Ardeur (Abbey of Angels)

by Danielle Gavan

  Brody was about to die with the need to taste her when Ardeur pleaded with him in that sexy, sultry voice he loved so damn much. He licked lips, which had gone suddenly dry, and bent to press them in a series of small kisses further up her thighs to the quivering muscles of her stomach. She whimpered when he bypassed her core to lick and nip over the smooth golden skin of her belly while his hands worked to spread her out for him.

  Gods above she's - he cut the thought off and looked Ardy in the eyes. “You're beautiful.” Brody dipped his head and placed a long lick over the moist pink part of her that he'd been waiting to touch. He growled as the sweet and fresh taste of her washed over his tongue. “Like tangerines. You taste like sweet tangerines.”

  “Shit, yeah.”

  Ardeur's hand dug into his hair, her hips rose off the bed despite the hand splayed across her belly to keep her still. He licked, sucked and nipped her as he'd wanted to do since their first kiss in the library. His hand ghosted up her leg, the muscles under her skin bunching under his touch as he got closer and closer to ground zero and sank a long finger inside the slippery heat of her.

  Her gasp at his intrusion stopped Brody cold. He cleared his throat and looked up at her. “Goldie, are you okay?”

  “Puppy, if I was any more okay - I'd explode.”

  She ground against his hand and it was all he needed. Brody moved up her body, the tanned and freckled width of his chest inches from the soft golden mounds of her breasts. His thumb brushed back and forth over the swollen nub of her clit in lazy circles he knew would drive her crazy with need.

  He was so hard it hurt, but for her, he'd suffer until she was ready for him. “More?”

  “You. I want you.” Ardy hooked her leg around his waist, the golden skin sliding over his hip and snuggling the heat of her core against his straining erection. “Please, Brody.”

  Brody knew what it was she wanted, and as much as he wanted to give it to her - he wanted to bring her to completion just once before he took her virginity. “I've got you baby, but not yet. Just a bit more and then you can have me.”

  The small moans and shallow breaths of initial pleasure soon turned to whimpers, pleas and quick gulps for breath as he added another finger inside of her. He angled each stroke to hit her in just the right spot and her small cries told him she was well on her way to finding her release.

  Ardeur was so sexy writhing beneath him that it took every bit of his will power not to roll her flat and plunge inside of her. Instead, he did the only thing he could - Brody sealed his mouth to hers and swallowed her cries as the love of his life came against his hand.

  When her body began to quiet, Brody eased Ardeur to her back and settled between her thighs. The tip of his erection found her entrance and pushed in until just the head of him was sheathed inside her. “Goldie, are you okay?”

  “Mhmm.” Ardy licked her lips. Her nails dug into his back breaking the skin as she tilted her hips to help guide him in. “I'll be perfect once you're inside of me.” Her hips rocking forward pushed him in further; the slippery heat inside of her did the rest of the work.

  “You know I love you, right?” His heart was racing with fear and lust. He was scared to death of hurting her, but couldn't hold himself back with her any longer.

  Ardeur opened her eyes and looked at him. He could see the love and trust she felt in them.

  “I love you too. So much and, Brody, I want this. I want you.” She leaned up and kissed him softly. “Do you understand? I'm ready for this. For us.”

  Brody slid home, the thin membrane of Ardeur's virginity no match to the need he had to be deep inside of her, to claim what was his. She gasped as he pushed through the barrier, stilling him immediately in fear of her freaking out and rejecting him.

  Her hips moved against him, the movement so small he wouldn't have noticed it if he wasn't buried to the root inside of her body. “I'm okay. It doesn't hurt.” She tested the waters again and smiled at him. “I'm not afraid. You wouldn't hurt me and neither would the wolf.”

  “I know.” He couldn't believe his luck when she shifted her hips again and his own responded. She was amazing, simply amazing.

  Pulling back, he entered her once more, slowly progressing inch by inch, moving back and forth until he was drenched in sweat from his efforts to control the strength of each thrust.

  The noises Ardeur made in bed - every sigh, moan and cry - had become familiar to him as they'd explored and learned each other. This new one, part way between a grunt, a moan and a sigh stopped Brody mid-thrust to question if she was alright. “Ardeur? Goldie?”

  Beautiful blue eyes, darkened by passion, reflected his golden glow back at Brody when she opened them.

  “Puppy, if you stop now I'll never forgive you.”

  Holding back was no longer an option, that much he knew when she locked her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a hot, sultry kiss. Brody could feel every moan, every gasp of pleasure Ardeur took, run through him straight to the point where their bodies joined. “I love you, Ardeur. Damn it, I love you so much it hurts.”

  “I love you, too.” Brody's hips pumped against mine with increasing fervor. The way he slid in and out of me felt like nothing I could have imagined. Every nerve ending felt alive and ready to burst at the slightest provocation. Each muscle tight with pent up energy waiting to spill out with just the right touch, the right angle of penetration.

  The second orgasm was even better than the first. It started with the small but strong contractions of the muscles surrounding the heavy thickness of Brody's shaft and spread from there.

  Our hips met somewhere in the middle. Mine rose from the mattress and his came down to impale me again and again. What had started out as sweet and gentle had progressed to needy and frenzied.

  Where I ended and he began blurred until we cried out our mutual release into a kiss that was as greedy and molten as our bodies had been with each other.

  Brody rolled so that I lay sprawled and quivering on top of the heaving mass of his chest. We were both fighting to remember how to breathe while our bodies quaked and our hearts thundered in the aftermath.

  “Are you okay, baby?”

  I could hear the concern in his voice - the nervous, worried energy of his wolf swirling over my skin like a prickly wool blanket.

  “Okay is such an understatement, Puppy.” I kissed his chest, just above where his heart thudded, and looked up to give him a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin. “I'm fantastic.”

  His relief was tangible, the prickly blanket on my skin fading to be replaced with a delicious warmth of happiness. “Damn right you are.”

  Strong, warm hands stroked the fall of hair over my back and shoulders. “Thank you for loving me, and trusting when I didn't trust myself.”

  The last bit had been whispered but I'd caught it and slid up to kiss him. “You never have to thank me for loving you. Ever. You deserve to be loved and I'm thrilled that you chose me to love in return.” I smoothed my hands over his flushed cheeks and smiled. “I trust you with my life, Brody. Never doubt that.”

  He studied my face and waited patiently while I considered my words.

  “You made this beautiful for me when anyone else would have taken what they wanted and not cared about how it was for me.”

  “Yeah.” Brody gently slid me to the mattress next to him and sat up on the side of the bed. He leaned over to put his elbows on his knees and I heard him breathing deeply. “Thirsty?”

  I could sense that his mind was troubled and sat up as he reached for the bottle of water on the side table. “Brody? Talk to me. What's wrong?” My hand touched the middle of his broad back and pulled back when he flinched. “Was it something I said?”

  The crack of the seal on the bottle split the silence. I waited while he took a sip of water and finally turned to pin me with his warm eyes.

  “You were right when you said I would never take anything from you without your consent.” He turned and faced me fully. “I wil
l die for you. I would sell my soul so I would never have to worry about you crying a tear of sadness ever again.” He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. “I'm also worried that this - it's all a dream, or I'm crazy and none of this is real.”

  “Does this feel like a dream to you?” My hand closed over his much larger one and placed it over where my heart beat beneath my breast. “With every beat it calls out your name.” I reached out to caress his cheek with my other hand. “I am here. I am yours and I am not going anywhere. You've got me forever and there isn't anything of mine that you are not wholly welcome to. I give it all to you freely and without reservation.”

  I hoped that he understood and that what I'd said eased his worry, even if it was just a bit.

  Brody turned his face toward my hand and kissed my wrist while his eyes met and locked with mine. “It helps, a lot.” He flashed me one of his charming smiles and pulled me into a kiss that had my toes curling into the sheets with its intensity. “Now, are you thirsty?”

  “Yeah.” I laughed and he turned to retrieve another bottle of water from the side table. “I could use something cold right about now.” The curve of his back was irresistible to me. I reached out and trailed my fingers over the tanned, freckled and downright sexy line of him. “And then I want some more of you.”

  Twenty One

  “You what?” Azrael spun around to face his brother. He'd been standing in the shadows next to the French doors in the library, secretly watching the object of his desire sunbathe on the lawn.

  Identical sets of stormy blue gazes collided across the expanse of the room and locked on each other. “I told Ardeur that there was a way to free herself from you and a future as an angel of death.”

  “She'll never figure it out in time.” Rae turned his back on Tate to resume his peeping tom routine. The blue glow from his eyes washed over the sheer curtains and drew a curse from him. If he didn't calm down, the glow would give him away. “When did you share this gem of information with her?”

  The clink of ice on crystal and the ensuing splash of liquid told Rae that Tate was pouring himself a drink, whisky by the smell that drifted over - Jameson, no less.

  “Two days ago. I'm sure you didn't miss the flares of power that have been coming from their room. She's trying damn hard to figure it out and her wolf is all over helping any way he can.” Tate took a sip of the strong, fiery liquor and hissed as it burned down his throat. “Judging by the ferocity of that scowl, I'd also hazard a guess that you noticed her new sparkly piece of jewelry.”

  Rae flung himself from the window and turned to face Tate again. “Fuck you.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and dropped into one of the overstuffed chairs that flanked the sofas. “I noticed and I keep hoping the damn thing drops off her finger.”

  Tate took another sip and gracefully sat down across from his twin. “Not likely. I tested it when Ardy showed it to me yesterday.” He glanced out the window at the woman who lay stretched out on a dark blue towel forty feet from them. “It's on nice and tight. You'd almost think it was made for her given how well it fits.”

  “Again, I say, fuck you.”

  “Such vocabulary - and from an angel, too.” Tate snickered and tipped more of the golden liquid down his throat. “I shudder to think of the language you'll use when I tell you what else I know.”

  Azrael rose from his chair and flipped Tate off as he walked away. “Save it. I already know that she gave him her virginity.” He shuddered and strode for the door. “I felt it every damn time she got off.”

  “Not what I was aiming at - but thanks for the useful information. It will be tucked away for future reference and ridicule.”

  The angry slam of the door that Tate had been expecting never came. Instead, the heavy oak clicked shut, the sound barely noticeable in the silence of the library. He sat for a moment longer and then downed the remaining liquor in his glass before standing to leave the room as well.

  Brody was just coming in the front door when Metatron stepped out of the library. He smiled at the big angel and hitched his garment bag back over his shoulder. “Have you seen -?”

  “She's outside trying to bake more sunshine into her skin.” Tate shook his head, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I told her not to bother but she won't listen to me. Angels don't tan. We don't need to.”

  “Goldie knows that.” Brody chuckled and adjusted the heavy bag he was carrying. “She just likes the feel of the sun on her skin and the way I look at her ass when she wears that red Band-Aid she calls a bikini. Speaking of stuff on her skin.” He tilted his head toward the bag. “I need to get her inside this dress. We've got a dinner to attend and I don't want to be late.”

  Tate nodded and stepped out of the way. “Celebrating?”

  “Sort of.” Brody started toward the stairs and stopped three steps up. “Captain's Ball on base. I promised Ardy I'd take her.” He caught sight of a flash of gold and red behind Tate. “Right, baby?”

  A loud snap echoed through the main hall as I whipped my towel at Tate's backside and the end of it connected with a crack of cotton on denim. “Right, Puppy. Is that my dress I see hanging behind your back?”

  “It is.” He smiled at me and the curve of his lips brought out the dimples beside his mouth. “Come and get it.”

  “Oh I'm coming and I'm going to catch your fine ass too.”

  Tate's bark of laughter caught my attention and stopped me halfway up the stairs. “What's so funny?”

  “I'll tell you another time. Go catch your wolf.”

  “Suit yourself.” I shrugged and ran up the rest of the stairs. The door to the room I shared with Brody was ajar which made me narrow my eyes with suspicion. I crept along the hallway and peeked inside.

  My dress hung by the window. The sunlight made the gray blue material shimmer under its rays and it glittered off the stones that covered the hem and neckline. I had never seen a more beautiful thing in my life. “It's stunning.”

  Brody caught me from behind and wrapped his arms around me. “Not yet, but it will be once you're wearing it.” He kissed the top of my head and turned us to face our bed. A flat, blue velvet box lay on the worn coverlet. “I got you something to go with the dress. You don't need any jewelry to make you shine but I couldn't resist this.”

  He let me go and I went over to pick up the case. My fingers shook as they brushed over the soft velvet. The hinge creaked as the case opened. Inside I found the most delicate, intricate gold wire necklace. There were more diamonds and sapphires than I could count winking back at me from their resting place against the cool satin inside the case. “How did you pay for this? Brody, this must have cost a small fortune.”

  “It did but it was worth it to see the smile and the light in your eyes just now.” He lifted it from the box and fastened the clasp behind my neck. “Don't worry about how I paid for it. I can afford this one and a dozen more before it makes a dent in my bank account, darlin'.”

  My hands fluttered to my neck as the weight of the necklace settled over my collarbones. “Is there some special reason for your giving me such an extravagant gift?”

  Brody chuckled and kissed the nape of my neck before letting my hair fall back. “No, but if you need a reason for me to give you a gift, how about this one?” He turned me around to face him and brushed another kiss over the tip of my nose. “Consider it an early thank you gift for becoming my mate. If you want to?”

  “Your mate?” I glanced up at him, searched his face for an explanation.

  “I would, um, mark you as mine with a bite on your shoulder.” His hand came up and rubbed the back of his neck in that nervous gesture that told me how scared he was that I'd reject his offer. “Any other wolf that came near would know that you're mine. If they touched you - “ Brody sighed and met my eyes. The light gold of his wolf glowed behind his usual hazel. “Their life would be mine.”

  I blinked; my brain tried to process what he'd told me but balked at the idea of someone dying b
ecause of me. “So you bite me and that's it?” My heart wanted desperately to claim his as mine but the consequences seemed a bit much. “You bite me and that gives you a license to kill anyone that touches me?”

  “Shit. No.” Brody frowned. His chest expanded and contracted as he took a deep, steadying breath. “I swear.” He took my hands in the warm confines of his own and squeezed them. “I had my fill of death in the military and I don't want any of that in my life now. I want us to say the words that will bind us as mates. This wolf is yours, Goldie, claim him and me. Make us yours forever.”

  The gold in his eyes had nearly taken over the hazel and I could sense the fear in him that I would reject both man and wolf. I gave Brody a smile that I hoped showed him just how much I loved him. “I'm happy, Brody. Happier than I have ever been in my life.” I lifted his hands to my lips and kissed the knuckles of each one. “That you would choose me as your mate blows my mind. I will wear your mark with pride.”

  Brody's relief and elation brushed over me like a cool breeze seconds before he pulled me tight against him and kissed me senseless.

  “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

  I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. My face tucked into his chest with a contented sigh that warmed the material under my cheek. “You loved me. That was all I ever needed.”

  A gentle cough followed by a knock at the door turned both of us toward it. Remiele stood there with a large case in her hand. “I thought you might want some help with your hair and makeup for tonight.”

  I stepped back and looked up at Brody. The smile on his face was full of love and it warmed me.

  “Go ahead. Have some girl time, Goldie.” He picked up the bag that contained his suit and dropped a kiss on my head as he passed back around me. “I can get ready at my apartment and be back to pick you up at six.”