Embracing Eternity (3 page)

It didn’t take but a few seconds before she felt a hand at her waist as a stranger claimed her attention. Her lips curled upward in satisfaction. This was why the club was one of her favorite hunting spots. It was always full of sinners just looking for a bit of temptation.

She turned, predatory instincts on full alert, and gave the human holding her an enticing smile.
Dance with me
.
His voice was lost to the throbbing music, but she could easily read the words on his lips.

Oh, she would. The pretty human let his body brush hers, using the music as an excuse to test her responsiveness, to see if she’d let him slide his hand up under her skirt. It was a game she’d played many times before. Out of habit, she looked for a hidden alcove or a corner where they could fuck. The bathrooms were always an option but she disliked sex in such a foul place.

The human moved closer, ground his hip against her, and realization struck.

She didn’t want sex with him. She didn’t want to lead him to a corner or anywhere else. She didn’t want to tempt him at all.

Her body was so full of Evan’s rich power, she had no need to lead this one astray, no need to feed on sin. All she needed to do was simply…have fun.

Dance. Enjoy. Take pleasure that was simple in its purity.

Yes, that was exactly what she would do tonight.

She eased her body away from his and moved away.

With a laugh, she raised her hands over her head and lost herself to the music.

* * * * *

Evan sat in the plush leather chair, his face burning and his wings stiff against his back. This had been a very bad idea. Staring at the plain brown wall, he tried not to listen to the noises coming from the bedroom.

If only he could have waited until morning to visit Ren. Or perhaps he should have followed human etiquette and given warning he was coming.

Ah, not the best choice of words. His face grew hotter as a shout echoed down the hallway. He should leave here. Renatus and his human were obviously not available for visitors. But if Evan went to Heaven, there was no guarantee he’d be allowed to return to speak with Ren at a more convenient time. While he’d only agreed to stay until morning, there was a chance that once there, he’d be forbidden to return to Earth.

He ran a hand over his flight feathers, nervously preening the already well-tended quills. Maybe he should consider changing back into his robes before speaking with Ren. They were better for hiding the embarrassing state the lovers’ sounds had created than the tight jeans he’d worn to approach Meela.

The thought of her combined with the sounds of pleasure had the human clothing fitting even tighter. He’d never been able to resist her. The most beautiful cherub in all of Heaven, she’d broken his heart when she Fell.

He’d sat through her entire trial, his heart and soul aching. He hadn’t wanted to believe it was happening, that the one he loved so fiercely could be guilty of trying to wrest control of the universe from the Most High. He’d even begged for mercy on her behalf.

But Meela had refused to repent, had stood defiant, and in the end, left Heaven laughing.

An entire existence spent waiting, hoping she would take note of him, and in an instant, Judgment passed and she was gone, cast out with the rest of those who stood by Lucifer.

Evan dismissed the painful memory with a shake of his wings. The male groans from the other room had quieted and Evan sent out a gentle call to Ren. An answering crash came from the bedroom, along with a human curse and a stream of hushed words.

A few moments later, Ren appeared on the couch. His jeans appeared to be hastily donned, still unbuttoned at the waist, and his chest was bare. Evan could not ever recall seeing Ren so disheveled.

Ren stretched his snowy wings out on either side of him and settled back into the cushions, relaxed and all but glowing with contentment.

“I apologize for my ill-timed visit, Renatus.” Evan shifted awkwardly in the chair and dropped his gaze to Ren’s feet. The sight of the seraph’s bare toes only increased his embarrassment, a reminder of what he’d interrupted.

“Greetings, Evangelos. You are always welcome in our home.” Ren smiled, genuinely happy to see him. Was it just a few months ago such a visit would have earned Evan a disapproving frown?

“Adam might not feel the same at the moment.” Evan shifted and glanced toward the bedroom, where the human no doubt lounged in his warm bed, waiting for Ren to return.

“Adam welcomes you as wholeheartedly as I. He thinks of you with affection.”

Evan nodded, humbled by their open acceptance of his intrusion. “I wish this could have waited until morning at least.”

“Nonsense. If something is important enough to send you to me now then we will deal with it now.” Ren leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. It struck Evan that he’d never seen his friend so at ease before, not even in Heaven. Adam had been good for Ren.

“Now, tell me what has you so concerned,” Ren said.

“Meela.”

Ren’s jaw hardened and his hands curled into fists. The agitated flutter of his wings echoed in the otherwise silent room. “What has the demoness done this time?”

“Nothing. She is blameless.”

Ren choked on a laugh. “There are many ways to describe Meela. Blameless is not among them.”

“She has been since you returned to Adam.”

Ren’s face darkened and the pain in his eyes chilled Evan. Ren’s relationship with the human had not been completely Lawful, and Meela had taken advantage. When consequences were tallied, the penalty required of Ren had been steep. It was clear that taste of Hell haunted him still.

Evan also bore the burden of failing to protect Ren. Failing as a Guardian was unacceptable and any soul lost, even one later reclaimed, was inexcusable.

However, he could not allow the blame for that time to be laid at the wrong feet.

“That was not her fault,” he reminded Ren. “In the end you only bore the burden of your own mistake.”

“She hurt Adam.”

“The injury he suffered was nothing compared to the pain of losing you.”

Ren was silent for a long moment. Evan could make out the faint rustle of fabric from down the hallway. Adam was getting impatient.

“What do you need to know?” Ren finally asked.

“What must she do to return to Heaven?”

“You want to take a demon to Heaven? For what purpose?” Ren’s brow wrinkled with confusion.

“No. I want her to be redeemed.”

Ren blew out a shocked breath and slumped back onto the couch, his wings drooping on either side of him. “You ask too much.”

“Do I?”

“Evan, she has
Fallen
. There is no redemption for her. It isn’t possible.”

A twinge of pain hit Evan in the center of his chest, as if something inside him had been damaged, chipped away.

“I will not believe that. I cannot.” There had to be a way. He was a Guardian Angel, one of Raphael’s chosen. He did not give up on souls.

“Evan—”

“No. Whatever you have to say, no.” Evan jumped to his feet and began to pace. He could not accept anything said with such pacifying tones. He didn’t want to be soothed.

Once he’d kissed her, everything changed for him. This idea of bringing her home had taken root and deep down he was certain it was the right thing to do. The moment his lips had touched hers, he’d felt her loneliness, her heartsickness and the desire to go home, to Heaven.

He wanted to do this for her. He was determined to bring Meela home and would accept nothing less. “I want you to read over the Law, consult with the Archangel Gabriel. Take it to the Most High himself. There must be some hope for her.”

“She is not the same cherub we once knew. She has changed.”

“She’s not as changed as you believe.”

“Or perhaps she’s not as unchanged as you imagine.”

Evan wouldn’t believe that. He couldn’t. Beneath the façade of careless play, Meela had always had a loving and generous heart. It was who she was, and an angel could never change their core being.

Not even when they Fell.

Ren studied him, his piercing eyes fixed on Evan for so long it made Evan’s feathers itch. “Are you truly prepared for this? You may not like the answers I find.”

“I must know. I cannot continue to stand by, helpless.”

Renatus sighed and scratched at the denim covering his knee, studied the worn fabric with an intensity that had Evan wondering just what the other angel saw in those threads.

“I’ll begin searching the records in the morning. If there is any precedent for the redemption of the lost, I will find it for you.”

Evan collapsed back into the couch and released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Relief had his hands trembling. He doubted his watery knees would hold him and if he tried to transport himself on a thought there was no telling what realm he’d end up in.

Renatus was one of Heaven’s top legalists. If there was an answer to this dilemma, Renatus would surely be the one to find it.

“I thank you. I realize this is no small thing I ask.”

Ren waved one hand dismissively. “You took care of Adam. That is a debt I can never repay. My hesitancy comes not from the task but from the results. What you wish is impossible and I do not want you to be disappointed.”

“I ask only that you try for me. For Meela.”

Ren shuddered. “For you.”

Evan nodded in understanding. Meela had done much harm, to some more than others. Ren was not ready to forgive.

He rose slowly, testing his wobbly knees. There seemed little left to say, so he gave Ren a formal bow and without another word, he returned home.

Chapter Three

The peace woke her. It wasn’t the abrupt waking she was accustomed to, but a slow rise to consciousness. The strangeness of it permeated her sleep until she was forced to wake and see what was wrong.

Meela didn’t move for long moments, her eyes closed, her mind alert for the scurry of lesser demons. She hadn’t been attacked at any point, but that didn’t mean they weren’t nearby, watching, waiting to tell Lucifer. The Master didn’t like it when his servants rested, and sleep this satisfying would surely earn punishment.

But after three days of fun, three days of burning through the power Evan had fed her, she was too tired to do anything else.

She strained to hear something, anything. But the vastness of the silence was enough to make her ears ache.

She opened her eyes cautiously, holding still as stone.

And found herself in the warmth of summer.

From above came shifting light filtering through the treetops, and the ground under her was warm from soaking in the sun.

She basked in the heat, holding on to every second she could. She didn’t want to sit up and face reality. Because it wasn’t summer, and she most definitely hadn’t gone to sleep in the woods.

“I know you’re awake, little dancer.”

The rich baritone erased her lingering lethargy in an instant.

“Don’t call me that.” Meela sat up fast enough to leave her head spinning and her stomach churning. She swayed, falling heavily on one elbow.

“Shh. Don’t rise so fast. The power has waned and you are weak.” Evan’s hands were on her, steadying and supporting her.

Support. It had been so long since anyone had held her up, helped her. So long the sensation was alien.

But not unwelcomed. The urge to sink into his arms was so very strong. The memory of his hands on her body was too fresh, the taste of him on her lips too vivid.

Who knew angels could offer temptation too?

“Hung over is more like it,” she groused, pulling away from his strong arms. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Heaven singing praises or something?”

“I was in Heaven, but I returned as soon as I’d been given leave.”

Been given leave? That sounded like he’d been recalled. Someone probably found out he’d been slumming it with a demon.

Self-righteous pricks.

“And you came running back to me. I bet Raphael will love that. Hanging out with a demon when you should be off protecting someone.”

“I’m protecting you.” Evan cocked his head to one side and gave her a look that said that should have been obvious.

Maybe it should have been. He was a Guardian. They did shit like that. Why he was doing it for her was the part that didn’t make sense.

“I think you’re a little confused, Evan. I don’t need guarding. You’re supposed to be protecting people
from
me, not protecting me. Aren’t you afraid the Most High will smite you?”

“Why would He?”

Meela blew out an irritated huff. “You are being deliberately obtuse.”

Struggling to her feet, she swayed unsteadily. In a blink, Evan was there again, offering his arm for balance, his protective nature obviously in full swing, just as his blind devotion to her was still very much there.

She tried to convince herself it was annoying.

“News flash, Evan. Angels and demons don’t mix. You’re consorting with the enemy. Do you really think He’s not going to notice?”

“You’ve never been my enemy, Philomela.” Evan hesitated ever so slightly before he stroked a hand over her hair to cup the back of her neck. The pause was barely noticeable, but enough to tell her he wasn’t as confident as he wished her to believe. His eyes went dark and his lips parted ever so slightly. With that one hand he tugged her in close, until her breasts flattened against his chest and his head dipped ever so slightly.

Need surged, unbidden and overwhelming. Her breath caught and her heart fluttered like a wild thing caught in her chest. He was going to kiss her. Again.

And oh, how she wanted him to. Just for a moment she could pretend, couldn’t she? Could make believe the last ten thousand years hadn’t happened and it was just them, one seraph kissing a cherub he wanted.

The thick lumps of her dreadlocks pressed into her head, another unwelcome reminder that it wasn’t the same, of how she’d changed. She wasn’t a cherub anymore.

She carried the soul-deep stain of evil.

Bracing her hands on his chest, she shoved him away and tried not to notice the glimmer of hurt in his eyes.

“You’ve been my enemy since the realms were cleaved in two and time began.” She turned her back and moved far enough away to keep herself from giving in to the need to throw herself back in his arms. “An angel and a demon can’t be anything else.”

As she drew farther away from him she noticed a low hum of power against her face. For the first time she realized the dappled light of the summer sun was blurry. Unfocused blobs of shifting gold and green surrounded her instead of the sharp outlines of trees and leaves.

An illusion. But what kind? She’d never seen anything like this before.

“Evan, where are we?”

“I didn’t move you. We are still in the city, still safe in your hiding place.”

“Some hiding place. You found me.” The abandoned theater was a favorite nesting ground when she was in the city. Few humans wandered through the area, which meant lessers tended to avoid it as well. She wasn’t completely hidden, but these walls generally provided some measure of sanctuary.

“You carried my power. It led me to you.”

He’d put a damn tracking signal on her.

“If I’m still in the same place then what is this?” She waved at the summery illusion.

“Ah. This is comfort. And a little privacy too. If those little creatures Lucifer created found you full of angelic power they would have descended like vultures.”

Meela shivered. He was right. If one had found her, it would have called others. They would have torn her to shreds and then led Lucifer to the leavings.

“Lucifer didn’t make them. They just…happened. One day there was this little creature running around and no one, including Lucifer, knew where it came from.”

It had amused the Master, though. He was thrilled by its vicious nature and the glee it took from the misery of Hell’s residents. He’d taken her, beating and raping her, just to watch her pain excite the nasty little thing before leaving it to feed on her.

No. She shook her head and pushed back the memory. She couldn’t let her mind go back to that place. She had to remember to leave Hell in Hell.

She reached out and brushed her finger against the wall of power in front of her. It popped like a bubble, rupturing under her fingertip to peel back and vanish in the blink of an eye. The chill of a Michigan winter hit her and she was once more in the decayed shell of the abandoned theater in which she’d been resting.

She’d made her nest in a back corner, behind the last row of chairs. The carpeting was stained and falling apart, but it offered a small bit of warmth, and the cavernous auditorium made it difficult for anything to sneak up on her.

After the bright illusion of summer, the darkness made her eyes ache. The stench of animal and human waste permeated the air. The sharp ammonia of urine mixed with the overwhelming sweetness of rodent droppings and bat guano, and her stomach flipped in revulsion. She took a deep breath and let the odor burn her lungs.

Welcome back to reality
.

“The illusion was hiding us,” Evan warned. “They can find you now.”

“I’m awake. I can defend myself.” The lie tasted pretty on her tongue, but she knew it would sour as soon as one of Hell’s minions arrived.

“You’re weak. At least let me feed you.”

Feeding. Hunger rippled through her and temptation reared its head again. She couldn’t say which appealed more, the sweet power he offered or the sweeter kiss that would come with it. The power she would take.

The kiss was too dangerous.

Caution trumped want. She took a step toward him and held out her hand. It wasn’t as efficient as a kiss, but the power would transfer.

So what if this branded her as a coward. Cowardice was just another name for self-preservation, after all, and Meela believed wholeheartedly in saving her own skin.

She ignored the knowing look he gave her as he took the hand offered.

A gentle wave of energy washed over her and she basked in its lush and lazy glow. It filled her, fed her, gave her strength.

It was everything a demon lived for.

His thumb grazed over the back of her hand, outlining her knuckles with delicate circles. His touch was hesitant, as if he knew the caresses skirted a fine line. He pressed her hand between his, lending it the warmth and protection she wouldn’t let him give her.

He turned her hand over in his and began to trace the fine lines of her palm, studying them intently as if he were a human fortune teller, seeking answers to questions he couldn’t voice.

Her world shrank to his hand caressing hers, her forever to that one moment in time. Breathing became difficult and nothing mattered but that point of contact, the feel of his skin touching hers.

He lifted her hand, raising it by slow degrees toward his face.

She tore her gaze from their joined hands to meet his. His face was flushed, his eyes dark and needy.

His power, his essence, pressed into her. It trickled through her, a rivulet of warmth against the chill of her soul, stoking hunger instead of quenching. Feeding carnality and leaving her gasping for more.

She dropped his hand, quick as if he’d burned her.

“That’s enough.”

“You are still hungry.”

“No, it was enough.”

“Then I’m still hungry.” He took a step forward, slow, testing, and she couldn’t make herself back away. The deep green of his eyes held to her. The air around her seemed to thicken, until it clung to her and every move felt like swimming in caramel.

“This isn’t wise. Someone will come. Angel or demon, someone will find us.”

“Not yet. We have a little more time.”

Another step and he was close enough that she could feel his heat. Close enough to smell him, to taste him on the air she breathed.

Just like that, temptation won.

She swayed and his arms were around her, holding her tight against his body. Heat and power overwhelmed her even before his mouth met hers.

Hunger. Power. Need. The three blended into one and she was lost to everything but Evan. Everything but the sensations ripping through her body.

The world tipped and she was spinning. He’d turned them until her wings were pinned against the cold plaster, trapped by his hard heat against her front.

Meela writhed, trying to get closer, wishing she could crawl inside his skin and become a part of him.

His leg eased between hers. More heat, more pressure, right where she wanted, where she
needed
it most. It was fast and ferocious. Everything between them, from the moment she’d awakened, had been leading to this moment, to them coming together. Their frantic movements took on a rhythm, point and counterpoint with gasps, sighs and hums of pleasure. Heat and need pooled in her core, growing, bringing with it an achy weight that pulled at her, made her want to scream, to fly.

She writhed, fighting to grind against him, to get all that heat and pressure right on her clit, right where she needed it most.

Shit. Oh holy fucking shit. She was so close. She had to come.
Needed
to come.

Her body was wound tight, ready to explode. Who would have thought that Evan would be the one who could make her feel this way? Of all the angels in Heaven…

Angels. He was an angel. Consorting with her was inviting retribution.

She broke their kiss with a gasp and shoved at him.

He complied immediately, releasing her despite the dazed look of confusion in his eyes.

“This cannot be,” she panted. “I’m a demon. I’ve damned myself, I won’t damn you as well.”

“Meela—” He leaned in, ready to argue…or kiss her again. She stopped him with a hand over his mouth.

“Don’t say it. Whatever it is, don’t.” She held herself stiff until he backed away, his jaw tight and his eyes full of hurt and frustration. But he wouldn’t argue. Evan was a protector.

He wasn’t a fighter.

“You need to go now. Lucifer is going to be looking for me and you don’t want to be here when he does.”

“Very well. Just remember, Meela, if you need me, I will come.”

“Right.” A mirthless puff of a laugh escaped her at the impossibility of it all. “A Guardian will drop everything and come running to help a demon.”

He moved in close once more, his hands cupping her face with exquisite tenderness.