For Love of an Angel

by Rosalie Lario

  “My…scent?” Did she smell bad to him or something?

  He wound his hand through her hair and pushed forward, burying his nose in her neck.

  Eva shrieked. She couldn’t help herself. “What the hell are you doing?”

  He chuckled and drew back, unwinding his hand from her hair and resting it on her other side, effectively trapping her between his arms.

  “Your essence,” he explained in a hoarse tone. “It calls to me.”

  “My essence?”

  Suddenly it all fell into place. The clandestine way in which he’d snuck into her home, the hungry look on his face, the claims that she’d “called” to him. He…wanted her.

  Her legs went boneless and she wobbled in place before locking her knees.

  “I don’t understand. I didn’t think angels liked humans, um…you know, in that way.”

  The angel shot her a brief grin that almost stopped her heart. Charm and determination and a hint of some other emotion she couldn’t identify filtered off him. “Not all angels feel that way.”

  Well, color her surprised. She’d never heard of an angel showing sexual interest in a human. Quite the opposite, in fact. Rumor had it they were steadfastly opposed to “contamination” of the species. And yes, that specific word had been used.

  “Tell me, beloved”—he lowered his face so it was inches from hers, the spicy scent of his breath wafting over her—”does my essence not call to you?”

  She couldn’t deny it did. The heat from his body curled around her in tendrils of lust, winding down to her nipples, which hardened, then further down between her legs. She clenched her thighs at the sudden rush of moisture there and the angel inhaled, his eyes glazing over almost as if he could smell her desire.

  “I—I don’t even know your name.”

  “It’s Michael,” he rumbled deep in his throat.

  “I—” She swallowed hard. “I’m Eva.”

  “I know.” He let out a soft laugh, his eyes flashing in the dark. “And I can see my essence does call to you.”

  Wait, he knew her name? How? But before she could ask he began to nuzzle her neck, moving his right hand to tangle in her locks once again. It was so astounding. An angel was nibbling on her. She should push him away. Right?

  But then his tongue slid against her throat and she lost herself in the sensation. His mouth was electrifying.

  Her hands moved of their own accord, sliding up his hard abs to his pectorals. “Yes,” she sighed. There was no use denying she wanted him. When her thumbs grazed his nipples he shuddered, moving his lips up to her ear.

  Sweet heavens. She had never expected…this. For angels to be such seductive creatures. For one of them to want her, of all people. But she found she couldn’t resist him. Didn’t want to. No one had ever made her feel pure desire before. Surely not scrawny Travis. This was a feeling to be treasured.

  When Michael’s hand strayed from her locks to her shoulder then further down, she did nothing to protest. His thumb grazed her nipple much like she’d done to his, and the taut bud practically hummed from the vibration he emitted through his touch. He removed his other hand from the wall and started to unbutton her sleep shirt, flicking his tongue against her ear all the while.

  This was heaven. Amazing.

  Why hadn’t she ever heard of anything like this happening before? True, angels were rare. There were rumored to be less than two hundred in all of existence. But still, you’d think there would have been at least some murmur of the angels’ prowess. A clandestine gossip tabloid confession. Something. But no, she’d certainly never heard of anything like this before.

  Eva barely noted the air grow cooler on her flesh when her shirt was drawn open. Only in passing did she recall that she wasn’t wearing underwear.

  “So beautiful, beloved,” Michael whispered in a hoarse tone. He ran his thumbs across her nipples, the hum of his energy so much more intense with the lack of fabric between them. Her skin tingled where he touched her, spreading downward in waves. He slid one hand between her thighs, rubbing two fingers along her seam, already slickened with the moisture of her desire. Just the barest touch of his fingers and she was already on the precipice of a screaming orgasm.

  Wouldn’t someone have blabbed about having a sexual experience like this? Something didn’t add up here.

  “Wait,” she gasped, grabbing onto his wrist when he would have made another pass with his fingers.

  He looked up, a disgruntled expression on his face. “Wait?”

  Her instincts of self-preservation, along with years of programming regarding the superiority of angels, warned her she was in dangerous territory. But she’d be damned if she’d submit to anyone, angel or no, just because of the power they held over her.

  “I’m sorry,” she half panted. “I just…I don’t even know anything about you, or if I only want you so badly because you’re putting out some sort of fuck-me vibes or something. I feel like I have no control here.”

  Michael frowned and drew away. “You think I would manipulate your will? That is tantamount to rape. I would never do such a thing.”

  Great, she’d just offended an angel. Not only had that not been her intent, but common sense told her it wasn’t wise to piss off a creature she knew next to nothing about. She drew her shirt closed, shooting him an uncomfortable glance. “I didn’t mean to imply anything like that.”

  He turned and ran a hand through his hair, sparking a cascade of ripples down his magnificent back. It was the first gesture he’d made that looked entirely human. “Anything you feel for me is not any more than what I feel for you.”

  With those cryptic words, he moved back toward the window. It had stopped raining outside, the ominous gray of the storm displaced by the orange cast of artificial light. Something about his face as he looked out toward the streets seemed so sad. It was an astonishing surprise. Did angels ever feel that emotion?

  Uncertain, Eva buttoned her shirt and took a few steps forward. “I just…I’ve never heard of angels taking an interest in humans before. From everything I’ve seen and heard, I was under the impression your kind doesn’t like mine very much.”

  Michael made a soft sound, though he didn’t shift his gaze from the view outside the window. “Tell me, Eva, how many angels have you known?”

  “Well, none,” she admitted, stepping up to the window beside him. “It’s not like you hang out with humans a lot of the time.”

  “You know so little about our kind,” he murmured. “Not to mention your own heritage. What a difficult road we have ahead of us.”

  Brushing aside the cryptic “heritage” remark for the moment, she proffered, “I’m willing to learn about your kind. But I have to know, what is it that drew you here to me?”

  “I told you, your essence call—”

  “Called to me, yeah I know,” she interrupted, turning to face him. “But what does that mean? I mean, why me, of all people?”

  He looked at her and his lips twisted into a wry grin. “As you humans say, that’s a long story, and one best left for a more appropriate time.”

  “What do you mean, more appropriate?” she pressed. It sounded like a copout to her.

  Michael arched a brow and replied bluntly. “You’re not yet ready to know, Eva. When you are, it will be told to you.”

  She let out a pointed sigh, resting her hands at her waist. The darned angel was so confusing.

  A shadow of a smile crossed his face. He turned to look out the window again. “You’re right about one thing, Eva. Most angels do feel that humans are beneath them.”

  “Most?” Something about that word set her on edge.

  “They would consider lying with a human to be the lowest thing an angel could do. They might even believe the world would be better off without humankind in it.”

  Yes, something was very wrong here. Most, he’d said.

  “But you don’t feel that way,” she whispered.

  “No.”

  “Yo
u’re different from most.”

  “Yes,” he agreed, turning to face her.

  The world took a lazy spin as the pieces fell into place. For a moment she suffered a feeling of vertigo and feared she might fall, but then everything righted itself once again.

  “You’re no ordinary angel,” she said, turning so she faced him head on.

  “This is true.” Michael threw her a sad-looking smile, and in a flash a pair of wings sprouted from his back. Full and appearing soft as down, they crested a foot above the crown of his head and dropped all the way to the ground in a majestic fall of feathers.

  They were amazing. Spectacular. Too beautiful for words.

  They were also black. Black, not white.

  She was right. He was far from ordinary.

  “You’re…you’re…” When words failed her he supplied the response she’d both expected and feared.

  “I’m Fallen.”

  Chapter Three

  A Fallen. She had a Fallen angel standing in her freaking living room! With the color of his wings, there was no doubt. Only the Fallen had black wings. That little piece of knowledge had been drilled into her head over and over again.

  When her throat started to close up on her, Eva doubled over at the waist, trying her best not to hyperventilate, but failing miserably. An electrifying touch grazed along her back.

  “Be calm, Eva,” Michael’s powerful voice spoke.

  “No, stay away!” She straightened and retreated, not stopping until her back hit the wall.

  “Don’t scream.” It was impossible to gaze his reaction from this distance, but his voice sounded hard as stone.

  “I don’t understand what you want with me,” she choked out. “You’re Fallen. You want to destroy humans.”

  His laugh was harsh, grating. “Now you’re just spouting ignorant propaganda. I want no such thing.”

  “But…but…you’re Fallen,” she whispered.

  He let out a very human-like sigh and turned to face the window. “As I said before, clueless.” His black wings fluttered, folded inward toward his back, and shrank until they were completely gone.

  Amazing. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes she wouldn’t have believed it. They were there one second, large and awe-inspiring, and gone the next. There wasn’t even a groove or ridge in his back to mark the spot they’d grown out of.

  Hello, he’s facing away from you.

  Oh, yeah. This might be the only opportunity she’d get. If she could make it to the front door, she might be able to run. Or at least go out to the hallway where she could scream for help. Once the Consortium Guards were notified, the place was bound to be crawling with angels in no time at all. The Fallen were public enemy number one, and humans were advised to contact the Guard if a Fallen was spotted. Not that it ever happened. These guys usually kept under the radar.

  Go, Eva, go!

  Glancing toward the hallway leading to the front door, she forced her feet to move. But she made it no more than two steps when her feet rooted into place so abruptly that she would have keeled over onto her face had she been able to move at all.

  “I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” the angel said without turning around.

  Shit. Maybe if she screamed Travis would hear her. It was a long shot. These walls were surprisingly thick. Still…

  She opened her mouth but her throat closed up on her once more.

  Damn these angels and their freaky powers. Tears of frustration pooled in her eyes but she blinked them back.

  He pivoted to face her and unadulterated fear slithered up her spine. She was powerless, completely at his mercy. Had been from the very beginning, though she’d tried to convince herself otherwise. And if there was one thing she’d learned about the Fallen, it was that they had no mercy.

  “You have nothing to fear from me, beloved.”

  Yeah. Right.

  Somehow she managed not to pass out from fright. Though that might have been preferable to this—having to watch in mute paralysis while he stalked toward her with a look of determination written all over his face.

  He stopped in front of her, running a hand through her curls before nudging her chin up so her eyes were level with his. “I don’t like rendering you defenseless,” he murmured. “However, I need to ensure you won’t try to call for the Consortium. That would be a mistake. Were angels to descend upon this place, it would not end well for either of us.”

  What did he mean? Would she be condemned to die just for having been seen with him? The angels couldn’t be that cruel, could they?

  Michael searched her face intently, as if looking for something. When he let out another deep sigh, she figured he hadn’t found whatever it was he’d been looking for. “I’ll make you a deal, little Eva. Surely you realize I could have killed you a hundred times over by now had that been my intent.”

  There are worse things than dying.

  “The same with rape,” he added, as though he’d read her thoughts.

  Well, she couldn’t deny the truth of his words. He had every advantage if he wanted to hurt her.

  “What I want is to share something with you. Something of import. After I’ve said my piece, if you wish me to leave I’ll do so. But first you must promise to hear me out. No screaming, no attempts to flee. Do you agree?”

  He’d return her freedom, possibly even leave her alone, and all she had to do was hear him out? At this point, what did she have to lose?

  Eva tried to speak, but it came out as a strangled squawk. With a flick of his hand, he unstuck her throat long enough for her to croak out a “Yes”.

  “Very good, Eva.” He relaxed and turned away.

  A second later her limbs kicked back into action. Her knees gave out and she practically fell to the ground before locking them back into place.

  “Take a seat,” he ordered, nodding his head in the direction of her couch.

  Okay. She had agreed after all.

  Slowly, she edged toward the couch. It took everything in her to do it. Her instincts still screamed at her to flee. Sitting would put her at even more of a disadvantage. However, it didn’t seem wise to piss him off right now, so she sat. Only then did he take his eyes off her.

  He turned and stalked back to the window, staring out while he spoke. “How much do you know about the falling of the veil?”

  The question froze her in place. “Not much.” Though she’d always been curious. “I know that one day we were all living our normal lives, and the next, we found out angels existed. The news programs said the veil between the worlds had collapsed, destroying your dimension. That angels were stuck on Earth.”

  “That much is true,” he replied. “We were aware of your dimension before then. We had the ability to cross over. Some angels did, returning with tales of your species. However, as a whole our kind had no need or desire to live here. Our own world was sufficient for us. But then the dimensions collapsed onto each other, and our world was gone.”

  That was no doubt tragic, but still… “It can’t be all bad here, can it? I mean, your kind is worshipped as gods.” At least, regular angels were.

  “Most of my kind believes they are gods in comparison to humans,” he answered tonelessly. “Once we realized we were stuck on this world, there was dissension among us. There were those who felt humans were beings who deserved our respect, who felt we needed to learn to share their world. And then there were those who thought humans to be a pestilence on this world. Something to be eradicated.”

  “The Fallen,” she whispered.

  “No.”

  He turned to face her, and at that moment another bolt of lightning struck outside, illuminating the upper half of his face. She couldn’t help the shiver of foreboding that went through her whole body. Even from this distance she could read the stark truth in his eyes. Whatever that truth happened to be, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.

  “Just the opposite, Eva. My kind, the Fallen, were cursed because we support
ed humankind.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “But…but angels—”

  “You are nothing but cattle to them,” he bit out as he strode toward her. “Lower than cattle. Why do you think they barely show themselves to humans? Why do you think they build their towers in the sky, away from the human population?”

  Eva fought a gasp when he squatted in front of her. The urge to scoot further back onto the couch was almost overwhelming. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that her sleep shirt would lift up her thighs if she did, and she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

  “Most angels want nothing more than to destroy your species. Given what you’ve seen of their treatment of humans, look into my eyes and tell me you don’t believe me.”

  “I…” There were so many things she’d never understood. The curfews instituted on order of the angels, the random assignment of jobs, the abolishment of wages. Angels had explained those things as necessary in order to promote peace and safety among humans. Most people had bought it, or if they’d questioned it they kept it to themselves. But her mother had doubted from the very beginning.

  “They’re turning us into slaves is what they’re doing, Eva. And we’re going along with it, smiling blindly while they lead us to our own slaughter.”

  Even now, years after her mother’s death, she still couldn’t get those words out of her head.

  Could her mother have been right all along?

  She moistened her suddenly dry lips. “If that’s true, why are we still alive? I mean, angels have been calling the shots for over a decade. You have strengths and abilities we humans can’t match. Why haven’t they gotten rid of us, then?”

  Michael gave a hollow laugh. “Don’t you get it, beloved? You’re free labor. They’re using humans to build their towers, to prepare the world for their comfort. And the entire time they’re doing this, they’re also making you dependent upon them. Making you weaker. When you are no longer necessary, you will all be exterminated.”

  “No.” She shook her head in denial even while his words sang of truth.

  “It’s true.”