“No, it’s nothing like that.” He shrugged, melancholy possessing his heart for a moment. “Only they don’t care. They see my mutilation and recoil in disgust.” A few memories of his first years on Earth came back to him. His dark ages. Before meeting Alexander and Ophelia. Before knowing he wasn’t meant to be alone and despised by his brethren. “I’m better without them in any case and I keep as far away as I can from the whole lot.”
“But shouldn’t angels be more tolerant?” She bit her lower lip. “I mean they are angels.” She slightly shook her head. “I imagined them beautiful and good. Like you.”
One look at her worried expression and he smiled. “Nah, they might be beautiful, but nothing like me.”
She smiled back. “So, I’m not missing anything.”
“No, you aren’t.” He laughed. “They’re a bunch of pompous jerks who believe they are better than anyone else and treat the rest of the world like garbage.” He walked his fingers over the coverlet and reached for her leg. “There isn’t a single paranormal species who can stand them.”
She looked down at his hand and drew a long breath when he caressed her skin. “I hope I never meet them.”
He laughed harder. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Being associated with me has reduced your chances of ever meeting them to zero.”
“Good.” She leaned to give him a small kiss on his nose, then stood quiet for a long moment before adding like an afterthought, “That’s good.”
He felt the change in Martina’s humor, and tilted his chin to meet her lips with his. “But?”
****
Martina bumped her forehead against his and sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to all of this. I’m waiting to wake up from this strange dream.” She moved away from him, then looked for the pillow she had discarded to her side and hugged it back. “Beside a whole universe I didn’t even know existed, there is you—”
“What about me?”
Letting the pillow fall on her lap, she opened her hands. “You are magnificent.”
“Thank you?”
She couldn’t help but laugh a little at his comeback, but sobered immediately. “It’s hard for me to reconnect what I see now with what I used to see when I looked at you. You were already beautiful to me. I thought I could see through your exterior and I liked what I found inside. But you…” She brought her knees up. “You are too much. This whole situation is too much.”
“I don’t want to lose you.” He wound his arms over her shoulders and leaned his head over hers.
She felt the longing in his touch and it matched hers. “I don’t want to lose you either.”
He let out a long breath. “We’ll find a way to make it work.”
She eased into his embrace and rested her head on the hollow between his shoulder and neck, accepting his slow caresses on her arms. She felt minuscule compared to him. “Now I finally understand your fixation with big and sturdy furniture.”
He chuckled. “I’m too heavy and I break things easily.”
She had felt his laughter echoing in his ribcage and it had sounded like a roar. “I thought you kind of overcompensated…” She snuggled closer to him. “How would it work between you and me?”
He had slightly moved and was now angled so he was looking at her. “What do you mean?”
Too embarrassed to clarify her statement, she couldn’t help but blush.
“Oh, that way.” He lowered his lips to hers for a peck. “I’d be very gentle.” He took her pillow away and with one hand on the small of her back, he pressed her body against his. “I’d cover you with kisses.” Lowering himself down to the mattress and pulling her with him, he started trailing brushes all over her face.
“And what if I was too scared?” She was shaking, but her tremors weren’t for fear.
“I’d cuddle you until you relaxed.” His fingers traced circles on her arms, then slowly found their way under the hem of her shirt and stopped on her bare skin for a full heartbeat. He raised his head to hers.
She looked down at him, at his lips, wanting nothing more than to forget how truly different he was from her and give in to the moment. “I’ll be just a blink for you.”
“Never think that.” He pushed himself on his elbows, his face coming close to hers, their lips almost touching. “I am eternal, but I live for those blinks. Nothing else compares to this moment, to the way I feel, wishing you’ll let me make love to you, but not knowing for sure. The anticipation alone is worth risking your refusal.” He caught her wrist with one of his big hands and brought it to his mouth, teasing its inner side with the tip of his tongue. “That skip in your heartbeat you just had, it’s worth everything to me.”
At his mention, an ache sweet and sharp as a needle pierced her heart. “You’ll forget about me.”
He softly shook his head, his eyes darkening. “I can’t forget. One of the side effects of my falling from grace. Until this very moment, I thought it was a curse, but not anymore. You’ll be with me forever.” He sought her lips for a deeper kiss, and she felt lightheaded.
Her arms circled his neck and she pressed herself to him. Suddenly, she was under him, but he kept his weight off her, giving her room to breathe. His hands moved under her shirt, sweeping away her bra as they roamed all over her. His movements were frantic, but she wasn’t afraid. He was so much bigger than she was; she couldn’t see anything else but Samuel and his wings cocooning her. Yet, she didn’t feel caged.
“Do you want me?” His lips hovered over hers, his breath as ragged as hers.
“I do.” She grabbed his neck and lowered his head until she could feel the softness of his lips on hers, but she didn’t move. She let the moment linger. “I have never felt the way I feel now.”
“Me either.” Samuel wound both his hands behind her, bringing both to a sitting position, then positioned her on his lap, her legs around his waist. He kissed her eyelids, then the point of her nose, her cheeks, her earlobes, then the column of her throat, making her shiver. “I want you.”
She could only nod.
His hands came out of her shirt and went to the front and deftly opened it button by button, while skimming her skin underneath. When he lowered the garment from her shoulders, bringing down also her bra, she felt the need to seek refuge in his arms.
He put a finger under her chin and gently raised her face to his. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
His wings covered her, the black feathers trailing over her exposed skin, adding to the avalanche of sensorial stimulation overwhelming her. He resumed his journey by kissing her lower and lower, until he reached the swell of her breast, and his hands joined his lips in a series of tender caresses that grounded her to the moment. He kissed her nipples one at a time, feeding her his own desire by letting her feel he was shaking too.
She needed to touch his skin and tugged and pulled at his shirt, only to have it tangle around his wings. He laughed against her breasts and pressed his face there for a moment. Then he leaned away from her, and when she was about to complain, he yanked the collar of his shirt with one hand and tore it away.
“Better?” He circled her back with both arms and brought her back to him.
“Much better.” She moved against his skin, her hands exploring his chest first and the contour of his back next. He was huge. “I can’t believe I sparred against you so many times and never realized your size.”
“I’ve wanted for you to see me for a long time. I didn’t want to lie to you.”
She used her fingertips to brush his nipples, then to trace the lines of his abs, following them under the opening of his jeans, kept together by a belt she unbuckled on the first try and three buttons she opened by passing her finger underneath. His intake of breath was music to her ears. She lowered her head to his chest to kiss him at leisure, while she pushed both sides of his jeans down, to uncover a pair of blue boxers with a familiar design. She smiled at the idea her angel wore underwear with a superhero logo centered on its
front. “A fan of Superman I see.”
“Hmm?” His hands were everywhere again. Caressing her skin, teasing her nipples with the lightest of pinches, only to kiss them soon after.
His feathers brushed her back and sides, and she gasped when a subtle current traveled through her at their touch. A faint glowing surrounded her as he leaned in for one long, breathless, mind-numbing kiss. She melted in his arms and he gently placed her on the mattress without breaking contact. His kiss became more and more demanding, and she felt his hands working at the belt of her pants, hurriedly tugging it free from the hoops. Then he was removing her pants by pulling at their hems. Her panties were first moved to the side for a swift touch, then lowered to her knees as he caressed her slowly.
She reemerged from the kiss because she needed to look at him.
His eyes were hooded and his lips beckoned her.
“I am yours.” She pushed his boxers to his thighs and he completed the gesture by moving them farther down, then kicked them off his legs. She shimmied her panties down and he helped her remove them altogether by yanking the flimsy fabric out of the way.
His wings glowed with a dark light that shimmered all around them. He kissed her mouth slowly for a few heartbeats, then gently opened her legs with his knees and wound an arm under her back to pull her closer to him. Then, while keeping his body suspended over hers by shoring his weight on his elbow, he lowered himself into her. Never removing his eyes from hers, he stroked her intimately.
She gasped and he stopped, giving her time to relax, then resumed his slow conquering. He was gentle and patient. Tears of joy fell from her eyes when they were finally fully joined. He kissed her tears away, and both his hands holding her, he moved their united bodies until he was on his knees and she was on his lap. His wings closed around them. He rocked them— at first with a hypnotic slowness that made her feel cherished. Then she felt the pressure build inside her and her breathing rhythm changed in sync with his. His movements changed quality and became stronger and faster. A moment before she reached perfection, the black light exploded in a multicolored halo, and he took her mouth and her breath away before she lost contact with reality.
Later, cocooned in his arms, dark light still pulsating from his wings, she realized she had made love to an angel and fell asleep.
****
Samuel caressed Martina’s back as she peacefully rested by his side. He kept his wings over her instead of covering her with the comforter lying tangled under their bodies. He was at peace. The future was an unknown entity to him since he had fallen, but for the first time since he had landed on Earth, he owned the present. And the present was glorious.
Martina moved and turned to her side, giving him her back. He curled around her, folding one wing and extending the other to keep shielding her from the cool air circulating in the bedroom. He made a mental note to call the handyman to fix those windows. Head propped on his elbow, he watched her sleep. His miracle. She would have accepted him as a cripple and she had trusted him with her body even after seeing his real persona. She, an abused woman, had let him touch her.
Something had changed inside of him when they had become one. Something he couldn’t define, but that made him happier. She moaned in her sleep and he brushed her temple. The mere idea that one day she would no longer be with him cut a deep chasm in his heart and he pushed it away, unable to process that kind of sorrow. She’s here. Now. He focused on that certainty and wound his arms under her chest, resting his head on her shoulder. His desire for her hadn’t been quenched, and her proximity was torture to endure, but he contented himself with caressing her soft curves and breathing her scent.
His cell phone rang as he decided to close his eyes. The sun had been out for a while and the bedroom was bathed in the luminosity of a crisp morning. He blindly reached for the nightstand behind him and his fingers found the mobile. One brief look at the screen made him swear under his breath.
“What is it, Barnes?”
“Another kid from Quintilius’s clan turned up dead.”
“Who?”
“Sandro Denari.”
This time, Samuel couldn’t help but let out an imprecation loud enough to make Martina stir. She pouted in her sleep and he smiled despite the news he had just received. “How did the cub die?”
“The report is inconclusive, but he was found inside his car, just a few blocks from his house, and there were empty vials of vampire blood on the floor. The coroner will explain how he died, but we have to come up with the why he did.”
Samuel had begun to understand the why, but he needed proof. He shifted on the bed, and rearranged Martina so he wouldn’t disturb her, then picked up a corner of the comforter and covered her with it. Wanting anything but to leave her side, he sat at the edge of the mattress. “I’m out of town. I’ll be in the office this afternoon. Meanwhile, I’ll call Quintilius.” He checked the time first, then punched the werewolf’s number. Although early in the morning, the man wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. In fact, Quintilius answered on the second ring.
“I’m deeply sorry for your loss.”
“I don’t need condolences.” Quintilius sounded tired and his voice was low. In the background a woman was crying. “Give me something, anything.”
“I think your kids were killed because of that baby, as his parents were.”
“I’ve already contacted his adoptive family, and later this morning the baby will be tested. I’ll ask the lab to expedite the results.”
“Thank you. I’ll contact you if anything comes out.”
Samuel pinched the arch of his nose. He could feel the pressure of responsibilities building up when he would have rather spent the rest of the day in bed with Martina. He leaned back to pass his fingers through her hair. Then with a sigh, he called Barnes back.
“I might have a theory I need to corroborate.”
“Okay.”
“Could you unlock the file regarding a couple of renegades who died in a car accident several months ago?”
“Yes, but why?”
“My friend Marcus adopted a were-bat whose parents died in that car accident. I want to be sure they weren’t killed instead.”
Samuel gave Barnes Marcus’s information, then hung up and strolled to the bathroom to splash fresh water on his face. When he came back to the bedroom, he found Martina awake.
“Hey.” She smiled.
“Hey.” He sat on the bed, aware of the big indentation he created on it with his weight.
Martina was looking at him from under the comforter, only her face out of it. “Job problems?”
He caressed the stubble on his chin and jaw. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“No problem. I do have a case I should be attending to later today.”
“I had hoped we could stay longer.” He lowered himself on his elbows, his head tilted toward her.
“It would’ve been nice.” She scooted toward him, keeping the blanket around her.
He took her lips for a sweet peck, then hooked his hand around her neck to bring her closer and deepen the kiss. “You taste so good.”
She moaned when he sat and unwrapped her, touching her body as he went. Satisfied by hearing her little squeals of delight when his fingers traced her up and down, he reclined on the comforter and lowered her on him. He brushed her naked skin with his feathers and was rewarded by her eyes growing unfocused and her mouth slightly opening. His wings soon glowed, showing how much he wanted her, and he guided her small body over his until they matched where it counted. Her eyes widened and her breath became irregular when his hands pressed her down on him, but she didn’t stop him. She let him play with her body.
“I want to watch you.” He helped her up so that she rode him, his hands still on her hips. “You are breathtaking.” He raised himself on one elbow to leave a kiss on the hollow of her breasts, then rested his head on the pillow to admire her.
She lowered her eyes under his stare. “Samuel…”
He
caressed her hips, then let his hands wander upward to stroke the side of her breasts, and brush the points of her nipples. He continued his exploration of her body downward, where they lay united, and when she started shivering, he rocked her from beneath. Soon, she moved with him and he let her control the rhythm. His wings stretched to the side and opened, every feather pulsating with energy. She grabbed his hands and brought them back to her hips, as if she needed an anchor. Samuel felt her pleasure building in synch with his own and whispered to her words of encouragement. Her tempo increased and his senses went into overdrive. His wings glowed and sparkles danced at their ends. They both reached completion at the same time, and she collapsed on him afterward. Unable to utter a word, Samuel laid a small kiss on her head and brushed her shivering arms, then hugged her and covered both of them with his wings.
Several minutes later, she raised her head and gave him a kiss on his lips. “Tell me you are not a figment of my imagination.”
He laughed. “I can do better than that.” He reached for her breast and teased her nipple, making her squirm against him. “Proof enough?”
She gave him a mischievous smile. “Not sure yet.”
He threw her to the side and was about to show her undeniable proof of his existence, when his cell phone went off.
“Answer the call.” She nudged his nose with hers. “It could be important.”
“You’re the only important thing right now.” His hand shot down, but she stopped him by taking it in hers and bringing it to her mouth.
She kissed his fingers one by one. “I have a court audience I can’t miss at two o’clock. Take the call. We’ll have tonight and the whole weekend for us.”
Reluctantly, he let her go. As she left the bed, she grabbed his mobile on the nightstand and tossed it to him. The phone had stopped ringing. He checked the call, and when he saw it had come from Barnes, immediately rang him back.
“I pulled the files you requested. They’re on your desk.”
“Thanks. See you later.”
Samuel joined Martina under the shower, single-mindedly focused on making her forget about her responsibilities for at least another hour. He could always speed up on the highway and send the tickets to Barnes afterward.
The Broken Angel Page 14
