Fallen Angel (Paranormal Romance)

by Selina Coffey

  “I admire a woman who likes to watch sports.”

  “Well, I don’t really, but animalistic aggression like that is pretty hot,” Shelby said. She had not meant to say it that way and she was aware of how naughty it sounded.

  “Is that so? Well, I hope you are able to control yourself if you watch my fights,” Aaron said. He was almost unable to get it out without laughing.

  Shelby felt embarrassed and lashed out with a playful jab to his shoulder. Aaron pretended to be really hurt for a second and continued laughing.

  “Maybe you should be a fighter. You’ve got some pretty strong moves.”

  “Think you’re pretty funny do ya? Think you’re pretty slick?” Shelby joked.

  “I’ve been told I can crack a joke or two,” Aaron replied.

  He flashed her that grin that made her blush. She turned her head and took a long sip of her drink to hide it. He wasn’t going to get her that easily.

  “So, what are you doing for dinner tomorrow?” Aaron asked.

  Shelby looked at him for a few seconds before answering. She was debating what lie to tell him to keep him guessing about her. She was hoping to find something that was a bit off beat and not the usual run of the mill lies that women used to shake a guy.

  “I’m not sure yet. Why do you ask?” Shelby replied.

  “I was just wondering,” Aaron said before he turned and slowly walked away.

  Shelby couldn’t hold back the laughter. This guy was definitely smooth. That was the type of response she was looking for.

  Chapter Three

  Shelby stepped out of the shower, dried off quickly, and put on her bath robe. Coffee was calling her name ever since she opened her eyes. She was surprised that she had the fortitude to shower before bothering to go downstairs and make the coffee, but she wasn’t even awake enough to do that yet. Sometimes a hot shower was what the doctor ordered just to initiate the waking up process.

  She stumbled downstairs and started up the pot of coffee. She was all set to begin making her breakfast when the doorbell rang.

  She answered the door, mildly annoyed that somebody was ringing the bell on a Saturday morning. If they didn’t get throat punched they should consider themselves lucky. She pulled the door open angrily and saw no one. She stepped out and looked around.

  She was about to go back inside when she saw a gold envelope glistening in the morning sun. Picking it up she continued to look around to see who might have left it there, but the person had vanished like a ghost.

  Shelby walked back inside her home and opened the envelope. Inside was a piece of paper with some fancy writing on it. She read the message carefully several times.

  Meet me at the park at noon. Take a chance, unless you’re scared.

  Scared? Shelby Wilkes was never scared. Although, right now she was a bit creeped out. It had to be Aaron. She didn’t know him well, but she knew that he loved to play games as much as she did and it looked like she had finally found a worthy opponent. How did he get her address? The internet most likely. That would be really creepy if that were true, but she had told him her full name and he knew the neighborhood she lived in. She had never seen him around there except that one day, so she was thinking that he had to live at least a couple blocks down the road from her. Greenway Park was a fairly good sized community.

  Her phone buzzed just then.

  It was a text from Michelle. “Worst hangover ever!”

  She replied back to the text. “That sucks. I just got an envelope from that guy, Aaron, left on my doorstep. Creepy. How does he know where I live?”

  Michelle’s text replied. “Because I kind of told him.”

  Shelby dialed Michelle’s number. She answered on the second ring sounding like death.

  “What do you mean you told him?” Shelby asked.

  “I saw him at the club last night. He is so fine! I was a bit drunk and felt like you were being ridiculous with these games you are always playing. I didn’t want to see you chase another great guy away with this crap.”

  “What are you talking about? I wasn’t chasing anyone away. And that is a huge invasion of privacy. It’s weird. I almost had a heart attack when I saw that letter.”

  “Why? What did it say? Something kinky?”

  “You are so perverted. No, he wants me to meet him at the park at noon.”

  “Sweet, I’ve never done it in a park before. Well, not since high school, but I was really drunk.”

  Shelby burst out laughing. “Michelle, you are disgusting. Really, you truly need help.”

  “I know this. I’m not going to get any.”

  “I don’t know what I should do,” Shelby said.

  “What? Are you nuts? You are going to meet him and you are going to have fun. You are going to let down that mega bitch guard of yours and let someone in. It is going to be sweet.”

  “I am not a mega bitch!”

  “Yes, you are. This Aaron guy is totally hot, and totally into you. Give him a chance!”

  Shelby thought for a second.

  “Ok, mom. I’ll go.”

  “I think you still need a mom telling you what to do,” Michelle replied.

  After she hung up with Michelle she poured her coffee and sat down to do some reading with breakfast. She was thinking about the date she had with Aaron. Maybe Michelle was right. She had been keeping guys at bay and always afraid to let anyone in.

  Well, Aaron Davis today is your lucky day.

  She arrived at the park about five minutes late. She was dragging her feet to this thing, but she knew that she needed to just let go and enjoy herself. Aaron was standing there in a grassy open spot with a picnic basket and a large blanket. The whole gesture was far more romantic than she had imagined and she was touched by the sweetness of the idea.

  The food he had prepared was amazing; he had chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad, some fresh fruit, and a few beers. Shelby ate until she was stuffed beyond the telling of it. Every breath now hurt as her belly pushed food against her diaphragm.

  “That’s how a woman is supposed to eat,” Aaron said. He seemed proud of her as if she had just finished first in a disgusting eating contest. She supposed it was cute.

  Actually, the more time she spent with him the cuter everything he did seemed to be. She loved the way he set up his jokes, and the way the punch line was always something seemingly unrelated to the joke until you thought about it for a while. She loved the way he was genuinely interested in her and not staring off into other directions when she was speaking. And she loved how focused he was on her, so much so that when two sexy looking girls walked by and gave him flirty glances he completely ignored them.

  They spoke at length about their lives up to this point. He told her about growing up and exactly how he had gotten into fighting, and how he had been forced into early retirement due to a shoulder injury.

  “You want to see the scar? It’s beautiful to look at when you’re eating,” Aaron joked.

  “I’ll pass. I can just take your word for it that it is a beauty,” Shelby said.

  “Ok, just let me know if you change your mind.”

  “So, what happened after you got hurt?”

  “Well, I was really bummed when the doctor told me that I would never be able to fight again or else I’d injure the shoulder permanently and have limited use in my left arm. I had to make a choice.”

  “Wow that is so tough.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to deal with when you are suddenly told that the very thing you’ve dedicated your whole life to is something you can’t do anymore. It’s a tough pill to swallow that’s for sure.”

  “I don’t know what I’d do if I for some reason wasn’t able to write anymore. I don’t know how to be anything else,” Shelby said.

  “That’s awesome that you are dedicated to a craft like that. You can understand kind of what I went through then with my own ordeal. So many people wander through life not knowing who they are or what they want out of
life. They just exist. I’ve never seen how anyone could just do that and not go for it, you know?”

  “Absolutely. You can’t drag me away from the keyboard most days. I just love what I do and I only want to do that. People don’t get that. It’s why my relationships keep failing.”

  “I can understand that. I’ve been in love a few times, but it ended up not working out because the other person couldn’t understand my dedication to my craft.”

  “I totally get that,” Shelby said and she really did. She was actually enjoying this conversation and getting to know Aaron almost as much as she enjoyed writing. That never happened.

  Walking back to her place she had a newfound appreciation and feelings for Aaron Davis. She didn’t want the date to end and she was already thinking about the next time she was going to see him. As she stood on her doorstep and said goodbye, Aaron grabbed her suddenly, but gently and leaned forward planting his lips on hers. He tasted good, and strong. She felt his warmth and his presence.

  “I’ll call you,” Aaron said.

  “Ok, great.”

  Shelby ran into the house to call Michelle and Rachel. She was so happy that she couldn’t stop giggling.

  Chapter Four

  Aaron hit the heavy bag, circling it around and around between jabs and hard right hands. He threw in the occasional front kick and a spinning back kick, plowing through the bag and his imaginary opponent. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, his body covered with sweat, and his mind was focused solely on the task at hand. He had to destroy this opponent or it was going to destroy him.

  With a spinning back fist he knocked the heavy bag so it recoiled high in the air and slammed down towards the ground on its chain, where it bobbed and weaved as the vibrations tapered out of it.

  Aaron leaned against the bag and rested a few minutes. He felt like he was about to drop. He wasn’t sure how long he had been at it, but his workout had gone far beyond even his physical fitness level. Even though he didn’t get to hop in the ring anymore and fight he still demanded himself to be in top physical condition. He was still a fighter. He was just retired.

  That was how he liked to think of it. He loved coaching and being a trainer. He loved running his own gym his way and teaching the techniques of the sport to the younger generation so he could help them avoid the pitfalls that he had fallen into a time or two on the way up as a young fighter.

  He took off his gloves, grabbed his water jug, and emptied it into his mouth. The cold water was so refreshing after a hard workout. He had a problem of remembering to stay hydrated at times. He would have to make sure he drank a bunch of water and Gatorade that night to compensate for it.

  In the shower, while surrendering himself to the soothing warmth of the water spraying over his body, he thought about why he had pushed himself so hard today. There was a definite limit to what he could do and what he wanted to do, and he had crossed it. He had trained as if he was fighting again and had a match coming up.

  He found himself actually thinking about Shelby. She was amazing. Ever since he had told her about himself, his past, and his career he had been on this adrenaline high that was causing him to push himself harder than his capabilities might allow. Last night he had woken up with a vicious shoulder cramp and almost passed out because the electrolytes in his body had not been replaced. When this happened his injury acted up. And he had been going all out on the heavy bag, allowing the momentum from his punches to vibrate back into his arm and up into his shoulder. It was hurting so bad the past couple of mornings so he’d had to ice it all morning. But here he was at it again. Maybe he was crazy.

  He suddenly felt a pair of hands around his waist. He jerked quickly almost knocking the person to the ground. Had they not belonged to another fighter they would have fallen quickly.

  Chelsea Ford jumped back out of his way as he twirled towards her, almost colliding with her chest. He realized it was her instantly and reached out to grab her to make sure she didn’t fall, but his assistance was not needed. She was already steady and out of his reach, except for her large, firm breasts.

  “Whoa, what’s got you so jumpy?” Chelsea said. Chelsea was one of the top female fighters in her circuit. She was sexy and dangerous in the ring. Aaron had fallen quickly for her, but when he found out she cheated on him with another fighter—one of his students, no less—he had dumped her hard and fast. That was one thing he never could abide; he could not stand cheaters in any way. He figured if the person cheated on you once then they would cheat on you again.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Aaron asked. He was angered to see her and he was angry that she had almost caused him to accidentally knock her on her ass.

  “I came to see you, handsome.”

  “You never give up do you? When are you going to get it through your thick skull that no means no? We are done. End of story.”

  “Oh, it’s cute that you think that.”

  “You are unbelievable,” Aaron said.

  “I know. You’ve told me that after many wonderful nights in bed,” Chelsea said. She reached forward and began to stroke his penis.

  He was momentarily distracted by his growing erection, but quickly came to his senses and slapped her hand away.

  “Grow up!”

  Aaron turned off the shower and stormed out towards the locker room.

  “Come on, I barely touched you and it’s ready to go. You can’t tell me that you don’t still want me.”

  “We had something great. I loved you and you ripped my heart out. I will never forgive you for that. We will never be together again.”

  “Oh, that’s such a shame. One little mistake—“

  “One little mistake? When people are together that means they are together. It is a commitment to each other. That is something you obviously still don’t understand anything about.”

  “You always were the little drama queen,” Chelsea said.

  “Whatever. Why don’t you get lost?” Aaron finished putting on his clothes, grabbed his keys and started heading for the door.

  Chelsea rushed ahead and jumped in front of him, blocking the door.

  “Get out of my way.”

  “Oh, you can’t leave now. I know you still want me. You don’t just throw me aside. I don’t know who the hell you think I am.”

  “You cheated on me. This is all your fault. Besides, I’m with someone else now.”

  A look of anger crossed Chelsea’s face and he smiled at the sight. It was about time this bitch showed her true colors.

  “Oh, is that so?” Chelsea said.

  “Yes, now move.” Aaron forged ahead and Chelsea stepped out of his way.

  As he walked to his truck he didn’t want to look back, but he couldn’t resist.

  He wished he hadn’t because he saw Chelsea standing there with the most evil expression on her face he’d ever seen on somebody. It sent chills down his spine.

  That girl was crazier than he even realized.

  Chapter Five

  Shelby was about two hours into her morning writing stretch when her phone buzzed with an email notification. She normally turned her cell phone off during the blocks of time she had marked off for writing. She had to immerse herself in a bubble of total silence before she could really focus on the work she had to do. She wasn’t even able to have any music playing at that time. She had tried music because she had read it helped some artists and writers get into the creative spirit, but it made her want to get out of her chair and sing along with her favorite songs. She had decided very quickly that she would have to have total silence and no distractions to do her work effectively.

  She was stunned out of her writing mode by the sound of the phone and she instantly scolded herself. She had been right in the middle of a great scene and being interrupted was the most annoying thing she could possibly think up right at that moment. She wanted to punch a wall for a brief second. But she needed her hands to write, so she just gritted her teeth—that damage wa
s already probably done—and checked the message.

  It was an email from someone she didn’t recognize. Normally she would just chalk it up to spam and delete it, but the subject line read: Aaron Davis Sex Tape. Her heart caught in her chest. What the hell was this? It had to be some sort of a sick joke. Who would do this?

  She realized that she still hadn’t opened up the video yet. Was she that afraid of what she would find? Was Aaron cheating on her? Could she even call it cheating yet? After the sweet day in the park they had gone on several other dates, including last week when they had visited the Grand Canyon and then hopped over to see the Hoover Dam. After that they spent a day and a night in Vegas.

  Aaron had been a perfect gentleman, even suggesting they get separate rooms, but Shelby wasn’t having that. You don’t take a girl to Vegas after a romantic couple of days and expect to get separate rooms. Aaron had been quite surprised that she had suggested it.

  They had made love for the first time together in that Vegas hotel room. It had been sweet and romantic. The way their bodies moved together creating a perfect poetry of expressive lust that was the thing Hollywood romance movies tried to capture. It had been the most intense night of her life. Aaron just knew where to touch her and how to touch her, as if he had read a book on everything she liked. He had even done some things to her that she had never known she liked.

  Shelby had not thought about it that much, but she realized right then and there that she was falling in love with Aaron Davis and if this video showed him cheating on her, then she might have fallen apart right then.

  She took a deep breath and just pushed play.

  The video began. It was worse than she had expected. It showed Aaron and some hot girl in the midst of a passionate sexual encounter. Aaron was on top of the girl and he was riding her doggy style.