Enticing An Angel (16 page)

He looked down to Melanie; she had a warm
smile and pleased look on her face.

"You really are a very nice man," she
said.

The look she gave Michael made him smile and
he bent down to kiss her gently. She smelled wonderful. He didn’t
know if it was her hair, her perfume, or something else, but he
didn't care. He pulled away, and her face turned sad for a
moment.

"Hey, no sad faces, okay," he said to her. He
was still uncertain why she was upset, but he hoped she would get
over it soon.

Melanie quickly put a smile on her face and
turned her attention to the screen. She really had never seen a
Steampunk movie, and contentedly settled down to watch it. The
movie began, and they ate the popcorn, drank some soda, and enjoyed
the movie as it played.

"Do you like it so far?" he asked after half
an hour.

"Shh," she said as the characters moved about
the screen.

Michael chuckled and kissed her head. He’d
seen the movie already as he had said, and didn’t mind seeing it
again. It was a good movie. However, he found Melanie curled up
next to him to be the more enjoyable event of the evening. He took
a deep breath and barely felt her weight on his chest. She rose and
fell with his movements, and her eyes didn't waver from the
screen.

When the movie was over, she looked up to him
as he reached for the remote. She had that loving look tinged with
sadness.

"Thank you for that, Michael," she said.

"Did you like it?" he asked.

"Very much," she answered. "I really liked
how normal it felt."

Michael was confused and let her know it.

"It's just that my life is not a normal one,
and it was nice to share something that most people do—eat popcorn
and watch a movie while sitting on the couch. We can't really do
that at my place."

"We could always sit on your couch, eat
popcorn, and stare at the brick wall on the far side of the loft,"
Michael said.

Melanie glared at him, put her head down to
his lap and bit his leg.

"Ow," he cried. "You know while you're down
there…" he started to say before being bit again.

She popped her head up and smile at him
teasingly. She looked like someone who had just pulled off a great
practical joke and was gloating over it.

"Hey," Michael said. "How about we do
something normal in bed?"

Melanie eyed him oddly and shook her head,
"How about we watch TV all night and fall asleep like old
people."

Michael rotated off the couch and scooped her
up in his arms.

"Ah," she cried out in surprise.

Michael just laughed, threw her over his
shoulder, and carried her to the bedroom. He set her carefully on
the bed and went to kiss her. He paused when he saw her happy sad
face. It concerned him for a moment, but she bent towards him and
kissed him softly. He took the kiss and then nuzzled her neck as he
began to remove her clothes. Melanie allowed it and ran her fingers
through his hair as he joined her on the bed.

With the removal of her blouse, bra, and
skirt, she stopped him and insisted that he was next. She pushed
him backwards to a seated position, an act made possible by his
obedience, and began to remove his shirt. She ran her hands along
his chest and took pleasure in feeling his muscles and admiring his
form. Michael began to undue his pants and Melanie leaned in and
took his nipple in her mouth. She bit him and Michael gasped. She
paused for a second, but after determining the gasp was pleasure,
she continued.

Michael's hands went to her head and he
pulled her into him. She bit harder and he gasped again. Melanie
backed away and looked to her lover. He was breathing heavy, with
his eyes closed.

"Do you like that?" she whispered.

"Apparently," he replied in between
breaths.

Melanie smiled and repositioned herself,
forcing Michael onto his back. When he was prone, she returned to
his nipples and began to repeat her performance. She had to smile
as one of his hands went to her head and applied pleasure, driving
her mouth gently into him.

She used a free hand to reach for his groin.
He had not succeeded in freeing himself, but there was enough room
for her to reach him. He was hard, and her own eyes closed as she
wrapped her fingers around him. Her small hands held tight, and
when she blindly bit into his chest, she could feel him pulse
within her grasp.

A finger swiped across his tip and she was
rewarded with a wetness that she knew was pre-ejaculation. She
smiled and brought her finger to her lips—it was sweet. Turning to
Michael, she saw that he was still breathing heavy, with his eyes
closed. She watched him for a moment, with her chin on his chest. A
frown came to her face and she sighed.

It was only a second later that she shook the
feeling away, put a smile on her face, and began to kiss downward.
She felt that she owed him after that wonderful panty smothering,
and she believed she deserved a few more pleasant memories of this
man. More importantly, she really wanted him in her mouth.

In the middle of the night, Melanie awoke and
watched Michael sleep. Normally, she would paint or read, but this
was not her house and those hobbies were not available to her. So,
she contented herself with watching him rest.

Michael awoke for some reason and stared at
her staring at him. It took him a moment to clear his head. When he
did, he stroked her cheek. There was no smile between either of
them.

"What is it, Melanie?" he asked.

She put on a timid smile and replied that
everything was fine.

"Ah, what a terrible liar you are," he said,
still not smiling and still brushing her cheek.

Melanie put her head on his chest and looked
to the foot of his bed; he began to stroke her hair.

"You're very nice, Michael," she said.

"I know," he joked.

She turned to his chest and bit him. This
bite did not bring him pleasure, but it didn't bring him pain
either. After Michael calmed down from his false admittance of
suffering, they lay in silence for a minute.

"You deserve someone better than me," she
whispered.

"You're a fantastic woman, Melanie," he
replied.

"Of course," she joked back to him. "Still,
you deserve someone better; someone like Jennifer. Well, maybe not
Jennifer, but someone similar to her."

"I don't want Jennifer," he replied sleepily.
"I want you."

"Do you?" she asked skeptically.

"Shh," he said. "I'm trying to sleep, and of
course I want you. Don't be silly."

Melanie smiled and could feel his hand on her
head begin to slow its stroking motion. He was falling asleep
again, and she let him. She knew she couldn’t let this go on much
longer, but for the moment, she enjoyed herself. In the morning,
she would deal with the thoughts that were ripping her mind apart.
She was caring for him more and more and at a time that she needed
to pull away from him. If he were a boy, someone like she used to
date, this would be easier. As it was, her emotions were playing
havoc with her logic, and the result was her teetering between
staying and leaving; if she wasn’t careful, she would hurt
Michael.

Damn
, she thought as her head moved up
and down with his breaths. She had meant to enjoy this moment, but
those thoughts of uncertainty had crept in and stolen that from
her. She sighed, and as she tried to return to sleep, her emotions
won out and she began to cry.

Michael attempted to visit with Melanie over
the next few days, but his workload was heavy, and her reticence
made it difficult. Social media became his friend and soon, so did
Dagger and Amber; it was no surprise that Melanie avoided such
systems. When he queried the ladies, they both refrained from
answering him directly regarding Melanie's mood. They played
stupid, but Michael had enough experience around those women to
know they were not that dumb, immature perhaps, but not dumb.

He wondered if he had done something to
warrant Melanie's bad mood, but for the life of him, he couldn't
figure out what it was. If he had done something wrong, and Melanie
was punishing him for it, then it spoke to a low level of maturity,
and he didn't think she was capable of that. True, she could be
child like, but that was vastly different from being childish.

He needed to do something and as he worked on
his project for his clients, he was able to kill two birds with one
stone. He smiled at his finished product; and it was a happy and
contented Michael Angel that met with Melanie on Friday night. She
greeted him at the loft door after buzzing him up and smiled to
him. He had missed that smile. His sketchbook was in his hand, but
he gave her a hug and she took it warmly.

"I missed you," he said.

Melanie smiled weakly and admitted that she
had missed him as well.

"What would you like to do tonight?" he asked
her.

"Oh, we can stay in or perhaps walk the water
front," she answered.

"Melanie, don't you want to go to a show? Or,
maybe I can take you to a new restaurant," he suggested.

The reply was noncommittal, and Michael just
shook his head.

"Well, grumpy girl," he said, and Melanie's
head jerked up with the comment. She didn’t appear to like being
addressed that way.

"I have a surprise for you," he said.

"Oh, what's that?" she asked, eyeing him
warily.

"We had a preliminary meeting with the client
today, and they loved the updates and the mockup of their
building."

"Well, that's great," she said, and she
genuinely appeared happy for Michael.

"Would you like to see the end product?" he
asked with a grin.

Melanie put on a skeptical look, but nodded
her head slowly.

"Okay, let's see it," she said.

"Great, come here and lie next to me,"
Michael said as he took his customary position on the couch.
Melanie joined him on the couch, curled her feet, and tucked into
Michael. For a moment, he enjoyed it and didn’t move. When she
looked up at him with eyes that said,
I'm waiting
. He opened
his sketchbook and let her take a look at the buildings design.

It was now complete. He'd added the proper
coloring and shading, as well as flowerbeds, trees, and even some
skyline showing clouds. The extras were something he normally
didn’t take this much time with, but he had missed Melanie at
night, and this had led to him expressing his more artistic
side.

Melanie looked at the sketch and bolted
upright. She looked at Michael and then at her canvass in the
alcove and then back to the sketchbook. She was incredulous, and
her mouth opened and closed.

Michael watched her reactions with concern.
She did not appear happy, and he wondered why. He took another look
at his sketch and to the mural that now graced the back wall of the
lobby. It was a semi-faithful reproduction of her canvas.

The intricate lacework was breathtaking with
its web like designs and transitions of colors. Melanie's canvas,
being painted in oils, was still wet; it would remain that way
until long after she was finished. In order to duplicate the
appearance, Michael had purchased glow pens and other art supplies.
The homage to his lover had taken hours, and where he had been
forced to modify her work, he had attempted to remain true to her
principles.

Across the back walls, along the grand stairs
to either side, and partially covering the ceiling, the design
spread forth and faded slowly like ethereal wisps into the more
standard white painted walls that would most likely grace the
actual structure.

"You bastard!" Melanie cried out.

Michael was stunned, and it was his turn to
open and close his mouth. Melanie didn't wait for him to respond.
She stood up and marched across the room. Pacing angrily, her hands
clenched and unclenched several times. Michael was too astonished
to speak. He had hoped to cheer up Melanie from whatever might be
ailing her, but this certainly was not the reaction he
expected.

"Melanie, I…"

"Get out!" she yelled at him as she stopped
pacing.

"Melanie, come on," he said sincerely,
"What's wrong?"

Melanie's eyes bulged, and she shook her head
while her hands came up in frustration.

"What's wrong?" she asked him as if that was
the dumbest thing he could ever say. "You stole my design you
bastard."

"Melanie, I didn't steal it. This was meant
as a compliment," he began to say.

"Oh, bullshit, Michael. You stole my work to
put on this." She came to him and pointed at his sketchbook. "You
put my art on display in some corporate lobby as if it's meant for
commercial application. This is my art Michael, not some marketing
gimmick."

"Melanie, I'm sorry," he replied and held his
hands out to display his sincere regret. "I had no idea how you
felt."

"Yeah, well you should have asked."

"It didn't occur to me to ask, I thought you
would like it. Besides, the corporate office will not be like this.
This was just a mockup. I even have one here with a plain lobby."
He attempted to show her another image in his book, but Melanie
didn't want to see it.

"Get out," she said again and pointed to the
door.

"Melanie, I…"

"NOW!" she screamed, and Michael had to turn
his head to protect his ears.

"All right," he responded and tried to calm
her by using his hands to show he was moving.

"Not with this," she said angrily as she came
to him and took his book. She set it down and tore out the
page.

"This is mine," she said, as she held the
image by its corners.

"I'm going to burn your stupid
commercialistic trash. Now get out."