“I’ve wanted you for so long,” he murmured and nuzzled into her neck. He smelled like her passion.
Finally, he moved his hips until his cock was in position, just teasing her entrance. She rolled her hips, but he didn’t advance. His gaze pinned her as he entered. Slowly.
Everything between them was stripped away. In the bright depths of his eyes, she saw how much he desired her. How much her passion turned him on and how he wanted only to get her off over and over until they both passed out. He was stripped bare of more than clothing.
Allowing herself the same, she tried to express without words how much she’d wanted to be with him. Not like the others. They’d been distractions. She’d wanted to learn every nuance of Jagger since the moment she’d laid eyes on him. Unlike many males she’d come across, his honor was more than a temporary show.
And being with him like this was beyond her experience with their kind. And her time with the humans? Their stress over birth control and STDs had consumed the moment. She couldn’t get pregnant outside of a sync bond, and her kind didn’t get disease. One of the perks of being the guardians of humankind.
Finally, Jagger was seated fully inside, filling her completely. His body shook like he wanted to pump with abandon.
“Let yourself go,” she whispered. “For once, just let go.”
If he couldn’t do that with her, then who?
He took a moment, like he had too much to consider. Her pleasure. The length of the experience. How perfect it should be.
But he did as she asked, just like she’d do with her wings when he asked. Next time.
He thrust. Over and over, his head dropping to hers as the force increased. He hooked his arms under her legs and pumped.
Oh, this wasn’t going to take long. Jagger losing his mind was a hell of an aphrodisiac and her clit was still quivering from his tongue.
She exploded over him, and he opened his mouth, a strangled sound escaping. He clenched his jaw, catching himself in time. Neither of them wanted the others to know they were having sex. Another unspoken mutual understanding.
He released, his body going rigid, easing, then rigid again as he emptied inside of her. This was the best sex she’d ever had. Nearly perfect. If she could scream about how good this was, it would be the cherry on top.
He collapsed on top of her, his wings going limp.
She was warm and satisfied.
After a minute, he withdrew and rolled to the side, one wing still over her.
Her smile had to be as dreamy as she felt. “Next time, I want to hear what you cry out during sex.”
“Next time, I want to fucking yell. And make you call my name over and over.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. The sweetest gesture she’d ever had from him. “But I guess until my mating contract is officially broken, we have to keep this between us.”
Chapter 14
With one hand still shoved in his pocket, Jagger banged on the door, then stuffed that hand in a pocket too. To say he wasn’t looking forward to this was an understatement. But once Felicia had yelled What? and shoved him off, it was hard to hide what happened from anyone within listening distance, which, as Felicia’s shouting had gotten louder, was quite far. Good thing he had a sizable yard.
Urban had graciously allowed him to be the one to tell Bryant that Felicia had descended to God knows where and ask Odessa where Felicia had likely fled.
The door swung open on soundless hinges and Odessa’s curious face peered back at him. Her gaze swept around him before a small frown graced her mouth.
“She’s not here. That’s what I came to talk to you about. Is Director Vale home as well?” His boss wasn’t the workaholic Jagger assumed he’d be, but mating had changed his priorities.
“What do you mean—” Odessa leaned back. “Bryant!” She stepped out of the way.
Crossing the threshold only added a metric ton of weight to his shoulders.
He did not. Want. To do this.
But hindsight made it clear where he’d fucked up. That, or Felicia’s justified tirade.
Odessa wrung her hands together, the frown still on her face. “I know Bryant needs to hear this, but is she okay? Because you don’t look okay.”
He should be better than he’d ever been. Sex with Felicia Montclaire had been off the charts. He’d been humbled and elated at the same time, if only for a brief second before he’d ruined it. “I think she is well, but we had a-a…situation…and she left.”
Director Vale’s voice cut in. “What do you mean she left? Who went with her?”
Jagger slid his hand out of his pockets and clasped them behind his back. “No one. She was upset.”
His boss’s amber eyes narrowed on him. “What the bloody hell did you do?”
There was no way to tell the story in a dignified way. He went for succinct. “We were growing closer, then my mom matched me with another angel without my permission. When I went to break things off, the female didn’t handle it well. Pushing would’ve made it worse so I decided to bide my time. But then Felicia and I… And she didn’t know that I was still…” Nope. Not dignified, but he refused to hang his head.
Odessa sucked in a breath. “You slept with her while you were promised to another? After how you treated her?”
He didn’t need a psychologist to understand that, because of her reputation, he’d laid blame on her that should’ve been aimed at his father. And while he’d realized that he’d been unjustly unfair about her past, he still treated her like she was as indiscriminate as Father. Of course she would take issue with sleeping with him while he was promised to another, and he should’ve been honest.
He hadn’t meant to be dishonest but his actions had hurt her in the end. Now he had to find her. “I didn’t think— I’m not going through with the mating. So no, I didn’t make the connection, but I agree. I was wrong. Then and now.”
“Did you tell her that?” Odessa’s arms were folded and she inspected him the way a scientist must look at a pinned bug.
“It didn’t matter at the time.” Perhaps if he’d been less of an asshole before.
The director wiped a hand over his brow. “So you came here hoping Odessa would know where she went.”
He nodded. Almost three solid months at her side and he didn’t know much about her.
Concern infused Odessa’s teal irises. “I don’t either. Until all this started, I didn’t know what she did in the human realm, not where she went or who she did it with.”
“I still can’t believe she chose Persephone Nassim,” the director said. “Why her?”
He shrugged, feeling as helpless as he must look. “I think it was her misguided attempt to keep me safe.”
“For the healing.” The director shook his head. “She should’ve had faith you’d get a sync mate if things became dire.”
“For an angel, my mother lacks faith, unless it’s regarding your failings. I’ll find her.”
Director Vale shook his head. “You can’t go alone.”
“Being guarded twenty-four seven isn’t helping. And we suspect a leak. If my father’s people find out she’s alone, they will hunt her down.”
Director Vale inspected him. “You don’t think your father would hurt her?”
Jagger hadn’t realized that he hadn’t implicated Father—Jameson. Fuck, why bother? It was clear he couldn’t pretend any longer that the fallen and Father weren’t one and the same. Why waste the energy calling him Jameson? If anyone could be forgiven for not properly forgetting a fallen, it should be him.
“He’d use her, somehow.” His gaze flicked to Odessa. Once upon a time, he’d insinuated that Felicia would get close to his father by sleeping with him, but he no longer believed it. Oh, he’d trust his father to try to get between Felicia’s toned legs, but she wouldn’t fall for it. And once Father knew that she meant something to his son, he wouldn’t physically hurt her.
He shouldn’t have so much trust in someone he knew so little. Perhaps he need
ed a dose of his mother’s cynicism to get through this.
“I don’t like it,” the director said.
“She might be in Vegas.” Odessa’s sudden announcement made them both spin their heads toward her. Odessa was tapping her chin with a long finger. “Yes, the more I think of it, the more it makes sense. Felicia was never one to run away. It only appears so, but her ear is always to the door. When she found out my ex was cheating on me, she took action. Same with learning to fight. She knew what our father was up to even though she wasn’t in this realm.”
It made sense in a roundabout way. “And you think she’ll be drawn to Vegas, if only to spy on Father?”
“Yes.” Her tone was all confidence. “She couldn’t go somewhere and do nothing. She wouldn’t, knowing what she knows. She won’t be overt, but she’ll still be in harm’s way.”
“It’s worth a shot.” He met his boss’s gaze. If he didn’t get permission, would he still go?
Yes.
“I don’t like it,” the director said again. As if that weren’t obvious from the man’s troubled expression. “Report in often. Sierra’s in Vegas. She can pass messages to me.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to remind him that Sierra might be the leak, but that was foolish. Sierra was one of them.
She also didn’t spend much time with the team and was often aloof and stuck in her own head. But he’d chalked it up to her techy personality.
“Will do.” After he found Felicia. His gut warned him to keep his whereabouts, and Felicia’s unknown whereabouts, between only them.
He left their place, spread his wings, and took flight. There was one more stop he had to make.
When he landed, he was in front of Persephone’s opulent mansion. He rapped on the door, expecting a butler to answer. The Nassims would have a fleet of staff and never run short of angels wanting to work for them.
“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Persephone said from behind him.
He spun around. Her silky black hair hung over one shoulder. She was ethereally beautiful, and after the Valerina debacle—or before he’d met his ex—he would have been a willing participant in his mother’s schemes. But he wasn’t that male anymore. Once Felicia had entered his life, his priorities had started to shift.
“Persephone, hi.”
She crossed her arms, her naturally manicured nails biting into the skin of her upper arms. She wasn’t as relaxed as she appeared. “Hi. Come to try to break up with me again?”
“We can’t break up when we weren’t seeing each other in the first place.”
She regarded him with dark eyes, the rest of her expression guarded. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
He decided to go for sincerity. Persephone might have a catty reputation but he was learning the hard way that there was a valid history behind people’s actions—and that everything wasn’t as it seemed. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this. Truly. The antiquated act of promising children off to strangers should stop.”
Her hard expression softened, but not enough to ease his anxiety. If this got ugly, Persephone could cause problems for Felicia and expose that she was MIA. “But it happened and our parents agreed.”
He schooled his expression to keep his frustration from showing. “What do you want, Persephone? What do you truly want? An empty sync with me can’t be the top of your list.”
There it was. That staggering vulnerability and yearning she hid under bitchiness. “What I want is to sync with a mate who isn’t using me to get closer to my parents and obtain a senate position. And one who will at least respect me in public.”
“Isn’t in private also a requirement?”
She lifted her chin. “And now you know why I won’t dissolve the contract so easily. I know she’s at your place. I’ve seen Felicia in the realm. You and I go our separate ways and people will think it’s because of her.”
“I didn’t realize you know her.” A lie, but he had to understand why Felicia was an issue.
“Oh, I do. My mother still talks about her and Odessa all the time.” Bitterness dripped from her tone. “Mother wouldn’t try syncing one of them off. Their futures are too promising.” She lifted a shoulder and looked away, but not before he caught the heavy dose of guilt in her eyes.
What for?
Persephone huffed and shoved her hair out of her face. “Anyway, I guess this is fate laughing at me for starting that rumor.”
He went as still as a marble statue. “What rumor?” he growled.
Moisture misted her eyes and she made a disgusted sound. “All I did was mention to some friends that I saw you two talking and they took off with it. And I let them. But I thought it’d affect her and not you.”
All because of childish jealousy? Because “my mother thinks you’re better than me?” He wanted to be angry—he was pissed—but he had more pressing matters. He had to find Felicia before his father or Stede did.
“You owe me. Release me from this deal. And stand up to your parents,” he snapped. He was one to talk. As if he didn’t let his own parental baggage affect how he treated people. Like Felicia. Summoning as much compassion as he could muster, he said, “I think… I think you should spend some time in the human realm.”
She screwed her face up like he’d suggested she stroll through sewage plants and garbage dumps. “Why would I do that?”
“Because then you can see thousands, millions of lives being lived on their own terms. People who don’t have ties to politics other than to tweet their hatred about presidents and prime ministers and congress and parliaments and monarchies and—”
“I get it. But I don’t live among humans.” She was back to being defensive. Bored even.
His hopes dwindled. “I’m not mating you. My father’s a fallen but you can’t use that to control me.” She blanched at the mention of Father. “And my relationship status with Felicia is none of your business. But she’s in danger because of you.”
Her eyes shimmered. She was still hanging on to her own limited dream. She wanted a partnership based on respect. That wasn’t the limiting factor. It was that she was convinced it was him.
“Fine. I’ll talk to my mother in the morning.”
“Or you and I can do it now. Think of how that’ll look to the males sniffing around your heels. You break the contract, not your parents.”
A fire lit behind her eyes. That got to her. “It’s in the office.” She pushed past him. As they entered, she spoke loudly. “As I said, it just won’t work between us. I trust you understand.”
He bit back his smile and adopted a crestfallen look. “As you wish.”
The contract was ripped as the eyes of several servants bored into his back. None of them were visible but they were watching.
He left, heaving a sigh of relief as the door clicked behind him. Now, Vegas.
* * *
The club was hopping. Felicia loitered a block away, peeking at her phone randomly to make it appear like she was waiting for someone. The ruse wouldn’t work long but it wasn’t like she could go inside. She wasn’t that foolish. Staying this far away where the faint smell of piss perfumed the air was a smarter plan.
“Did you really think you could hang around here and I wouldn’t notice?”
The cultured, familiar voice scattered goose bumps across her skin. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What had she been thinking, coming to Fall From Grace by herself? Now she was one of those storybook heroines who got herself into danger and just complicated things.
She turned, making the motion casual. She’d assumed that wearing a disguise and loitering a decent distance from the club would keep her from being recognized. She was wrong. Just because she could ascend and they couldn’t didn’t mean she wasn’t risking her wings by doing it in public.
Thankfully, and surprisingly, Jameson was alone. It dawned on her why.
“Did you think Jagger was with me?”
He lifted a shoulder but didn’t hide the longin
g in his uniquely colored eyes. “He is well?”
“Did you show this much concern for him when you were an angel or are the humans getting to you?”
The corner of his mouth ticked. “You remind me of Chanel.”
“Solid burn, bro. So, who ratted me out?”
“As if it weren’t obvious?” He appraised her red wig and knee-high boots. The black rose tattoo was drawn under her arm thanks to a Sharpie. A good expanse of her stomach was showing above the band of her vinyl shorts, but she was appropriate parts bombshell and grunge.
Not that she’d know it from Jameson. There was no interest radiating off him. From his reputation, it was the last thing she’d expected. Perhaps a thread of honor remained in him. No one had thought it was there in the first place, but they were wrong. He went by his own code and his son was a strong motivator. She could use that.
“Actually, I was looking for you,” he said.
“How did you know I was here?” Who all knew she’d left Numen?
A defined brow lifted. “I have my ways and you used credit to buy your baubles. I assumed you’d come looking for me. Care to share why?”
She’d made one large purchase on a prepaid card—that she’d had to withdraw money to fill. Damn. Who had tracked her that fast? “Tell me about the one you work with called Stede, and I’ll tell you how he’s backstabbing you.”
“Stede?” His reaction was almost believable. “I don’t know any Stede.”
“I guess we’re done here then.” She went to walk away, her focus on the alcove she planned to hide in to ascend. She had no bluff to call.
“Why would you think this Stede is trying to double cross me? Or that I wouldn’t know already?”
Did he know already? “And I should share that why?”
“I know the name. I admit, I’m curious how you do too. You haven’t lived in the realm for years, correct?”
She debated only a few heartbeats before she confessed her past to a man who was an enemy of her people. “He mutilated my wings.”
Wicked Fire: Angel Fire, book 2 Page 15
