“So you’re saying once Burt confessed what really happened, it released my dad?”
“It may have freed him—to expand his choices, and his ability to communicate or move on. But I want you to understand that this is conjecture on my part.”
“I don’t know if I should tell my mom,” I say.
“That your father spoke to you?”
“No, that he was murdered.”
“Why?”
“It will only cause her fresh heartache, like it did for me. And Burt drowned at sea, just like my dad, so it feels as if cosmic justice has been paid.” I look up at him. “How is that going to be explained by the way?”
“As far as anyone will ever know, he was out on his boat alone and had an accident at sea.”
I nod, remembering his final moments, filled with desperation and fear, and my stomach feels sick again. That’s how my dad must have felt, too. “I’ll make sure he’s exposed for cheating the firm so people can get paid back,” I say, “but what good would it do to dredge up my dad’s death again? When there’s nothing that can be done? Except make my mom hurt even worse, knowing my dad died violently and was betrayed by his best friend?”
Alexander nods. “Why don’t you take some time to think about it,” he says quietly.
I nod and he takes me in his arms and we lay back, my head on his chest.
We stay like that for a long time, quiet and contemplative, and enjoying the feeling of being in each other’s arms again, our energies humming in harmony, where we belong.
Chapter Forty-Two
“You’re sure we don’t need protection?” Alexander is driving us, finally, to what I’ve been waiting for and honestly wondered if would ever actually happen. Our plan. Tonight. I’m nervous and excited and profoundly curious about where we’re going.
“Guardians can’t extend the line in that way,” Alexander says. “And it probably goes without saying but I’m fully clean, health-wise.”
I smile. “Are there any angels walking around out there with STDs?”
He glances over. “No,” he says, with a grin that reaches his eyes.
“Where are you driving us?”
“You honestly think I would ruin it now after we’ve waited this long?”
“No,” I laugh, “but I was starting to think this would never happen.
“There’s a time and a place for everything,” he says with a smile. “And this is finally our time and our place, again.”
He reaches over and takes my hand in his and I grin and face forward in the car as we continue to drive. My insides are tingling I’m so excited.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” he asks. “We can wait if you want to.”
I look over at him. “Now you’re just messing with me.”
He laughs. “Just making sure.”
He turns onto a familiar road.
“We’re going up to the mountains?” I’m excited because this is what I hoped.
“Yes,” he says, “and no … at first.”
We bump along the gravel access road in the back of Redwood Park until he stops the car where we normally hike in and opens my door for me to get out.
“We don’t have to carry anything?” I ask, looking in the back of his Jeep for any food or supplies.
“It’s all there already.” Then he pauses and trails his eyes over me. “You look beautiful,” he says with a measure of awe.
I smile. I’m wearing the same blue dress I wore when we first kissed. I consider it supremely lucky and I haven’t worn it since that night.
“So do you,” I say, admiring his tall frame in his dark suit and crisp white shirt in the dusky final light of the evening. He’s honestly so handsome with his thick, dark hair, deep green eyes, and the way he carries himself so confidently, that the only way I can describe how I’m feeling right now would be highly swoony. “I feel very lucky,” I say.
“I’m the lucky one,” he says as he takes my hand with a look in his eyes that makes my stomach clench.
I start to walk in the direction of our favorite place.
“That’s not where we’re going,” he says, gently pulling me back.
“We’re not?”
“No,” he says, “not yet. I have a confession to make.”
“What?” I ask tentatively, not sure where this is going.
“I didn’t have this as part of the plan at first.”
“You didn’t …”
He shakes his head. “But then that day that we were up on the mountain and you said it would be the perfect spot, it got me thinking.”
“And?”
“And I realized that maybe it should be the plan. Maybe I was making the plan too complicated.”
“So you changed the plan?”
He smiles and shakes his head once more. “But then I thought, I came up with this plan for a reason. Because of something else you once said, and there are some things I want you to see. Things I want to share with you.”
“So you didn’t change the plan …”
“I added to the plan,” he says with a smile. “In the spirit of anticipation.”
“I’m definitely feeling the anticipation,” I say and he laughs.
“We’re going to travel by light,” he says “and I’ll explain more when we get there, but I want you to know that eventually we’re going to end up here. In the spot you said would be perfect.”
I nod, smiling, a happy lump in my throat. “I love your plan already,” I say. “I don’t even know what it is, but I love it.”
He smiles. “Come here,” he says, his voice low and husky as he pulls me closer. My knees go weak at the look in his eyes as he stares down at me.
He lets go of my hands and wraps his arms around me, pulling me tight against him, and he bends down to kiss me. As I lose myself in the sensation of his lips on mine, I feel us transform into pure light energy and as we take flight and soar into the sky, everything becomes a blur as we travel faster than we’ve ever flown before. The feeling is pure joy and thrilling excitement, as if we’re one being, joined in a vibration of light energy, and I surrender to the state of complete and utter bliss.
Before long we land high on a mountain, in daylight, and as we become solid, Alexander kisses me again, softly. We stare into each other’s eyes, enjoying the after-sensation of flying together, and then we turn and look at the view. “I dreamed of coming here with you,” he says.
I look out over an expanse of lush green mountains and sheer cliffs of red rock leading down into a secluded cove, far below, with the most brilliantly blue-green water I’ve ever seen. A long, free-falling waterfall flows from the top of the mountain, over the cliff face and down into the deep, vibrant azure pool below. I’ve never seen anything more breathtaking and beautiful. I recognize the beautiful sight before me from descriptions he’s shared with me many times. “Are we in Australia?” I ask, amazed and awe-struck.
He nods. “You said you wanted to come here with me. It’s one of my favorite places in the world and I wanted to share it with you. And I wanted to make our first time here together especially memorable.”
I turn to look at him, eyes welling up with emotion. “It’s beautiful,” I say, my voice cracking. “More beautiful than I even imagined from your descriptions.”
He smiles. “Would you like to go down and swim under the waterfall?”
“Can we?”
“You’re with an angel—we can do anything we want.”
I smile. “You don’t have to impress me, you know. I already fell for you, hopelessly, a long time ago.”
He laughs. “What’s the point of being an angel if you don’t chuck your brass about once in a while to impress your girlfriend?”
He takes me in his arms and we fly, by light, until suddenly we’re at the base of the cove, standing on some rocky sand near that beautiful azure water. “What’s this?” I ask, pointing to a cooler and a picnic blanket spread out on the ground.
“That’s f
or us. I was here earlier getting it ready.”
I smile. I really do love his plans. “What do we do for swimsuits?” I ask.
“We don’t need them.”
“What if someone comes?”
“This place is difficult to get to. I promise you, we won’t run into anyone.”
I nod.
“Is that okay with you? I can get some if you prefer.”
I shake my head. “No, I like this idea.”
He smiles. “Do you want to hear the rules?”
“Rules?”
“To build anticipation. For later.”
I’m intrigued. “Okay.”
“First rule: We strip. Slowly.”
I smile. “Is that it?”
He shakes his head, a wicked glint in his eyes. “There’s more.”
“Tell me.”
“Then we get into the water and we swim for the waterfall.”
“Okay.”
“We can kiss,” he says, his voice low, “and touch … any time you want, but there’s one rule that’s essential.”
My eyebrow rises. “And that is?”
“We can’t make love.”
“I thought that was the whole reason we came here.”
“Not yet,” he says. “That’s for later.”
“In San Mar?”
“Yes. In the spot you said would be perfect.” And then he adds, “If you’re amenable.”
“Oh, I’m amenable all right,” I say with a smile.
He laughs. “I thought so.”
“So should we start?” I ask.
“There’s one more thing.”
I laugh. “This plan is pretty elaborate.”
“I’ve thought about it a lot.”
“I’m sure you have,” I say with a smile.
“There are limits to where we can touch,” he says, “for now, with our hands.”
He meets my eyes and we both smile. “Let me guess, that would be the parts that would be covered up with bathing suits? If we had them?”
“I was going to say elbows,” he says, “but your plan sounds better.”
I laugh. “Let me make sure I’m clear on these rules of yours. We’re not allowed to touch each other with our hands in those places … but what if we were kissing and you happened to lift me up and I wrapped my legs around you?”
His eyes go dark. “That could be dangerous,” he says, his voice low. “But, as I think you know, I’m not afraid of danger.”
I smile. “And I imagine you’re also not afraid of creativity.”
His eyebrow rises. “Creativity is encouraged,” he says with a gleam in his eyes. “For both of us. I have some eminently creative ideas planned myself.”
I swallow hard as my heart beats faster. “You go first,” I say.
He smiles and starts by taking off his suit jacket. I follow by removing my necklace.
“Cheater,” he says and I laugh.
He unbuttons his shirt, slowly, and removes it. The muscles of his chest are smooth and sculpted and I see the long, curved scar left by Malentus which reaches down to where his pants hang low on his hips. Seeing the scar takes me out of the moment for a brief second but I swallow hard at the sight of the low “v” of his abs and his smoldering eyes. I turn around so he can unzip my dress and then I turn back around and let it fall to the ground, leaving me in just my bra, panties and heels. He takes a deep breath and unbuckles his pants and removes them, along with his socks, and places them alongside his shirt and jacket. Now he’s left in just his boxer briefs. I step out of my heels and unclasp my new lacy blue bra, letting it fall to my feet. Alexander’s appreciation, and interest, is evident. “You’re so beautiful,” he says, his voice low. His eyes trace a path over and around the outlines of my body. I start to remove my panties, slowly, and he slides down his boxer briefs with equal patience until we’re both left standing before each other, magnificently naked. His eyes are dark and wanting and Alexander’s energy is full of love—along with a very un-angel-y desire, which I also like—and it all combines to make me feel confident and beautiful rather than self-conscious in any way. Being with him, like this, feels natural … and right. “You have no idea how beautiful you are,” he breathes. I feel my stomach clench, way down low, at the sight of him. He reaches out his hand to take mine and we walk slowly into the azure pool. I revel in the way the water feels as it rises over my bare skin, every nerve-ending charged with delicious, electric anticipation.
We swim over to the waterfall and he pulls me closer under the cascading spray and kisses me for the first time in our private, stunningly-beautiful oasis. Our hands roam, within the limits we’ve set forth, and when I wrap my legs around him in the water he groans softly, deep within his throat, and breathes my name in my ear, “Declan.”
Eventually he lifts me up and carries me behind the waterfall where we kiss against the red rock cliffs, water pouring all around us.
And then, with the pounding rush of the waterfall as a backdrop, Alexander shows me how truly creative a guardian can be.
Chapter Forty-Three
“Are you ready for our next stop?”
Alexander and I have been lying on our backs on a large, flat, warm rock in the sun, drying off after our swim. “Our next stop?” I ask. “You mean before we go back to San Mar?” I turn my head to look at him beside me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relaxed and content in all my life. Holding hands, lying next to Alexander, has to be one of my favorite things in the world.
“Another treasured spot of mine that we’ve talked about,” he says. “But I want to show you this one at night, so I’m going to have to mess with time a bit, which will take some extra effort.”
“Is that why you’re doing all this?” I ask, “To weaken yourself … for us, later?”
He shakes his head. “I wanted to bring you to these places regardless. The fact that it will tire me out is a bonus.”
I squint in the sun, shading my eyes with my hand. “I don’t know if I like the fact that you have to tire yourself out to be with me.”
“But I’m looking forward to tiring myself out with you. Many times.”
I smile. “I’m serious.”
“So am I. It feels good to expend energy and just focus on relaxing, and feeling, and being with you.”
I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment. “I love the way I feel when we’re together,” I say. “I feel calm and serene—and electrified—all at the same time. I hope that’s how you feel with me.”
He looks over and meets my eyes. “Remember when I told you how I like to be out on the ocean? Away from mortals and just quiet in nature? Peaceful?”
I nod.
“That’s how you make me feel,” he says as he leans over and kisses me. “All the time. You’re my oasis from the storm of the world. And you make my every molecule stand at attention.”
I smile and turn on my side to face him and he does the same, pulling me closer and kissing me softly again.
“So you’re ready to go?” he murmurs as he trails kisses along my jaw and neck.
“I could stay here forever,” I murmur back, reveling in his kisses and the heat of his breath in my ear.
“Me, too, but you’re going to like our next stop. I promise.”
We kiss a while longer and then we sit up and he hands me my clothes, which have been perfectly warmed in the sun. We both get dressed leisurely and then we stand before one another and he takes me in his embrace and kisses me softly. We’re off again, shooting up to the sky as we transform into light energy and immerse ourselves in total bliss again. My chest swells from all the love in my heart as we travel together, as one entity, rocketing through bright blue skies until we reach the night.
We soar over an island and land up high and, as we transform into solid matter again, I look around to see that we’re up on a hill overlooking a gorgeous beach below, lit by starlight. I can hear the waves breaking rhythmically and lapping against the shore. As beau
tiful as it is, I’m compelled to look up to the night sky above us. It’s remarkably clear and brilliant, like nothing I’ve ever seen.
“This is one of my favorite places to see the stars,” Alexander says. “I wanted you to see the universe with me, from here.”
I smile as he looks over at me. Again, I see that Alexander has planned ahead. Lying on the ground next to us is a large picnic blanket, with another blanket folded and ready to keep us warm if we need it. There’s also another cooler with two thermoses beside it. We sit down and he hands me one of the thermoses. “Hot chocolate,” he says.
“You think of everything,” I say with a smile as I take a sip. I close my eyes to savor it for a moment. It’s delicious.
“Still annoyed by my planning?” he asks.
I push his arm. “I love your plans. I adore your plans. I was only annoyed when you didn’t tell me you had a plan. For us.”
He smiles and kisses me. “I have a lot of plans for us.”
“What else is in the cooler?” I ask.
“Are you hungry?”
“No, just curious. I’m still full from our last stop.”
He smiles. “I have more fruit and some of those granola bars you like. Here’s a torch if you want to take a look.” He passes me a flashlight and I flick it on to illuminate the inside of the cooler. Then I turn it off. It’s more peaceful in the dark.
“Who cleans all this up after we leave?”
“I do,” he says, “tomorrow. There’s no rush.”
I nod.
“I’m glad you’re always looking out for the maintenance of a pristine wilderness,” he says.
I push his arm. “I’m just curious, that’s all. I like to know the mechanics of how you angels do what you do.”
He laughs. “I wasn’t putting you on. I like that about you … that you worry about the details.”
I lean over and plant a kiss on his lips. Then I sit back and take in all the beauty around us, from the sound of the ocean lapping against the shore below, to the star-saturated sky above us. “This is incredible,” I say, awe-struck for the second time today. “What is that?” I ask, pointing to a beautiful swath of stars and light stretching across the sky. I’ve never seen anything like it—it’s as if a painter used stars instead of paint to smear a sweeping diffusion of light above us.
Fallen (The Guardian Series Book 2) Page 18
