The Professional Body Double
Their love was forbidden but undeniable. Are they strong enough to use their second chance?
High-ranking angel Uriel, has been a professional body double for the past ten years. Thanks to his special skills, he can take on any persona to complete his missions with a stunning one-hundred-percent success rate. His record is spotless, and he never allows his personal life to interfere with his work—not that he has one these days. However, that changes with the appearance of his ex-lover, Azazel King—a fallen angel who always seems to turn Uriel’s quiet life upside down without trying.
When the love of Azazel’s immortal life disappeared from their home without an explanation more than thirty years ago, he closed himself off from everyone and everything. When he returned to the human realm three years ago in Vale Valley, Azazel was shocked to find the lover he thought he’d never see again. But despite having a grown son between them, Uriel ran from him again. Azazel has never stopped loving Uriel and would recognize him anywhere, even when he’s pretending to be someone else.
Despite all the secrets and mystery surrounding Uriel, then and now, Azazel still loves him and vows never to let him go. He only hopes that they can both move on from the past and embrace their future. But there are so many years of hurt to overcome, and forgiveness might be more than they can hope for.
The Professional Body Double is #12 of the Valleywood series, a city where mpreg is everywhere, the strongest magic is love, and forgiveness is available for those who know to ask for it. This book can be read as a standalone but is best if you’ve also read Angel of His Heart, #14 of Vale Valley season 4.
Chapter One
Uriel’s head snapped back when a hard fist connected with his jaw, causing him to bite his tongue, tasting copper as blood pooled in his mouth. He gave his opponent a smile that spoke volumes of delight and annoyance.
“What the hell was that?" Uriel growled. "I thought since they called you Tank-the-Damn-Beast that you would have power behind your fucking punch.” Uriel wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand and spoke loud so that the entire arena could hear. “You hit like a bitch. My ten-year-old son hits harder than you do. I came to fight, not fuck around with you.”
Snickers and laughter came from the crowd. Tank’s face grew red and contorted in rage. He shouted, then punched and kicked Uriel in succession. Uriel heard and felt a rib or two crack and his jaw snapped out of place, but none of that bothered him.
In fact, he reveled in the pain.
He was an immortal being, after all, and could instantly heal those minor injuries, but he held off for a bit longer. He wanted to see what else Tank had to offer before he counterattacked. It was no fun ending the fight too early. Tank the Beast kicked him hard in the stomach, sending Uriel sailing across the cage, his back hitting and scraping against the barbed-wire fence as he slid down to the ground.
Seeing him get knocked down, the crowd's cheering grew louder, delighting in his pain. They're a bunch of savages, Uriel thought. But he was no better than the spectators since he enjoyed egging on both the crowd and his opponents.
He’d been coming to Vanis's illegal underground fights for a couple of years and had yet to lose a match. Vanis Balleas was a former gladiator fighter and a gargoyle, who no longer took part in the games but ran and organized them.
Uriel had found out about the underground matches from a previous client who required his body double services. As with most of his clients he doubled for, someone was trying to kill him and had threatened his family. Not only that, the client had a gambling problem and enjoyed betting on the gladiator-type fights.
The fights weren’t the kiddie kind where the competitors wore gloves and protective gear. Opponents had to fight until they were incapacitated. Few knew, but some opponents weren’t all human. Some were supernaturals who enjoyed taking out their grievances on other supernaturals.
The winner won the pot of gold, of course, but they had to pay the club ten percent of their winnings. It was how Vanis was able to support the fights. Vanis was a smart businessman and knew how to cover his ass in case the fight club got shut down.
Above the arena was a restaurant, and not far from it was a nightclub that was unconnected to the fight club and was anonymously owned. A year ago, Vanis was looking for a silent partner, and as luck would have it, he found one with money to burn.
A smile crossed Uriel's lips when he recalled sitting in the V.I.P. stands, watching, and trying to control his body from joining in on the matches. Uriel could hear his blood pumping, coursing through his veins, and the excited pounding of his heart. Uriel attributed his new bloodlust to his years of captivity. The beatings and relying on his will to survive. Or it could be his desire for revenge that sometimes ate at him whenever he thought about his past.
After walking away from Dio’s side, Uriel had become partners with Kayne and Synder Vale and worked tirelessly for Vale’s Bodyguard Training & Services. He had a special skill that he liked to call body cloning or body doubling. Uriel had met Kayne and Synder during one of the darkest periods of his life and found out that they came from a quaint magical town called Vale Valley that was conveniently two hours from Valleywood.
Uriel smiled, thinking about his best friends. With their help and support, Uriel wasn’t sure he would have been financially secure after serving twenty years of imprisonment. Nor would he have a place for him, his son Kristoph, and his son's godfather to live. Uriel’s life had changed drastically so many years ago, and he was still picking up the shattered pieces. An image of Azazel flashed in his mind, and he quickly, mentally swatted it away. He didn't want to think about his bastard ex-lover.
Other than taking care of himself and his son, Uriel drowned himself in his work, leaving no room for anything else. Furthermore, he wasn't interested in anyone. After his affair with Azazel, he couldn't find anyone he liked. It wasn't that he didn't have people ask him out or didn't have needs and desires, it was just that he always compared other men to Azazel.
From their body, to their smile, to their personality and intellect. He found none of them appealing. The word mate was whispered in the back of his mind, and again he banished the thought away and focused on his job.
His job wasn’t painstakingly hard, but gave him great satisfaction. Being part owner of the company gave him the freedom to do as he pleased. Although he had other responsibilities within the company, he wasn't tied down to a desk like Kayne or sometimes Synder.
He had been a body double for ten years and didn’t mind pretending to be someone else, even if it was only for a short time. Uriel's job came with some dangers, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
With his abilities, it wasn't bothersome to change into one of his clients this way. It didn’t require make-up, and there was no room for error. Other than Kayne and Synder, none of the employees knew that he was a body double—or that he was an angel, for that matter. The company was broken up into three parts; Kayne was in charge of the bodyguard and training department, Synder took care of investigations and cyber security, and he was in charge of the stunt workers.
Over the years, Uriel had pretended to be a politician, movie star, singer, and any public figures who needed to disappear for a bit without their fans or officials noticing.
Uriel grunted when he received a kick to the stomach, pulling him from his thoughts. Uriel had let his mind wander off at the wrong time, forgetting that Tank was itching to kick his ass.
“Hey, blondie, did you finally give up?” Tank asked. “It might be for the better since I don’t want to fuck up that pretty face of yours.”
Uriel smiled and studied the muscled man towering over him. “Pretty? I think I’m more handsome...dashing even. But don’t worry, big guy, I just needed to take a breather.”
Although Tank was a werewolf, Uriel limited his own powers to two percent, which was why he was so easily hurt. However, Uriel was certain Tank couldn’t tell he was an angel and maybe thought he was a human, strong enough to take his punches.
“You should stay down,” Tank advised. “I fucked you up enough and I don’t want to send you to the hospital tonight.”
Uriel barked out a laugh along with the crowd. “Don’t you worry about me, just try to win.”
“Haven’t I already won?”
Uriel sighed and shook his head—his opponents were all the same. They figured once they knocked him to the ground that he was out for the count and that they'd won, completely forgetting he was still moving, no matter how bloody and beat-up he looked. He'd been through worse and survived.
“How about we make a deal?” Uriel said.
“What kind of deal?”
