Of Consuming Fire (15 page)

After several seconds of silence, the angel said, “Shh,” even though she hadn’t spoken in a while. “You do not have to tell me more.”

No, because he already knows it all,
she thought sadly.
Knows how it felt. Knows what I was thinking when he forced himself into my body. Knows the fear I’ve had of men ever since.

His hand moved from her back to her shoulder, and he tugged her toward him gently, giving her a squeeze as she fell into his side. “You will never have to go through that again,” he said seriously. “I will make sure of it.”

It was too much. Grace pushed away from him and turned on him with confusion and not a little bit of anger. “I’m sorry. Are you serious? Aren’t you planning on
killing
me eventually?”

Anger flickered in his eyes, too, before fizzling out to be replaced with something that looked like shame. “I am no longer planning on it, no.”

Something in his tone did not set Grace at ease. “It sounds like it will still happen,” she said.

He turned sorrowful eyes upon her. “It will.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I think it’s time you tell me something now.”

He sighed, and turning his face to the wall so he wouldn’t have to look at her, spoke. “All angels have one thing they will encounter that they will find nearly impossible to resist. Something put on earth to test their loyalty. Their strength. For some of us it is power. Others, wealth. For me — ” he turned to her once again, “it is you. Creating life with you is how I Fall. You are my Temptation, human.” He smiled sadly. “And I call you such to remind myself of what I stand to lose if I am weak.”

The fact that Dahlia had put Grace on birth control flashed through Grace’s mind unwelcome, rendering her mouth dry. “And what do you stand to lose?”

He laughed without humor. “Everything.” He lifted a hand and trailed a finger gently down her cheek. “My heart.”

Grace felt like she couldn’t breathe. A million new questions burst through her mind. “But you say you
will
kill me?”

His hand dropped back to his side, his eyes shuttering. “I did not tell you I would reveal
all
of my secrets.” He smiled again, albeit sadly, to soften his words. “My promise is fulfilled.”

And so it was. But even so, Grace could not prevent one more comment, “I do not like it. Being called
Temptation
.”

He looked at her with concentration for a moment, and Grace realized he was probably reading her thoughts again. She allowed how she felt when he called her such a callous thing to flood her mind.

He broke eye contact. “I did not know it hurt you. What would you have me call you instead?”

She huffed. “My name! You know what it is.”

“I do.”

“So you will use it?”

He looked at her again, and if she didn’t know better, she would swear he was feeling panic. “I — ” He closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them, an odd determination shining from within. “I do not wish you to call me
angel
any longer, either.”

“Okay,” she said, unsure at his abrupt change.

“I am called Jayden.”

Grace swallowed hard. He’d just told her his
name
. She hadn’t realized until this moment how much she’d longed to know it. It was beautiful. Strong. Tantalizing. Just like the angel himself. She took a deep breath, knowing how big a deal this must be for him. Then, looking deep into his eyes, she repeated it back to him. “Jayden.”

His pupils dilated immediately, and he moved so quickly she hadn’t known he had until his hand was again on her cheek, cupping her jaw. “I liked that,” he said, his voice deep and rough.

Obviously
, she thought.

He apparently picked up on the thought because he gave her one of those unpracticed smiles. His thumb brushed across her bottom lip, and his brows drew together as his eyes focused on her lips. It was more than apparent that he wished to kiss her. Though he’d pleasured her with his fingers, he’d never kissed her. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

He jumped, his eyes flicking up to hers in question.

“You can kiss me,” she said on a barely audible breath.

His eyes widened and then jetted back to her lips. His attention was doing things to her body. She felt her breasts grow heavy, the apex of her thighs grow damp. If he didn’t kiss her, and soon, she didn’t know what she would do. “Jayden,” she whispered, the word a plea.

He moved, leaning in so slowly it made her heart ache. His breath caressed her lips first, and then he brushed his mouth against hers so lightly she wouldn’t have known they’d kissed but for the violent clenching of her stomach.

He pulled back slightly and groaned from deep within his belly. He licked his lips and closed his eyes. Then he scooped her up in his arms. The next thing Grace knew, they were seated. His back was against the wall, and she was in his lap, her shoulder pressed against his chest, his arms firmly around her.

He leaned her back across his left arm, and his right hand came up to her face again, brushing her cheek as his fingers burrowed into her hair. “So delicious,” he whispered.

His lips descended again. This time, his kiss was firmer. He pressed his lips against hers fully for several seconds before lightly brushing them back and forth.

It was an innocent, inexperienced kiss, possibly the sweetest Grace had ever experienced, and yet it shot straight from her lips to her womb. She moaned softly and wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling herself closer to him and pressing her breasts against his chest.

His arms tightened, and he kissed her again. Urgency marked this kiss. His breathing quickened. Grace felt as though she would explode. She opened her lips slightly and skimmed her tongue across his bottom lip.

His entire body jerked violently. His head snapped back, and Grace worried for a moment that she had done something wrong, but then she looked into his eyes. They were molten. He stared at her lips with wonder. “
Grace
,” he breathed.

The use of her name pounded into her. With a hungry noise, she pulled his lips back to hers. He met her more than halfway. This time, his lips were open, as were hers. They breathed for each other for a moment, and then he tentatively repeated the kiss she had just shown him, sweeping his tongue across her lip.

Grace moaned and sucked his tongue into her mouth. With a groan, he followed her lead as she taught him to duel with their tongues. He quickly learned what she liked, and within moments, she needed him so badly, she thought she would die.

Just then, he pulled away. His breaths panted across her moist lips. His eyes held a question.

Gathering all of her courage, she said, “Jayden, could we — would you,” she blushed fiercely, “touch me again?”

Jayden stared at her, dumbfounded. Her thoughts had been insistent, but he had not dared to believe he was interpreting them correctly. And now she was asking him to —

“Touch you?” he asked breathlessly.

Her blush deepened. “Never mind,” she said quickly.

She had! She had asked him to touch her! “Yes,” he blurted quickly, hoping it was not too late. The possibilities roiled through him, and he nearly groaned. “Oh, Grace, yes.”

Her embarrassment morphed, softening her eyes and lips as she smiled shyly at him. “Really?”

“Yes,” he said again like an idiot.

Her smile took on a twinge of humor. “Maybe in a room?”

With shock, Jayden realized they were in the hallway. Where either of the other two humans could happen upon them at any time. He shot to his feet, cradling his woman in his arms and fighting down an unidentifiable emotion. A sound like the snapping of a bed sheet echoed through the space, and his wings unfurled like a shot and curved around her, placing them in a cocoon of beautiful, iridescent feathers. No one was allowed to see Grace like this except for him. The thought was fierce and right.

She turned wide eyes upon him. “No one can see me?” she asked, her tone tinged with awe.

Jayden shook his head.

She sighed, snuggled into his arms, and rested her head on his shoulder. He quickly nuzzled her cheek with his and then carried her into the room where he had been spending the night hours as the humans slept. He could have easily gone into her room, but some primal part of him wanted her in the small space he claimed for himself.

She pulled her head back and gifted him with a smile. He returned it and trailed a finger from her cheek to the neckline of her shirt. “Will you take this off for me, Grace? I wish to see you,” he said deeply.

Doubt filled her eyes, and Jayden cursed inwardly.
Too fast
, he scolded himself. He shushed her, and then he placed his lips softly over hers, cradling her close and taking whatever she would willingly give.

Her fingers flexed on his shoulders, and she pulled back to whisper, “Can I see you, too?”

He sucked in a breath. “You wish that?”

She nodded her head. He sensed she was still nervous about revealing herself to him, but her desire to see him bare had her considering it. To cover his desperate hope that she would gift him with the sight of her body, he turned her face toward his and kissed her again. He meant to be gentle, but the kiss quickly morphed into the passionate embrace they had been sharing in the hallway. The next time he had enough self-control to remember to check her thoughts all of her nervousness had vanished.

He deepened the kiss even more, instinct telling him to probe her mouth with his tongue deeper than the shallow sweeps she had taught him minutes ago. She responded with a moan and returned the kiss wholeheartedly. His fingers returned to the neckline of her shirt, and she pulled back slightly, hesitatingly raising her arms. With more fumbling than he would have wished, he was able to raise her shirt up and over her head while keeping her cradled against his body within one arm.

As soon as the shirt left her body, she made a small noise of discomfort, and Jayden tightened his wings around them, blocking out a majority of the light. She relaxed a fraction, and Jayden let her shirt drop to the floor unheeded as his entire world narrowed down to Grace’s gorgeous chest. She wore a simple white undergarment over her breasts. Jayden’s mouth went utterly dry, and he raised shaking fingertips to brush across warm, firm swells.

Grace gasped. As Jayden sensed a majority of her anxiousness disappear, she arched in his arms, thrusting her breast into his palm. He rewarded her with a gentle squeeze, and then she was wiggling in his arms fiercely.

“Let me down,” she whispered against his lips.

He let her feet touch the floor, but only unfurled his wings slightly, not willing to quite let her go. And there, within the shelter of his wings, she finished the job he had begun with her shirt. Reaching behind her back, she unclasped her undergarment and clutched the slackened garment to her breasts. His heart, which had moments ago stopped within his chest, began thundering. He had seen her bare before, but this was the first time she unclothed herself for him. Specifically
for him
.

Just when she was going to let her undergarment slide from her shoulders and to the floor, she looked at him expectantly, her eyes flicking down to his robe as she arched a brow.

He flicked his wings away into his back. She made a noise of sorrow when their shelter vanished, so he quickly tugged his robe over his head, let it drift to the floor, and then surrounded her once again with his wings.

He smiled down at her, but discovered he was staring at the crown of her hair. Her head was tilted down, and she was staring silently at his groin.

His eyes followed hers down, and he saw his body, primed and ready for her. His arousal was bigger than it had ever been when he was by himself. Her eyes upon it seemed to make it swell even more. It kicked up, jerking under her stare, drawing a gasp from her.

Jayden quickly felt for her thoughts and was disappointed to find the nervousness had returned.

“I don’t think I’m ready for — ”

He saw where her thoughts were headed and felt relief. She was not ready to have sex with him. That was convenient. He was not prepared for what having sex with her would do to his entire existence either. Despite her beauty, despite her hold on him, Jayden could not Fall for her.

But her nervousness ate at his heart. He did not want that emotion anywhere in her mind when she was with him.

With a finger beneath her chin, he lifted her eyes. He waited patiently for her to look at him, and when she finally did, he instinctively knew drawing attention to his own inexperience in this matter would put her at ease. “I am not ready for that step either, Grace.”

Her eyes widened. In her thoughts, she remembered that Jayden would be a virgin.

“I will only touch you. Like you asked,” he said. “I promise.”

She looked at him in disbelief.

“Cherubim, remember?” he reminded her. “You say the word, and I walk away. On my honor.”

She relaxed, and then smiled at him hesitantly. Her thoughts told him she was worried she had ruined the mood.

Hardly
. Jayden had a feeling nothing would ever keep him from wanting her. He felt a twinge of worry as the Compulsion rolled over within his gut — reminding himself that he had to keep whatever emotional distance he could from her. What little emotional distance remained.

She stepped toward him, pulling him from his thoughts, and wrapped her arms tentatively around his middle, pressing against him.

He swiftly enfolded her in his arms, seeking to assure her he was still here with her. Still more than ready to bring her to pleasure, but then all thought fled.

Her shirt was off. The small garment across her breasts was the only barrier between his naked chest and her warm skin. He pulled her in tighter and heard himself make a small noise. “You feel wonderful,” he breathed.

She tilted her head back and smiled up at him, her relief obvious. “So do you.”

He moved his hands slowly, giving her time to protest, to her shoulders where he gently pushed the straps of her undergarment down her arms. She stepped back slightly, looking at the floor. She blinked as the slip of fabric fell away, but did not cover herself.