Heaven's Embrace

by ERIN BEDFORD

“Yeah huh. People can be hot and interesting. Look at me.” I gestured at myself. “Look at you.” I waved a hand at her. “Are you saying we aren’t interesting because we’re hot?”

  “No,” Mandy scoffed. “But you have to admit that Michael is like supermodel hot. Like he’s had a sex tape leaked hot.”

  “I’d watch that,” I interjected.

  “You know it,” Mandy smirked. “Anyway, I’m just saying. I don’t want you to get your hopes up with these guys. Maybe keep it casual. Just sex. They’re angels after all. What kind of long-term can you have?”

  I frowned as I got out of her car. She had a point. Didn’t mean I had to like it, though. I had no problem with having tons of sex with the guys. After all, I’d wanted to get with all of them for a while now. The problem was that since I couldn’t have sex with them, I’d been forced to get to know them, and it was a bit hard to backtrack to just sex.

  Closing the door to my apartment, I sagged against the door. Most of my day was over, and I still hadn’t gotten paid for any of the police work. I’d have to talk to Mandy about that.

  Heading to the bathroom, I turned on the shower and stripped down. After quickly washing my hair and body, I brushed my toe against my calf. Probably should shave. Then again, I could just wear jeans. But I could end up having sex again with Michael. He didn’t seem to mind my prickly legs the first time.

  Frowning down at myself, I grabbed my razor. Putting my foot up on the side of the tub, I dragged the razor over my soaped-up leg.

  “Did you find out anything?” Gabriel popped up out of nowhere outside the shower curtain, making me jump.

  “Ouch, son of a bitch.” I stared down at my leg where I had nicked myself. Blood trickled down from the cut and yanked the shower curtain open, glaring at Gabriel.

  “Sorry,” Gabriel grumbled.

  I almost started to yell at him about jumping out of nowhere, but then I glanced back down at the blood and then back to Gabriel.

  “What?”

  Licking my suddenly dry lips, I said, “Michael tasted my blood.”

  Gabriel gave me an odd look. “Why did he do that?”

  “To heal it.” I said, and then blurted out, “it’s what made him corporeal.”

  His eyes widened and then his eyes dipped down to where the blood had started to dry. Kneeling on the ground of my bathroom, Gabriel’s eyes stayed on my leg. My heart beat faster the closer he came to me.

  Unlike when Michael who had put my entire finger in his mouth, Gabriel’s tongue darted out. A tingly feeling slid along my leg where the blood dripped, and then it changed. Warm, wet, and strangely sensual, Gabriel’s tongue became corporeal. His lips skimmed against my shin, and I gasped.

  Gabriel glanced up from my leg, heat in his eyes as his hand came up and grasped my ankle. A feral grin on his lips, Gabriel growled, “My turn.”

  17

  I didn’t hesitate like with Michael. No chit chatting about what he wanted to do now that he was corporeal, though I did know that Gabriel was the more likely of the three to want to indulge in our human ways.

  Reaching out, I tangled my hands in Gabriel’s hair and let him lift me out of the tub. I wrapped my wet naked body around him as our mouths collided. Gabriel palmed my ass as our lips sucked and nipped at each other, grinding my core against his stomach.

  I licked his lips, demanding him to let me in. Opening his mouth, his warm slick tongue pillaged my mouth, searching out my tongue and tugging it with his. I moaned as he sucked on it, pulling at things low inside of me.

  “Clothes, too many,” I gasped, jerking my mouth away. I curled my fingers into his shirt, trying to take it off. Gabriel leaned away from me long enough to let me drag the offending article over his head. I trailed my fingers along the hard expansion of his chest, the feel of his bare skin against my clit making my blood burn with need.

  Gabriel turned us around, pushing me up against the wall of the bathroom. My hand reached up, trying to find something to hold on to, but in the process ended up knocking a bunch of crap off the one shelf in my tiny bathroom. My head bounced off the wall, and I winced.

  Pulling my mouth away from Gabriel, I rubbed the back of my head. “Ouch.”

  “Are you alright?” Gabriel asked, his hand searched for where I hit it. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No,” I shook my head. “I hurt myself.” I sighed and shifted against Gabriel, causing a delightful friction that made me close my eyes for a moment.

  “Maybe we should move this somewhere else?” Gabriel grinned at me. “Like maybe the bed.”

  Chewing on my lower lip, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I could get behind that.”

  “Oh, I think I’ll be the one getting behind something.” The smoldering look he gave me made my breath catch before I started to giggle as Gabriel carried me out of the bathroom. Capturing his mouth again, I rocked against him, his rock-hard abs hitting my slit in all the right places.

  We paused briefly when Gabriel pressed me against the kitchen counter. Lifting me up onto it, Gabriel spread my thighs open wide. Giving me a peck and nip, he released my mouth with a wicked grin.

  My head fell back as Gabriel dipped down between my thighs. I slid my fingers into his hair, my eyes rolled back in my head as he flattened his tongue against my folds. He lapped at me a few times before pulling my clit into his mouth. I tugged on his hair as the intensity of his mouth overwhelmed me.

  Legs wrapping tightly around his shoulders, I arched my hips into him. Gabriel’s hands gripped my inner thighs to keep me from crushing his head closer to me. His fingers trailed up and down along my skin, sending rivulets of desire toward my center.

  Just moments before I came, my cell phone rang. I tried to ignore it, to keep reaching for my peak, but it kept ringing insistently. My eyes flew open, and I scrambled for my phone on the counter without breaking the contact with Gabriel.

  Mandy, of course. The cockblocking ho.

  I pushed ignore, but she only called me again. Growling out my frustration, I answered this time. “What?”

  Gabriel peeked up from between my thighs, and I urged him back down. He smirked at me and circled his tongue around my clit, making me gasp.

  “Why didn’t you answer?” Mandy complained from her side. I winced and then whimpered as Gabriel slid a finger inside of me.

  “I’m busy,” I gasped, swallowing thickly. “What do you want?”

  Mandy paused for a moment and then said, “We got a hold of Dr. Marshall. He’s in his office now and waiting for us to come meet him.”

  “Okay,” I said, and then covered my mouth to muffle my groan. Gabriel had added a finger and was pumping them in and out of me, his tongue still attacking my pulsating bundle of nerves.

  “Well, are you going to come?”

  I hoped so.

  “I’m …” I trailed off as I let out a silent scream, my body shuddering beneath Gabriel’s ministrations.

  “Jane?” Mandy asked, worry in her voice. “Are you okay?”

  “F-fine,” I stuttered and then yanked at Gabriel’s head, but he refused to let me come. He lazily stroked me, his eyes peering up at me. The sight alone was erotic enough to get me off. If Mandy would stop talking!

  “Jane, are you drunk?” Mandy chuckled. “I knew you said you were going to get trashed, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon. I’ve only been gone half an hour. What’d you do, chug the whole bottle?”

  “Mandy!” I shouted just as Gabriel curled his fingers inside of me.

  “Oh my god,” Mandy gasped. “You’re having sex, aren’t you?”

  “Trying to!”

  “Then why did you pick up the phone, you idiot?” Mandy screeched back.

  “Because you wouldn’t stop calling.” Gabriel picked up the speed, making my heart race. I tried to hold back my sounds, but a squeak slipped through.

  “Ugh, just meet me at his office when you’re done. I’ll text you the address.” She hung up without waiting for my response
. Good for me too because my orgasm was back, and Gabriel finally let me have it.

  I dug my nails into his scalp, my phone clutched in my other hand as I cried out. Gabriel released my legs and stood to his feet, licking the remnants of me off his fingers. I was two seconds from demanding he take his pants off when my phone chirped.

  Letting out a frustrating groan, I glared down at it.

  “Meet me at 24th and Center. And hurry it up!”

  Frowning, I turned back to Gabriel.

  “What’s wrong?” Gabriel returned my frown. “You reached your climax, didn’t you?”

  I nodded and patted him on the shoulder. “Yeah, it was great but sadly duty calls.” My eyes scanned over Gabriel’s form, settling on the bulged in his pants. “It’s too bad ‘cause I really wanted to return the favor.”

  “That’s okay,” Gabriel moved back toward me, sliding his arms around my waist. “You can owe me one.”

  “I think that would be several actually.” I beamed up at him, wrapping my arms around him. He smiled and pressed his lips to mine, and before long we were grunting and groping again.

  Of course, just as I started to undo his pants, my phone chirped again.

  “Fucking Mandy,” I growled, looking down at the screen.

  “Ten minutes or I’m coming to get you.”

  Gabriel chuckled, a sexy sound that made me want to risk Mandy walking in on us. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen me naked with one of the angels, and it would serve her right.

  “Let’s go before your friend has a heart attack.” Gabriel helped me off the counter and went in search of his shirt while I pulled on new clothes.

  “You don’t have to come, you know,” I told him as we headed for the door. “I’m sure you want to check out some stuff while you can actually feel.”

  Gabriel shrugged. “The only thing I’m interested in is you ... and maybe one of those burritos you had earlier. They looked good.”

  Grinning at him, I headed down the stairs toward my car. “I think we can make a pit stop on the way. Michael lasted about an hour before he went all ghostly again. You’ve got at least forty minutes. Just long enough to get some yummy burrito goodness in you.”

  I got into my side of the car and waited for Gabriel to follow, but he stood outside the car door, a cute quizzical look on his face. Trying not to grin, I leaned over and opened the door for him. “Come on, can’t poof yourself in here anymore.”

  Gabriel awkwardly got into the car. He shifted in his seat, his brow crinkled. “It’s strange.”

  “What is?”

  “Feeling.”

  “What, you never felt anything before?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “It’s not the same. Everything is so hard and cold. How do you deal with it?”

  “With alcohol and Mexican food,” I cracked, earning me a frown. Oh, he was serious. “I don’t know,” I sighed. “You get used to it. Sometimes, you find someone who makes things just a little less hard and a bit warmer. Then living in this world isn’t so bad.”

  “Do you have someone like that?” Gabriel asked, a vulnerable look on his face.

  “Not yet,” I smiled softly. I turned on the car, and my car beeped at Gabriel to buckle up. “Put your seatbelt on.”

  “What?” He glanced at me.

  I reached over Gabriel and grabbed the seatbelt. Our breaths mingled, and I paused, realizing how close we were together. The temptation to close the distance between us was overwhelming.

  Shaking my head, I broke whatever spell going on between us and clicked his belt in place. Settling back into my seat, I took a deep breath and let it out. Putting the car into drive, I sighed. “Here we go.”

  We drove down the street for a while in silence, the tension in the car was palpable. I hit a particularly hard bump in the road, and Gabriel’s head hit the ceiling.

  “Ow.” He rubbed his head. “What was that?”

  “That was pain. Apparently now, you can feel it too. All the more reason to have your seatbelt on.” I eyed the belt across his chest.

  “You think I could die?” Gabriel quirked a brow, not at all as concerned as he should be.

  Lifting a shoulder and then dropping it, I said, “I don’t pretend to know anything about you guys, I just see you. You’re the ones with angelic genetics. I’m just saying you should be careful until you know more.”

  Gabriel chuckled.

  “What?” I glanced his way.

  “I just find it funny, you telling me to be careful, but you are the least careful person I know.” He grinned until I could see his tonsils if I wanted to.

  I pulled into the drive-thru of Del Macho Taco and said, “I don’t have a death wish if that’s what you are saying, but I believe we only have one life. What’s the use of playing it safe?”

  “But I should?” Gabriel arched a brow.

  Stopping at the drive-thru box, I ignored the little voice coming from it and said to Gabriel, “I’m human. I’ve already come to terms with my imminent death, but you’re an angel. Who knows if you dying would start the apocalypse?” I turned away from Gabriel and answered the box, “Can I get three Macho Burritos?” I shot a grin at Gabriel before adding, “And lots of fire sauce.”

  “Will that be all?” the voice asked.

  “That’ll do me,” I replied and after the voice told me my total drove around the side of the building.

  “What’s fire sauce?” Gabriel asked, a suspicious look in his eyes.

  “Just wait. You’ll see.” I gave him a coy grin.

  When I got to the window, I paid the person and then thanked them as they gave me my food. I handed Gabriel the bag with a large grin. “Bon Appetit.”

  I drove out of the parking lot while Gabriel dug into the bag. He pulled out one of the burritos, his eyebrows raised as he turned over the metallic paper covered bundle.

  “Go ahead,” I urged him. “They don’t get better as they cool off, believe me, I know.” I kept looking over at Gabriel as I started toward the address Mandy sent me. The first bite he took, he made a face, a sort of grimace mixed with awe. A strange expression to be sure.

  “So? Do you like it?”

  Gabriel’s jaw moved up and down, and then he swallowed. Tilting his head to the side, he stared down at it. “I’m not sure. The texture in my mouth is peculiar. Is it supposed to be like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like it’s somehow solid but also mushy and … juicy?” Gabriel gave me a look as if asking for confirmation.

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “It’s because of all the different ingredients in it.” When Gabriel only looked at the burrito like it was some kind of nuclear bomb, I sighed and grumbled, “Maybe we should have started with something easier. Like a chip. Can’t go wrong with a chip. It’s a fried potato.”

  “What about this?” Gabriel held up the little container of red sauce from the bag.

  “That’s the fire sauce.” I nodded to him. I parked in the parking lot of the office building Dr. Marshall’s office was located. Turning the car off, I grabbed the container from Gabriel and popped the top off. I gestured to Gabriel to hand me his burrito. Pouring some of the sauce on the top of it, I handed it back to him.

  Gabriel looked at it, his brows furrowed an intense studious look on his face. I bumped the hand holding the burrito toward his mouth. “Go ahead, try it.”

  Without questioning me, he put it in his mouth and took a big bite. I reached a hand out to stop him and then covered my mouth, hiding my grin. I’m a horrible, horrible person.

  At first, Gabriel didn’t react. He moved the bite around in his mouth, his eyes narrowed as if expecting something. Then it happened. His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. He grabbed at his mouth as if he could stop the burning heat I was sure he was feeling.

  “Hot, it’s hot.” Gabriel turned to me his eyes watering.

  I grabbed him as he started to flail about. “It’s okay. It’s just the sauce. In a second
, it’ll cool off.”

  Gabriel waved a hand at his gaping mouth and swallowed repeatedly. Eventually, he calmed down and then looked at me. “You tricked me. You knew that would happen.”

  “Sorry.” I gave him a guilty look. “I thought it better to let you figure it out on your own.”

  He stared at me for a moment and then down at the burrito. “So, that’s fire sauce.”

  “Yes?” I arched a brow, expecting him to get mad at me. When he took another bite, my mouth dropped open.

  “It’s not bad.” He shot me a grin, and the sight of his cheeks full of burrito made me laugh.

  “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

  As we got out of the car and started toward the building, Gabriel said, “We should try this on Lucifer.”

  Oh God, I’ve created a monster.

  18

  Mandy and Detective O’Connor were waiting for us in Dr. Marshall’s office when we arrived. Stepping into the room, it was exactly like every other therapist’s office I’ve ever been in.

  He had a wall full of books. I could bet that Dr. Marshall probably hadn’t read most them. He had a globe, that wasn’t surprising, and neither were the random pieces of art on the walls. They all looked like they cost more than I made in a year. My eyes skittered over the leather couch that didn’t look at all comfortable.

  Dr. Marshall might seem like a nice guy, but I didn’t see anyone wanting to open up to him. Who could relax on a couch like that?

  “What’s he doing here?” Detective O’Connor asked, making me look away from the couch.

  I glanced at Gabriel and then back to the detective. I opened my mouth to answer as Mandy answered for me. “That’s her assistant.”

  “Assistant?” O’Connor raised a bushy brow. “Psychics have assistants?” He then turned his attention to Gabriel, sizing him up.

  Gabriel wasn’t even bothered. His crossed his arms over his chest, his floral Hawaiian shirt stretching across his muscles. While O’Connor was intimidating in his own way, Gabriel had almost a foot on him, which seemed to make O’Connor stand even taller.

  “This is Gabriel.” I gestured a hand toward him, giving Mandy a knowing look. “He helps me channel the spirit world.”