She sighed and leaned back, letting her feet rise towards the surface.
Tension bolted through her when Wolf’s glowing gaze dropped to her body and she fought it, refusing to listen to that voice and listening to her heart instead. Wolf wouldn’t hurt her. He was immortal, and a man, and he wanted her, but he wouldn’t force her.
He had shown her that.
He could have kissed her the last time they had been here together, but he hadn’t. He had held back for her sake, restraining himself and denying the hunger that had shone in his eyes.
Her gaze drifted from his face, falling to the broad flat slabs of his chest and his dark nipples, to the thick ropes of his stomach and the rigid arches of muscle that cut over his hips in an enticing vee that lured her eyes downwards to the dusting of dark hair that trailed below his navel, heat stirring inside her as she drank him in.
“You have to come in the water, or I won’t tell you.” She shrieked when he dived into the water, cutting through it so close to her that she was rocked to her right.
He came up behind her and swam around her, circling her.
Like a shark.
Emelia frowned as she tracked him and caught sight of his back. Two long thick ridges of scar tissue ran down his back, parallel to his spine.
“Are they where your wings are?” She jerked her chin towards the scars as he arched an eyebrow at her and kept swimming.
She kept turning with him, spinning in the water so he couldn’t get behind her.
“You were meant to be answering my question.” He ducked beneath the water in a fluid motion, barely disturbing the surface as he disappeared.
Emelia twisted and frowned when she scanned the pool and couldn’t find him.
Shrieked when he came up behind her.
“Goddammit,” she bit out and whirled to face him. “Stay where I can see you.”
He looked as if he wanted to ask why, but then the light of amusement that had been in his eyes faded, his expression turning serious again as he nodded.
Because he realised he had scared her.
She was struggling enough as it was, without him sneaking up on her and surprising her. She wanted to stay in the water with him, needed this moment to prove to herself she was strong enough to do this, to wear such little clothing and be this close to a man without what had happened to her affecting her.
“I am sorry.” He swept his arms forwards, propelling himself backwards. “I forgot myself.”
Because he had been having fun, hunting her and enjoying himself. She could understand that, because she had been having fun too.
She corrected herself.
She was having fun.
Wolf slicked his black hair back and the itch to do that for him had her splaying her fingers as she pushed them through the water, maintaining her position. His silver eyes reflected the lights of the pool and she lost herself in them, found herself just treading water opposite him, bobbing up and down.
While he was perfectly still.
Her eyebrows pinched. “Are you standing on the bottom?”
He looked down and nodded.
Emelia couldn’t remember how deep the pool was, but she felt sure that standing on the bottom shouldn’t be possible. She dropped her feet, trying to see if she could reach it, and went under, keeping her eyes open as she sank close to a foot beneath the surface before she could touch the bottom with her toes.
She kicked off and scowled as she broke the surface. It wasn’t fair that Wolf could just stand and relax in the water and she had to keep moving.
Although, she didn’t necessarily have to keep moving. She did have other options. One was boring—moving to the side of the pool. The other was far more enticing, if not a little nerve-wracking.
Either resting her feet on Wolf’s thighs or taking hold of his shoulders.
She opted for what she thought was the safer one, scooting towards Wolf until the soles of her feet hit his thighs.
He immediately took hold of her ankles.
Panic lanced her, the feel of him gripping her ankles with both hands and the thought he could easily move his body between her legs making her kick at him.
“Shh,” he murmured and released one ankle, then moved to her side so he was on the outside of her legs. “Just float.”
“I can’t.” She hated to admit that and pulled a face when he looked at her. “I suck at floating. My dad sank like a stone whenever he tried, and I think I got the sinking gene. Can you float?”
“Another question? I’m still waiting for you to answer my first one.” He teased her with a mock frown.
“Oh, shit.” She had forgotten she hadn’t answered him, and he had done as she wanted too, diving into the pool with her. The problem was, he was more of a distraction in the pool than he had been outside it. She wanted to tempt and tease him, to play around with him, and wanted to run for the hills at the same time. She focused on the tempting and teasing, hoping to shut down the part of her that wanted to do the running. “I’m a commander now.”
“A commander?” He turned with her as she finally managed to relax and slowly lifted her ankle, bringing her as close to floating on the surface as she had ever been.
She stretched her arms out at her sides, aware of his eyes on her and how her breasts crested the surface, her nipples beading on contact with the colder air. She was not going to panic. Wolf wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want. He wouldn’t hurt her.
“Emelia, you might want to breathe,” he murmured, a hint of panic in his deep voice as he moved closer.
She sucked down a breath, unaware she had been holding it while she had been trying to relax and fighting her fears.
“Do you want me to let you go?” he said and she looked at him, catching the concern as it washed across his face. “You are in absolute control here, Emelia.”
Those words settled her panic faster than she had ever been able to manage alone. They rang in her mind, backed up and strengthened by the honesty his gaze held. He meant that. She was in control. She made the decisions.
Did she want him to let her go?
“No,” she whispered. “I think I like floating. I don’t want to stop yet.”
“Just tell me if you change your mind.” He eased back, his deep voice soothing her as it rolled over her like a gentle wave while she floated close to him. “I could take you for a spin?”
“A spin? Floating and spinning?” She found she liked the idea of that, so she nodded before the damned voice could poison her mind against it.
Wolf took hold of her wrist, cradling it gently in his large hand, and slowly turned with her so she was moving through the water, the hazy stars spiralling above her.
Damn, it was relaxing.
“So you are a commander now?” he prompted.
She nodded and smiled, still a little giddy over her promotion. “A commander just like you. I’m as powerful as you are.”
“A title does not give strength to the bearer of it.”
She frowned. Was he belittling her again because she was mortal?
He continued before she could call him on that. “You were always strong. You just lost sight of it. I have never met a female as strong as you.”
Did he honestly mean that? She looked at him and found him staring at her body, his silver eyes darker than she had ever seen them, filled with hunger as he raked them over her. He tensed and they leaped to hers, a sheepish edge to them that said he knew she had caught him checking her out but he wasn’t going to apologise for it.
She didn’t want him to apologise for it.
She had been enjoying it.
“Not even Sable?” She wasn’t sure why she put that one out there.
Setting herself up for disappointment? Of course Sable was stronger than she was. Her friend was half-angel.
She waited for him to admit it.
He shook his head, his handsome face solemn and serious as he said, “Not even Sable.”
“Liar.”
His eyes narrowed, darkening with something other than desire now. “Never. I would never lie to you, Emelia.”
Her stomach squirmed. She knew that. She had only meant to tease him, not upset him.
After a long silence, he relaxed, his stern features softening by degrees as he turned with her. She drifted in his arms, not really feeling anything, not aware of anything other than the peace that flowed through her as he spun her in lazy circles in the water.
“Yes and yes.” His luscious baritone cut through the silence, warming her and luring her gaze to him again. When she frowned, confused as to what he was talking about, he said, “The scars are where my wings should be, and I can float.”
She had forgotten she had asked him those two questions.
“Is it weird not having wings?” She peered at his shoulders, eyes catching on his pectorals as they flexed.
It seemed she wasn’t the only one who felt a little tense when the other was looking at their body.
She tried to convince her eyes to leave him, but they lingered, absorbing the hard slabs of his chest, the sinewy muscles of his shoulders that screamed of strength, and the enticing bulge of his biceps. He was every inch the warrior, cut from steel and made for battle, and other things.
That heat bloomed in his eyes again and stirred inside her, and awareness of where he held her rippled through her. Her wrist and ankle felt hot beneath his fingers, burning despite the water that washed over them. His gaze shifted, slowly and leisurely drifting over her body, taking in every inch of her just as she had taken him in.
“It is strange, I suppose,” he murmured, distant as he traced the length of her body with his eyes. “But necessary. Many species do not like angels.”
“Demons in particular,” she offered, a little breathless as the heat he was stirring in her reached a new crescendo, setting her blood on fire and filling her with a need that startled her.
She wanted him to touch her.
She wanted to feel his hands on her, caressing her the way his eyes were.
“We are born of the same stock,” he muttered with a twist to his lips that told her what he thought about that. “The liar produced demons, moulding them from his blood and feathers, breathing life into the fiends.”
Now she understood why he hadn’t liked it when she had called him a liar. He viewed the Devil as one and must have felt she was comparing him to that male.
“Is the Devil as dangerous as the demons believe?” She averted her eyes when his leaped to meet them, fixing them on the stars to avoid his curious gaze.
If she kept looking at him, she was going to get distracted again, and she wasn’t sure where that would lead. Did she want to be distracted? Heat climbed onto her cheeks when she thought about kissing him and the nerves she expected to rise inside her didn’t come. Could she kiss him without panicking?
She forced herself to focus on their conversation rather than the wicked fantasy building in her mind.
“Thorne warned us about the Devil, and some of the elves spoke of him as if he was the big bad of Hell, and one you didn’t mess with if you wanted to continue breathing. Is he like that?”
Wolf’s voice was gruff as he spoke. “He is dangerous, unpredictable and vicious. A cruel being. It is unwise to venture near his realm.”
“The dragons live near his realm,” she whispered, her throat tightening with each word and every memory that threatened to surface, pushing at the corners of her mind. She fought them, not wanting them to ruin this moment. They persisted, but other thoughts overshadowed them, awakening a fear worse than they ever could. “Wolf… What happens if you go close to that realm?”
He tensed, his fingers tightening around her ankle and wrist.
He didn’t want to tell her.
She twisted in his arms, forcing him to release her and lowering her legs so she was facing him, treading water again. She stared at him, waiting for him to look at her, but he seemed overly fascinated with the pool, the house and everything but her.
“It’s dangerous for me to be near there, but it has to be one hundred times more dangerous for you… and don’t lie to me,” she said, and he finally glanced at her, resignation crossing his features as his eyes met hers. “Is it dangerous for you?”
He swallowed and nodded, regret dancing across his eyes before they hardened again, his jaw tensing as he tipped his head up and straightened his spine. “It will not stop me.”
“I know,” she whispered, unable to keep the hurt from her voice as she let those two words slip from her lips, filled with the pain the thought of him venturing so close to the Devil’s lands caused in her. “I still don’t want you to go.”
“I must.”
She knew that too. She had learned a lot about Wolf, and one of the things she had discovered was that he didn’t give up when he was given a mission, whether it had been assigned to him or whether he had chosen it himself. He was determined, courageous, and a dash of foolish. She was stubborn too, but even she could recognise when letting go was the wiser course of action.
“I don’t want you to go to Hell… or at least I don’t want you to go alone.” She hesitated as his eyes drilled into her, narrowing as he stared at her, and she caught the flare of darkness in them. She had caused that, but she wouldn’t apologise and she wouldn’t back down. “I can go with you.”
“No,” he barked, “I will not allow it. The risk to you is too great.”
“The risk to you is greater.” She closed the distance between them and pressed her hand to his chest.
His heart thundered against her palm, a powerful beat that soon echoed in her breast as she looked up into his eyes, struggling to find her voice as pain flowed through her in strengthening waves that evoked images in her mind. Each vision of him in Hell was worse than the previous, from him being caught by demons, to facing Zephyr, to him being pressed to his knees before the Devil.
“I cannot risk you, Emelia,” he husked, the pain that drummed inside her lacing his voice as he gazed down into her eyes, the dark slashes of his eyebrows furrowing above them. “I cannot.”
He lifted his hand from the water, droplets of it rolling down his arm as he eased it towards her, and she didn’t stop him when he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. Colourful light shone from that side of her face as he searched her eyes, his darting between them, and her breath hitched, a need surging to life inside her, pushing her to obey it.
She wanted to kiss him.
He closed his eyes and withdrew, turning his face away from her as he lowered his hand back into the water.
“If you won’t let me go with you, can you not take another angel? It isn’t safe for you, Wolf. You know that.” She wasn’t only talking about the dangers that awaited him in Hell, she was talking about the black feathers he was gaining. Maybe if another angel went with him, the effect on him would be weakened, the darkness kept at bay. Even if it was only by a little, it was worth it.
Although she wasn’t sure how she felt about two angels risking their lives for her.
Wolf said she was worth it, but she didn’t feel as if she was.
“I might have an ally in Hell.” Those quietly spoken words drew her out of her thoughts and she looked up into Wolf’s steady silver gaze. “I returned to my realm after you left and there I received an interesting, but disturbing, report.”
She was glad he hadn’t gone off to Hell again.
He sighed, frowned, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his voice gaining a pained note as he muttered, “The damned idiot.”
“What happened?” She scooted closer to him, so she could peer up at his face, wanting to see his eyes because she could feel his hurt and confusion, could sense it somehow.
Whatever had happened, it had been to a friend, and he was conflicted by it.
“The Fifth Commander…” He gave a slight chuckle. “Although he calls himself Rey now. He chased a demoness into Hell, and he… if the reports are correct, he fell to save
her.”
“He fell?” She blinked, shock washing through her as she ran back over everything he had said. “This Rey… He chose to fall because of the demoness?”
“According to the report he sent back, it was the only way to save her.” His expression soured.
What was he thinking? She found the idea of an angel falling to save the woman he loved romantic. He looked as if it had been blasphemy of the highest order. Or stupidity.
Would Wolf fall for her?
She immediately kicked that thought from her head and her heart. She didn’t want Wolf to fall. His duty meant too much to him and she knew it would devastate him if he lost it. Just as it would devastate her if she lost her duty.
She frowned as she thought about that, and her heart answered differently, whispering that she wouldn’t be devastated.
She wouldn’t be?
She thought about Archangel and what it meant to her. It was her home. Her family.
But now that the high of being made a commander was beginning to wear off and reality was settling back in, she was gaining perspective again. She wanted to keep Archangel on the right path, but what if she couldn’t save it?
Like Sable and Anais, she thought Archangel had been wrong to capture Loke. She could understand why they had done it, thinking he had harmed Anais, but he had done nothing wrong. Even when they had realised that, they had still wanted to experiment on him, learning all they could about dragons.
What if that was only the tip of the iceberg and they were doing other terrible things?
Could she condone that and remain with Archangel, hoping she could change it for the better again, or would she choose to walk away like Sable and the others?
“Do you think he can help you?” She skimmed her hand up to his shoulder and held on to him as he lifted his head, his eyes locking with hers again.
“I believe he can, and that he will.” Conviction rang in his words, bringing sweet relief to her.
“I thought angels turned… evil… when they fell in Hell?”
A crinkle formed between Wolf’s black eyebrows, his expression turning pensive again. “He does not seem like a normal fallen. He sent a report. I do not think a normal fallen would send a report.”
Avenged by an Angel Page 20
