“Alexander,” she said with a smile. “I shouldn’t be able to see a lot of things.”
He held her hand as they walked through it. This barrier did not repel her as strongly as the one in the BART station, and she idly wondered whether it was because of its smaller size, or that she was gradually becoming used to them. The second they passed through the barrier, they were no longer in a hotel, but in an immense garden. It smelled fresh and green, and Zoë instantly relaxed, releasing thoughts and worries that stung her. The sky above was a perfect shade of cornflower blue, and a warm wind kissed her skin.
“Is this real?” she said in a hushed voice, taking in the riot of colors around her, the flowers and trees, the perfectly shaped shrubs. Butterflies flitted and bees went about their work, flying from one perfect bloom to another.
Alexander considered and then said, “Yes.”
Zoë knew there was more to the answer than that but decided it didn’t matter. She felt safe. “Is there a place we can sit?”
Alexander faced her, and brushed a curl out of her eyes. “You are weary,” he said.
She nodded.
Without another word, he swept her up and carried her into the garden, walking along a path of amazing colors. Vines brushed her hair as they passed through an archway into what she could only describe as an outdoor bedroom. A huge gazebo dominated the center of a cluster of trees, and on it stood an immense bed. Its twining wooden headboard had green sprigs growing out of it, and white linens covered mounds of down pillows. Lanterns hung under the gazebo’s sheltered overhang and creaked in the breeze. A couch and a couple of chairs stood to one side.
Zoë stared up at Alexander. “This is where you live?” she said. “It’s like an enchanted fairy forest.” She laughed, and his expression turned sharp for an instant, and then it melted away so quickly she couldn’t have sworn it hadn’t been her imagination. He carried her to the bed and laid her on top of it, taking a moment to slip her shoes off and drop them to the floor.
She considered objecting to the bed. After all, they’d only had one date, but the comfort and tenderness were precisely what she needed. He lay down beside her, and nestled her into the crook of his arm. “You are safe, Zoë. You have nothing to fear from me.”
His heartbeat was steady and strong, and she knew he was telling the truth. She wasn’t sure how. Her abilities didn’t make her a human lie-detector, and it wasn’t as though no one had ever lied to her before, but when he spoke, every mote of air around her vibrated, testifying to the truth of his words.
Within moments, she was asleep, this time without dreaming. The warm security took her into a place of perfect rest. Even the fragrant air restored her as she lay with Alexander, enjoying the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed with her.
When she woke, darkness had fallen and the lanterns around the gazebo glowed. Alexander still lay beside her, but she had rolled away from him in her sleep, and he curled up behind her with his arm protectively over hers. She stirred, and he pulled her into his body. It surprised her to feel evidence of his sexual excitement. So, she thought, angels can get horny. And based on her reaction, it was contagious. A pang of desire shot through her as Alexander propped himself up on one elbow, pulled her curly hair aside, and kissed her neck with soft, wet flicks of his tongue mixed with gentle nibbles. Her body shuddered involuntarily.
“Alexander,” she whispered hoarsely. The name tasted delicious in her mouth. Before she could think to stop herself, she pushed her hips backward into him. “Alexander,” she said again, this time with more force. If she wanted to stop, it had to be now.
“Yes,” he said, but it was not a query. It came out as an answer to a question she hadn’t asked.
She rolled over within his embrace and faced him. Their noses nearly touched. Her mouth hungered for his. The scent of fresh cookies made her smile. “Alexander, why do you smell like baked goods?”
He paused for a moment and laughed. It was a wonderful sound. He put his mouth close to her ear. “Your brain does not know how to process the scent of otherness about me, so it translates into something more familiar. In your case, cupcakes.”
A grin spread across her face. “More like snickerdoodles.” She sniffed. “Or cinnamon rolls. It’s hard to pin down.” She touched his face, and he closed his eyes as she traced unexpected stubble on his jaw. Abruptly changing the subject, she said, “I’m not ordinarily impulsive.”
He didn’t respond with words. Instead he waited with what seemed like infinite patience.
“But here I am. In your bed. I barely know you. I know less about you than any man I’ve ever met. Because you aren’t a man at all.” She became acutely aware of what some of her romance novels would call “his manhood” pressing against her at that moment, and it took an abundance of will to ignore it.
“You are worried you will discover something about me that will cause you to regret any intimacy with me.”
She wouldn’t have put it that way, but he’d fairly well summed it up.
“I will wait, if you wish. How long does it take to be certain?”
Unfair question, and he probably knew it. But he had a valid point. She knew better than to think she could ever truly be certain about another person, whether person was precisely the right word for him or not. She corrected herself. Of course Alexander was a person. He just wasn’t a human person.
Zoë pondered, and Alexander let her. He watched her with intensity in his green eyes. His gaze pulled at her, caressing, even taunting. The doubts would wait, she decided. Tentatively, she tilted her head toward his and whispered, “Kiss me, Alexander.”
He complied without reservation. She couldn’t help but wonder how many human women he’d kissed in the centuries he’d been in the mortal timeline, as he put it. He’d had a long time to practice, but then surely angels didn’t go around seducing women on a regular basis. As the kiss deepened, the thoughts melted away.
His hand slid from her back down to her bottom, and he pulled her tightly into him. His body thrilled her, and she ached for him with surprising intensity. She returned his kisses, loving the taste of his mouth and the solid certainty of the way he held her.
She began to unbutton his white shirt. As she unfastened the last button, she pulled the cotton material over his shoulder. It flickered slightly, and disappeared. Zoë gasped, and Alexander grinned at her. “I forgot you could do that,” she said.
Zoë moved toward the edge of the enormous bed, keeping her eyes locked on his. He crawled after her, their movements slow and sensual. Her feet touched the wooden slats of the gazebo. They felt cool and smooth to her bare toes.
Alexander positioned himself to sit on the side of the bed, with her standing between his knees. His hands rested comfortably on her hips. In one swift movement, she pulled the knit top over her head. His hands slid upward to her belly, then inched toward her breasts. His fingertips trailed over the lace on her pale yellow bra. She gasped as they glanced her nipples.
Zoë unbuttoned her trousers and let them slip down over her hips before stepping out of them. When Alexander’s hands began to roam southward, she grinned at the delighted expression on his face. He touched her panties at the hips, tracing the web of flowers in the lace. “Humans,” he said, “have many layers.”
She leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth, her hunger and anticipation building. “Like gift-wrap,” she said.
“What a precious gift you are, Zoë.” Alexander slipped his fingers inside the lower elastic of her panties.
“That tickles,” she said, giggling. She gave him a little push, indicating he should lie back. Then she pointed at his pants, and shook her head. “Those have to go.”
A flush warmed her as his trousers melted away and she took in the beauty of his body. When she’d seen him nude before he hadn’t been aroused. An unwanted thought crept into her mind. “Oh, Alexander, tell me you have a condom. Please, tell me we don’t have to stop.” She took her time looking ove
r his body.
He smiled. “I am not susceptible to and cannot transmit human disease, and I will not impregnate you.”
Zoë exhaled with relief. She began to unfasten her bra. When she managed the hook and let the bra fall, self-consciousness stopped her cold. He was so perfect, and gorgeous, and next to him she felt mortal and plain. Before the doubts could take hold, he stood and wrapped his arms around her, taking her into a strong embrace. He spun her slightly and lifted her onto the bed. His kisses were fierce and so full of desire she didn’t question them.
He kissed his way to her neck. She arched her back with delight, pressing her stomach into his. He slipped his arm under her, biting at her neck and shoulder while she purred with delight.
Then he licked a trail down to her left breast. He teased the hardened nub, flicking and sucking until she moaned wildly. He turned his attention to her other breast, and squeezed it, kneading gently, and then he gripped them both, licking one and then the other.
Alexander’s pulse had quickened, and the night around them stilled, as though the garden itself watched and listened. A breeze wafted over Zoë’s bare chest as his hands went to her panties. He slowly peeled them down over her thighs and then tossed them aside.
When his mouth began to move down over her tummy, Zoë tensed in heady anticipation. He gently spread her legs, touching her with strong hands. Another moan escaped her lips, followed by a sequence of many more.
She had no concept of how much time had passed, and Alexander was intent in the way he pleased her. When her body grew taut with impending release, Zoë panted hard, gripping the bed linens with her hands and thrusting her hips upward. Her body trembled and she screamed in a way she never had before. Alexander held her through the waves until the last of them passed, her body so sensitive and electrified she begged him to stop so she could breathe.
She kissed him hard, empowered and alive. With a smooth motion, she was astride him, and without further preamble guided him inside her. Pleasure pulsed within her as he filled her completely. She leaned backward, moving up and down on him, letting the rhythm take her to a second height of bliss.
Alexander grabbed her hips and began to thrust upward from beneath her. She swayed forward and braced herself on the bed, her face inches away from his. They looked at each other as their bodies rocked, and she’d never experienced anything as intimate as watching each other’s eyes, tasting each other’s breath as they flowed together.
“Zoë,” Alexander said, his breathing ragged with excitement. He wrapped an arm around her and with enormous strength, moving to a kneeling position while still inside her. “Zoë,” he said again. “Little Zoë, do not be afraid.”
He began to glow, as though light emanated from his pores. Zoë gasped, and the light travelled into her. She rode his hips, her feet touching the bed, her back supported by his strong arms.
“Don’t stop,” she cried out urgently. Zoë had difficulty telling where he ended and she began. “Come inside me.”
He thrust with abandon, and took her with him as he submitted to pleasure. Light blazed around them, and Zoë had to close her eyes. Its warmth enveloped both of them and they lost themselves together. The intensity of sensations and emotions overwhelmed her completely, and tears ran down her face and sobs choked her. Alexander gripped her until the light faded. He laid her down beside him, and she snuggled close.
“Tell me, little Zoë, that I did not hurt you.”
She took his face in her hands, and made him look into her eyes. “No,” she said as firmly as she could in her current state. “No.” She kissed him on the lips. “I…I haven’t got words. I feel,” she paused, searching, “beautiful.”
He smiled and touched the tracks her tears had made down her cheeks. “You cried.”
“Yes. Now, shush.” She kissed him again, and then lay listening to his heart as it slowly returned to its natural rhythm.
Chapter 9
“Thomas said you needed to tell me something,” Alexander said after a nice long while.
Zoë tore herself back to reality. If Alexander’s enchanted garden could be called reality. “Yes,” she said, shifting her position and propping herself up on some pillows. “Something bad happened today.” She wasn’t one for equivocation, but she couldn’t bring herself to go directly to the scary part. Even as she skirted around it, she tensed.
“You are shaking,” Alexander said, took her hand in his and looked up at her.
“I found a body at work.” She looked away, focusing somewhere in the dark distance of the garden. “I saw something…”
“You saw him die?”
She shook her head. “I found him soon after. I could see the spark, floating above. And then this…horrible thing…a huge, tall thing came and took it.” Zoë gripped Alexander’s hand. “Just came and took him. Put him in a jar, of all things, like a kid collecting a bug. But it was no kid. It had to be the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.”
Alexander sat up and looked her squarely in the eye. “Zoë, are you changing?”
Of the responses she’d anticipated, this one came as a complete shock. “Changing how?”
“Do things look different to you, feel different even? Can you do things you previously could not? See new things you know are not of the human realm?” Alexander’s voice was crisp and clear, not at all the tender bedroom tone he’d used a few minutes before.
Zoë pulled the blanket to cover herself. “I don’t think so. A lot of the new stuff happens when I’m with you. And this thing I saw, well, I’ve never been around a…fresh body before, so I can’t say.” She lowered her voice. “What was it?”
Alexander paused, as though deciding how to phrase it. “One of the Higher Angels, known as the Powers by some, although they have many names. It was taking the soul out of the timeline. They do that in special cases.”
“The Grim Reaper,” she whispered. “That’s what it looked like, sort of. I never thought of it.”
Alexander kissed her hand. “We have existed for longer than humans in this world. We are everywhere you are, and if you look at the legends and mythology of every culture, you will find us.”
“It came at me. I thought it was going to take me. It’s ridiculous, I know.”
Alexander sat up. “It took notice of you?”
Zoë nodded. “I sort of yelled at it. And it moved straight at me. I was terrified.” She refused to admit she’d passed out. That made her look too weak and girlie. “One of the maintenance guys was with me. He sorta rushed me out of there. I dunno what happened. There was a lot of confusion.” After a pause, she said, “Could it have taken Henry? He’s a spirit that lived there. My friend.”
“He is gone?” Concern spread over Alexander’s face. “It is possible. Tell me from the beginning, please.”
Zoë told him about Henry and related everything she could remember from the time she went down to the boiler room until she called Thomas. She did smooth over the bits where she might have screamed or fainted or done anything that would sound hysterical, which was exactly what she had been. “I’m worried about Henry,” she said.
“If the Powers took him, then he is beyond our reach and where he is supposed to be.”
“Yeah, but is he where he wants to be? He seemed mighty happy in the Fiskers boiler room, no matter what you and I think about that. If he doesn’t want to be where that Powers thing took him, then he shouldn’t have to be there.”
Alexander smiled. “Little Zoë. You are so courageous. Let me find out. If the Powers have taken a rogue spirit, then it will be known.” He threw the blanket back and stood, his clothing forming around him.
Zoë had the feeling by “courageous,” Alexander actually meant “incredibly naïve,” but at least he hadn’t said so. “Are we going somewhere?” She stared out at this strange enchanted garden, reluctant to leave it, and wondered why her life had taken such a bizarre turn.
“Not we. You can stay here. I will not be long.” He
took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You are safe here. I have closed the doors so no other beings can enter unexpectedly.”
Zoë didn’t want to chew on the question of what types of beings might have been here, had he not done that. “Alexander, um, is there someplace I can tidy up?” Angels didn’t need bathrooms, so it seemed unlikely he would have one here in this strange place.
He pulled her gently by the hand. “This way.” The soft ground soothed her bare feet as they stepped down from the gazebo onto the cool grass. They wound their way through a garden path, through trees and wild vines until they came to a small clearing with a glassy pool. “You can bathe here. The water is warm and pleasant. If you require anything, call the name Liana, and a servant will come to you.”
Servant? Zoë smiled to be polite and to cover her surprise. Every time they spoke, she added a dozen more items to her list of things she didn’t understand about Alexander and his world. “Thank you,” she said.
“Are you hungry?” Alexander pointed to an archway. “Beyond there you will find food.”
Zoë nodded. “Okay.” It occurred to her his understanding of “I will not be long” and hers could be totally different.
Alexander pulled her close, running his hand down her naked back. “You have nothing to worry about, little Zoë. I will return.” He kissed her, brushing his lips against hers with feather-light pressure.
With that, Alexander turned back and made his way down the path. Zoë watched him go, and when she couldn’t see him any longer, she felt for his presence, noting the very second he passed through the barrier to the outside world. She extended her senses as far as she could, and detected no one else, which meant only no spirits or angels were near enough to sense them. Humans passed under her radar, but she sincerely doubted she would encounter any of those in Alexander’s garden.
She walked to the edge of the pool and knelt beside it. Her fingers grazed the glassy surface of the warm water, releasing a light, clean scent. She spun her legs toward the rim and dipped her toes in. A tingle went through her body as she edged her legs in one inch at a time, until she was standing in waist-deep water. The floor of the pool was smooth stone, and she found a nice ledge she could sit on. When she splashed handfuls of water on her face, it tasted sweet. Was it because of this “otherness” Alexander had told her about?
Ordinary Angels Page 9
