Splendor and Darkness (Rebel Angels) (3 page)

“What do you think you saw?” She stroked the side of his face and awareness sizzled through him. “Who do you believe I am?”

Dragging her hands above her head, he pressed his body against hers. Solid, warm, real, she was no apparition. “You’re my tormentor. I detest you!” His voice hitched, belying the emotion he named. “Why did you take the others yet leave me here to rot?”

“I don’t decide who lives and dies. I’m just a guide.”

He crossed her hands and held both in one firm fist. “You don’t feel like an angel. You feel like a woman.”

“Have you touched many angels?” Her light, musical tone reminded him of her songs, the hours she’d spent at his bedside, unseen yet ever-present,
a
companion in his despair.

“Are you an angel?” A shudder accompanied the question. He was pressed against her soft curves, felt the heat of her skin beneath his fingers. This was no angel!

She turned her face away, hiding her expression with the fall of her hair. “I am many things.”

He stroked his fingers across her cheek, awed that she was still there. “You’re not an illusion, a trick of my mind?”

“Nay.
I’m flesh and blood.” She leaned into his caress.

“You enjoy my touch.” His voice dropped to barely a whisper as carnal hunger stirred his blood. “Do angels feel desire?”

“I’m not an angel.”

Maintaining his grip on her wrists, he bent and brushed his mouth over hers. She made no objection, so he kissed her again. Pressing, sliding, he explored her lips. Soft, warm,
alive
—yet she was the bringer of death!

Shoving away from the wall, he turned his back and raked both hands through his shaggy hair. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her voice soft and low. “Let me ease your pain. Take comfort in my embrace.”

Fury parted his confusion—churning, boiling, demanding release. He shoved her hands away and spun to face her again. “You did this to me! You took everyone I loved and left me here with nothing.”

Pushing her fingers into his hair, she drew his face down to hers, her lips sweetly parted, welcoming. Nate clenched his teeth, refusing her tenderness. He didn’t want to be comforted!

“I hate you.” He formed the words against her parted lips. Her fingers remained in his hair, persistent without pulling. “How can I feel anything but hate for you?”

“You may want to hate me, but you don’t. Let us comfort each other.” Feathering kisses against his
lips,
she stroked his face and pressed her body against him.

Desire, hot and demanding, pulsed through Nate. He’d felt only anger and loss for so long, the awakening left him dazed. He angled his head and took the kiss deeper. Wrapping his fingers around the back of her neck, he held her still. His tongue thrust past her lips. He couldn’t want her. She’d destroyed his life, robbed him of everyone who meant anything to him.

Why was she doing this? Why wouldn’t she leave him alone?

I want to comfort you. I
need
to ease your pain.

He dragged his mouth from hers. “I heard your voice inside my head.”

“I can’t speak with your mouth on mine.” Amusement lightened her tone.

Shadows obscured her features while moonlight gleamed in her silvery hair. His rage subsided, leaving desire and emptiness. “Is there a special place in Hell for those who lust after angels?”

She
smiled,
her teeth white and even in the shadowed room. “I thought we had that settled. I’m not an angel. I’m a dream, a flight of fancy. Let’s comfort each other. We’ve both been alone too long.”

Struggling for breath, he pushed her away. This was wrong. He couldn’t find comfort in the arms of Death. This…
creature
had separated him from Catherine and
Estel
, from William and his mother. “Why have you stayed with me all this time? Why do you care what happens to me?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she slipped her hands inside the trailing ends of her sleeves. “I didn’t mean to become attached to you. It just happened.”

He ignored the warmth that spread through his body. It shouldn’t matter if she cared for him. “Are you attached to me, sweet fancy? Is that what keeps you here?” His fingers itched to touch her, to explore her soft body and bury
themselves
in her unbound hair.

“I felt responsible for you.” A thread of stubbornness revealed itself in her tone. “I wanted to make sure you recovered before I return…”

“Return to where, the twisted depths of my imagination? I don’t know what you are, but I know what you’re not.”

“What am I not?”

“Human.” The word hung in the air between them, ringing with accusation and awe. He said nothing for a long moment. “When I awakened on the road, there were two of…whatever you are. Why did you attack the other one?”

“You shouldn’t have been able to see us. I don’t understand why you could.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

She turned her face away, shielding herself with her hair. “Have you always been aware of spirits, or is this a result of what happened that night?”

He cupped her shoulders and she gasped. The room wasn’t that dark. Why had the contact surprised her? “My patience is wearing thin. Stop evading the issue.” Easing his hold, he moved one hand to her neck, caressing the underside of her jaw with his thumb, fascinated by her smooth skin. “The visions began before that night, but they have multiplied since. I see all manner of creatures now.” He shuddered. “Have I gone mad?”

“If madness had claimed you, it wouldn’t occur to you to wonder about the state of your sanity.” She paused, swaying toward him, her warm breath wafting against his throat. “When I caught up to the other, she had—”

“The other?
The one dressed like a man?”

“Aye.
I could sense that she was recently Fallen and—”

“Fallen?” He tucked her hair behind her ear, trying to make out her expression in the shadows. “Is that term not attributed to angels? What sort of being are you?”

She shook her head, dislodging her hair. “I can’t explain what I don’t understand. And stop interrupting me. The creatures you see are real and you’re right—we are not human. The other is in the process of Falling. Her transformation is not yet complete. Each time she commits an atrocity, her demonic power grows. Fledgling demons are ravenous for power. Their hunger makes them vicious and cruel.”

“She trapped their souls in their dying bodies, prolonging their agony.” His voice broke and he pulled her into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him, splaying her fingers against his back.

“That’s why I attacked her. I disabled her spell and set their spirits free.”

He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. She was warm, soft and vibrantly alive. He longed to absorb her vitality through his pores, to feel whole again.

“I’ve heard
Kaleb
speak of Judith and the little ones,” she whispered. “Who are they?”

“Judith is my brother’s widow.” He forced the words past his dry throat. “They—she has two children.”

“Sons or daughters?”
Her fingers combed through his hair.

“One of each.”
He grasped her wrists, stilling her tender caresses. Each stroke stirred sensations he didn’t want to feel. “How can I hope to make up for all they’ve lost?”

“You can’t replace their father. They wouldn’t want you to try, but you can love them and protect them.” She kissed his chin. Slipping her hand inside the loose neckline of his tunic, she stroked his shoulders and chest.

“The crisis is long since
past
. Why are you still here?” Silence swirled around them, warm and caressing. Nate pulled her closer, needing to see her face.

“I’m going to help you remember what it feels like to be alive.” She skimmed his face with her fingertips. Rapid weight loss had sharpened his features, creating hollows beneath his cheekbones and accenting the brackets framing his mouth. He’d never thought of himself as vain, but she was
so
beautiful.

He cupped her cheek and rubbed his lips against hers. Warm and spicy, her breath filled his mouth and stirred his desire. She parted her lips and traced his mouth with her tongue. He released a throaty murmur as tingles sped down his spine. She nibbled and licked at his lips. He
laughed,
a nearly forgotten sound.

“You’re a hungry little fantasy,” he whispered.

Instead of responding with words, she tugged his tunic off over his head. Her mouth fastened onto the side of his neck, sucking hard enough to mark his skin. She caressed his chest, sides, and back while he frantically battled her gown’s fastenings. Her dress slipped from her shoulders and she lifted her arms from the elaborate sleeves. His hands trembled as he untied his hose and kicked off his shoes.

She eased his hose over his hips and down his thighs. Kneeling before him, she situated herself on her discarded gown.
I’m going to help you remember what it feels like to be alive.
Her words echoed, fueling his desire. She couldn’t mean to…what sort of spirit would…?

Wrapping her hand around the base of his cock, she leaned in and exhaled her moist breath across his sensitive tip. A violent shudder passed through Nate. Tension coiled deep in his belly. He wanted to feel anything but pain, to lose himself completely in their passion.

Tomorrow he’d think of the future, be practical and sane. Tonight he’d be wild and reckless, utterly abandoned to this dream.

She cupped him with one hand and stroked him with the other, her mouth hovering just out of reach. “Please,” he whispered, pushing his fingers into her silken hair.

Circling his tip with her tongue, she teased him unmercifully. Desire pulsed within him, demanding and intense. She moved her hands to his buttocks and closed her lips around his shaft. He braced his legs, his body trembling as she drew him deep into her mouth.

“Oh, sweet fancy, how I burn.”

She slid him in and out of her mouth, her lips warm and firm. He caressed her face and rocked his hips as she pleasured him. Sensation spread out through his body, tingling,
throbbing
heat.

“Enough!” His breath escaped in a ragged gasp as he pulled out of her mouth and drew her to her feet. He kissed her urgently. His tongue moved in her mouth, delving deep with silent demand. She arched into his body, pressing her breasts against his chest.

With his arms wrapped snug around her, he guided her to the bed. She crawled onto the narrow mattress and spread out on her back. Lifting her arms in silent invitation, she waited for him to join her. Instead, he dropped one of the pillows to the floor and knelt upon it.

Be she spirit, specter or fantasy, she was solid, warm and willing. He’d accept the comfort she offered, but she would know pleasure too.

His mouth sealed over hers, the kiss filled with longing. Their tongues dueled, swirled and tasted. She arched restlessly. He stroked her breasts, rolling the nipples between his thumb and forefinger. Her belly quivered as he caressed her smooth skin. His hand glided over her thighs and she eased her legs apart. Bending her knees, she made room for his hand, offering him everything.

Shaken by her selflessness, he touched her with gentle reverence. His fingers caressed her slick folds, sliding and stroking. Desire pounded through him. It had been so long! He eased two fingers into
the
 
snug
center of her body, groaning as her moist heat surrounded him.

He licked his way along her neck, nibbled her collarbone before capturing one of her nipples and sucking with firm, slow pulls. Her inner muscles echoed his rhythm, and a low moan escaped her throat.