Tempted (Redemption Harbor Book 1)

by Brandi Evans

  She tried again to lighten the mood. “I didn’t think angels were allowed to curse.”

  That did the trick. His smile might be subtle, but the left side of his mouth did tip up for a fraction of a second.

  “Been hanging around with you too long,” he said.

  “Yeah, I do tend to have that kind of effect on people.” She sat on the sofa and patted the seat next to her. “Have a seat and let’s talk.”

  He sat beside her but wouldn’t make eye contact, which was probably a good thing. The intensity of those brown eyes would likely do her in. She’d break down and beg him to stay with her, tell him she didn’t care if he were the Devil himself, she loved him. Not how she wanted him to remember her for the rest of eternity.

  “You know about the War in Heaven, right?” he finally asked.

  She nodded. Keep it light. Keep it light. Don’t let him see how painful this is for you. “In theory, but I’m sure nothing happened the way we mortals have heard it.”

  “Probably.” He took a deep breath. “Eons ago, a group of angels grew disillusioned with the way of the Divine. They thought humanity had become wicked and selfish and should be wiped out, leaving the angels free to just…be. The Divine, however, made it very clear humanity was under his protection and that anyone who challenged him, challenged his rule or harmed any human would forever be damned and cast down, forced to coexist with the peoples they despised.

  “At first, it seemed as if the Divine’s edict had been successful, but that was only on the surface. Followers of the Divine’s most vocal opponent, Lilith, continued meeting in secret and their numbers grew. And when their numbers grew large enough, they struck, causing a great flood to swallow the Earth.”

  “Demons caused the great flood?” She shook her head, thinking back to all those Sunday school lessons she’d had to endure as a child. Somewhere along the way, “they’d” really gotten that little detail wrong. “I thought the flood was God’s way of cleansing the world of evil and starting over.”

  Seth shook his head. “The Divine, in his infinite wisdom, had foreseen the flood and had taken precautions to ensure humanity would survive.”

  “Noah’s ark?” she asked. Surely not.

  “There was no ark. The Divine simply returned everything on Earth to the way it had been, but the flood served as the official beginning of the War in Heaven. A vicious battle ensued, but the Divine’s power is absolute. The resurrection was quickly put down. Even with their numbers, the rebel angels never stood a chance, and because of their insolence, they were cast down.”

  Lyndi caught on to one important word. They. “You weren’t on the side of those who tried to slaughter humanity?”

  “Yes and no.” He closed his eyes against the shame seizing his face. “I ended up on the wrong side of that fight, yes. And I don’t say ‘wrong side’ because they were defeated. I say ‘wrong side’ because I didn’t believe in what they were fighting for. I only cared about keeping her safe.”

  “Her?” The one-word question lodged in her throat. What her? Another angel. How was she supposed to compete with an angel?

  “Her name is Kaia, and I was crazy about her. I mean stupid crazy, hence my banishment.”

  Was. Past tense. As in he was no longer crazy about her.

  Something Seth had said on the night they met came back in a rush. “I lost everything because of her.” This Kaia must be the her he spoke of then.

  Poor Seth. Lyndi’s chest ached for him, for the pain weighing him down. He looked wounded, mentally exhausted. She couldn’t stop herself from gripping the hand nearest hers. She knew she’d done the right thing when his fingers tightened around hers.

  “I swear, Lyn, I wasn’t fighting against the Divine. I was fighting to keep her safe, and all that mistake cost me was my home and, as fate would soon reveal, her too.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, meaning it from the bottom of her heart.

  “The other Fallen turned selfish, greedy, everything completely opposite of what I’d always lived for and believed in. They interfered in the lives of humans, caused discord and strife. The pain and grief you were feeling the day you ended up on the lighthouse? It was caused by demonic mind games designed to blackmail me into doing something reprehensible. And I almost did, Lyn. I almost murdered an innocent man to keep you from dying.”

  “I can’t let you die, Lyn.” That was what he’d been talking about. Keeping the demons from killing her? But why would demons want to kill her? What was she? Before she had a chance to ask, Seth continued.

  “I walked away from it all. From them—from Kaia. I spent the next…shit, I don’t even know how long alone. Utterly alone. I couldn’t go home, and I wouldn’t become evil. Eventually, I went to work for the Angels of Death, hoping to redeem myself somehow.”

  She listened in wonder as he told her how and why he’d gone to work for the Angels of Death. Just as she’d always imagined, the beings were morally neutral.

  “You can’t imagine how alone I’ve been, Lyn, nothing except regret and shame for company. And then, I met you, and for the first time in longer than I could remember, I wasn’t alone.” He paused for a moment, as if he were fighting tears. “When I made the decision to break Code and show myself to help you, I could never have imagined how drastically that one decision would change me.”

  Her lips scrunched together as she fought tears of her own. She couldn’t break down in front of him. She had to let him say his piece, and then, after he left, she could cry for what never could be.

  Before she took on the role of sacrificial party though, she whispered, “It changed me too, Seth.”

  “You’re the reason I got my wings back, you know?”

  She didn’t understand. “Me?”

  “The unconditional love you awakened inside me transformed me, united me—mind, body, and soul. I became more than one of the Fallen, more than someone seeking redemption. My love for you transformed me and allowed me to ascend to the one place I’d been trying to get back to for millennia. So imagine their surprise when I asked to leave.”

  She stopped breathing. Surely, he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying. “Asked to leave?”

  Seth moved closer, his brown eyes locked on her. She didn’t—couldn’t—move away.

  “I asked the Divine to make me human.” His big hands captured her face in a careful, tender caress. “Heaven wasn’t heaven without you by my side.”

  “Human?”

  “Yes.” He brushed his lips against hers. “If mortality is the price I have to pay for loving you, then it’s a debt I’ll take on tenfold.”

  The tears she’d been fighting scorched down her cheeks, and she kissed him back, from the absolute bottom of her soul.

  Twelve

  Nothing in the universe compared to Lyndi’s kisses. The way her arms clung to him with desperate need. The way she tasted of the salty tears she kept shedding. The way her body pressed against his as she crawled onto his lap.

  Now, this was Heaven.

  His cock—his fully human cock—filled with the need to claim Lyndi as his own, once and for all. He devoured her kisses, the heat of their frantic mouths evaporating the lingering remorse in his chest, guilt for everything he’d done to hurt her, guilt for the things he hadn’t yet told her.

  He pulled back, breathing hard. “There’s one more thing I want to tell you, Lyn, about the first time you ended up on that lighthouse.”

  She went very still but nodded.

  “Remember when you said it felt as if someone were speaking to you?”

  Her eyes widened as if she’d just figured out what he was about to say. “That voice I thought I heard, was that…an angel?”

  He nodded and told her about the Guardians, about how they worked, about the types of people they protected.

  She shook her head. “But that doesn’t make sense. I’m not special enough to warrant that kind of protection.”

  “Oh, my sweet, Lyn, but
you are. Your love showed a Fallen angel how to return to Heaven. Do you understand what that means?”

  She simply stared at him. Lyndi at a loss for words? Who’d have ever guessed!

  “One of the Fallen has never returned home. What if there are others out there like me? This could completely change the dynamic between angels and demons in ways I can’t even comprehend, and it’s all because of you, because you showed this Fallen angel how to love again.”

  She touched his cheek. “And then you went and gave up Heaven, immortality, everything you’ve been working toward…for me.”

  “For us.” He wiped away the tears streaking her face. “For our future. If…you still want a future with me? I know you probably don’t completely trust me right now, and I understand that. But I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to make this up to you.”

  She laughed through her tears. “Do you think I’d fucking kiss you like that if I didn’t want you? Did that angel-ectomy scramble your brain? God, Seth, I’ve been sitting here wishing you’d take me back.”

  She still wanted him. The realization humbled him, but he wasn’t about to let up, not until he’d said everything he needed to say. “I want you completely, Lyn. To build a home and a family with you, to have you at my side for the rest of my life.”

  “I want that, too,” she admitted. Tears streamed one after the other down her face. “I want that, too.”

  Joy was a brutal punch to the heart. Part of him had feared, even after he’d given up everything for her, that she still wouldn’t take him back. Or at the very least, he’d have to earn the privilege of calling her his. That she’d forgive him without regret or hesitation?

  There were no words.

  “I want you in every way a woman can have a man,” she whispered, eager hands inching down his torso to grip his rigid length through his pants. “Every way.”

  When he’d been an immortal who’d taken on a human body, the absolute bliss of her touch, of her kisses, of her warm, wet core as he’d slid in tight and deep had been beyond incredible. Experiencing her while being fully human? The anticipation alone almost had him creaming his pants.

  “I’m afraid I’m not going to last long,” he warned, peeling her hands away from his cock. “I’ve never had sex completely mortal before. I’m not sure what to expect. Then again, before that time with you in the shed, I’d never done it in a human body either.”

  Her expression turned from fiery to stunned. “You were like a virgin before that night?”

  “Not exactly,” he answered.

  When he noted another question forming in her eyes, he distracted her with another kiss. They’d have time for explanations later. Right now, he needed to consume her.

  His impatient hands found the zipper of her dress. She looked beautiful in the dark red number, with its straps and slits, but the sight would be nothing compared to what he’d find when he peeled the material away.

  “Shit, it feels like it’s been years since we last fucked,” she whimpered into his mouth.

  He laughed. Beautiful Lyndi with her angelic face and her devil’s mouth. The woman he’d sacrificed everything for. “I know. Let’s not make a habit of it, okay?” he whispered.

  When the last strap of her dress surrendered, Lyndi pushed to her feet. The dress slid to the floor in a sparkly crimson flash. To his feral delight, she only wore a wispy pair of black panties.

  She held her hands toward him. “Take me to bed.”

  She’d get no argument from him.

  Seth put his hand in hers and followed her very, very eagerly to the bed, a bed they’d probably have to replace soon if their last round was any indication. Even now, he doubted that he could take her gently. The bubbling, just-out-of-hibernation need heating his body was almost uncontrollable. Maybe, in a few years, he’d find the self-control to bring restraint into the equation.

  Maybe.

  By the time they reached the bed, they were both naked. Lyndi crawled onto the mattress and settled in the center, her legs spread in invitation. His gaze floated between the moisture clinging to the wiry hairs covering her pussy and the passion glimmering in her eyes. Passion for him, despite how he’d lied to her, hurt her, almost gotten her killed.

  He closed his eyes and let the awe consume him. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness, let alone her love and her luscious body, and yet she offered both. Lord willing, he’d get the next seventy-five years or so to make things up to her.

  “Seth?” she whispered. “Are you okay?”

  He smiled, his gaze finding hers again. “Actually, I’m wonderful. Better than I’ve ever been. And it’s all because of you.” Fuck, he sounded like a cliché, but his words must have touched her because a single tear slid from her eyes. She didn’t even bother to wipe it away.

  “You scared me there for a moment.” Her voice wobbled. “I thought maybe you were having doubts about your decision.”

  “Never.”

  Seth crawled onto the bed with her and knelt between her open legs, his gaze settling on her wet sex. Her sweet, musky scent reached up and drew his mouth down for a quick taste.

  Okay, maybe not quick.

  The honeyed flavor of her excited his taste buds, the same yet different than the last time he’d sampled her. Being human would give him the rare opportunity to experience her again for the first time.

  He moved his attention to her ripe clit, the bud so swollen that she jumped when his tongue slid over the tight knot. Her back arched, pressing her pussy against his face, and he pushed two fingers inside her.

  “Not that I’m—oh fuck!—not enjoy-enjoying this,” Lyndi panted, her fingers slicing through his hair as his fingers found and teased the tight grouping of nerves on the front wall of her pussy. “But can we save the, the oral for r-round two? I need you inside me. Now.”

  Seth peered up at her over her panting chest, his fingers continuing to work her G-spot. “What’s wrong, Lyn? Don’t consider yourself lucky yet?”

  She laughed, her beautiful breasts shaking, and then sat up and grabbed him by the dick. “Get up here and fuck me, you sweet, wonderful bastard! Or I’ll take you by force.”

  The smile she gave him told him her taking by force line wasn’t figurative. She wanted him fast, hard, and as soon as fucking possible. He truly adored this woman. Strong, determined, and with a sex drive that just might kill him.

  He moved over her and forced her back on the mattress. Lyndi didn’t let the change in position affect her hold on his erection. Her legs widened, and she guided his cock to her entrance. She slid his head through her wet folds.

  Heaven, had she always felt this slick, this hot?

  His dick stiffened painfully. His balls tightened. At this rate, he just might come in her hand. “Let go,” he groaned when she didn’t release him.

  “Not yet.” She kept circling his glans around the edges of her pussy, sliding his tip around like he was her personal dildo.

  Seth positioned his weight on his left elbow, reached between them with his free arm, and took hold of her wrist. Still, she didn’t let go, but the new position gave him control over his cock again. He tilted his pelvis forward, sliding partially into her channel, stopping only when her grasping hand didn’t allow any more entry.

  Searching her face for any signs of discomfort, he braced both palms against the mattress and, when he saw none, started thrusting, soft, shallow penetrations that had her back arching to increase the contact.

  “Seth!”

  Releasing his dick and wrapping her arms and legs around him, she held him so fiercely that her entire body lifted off the mattress, and she came in a hard, violent rush. Thank the Divine because he did, too, spilling himself into her, heart, body, and soul.

  When the last quivers of orgasm eased, Seth collapsed on top of her, content to stay here, skin to skin, bodies locked together, for the rest of time.

  Slowly, Lyn’s hands moved over his back, sketching slow circles that, despite their nonsexual mov
ements, had his cock hardening again.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “And I love you.”

  “Oh, shit!”

  He lifted his head just enough to see her flushed, concerned face. “What is it?”

  “We did it again, forgot to use a fucking condom!”

  He chuckled. He absolutely adored this woman, his woman, for the rest of his life. “So what if we did. I want a future with you. I want you pregnant with my child. What better time is there to start than the present?”

  She mouthed something that might have been his name, but nothing sounded in the audible range.

  “I was thinking we could go to Italy for our honeymoon,” he pushed on. “There’s a lot of great art there. You’ll enjoy it.”

  “Presumptuous much?” she asked with a laugh meant to hide the fact she was crying again. “I don’t remember you proposing.”

  “I gave up Heaven for you, Lyndi Garrison, told you I wanted you pregnant with my child. I would have thought marriage and forever were a given.”

  Tears streaming down her cheeks, she nodded. “I think Italy sounds perfect.”

  The End

  About the Author

  Brandi Evans was raised by a caravan of traveling Gypsies. She spent her days learning the ways of her people and her nights lost in legends as old as time. Okay, not really, but that's way more interesting than the truth!

  In reality, Brandi grew up the oldest child of an ordinary family. Grade school, middle school, high school. Nothing extraordinary happened until she left the nest. She joined the military, went to college, got married, and became a mom. And somewhere along the way, she discovered she liked to read—and write!—stories hot enough to melt eReaders.

  To learn more about Brandi, visit her at www.BrandiEvansAuthor.com or click on the social media icons below.

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