Samie Sands - Through Space and Time

“No,” Miguel interrupted with a playful smile on his lips. “If we don’t want to do nothing, then we should decide. And I decide that you should rule.”

Raegan was silent for a beat too long before the temper erupted from her like a volcano. “Are you kidding me, Miguel? What on earth are you talking about? That’s just…”

He silenced her rant in the only way he could think of. By spontaneously cupping her cheek in his hand and pressing his lips to hers. Raegan’s body tingled from head to toe as their lips moved in unison, the passion overcoming the pair of them. She ran her fingers through his soft hair, a little moan rumbling in her throat as they kissed.

“Raegan?” Miguel murmured as his lips moved down towards her throat.

“Hmm?” Her eyes slid closed. She lost herself in the sensations.

“I love you.”

“What?” She snapped back, pushing him off her. “What did you just say?”

She held her hands out in front of her, panting raggedly. Her eyes searched Miguel to try and figure out what the hell he was talking about. He couldn’t just drop the L bomb like that, as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole damn world.

“I love you.” He shrugged and grinned. “I thought you knew that already.”

“I didn’t know that. I didn’t…”

But she trailed off as she found something intense in Miguel’s eyes. She did know. If she was honest with herself, then she’d known for a very long time. It was just hard to accept because catching feelings put them in danger. Real danger.

Then again, was this life worth anything if they didn’t have love?

“I… I…” Nope, it was even harder to say herself than hear. “I love you too…”

“I knew it.”

Miguel scooped her up in his arms, kissing her hard. The intense butterflies exploded inside of her as she suddenly realized that everything was different now. This wasn’t just a kiss; it was leading somewhere… and she wanted it to.

For the first time in her life, she was allowing herself to be vulnerable, and it actually felt good…

“WHAT NOW?” MIGUEL MURMURED as he stroked Raegan’s still naked back.

“Between me and you?” she laughed. “Because I don’t know if we’re in the position to do anything other than take it one day at a time.”

“Oh no, I know that. Of course.” But he kissed on the top of the head, smiling to himself knowingly. Raegan was the one for him. It would just take her a little longer to accept it. “I meant with us. With the prophecy. With all of it.”

Not so long ago, Raegan was all consumed with annoyance and fear about that, and while those emotions remained, they were less frantic. What she had here in this room was far more important. She’d let someone in, and it actually felt good. She needed to cling to that sensation for as long as she could.

“We make it home.” She tilted her head up to kiss Miguel, loving how natural it felt to do so already. “We make it back to Earth and we rule.”

“You’re going to rule?”

“Shut up, you.” She slapped Miguel playfully. “Not me, but someone.”

“So, you’re accepting the prophecy now?”

“I don t know. But I can’t ignore it either. If it is the case then we need to consider it, don’t we? Or we’re just as bad as every other human who didn’t plan for the future.”

“You know what, Raegan?” Miguel hugged her much closer to him. “That’s the proudest I think I’ve ever been of you.”

She basked in those words, loving the way they felt… but she wasn’t going to show him that. She wasn’t prepared to be that vulnerable.

“Give it a rest, Miguel. Come on, let’s get dressed. We have work to do.”

“So…” Raegan narrowed her eyes at the beautiful angel who was hard to look at through the shine. “How do we get home? If there is this mission for us and we need to rule, then at some point we’re going to have to get back there, right? But we’ve been trying for years and all we end up doing is skipping from place to place, never quite making it.”

She shuddered under the power of Miguel’s eyes upon her because she knew what he was thinking about… the insane idea that she needed to lead. She couldn’t handle that insanity on top of everything else.

That didn’t stop her from swinging her hang loosely in his though. After last night, she couldn’t let him go now. He was her and she supposed she was his as well.

“There is another way.” The angel’s voice remained cagey. “But there is a catch.”

“A catch?” Of course, there was. Raegan shouldn’t have expected anything else. It couldn’t be easy, could it? “What is it?”

“The first human on Earth must begin leading right away. As it is written.”

Raegan tried her hardest to ignore the squeeze of Miguel’s touch. He needed to get that idea out of his head immediately.

“But there might be people there already…”

Her father flooded her mind. That was who she wanted to be there, who she believed should lead since he’d already done a great job of being in charge according to her boyfriend.

“If a human had landed on Earth, then they would be in charge. But no one has made that move yet. Some might say fate has intervened to make it the right person.”

She rolled her eyes with frustration. “No one is saying the right person is me. I read the ancient text and it didn’t say anything specific about me having to do anything. I mean, what if I get it wrong? What if the world ends up a mess once more? The universe as well? It’s too much pressure. I can’t handle it. I don’t think I can…”

Miguel quietened her down by wrapping his arms tightly around her. Much as his hug was comforting, Raegan couldn’t shut the self-doubt down. She was confident in her abilities out there in the world, fighting and defending herself, but leading was something else.

“You can do it, Raegan,” he whispered delicately into her ears. “I believe in you.”

“But fate… fate doesn’t tell me anything. There isn’t any solid reasoning behind it. Ancient texts don’t say that I need to do this, that any of this is right…”

“Shhh.” Miguel pressed a delicate finger to her lips. He’s always been in awe of her and everything she could do, even now, but this was his time to shine. It was his time to help her. “Don’t worry about the long-distance future. Don’t concentrate on what’s going to happen even tomorrow. Just think one step at a time. Focus on the idea that we can get home at last.”

Raegan’s body sagged with that knowledge. She couldn’t deny how much she wanted to lay her feet on Earth once more. If she closed her eyes, she could recall her last memory there as a young child, clinging onto her father’s hand, waiting for it all to end.

Little did she know that it was all about to begin.

“Fine,” she replied wearily, unable to believe that she was agreeing to this madness. “Fine, I don’t see any other way. We do need to get back, don’t we?”

“Exactly.” Miguel’s’ fingers curled around Raegan’s cheeks and his forehead rested against hers. “Have faith in yourself. Have faith in me and you. We are a team. We can do this.”

She took his hand in hers and nodded in agreement. She might have always been alone until recently, but Miguel was proof that she didn’t have to be again. He was here with her through everything, he would always be there for her to lean on. Maybe together, they could survive.