Seeming to know his limits, Angelica moved again, kissing and nibbling the area around his groin while lazily playing with his cock. Only once she felt him ease did she move back up, and Patrick cried out in surprise as she took his full length into her mouth without warning. Her soft warmth closed around him; her tongue pressing gently against his shaft.
It was too much. Her head moved. Slowly. Up and down. He could not resist. Patrick wound his fingers through her hair. All of him, in her mouth. Teeth scraped gently against him.
“Ah …”
Patrick looked up as Angelica withdrew from him. His cock felt cold without her mouth around it.
Angelica laughed at the anguish on Patrick’s face, but then moved forward, climbing over his legs to straddle him. He immediately felt the moisture between her legs, and suddenly became aware of her arousal.
Grabbing her by her hips, he helped guide her. She took his cock in one hand while touching herself with the other. The sight nearly drove him insane.
Lining herself up, she guided his cock into her, rocking gently over his tip. Closing her eyes and throwing back her head, the movements of her hips lowered and lowered, taking more of him inside of her with each downward stroke.
When she held all of him within her, she looked at him again, her eyes hazy with pleasure. A lazy smile played around her lips, and then she sat back, pushing his cock deep inside of her. They both moaned together, and then moved their hips, grinding against each other, finding their rhythm. Angelica had her eyes closed, but Patrick could not take his eyes off her.
Her parted lips quivered with pleasure; her breasts bounced with every stroke; her long hair draped over her shoulders in unruly strands.
Hot, pulsating pleasure throbbed through him with every stroke, and he gripped her hips firmly, maintaining the rhythm. He was so close, but he could not let go. He observed her carefully.
Angelica’s movements became faster. Patrick matched them. She gripped his arms and held on tight. Her back stiffened, and she lost her rhythm as she cried out. Patrick held her firmly and kept her moving through her throes. Her cries rose in a crescendo, before fading to soft moans. He could hold it no longer and joined her in her pleasure during the final strokes.
Patrick and Angelica heard the wolves howl throughout the night as they hunted the forests, searching for them. The creepy sounds of a werewolf’s howl could not be mistaken for a regular wolf’s howl, and Patrick knew that all of Ashford would be lying awake as well.
“We cannot hide here forever, Angelica.”
“It would be wonderful, though,” she replied, playing with his hair.
“I came back so they would not harm you,” he continued, “as is my duty as your husband, and because I love you. As for the rest, you know I won’t stand with you.”
The fingers entwined in his hair stopped. “It is my duty; I cannot change who I am. I would have liked to have you by my side, but I will continue alone. My full powers will be mine soon, and the day of reckoning will be upon mankind.”
Patrick sat up, facing her. “Why? Is there no other way?”
Angelica tilted her head; he hated when she did that. The icy shiver traced slowly down his back. He assumed it to be an angelic motion.
“I will show you,” she said and reached out to put her palm to his forehead.
White-hot pain shot through his head, and a bright light blinded him. Patrick screamed and, even as he did so, visions materialised before his closed eyes.
He witnessed atrocities such as he never thought existed; saw people commit murder, rape, incest, abuse, and neglect; he saw wars through the ages fought for false beliefs or greed; saw every sin conceivable laid bare before his eyes.
Patrick dropped to the wooden planks of the floor with a thud when Angelica removed her hand. Breathing heavily, he remained there, his mind struggling to comprehend so much cruelty at once.
“What …?” he managed to choke out.
“It is how I have observed mankind over the millennia. I am sorry you had to see such a concentrated dose of it, but I need you to understand. Mankind is a self-serving species that will destroy everything in its path for its gain.”
“Not … all.”
“There are others, yes,” Angelica conceded. “God created many species to populate this Earth; each with a purpose. Of those that walk upright, only the humans have multiplied to such numbers that they have colonised the entire planet, and seek to dominate it in every way.”
Patrick struggled upright. He coughed and cleared his throat. “If you have studied us well, you would know that werewolves breed with humans. Every son born becomes a werewolf. If you kill the humans, werewolves become extinct,” Patrick put forth his argument.
“I have considered it,” she replied, “but you are not limited to breed with humans. Your line can continue even without humans.”
Patrick frowned, and thought of the few nomad supernatural breeds he knew of; they were even more elusive than werewolves.
“You keep saying that you are waiting to come into your full powers. Why do you not have them yet?”
Angelica hesitated. “An angel can be sent to Earth with her full powers or … an angel can be born a human, and wait for her strength to return to her. It can take some time.”
There was an edge to Angelica’s voice now that wasn’t there before. She was both hesitant and defensive as if she hid something from him. He studied her face.
“Would it then not have been easier if you had been sent to Earth with your powers intact to begin with? All this could have been over already, and I would not have known about it.”
With a stony expression, Angelica turned her face away. Patrick thought her stoney resolution was starting to crack.
“Angelica, answer me. Why come to Earth to be born here, and struggle, when you could have wiped out humanity with one flick of your angelic finger?”
A tear ran over her left cheek. Patrick took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him again. Angelica’s dark blue eyes were hazy with tears. The sudden change of mood startled him.
“Help me understand, Angelica. I am drawn to you in a way that has nothing to do with an alpha bond, but it will not be denied. I cannot condone, or agree with, your sentiments. Tell me who you are.”
Angelica sobbed. He took her hands in his.
“Every day, I look down on Earth, and I see the injustice, the hurt, the destruction. My heart bleeds, but no one listens. God has forsaken his creations and moved on elsewhere. He cares no more for his mistakes. I have begged, I have pleaded, all for nought.”
The tears flowed freely now, dripping off her chin.
“I was left with no choice, Patrick. No one cared. No one sent me. I made a choice, and I fell to Earth to be reborn.”
Patrick gaped at her. “You’re a fallen angel?”
Chapter 20
Angelica collapsed in a heap on his lap.
Patrick had expected her to be angry and was unprepared for the utter hopelessness in the slump of Angelica’s shoulders.
“My love, forgive me. I meant no insult to you.”
A heart-breaking sob escaped her before she answered, “It is true.”
“I think no less of you,” he tried to comfort her.
Angelica buried her face in the blanket on his lap, and he stroked her hair.
“I may never go back,” she mumbled.
“Yet you came. Does it mean that much to you?”
“It did.”
Patrick’s motion across her hair ceased. Did? “Does it not anymore?”
Wiping her tears, Angelica sat up. She looked at him with big eyes. “Do you still want to know why I did not kill Hector Buck?”
Patrick nodded.
“The man did atrocious things when he was young. I have seen it. When I found him here, I sought him out to punish him, but when I looked into his heart, I found it to be pure.” Angelica sobbed softly, wiping at her tears again before she continued. ‘‘Back when
he was young, something changed in his life that made him recognise what he was. He paid dearly for his behaviour and vowed to turn his life around. That’s when he moved here, to Ashford.”
“Yet you still punished him,” Patrick said.
Angelica looked down. “I made him tell me all the bad things he has ever done. I made him relive them. It terrified him into voiding his bowels,” she admitted. “It was the only punishment I could bear to inflict on him, for in his heart there was only love. He treats his wife and his family with nothing but love and respect. He is a good man, father, and husband. I could not kill him.”
Patrick’s hope surged at Angelica’s admission. If she could see the good in one man, there might be hope yet.
“You have seen the good in people, Angelica. Why, then, must you follow through with your plan?”
The moment he said it, Patrick knew it had been the wrong thing to ask.
Her face darkened, and her voice was deep when she answered. “Because,” she thundered, “I have given up everything for this. To abandon it now because I suddenly have feelings for the humans would go against everything I have vowed.”
Angelica stood up, glorious in her nakedness. Dark smoke swirled around her, and Patrick scrabbled back until his back pressed against the railing of the loft. A wind picked up; swirling dust and smoke around her. Patrick threw his arm over his eyes to cover them, crouching against the railing. When the turbulence ceased, he looked up.
Angelica stood before him, clad in her angelic armour, her black wings neatly folded on her back. She stood there for a moment, holding her regal pose, before she dropped to her knees before him, bowing her head.
Patrick hesitated, unsure of what to make of her sudden submission. He reached out and lifted her chin. “I have never seen a more beautiful creature than you.”
A thin smile played across her lips. “I am not worthy of your admiration,” she said. “I have failed. Everything I set out to do has come to nought. I was a fool to think I would get all my powers back.” She shook her head.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“It should have happened when the dreams started,” she explained. “I thought perhaps my powers were slow to develop, but I now see that they never will. This is all I will ever have.”
“You are the most powerful being I have ever met,” he said honestly.
Angelica smiled; fuller this time. “It is not the loss of my power that I mourn, Patrick. In all my existence, I have never known defeat. Here I am, defeated, not by someone else’s power, but by the love and kindness showed to me. It took me too long to admit that I was wrong.”
“You are not wrong, though, for there is evil in this world. It is simply that not all humans are as vile as you thought them to be, and not all of them deserve to die.”
“Still, I have killed, and now I am hunted. I have ripped you from your family, and made you the hunted, too. I have broken the unbreakable bond with heaven, and I will forever be a fallen angel.”
“Not all is lost, my love,” Patrick told her. “If you are prepared to abandon your plan, we can salvage the situation. I will speak with the wolf council.”
Angelica’s dark eyes searched his. Patrick’s heart ached for the pain he saw in the depth of her liquid pools.
“It is too late. The people need a villain. They will need someone to parade before the people as the beast. Someone needs to take the fall for what was done; otherwise, Ashford will not find peace.”
“We will come up with a solution. Let me speak with them. I will protect you and stay with you, no matter the outcome.”
Overcome with joy, Angelica threw her arms around him, and her wings spread wide on either side; rustling as they opened. The metal of her armour chafed against his naked skin, and her angelic power buzzed through his body like a lightning bolt.
Growling, his body tensed as he fought the change, but the wolf would not be denied.
Angelica jumped back in fright, mumbling apologies, and retreating to the other side of the loft.
Patrick’s body contorted; twisting, and breaking, and growing. He could still feel her power flowing through him, and it healed him faster than ever before.
In the blink of an eye, Patrick had changed, and stood heaving in the centre of the loft, snarling and growling. His eyes found Angelica, and he tilted his head.
Her eyes widened, and she cowered against the wall. Patrick blinked. What had he done? Had she transferred some of her power to him? Had he just done to her with the tilting of his head what she always did to him?
Crouching low, he crawled towards her, whining and wagging his tail. It was an undignified pose for a werewolf, but he had not intended to frighten her. Once he was close enough, Patrick nudged her hand with his muzzle. Angelica reached out and stroked his shaggy head.
“I guess we both need to learn to be around each other when we are in our true form,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice.
The wolf growled softly.
“If we are to do this,” Angelica said, “you better change back, for you will have to do the talking.
Dressed in what spare clothes Patrick could find in the boat shed, he strode across the lawns towards the manor. Jasper saw him and came hurrying to him.
“The men were here again last night. They are still looking for you,” the servant said.
“I know, Jasper. Thank you for your loyalty, and I apologise if I frightened you yesterday.”
“We know about the wolves, Sir. Didn’t figure you to be one, but when I saw you, I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“The mayor and his men will be coming again,” Patrick told Jasper as they climbed the steps to the manor. “I need to speak with them, but I am afraid they will not give me the time to talk.”
“What do you want us to do?”
Patrick smiled. “I knew I could count on you.”
“Where is Miss Angelica? Is she all right?”
“Gather everyone, and bring them to the stable yard. Go now.”
Jasper left, and Patrick went into Albert’s old office to fetch the three rifles locked away in the cabinet there. Shouldering them, he went upstairs next and brought a robe for Angelica.
When he stepped out of the front doors, he saw servants coming from all directions, heading towards the stables. Patrick joined them, walking side by side with them.
In the yard, he handed a rifle to Jasper, one to the groundskeeper, and one to the stable master. Angelica’s robe he draped over one of the stable doors.
“Most of you have known Miss Angelica since she was born; others have grown up here on the farm knowing her. You know her to be kind and generous, and that is what I want you to remember of her today,” Patrick began.
They nodded in agreement with his words.
“Do not be afraid, now, for she is still your Miss Angelica, and she needs your help.”
The gathering gasped and staggered back, pressing backs to the stable doors, as Angelica flew over the stables and landed in the central courtyard of the complex amid a swirling cloud of black smoke.
Shuffling her black wings, she folded them neatly behind her back, and then looked around at her people.
“Please,” she said softly, “I mean you no harm. They proclaim me to be a beast, but I will never hurt an innocent soul. The mayor and his men are coming for me to condemn me. Will you stall them long enough to give Patrick time to speak with the mayor?”
Half fell to their knees before the angel, the others threw their hands in the air, praying. Angelica smiled at them indulgently, and Patrick thought she had never looked more angelic.
The groundskeeper gave orders and divided the servants into positions. No one hesitated and took up what arms they could, from shovels and spades to pitchforks and fruit harvesters.
“You could simply leave,” Jasper said to Patrick as they walked back to the manor.
“This is our home, Jasper. You are our people,” Patrick replied. “Miss Angelica does h
ave the power to leave, but she would leave behind everything she holds dear, and that which gives her life here meaning. No, we must convince them she is not the monster they think she is, so she can return to life as it was before.”
“Aye, my Lord.”
With the robe draped over her wings, Angelica came to take Patrick’s hand as Jasper took his leave. Together, they ascended the steps to the manor and sat in the shade of the veranda.
A maid brought them lemonade before she ran down the steps carrying a basket full of ammunition.
“Jasper is right, you know,” Patrick said. “I would go with you wherever you decided to go. We do not have to stay here.”
Angelica shook her head. “I have done everything wrong since I have come to Earth. You have risked everything to show me the way, to make me see the error of my ways. I will stand beside you now, and face the trouble I have caused. This is my home, our home, and I am not leaving.”
Patrick reached across the table and took her hand. Now that she was calm, her angelic power was but a mild tingle through his fingers; a rather pleasant sensation.
“I cannot promise you how they will react,” Patrick said. “Unlike the servants, the wolf council has seen your work with their own eyes. I will do everything in my power to convince them of your change of heart, but if they will not hear it, we will leave.”
“Patrick …”
“No, Angelica, you may be the most powerful creature I have ever come across in my entire life, yet you are also the most vulnerable. It is my duty to protect you. If negotiations fail, promise me you will fly.”
“I could not leave you.”
“I would follow. You would not need to worry about me. Just promise me to leave should I give you the order to do so.”
Angelica searched his stony face but found no solace there.
“I promise,” she vowed.
As the midday sun dropped towards the afternoon, Patrick heard the thunder of hooves from far down the road. He warned the servants that the men were on their way.
Playing With Fire Page 66
