Saving Her Angel (Archangels)

by Missy Jane

  She was right. What could he offer? A temporary relationship until she grew too old to be comfortable going out in public with him? A fling that involved only physical pleasure while she continued to look for the right man to marry? Or could he one day choose to fall for her?

  That thought brought him up short, and his heart pounded in his chest. He had never considered falling before. Not once in all the thousands of years of his existence had he ever thought he’d be tempted. He’d bedded many women, had in fact come to love a few in a way. But not once had he been tempted to brush his brothers aside for a woman. That was essentially what it boiled down to. True, he held no ill will for Zerach or Rafe. Their wives made them so happy, it in turn made their brothers happy to see and feel it. But the emptiness they left behind ached. He wouldn’t wish anything different than what had happened, but he dearly missed them.

  Could he ever do that to Mike, Sel, and Uri? Gabe’s silence was as bleak as if he’d been cut off completely, without a woman who made him whole. How could Cam purposely cut the others off from one more brother? Yet, how could he let Eleanor go as if he felt nothing for her? The conflict warred in his thoughts. Elle or his brothers.

  Why should he have to choose?

  Because it wasn’t fair to offer her any less than all of himself.

  With a sigh, he rose and headed for the kitchen to see what trouble his brothers were cooking up.

  …

  Eleanor clutched her belly and laughed as she hadn’t in years. Uri and Sel continued to jab at each other both physically and verbally as they attempted to make a stir-fry dish on Cam’s once-pristine stove. Blotches of sauce and half-cooked pieces of vegetable dotted the stainless steel and the shirts of the men themselves. They would be lucky if there was enough food left to eat once they were done.

  “I told you he makes a mess when he cooks,” Uri said.

  “Hey, you’re the one who thought shredding the carrots over the pan was a good idea,” Sel said as he picked an orange sliver from his hair.

  Eleanor wiped her eyes and laughed again. “Oh my God, you two are crazy. How do you ever get anything done?”

  Her sides and cheeks ached, but she was thoroughly enjoying their antics. It was just the stress reliever she needed after the harrowing confession of her past.

  “Usually I take charge, and shit gets done,” Sel said with a serious face.

  Uri snorted and shoved his brother away from the stove. “Usually he takes over, and shit blows up or catches on fire.”

  “Hey, that was only the one time, and you promised not to keep bringing it up.”

  “One time?” Cam asked as he walked in. “You’re the reason a clan of immortal Archangels who don’t actually need to eat all keep fire extinguishers in our kitchens.”

  “And smoke alarms throughout our homes,” Uri added.

  “Whatever,” Sel said as he rolled his eyes. “They came with the houses.”

  “Uh, yeah, one or two. Not ten, like we installed in your place.”

  Eleanor choked out another laugh until Cam’s warmth covered her back, then she stiffened, and all humor fled her body.

  “Hey,” he whispered in her ear. “I started to tell you something earlier, in my library.”

  She turned her head enough to glance at him. “What?”

  His strong arms surrounded her as he leaned his hands against the counter, caging her in. “I realized that you often slip my mind. Way too often for how much you mean to me. It bothered me when I finally realized it was happening.”

  Humiliation burned in her, and her cheeks heated at his admission. Guess she wasn’t so important to him after all.

  He gently gripped her chin between two fingers and made her look him in the eye. “It was something done to you a long time ago, to dampen your allure to someone like me.” He gestured to his brothers. “Like us. It’s probably a miracle I ever ran into you. I wasn’t supposed to notice you.”

  That caught her attention, and she turned to face him fully. “What do you mean, ‘done to me’? Like a spell?”

  “Not exactly, but I don’t really know how else to describe it.”

  “Have you ever heard of a geas?” Uri asked.

  The word nagged at her mind, as if from a forgotten reference. “It sounds familiar, but I don’t really know what it is.”

  “Geas is an old Gaelic word. It means a compulsion or a vow of sorts.”

  Cam nodded his agreement. “It’s like a curse in a way. You were under a geas to avoid angels and anyone with a certain level of innate goodness. Somehow, you still found your way to me in the grocery store. I don’t know if you did have a Watcher directing you at the time, but I saw no one around you when we met. I was a little distracted by your aura though.”

  “My aura? It distracted you?”

  “Yeah. I promise, baby, that’s a good thing.”

  “I’ll just have to take your word for it.”

  He grinned. “Now that I know about your geas, it has weakened. I won’t have as much trouble remembering your presence.”

  A dull pain spread through her chest. “You would really…forget…about me?”

  All humor fled his expression. “I’m so sorry, Elle. Sometimes I would. Even when we were at the office. I chalked it up to how much I was concentrating on the task at hand, and the fact that sometimes you’re really quiet when you know I’m working. But it finally hit me how unnatural it was that I’d completely forget about you. And that I felt as if I was just now really seeing you.” He cupped her face with both hands. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to realize it.”

  She allowed his kiss of apology but made sure it remained brief. Even without his brothers in the room, letting things go too far with Cam would only hurt her in the long run. Best to keep things casual between them until the threat had gone and she could go back to her ordinary life.

  He let her slip away again, and his brothers pretended to be concentrating on the food prep.

  “So, it’s all good now?” she asked. “You’re not going to abandon me in this mausoleum and go clubbing because you’ve forgotten I’m here?”

  Sel snorted, and Uri grinned.

  Cam shook his head. “Not a chance.”

  “Good.”

  “Our first kiss weakened the geas, and it can’t be done to you again. But it will take more work to break it completely.”

  The look in his eyes left no doubt in her mind just what needed to happen between them to break the geas. They stared at each other for another minute before Sel announced, “Food’s done.”

  “Finally,” Uri groaned.

  “Oh, shut up. You’re doing dishes.”

  “Nu-uh. Cam didn’t even help. He’s cleaning up.”

  “Shut it, guys,” Cam said. “Elle’s going to think you’re both idiots. Oh, wait…”

  They both threw pieces of shredded carrot at him while Eleanor laughed weakly.

  They kept dinner fun and lighthearted, obviously not bringing up any serious subjects that would upset Eleanor again. She felt Cam’s relentless gaze as his brothers joked around and had her nearly doubled over with laughter. Both Uri and Sel glanced his way enough that she knew they wondered what was happening between them.

  Finally, the food was gone, and the table had been cleared. Elle walked out of the dining room with Cam on her heels.

  “Want to see my collection of texts on ancient Greece?” he asked as he followed her up the central staircase.

  A slight smile played on her lips. “Why is it something so innocent sounds naughty coming from you?”

  He grinned and held up his hands. “Hey, it was a purely innocent question.”

  She snorted. “Yeah. Sure it was.”

  They reached the first landing, and she yawned and stretched, accidentally revealing a strip of bare belly between her shirt and jeans. His gaze dropped to the spot, and she yanked her shirt down.

  She jogged up the next few steps. “Is Michael going to come here and fill us in
on what he’s found out?”

  Cam scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Most likely. But I haven’t heard from him since the assembly ended. I’m not entirely sure where he even is right now.”

  They continued up the stairs to the second floor and headed toward his room of ancient texts.

  “I’m sure he’s still busy dealing with all the angels who came from out of town,” she said diplomatically.

  “Maybe. You know, you’re always quick to defend my brothers’ actions, but if I do something…not so much.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know you too well to let you get away with every little thing.”

  They reached the room she’d explored earlier, and she headed straight for the table and the large book still sitting on it. Before he could stop her she had opened it back to the scene of his tryst with Josephina.

  “I can’t believe there’s a painting of you in this book,” she whispered.

  He ran his hands over her shoulders and stepped close, pressing into her from behind. Her fingertips ran lightly over the page.

  “She was well known in her town and a favorite of this particular painter. I just happened to be there on a day when he arrived to use her as his muse. I didn’t really spend much time with her.”

  Silence stretched between them as she studied every detail. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, allowing her to look her fill at a single page of his past. She realized it was no more than a moment in time for him that hopefully meant nothing now.

  Finally, she turned the page and gasped. It was a portrait of an unfamiliar angel in full armor, covered in blood and with a trumpet at his mouth. His glory shone through the page and brought tears to her eyes.

  “Gabriel,” Cam whispered.

  So much emotion sounded in his voice, when he wrapped his arms around Elle and pulled her close to his chest, she accepted it in silent support. He sighed out in defeat over the loss of his brother. She didn’t know the details, only that he had been missing for months.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know it hurts you that he’s missing.”

  “It hurts all of us. But at least we know he’s with a woman who is watching out for him.”

  That surprised her. “The Archangel has a human Watcher?”

  He answered her with a grin and placed an unexpected kiss on her lips. She turned to face the book again, pulling her mouth from his reach.

  “Well, at least he hasn’t cut off all contact then,” she said.

  The next few pages were words in a language she couldn’t read, and she kept turning until she found another page of scantily clad women. This time, Cam was joined in the picture by two of his brothers.

  “The ladies just couldn’t resist a man in armor, huh?”

  “Perhaps. It doesn’t matter now. Not only do I not go around in my armor…” He turned her to face him. “I’m also not the type of man to flit from one woman to another.”

  “Oh?”

  “I never really was.”

  He removed her glasses then cupped her face in both hands to trace her lips with his. He took his time, giving her a chance to push him away. She remained tense for a moment, in preparation to do just that, but then relaxed into him. Fighting his pull was just too hard. With a groan, he took full advantage and deepened the kiss.

  “You taste so good, Elle.”

  “So…do you.”

  He groaned and kissed her again, and this time she melted against him without protest.

  Chapter Seven

  Why am I fighting this?

  Eleanor leaned into Cam’s embrace and conceded defeat. There was no reason to resist when this was exactly what she’d been wanting for so long. And why not? For all she knew she’d be dead tomorrow at the hand of some demon or his minion. Here, she was finally getting the chance to touch and taste Cam like she’d always dreamt. Might as well take full advantage.

  To punctuate that thought she ran her hands over his shoulders and down his muscular arms, then back up again. His hard chest called to her, and she explored it next, wishing to feel bare skin beneath her fingertips. His kiss distracted her for long moments before she remembered what she wanted to do, then she slipped her fingertips beneath his shirt and slid her hands up over his warm muscles. He groaned and pulled away from her touch.

  “I’ll be damned if our first time will be on a hardwood table,” he mumbled as he lifted her into his arms.

  She gasped and grabbed onto his shoulders as he sprinted through the house. The hallways blurred around her until they stopped at an ornate wooden door. He opened it and kicked it shut behind them, then strode to the huge bed in the center of the room. She landed on the softest comforter she’d ever felt but was immediately distracted by the sight of Cam removing his shirt. He kicked off his shoes and opened the top button of his jeans, but then he stopped and looked down at her.

  “Put your arms over your head and grip the blanket, baby. I want to unwrap you like a present.”

  With a deep breath for courage, she did as he said and watched the heat in his gaze as he pulled off her socks and shoes. He ran his hands up her legs to the clasp of her jeans. Her heart raced as he opened it, but it nearly beat out of her chest when he leaned down to clasp the zipper pull between his lips. He winked, and she laughed breathlessly as he eased the zipper down. His breath warmed her lower belly, and he placed a kiss just above her panties. A shiver snaked up her spine at the intimate contact, and she gripped the blanket more tightly.

  Need filled every cell in her body as he eased her jeans off then slid his palms up her torso. It was sweet torture when he gingerly pulled her shirt over her head and wrapped it securely around her wrists, shackling them together. His grin of satisfaction made small bumps pebble on her skin, and she couldn’t help but squirm a bit.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  “N-no way.”

  He chuckled and opened the front clasp of her bra, peeling the cups back while his gaze rested on her exposed breasts.

  “So fucking perfect.”

  The appreciation so obvious on his face warmed her and chased away the last of her doubts. This was right, and exactly what she’d wanted for so long. The urge to reach for him raced through her, but her wrists were still held together by her shirt. She whimpered in frustration, and he cupped her breasts.

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to make you feel so good.”

  “I want to touch you, too.”

  “Next time.”

  Then he replaced one hand with his lips, and all thoughts left her mind. Ecstasy rang through her blood, filling every cold space she’d ever had. Her back arched, pushing her needy flesh farther into his mouth. He growled and suckled like a baby, and she cried out.

  “Oh, Cam. God, Cam.”

  He hummed against her skin, sending shock waves through her. On instinct, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his hips, pulling him against her. His denim-covered erection rubbed her apex, and she cried out.

  “Now. Please, now.”

  Instead of answering, he switched his mouth to her other breast, giving it the same attention so both nipples hardened to almost painful peaks. He sat up, forcing her to drop her legs back to the bed. A protest died on her lips when he grabbed his waistband and peeled his jeans open. He left the bed only long enough to rid himself of the rest of his clothes, then he was between her legs again. His fingertips brushed against her mons, and she whimpered. An eternity passed before he finally eased her panties off.

  “Fucking paradise,” he whispered.

  “P-protection?” she asked.

  He shook his head while his gaze remained on her most private part. “No need. I’m infertile, and no sickness will ever touch me.”

  Equal parts elation and disappointment filled her. Having him bare inside, skin to skin, would be amazing, but there would never be hope for more than sex between them. She wanted children someday.

  She shook her head at her thoughts and rubbed her legs against his hips. “Okay,
I’m ready. Please.”

  Smoothing his palms down her thighs, he gently pushed her legs open wider. Before she could question him, he was on his stomach with his face between her legs.

  “Now for my treat,” he said.

  The protest on her lips died a quick death at the first swipe of his tongue. All the air left her lungs, and she struggled for her next breath as unsurpassed pleasure filled her. His skilled tongue danced along her skin, hitting every pleasurable nerve ending. Tears burned her eyes, and she squeezed them tight for only a moment. A deep growl had them shooting back open to watch him feast. Her panting breaths and his hums of pleasure filled the air. Then a stiff finger entered her right as he suckled. She nearly shot off the bed as a climax ripped through her body.

  “Cam!”

  Her back bowed until the weight of his body pushed her back against the mattress. Warm hardness covered her, and she looked up to find him looking right into her eyes.

  “Now,” he said, before thrusting his cock into her moisture.

  Her muscles pulsed around him, shock waves still flowing through her from the climax. He slipped his palms beneath her and gripped her shoulders before pushing in to the hilt. She moaned and wrapped her legs around him, determined to hold on to him this time. He pulled back as much as her grip allowed and thrust again.

  “You’re…so…fucking…beautiful.” Each word was punctuated with a thrust, and her pleasure spiked again.

  “Oh. I’m gonna…come again.”

  He grinned and thrust faster, sending her spiraling into another orgasm. She cried out and dropped her head back. He latched on to her neck, kissing and nibbling. Then his movements sped up and became erratic. He growled again, and she lifted her head to watch his face. His eyes closed and the tendons in his neck strained as he arched up and shouted her name. He pushed into her with all his strength, every muscle clenched for long seconds before every one seemed to relax at the same time. He dropped his head onto her shoulder but kept most of his weight on his forearms and knees.

  …

  Absolute peace stole through him unlike at any other time in his very long life. He breathed in her scent, letting it fill his lungs and every other part of his essence. If a more perfect moment in time had ever occurred, he hadn’t been there to witness it. Eleanor in his arms was pure bliss.