by Multiple
They were standing in a store, arms entwined, looking down at a display of long sleeved evening gloves. With a little crooked smile, he unwound his arm from her waist and bent over, picking up a long black glove. He intimately opened the end of the stretchy material with his long, delicate fingers, looking into her eyes as his fingers encircled the opening and stretched it to gape open.
Her fingers seemed to have no choice but seek the folds of the fabric as she slid her hand up into the dark opening, filling the silvery black glove fully to the tips. She felt him pulling the material along her arm up all the way to her elbow.
The black object came to life and curled in the air as her fingers felt the pleasure of being so confined to his instrument of play. Encapsulated in the slinky material, now her fingers would be able to touch his skin and he would be able to feel her caress. He traced a line with his forefinger from where the glove ended at her elbow, all the way up her arm towards her fingers, slowly until his hand warmly found that it fit fingers to fingers between the little protrusions. He closed in on her gently.
Then he opened her hand, cupping it like one would hold water. He brought it up to his lips and pressed them into the palm of the glove and kissed it, drank from her spirit there.
She almost collapsed. Her breathing was ragged and heavy. She grew wet.
He brought her gloved hand up to his face and placed it tenderly against his cheek, looking at her, his eyes consuming her. Her fingertips traced the lines of his face, the little wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, across his hairline, and over his warm lips, feeling his breath through the black fabric as she felt his face for the first time. With his hand on her gloved forearm, he moved his fingers up and then slowly down, back and forth in a caress.
She dove the black glove deep into the shiny long hair she had wanted to touch since the first day she had seen Daniel. He delicately kissed her palm again, and, through the glove, nibbled all the way down her forearm to the crease at the inside of her elbow.
He tugged at the end of the glove, bringing his finger underneath it, not able to feel her skin, but exploring there as intimately as if he had slid his hand underneath her shirt to her breast. He wanted more of her to touch. She was thrilled.
How many times had Claire dreamed about what it would feel like to run her real fingers through his hair, have the touch of his warm hand on her arm, on her face? She had spent hours thinking about these things while lying next to him, protecting him as he slept at night.
She opened her fingers and extended them again through his hair, squeezing it in her gloved fist.
He closed his eyes and said, “You have no idea how wonderful that feels.”
All of a sudden, his eyes started to frown slowly. The view was changing, breaking up. The dream was bordered in a black edge, which moved to the center, becoming larger and larger, and then everything was black. His screen had gone blank.
Daniel jolted awake from the dream. He had been holding a pillow to his bare chest, and as he opened his eyes, he tossed the pillow with frustration across the room. Annoyed that he’d woken up, ending the sensual dream, he stood up, moving away from the bed. Away from the source of his pleasure and pain. There was no hiding his full erection, stubbornly signaling what had caused him to awaken from the dream.
He began cursing this particular body part in Portuguese for having deserted him in a great time of need, and hoped Claire didn’t understand what he was saying. He could not see her, of course, but had no doubt that she saw his readiness.
“Now, you can’t tell me that isn’t real,” he said pointing to his groin in disgust. “Time for a cold shower. Care to join me?”
He shed his silk bottoms and stepped into a very lukewarm shower. He poked his head out into the bathroom, not sure where to look for her. “Sorry, you had your chance.” He abruptly pulled the curtain back and continued with the shower.
He finished it off with a totally cold splash, whooping as the cold hit his body. He dried off, placing the towel around his waist. The cold shower had taken care of some of his erection, but not all.
He walked back into the bedroom and faced the window. Daniel stared out the window at the horizon, which had already started to bleed pink. Removing the towel from his waist, he used it to rub his hands through his wet hair, shaking his head from side to side.
“Is this as frustrating to you as it is to me?” he asked to the silent room.
He threw the towel on top of the hamper then sat on the bed, and, as he pushed his legs under the covers, muttered, “Not fair, not fair at all. You get to see me naked and I don’t get to see you, except in a dream.”
He punched one of his pillows and planted his head there. He wanted to sleep for eternity. He did not dream this time.
Claire thought of what had just occurred. Her chest was still heaving from the nearness of him and the feeling of his warmth upon her face, his hands up and down her arm through the fabric of the black glove.
Perhaps a remnant of her human side was excited and glad at the intimacy now growing between them. She was developing a very deep and fearless love for this human, regardless of the risks that placed on both their souls. It was spinning out of control.
A physical relationship endangered her status as an angel. It was bad enough to be seen, that in itself was a huge violation, but to be physically present to him in the human world, that would classify as a “Fallen” offense.
The stark reality was that she was an angel and would always be an angel, forever. And he was a human male, who needed to live in the Real World with a real woman, someone he could commit to, grow old with, and die with.
That was something she would never be able to provide him, even if somehow she were granted permission to stay his Guardian forever, or at least for his lifetime. There was no precedent for that. No matter how much she wished it, no matter how real the dreams felt, in the real scheme of things, this was only a dream. That was all it could ever be.
I am not accomplishing my goal. She knew in her heart that this was wrong and would have to stop. And she knew she would have to confess her failure to Father. Overwhelmed with her choices, she wondered who else she could turn to.
Claire felt utterly alone and lonely for the first time in her angel life. She now understood what it would feel like to lose someone, to be separated from them forever.
Grieving was not something any of the angels had training in. She understood it to be the flip side of the love she felt for Daniel, which made her love feel even more precious. For hers was a love she would have to give up, in order to save him.
But that would be another day. Perhaps she could have a few days of bliss before she had to make that decision. She was at the edge, but not quite ready to really cross the line. She wondered if she would have the strength to stop before that happened.
She made a decision she hoped she would not regret.
Chapter 20
Audray slipped the check in the envelope and sealed it with her tongue. Her forefinger brushed across the outside where she had written his name on it: Daniel DePalma. There had been a time when she halfway thought he could be the one. But she was the serial dating kind, and Daniel was the kind to find a woman to love him forever. But that wouldn’t stop her from getting him back into bed. The man had been amazing in the sack.
Her pulse quickened as she drove up to Daniel’s front door to deliver his six thousand dollar check. She could have mailed it. But something in her wanted to see his face when she presented him with more money than he had seen in a long time. Would he be willing to give her just a little taste of his luscious body in the form of thank you sex? He was and forever would be the standard by which she would judge all men. And she wanted him. Not forever, of course, but just a taste. Just for today.
She had chosen red, his favorite color. The dress was made of a stretch fabric, very low cut in the front, exposing the “enhancement” Neal had so lovingly provided her. He’d
wanted to enlarge her just one size, but Audrey went for two. No sense going through all the pain and hassle if she would be just a little bigger. She needed to be memorable. And she certainly did like the way they felt now. That wasn’t a bad thing, after all, to be in love with one’s own body.
She sucked in air and instantly got wet at the sight of Daniel at the front door, with his blue shirt unbuttoned half way, revealing the rippled chest and flat abs of his beautiful body. He always distracted her with how he liked to wear his pants, low and loose.
She could see she did not have the same effect on him.
“Audray. What are you doing here?” He was frowning and didn’t invite her in.
“Have you lost your manners? I bring gifts.” She flashed him her most flirtatious look, and grazed her breasts across his chest as she slipped beside him into his living room. The male scent of him was a welcome and familiar elixir.
He rubbed his hands through the shiny black hair that her fingers itched to touch, and closed the door.
“Well, this is a surprise. How is your boyfriend?”
His Brazilian accent was even sweeter now. She remembered coaching him on the things she wanted him to whisper in her ear, things that turned her on unlike ever before, or since.
“My boyfriend is fine.” She looked him up and down, her gaze finally settling on his crotch. She did not see his usual response there. “But I have to say, I’ve missed you.” She walked to him, pressed herself against his body, drew her arms up around his neck and plunged her fingers into his hair at the back of his head as she pulled his mouth to hers. Her need of his lips was probably obvious. Something new for Audray.
But he did not kiss her back and separated them immediately.
Oh well. She sighed.
“I think you should leave. If you have come here—”
“No, Daniel. But the sight of you takes my breath away.” It was a true statement, after all. “As much as I wish we could enjoy other things”— she raked over his lanky body again, taking in every square inch—“I’ve brought you something I think you’ll love.”
“Oh?” He seemed serious. No smile on his lips, or in his eyes. Audray could see she was dead to him now.
“Money!”
Instead of exhibiting excitement, Daniel let out a short laugh. “Money?”
“I sold your paintings. All of them.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.” She opened her purse and brought out the envelope. She walked towards him as slowly as she could, hoping to see some semblance of sensuality in his dark eyes, and whispered, “Six thousand dollars, Daniel.” She held the envelope out, her red fingernails blazing under the foyer light. His gaze dropped to his name on the outside. He reached for it.
Audray immediately retracted the envelope and put it behind her back with a flirtatious smile. His eyes narrowed. Damn. He seemed to be immune to her charms. “Come and get it. Wrestle me for it, Daniel,” she said through half lidded eyes.
He didn’t move. He looked at his feet, put his hands on his hips, his long fingers accentuating the flatness of his lower belly and the two veins that led to his crotch below.
“I’m not going to play these games.”
She imitated his accent. “Dees games. Dees games.” She frowned. Still no reaction from him. She held the check up and waved it over her head. “Can’t I get just one little kiss for this? A kiss for a check? One kiss for six thousand dollars? That seems like a pretty fair trade. More than fair.”
He carefully stepped closer to her. Grabbing the envelope from her fingers with a little pull, he kissed her on the cheek.
Chapter 21
Doris struggled up the circular stairwell at the Guardianship dorm. She was attempting to get two of the largest paintings up to Claire’s room without injuring them. She wondered how long it would take before she would be detected.
She didn’t get far.
Ava stood at the top of the stairs. Doris was a little relieved it was one of Claire’s friends. She’d made a habit of being scarce and barely knew anyone.
“What are you doing, Doris?”
“New form of exercise all the rage down below. Haul bubble wrap canvases up and down stairs.” She stopped as she lost her grip on one of them, but Ava ran to catch it in time before it went sailing over the handrail.
“Where’d you get these?”
“Claire.” Doris didn’t really need to say more. They walked down the hallway, each holding one large canvas, bigger than they were. “Hope you got a key, or I’m breaking in.”
“There isn’t one.” Ava opened the door.
“Jeez,” Doris exclaimed as she looked at the disarray that was Claire’s private sanctuary. It had been ransacked. They hadn’t even tried to cover it up. “Little shits. Oops, sorry, girlfriend.” Doris halfway expected an electric jolt from some unseen finger.
“I completely agree. For all she does for us you would think they would treat her with more respect.”
“Claire would never do this, even in retaliation. That’s what makes her so good. They’re just young and out of control. Selfish. Not enough supervision.” Doris sounded more reasonable than she was feeling. But she was in Heaven, after all.
They leaned the paintings on an interior wall, away from the sunlight streaming through the one window.
“I think I’d better get the others from the transport before we get spotted. Can you help me?”
“How many more?”
“Four.”
“Wow. She must be inspired.”
“I wouldn’t exactly put it that way. I was thinking of another word, but I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut.”
They hurried down the stairs. There was a small crowd around the transport.
“Alright, alright, nothing to see. Go on now. Don’t you guys have a class or something? Someone to save? A plant to plant?” Doris said as she shoed away the six or seven angels who were looking inside the windows of the transport. They stayed in one group, whispering as they retreated.
“Guess it’s not a secret now,” Doris sighed. She opened up the rear door and carefully took out the other four canvases. The two angels each took two, and started up the path to the dorm. “Next I’ll get the summons.”
“What will you tell Mother?”
“Beats me, kid. I’ll think of something.”
“Does this mean Claire is coming home soon?”
“Nah.” Doris stopped to catch her breath. She wasn’t used to this kind of work. “That angel is going to stay down there as long as she can.”
They continued up the front steps of the dorm building.
“Can you tell me who made them?”
“Her new charge, Daniel. Boy, is he a stunner. I’d ride him around in my cab all day, if you know what I mean.”
Doris saw Ava smile and consider her comment. She was pretty sure Claire’s books were quite an education for the young angel. Doris preferred books about bad boys on bikes. She kept them in the trunk of her locked transport, and in the safety deposit box she managed to sneak past her auditors in New York City. She figured Ava had no firsthand experience—that she knew of.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s not complaining. And that’s a little new for her. Last few times she was, I don’t know, just not happy with the job.”
“Is she going to keep her record?”
“From what I understand—now this is just rumor, mind you—as long as Claire is around, this Daniel guy ain’t going anywhere. But I think they’re on a collision course.” She adjusted the grip on her two packages before mounting the stairwell.
“Collision course? Like an accident?”
“Honey, there’s no accident about love.”
Happy for you, Claire. About time that girl had someone who could love her back as intensely as she loved others. Doris still worried about her, though.
They set the other four against the wall, check
ing the coverings.
“Should we open them up?” Ava asked.
“God, no! Oops, sorry. I don’t spend much time here; I’m out of practice. Ava, I honestly don’t know what is underneath these wrappings. What if it was a bunch of nudes?”
Love to see it, though. Wouldn’t that be a scene? “Kid, what if they were nudie pictures of Claire herself?”
“I see your point.” Ava glanced at the condition of Claire’s room and said, “I’ll tidy up a bit, and then I’ll sneak a peek under the bubble wrap.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Doris returned with a wink, and left, closing the door behind her.
Ava straightened the silk embroidered pillows on Claire’s daybed, and repositioned some of Claire’s romance novels back onto the bookshelf. A couple of the books had spines so well worn, the pages fell out. She smiled as she remembered the tour she and Claire had taken that first day they met, on Ava’s first day in Heaven. What a magical day that had been.
It had felt like she woke up from a deep sleep as someone kissed the top of her head gently and whispered, “Welcome to Heaven, child.” She had passed through a warm lighted mist that left the faint scent of lavender and citrus on her skin. She realized she was dressed in a white gown, sitting on a wooden bench seat in a small boat behind a row of other girls similarly dressed. In the distance a cherub choir was singing.
These little ones are angels too.
At the front of the boat was a long neck of a swan carved in wood extending up into the mist so high she almost couldn’t see the top of the bird’s head. There was a small thump as the boat reached its destination and, as if on cue, all the girls stood. Beyond the dock was a golden landscape punctuated by green gardens of brightly colored flowers waving in the gentle breeze.
Straight ahead soared a translucent building several stories in height. It appeared to be carved from one solid piece of glass with a roofline so tall it extended up into the clouds and disappeared.
