For Love of an Angel (The Fallen Warriors Series) (12 page)

Taking a deep inhale, she said, "Fine. You're on. Last one to the water has to make lunch."

Laughing, he shrugged out of his pants and hit the water before she even finished kicking off her sandals. He kept his back to her, for which she was grateful, as she slipped out of her dress and tiptoed to the bank with the bar of soap. The water hit him at mid-chest, which meant it would be to the top of her shoulders or so.

"Um...the water doesn't flow heavy, does it? Because I never learned how to swim."

"Never fear," he said without turning. "Your feet will remain under you."

"Good." Lowering herself to the ground, she felt the heat rising from the water even before she took the plunge. "Oh...it's so warm!"

"Yes." The word came out as a sexy rumble. "It's a few degrees warmer than the stream inside the cave."

Oh...it's heaven.
She used the bar of soap to lather off under water, scrubbing furiously until she was sparkling clean. All the while she kept her eyes on Michael, who slipped through the water playfully while respecting her privacy by keeping his back to her. But when he sprouted his wings, she couldn't help but gasp.

 "What are you doing?"

"The water feels good on them." The huskiness with which he spoke combined with the things he'd already told her about angels' wings made it clear they were an erogenous zone. Biting her lip, she gave in to her urge to creep closer and examine them in depth. They were beautiful. In the light of day, she noticed each wing had a unique pattern of black on midnight blue.

"Can I touch them?"

"Please," he said hoarsely.

They were just as soft under the water as they were out of it. He flicked them up and the water rolled off them in round little beads, leaving them bone-dry within a matter of seconds.

"Amazing. Who would've thought I'd someday be suffering from a major case of wing-envy?"

Chuckling, he turned to face her. "I've heard rumors of nephilim who can grow wings as angels do, but I've yet to see it."

Holy cow. How amazing would that be? "Probably for the best I can't do that, though. I thought puberty was overwhelming enough. I can't imagine having to come up with an explanation for a pair of wings."

When he laughed, the spicy scent of his breath wafted over to her, sending an erotic shiver down her spine. She stiffened, studying him without pretense.

"What's the deal with essences? I mean, why do you angels respond so strongly to them?"

"Not just us." He shot her a look. "You have angel blood within you as well, Eva. It's why you respond so viscerally to us."

"Not all of you," she pointed out. "I'm way more drawn to you than to Ethan, Aaron, or any of the other guys I met last night."

When his lips curved into a slow smile, she realized she'd just proved his point from last night.
Your essence called to me above all others
, he'd said
. That's how I knew you were meant to be min
e.

She blinked at him. "Well, damn."  

Michael laughed but then sobered. "Do you recall when I told you that without sex our strength and immortality begin to fade?"

"Yes. You said after several hundred years you would grow old and die."

"That much is true, Eva, but it isn’t sex
per se
that’s needed." When she blinked in confusion, he continued, "Angels are drawn to each others’ essence. We feed off it during lovemaking, and somehow it perpetuates our eternal life. A side effect is that it makes breeding much more difficult."

She noticed her mouth was open and snapped her jaw shut. "Wait a second, you're telling me that you need to have sex with someone who has angel blood in order to stay immortal?"

"Yes." His gaze on hers was intense. "You cannot imagine how difficult it was when we escaped our prison. Twelve of us were free, yes, but the scales were unbalanced. Only two women. The rest of us, being outcasts and marked for death, had no prospects for mates other than—”

"Nephilim," she finished for him.

He nodded. "We've spent years tracking down potential nephilim. Not an easy task when angels profess to hate humans. You can understand that any unions between our kind and yours were done in secret. The only way to tell would be—”

"By our essence."

"Exactly."

"Whoa." Shaking her head, she fluttered her hands through the water displacing it. "How many of us nephilim do you think there are?"

"It's anybody's guess, but we cannot imagine there are many. Other than a daughter of Ethan's best friend, we initially knew of no other nephilim. We cannot sense your essence until we are but a few miles away, so that makes the search more difficult."

"Wow. So what about the other Fallen? What are they doing about this whole thing?"

He folded his wings into his back. "They’re also searching out potential mates. We must be strong if we are to prevent our former brethren from exterminating humankind."

Eva absently kicked her legs out trying to tread water. She couldn't imagine having to rely on others for strength and eternal life. How very strange. "Wait." Her eyes shot up toward his face. "Since I'm a half-blood, what happens if we mate?"

Michael cocked a brow. "Very astute question. Your life would be radically prolonged, Eva."

Her mouth dropped open. She couldn't wrap her mind around this one. Her thoughts settled on something else he'd mentioned. "You said sharing each others' essence makes breeding harder."

"Yes. Though the sharing of essences prolongs our lives, it depletes the body's reproductive resources. That’s the reason there are so few angels."

"Sharing of essences," she murmured. "It sounds almost spiritual."

"In a way it is." He shrugged. "Though it’s biological as well. The blending of essences is what lessens others angels' attraction to those who are in a mated pair."

"Hmm..." Brows furrowing, she pondered his words. There were many physical similarities between humans and angels, but a lot of differences too. In so many ways he was an enigma to her.

A huge spray of water blasted her in the face, shocking her from her jumbled thoughts. Blinking, she saw Michael's outstretched wings inches from her.

With a sly grin, he dragged them back toward his body.

"Hey! You splashed me," she accused him.

"From all the way over here?" he asked with a cocked brow.

"You used your wings. Don't pretend you didn't!"

He chuckled. "You can't prove it."

It was by far the most playful she'd ever seen him, and she couldn't help but respond to it, and to the placid beauty of her surroundings. "That's it," she grumbled in mock outrage. Holding her hands half out of the water, she pushed, sending a wave of water in his direction.

He easily blocked it with his wing. "That all you got?"

"No fair." She unleashed a torrent of water on him, edging forward as she splashed until she was mere inches from him. 

"Mercy. I surrender," he said in a laughing tone.

"Ha! I knew you would."

But the moment she stopped splashing he grabbed her wrists, pulling her toward his body. She went willingly, laughing as she drew her arms around his neck. "I can't remember the last time I just horsed around." It had been years, and she'd forgotten how fun it could be.

"I'm glad you’re relaxing."

Michael wrapped his arms around her waist, supporting her, and she let her feet kick up, treading water. Her toes brushed against his calves, spreading little electric shocks up her body. The same happened where his hands touched her back.

"Why do I feel a vibration whenever I touch your body?"

"It’s our essences calling to each other." He threw her a sexy smile. "I feel the same at the touch of your flesh."

She edged closer to his body and, suddenly, her lower torso came in contact with a whole other body part. One that was too hard to ignore. Literally. Sucking in a breath, she pressed in to him, letting her right foot rub against his calf. She wanted him. Desperately. Wanted to feel him inside of her. There was no point in denying it.

"Is it so bad here?" he murmured, as if he sensed the direction of her thoughts.

"No, it's paradise." And she wished she could enjoy it more. "It's just that...I don't know how to explain it."

"You want to have a choice as to what sort of life you live."

She gave him a surprised blink. "Well...yes. I want control over my life, and it seems like that's the one thing I never seem to have."

"You think I don't understand, Eva, but I do." He gave her a sad smile, lifting one hand to brush it along her cheek. "It was never my intent to rob you of your free will. That’s something my former brethren, with their Consortium, desire of humans. But not I."

He knew her better than she thought. Better than anyone, even though he'd only known her for a few days. That, more than anything, fueled her desire for him. She slid her leg up his thigh, reveling in the responsive tingle of her flesh.
Our essences calling to each other.
Prolonged life for her, strength and immortality for him.

Delaying any further seemed idiotic.

"Kiss me." She pulled his head down to hers.

His eyes flashed with desire as he closed the distance between them, crushing her body to his. His lips covered hers, tongue diving in deep. Each nip and slide elicited a moan from her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, rubbing against him, and he dragged his mouth from hers with a groan. "Eva, please...if you don't want to...I won't have the strength to stop for much longer."

Stop? He thought she might want to stop? "No, Michael. Don't stop. Make love to me."  

His lips formed a muttered prayer. Holding tight to her, he flexed his wings. They shot up into the air and he flew toward the bank, where he gently laid her against a smooth, flat rock that inclined. His fingers brushed her nipples and stomach while he kissed her breathless. Spreading her legs, his hand traveled in between, stroking and teasing the sensitive nub there.

"Oh God, Michael. Please." She cried out, tearing her lips from his as her legs tightened against the intense pleasure of his electrifying touch.

"Yes," he groaned. One of his heavy wings flapped against her as he slid down her body, settling his head between her legs. He applied pressure on her knees, tilting them up and out. His tongue settled on her, lapping and laving before, with one teasing flick to her clitoris, he drove his tongue inside her.

"Oh. Yes!" She screamed as her release overtook her, driving through her body with all the speed of a runaway train. "Michael.
Now
!"

With a harsh cry, he rose over her, positioning his cock at her entrance.

She had just enough time for a vague worry to form.
So big
. But then he was pushing inside and all fear was gone. "Oh,
yes.
" She wrapped her legs around him, digging her nails in his back to urge him down. The feel of him slowly filling her rode the boundary between pleasure and pain. So deliciously sweet. She wanted more of him. As much as she could take.

"Oh...heavens, Eva." He groaned as he seated himself fully within her. Dropping his head to hers, he tangled his tongue against hers before lifting his head and sliding out a few inches.

That movement alone, the silk-on-steel feel of him inside her, drove her to the brink of another release. "Faster. Please." She dug her fingers into his hips, urging him up, then down, until he shuddered and obeyed, driving a harder, faster rhythm. One slight shift of the angle was all it took to send her over the edge. "Oh God.
Yes
!"

"Eva. You're exciting me too much." With that, his control broke. He lifted onto his hands, angling his hips up as he thrust into her with abandon.

Pleasure filled every molecule of her body until she was only dimly aware of him pounding hard and fast into her, of the hard rock against her back, and the feel of his wings methodically flapping against her thighs, her breasts. She rode wave after wave of ecstasy, feeling herself come apart once more under the weight of his battering thrusts.

He came with her this time, shouting his release into the air. Continuing to pump until he'd emptied himself into her. Breathing heavily, he collapsed over her.

The feel of his heart battering against his ribs was surprisingly comforting. It was nice to know he was as affected by their lovemaking as she was. When he groaned and made to rise, she closed her arms over his back and wrapped her legs around him to keep his body joined with hers.

"I'm too heavy," he muttered in a drowsy tone.

"I still want you in me." She spoke the words without even thinking them. Maybe she should be ashamed but she wasn't. What they'd just shared was beautiful. Amazing. Even though she was tired, electricity wound through her whole body.

"Here." In one smooth move Michael absorbed his wings into his body and rolled so he was on his back and she lay on top of him. He was still lodged inside her, semi-erect. Somehow it seemed like that was where he belonged.

"Mmm…this is nice." She rested her cheek on his chest.

"Yeah."

She closed her eyes and must have dozed off because when she next took note he was sliding his hips upward, sheathing himself all the way inside her again. And,
oh yeah
, he was once more fully erect. Eyes widening, she lifted her head to look at him. "
Again
?"

"Again?" His laugh was a sexy, rumbling sound in his chest. "Eva, it's been many years for me. I could go all day."

"
Oh!
"

With a laugh, he proceeded to show her he wasn't the least bit exaggerating.

Chapter Twelve

I
t was already well into the night by the time the surveillance system signaled the return of Jason and Ethan to the cave. Michael strode from his sitting room to the area of the chamber holding his bed. Eva lay there under the bed sheet, still as the dead. The steady rise and fall of her chest was the only indication she belonged to the land of the living. He'd worn her out today. Still, he couldn't seem to get enough of her.