Jason brought me up, pulling me from Robert’s cock, and hugging me against his chest. Robert bent to kiss and nuzzle my breasts as I fought for breath. A fine sheen of sweat coated all our bodies. Our rasping breaths lengthened and slowly eased.
“Do you think she’s had enough punishment?”
I blinked my eyes open to find Robert’s expression schooled once again into stern condemnation. Only now I knew it was part of the game. A game I was only too eager to play.
I bit my lower lip and cast my gaze downwards. “I’m still not sorry.”
The lights flickered on and the ceiling fan whined as it started to whir. The hand lying on my hip squeezed and I pushed my bottom against Robert’s groin. He wasn’t aroused. Just needed a little comfort. Which was why we’d moved from the yard to Jason’s bed.
Fingers curved around my chin, forcing my face towards his. Jason’s dark gaze landed on my lips as he rubbed his thumb over the lower edge of my pout. “Power’s back.”
I didn’t know how to take that. Did he mean the fun was over and it was time for me to go home? “Yeah, I suppose I should head back to my place.”
Robert’s hand grew still and he shifted behind me, rising.
Jason’s gaze narrowed. “Is that what you want?”
“No,” I said, wanting to be honest, but wanting them to take away my fear that I hadn’t made a huge mistake.
“What do you want, Emily?”
I took a chance. “I don’t want to fuck this up. We’ve been friends. I don’t want to lose that. But when I leave, the next time I see you guys, it’ll be different.”
“Because you’ve seen us nekkid?” Robert said, kissing my shoulder.
I turned my head and kissed his cheek. “Because we’ve all seen each other come. And because I’m a girl. This might be something you do for fun, but I’ve never played like this.”
Jason tweaked my nipple hard. “You think this is a game?”
“See there?” I said, trying to keep a tremor out of my voice but failing. “I’m afraid to answer that. I don’t want things to change.”
“But we do.”
Robert turned my face. His features were tight, his expression worried. “Do you think we’ve ever been friends with a woman like we are with you? That was our first clue. We liked having you around. But we both paid hell trying to keep our dicks from scaring you away.”
Jason snorted. “He was afraid. I wanted to jump you from day one.”
“So what is it you want?” I asked, turning the question on them both.
Jason’s eyebrows furrowed. “You here. Under me.”
“Ugh,” I quipped, then let him see my grin.
“I’m willing to share,” Robert said. “I want us getting closer.”
“You wanna see where this goes? I’m OK with that. It’ll give us time to see if it can work.”
Jason cupped my breast and scooted closer. “Through talking?”
Robert and I both laughed.
Jason shoved Robert back then rolled over me. “I’m not much of a talker when I’m horny. Get used to it.”
Jason’s aggression, I was beginning to suspect, masked his own insecurity. I opened my legs and wrapped them around his hips. Then I reached up to kiss him.
He slid inside me and groaned, tucking his head into the corner of my shoulder.
I met Robert’s crooked smile and he lifted a hand from Jason’s back and gave it a kiss. “Hungry?”
“I think I will be.”
His loose-jointed frame ambled away, and Jason turned the power on, angling deep, his strokes sharp and quickening. He brought us both to completion in moments.
As he slowed the motion of his hips, he opened his eyes. “Think you can get out of your lease?”
While Robert might have been the more skilled at conversation, Jason got straight to the point with a precision that took my breath away. “Do you both want me here?”
“We already talked.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“What took you so long to include me in the conversation?”
“We wanted to do everything right. Get you to like us first. To trust us. Then seduce your pants off. I got a little impatient tonight.”
I cupped his cheek and smiled. “I’m glad you did. But I’ll never look at a beer the same way again … or an ice cube.”
He leaned down and kissed me hard, lips sucking at mine, tongue thrusting deep.
When we both came up for air, he groaned and pulled away. “Hate that part.”
“Me too. I should shower.”
“After you eat. Smell dinner?” He reached down and grabbed my hand, then tugged me up.
Wearing one of the guys’ T-shirts, I followed him downstairs to the kitchen. Robert looked up. “Like what you’renot wearing, sweets.”
I laughed. “Jason insisted.”
The meal wasn’t an ordeal. Wasn’t awkward in the least. We talked about football, about work, about where we wanted to vacation. It was the same as it had always been between us … only better. We were connected now. Sex added a new dimension to the friendship.
The house was still warm, so we headed out to the backyard with a blanket. Watching the stars overhead and listening to the hum of ACs from the row of houses stretching down the road, we cuddled and explored, fingers searching out all those lovely “joy” spots until the tension built and we shucked our clothes again.
This time, straddling Robert’s hips with Jason pressed against my back, I didn’t hold a thing back. Not my moans. Not the emotions flowing through me. When I got a little weepy towards the end because they’d pushed me too far, Jason’s arms encircled my waist, Robert’s hands stroked over my shoulders and breasts.
“You OK?” Jason asked, kissing the sensitive spot behind my ear.
“Never better.”
A breeze kicked up, licking at the sweat drying on our skin.
We settled to the blanket, spooned together.
“I’m thinking we should move,” Jason said, his voice a deep, rumbling growl that tickled my ear.
Robert snorted. “We need some property. No neighbours.”
“I like the way you two think,” I said. They were making plans for a future. Tentative ones, but I was all right with taking baby steps if they wanted to slow down. I had a feeling, one that warmed me from the inside out, that we were on the right track. They’d wanted to be friends first. Wanted to know me and for me to know them.
“I’m gonna give my nephew’s binoculars back.”
Love Under Will
Adrianne Brennan
The grey, rocky landscape made Aliyael cringe. Her eyes burned and she longed for some splash of colour, some vague semblance of cheery reality. It made her long for her physical assignments on Earth.
I hate dream sequences. They never stop being all grey tones until the person starts to be a bit more aware.
The angel surveyed the woman nearby with a critical eye. Brown hair in knots all over her tense shoulders, worry lines around her mouth … she looked a mess. In short, this looked to be one hell of an angelic assignment, even for a seraph-ranking angel like herself.
Sighing, Aliyael sat down on the ground next to her. Better get this over with before she wakes. Walking into people’s dreams could be sometimes fun, and sometimes not. She hoped this wouldn’t turn into bad. Seeing humans’ nightmares was the closest Aliyael had ever come to feeling the absence of the Powers That Be. “Petrifying” couldn’t even come close to describing the sensation which chilled her to the core.
I can never truly understand humans, nor am I sure I want to.
Fighting back a tremor, she brought her attention back to her appointed task.
“Well, hello there, Claire.”
The brunette turned to Aliyael with a start. “Oh, hi.” Her quiet voice sounded strained.
“You look like a lot’s on your mind. Life got you down?”
Claire shrugged.
“W
ell, that’s all right. But, you know, you have to stick with what makes you happy. Follow your dreams. Let them guide you.”
“But what if they’re wrong? Danny says—”
“Screw what Danny says.” aire’s eyes widened. “He doesn’t understand. You’ve got to make him understand. If he cares about you, he’ll support you. It’s that simple.”
The brunette’s expression became sceptical, then … curious. The angel felt Claire’s gaze wash over her.
Ah, she’s aware. This might be … interesting.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Aliyael. You can call me Leeya.”
“Um, Leeya … how do you know me? And about all of …?” Claire waved her hand around her.
The angel smiled. “You mean your music? The audition? And how you’ve kept it all a secret from your fiancé this whole time because you’re afraid he won’t approve and it won’t pay the bills?”
Claire’s jaw fell open. “But he won’t, I know it! It’s too impractical, and what if I don’t make it? What if I fail? And he wants to start a family soon after we’re married, and—”
“You’re not ready yet,” Aliyael finished. Watching the brunette’s face turn scarlet, she tried to keep the smug grin off her face. I may have this assignment in the bag yet.
“Wh–what are you?” Now it was the angel’s turn to be startled. Did Claire …? “Seriously.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Oh well. Aliyael gave a little shrug. “I’m an angel, sent to you from the Powers That Be.”
Claire blinked. “‘Powers That Be’? You mean to say there are many?”
“Yes.”
“But … I thought the angels only served God?”
“Yes.”
“So … do you serve one god … or many?”
“Yes.”
Claire shook her head. “Wait, which?”
“It’s all the same.” Trying to explain divinity to humans gave Aliyael a migraine. She didn’t want to go there. “Look, Claire, take my advice or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life: follow your heart and go to that audition. If Danny’s with you for the long haul, he’ll support you too. All right?”
Groaning, Claire put her face in her hands. “I–I don’t know what to do … What do I say?”
“Just say ‘yes’, you’ll go. And do it.”
The brunette’s eyes brightened. “OK then, I will. I’ll give it a try.” Then she frowned. “You know … you look a bit different than I’d expect an angel to look like.”
She snorted. “What, the lack of wings? Or that I’m not blonde?” Claire’s gaze shifted away from hers. Ah-ha. Of course.
“Well, I didn’t mean that … I mean, um …”
“My last body was blonde, if it helps.” Aliyael winked, watching the confusion spread on to Claire’s face. Aliyael felt a small prickling sensation. Ah, my time here’s nearly up.
“Remember what I said: follow your heart. You won’t be sorry.”
She could see the myriad of questions on Claire’s face, and a part of her longed to answer them. But this was a short-term assignment, limited only to this dream and this dream alone. Not much of a chance to explain how angels over time shed bodies like snakes shed skin, or how each one was determined only by the whims of the Powers That Be. In her current body, Aliyael towered over the average human female and possessed short, very curly toffee-coloured hair, dark eyes and cocoa skin.
Claire’s surprise at her appearance as an angel still amused her. Sorry, not going to be a white-lily princess angel. I’m just me.
She grinned at the brunette and watched the grey scenery fade out to be replaced by her own inner landscape.
I think that went well. Nothing inthe world I can’t handle, right?
She smiled up at the blue sky. Claire, no doubt, would go to that audition as instructed. Her marriage to Danny remained unscathed – after all, the poor girl had no way of knowing that her fiancé would decide to hide money away to help support her music as part of her wedding gift. All he needed to see was that she was serious, and how happy her music made her. Overall, she could count the mission as a success. Even the little background detail on her visit hadn’t gone too wrong.
At least I didn’t have to explain that we sometimes can even change gender. Although that might’ve been fun …
With a chuckle, she transported herself back to the Sanctuary with the rest of the seraphim.
“They want me to rescue what?” Aliyael was glad for being back at the Sanctuary; had she still been manifested in the physical world on Earth, her voice would’ve hurt her throat.
To Loriel’s credit, if her reaction startled her she didn’t show it. “An angel who fell.” Loriel tossed her long, light-brown hair over one shoulder. Aliyael had noticed the hair thing became a nervous habit for the other angel. She’s still not used to that hair, or her body …
“Look, it’s a major assignment,” her friend continued, “a huge deal. You’ve proven in the past you can handle the most impossible cases, surely this one wouldn’t be beyond your means?”
Aliyael shuddered, unable to reply. One of the fallen. Once an angel had fallen, no telling where they’d go. Some went mad, some tried to go mortal, others … demonic. Sorrow and terror welled up in her every time they were mentioned. Mostly terror, really, she admitted. Once removed from grace, powerful angels could transform into dangerous, deadly creatures.
But Loriel was right; this was a fantastic chance to prove herself further to higher-ranking seraphim. Taking on more challenging assignments meant evolving and moving up further in the Sanctuary – not to mention the possibility of serving the Powers That Be better than before. She might even wind up someday serving among the ranks of the archangels. How could she turn such an opportunity down?
Then again, how could she not? Convince one of the fallen to return? What if it backfired and he joined Lucifer against them? What if they themselves fought?
I can’t be Michael, and I wouldn’t dare even try.
“Leeya, c’mon. Look at me. You know you can do it.”
She tried to smile at Loriel, who had been her good friend for countless ages. Aliyael had befriended her back in her earlier male body before it was shed into the one he – she – bore now. With her support, Loriel’s adjustment from male to female occurred with both grace and humour. It was still him, after all – still the Loriel she always knew – just in a different body, a different mode of expression. It changed him – well, her – in ways which fascinated her.
Aliyael remembered her words to Loriel at the time: “The Powers That Be don’t give us anything we can’t handle, and we must remember that as we serve them.”
My turn now to heed them, I guess. Squaring her shoulders, she resolved to march in there and take the job. Right then. One fallen angel back to the fold, coming up!
A wide grin spread across Aliyael’s face. “Sure thing, why not? What’s this fallen angel’s name and where can I find him?”
“That’s my girl! His name’s Julael, although I hear he’s calling himself Julian now. You’ll find him among the humans roaming the streets of Boston.”
Hm. Boston? She hadn’t ben anywhere near there in a while. Her last assignment before Claire’s dream was to prevent someone from walking out of their house underneath a rather large, falling icicle. Prior to that, she was tasked to Los Angeles.
City of Angels, ha!
Aliyael nodded. “All right. Guess I’m Boston-bound, then.”
“Good luck!”
I’ll be needing it. “Thanks!”
“Chin up! At least you can have a bit of fun, pretend to be a human while you’re there. Rumour has it that’s what he’s up to. You’re authorized full use of your powers, of course, provided the usual discretion.”
Full use of her powers. That meant the Powers That Be considered him to be a potential threat, either to the Sanctuary or to humans. Or worse yet, both.
&
nbsp; Oh great, he probably wants to become mortal. No telling what a desperate angel might to do achieve that end – or the amount of destruction he could cause given he had been one of the seraphim like her and Loriel. Last thing they wanted was an imploding angel manifesting as a terrible disaster among the humans, most likely in the form of a massive fire or earthquake. Sometimes even a flood.
Would be at least somewhat better than him being bat-shit bonkers, right? Although each possibility could prove extremely dangerous, and it was quite possible this fallen angel would be both. An angel didn’t have the power alone to become human; that right was reserved for the Powers That Be to decide. Very few angels were permitted to incarnate as human beings, and such fates couldn’t be predicted. There appeared to be no pattern or commonality among those who had been chosen that Aliyael could determine. Like many things, knowing the Will of the Powers That Be was sometimes impossible.
Even for a seraph, the highest-ranking angel in the Sanctuary.
So what was Julael’s deal? Why was he fallen and wandering among humans? Aliyael couldn’t help but be curious in spite of her innate revulsion at the idea of having fallen from the grace of the Powers That Be.
And why Boston? Was it random? Was he sent there? Maybe he just likes the city. And where in Boston? It wasn’t exactly a small town. How would she find one fallen angel in it? Frustrated, she ran her fingers through her thick, light-brown hair and sighed.
“Loriel, do you know where in Boston he was last seen?” Good question to start with, right?
“Sort of. We have a report placing him somewhere in the Back Bay. He’s been spotted in Boston Common and on the subway.”
How odd. “Maybe he’s sightseeing?” Aliyael gave a little laugh.
“Or he’s passing for one of the homeless. But his clothes sure don’t look it. You’ll see what I mean. Oh, and Aliyael …?”
The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance Page 39
