Angel Kin

by Tricia Skinner

  The heater kicked on, filling the motel room’s eerie silence with clacks and tepid air. Katie walked over to the ancient wall thermometer and adjusted the temperature while Cain sat with his head in his hands.

  Were The Bound Ones going to help him, or hurt him? Abel was a menace to society and had to be locked up. Corporal punishment had never spurred her to wish for a man’s death, but the death penalty seemed a fair exchange for a murderer.

  She stared at the top of his head, and a wave of remorse flooded her heart. She had a brother. Three, actually. If any of them were demented and started killing people, she’d want them stopped. But killed? Put down like a rabid dog? The image left her gut queasy.

  “What did Tanis say?” Katie approached, one tiny step at a time.

  Cain’s head rose, and the vacant look in his eyes cut her deep.

  “The team’s still searching, but he’ll try to spare Abel until I talk to him.”

  “That’s good, right? I mean, they’ll knock him over the head and drag him to a cell somewhere. Then you can find out why he’s a lunatic.”

  He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “It’s a minor reprieve. Tanis didn’t say what would happen after the interrogation. Abel’s not supposed to exist. No Nephilim exist outside of The Bound.”

  “Oh.” She shifted uneasily. “I thought he’d go to angel prison. At least that would spare you—” Katie stopped and swallowed to clear the dryness in her throat. “This is out of my league. I don’t know what to say.” She reached for his hand. His long fingers closed over hers.

  “It’s better than a KOS.”

  “What does K-O-S mean?”

  “Kill On Sight. If they get to Abel before me, the team will disable him if they can. In other circumstances, they’d kill him outright.”

  The heat from his fingers stretched up her arm, making her skin goose bump. Tiny hairs stood high as warmth replaced the room’s meager offering.

  “What happens if they can’t, uh, disable him?”

  In answer, Cain’s fingers tightened on her hand, but it was obvious he was being careful not to hurt her.

  He stood, his large body taking up most of their shared space. “I’m going to find Abel first and bring him back. Alive. I won’t stop until I do.”

  She bent her head until she could see his eyes glimmering with life, and his penetrating gaze passed over her in a slow assessment. Katie inhaled and took his expelled breath into her lungs. Cain was beautiful. His tanned skin held none of the flaws of a man who’d spent hours under a blazing sun. He looked smooth and perfect and enticing.

  Life was unfair. If things had been different—if she and Cain had met after one of the band’s performances—she’d have scribbled her phone number on a napkin before he’d even asked. Hiding from evil elves, tracking a murderous twin, and running from the law squashed any visions of romantic getaways and candlelit dinners.

  Katie noticed he hadn’t released her hand and realized she didn’t care. “Um.” Embarrassment suddenly rushed over her in a flash of heat. “C-could we watch TV? I just want to spend a few minutes not running for my life.”

  His rare smile appeared and did strange things to her naughty places. Katie shared her own grin, unable to resist the warm glow settling over her.

  “Stick to the local channels,” he said.

  “Oh, I will. The cable network in a place like this shows a lot more than Food Network.”

  Watching Cain’s lips move did a lot more to her than any porn channel. She’d kissed him before, and now the desire resurfaced. One more kiss to say thank you for coming when she’d called. One light press to wish him well on his search. That would be all right, wouldn’t it? One quick peck to share something else, something more than the chaos surrounding them.

  Katie closed her eyes and leaned forward.

  …

  Cain’s pulse marked the moment Katie’s beautiful green eyes closed and her head tipped back. He responded to the rush of simmering heat in his veins by accepting her offering. He caressed her small body, and she molded against him, smooth as a gun in the perfect holster. A moan escaped her the moment his lips touched hers, tentative at first, then comfortable as he remembered the softness and warmth. His tongue slipped into her mouth and brought his Grace forward in a tangle of sensation. As the cool tides of his power spread through him, he gave himself over to the human half of his emotions.

  His fingers reached for Katie’s curvy rear and he kneaded the firmness between his palms. She whimpered and pressed closer, and he gripped her hips and brought her flush against him. Immediately their height difference presented a problem.

  She was a pixie in the arms of a giant.

  Cain lifted her and her legs wrapped around his waist. Without breaking their kiss, he crossed the short span to the bed and lowered them.

  Clothing was the next obstacle. He ached to touch her skin. The hem of her T-shirt bunched in his hands until he worked the fabric up to her breasts. Katie wiggled, and he tugged the shirt over her head. His hungry gaze admired the small breasts hidden by a pink, lacy bra, dipped to her taut stomach, and returned to her lips. He lowered his head and swept his tongue from her navel to one quivering bosom.

  Katie sucked a breath through her teeth and arched her back. Her chest rose and fell with her quick gulps of air. He paused to listen to her rapid breathing. The sound sang in his ears.

  “Don’t stop.” Her small voice dissolved Cain’s restraint. He reached for her bra strap, unclipped it, and freed her for his eyes. She was more beautiful than he’d ever imagined. Desire to taste her guided his mouth to her breast. He buried his head against her and took his time sucking and licking.

  “God, yes,” Katie cried out. Hands pressed his head closer, and he nibbled until the nipple became impossibly hard and turned a deep shade of pink. Beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful. Her sounds, her scent, her legs still wrapped around him.

  Cain’s own breaths came in stolen puffs. Centuries of denying himself this, of ignoring his most human needs, collected behind his eyes and caused his movements to falter.

  “What’s wrong?” Katie’s fingers played in his hair. “I want this. I want you.”

  “I’m planning my attack strategy,” he said.

  She giggled and blushed, turning her cheeks a pretty shade.

  Cain kissed her. He wouldn’t tell her of his inexperience.

  “I have an idea or two,” Katie said, teasing his belt loop open.

  Hell, he was still covered like a priest. Cain rose and stripped off his shirt. He unbuttoned his jeans, and she sighed. He glanced at her and found her eyes locked on his waistband.

  “Shall I go slower?” He barely recognized the deep inflection as his voice.

  “Definitely. Pretend you’re unwrapping a birthday present.”

  His cock swelled painfully in his constrictive jeans. No woman had ever made such a request because Cain had never allowed one the opportunity. For him, flirting and light petting had been enough. Now, Katie made his body beg for more.

  He kicked off his boots. Then he tugged the zipper and instantly eased some of the pressure on his dick. Slowly, he pushed his jeans down his legs, and when he stood straight, Katie’s eyes widened.

  Cain regarded her as she appraised his body. Her braid hung loose over one shoulder, the strands of red hair cupped her neck the way his fingers soon would. Already his skin tingled with the need to have her touch him.

  Katie toed off her sneakers and then shimmied out of her pants and panties. The room bathed her body in low-wattage lighting, but with his superior vision he could see in near dark so he missed nothing. Not her toned legs. Not the reddish-brown curls hiding her sex. Not the flushed color that ran from her cheeks to her breasts.

  “Come here.” She lay back on the bed, and his heartbeat skipped.

  His inexperience nagged him, but he’d reached a point of no return. Cain never backed down from a challenge. He’d just have to go with what felt right. Ho
w hard could having sex be? Insert A into B. Thrust a few times. Simple.

  He glanced down. The basics had a flaw—he hadn’t factored in size. Insert A might hurt B—more than a little. He looked at Katie and a solution came to mind. Kneeling on the mattress, Cain reached out and cupped her sex. Carefully, he slipped a finger inside her.

  Katie turned her head into the pillow and moaned. He worked his finger inside her, then added a second. And a third. She clasped him from the inside, a promise of her body’s future response.

  His erection throbbed in eagerness, and Cain gritted his teeth to stave off his impulses. God of All, grant him patience. He’d waited his whole life to experience this kind of pleasure. A few minutes more…

  “I need you.” Katie’s body bowed under his hand. “Stop teasing, Cain.”

  Teasing? He was barely aware his brain still functioned. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  A smile curved the corner of her mouth. “Don’t worry.”

  Desire won. Cain climbed onto the bed, his cock poised at her entrance, and slowly pushed the crown past her tight, slick opening. His head sank to her shoulder as his air supply cut off. The pressure intensified as he inched deeper inside, his erection engulfed by heat and wetness.

  He was in paradise. He was in hell. Cain released the breath he held and allowed their bodies a moment to adjust.

  Finally, he moved.

  The first thrust blasted white behind his eyes. His muscles locked, then released. Katie moved her hips, meeting his thrusts without complaint.

  Thank the God of All. A and B fit perfectly.

  Cain snapped his hips faster, sinking deeper. The room filled with the sound of sweat-drenched skin against skin, and he groaned as the scent of their mingled bodies overwhelmed his senses.

  “This way.” Katie scooted up, dislodging him. She rolled over and rose up on her hands and knees.

  Oh. Dear. Jesus.

  Cain had seen the position in movies and in magazines. He crawled behind her until Katie’s lush bottom fit against the curve of his pelvis. She reached under them and guided him into her. When he gripped her hips and pushed, her long moan rang in his ears and mingled with his. He leaned over her, licked her back, and kissed behind her ear. Katie’s hair fanned to the side, a red river he wanted to grip in his hand.

  So he did.

  They moved together, primal and lost. Cain ground against her, and she clutched his thigh for support. They could have been there for minutes or days. He had no idea, and he didn’t care. She felt so right. Perfect.

  When his orgasm hit, he clasped her waist with such force he suspected his handprint would remain. That was all right. She was his. His Grace flared, casting the room in white light. Cain threw his head back and yelled his release. Cocooned in his power, Katie was protected from the force of his soul shattering the motel window.

  “Oh. My. God.” Her body tightened, crushing him in a wave of pleasure as her orgasm shook them both.

  Unwilling to let her go, Cain held her through the shaking. When she was spent, he lowered them to the bed. He brushed her damp hair aside and kissed her sweaty neck.

  This was sex. A miracle. Incredible. Amazing.

  A smile spread across her face. “What are you thinking?”

  He nipped her ear. “Round two.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katie’s whole body buzzed from the lingering sparks of her orgasm. Not the first one. Maybe the sixth. She snickered. Who counted multiples? Ha! This girl.

  “Water?” Cain’s voice rolled over her in a sexy rumble.

  Her engorged clit throbbed, aching to have him rubbing against her once again. “Mmm-hmm.” Every exquisite ache of her muscles felt sublime. She reached for the cup, arms wiggly. He was attentive, the perfect lover.

  The cool liquid soothed some of the heat inside her, allowing her to think about the stolen hours they’d had. She wrinkled her brow as a thought occurred to her. She could recognize the difference between a man who understood exactly how to work a woman’s body, and one who was uncertain of his every move. Cain had been both.

  She passed him the empty cup and enjoyed the way his sculpted muscles moved as he placed it on the nightstand. God couldn’t have made a man more gorgeous. She let go of a happy sigh.

  “What?” He leaned closer, filling her vision with his bright eyes and sex-tousled hair.

  “I was caught up in the luster of your eyes.”

  Cain snorted and his knuckles pressed gently under her chin until she raised her head and parted her lips. The kiss tingled straight to her ankles. Soft, sweet, and devastating. Katie’s heart crashed against her ribs.

  Whoa. Slow it down.

  She’d shied away from any relationship with staying power. A few months, tops. The men Katie usually chose for lovers came from the diverse followers of Collapsed Star, but Cain was no groupie. He was a half celestial being, powerful and special. Everything she was not.

  She instantly curled away from him and slipped her bare feet to the floor. Naked, she padded to the bathroom. As she flipped the light switch, he caught up and touched her arm. “What’s troubling you?”

  Her back straightened. Damn, she didn’t want to be a buzz kill, but she had to get herself under control.

  “I don’t do relationships,” she said in a flat tone. “We had a good time. Released some of the stress we’ve been under. After tonight, you’ll go back to searching for your brother. You’ll catch him, and then—”

  Cain grabbed her shoulders and spun her to face his glowing eyes. “And then?”

  The sniffle escaped from Katie before she could squash it. “You’ll return to being a super soldier or Iron Man or whatever. I’ll go back to protecting my friends from the next vampire gang, waiting out my probation, and embarrassing my family.”

  He drew back as if she’d punched him. She tried to brush it off, and failed. In only a few short days, he had turned her world inside out. Everything about Cain made him exactly the type of man she avoided because getting close wasn’t an option. She was fooling herself to consider otherwise.

  “I get what this is. The walls you’re trying to put up. I’ve built a few myself.”

  Cain cupped Katie’s face, and she let out another embarrassing sniffle. She shook her head and managed to pull herself together. “Don’t say anything stupid. I’m not in the mood.”

  Cain scooped her up and carried her to the bath-shower combo stall and then let her legs slide to the floor. They stared at each other without speaking. He reached over and turned on the water.

  Their shower took a long time. Between the slow, methodical soaping to the sting of the hot water on her sensitive skin, she forgot why she shouldn’t want Cain. He used his fingers to tease her open. He nipped her breasts playfully. She gripped his erection until his body shook.

  “You’ve done this before,” she said with more snark than intended.

  “Would you believe I was as pure as the dawn before yesterday?” Cain kissed her neck.

  “Hell no.” She slapped his hand away from her breast. “No virgin moves like you did. They sort of fumble around like they’re searching for lost keys.”

  Mischief swirled behind his eyes. “I’m a quick study.”

  Katie gasped. No way Cain was a… That meant she had…was his…

  “Holy shit. I nailed you first.”

  “Yes, you accepted something I was ready to give.” Cain planted a slow kiss to her lips. “Thank you. My first time was beyond my imagination.”

  She was Cain’s first lover. Damn, if that didn’t make her want to thump her chest and stake her claim.

  “Humans enjoy each other in so many interesting and bendy ways,” he added. “It was impossible not to pick up a few things watching people over the years.”

  “You were a Peeping Tom. In this century, we’d lock you up for being a pervert.”

  “I can find some handcuffs,” Cain said, his eyes dark.

  She tugged him down for another ki
ss, placing all the emotions whipping through her into that press of lips and swirl of tongues. Finally, held in the arms of her protector, Katie dared to imagine her life differently.

  …

  Cain didn’t pretend to understand what he felt, but the afterglow was fucking awesome. He peered over to the woman who’d left him a jumble of complex feelings. She dried herself with a towel; each sweep of the material across her skin sent desire burning in his soul. When she finished, he was left to ponder.

  The lost hours with Katie had released him from his constant worry over The Bound Ones and Abel, but they’d remained in the motel far longer than he’d planned. He had to get his ass in gear and return to the search.

  The sound of her puttering in the kitchenette drew him out of the bathroom. He found her stocking the counter with the ingredients for motel coffee.

  “Don’t ruin my post-deflowering with that liquid swill.” He wrinkled his nose. “Toilet water would taste better.”

  She giggled, shaking her head. “A coffee snob. I’m not surprised.”

  Ah hell, even her giggle was sexy. The front of his towel tented. “Come here.”

  “Uh-uh. I’m sore, and that shouldn’t have any energy left.”

  Oh, he had energy, enough to leave her unconscious from pleasure. “I accept your frail condition. I’ll practice my new sex-god skills another time.”

  Katie doubled over, her laughter a thistle to his heart. Although it couldn’t last, this moment would stay with him forever. He crossed to the television and turned it on.

  “A little background noise for you. I need to get dressed. Back in a minute.”

  In the bathroom, Cain brushed his teeth and combed his hair. He felt stronger than ever, yet a cloud of doubt hindered his mood. He couldn’t escape the ticking clock driving him to find his wayward brother, beat some sense into him, and make reparations with the team and the local authorities.

  “You want coffee in there?” Katie asked from the other room.

  “If you insist on poisoning me, sure.”

  They’d stop for real coffee before he drove her north. The cabin she spoke of had to be safe. Most of the Upper Peninsula was small, quiet towns with few Others and low crime. Underworld thugs considered such locations poor business opportunities. He’d call her brother and insist the fireman take some vacation time to stay with her.