He laughed. “Many years, yes.”
Eva blinked at that astounding revelation. The walking orgasm standing in front of her hadn’t gotten laid in years? It seemed too crazy to believe. How was that even possible?
While some small part of her couldn’t help but be delighted that he’d chosen her of all people to break his fast, she had to know. “Why look for a mate? I mean, what you’re describing sounds sort of permanent. More than a one-night stand at least. But this world is full of women, and I’m sure a good number of them would fall all over themselves to have a chance with you. Why not just pick a new one every night?”
A flash of temper sparked in his topaz eyes. “You would prefer that to me choosing you?”
Her cheeks blazed so hot she probably looked like a tomato. “No, I’m not saying that. I just…”
Before she could blink he crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. One hand wound through the curls of her hair. With a gentle tug, he pulled her head back so she looked him straight in the eyes. “I told you. You’re special. And I want only you.”
“I…” Her voice came out as a nervous squeak, and she pressed her lips together to keep more embarrassing chatter from escaping. She lost her ability to think around this man. This angel. Especially when he said things like that.
He bent forward until his mouth was inches from hers. The heat of his breath sent a shiver down her spine.
“Do you want me too, Eva?”
Want him? Just the whisper of his breath and she was already halfway to oblivion.
His tongue snaked out to flick lightly against her lower lip. Moaning, she tugged his head down, crushing his lips to hers. He touched his tongue to hers, teasing, withdrawing, driving her crazy. At the same time his hands seemed to be everywhere. On her back, at the curve of her backside, cupping and kneading her breasts. A shiver of longing wound through her whole body making her legs go weak.
Eva dropped one of her hands from his shoulder to his smooth, hard chest, memorizing the curves of his pectorals, the defined ridges of his abs. And yes, as she’d suspected, even his ass was rock-hard. The man was a fine work of art. Before she could think further about it, she brought her hand to his front, sliding it down the fabric of his black slacks. Once she felt what was there, she broke away with a gasp.
“Dear lord! Are all angels built this way?” If so, then maybe they should be worshipped.
He looked down at her with a husky laugh. “Not disappointed then?”
She gulped. No freaking way.
Smiling softly, he lifted a hand to her chin, rubbing his thumb along her moist lips. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you want me?”
The question behind the question was clear. He wanted her to sleep with him. She didn’t know about tomorrow, couldn’t make any promises about that. But now, right now…
“Yes.” Oh hell yes.
With a triumphant grin he lifted her into his arms, exiting the living room and stalking down the short hallway toward her room. Once inside, he laid her on the bed and dropped a knee to her side to support his weight as he covered her body with his. Pressing his lips to hers, he drove his tongue inside her mouth, tangling it with hers. Feeding her desire for him. Then he trailed kisses down her throat, over her breasts through the fabric of her black cotton work shirt. Her fingers shook when she helped him tug it over her head. He tossed it to the side and made short work of divesting her of her plain black bra.
“You’re exquisite, beloved.” He ran his thumbs over the hardened peeks of her breasts before sliding down to flick his tongue across one of the buds.
Her world dissolved into a blinding haze of sensation. Vibrations pooled on his tongue, setting her sensitive flesh ablaze with ripples of energy. It was unbelievable, the things he could do. The way he made her feel. Like she could spend forever in his arms.
Forever? She banished the thought before it could fully form. If she chose to join him as his mate, odds were her forever wouldn’t last that long at all. No, enjoying the pleasure he gave her was one thing. But she wasn’t about to risk her heart.
“More,” she gasped, arching up toward his mouth.
His husky chuckle vibrated against her flesh. Lifting his head, he moved to the other breast, giving her a long, slow lick before blowing on the flesh. When she shuddered, he closed his mouth over her again. Teasing, tugging, nipping. Oh, she needed his mouth on her. Lower.
She lifted her hands to his shoulders, pressing downward. But instead of taking the hint, he grabbed her wrists in his hands and moved up her body, edging her arms up so they were imprisoned over her head. He nipped at her lower lip, then snaked his tongue inside her mouth, kissing her with an intensity that left her breathless. Finally he broke away.
“Just so we’re clear, beloved,” he murmured against her lips, “you’re agreeing to be my mate, right?”
His words cut through her desire. She shot her eyes open to look at him. “Wait—what?”
“Will you be my mate?”
Her sense of self-preservation activated, taking the edge off the sharp ache of her passion. She wasn’t ready to make a decision like this. She couldn’t say yes. “I…no…we both want each other. But I can’t…can’t we just do this, without having to make a commitment?”
A myriad of emotions flickered in his eyes while he looked down on her. He looked uncertain. And hungry. For a moment she thought he was going to agree, but much to her consternation he pulled away.
“No.”
“What?” She stared in shock as he lifted off her and rose from the bed. Here she was, half-naked and panting on the bed, practically begging him for it, and he was going to refuse? “You’re not serious, are you?”
A tormented expression crossed his face. He reached into his slacks and painstakingly adjusted himself. “If you were any other woman, I would most likely take you up on your offer of sex with no strings attached.”
Eva winced at his callous description of her offer. But in the end, he only spoke the truth, didn’t he?
“However, I’m finding that this isn’t enough for me.” He shot her a look blazing with intensity. “Not with you. With you, I want all or nothing.”
When he stared down at her as if waiting for her to speak, she realized he was waiting for an answer. All, or nothing.
She couldn’t accept his offer. She wasn’t ready. Would probably never be. “I’m sorry…”
Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Me too, beloved. Me too.”
With those words, he turned and strode out of the bedroom, clicking the door shut behind him.
After several long moments, Eva trusted herself to move again without having her legs collapse underneath her. He’d left her high and dry, and dreaming of his electrifying touch. That jerk. But in a way, she understood. He’d been straight with her all along. It was a mate he was looking for, not a fast lay.
Well, if she wasn’t going to have sex, “Might as well take a shower.” A really, really cold one.
***
Michael was back in the prison. It was little more than a hut, really, with thatch-covered walls. The straw littering the floor prepared with ultimate flammability in mind. The only things of substance in the small space were the two long, iron poles drilled lengthwise into the Earth. So deep the Fallen didn’t stand a chance of escaping the manacles that kept them imprisoned, crouched low to the ground.
Part of him recognized this wasn’t real, that he had somehow fallen asleep and was caught in the grip of an all-too familiar nightmare. But he couldn’t awaken, and he couldn’t stop the fear that seized his heart.
They were all going to die.
When had they been brought in here? They must have been drugged. The last thing he remembered was being dragged through the square. Then nothing until he awoke here.
It was too dark to see anything other than the basic outline of bodies, some awake or in the process of waking, and others still unconscious.
Just then a
loud roaring sounded in his ears, following by a blinding flash of orange. “Fire,” one of his brethren yelled out.
Damnation, they’d set the hut on fire! Flashes lit the room as torch after flaming torch was thrown in through the air holes built into the roof. Smoke billowed upward, winding around the room and making it impossible to see.
Screams filled the room, followed by pleas for help. But Michael was only focused on one thing. His mate. “Ada! Ada, where are you?”
A cough sounded out from somewhere to his right and a familiar voice spoke up. “I think she’s still unconscious. I saw her on the opposite side of the room chained to the other pole.”
“Mara!” He crawled on his knees until he made contact with the figure to his right. “Is that you?”
“It’s me,” his sister replied. He heard in the choked sound her wordless plea for help. For salvation.
“Hold on.” He wrapped his hands around the pole and pulled upward with all his might. “I’m getting us out of here.”
“It’s no use,” she said in a hopeless tone. “We’re going to die.”
“No we’re not,” he snapped. “Wrap your hands around the pole. We’re getting out.”
A sudden explosion rocketed through the room, knocking him to his side in a wave of heat that seared the flesh from his bones. He must have lost consciousness for a moment, because when he next took note Mara was shaking him awake.
“Michael…Michael, get up! The blast bent the iron. I think we can break it!”
Agony erupted along every inch of his body when he sat up, disoriented and still blind from the smoke.
“Come on, help me,” Mara urged while she yanked on the pole beside him.
“Ada,” he mumbled, trying to turn his body toward the other side of the room.
Mara stopped her struggles for a moment. “I’m sorry, Michael.”
Her soft sobs speared through him, sending throbs of foreboding all through his flesh . Still, he wasn’t prepared for what she said next.
“That blast, it caught her directly. She’s gone.”
“No…no!”
Michael jarred awake with that word on his lips. With a muttered oath, he shot up from the couch. To think he’d actually let himself fall asleep. It was unforgiveable to drop his guard like that when Eva lay asleep and vulnerable no more than a few yards away.
“Remain vigilant,” he admonished himself. Rising, he silently glided toward her room and opened the door, needing the reassurance that she was safe and in bed.
The meaning of his nightmare wasn’t lost on him. He feared for Eva. He didn’t want to involve her in this, when she could very well end up just as dead as Ada had. But what choice did he have? He needed her. Needed her essence to keep him strong.
“I pray I can protect you, Eva, as I couldn’t her.” With those softly whispered words, he closed the door and returned to his watch for sentinels.
Chapter Seven
A whisper of a touch crawled across Eva’s jaw, sparking a tingle of arousal between her thighs. Her innocent dream of making lattes for customers morphed into an X-rated featurette where a familiar customer wearing nothing more than an amazing set of black wings walked up to the counter and asked her for “The Special”. It culminated with her going down on him while the other customers watched. Some of them cheering and others impatiently yelling out their drink orders.
“Awake,” said a rumbling voice, and the feather-light touch brushed across her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the object of her desires seated on the bed next to her, his fingers hovering over her face. Embarrassed heat warmed her cheeks. Thank goodness Michael couldn’t read her mind, because she’d be utterly humiliated right now if he could. “Um…hi.”
His lips curled into a devastating grin. “Did you sleep well?”
If sexually frustrated tossing and turning counted as sleeping well, then…
“Yeah.”
He reached toward her nightstand, grabbed her cell phone, and held it out to her.
She looked at it and frowned. “What’s this for?”
“You’re calling in sick to work today.”
“I—what?” Ignoring the phone in his hand, she sat up and scooted backward so her back met the headboard. “Why would I do that?”
“Because, Eva.” He looked at her evenly. “You promised me the opportunity to convince you to be my mate. I want you to give me that chance.”
Color her confused. Wasn’t she already doing that? “But—”
“I can’t stay forever.” He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “I never intended to be gone more than a few days.”
“Wait, you really thought you could get me to go with you in just a few days?” Why on Earth would he think that? Had he assumed she’d be so easy? So eager to throw her whole life away?
He reached out with his free hand and wrapped it around hers. “Have you ever called in sick before?” When she didn’t respond he said, “So I thought. They’ll never suspect a thing.”
Still, calling in sick went against her nature. She wasn’t much of a liar. “I don’t know.”
“What have you got to lose?”
Good point.
Taking the phone from him, she placed the call to work. Her boss answered. “Hi, Lacey, it’s Eva.”
“Eva? What can I do for you?”
Was it just her or did Lacey’s voice sound suspicious? Lord, she was so horrible at this. Biting her lip, she forced a cough. “I’m so sorry, but I woke up feeling horrible today.”
“What’s wrong?”
Yup, she definitely sounded skeptical. Faking another cough, Eva put a tremble in her voice. “Horrible head cold. My throat is sore. Strep throat, maybe?”
“Oh…well, in that case you’d better stay home today. We can’t chance you spreading that around.”
Really? Relief spread through her body relaxing her shoulders. “Okay. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. Thanks.”
Hanging up the phone, she handed it back to Michael. “It worked.”
He chuckled and placed the phone back in its original position. “You sound so surprised, beloved.”
“A little, I guess. I hadn’t realized it would be so easy.”
“Well, I for one think your deplorable lying skills are an adorable trait.” He punctuated his words with a tweak of her nose.
“Hey,” she protested with a laugh. Her smile died when she saw the devious look that crept to his face. She shifted uneasily. “What’s wrong?”
“Not a thing,” he answered in a husky voice. Bending toward her, he flicked the top button of her sleep shirt open.
“Wha—what are you doing?”
Shooting her a half-lidded look, he murmured, “I would have thought that was obvious.”
He undid a second button, then a third, until she was shivering in anticipation. What was he up to?
Flustered, she stammered, “Bu—but I thought you said you weren’t going to…you know, be with me, unless I committed to you.”
“I’m not.” His husky voice washed over her, and a shudder went through her entire body, leaving her hot and wet. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t pleasure you, and I must admit, beloved, I’ve been thinking of doing that all night long.”
“Oh.” The word came out like a soft gasp.
When he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers, running his tongue along the seam of her mouth, she finally allowed herself to touch him. His flesh was an arousing mixture of hard and soft, like silk over steel. The muscles in his chest flexed under her hands. And when she ran them up his shoulders and around to his back, he let out a soft groan against her lips.
The last of the buttons on her sleep shirt practically melted away at the touch of his hands, and he pulled back to draw the fabric open, gazing down at her with a reverent look. Her nipples hardened to taut peaks under his perusal.
“So exquisite,” he murmured, pulling the fabric back on her shoulders
before sliding his fingers along her nipples.
She arched her back at his electrifying touch. Every nerve ending on her body sizzled so that she felt in serious danger of a nuclear-grade meltdown.
“Your touch,” she gasped, “it’s amazing. Like there’s a bolt of energy right under your fingertips.”
He threw her a lopsided grin. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” With those words, he bent to close his mouth around one of her nipples.
She arched into him on a soft scream. Already her entire body trembled, on the verge of an intense orgasm.
As if sensing how close she was, he popped her nipple from his mouth and moved to the other one, alternating teasing licks and nips, effectively driving her to the edge without letting her go over. She clamped her legs together and gave a helpless jerk of her hips. “Oh please, I need to—”
“No,” he murmured in a tone that brooked no argument. “Not yet.”
“Oh…” Raking her nails across his back, she let her head fall against the headboard, unable to do more than moan as he cupped and kneaded her breasts, taking turns sucking each of the pearly buds into his mouth.
So that’s it, she thought numbly. His plan is to torture me to death. But what a sweet torture it was. Already a soft, thumping pulse sounded out between her thighs, and he hadn’t even touched her there yet.
When he finally pulled away to look down at her, she was past the point of self-consciousness. He slid back on the bed, placing his hands high on her thighs. His thumb gave the barest of brushes along her clitoris, slick from her moisture, and she cried out, shuddering uncontrollably.
“Delicious,” he whispered in his husky voice. “Spread your thighs for me, beloved. Let me gaze upon your beauty.”
Oh yes, what sweet punishment this was.
With the dim realization that she was panting like a dog in heat, she did as he requested, allowing him to nudge her thighs apart and bend her legs up so she was fully bared to him. Even his hungry gaze made her hot.
His eyes devoured her for a long moment, feeding her frenzy, before he finally touched his hand to her. He ran his forefinger along her slit and then touched it directly to her sensitive nub. That was all it took to send her screaming over the edge.
For Love of an Angel Page 5
