulled back with those thoughts, disengaging himself entirely from her. Her eyes fluttered open to see him with his jaw clinched sharply and his eyes rimmed with a new - found anger. Her heart thudded in her ears; a constant hum of it there made her realize her surroundings and the predicament she now found herself in.

"Harrison, the shield's heart is binding with hers," the young angel, Augustus stood afar from the riverbank, invisible to the human eye.

The older angel stood closer to the humans, underneath the massive wing of a tree branch. He had watched them fall into their human lust — bore witness to their temptation of desire. He pondered on the words of his younger charge, and indeed, if the heart is pledged, it would blind him and her from what was to come, Harrison thought.

Love had a tendency to muddle things up. He would have to report this immediately to the Higher Reign. The order of statutes must be abided.

"Augustus, he did what he was trained all along to do. The demon did not take what he was commanded. The shield was able to intervene."

He watched them again, seeing the shield pull away from Temperance, awareness finally setting in. "Let us part from here. There are others fast approaching."

The two angels departed, walking into a white orb of light, North of where Temperance and Roman were. Augustus glanced back at the two before the light closed off, his heart feeling a heavy sadness for them. He knew that humans were bound to love. In fact, they searched for it often. He shook his head sadly with pity. It is too bad that it was forbidden between these two.

Temperance sighed, her eyes blinking rapidly in surprise. What had she done? She asked herself.

"I'm sorry...." she stammered weakly, trying to find herself again. "I have no idea what got into me." She wiggled away from his hold, pushing her hands onto the cool grass to get up, embarrassed as hell.

He did not speak, but simply stared after her, still knelt on the ground, her breasts rising and falling in the tight confines of her dress. He frowned watching her adjust herself, coming to the awareness of what had just transpired between them. While he knew it would go nowhere, he did not regret that moment with her. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, a rapid thought then entering his mind again −"off limits..."

"No reason to be sorry," Roman said slowly, recovering, keeping a safe distance now.

Her eyebrows lifted, and she was certain she noticed a small smirk at the corners of his mouth.