by Joey W. Hill
“Do you want to obey me?”
She nodded, a quick jerk. “Want to…come for you.”
He brought his body down on hers even further, dropping her lower into the sand, canting her ass back into his so his cock slid in another inch. Pushing his jaw beneath hers, he levered up her chin and clamped his mouth hard on her jugular, catching her breath in her throat. Holding her fast, he spoke in her mind, one short command.
Then do it.
She let out a strangled cry, her weight all on her knees as she lost the ability to hold herself up. He had her, though, one arm firm around her waist, the hand squeezing her breast, giving the nipple another ruthless tweak as he launched her straight over the edge, no chance to grab on or resist. She screamed, the vibration against his lips, her pussy frantically trying to milk that one part of his cock he was letting her have. It was too much temptation for him. He shoved into her in one hard thrust, and that scream reached breaking point. But hell, he was right there with her.
He pistoned into her, holding onto her throat, relishing every cry, every quiver of her body. Both her hands eventually found the arm around her body, latching onto him there. It was as if she was depending on him for gravity, for everything, afraid of nothing, at least in this moment. Yet even in the midst of all that, she wanted more.
“Come for me, too,” she begged. “I need to feel you.”
I’ll give you whatever you want. Always. My mate. My love. He let go of her throat as the climax overcame him, but he kept his temple pressed close to hers, holding her tight as he drove into her, drew out her climax and brought forth his own. His wings had unfolded to brace him and add thrust to the movement, and she reached, wanting. He saw what she desired in her mind, and managed to bring them forward enough she could grab the curved edges and bring them down so his wings flanked his shoulders and curved around in front of her, her face pressed into them.
She cried out again as he released fully, and he kept them going through those delightful, almost unbearable waves, their bodies moving together. It was like a never-ending tide, going higher and higher, but then, at last, came the ebb. Still, he took his time, slowing the pace but keeping it going as long as she was making those delicious little aftershock quivers, clutching him inside. When at last he eased to a halt, he dropped his head so his face was pressed into the center of her back. He liked the resting spot, brushing languid, wet kisses on the line of her spine as he slowed his pounding heart.
She took a deep, shuddering breath. When he moved them into a spooned position, propping himself on his side, she kept hold of his wings so one was beneath them. She overlapped them in front of her, the one dark wing and one white wing, tangling the two sets of feathers together. As she sandwiched them, white, black, white, black, then white, white, black, he pressed his lips against a smile and stroked her hair, her shoulder.
“This makes me want Oreos,” she said. “Double-stuffed.”
He laughed, he couldn’t help it. When he put both arms around her to squeeze her in a hard, far-too-strong hug, she squirmed in half-hearted protest, but then subsided. “I’m imagining all the cravings a pregnant sea witch might have,” he said. “And the different parts of the universe I’ll have to visit to satisfy them. ‘I’m sorry, Jonah, I know we’re facing an invading force of XYZ right now, but Mina really needs watermelon. And chula berries from the Zorgon galaxy.’”
“You made that up.”
“Yes, I did. You’re so smart.”
“You’re an ass.” She pinched his arm, then laid her head on it, still playing with his feathers. Her gaze was outward, though, toward the lagoon, or so he thought. Following her gaze, he saw the sand shifting, turning. Feeling the frissons of energy moving along her flesh like a warm breeze suddenly called from over the tropical water, he propped himself up further on his elbow to see what it was she was creating.
“Once, when walking down the beach,” she said, “I found a sculpture someone had made in the sand, of a mermaid. It was complex, beautiful. So much time and effort for something the tide and wind take away in a few days. It’s so short. Everything is so short. What if she hates me?”
“If she’s a normal kid, sometimes she’ll think she does. That’s the way it works with kids and parents. Sometimes in other relationships, too. Like you and me. Sometimes you hate me, but you always love me.”
“I do not.”
“Which one? You don’t hate me? Or you don’t love me?”
She sniffed, refusing to answer, and he smiled again, watching the sand turn, settle, shift.
“Do you ever hate me?” she asked in a low voice, not taking her eyes off what she was doing.
He wouldn’t disrupt her magic, but he did close the small distance between their bodies again, tightening his hand around her waist, putting his lips to her temple.
“No. I have thoughts of spanking you or dunking you in cold water, or sometimes tying your hair in knots when you sleep, just because you make me crazy, but I’ve never hated you, Mina. And I never will. I feel so much for you, sometimes I think I’ll burst the seams of the universe with it.”
She swallowed. When she spoke, it was barely louder than the wind, but he heard it, just the same, thanks to his angel hearing. “I feel the same way about you.”
She so rarely said it, it was always a gift, but he knew better than to make a big production out of it. He just held her and wished he could give her everything, heal every wound, destroy every fear before it had a chance to enter her mind, a guardian at the gate. He couldn’t do that. But he could get her Oreos. Double-stuffed.
“I was wondering why you were still here. You should have been back with a tubful of them by now.”
“Eavesdropper. I wanted to see what you’re making.”
“You’ll see when you get back.” Her hand closed over his, fingers twining in a rare moment of intimacy she initiated. “I want to surprise you. Please.”
“Okay. I’ll stretch it out. How long do you need?”
“Five minutes. Maybe fifteen.”
“Fifteen’s too long. How about ten?”
“You just like to have the last word.”
“I like having you.” His hand slipped down, caressing her between her legs, enjoying the wetness still there from their coupling. Her thighs loosened automatically at his touch, which never failed to stir his arousal again.
“Oreos,” she said, with a touch of annoyance. Though her hips moved against him, telling him her body was responding, despite her supposed irritation.
He was laughing as he took to the sky, wondering what she’d concoct by the time he came back.
Part Five
Sometimes he liked watching her when she wasn’t aware he was there. It wasn’t to eavesdrop or abuse her trust. He just enjoyed seeing what she did when she was all by herself, because there was no part of her he didn’t want to know or experience.
In the beginning, watching her without her knowledge hadn’t been easy. She’d lived her first twenty years in a constant state of vigilance, beset by a variety of enemies. As such, he pretty much had to employ all the stealth abilities he had, because her senses, both mundane and magical, were as fine-tuned as a bat’s radar. As time progressed, however, he’d been secretly pleased to notice a minute change. Her subconscious recognized his presence before the rest of her did. Even before she saw he was there, she’d start relaxing, the tension going out of her shoulders, her focus increasing on what she was doing, rather than startling at every noise, looking around like a watchful animal.
Then there’d been the day he realized she was starting to be comfortable in the places he left her when he had to be with the Legion. Her faith in the connection between their minds, the one that could put him at her side in a matter of seconds, had grown. At that turning point, it became far easier to observe her for a few precious moments unannounced, because she trusted he would be there if she needed him, to ward off any threat.
That was the case now as he silen
tly made his landing on the lagoon beach. She was sitting on her hip, her legs folded beneath her, her head bent in an attentive manner to something she was holding. It was the timeless maternal posture of shelter, of nurturing. As he moved toward her, his heart skipped a beat, his breath catching in his throat.
She’d created a child out of the sand, an infant. A little golem with the glitter of sand crystals in the rough-textured skin, but a babe nevertheless. She was holding it as a mother would, against her bare breast, rocking and singing to it. Tiny fists waved, and dark eyes blinked up at her, a small mouth opening and closing against her flesh as if seeking nourishment.
As he watched, Mina shifted from human to merform, coiling one tentacle around the babe. The venom in the suckers couldn’t affect the sandy form, so she lifted the creation above her head, making gentle dips and lifts, as if she was showing her how to fly through the air without the benefit of wings. The infant cooed and chuckled, even when Mina turned her upside down and rocked her that way. The sea witch turned her head sideways as if trying to look upside down as well, and a small smile played on her beautiful mouth.
“Yes, that’s the best way to see the world sometimes,” she informed the babe. “Completely topsy-turvy.” Then she stilled and glanced over her shoulder. “You like sneaking up on me.”
“Sometimes. I get to see some remarkable things.” He found his body was a little loathe to move, caught in the spell of watching her, but he made himself do it, not wanting to spook Mina by reacting too strongly.
He needn’t have worried. She sniffed at his comment, but her focus was on other things. “My cookies?”
He grinned. He’d gotten a whole package. Unlike many of the angelic legion, because he spent time with Mina in the desert and other human-inhabited areas, he carried a small amount of currency. He’d whisked through the store unseen, but left the money tucked into the cash register. It wouldn’t show up in inventory, but at least he wasn’t a thief.
“You and the Legion have saved the planet about a billion times. I don’t think a store owner would begrudge an angel a box of Oreos. Unless he’s completely heartless and needs to spend time in Hell with Lucifer.”
“You’re eavesdropping again.”
“Tit for tat.” She opened the cookies, bringing the golem back down to her lap, holding it there in a coil of tentacles. Disturbingly, the position seemed part yoga lotus position and part sunning snake, holding its prey.
Biting into one of the cookies, Mina closed her eyes, an act of involuntary bliss that amused him. “When I figured out that humans didn’t really belong here,” she said, “I thought it wouldn’t matter if they got obliterated. Didn’t really understand why you expended so much effort for them. But this…” She picked up another Oreo, inhaled it deeply. “This justifies their existence. Are you going to sit with me?”
Though he knew the sand baby was illusion, it awed him enough that he eased down next to her with a funny sense of reverence. Looking at his face, she stopped chewing, her eyes getting a similar stillness as she considered his expression. She swallowed. “I just thought…I thought we might want to see what it would feel like.”
As his gaze shifted to her, she lifted a shoulder, giving in to full honesty, because he never let her get away with less. “I wanted to see what it would feel like.”
He nodded. “So what do you think?”
She looked back down at the babe. When she reached down, it captured one of her fingers in its own. Grains of sand scattered over her knuckles. “It was unexpected. I felt…shaky, when I held her for the first time. Which is entirely ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not. Because you’re preparing for the reality.” Tentatively, he reached out toward the golem’s other hand and had his own finger seized. It tightened his throat, seeing tiny fingers around his one large one. Sand sprinkled his battle-callused knuckles. Glancing at Mina, he suppressed a sudden soft smile, leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth, taking away a few Oreo crumbs. Then he shifted for the full taste of her, teasing her tongue with his own, tasting chocolate, cream icing and Mina. He felt a small ripple of energy right before he did it, and knew his sweet witch had made sure he could taste the cookie, since without that magical effort, everything but manna tasted like sawdust to him. It was something she never forgot to do for him, a small, precious gift that said so much to him about what and who she was.
“Are you glad she’ll be a girl?” Mina studied him with serious eyes as he lifted his head at last. He braced his other arm behind her so she could lean up against the shelter of his shoulder. When she put her head down on his chest to study their practice baby, he buried his nose in her hair, enjoying the way the raven strands felt drifting across his face with the lagoon’s light breeze.
“I’m glad she’ll be ours. I don’t care what the baby is. She’s part of us. That’s all that matters.”
“I just wondered. Sometimes men like sons. You know, to carry on their bloodline, or teach them how to play baseball. In the books I’ve read, that’s what humans feel.”
“I’m not human.”
“But you were. A lot of you still is.”
“Mina, when you gave me your heart, you gave me everything I could ever want. Having a child with you…it’s like finding out Heaven has a whole other level I didn’t know about, but it’s still Heaven. You understand?”
Lifting her head, she gave him her trademark suspicious look. “You are a very strange man,” she decided. “It will arrive completely helpless, unable to feed or clothe itself, with no regular sleep patterns. No proper hygiene habits for the first several years of its life, so you have to do all sorts of unmentionable things to manage its waste. That’s what you’re calling a different version of Heaven. A different version of Hell is far more likely.”
He laughed out loud. “Though I refuse to tell you where I learned this very important lesson,” he said, attempting to look solemn, “I have discovered the things I love most in this life are quite capable of representing both Heaven and Hell.” He snuck a cookie from the tray and held it up. “Dark and light often taste best together.”
She narrowed her gaze at him, but then shrugged and looked back down at the infant. It had grabbed her hair. She touched its stomach, spoke softly. As they watched, it twisted, moved around to all fours, and then managed to make it to its feet. The sand child precariously swayed, then toddled a few steps. Bending to capture two more handfuls of sand, it tossed them out with jerky movements and a delighted laugh. David automatically shifted, curving his wing to shield Mina’s face as the sand blew back over them in a playful sweep.
Mina dug into the Oreos again and lifted one to David’s mouth. Taking a bite and chewing, he gazed down into her lovely face. “You’re feeling generous.”
“It happens.” Feathering her fingers through the hair on his brow, she stroked the side of his face, her expression becoming pensive. Her thumb passed over his lips, collecting the crumbs then placing them on his tongue. Her body was pressed to his, and he could feel a need in her, a mixture of the physical and more. Brow creasing, he slid his arm around her, palming her buttock and hip to hold her near.
“Mina?”
“I want to take you somewhere. I checked with Jonah. He said it wasn’t technically okay, but since, quote ‘You pretty much do whatever you damn well please anyway’, he said he wasn’t going to stop me. Which I think was his way of saying it was all right. It’s only breaking a few rules that are stupid, anyhow. And no, you’re not taking me there. I’m taking you. I’ve been practicing my transporting through the folding of space and time, and it’s going pretty well. I felt a lot less squashed the last time I did it. And I ended up in the dimension I expected. Your feathers shouldn’t be too matted when we come out the other side.”
“Oh, good. I feel reassured.” But he was truly less concerned about that than the odd confusion of emotions he felt going through her now. He knew when she didn’t want him to pry and read things ahead of time, a
nd he definitely got that vibe now, so he curbed it, since it seemed important to her. “Mina, are you sure…whatever it is you’re about to do, is it something you want to do?”
“You’re a liar,” she said bluntly, startling him. “There are things that are important to you, beyond me. Things you wish and hope for. You always make it about me. This is something I’m giving to you.” Lifting the Oreos, she gave him a querulous look. “These were about me. So the next few minutes get to be about you.”
“All right.” But as she shifted back to human legs and rose, dusting herself off, he still did his own check, reaching out briefly to Jonah’s mind. Fortunately, with angels, intent and feeling were sufficient, no need for specifics. His commander’s response was reassuring, a confirmation of Mina’s position, in less acerbic terms. Whatever she was planning, Jonah was on board with it, though David caught the same sense of apprehensive expectation. As if they weren’t sure how he’d react. Curious.
“We need to go now,” Mina said. It took David a moment to tune in and realize she wasn’t talking to him. The sand child turned and toddled back to her. Mina bent over it, her hand on its head. When she extended her other hand to David, he took it, letting her draw him closer. He put his other palm on top of hers, so they were both touching the babe. It looked up at them with laughing eyes, eyes that swirled away in a cloud of sand as it dissipated, becoming part of the beach again. In the same moment, David felt the reality around them start to shift. Mina’s hand tightened on his, a small direction to remain motionless as her focus went inward.