by Gina Lamm
Waves of bliss crashed down on him, sweeping him away. It had been so long, so very long since he'd experienced that. No, not if he was being honest—he'd never felt it. Not such an intense connection, but an inner demand to see to someone else’s needs met before and above his own.
He didn't pull free from her or loosen his wing's grip from around her. Instead, he drew her closer, tighter against him as he turned them onto their sides. She nestled her head against his cheek and fell asleep, still cradling him within her core.
***
The first rays of the morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains, lighting on the bed. He lifted his head and glared at the beam, unwilling to face the morning. The night had been everything he'd wished for, and so very much more. He hadn’t expected to find a Daemon female from this experiment, let alone one as perfect for him as Ginger. She'd pleasured him deeply, body and soul.
What if the cold light of day tore her from his arms? She'd protested sorely at the beginning of the night, assuring him of her happiness with her life as it stood. Could she really go back to that lonely existence after what they'd shared?
The sunbeam crept closer, reminding him of his wings. If the light touched them, they would smoke, burning the flesh beneath them. With centuries of practice, he pulled the appendages deep within him. When the moon rose once more, he could embrace that side of himself. Until then, he was as human as she had been yesterday.
He hated to wake her, but also hated the thought of the sun harming her new wings even more. He leaned down and brushed a kiss against her soft cheek.
“Time to wake, lass.”
Her lids fluttered open. Bleary and bewildered, she peered at him.
“It's morning. You need to put your wings away, or the sun will burn them.”
At his words, she lifted her brows. She turned her head to the side and saw her wings curled around her. A hand clapped across her eyes as she said, “Holy cow. I'm hallucinating.”
He laughed and reluctantly moved away to give her space. “Not hallucinating at all. Now, you'll need to remember this. Are you awake enough to pay attention?”
She shook her head, not removing her hand. “I'm still dreaming.”
The sunbeam crept closer, only a few inches from her back. Reaching out, he pulled her into his lap, farther away from the insidious light.
She shrieked, pummeling his chest with her fists.
“Enough now. You're awake.” He laughed as he caught her small fists in his larger ones.
She stared up at him, confusion written on her face. “Did that really happen?”
He nodded, not losing his smile.
“All of it?”
He nodded again, breaking into a full grin.
Chapter Five
Ginger searched Baird's face, completely unsure what to believe. Her dreams came true, fantastic though they'd been. She'd slept with him, and it was incredible. She had honest-to-God black wings. What the hell do I do now?
“As I was sayin', you'll need to put your wings away before the sun touches them. Sunlight causes burns, painful ones. Understand?”
She nodded, clinging to him. Nothing felt real.
“Close your eyes, and search yourself. Feel them? Feel where they connect to your spine, the muscles, the tendons, all of it?”
She did as he directed her, locating her wings easily.
“Now, draw them in. Your body will absorb them as if they don't even exist. Try it.”
As though she’d done it forever, her back accepted the wings, dissolving the essence of them back into her soul. She felt different, but the same, knowing that at the light of the moon, she could call them forward once again.
“Excellently done.” He brushed a light kiss across her forehead.
She rested her head against his bare chest. She'd not spared a thought for the morning. What do you do the day after all your dreams come true?
“Baird?”
“Aye, lass?”
“What happens next?” She didn't lift her head, afraid to break the contact of his warm skin against her cheek.
“Well, that depends on what you want to happen,” he said, stroking her hair.
She thought. What did she want to happen? If he'd asked her eight hours ago, she'd have sworn she never wanted to see him again. But after what they'd shared, after what he'd shown her, after the incredible lovemaking they'd known, could she really be satisfied with her former existence? With her job in the soul-sucking insurance business? With the Spartan rooms of her apartment? With the loneliness she drowned in, day in and day out?
The decision was easy.
“I want us to happen, if you do,” she confessed. “I don't think I can go back to the way things were, not after last night.”
His chest expanded with a deep breath, and he let it out in a sigh. She swallowed hard, wondering if she'd said too much.
“I'd like that, lass. I'd like that very much.”
She pulled back to look at him, afraid to believe it. “Are you sure?”
His dimple winked at her as he said, “As sure as my own name.”
She kissed him, vowing to send Amy the biggest flower arrangement she could afford.
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Gina Lamm's writing career began when she was only eleven years old with the publication of “The Night,” a particularly bad piece of poetry. After trying her creativity at both theatre and dance, she has since settled back into her first love, books.
A voracious reader, she would devour four or five trashy romances in a day back before needing to earn a living. She would love nothing more than to read all day, every day, but until she hits the lottery, that so ain’t happening. When she'd read everything in her house six times, she decided to write her own stories, and hasn't looked back since.
Gina is married to her hero, Scotty, and is proud mommy to her three fur-kids, Skeeter the cat, Oliver the poodle, and Eden the whippet. She and her family live quite contently in rural North Carolina.
www.ginalamm.net
