by Eve Langlais
“You have those?” Nev asked, sniffing the tea, the hot steam herbal and pleasant.
“When you live out in the boonies, it’s not just the animals that need a hand. In many respects, we’re not all that different.”
“Maisy’s patched the Joneses a few times when we’ve gotten into trouble that a hospital might report,” Jeb admitted, taking the seat beside Nev.
While Jeb’s past fascinated her, there was something bugging her. “Why aren’t you more shocked by my wings? I mean, I’m sure it’s not every day someone comes to see you with bird parts sticking out of their backs.”
“I’ve seen things you can’t even imagine.” Maisy leaned her elbows on the counter, cradling her mug. “Some a lot scarier than your wings. Heck, was it two years ago, or three, Jeb, when that Sasquatch from Canada came trekking through and stopped in for your uncle’s fiftieth?”
“You saw a Sasquatch?” Nev squeaked.
Jeb laughed. “Ha. So funny, Maisy. Not Larry’s fault he was born big and hairy. Everybody knows there’s no such thing as a Bigfoot, or a werewolf for that matter.”
Maisy frowned. “Haven’t you told her—”
“That my family knows some really interesting folks?” Jeb interrupted. “Nope. Didn’t want to scare Nev off.”
“Fucking hell, Jeb—”
Again, Jeb jumped in. “Language, Maisy. Wouldn’t want to offend Angel, here.”
Nev gaped. Then laughed. “I’m not offended by the f-word.”
“What about ASS?” Maisy asked with a sharp look at Jeb.
He gave Nev’s a light tap. “Only one ass worth noticing for me.”
The compliment brought heat to Nev’s cheeks even as their conversation confused. “My butt is the one thing that hasn’t changed.”
The mention drew Maisy’s gaze. “Can you tell me the differences you’ve noticed since the experiments started?” The doctor reached over and grabbed a notepad and pen, ready to take notes.
Nev chewed her lower lip. “Should you be writing this down? What if someone finds it?”
“This will help me organize my thoughts and give you a better diagnosis. Once we’re done, and you don’t need me, you can watch me burn it.”
Cloak and dagger stuff. Who would have thought, a girl emerging from a broken home with a drunk father, a vagrant flitting from place to place, would become involved in such intrigue?
Nev sighed. “Obviously my wings are the most noticeable change.”
“Have they always been that size? What about the color of your feathers?”
“They are much bigger. Fuller, too. When I first got them, they were stiff to move, awkward.”
Maisy held the plastic tip of the pen against her chin. “Would you say they were like an atrophied muscle? Something that hadn’t been used in a while and got stronger the more you flexed them?”
For a second Nev frowned. The description was probably the most apt one as to what she’d experienced. “Yeah. I guess. As for the color, it did change. At first my feathers were fluffy and light gray, but those fell out and I got this set.” She fluttered them without even thinking of it, the sun streaming through the windows highlighting the deep gray hue with hints of mauve.
“Have you molted since getting them?”
“Molted?” The word squeaked from her. “I’m not a bird.”
“But your wings are avian in nature. Hence, it stands to reason they would have some characteristics in common. Molting is a natural occurrence.”
“Not a bird,” Nev stubbornly repeated, hunching.
“Not even close,” Jeb announced. He leaned closer. “More like a sexy angel.”
The heat of his words caused a tremble within, and she found herself blushing again. To regain her composure, she began reciting other changes in her body. “My eyes changed color. Used to be brown, now they’re purple. And they glow.”
“What causes the glowing?”
“Radioactivity?” was her smart-ass reply. At Jeb’s snicker and Maisy’s pursed lips, she giggled. “I don’t know why they light up. Usually happens when I’m upset.” Or if she missed the potty in the dark and hit her foot. Then they lit up as if to mock her poor aim.
“Triggered by an emotional response,” mumbled Maisy as she scribbled. “Anything else?”
“I’m stronger.”
“What about healing?”
“I heal.”
Maisy looked up from her notepad. “Faster than usual? Slower? The same?”
It took Nev moment to reply. “Faster, I guess. Never really paid attention.” Or had a chance to really test it. But, then again, what of the times she grabbed those electrified bars? The times her skin sizzled and blistered? By the next day, the marks were gone. She just assumed the burns weren’t as bad as she’d thought.
“Diet?”
“No thanks. Love to eat.”
“Any restrictions? Urges you didn’t have before?”
She shook her head. “If it’s on my plate, I’ll eat it.”
“Menstrual cycle?”
Words to have her blushing again. She couldn’t peek at Jeb. Nor could she reply.
“Just nod your head if it’s still regular and normal.”
Nev bobbed her head and stared at the counter.
“Have you laid any eggs?”
A glare answered that one.
A few more questions about sleep and other mundane health matters wrapped up the interview. Then Maisy wanted to examine her.
“Mind checking on my menagerie in the barn?” Maisy asked Jeb. To Nev, she said, “I’m sure you’d rather a little privacy for the next part.”
Privacy would be nice, yes, but the idea of not having the man she’d come to see as her rock by her side? Part of her panic must have shown because Jeb tilted her chin, catching her gaze. “You’ll be fine, Angel. I won’t be far.”
She nodded and tried to sound brash. “I don’t need you holding my hand while she pokes me.” Except, as Maisy began to palpate her body and take her vitals, Nev kind of wished he were.
It didn’t take long, nor did it hurt. As a matter of fact, it was the easiest exam she’d ever had, and she couldn’t help saying something when Maisy declared, “Done,” and began peeling off her gloves.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“No needles?” No intrusive probing of her orifices?
“I will need to draw some blood, and maybe have you pee in a cup, but that can wait if you’re tired.”
“I don’t want to wait.” If this woman, with her calm manner, had any ideas on how to help, then Nev was open to them.
She still didn’t actually believe Maisy could do anything, but she had nothing to lose from trying.
Jeb returned as Maisy was removing the needle with its vial full of blood.
“Hey, Angel. She making you into a pincushion? Want me to beat her up?” His eyes twinkled as he offered.
Maisy snorted. “As if you would lay a hand on a woman.”
“I’d do anything to protect, Angel.” He said to Maisy but he winked at Nev, which made her glow on the inside. To Maisy, he remarked. “So, what’s the verdict? You got something in that apothecary of yours to help her?”
Maisy’s shoulders rolled. “Maybe, but I don’t want to rush into anything. I’m going to check some of my recipe books first before throwing stuff at her.”
“Recipe books?” Nev queried.
“Handed down by my mother, and her mother before her and so on. Folk remedies you won’t find online or in stores.”
“And you think you have a remedy for mad scientist experiments?”
“Those with visions of mixing human and animal have existed a long time. This isn’t the first time this has been attempted.”
The claim caused Nev to blink.
Before she could think of an appropriate response, Jeb stepped in. “Your zoo in the barn is taken care of.”
“Thanks. Usually, I have a couple who handle it, but they’re o
n vacation for the next week.”
“If you need a hand, you know you can call us.”
For some reason this caused Maisy’s back to stiffen. “I am fine. I don’t need a Jones to come to my rescue.”
“You know he didn’t have a choice, right?”
“He had choices. Now he gets to live with them.”
The cryptic back and forth fascinated, but not enough to stop a yawn.
“Poor thing is exhausted. Let’s get some food into you, then bed.”
A hearty stew hit the spot, and next thing Nev knew, she’d been bustled into a shower—the steaming hot water ecstasy—and then given a clean outfit, the top modified by Maisy, who shot a side eye at Jeb, mumbling, “Men. They don’t care if they wear the same thing for days in a row.”
It was nice to have something fresh and soft to wear. Although it lacked the masculine scent she’d come to enjoy.
The spare bedroom was for Nev alone. It sported the same bright color scheme as the living room, with the walls a vivid orange, the tile on the floor some flowery pattern. The wall art was pictures, mostly outdoor shots blown up and framed. But she cared less about the art than the fact she’d get to sleep in a bed behind a closed door. Privacy and comfort all in one, and yet, she couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned, rolling from her belly to her side, the edge of the bed high enough from the floor that her wings could hang over. Despite the softness of the mattress, she couldn’t get comfortable.
Unable to handle it, she rose and opened the door, which led to the main living space. Jeb immediately rose from the couch. “What’s wrong?”
For a moment, she couldn’t speak. Despite the darkness coating the room, she could see. Enough to realize he wore only his pants, hanging low on his hips. No shirt. Nothing to hide the delineated musculature of his upper body. The perfection of it.
She swallowed. “I, uh, can’t sleep.”
“Are you stressing?” He started toward her, and she held her ground, letting him get close enough that the heat of his body touched her chilled skin.
“I don’t know what’s wrong.” Except she did know. I don’t want to be alone. She just couldn’t say it aloud.
Somehow, though, he knew. He reached out, his hands palming her waist, drawing her near. “You’re not alone, Angel. I’m here.”
“For now. You can’t babysit me forever.” He’d already left her once to do…something. It would happen again, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Loneliness would be her new reality.
“It’s not babysitting.” He nestled her into the scorching heat of his chest. Her cheek rested on his flesh, and she could feel the steady thump of his heart. “I like being with you.”
“You barely know me,” she murmured against his chest.
“Funny, because since the moment I met you it felt like I’d known you forever.”
A bold statement, and yet one she could understand. They’d met such a short time ago; however, a bond existed between them. She felt a closeness with Jeb, a rightness she couldn’t explain that was more than lust. Although desire played a strong part.
She wanted this man.
Wanted to touch him. Kiss him.
What did it say about her that amidst all her problems she wanted to have sex?
It says I’m alive. That I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
“Jeb.” She said his name softly, unsure how to ask. How did one say, make me come?
Except he knew. Or he felt the same thing, too.
He lifted her chin and kissed her.
Kissed her long and hard.
Devoured her mouth as his hands roamed her body, touching her and reminding her that, in spite of all that happened, she was still a woman. A woman with needs.
So when he said, “If we don’t stop, I’m going to take you right here,” she didn’t push away.
Rather, she grabbed him by the hand and led him into the bedroom.
She let go of his hand to stand in front of him and stripped her clothes.
Wondering if she made the right choice when he stood staring and didn’t say a word.
14
Tongue-tied, it took him a moment to say anything after she stripped. Awe didn’t cover it.
He’d seen women naked. Hello, he wasn’t a virgin, but there was something about the way Nev showed her trust, how she laid herself literally bare before him, that hit him.
He sighed. “You are so damned beautiful.”
“I am?” She sounded unsure.
Which was wrong. He needed to show her, show her how she made him feel. He needed to make her feel as insane as he did whenever she was around.
“Come here,” he demanded, and yet he was the one to move, to palm her bare waist, his fingers digging into silken skin. He pressed his mouth to hers, inhaling her scent—something fruity from the shampoo meshed with the essence of her.
She moaned against his mouth as they kissed. Her hands tentatively touching him at first, then growing bolder as his mouth devoured hers hungrily. His tongue slid against hers, a sensuous glide that he savored. The brazen temptress replied by sucking on it. Drawing a groan from him.
Their bodies touched, the bare skin of his chest rubbing against hers, the tips of her nipples igniting his arousal. The heat of her skin scorched.
Her hands clutched at his hair, anchoring his head for the kiss, as if he’d dare to move away.
Never.
She clung to him, and he explored her, stroking over the skin of her waist and hips, learning her shape, dipping behind to cup her cheeks.
He dragged his mouth across her jawline to the lobe of her ear, remembering how much she enjoyed it before. He licked and nibbled, gauging her enjoyment by how much she relaxed, her head dropping back, a silent permission for more. As he sucked her tender flesh, his hands cupped the curve of her buttocks, kneading the firm flesh, squeezing. Drawing her pelvis against the hardness straining in his pants.
She shivered, and he knew it wasn’t from the cold. They were both too hot for that. She shook with desire.
Soon it would have her crying his name.
He slid a hand between them to cup her mound. She moaned, and her hips thrust, demanding more.
Air kissed his arse as she tugged down his pants, freeing his hard length that she might cup it. He sucked in a breath.
He jerked in her grip as she began to slide her hand up his shaft then back again. It felt so damned good he almost forgot himself.
But the heat of her pulsed against the hand still cupping her. He parted the folds of her sex, the dampness lube for his fingertip.
She uttered a cry as he stroked. He meshed his mouth to hers and caught the next keening sound, the flick of his fingers making her hips jerk.
He thought she would come against his hand, but she suddenly pulled away.
Then shoved him.
He hit the edge of the bed and fell on it. Nev pounced atop him a second later. She straddled him, legs on either side of his hips, hands braced against the mattress. She kissed him again as the head of his cock nudged at her sex.
Slid between her damp lips.
Pushed into her.
Only she teased, sitting just above him, enough he could feel the wet heat.
He grabbed her around the waist and murmured her name. “Nev. Angel. Look at me.”
Her eyes blazed. Glowing with passion.
Need…
She lowered herself onto him, her thighs parting wide that he might push into her. His cock stretched the walls of her sex, and she gripped him tight.
Their locked gaze was interrupted by their dual need for a kiss. Their lips meshed as he thrust into her. Pumped into the silken heat of her body.
As he drove deep into her, her nails dug into his chest, the painful bite making him gasp—in pleasure.
She undulated atop him, grinding and swirling her body, her breath hitching with exertion, her skin hot and dewy against his.
Arousal held him tight,
and her sex held him even tighter. They were both racing for a peak. Bodies moving in time. Rotating and thrusting.
Her cries turned into ragged gasps. Then she came, pulsing waves of heat and pleasure. And while it wasn’t a scream, she did say his name, “Jeb,” and her wings unfurled. A beautiful angel flushed and climaxing.
He came with her. Shooting hotly into her. Marking her with his seed.
Claiming her even if she didn’t know it yet.
I know the future scares you, Angel. But I promise we’ll face it together.
Waking just as night lightened into dawn, Jeb spent a moment staring at the woman lying beside him in bed.
Her expression appeared peaceful in sleep, the lines of worry smoothed, her lashes a dark band touching the tops of her cheeks. Her hair, soft and fine to the touch, was spread across her pillow. She clung to the blanket, holding it close to her chin, keeping her front warm, but he worried about her backside. Nev slept curled on her side, body scooched to the very edge of the mattress allowing her wings space to hang.
She’d not let him touch her wings last night. Even if every other part of her was his to explore. And explore he had, delighting in her soft skin, her passionate cries.
Yet for all her enjoyment, she held back a part of herself. She didn’t fully trust. Didn’t believe him when he said she was beautiful.
Her insistence that her wings were ugly was something he’d have to work on. He’d have to find the right words to explain just how glorious he found her feathery appendages. How lucky he felt when she rode him and, in her moment of climax, how the wide flexing sweep truly made her into an angel.
His angel. One who needed her sleep.
Rather than waking Nev, Jeb slipped out of bed, found his pants and shirt, and tugged them on quietly before he exited the room.
Out in the main living space, the dawn light shone even brighter, the curtains at the wide windows pulled open to let it stream in. He spotted Maisy in the kitchen, bustling around, flipping pancakes on a griddle. Spotting him, she grabbed a mug hanging from a hook and poured him a coffee. She slid it onto the counter as he took as seat on a stool.
