When Angels Fall (20 page)

4.

He roamed around the bottom floor of the house while Dani was in the shower. He was trying to figure out the best way to tell her how he felt. Should he just come right out and tell her how he felt? Or should he try to explain himself first. If he tried to explain himself, what would he say? ‘Dani, when I met you
a few days ago, I loathed you.’?

He was pretty sure that wasn’t going to work. As a matter of fact, she’d probably throw something at him. But if he just told her how he felt, he was leaving himself open to pain if she didn’t feel the same way.

At least if he talked to her first, he’d be able to read the expressions on her face. If it didn’t look like she wanted him as he wanted her, he could just steer the conversation to another topic.

Damn it! This would be so much easier if he could just
see
her soul! He would be able to see how she felt about him before ever bringing the subject up. He was still pondering how to proceed when there was a loud thud from upstairs and he heard Dani scream.

Gabriel dematerialized and rematerialized in the room that Dani was in.

He was confused as to why he was in a bedroom instead of in the bathroom where Dani was supposed to be showering. The peculiar scene before him gave him pause. There was a man standing in the middle of the room, and Dani was folded in half and wedged between the bed and the wall. All that was visible of her was her feet, her arms, and the top of her head. And she was now laughing.

“Explain yourself,
Wesley,
” he demanded of the hunter standing before him.

“It was my fault,” Dani said between giggles.

The
man held out his hands, palms extended
, and quickly explained, “I just came in through the window to get my bag so I could leave. She came out of that bathroom behind you, and I guess I startled her because she punched me in the face. I very
gently
picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. Only she didn’t
quite
stick to the mattress the way I thought she would.

“Instead, she kind of bounced and got stuck between the bed and the wall. I swear I wasn’t trying to hurt her.
Please
don’t kill me Mr. Angel.”

“Can you get me out of here?” Dani said.

“Are you hurt?” Gabriel asked.

“Not at all,” Dani said.

“Are you naked?”

“All the way,” Wesley answered for her.

“No you can’t get out yet; just stay there until I deal with him,” Gabriel said.

“It was my fault; please don’t hurt him,” she said.

“I’m not going to, just…hang in
there for a second,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel turned back to Wesley, “Your brother needs you. You can’t just leave him.”

“He doesn’t need me. He has a new family now. Besides, he hates me,” Wesley said.

“They could be your family too, if you let them. As for your brother hating you, I can’t deny it, but you gave him
a good
reason to hate you. Now you have to change his mind. He’ll lose everything if you leave him,” Gabriel said.

Wesley seemed to consider this before speaking, “I couldn’t help him if I wanted to. I seem to have suffered an emotional trauma; or at least my brother says I did. I thought my brother killed my mate, and I can never be
sure
that he didn’t. I’ve always been convinced that he did it, but he swore it wasn’t true. I even created a complete false memory. I’m not safe to be around anyone right now.”

“I can fix that. I saw this same situation befall Cain and Abel; I don’t wish to see that happen to you and
your
brother.
Your
family did me a great service today, and asked for nothing in return; so I’ll give a gift to
you
instead, and hope it blesses your family as well,” Gabriel grabbed Wesley and placed his palm on Wesley’s forehead.

He pulled the false memory that Wesley had created from Wesley’s memory, and forced the real memory from Gabriel’s mind, into its place. Wesley dropped to his knees before Gabriel; not to bow to him, but in shock and betrayal.

“It was him,” Wesley groaned.
“I loved him like a brother!”

Wesley jumped to his feet and headed to the window, “I’m going to find him and
kill
him.”

Gabriel stopped him before he jumped. He leaned down and whispered two secrets into Wesley’s ear.

Wesley pulled back and stared at Gabriel in awe, “That’s impossible.”

“What is meant to be will
always
be. It’s God’s Will. But keep this to yourself until the right time. You’ll know that time when it comes,” Gabriel said, and place
d his hand on Wesley's shoulder.
“Until that time, stick around. Watch, wait, and help save this family. You’ll get your revenge
in time
.”

Wesley nodded, dropped from the window and disappeared silently into the woods.

“Hello,” Dani said,
waving her hand above her head.
“My legs are starting to go numb over here.”

Gabriel laughed and went to set her free.

5.

Gabriel climbed onto the bed, grabbed Dani by the arms
,
and pulled her out. He fell backward with her and she landed on top
of him
, with her bare breasts to his bare chest. She rose up on her elb
ows and gazed down at him…
and Gabriel was lost.

“To hell with it?” he murmured.

He rolled over and pinned Dani underneath him and crushed his lips to hers. She let him kiss her for a few seconds, before pushing at his chest. Gabriel rose up and looked down at her.

“You can’t…” she started to say, but he cut her words off with a gentle kiss.

“I can,” he whispered into her mouth.

He ran his hands down the sides of her body, memorizing the texture of her skin. He cupped her bottom in his hands and pressed down against her. He didn’t know what he was doing; this was not what he had planned on, but his body had taken over. It knew what it wanted and what to do. He put his hands on the bed and rose up so he could kiss his way down her chest.

She gasped when he pulled her nipple gently into his mouth. He felt his fingers rip through the bed sheet and tear into the mattress. He paused to catch his breath. He was getting carried away, and the last thing he
ever
wanted to do was hurt her.

He kissed his way back up to her neck and she arched beneath him; driving him to the edge of all reason and sanity. She ran her nails down his back and pushed on the waistband of his jeans. He rolled away from her just long enough to rip the jeans; the only clothing he’d been wearing, from his body.

She moaned when he rolled back on top of her. The sound brought him partially back to reality.

He pushed himself up and asked, “Do you want me to stop?”

She moaned again and pulled his body down to hers. It was all the
answer that his body needed. Gabriel
used his knee to nudge her legs apart and eased his body into hers. Once inside her, he froze. It was a feeling that couldn’t be described with words.

He could feel her squeezing and pulsing around him, and he lost his ability to breathe. He didn’t know how human men survived this much exquisite pleasure. He wasn’t sure that
he
would survive it. Then Dani bucked beneath him and he started to move with her. His body slid in it out of her like it had been doing it since the beginning of time.

Dani was panting and nibbling at
his
shoulders; her nails clawing down his back. Their bodies moved in the perfect rhythm of the ages; then Dani cried out, and Gabriel shattered. He was lost in the most magnificent white light; for how long, Gabriel wasn’t sure.

It could have been seconds or days. This had to be God’s greatest gift to his favorite creations; humans. Something Gabriel could never be.

He suddenly realized that he was lying on his back, with no memory of having rolled off of her, “I love you, Dani,” he said softly into the darkness.

Dani
didn’t say anything; she didn’t even acknowledge his words.
Gabriel’s
stomach crawled with the fear that she didn’t care for him after all. He looked over at her and…she was
asleep
. He didn’t know
if she fell asleep naturally or if he’d accidently put her to sleep when he’d shattered, but she was out cold.

He reached over and cupped her right breast in his hand; and then guilt began to hit him in waves. What had he done? Had he taken advantage of her? He now felt as if he had. She may have felt obligated to lie beneath him, as Eve had been to Adam.

He was an angel, and not just any angel; he was an
Archangel
!
She may have been
afraid
to say no to him. She may have been afraid he’d take her anyway, no matter what she’d said.

He suddenly felt sick. He slid to the end of the bed, sat up, and dropped his head into his hands. He should have talked to her before this ever happened, but he’d lost his head.
He
got up, grabbed his pants
,
and left the room. He repaired the jeans when he got downstairs, put them on and stepped outside.

He walked away from the house, knowing that Dani would be safe there alone. He walked to the edge of the clearing before shooting up into the air. He flew as fast as he could, hoping that the rushing wind would soothe the shame that was consuming him, but it helped nothing. His guilt would not be appeased.

He flew until the sun started coming up on the horizon, and then headed back to the ground to face what he had done. He had to talk to Dani. He didn’t expect her to forgive him, but he wanted her to trust him enough to protect her life. He needed her to know that he will be there to lay down his life for her when the time came.

1.

Dani tried to resist waking up from the most amazing dream she’d ever had. She was afraid that if she opened her eyes the dream would fade away, and she wanted to hold onto it as long as possible. The wind blew through the open window
,
and Dani felt something tickle her shoulder.

She reached up and slapped at whatever it was, and little pieces of something rained onto her face. She grabbed some of it and opened her eyes to see what it was. It was foam…from the mattress. She sat up and looked down out the bed.

There were two holes on either side of where her head had been. It was where Gabriel’s hands had torn into the mattress. It
hadn’t
been a dream.

Shit! She was going to Hell. She was pretty sure that fucking an
Archangel
would burn her guaranteed ticket to Heaven to a crisp.

And what had she done to Gabriel? She had thrown herself at him. She’d just let her naked body land on top of his and had stayed there, when she should have ju
mped away from him. She had
been frozen in place; he’d been so beautiful laying there that she hadn’t been able to look away from him.

He was
already
kicked out of Heaven; what would happen to him now? She’d heard what Lucifer had called her; the last Daughter of God. Gabriel had never said it like that, but it sounded important. Could he be in trouble for having sex with her? She couldn’t believe she’d taken advantage of him th
at way! What was wrong with her?

When she’
d first accused him of wanting to have sex with her, he’d been disgusted. He’d said
,
‘Mate with you; a human. You must be joking’
.
He’d
said
,
‘An angel and a human…it’s just not done. We’re not even the same species; not even from the same plain of existence. It’s unthinkable that an angel would lower himself to that level’.

And as soon as he’d told her that he’d become accustomed to her, she’d thrown herself at him like a common whore.

He must feel
horrible
about having lowered himself to a level low enough to have sex with her. And she felt like trash for leading him into it. She just hadn’t been able to pull herself away from him.

She knew he would hate her now, and she would expect no less. She wouldn’t blame him if he just handed her over to Lucifer and threw humanity to the wolves. She got up, got dressed
,
and went to look for him.

She opened the door and stepped out on
to
the small porch. When she looked
out across the yard she saw
Gabriel in the middle of the clearing staring back at her. He looked guilty, and hurt, and
ashamed
. It made her chest physically ache to look at him. She’d done this to him. She’d made him feel this way.