I gripped her arm and spun her to face me. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
Blinking, she dragged in a ragged breath. “Can we go back now?”
“No.”
Her shoulders fell a fraction more.
“I love you, Abby. I want to be with you and we will.” I knew that conversation was a direct result of my mixed signals. I wasn’t being fair to her. It was a difficult balance, letting her know I was attracted to her without taking things too far and I was doing a crap job of it.
Eventually, we made our way back to the tent. My siblings weren’t around; they must have gone for a long fly. Bozo went with her to the bathroom again while I sat by the fire and waited until she made it back to the tent, and then joined her.
When I stepped in, I stopped breathing and all the blood that I regained control of went back below my waist. I stood there in the entry, holding the flap in my grip as though the fabric could keep me from going in farther.
Abby stood wearing underwear, wiping herself down with baby wipes. Her dark hair waved loosely around firm breasts and her creamy skin was hidden by white lace. I followed the length of her body to the dip in her belly above the matching panties. Long, toned legs begged to wrap around me. Her cheeks blushed deep red, pouty lips parted, and dark chocolate eyes filled with desire.
I ached to kiss every inch of her. She was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen and I shouldn’t be in here, but my eyes wouldn’t move, my body locked.
“Turn around.” Her voice held no conviction.
“No.”
“Xander,” she pleaded, shifting under my stare.
Her heart raced and breathing harder, her chest heaved against the delicate fabric. I wanted to rip off what little she had on and look at her, have her.
My mind urged me to go. I couldn’t be here now. Turning, I left the tent. She would have been in trouble if I didn’t. My self-control weakened by the moment. Lately, all that had been on my mind was making love to her. The more of Abby I denied myself, the more I wanted her. I didn’t want to put us in a situation where she had to tell me to stop again.
Unfurling my wings, I flew to the treetops. I had to come to grips with controlling myself. I knew she felt rejected, but I felt dangerous. It was impossible to resist her when she looked at me with those eyes.
After a long while of stargazing, I calmed down and came back into the tent. My siblings were still gone. Keeping my shorts on, I pulled back the sleeping bag to see her shirt rose up while she slept. Staring at her body for a long moment, I appreciated what bare skin I could see. My gaze found her face, stained with tears and the pillow was wet. My resolve deteriorated.
Turning her over, I woke her up with my kiss. I drew her against me, twisted our legs together, and her tongue stroked mine. Heat coiled and settled between my thighs, burning brighter as her fingers drew over my chest, abs, and teased my hips. I took her hands into mine and pulled them above her head to keep her from touching too much of me, holding off the inevitable. Even pinned under me, her body bowed and arched, and her curves slid against me.
Kissing her, the shirt moved up higher and exposed her stomach. I pushed her legs open and pressed every inch straining in me against her; our bodies moved together, rocked against each other.
The quiet moans escaping her lips threatened to end this now. The hardened tips of her breasts teased my chest through the thin fabric. Thrusting into her again, we both moaned, desperate to relieve this deep, sweet ache.
Abby’s heart was beating too fast, slipping from my control. My fists clenched onto the sleeping bag to resist ripping her clothes off and her freed hands went to my shorts; the waist slipped below my hips. My focus waned, and as much as I didn’t want to, I took her into my mind and imagined what the rest of the night in the sleeping bag would have been like. This time as she dreamed, I didn’t watch, I kissed her.
Hours later, I opened my eyes. I smiled, gazing at Abby still wrapped in my arms. Her peaceful face snuggled into my chest, and her legs entwined with mine. This was the most wonderful feeling waking up with her.
Abby’s body tensed with a stretch and lashes fluttered. She looked up at me and I kissed her neck, which she eagerly craned for me. She groaned and blushed. “I don’t know how much of that was real.”
“I never took off our clothes.”
She looked under the covers and frowned.
“It’s for now. I can’t keep my focus on you, Abby. I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “Do you think it’s going to be like that?”
“No. It will be like Heaven.”
Smiling, she kissed me. “What’s Heaven like?”
“It’s peaceful. Time moves differently there. Angels don’t live like humans. We don’t have possessions and don’t want for anything.”
“Sounds nice.”
“I used to think so until I started to experience human emotions. Angels don’t love like humans do, Abby. It’s an obligation to love His Creations, not a will of our own. We exist to serve Him. Angels don’t have passion and desires emotionally or physically. I much prefer Earth. I much prefer loving you like a human would, and be loved by you.”
My words awarded me another smile.
I kissed her until Caleb cleared his throat. Regretfully, I stopped, knowing they didn’t want to hear me practice with Abby. There were a few hours left before we needed to pack. “Do you mind if we go for a quick fly before the sun is up?”
She said, “No, you should go. Leave the Bozo.”
58
Abby
The Fabulous Four took flight. Disassembling the tents would be a joke, but I could clean. Tidying up, I noticed strewn garbage by the restrooms and went to clean it. My eye caught the trash bin where the drunks camped. The lid was ajar and I groaned—they didn’t lock it. Beer cans, chip bags, and paper littered the campsite.
Bozo followed me, his nose helping to locate all the garbage. Locking up the trash bin, a low whine came from him.
“What is it?” With a tail wag, he whined once more, and then ran off barking. “Ugh, we were doing so well, Bozo. Do you only listen when angels are around?”
Above me, tree limbs rustled, but there wasn’t a breeze. My head arched back and I focused on a dark, fuzzy object perched in a tree. I stared at it, trying to figure it out. It shifted and turned to face me. Two shining marbles locked onto me and I froze. A black bear. My heart hammered. I didn’t know what to do, it never occurred to me to ask. I backed up until my eye caught movement to my right. Another bear of the same size.
Crap.
I moved my hand to my back pocket. Double crap. I forgot my phone in the tent. I heard a loud gruff behind me, and the hairs at the nape of my neck stood on end. Slowly, I turned to an even bigger bear. I stumbled into a bear family picnic. Triple crap.
My chest tightened and breaths quickened. With a frozen body, I watched the bear in the tree climb down as though he was part monkey. The two smaller bears lumbered closer. I was trapped from all sides. I couldn’t see the momma bear behind me, but I sensed she was huge and coming closer. Her breaths were loud grunts and sniffs. Their pungent musk worsened as they encroached.
Feeling my front pocket, it was empty. No pills. Way to go. Oh for two. I left everything in the tent. I didn’t think I could maneuver taking a pill with the bears, but the blood rushed faster through my veins. I thought I was supposed to get loud and big. I was barely five feet tall. Who would I scare? My limbs trembled, and I was sure they sensed it, too.
I was going to be an Abby-flavored Lunchables, split three ways.
The momma stepped to my front and pawed at the ground, disturbing the vegetation with her sharp claws. Now that she was in front of me, I realized she was much bigger than I thought. A cub circled behind me, cutting off a possible exit.
Sniffing the air once more, the mother looked like a ginormous black dog with pale lips opening to reveal long, stained canines. A deafening growl exploded from her, so not like a
dog. Pain tore through my chest and my knees slammed into the dirt.
She charged me. Feet away, her rank breath burned my nostrils and she bared her teeth. Falling onto my side, my chest constricted as though the bear was on top of me. Her claws were close enough to count the individual cracks in them, breath hot on my skin.
A bright light swooped between us, and the black beast rolled away along the dirt. I saw the tips of wings and Xander’s sneakers. Xander whipped around and his hand shot out to grab me. Inches away at his ankle was a cub, and my eyes widened. Seeing my reaction, Xander spun and rolled in the earth with the smaller bear.
Caleb landed in front of me and his wings kicked up dirt into my face as he flung out to tackle the other cub. A black fur ball flew over me and landed with a loud thud.
I gasped for air. The scene blurred and darkened.
I heard the momma bear snarl. There was shuffling of dirt and leaves, then a loud snap! Xander yelled from somewhere, “Get Abby!”
Another light hurtled at me; I was off the ground, wind whipping in my ears, and Calista heated around me. My vision focused to see a giant aspen cracked in two and Xander holding a cub down with the momma bear charging him. Screaming out, I was too late. The mother hit Xander; he and the cub tumbled over each other. Calista deposited me in a tree nearby and she plunged back into the fight.
Hannah battled a cub. Caleb was on his back when Calista landed between him and the charging cub. Caleb flipped, turned, and yelled out, “Alexander!”
With another charge from the mother, Xander twisted around and punched her in the muzzle. She let out a roar and charged him again, relentless and enraged. Her enormous body hit Xander in the chest, took him off his feet, and he flew back into a tree, snapping it at the base with a resounding crack that echoed through the woods. Xander’s cry reached me from below.
As Xander struggled to get up, the mother charged again. Caleb gripped her leg and swung her onto her back. From the side, a cub flew twenty feet into the dirt. The other cub charged Hannah when she had her back turned. Calista dove on top of it and put it in a choke hold.
The momma and cub went after Caleb. The cub reached Caleb first and knocked him on his back. Caleb put his knee under the cub’s stomach and flipped him in the air. The mother bit down onto Caleb’s leg and thrashed him around. Xander rammed the bear’s side and she released Caleb. Her growl sent shivers up my spine as she targeted Xander. He stood, waiting for the attack.
With each paw, her claws tore up the ground, and breath heaved from flared nostrils. She roared again, drove into Xander, and he slammed into a massive boulder with a boom, the rock fissuring behind him. Caleb flew at her and launched her into a tree. With a whine, she was down, finally.
My attention drew to the cubs whimpering in the dirt. All but Xander knelt by them and healed the bears. Seconds later, the mother and her cubs ambled away as if nothing happened.
Ear-splitting cracks like the trees snapping had me searching for the source. Xander was on all fours, gripping dirt. His wing was at an odd angle, feathers trembled, and painful groans escaped him. I saw feathers shift, another pop, and a cry from Xander. He was healing himself.
Caleb put his hands on Xander’s wing and the entire thing snapped back into place with a series of cracks like the Fourth of July. Xander let out a painful howl. I’d never seen him hurt before.
The leaves on the limb shook and I realized I was the source. Bozo paced around the base of the tree and barked. Xander glanced up, looking for me, then shot up and snatched me out of the tree, and held me too tight.
Wild eyes searched me for wounds. “Oh, you are a magnet for trouble.” He kissed my forehead. “Damn, you scared me. Thank you.” I didn’t know exactly who he was thanking, God maybe. He nuzzled my hair. “Abby, you have no idea what it would do to me to lose you.”
“Are you okay? Your wing was broken, you were hurt.” I examined his beautiful pearl wings. There was nothing wrong with them.
He scoffed. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I said as he flew us back to our tent. “But now I have to do something when I get back home.”
“Learn how to fight off three bears at one time?” he offered.
“No, I have to change your résumé. I have to add bear wrangler to it,” I complained, smiling.
He laughed. “Make sure you put hunk extraordinaire on there, too.”
My nose crinkled. “Xander, people don’t say hunk anymore.”
“Really? Man, now I have to fix my own résumé.”
I laughed. “Why didn’t you guys just fly off? Why did you fight the bears?”
The corner of his mouth pulled into an impish grin and tilted his head. “The best way to describe angels? Adrenaline junkies. We’ll pretty much fight anything.”
I shook my head at him.
“Abby, you do realize Bozo saved you again?”
My mouth fell open. “He did not. He ran away!”
“He ran off barking to alert us. Again.”
It dawned on me that he was. My room. The hike. The drunks. The bears. “Okay, after you practice with me, I’ll give him a treat.”
He laughed again. “Deal.”
“What happened to your animal magnetism, by the way?”
Xander laced kisses along my jaw. “Uh, I guess when they are pissed off at the human girl interrupting their meal, angel charm goes out the window. Next time, we won’t leave you to be the main dish in nature’s buffet.”
“Oh, you mean the next time I never go camping!”
Once home, my priority was the shower, to get in it as fast as possible and stay in it until the water went cold. Mom and Dad had different ideas. They asked Xander to stay while they explained their winter vacation plan to take the twins and Margaret to the theme parks in Southern California for twelve days. Knowing I didn’t do well at amusement parks, they wanted to know if I would be okay staying home, and I totally was.
I walked Xander back out to the 4Runner and he stopped me on the porch because the car was filled with snooping angel ears that couldn’t be turned off.
“Twelve whole days with me, huh?” he asked. “You think you can handle it?”
Did that mean…? My heart did a little stutter. “Would you be able to be with me the whole time?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He pinched his brows together.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I figured you had angel business. Hunting or something. I thought I could see you for some of that time, but I didn’t expect all of it.”
“Abby business trumps angel business. I wouldn’t miss this.” His head nodded to the car. “They’ll understand.”
I settled in against him. “Well, you better rest up, Wright. You’re gonna be doing a whole lotta practicing.”
“Really?” His voice turned to a sexy rumble.
“Yes.”
Dipping his head, lips traced kisses up my neck and I didn’t care that I was stinky anymore. “It’s a dirty, dirty job, Abby, but I’m up to the challenge.” A wag of his brows and a wicked grin had me laughing at his innuendo.
Xander kissed me and the angel fan club began cheering at us. Xander grunted at his siblings.
59
Abby
This week Danielle was extra annoying. In class, she would find some way to drape herself over Xander’s desk to “discuss” their assignment. Her voice had carried over to catch my attention and alert me to how lucky she was to have Xander as a partner. There was usually a laugh or a touch of muscle, trying to make me jealous. And yeah…it worked. She was in her own heaven with all his attention. Xander did his best to keep her focused and create a distance from her bountiful chest. Stopping a herd of bulls down a narrow alley would be easier.
Will was Will, helping pass the time in biology. Every class he had a new story of a recent hike and shared the pictures he took. My one hiking trip was a disaster that I couldn’t share with Will or anyone, for that matter.
Xander had to hunt thi
s weekend and I was ready for girl time. Planning to stay over at Mel and Beth’s dorm, they picked me up Friday night. My overnight bag with my blood kit inside went into the trunk and I slid into the back of the Lexus, triple checking I had my pills in my purse for the weekend.
Mel swiveled toward us. “You guys wanna go to a par-tay? Jake’s having one tonight! I just found out from Greg. It’s low-key. There won’t be many people there.”
I was ready to negate the plan when Beth said, “Yeah, let’s go.”
Mel went catatonic. Her head rotated toward me. “She said yes, right? My hair gel didn’t clog my ears?”
I studied our friend. “That’s not Beth, Mel! She’s an alien!”
A thin arm smacked us both. “Shut up and go!”
Mel’s mushy side made an appearance. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
“I don’t know.” Beth shrugged. “Maybe I’d be willing to put a pause on my no-boy rule.” She held up one finger. “For one night,” she amended. “Don’t get any crazy ideas, Mitchell. I don’t need to be set up.”
Mel held up her hands. “I wasn’t thinking it!”
I scoffed. “Yeah, right. You probably already have a mental list of possible dates for Bethie.”
“I do not!” Her cheeks turned pink. “It’s on my phone.” Another arm flung out. “Ouch!”
Beth settled into her seat. “You deserved it.”
We pulled up to Jake’s and our mouths dropped open.
“That’s low-key?” Beth asked, looking at the house.
“Medium-key?” Mel offered with a shrug.
Beth rolled her eyes. “That’s all out high-key, Mel! Come on, let’s tell Jake to turn the music down. He’s gonna have the cops here soon.”
The living room was dense with sweaty bodies, the music drowned us out, and we resorted to primitive hand signals. Greg spotted us and took Mel to dance. Beth caught up with her friends from art class.
To Fall (The To Fall Trilogy Book 1) Page 37