For Love of an Angel (The Fallen Warriors Series) (11 page)

Eva couldn't help but wonder what her ex Travis was doing now. He hadn't seen her and Michael together long enough to get any sense of what he was doing in her apartment. Did he think she'd been kidnapped by an evil being bent on destroying her? Or could he possibly think the worst of her?

Well, she'd never know. Not now.

"That life is over."

She shut her eyes, ignoring the moisture that leaked out of the sides. Tears would accomplish nothing. Besides, it wasn't like she'd left so much behind. Her mother was dead. Her job sucked. Her apartment was nice but certainly not enough to make up for the rest of her crappy life. But still, back there she'd known what to expect every day. Now she was facing the complete unknown.

Oh lord, what was she going to do? Stay here with Michael? Did she want that? Did she even have any other choice?  

Half angel. I can't believe I'm half angel.

With that final thought, she gave herself over to sleep.

Chapter Eleven

A
whisper of a sound nudged Eva out of an amazing dream involving her, a human-sized vat of iced latte, and a wicked angel who set every nerve in her body ablaze. Sighing, she rolled from her side to her back...and made contact with a hard object. "What the—?"

Her eyes shot open to see Michael seated at the edge of the bed looking down at her with an expression that could only be described as hungry. He colored, as if he was embarrassed to be caught. "Sorry, I came to see if you were awake."

"Well…" Disconcerted, she blinked at him. "I am now."

A hint of uneasiness filtered off him. He slid off the bed. "I can come back, if you want to sleep mo—"

"No," she interrupted, pulling up on the bed sheet to make sure it covered all her important bits. "No, I'm awake."

He must have noticed her tugging the sheet more firmly over her breasts because his gaze traveled there, growing heated. The air between them became stifling, and she fought the sudden urge to throw the bed sheet off. Her anger from the night before had faded into confusion. Where did she stand with this man? Did he care for her at all, or was she simply the equivalent of a mare in heat? Someone he was biologically obligated to respond to?

"I thought you might like to see the rest of the compound," he finally said in a tight voice.

"Yes," she croaked out, arching her back into an involuntary stretch. "What time is it?"

His eyes, which had traveled down her body again, shot back to her face. "Close to noon."

Whoa, that late?
She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept until noon. Probably high school.

"I just have to"—she fought back a blush, motioning to her discarded dress—"you know, get dressed."

"Oh." A pained expression crossed his face. "I'll wait for you in the sitting room." With those words he turned and left.

Eva broke into a grin as she watched him go. She couldn't help herself. The chiseled muscles of his back flexed and rippled with every move, and her eyes seemed glued to the spot. Lord, everything about him called to her.

Probably because of your angel blood.

Her smile faded. If there was one thing she'd hated about the Consortium it was having her life decided for her. And just when she thought she might have the option to choose something else, she found out her decision had been made there too. She couldn't help but want Michael, and for some reason that really burned.  

Throwing her dress and sandals back on, she stepped out into the sitting room. Michael paced back and forth in front of the door. For the first time she noticed he'd changed his slacks into black leather pants.

Holy hell
. Just the sight of him was orgasmic.

She gulped and forcibly stopped her mouth from dropping open while her eyes traveled up and down his body. His pants were a little snug and about an inch too short, showcasing his ankles and bare feet, which made her guess he'd borrowed them from Seth, the angel whose bedroom he'd hijacked last night. He was still shirtless, of course, as she'd noticed in his bedroom. She'd come to the conclusion that the lack of shirts was normal for angels, and with their wings it made sense.  Made her wonder what the female angels wore, though.

He stopped pacing when he saw her. "I thought we could get you some breakfast, and then I'll show you the bathing facilities."

A bath was just what she needed. "Sounds perfect."

With a nod, he led her down the hall and back to the staircase. She did her best to keep her gaze planted on the stairs and not on his perfect ass in those smoking-hot leather pants.

"This level is shared by Jason and Nate," he said as they passed the next level down. He kept going. "Lucas and Aaron share this floor. Below that are Gabriel and Zach. Then Lily and Ethan—"

"Wait." Eva screeched to a halt on the steps. "How many female angels live here?"

"Just Lily and my sister, Mara."

"Well how do they do that? I mean...you know, with the
essence
thing and all," she finished lamely, feeling heat creep to her cheeks. "Or is it just a nephilim's essence that has that effect on angels?"

A look of understanding crossed his face. "We’re drawn to any female with the blood of an angel, whether half or whole. However, Mara is mated to Ben. Also, Lily is mated to Seth, though their relationship has been strained for quite some time, which is why they keep their living quarters on different floors."

Absently chewing on her lip, she tried to work this all out. "So once I'm...mated, as you say, my essence will no longer entice other angels?"

His eyes flickered. "Correct."

Talk about a cosmic gag reel. If she didn't have sex with Michael the other angels would be hornballs in a perpetual state of frustrated agony. Wasn't that rich?

It's not like you're completely out of options
, her all-too logical brain told her.
You could always have sex with another angel
.

Her body rebelled against the thought. Despite the fact Michael hadn't been honest with her, she still wanted him, and only him. What she didn't want was to be pushed into a new life. To have all her decisions made for her.

"Interesting," she managed to respond in an even tone. Following him down to the main level, she walked past the swinging, wooden door he held open for her and stepped into the kitchen. It looked like the other rooms—same stone walls and dim lighting—but a state-of-the-art kitchen had been set up, the steel appliances set into niches carved in the wall. A large rectangular counter sat in the middle of the room. It was made of the same stone as the walls and had six burgundy, leather bar stools set up on the opposite side of the kitchen appliances.

She shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask how you got all this stuff in here, much less set it up."

Michael let out a chuckle. "Would you like me to cook something for you?"

For some reason she wasn't nearly as hungry as she should have been. "Do you have any fruit?"

Nodding, he stalked over to the refrigerator and opened it. He snatched an apple out of the sliding drawer and tossed it to her.

She caught it and took a bite. It was perfectly crisp. Where on Earth did they get all this stuff? "You said something about a bath?"

His lips curved into a grin that made her heart give a momentary stutter. "I should've known that would interest you most of all."

"Yeah." Looking down at her rumpled dress, she muttered, "I wish I had something else to put on afterward."

His brows furrowed, but then his face brightened. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

She watched him leave the kitchen. Couldn't stop herself, really. Shrugging, she strolled over to a bar stool and took a seat. Strange, but she hadn't seen a single soul today. True, she knew more than half of them were gone. But what about Aaron and Lucas? Ethan and Jason?

Michael walked back into the room just as she was finishing her apple. "Here you are." He held out two articles of clothing. The first was a pair of camel-colored cotton capris, and the second was a black tank top.

Lifting a brow, she took the top and examined the deep racer-back. The back straps were so thin there was hardly any fabric there at all.
So that's what the female angels wear.
"What poor soul did you steal these from?"

"My sister. She won't mind, I can assure you."

"I hope not." Among human roommates, taking someone else's clothes without permission was asking for a serious fight. She had absolutely no desire to war with an angel over anything, much less clothing.

"Come." He nodded toward the door. "I'll show you the bathing facilities."

Michael led her back to the staircase, but this time they went down. Again she noticed the lack of angels. "Where is everyone?"

"They left earlier today. Had to go on a research mission. It's just the two of us for now." His stilted tone, along with the note of discomfort floating off him, made it clear why they'd really left. Her essence made them uncomfortable.

Could she possibly be more humiliated right now?

After leading the way to the lowest level, Michael took her down a long, narrow corridor. The walls shone, and when she touched them she came away with moisture.
Eew, slimy.
She opened her mouth about to ask about it, when she heard the soft whoosh of running water. They rounded a corner.

Freezing in place, Eva's mouth dropped open. She surveyed the large, open area. Perpendicular to the entrance, a wall of rock rose about two feet from the ground forming a bank of sorts for the stream that trickled through the space.

"Oh my God, this is incredible!" She rushed toward the bank and leaned over, looking from left to right. The water slowly swept in from a crevice on one end of the cavern before flowing out a small hole on the other.

"I thought you might like this." Michael chuckled and took his place next to her. "Touch the water."

With a shrug, she bent to trickle her fingers through the water. She gasped and swiveled her head toward him. "It's warm."

"Hot spring." He gazed at her from between heavy lids. "Feeds down to the stream below, on the outside of the cave."

"Unbelievable." She shivered in anticipation of the feel of the water against her flesh. A wooden bucket lay on the bank and when she peeked inside she saw several tiny bars of soap. "This is
perfect
."

Eva moved to snatch a bar of soap, but when she lifted it out of the bucket, Michael grabbed her hand. "Wait. I have one more area to show you."

"But..." She gave a longing glance toward the stream.

"Don’t fret." Michael laughed. "You'll find this place worth the wait."

"Okay. If you say so."

She made to drop the soap but he said, "No, keep it."

Perplexed, she followed him up the stairs to the main level. They walked through the living room and toward the entrance. "Outside? Is that where you're showing me?"

"You'll see." When they reached the pitch-black cavern, he held her hand and showed her how to slide the toe of her sandal along the ground to make sure she stayed on the worn path.

After what seemed like an eternity, the light from outside the cave started to filter in. When they finally reached the mouth of the cave, Eva took a deep breath before stepping out into the daylight. She scanned her surroundings. "Holy crap. I've died and gone to Heaven."

Michael let out a husky laugh beside her. "Close, but not quite."

They were on a ledge about twenty feet above a flowing stream that cut in between their mountain and the neighboring one. Bits of gray rock peeked out in between the dense green patches of trees that forested the bluff, and a light mist flowed up off the water. Looking up, she saw the top of the mountain curved slightly forming a canopy of sorts over the water. It was perfect. No angel would be able to spot this part of the stream from the air. They would have to fly down a fair distance to see it. And no doubt Michael and his crew had installed precautionary measures to advise them of anyone approaching from above.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything quite so beautiful," she murmured.

"Nor have I."

His voice was hoarse, and when she gazed back at him, she found him studying her face instead of the landscape. Blushing, she glanced back down to the stream.

"Do you care to see it up close?"

Eva sucked in a breath. "You mean...fly?" When he nodded, she said, "Absolutely."

She started to place the soap and the clothes he'd given her down, but he stopped her. "Take them with you. I can touch down next to the stream and you can bathe there."

"Oh." Startled, she glanced at him. "How's the water in the stream? Is it also heated?"

He threw her a teasing grin. "Come see." Winding his arms around her, he sprouted his wings and started down.

The wind zipped through her hair, stealing her breath away as she soared through the air. It was a totally surreal feeling, like chasing the wind, and it was over all too soon. Michael touched down on a rocky bank next to the stream, gently placing her on her feet. Even from here she could feel the warmth of the water curling around her toes, caressing her flesh. The compulsion to jump in was overwhelming. She looked at Michael. "Do you ever actually bathe out here?"

"On occasion, as do the others." He lifted a brow. "Race you to the water?"

She blinked at him. "You're going in too?" When he did nothing other than give her the one-brow-up look, she glanced down at her wrinkled dress. "But, I was going to—"

Blushing, she cut off before she could finish her sentence. His look told her he knew perfectly well she planned on bathing naked.

"At the risk of offending your sensibilities," he said, "I'd like to point out that I've already seen you nude. Lovely as you are, and much as I want to, I won't go where I’m not wanted."

There was no doubt in her mind he wouldn't touch her unless she wanted him to. The problem was, despite everything, she still wanted him. But she could control herself long enough to take one measly bath. Couldn't she?