Josh shrugged. “The wings. Makes them weak. Only time I’ve seen a dark die of ‘natural’ causes was when he had wings. Sad, really.”
“I’m seeing more and more of them. Wonder where they come from,” Felix whispered close to Josh’s ear.
Josh looked at him squarely without saying a word.
“Oh.” Felix nodded.
With the two winged angels following at a distance behind, all four made it to the transport station. A waiting limo sat, motor running, back door open.
“You guys going for a little dive through human airspace?” Josh called out to them. He was going to use the excuse he was allergic to feathers, which was not a lie.
“Not yet,” one answered back. “I’m just showing him where it is. Once we’re cleared, then we’ll go.”
“See, Felix, not everyone gets to do what you and I do.” Josh said loud enough for the winged creatures to hear. “We don’t have to wait for air traffic control to approve our trips. No filing a flight plan or anything.” Josh flashed a gracious smile as he waved goodbye to them before sitting down in the back seat of the transport.
Just before the door closed with a solid thunk, he heard the response lobbed back, “Not yet.”
He felt a shiver race down his spine. Through the back window of the transport limo, he watched both angels arch out their wings, raise their arms into the air, then take off over the cobblestone street they had just come from. He noted their ability to bank mid-flight and soar close to the crowd below. Several people had to duck to avoid collision with part of their massive wings. It looked to Josh like they might prey on anything that moved. He was not looking forward to seeing them in the human world.
There was no evidence of a driver, but when Felix inhaled as if to begin further conversation, Josh put his hand up to stop him. They sat in silence as the transport came through the dark gray clouds of the portal to the human world.
When they exited the limo, Josh flapped his jacket several times, airing it out. He didn’t like the stench of dark feathers lingering from a prior passenger. Apparently, some were cleared for the human world.
Just fucking great.
He cleared his throat and turned to Felix, who watched as the limo sped away at lightning speed.
“Not safe to talk in there if you’re trying to keep a secret.”
“I have no secrets, Josh.”
“And you’re a liar too.”
“You got any theories why all this is happening?”
“Besides the fact we elected one scary dude as Director who is about the most paranoid asshole in the Universe? A guy who has a death wish? Nah, no theories, Felix.”
They walked through the abandoned field at the edge of the corrugated transport garage. Windows in the adjacent apartments reflected the late afternoon sunlight. Josh had never looked at these living units close up. They had just been completed. He thought it was an odd place to live, so close to the transport station. Someone would indeed have an eyeful if they watched the goings and comings.
As they arrived at the outskirts of town, Felix broke their silence. “We going to see Mel right now?”
“That was the plan.”
“I’d like to clean up a bit.”
“Fine. We’ll go to my house first.”
Walking down the wide tree-lined street of the town’s best neighborhood, Josh felt suddenly like he was going home. One look at the outside of his dark Tudor mansion filled his heart with longing for the privacy of his steam shower and the warmth of his fireplace big enough to stand a man in. It hadn’t felt like the sanctuary it did now when he’d originally bought it. But that was when the Underworld was a great place to blow off a bit of steam and he could utilize liaisons with some of the region’s most colorful characters. Now there wasn’t a one of them he trusted.
He pulled out his keys and opened the door for Felix, allowing the younger angel to enter first.
His keen sense of smell picked up something foreign. Someone had been here. Someone he had not invited.
“Felix, hold it a second. I’m getting a strange feeling.” He removed his shoes as Felix watched intently. Josh tiptoed up the stairs without a sound, barely touching the iron handrail. At the top, he looked down on Felix and motioned him to be quiet with a finger to his lips.
Upon walking through the double doors of the master bedroom, his nostrils were assaulted with a pungent burning smell. There on his bed lay the remains of Karl’s body, vaporized in the center. His head, arms, and legs were disconnected, laying in the bloody goo and charred bones that littered Josh’s bed sheets. This was not the way Josh vaporized. He didn’t like to make anyone suffer more than was completely necessary. One of his first had died miserably, screaming in pain, and he had to burn him again to finish the job. He vowed he would never do it this way again.
This focused ending had the ritual stink of Peter. Josh sank to his knees in front of the bed and looked at the expression on his friend’s face, the eyes that recorded the horror of their imminent death. Karl’s fingers were spread out, except for the first finger and thumb of his left hand, which delicately held a red rose on a long stem. Numbed to the overwhelming evidence of Peter’s evil and twisted psyche, he still noticed a strange detail. Karl’s socks did not match.
Josh saw his options shrinking by the minute as he shook himself to the reality of not only his, but Melanie’s danger. Anger boiled in his veins. He waited while it washed over him and overtook his conscious thought.
“Felix, get your ass up here right now.”
Good as requested, Felix was at his side as if he’d flown.
“Holy shit. Oh, my god. Karl?”
Josh felt tears crisscrossing down his cheeks. The message was unmistakable. He pulled himself up, came over to Felix, and punched him with a right upper cut that sent the young angel sprawling backward into the doorway, where he remained, unconscious. Josh walked over to the young angel and kicked him several times, harder with each nudge of his enormous boot, until Felix awakened.
Josh picked him up by the front of his shirt. “This is your fault, just as if you’d done it. You hearing me, Felix?”
Blood drained out of Felix’s nose, then abruptly stopped and began to disappear. His dazed look didn’t completely cover the fear resident there.
Josh continued, disgusted at the sight of the young angel’s face. “This tells me he left Melanie alive. But you’re next. And then it’s me.” Josh threw Felix towards the bed. Felix yelped and leapt midair to avoid landing on Karl’s remains.
“Okay, okay, I get it. Enough,” Felix rasped, his voice breaking. He looked over at Karl’s face and moaned again, shuddering.
“So I’ve got to go make sure she’s okay,” Josh whispered.
“What about me?” Worry lines covered Felix’s entire forehead and bridge of his nose.
“You? You get to bury him.”
“Uh huh. Where?”
“Somewhere he won’t be found. I have some extra thick yard bags in the kitchen.” Josh left the bedroom and was halfway down the stairs when he stopped. He turned to face back up to Felix, who had remained motionless, staring down at what was left of Karl.
“And Felix,” he said as he threw a money clip at him, “I better have a new king sized bed in here before nightfall.”
Chapter 28
Josh hadn’t realized he was running until he got to Melanie’s apartment and stopped to concentrate on going up the stairs quietly. Bright light was on in her living room window, and a smaller flickering one in her bedroom. With his pulse racing and fuzziness in his mouth, he desperately needed a drink. He did not knock, but merged through her front door and waited to get his bearings.
Music was playing in the living room, some instrumental Afro-Celtic rhythm he found pleasing. He sniffed the air, wallowing in the luxurious scent of her flesh. He did not sense danger or any feelings of fear coming from her. But she was there, he could tell. His body welcomed the vision of being completely consume
d with the passion of their lovemaking. He suddenly needed it more than anything else he’d ever known.
He tiptoed carefully down the hallway, peering into the living room, looking left. Melanie was on the leather divan, knees tucked to her chest, wrapped in a mohair knitted throw. Her blond hair shone like spun gold under lamplight. The book she had been reading was at an odd angle, ready to fall to the floor. This little human angel who had stolen his heart was asleep.
He knelt in front of her, smelling the sweet breath coming from deep inside her chest. He lifted the book away carefully, setting it aside on the floor. He took her hands in his.
“Melanie,” he whispered.
She awoke with a start, then, upon recognizing him, smiled and showed him the need in her eyes. It wasn’t just the need of his touch he saw; it was the need for protection.
“Joshua. I am so glad nothing’s happened to you.” She immediately began to cry.
“Shh, shh. It’s okay. I’m fine.” Josh climbed onto the divan and tightly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body against his. He repositioned the fuzzy wrap over both of them. “Don’t be afraid. Did he hurt you?”
“You know he came here?”
“I guessed. You hurt?”
“No. What’s going on?” She sighed. “He said…” She was overcome with tears. “He said he sent you to—to—bring me to him.” Melanie’s eyes searched his face. Josh felt his cheeks warm with the shame of a secret he did not want to reveal.
“I have much to explain, my love. I have a lot to answer for. Soon.”
She nestled her head just below his jaw and sighed. Josh was struck with how natural this was, how his body perfectly sheltered hers, how he wanted to protect her forever. And then he thought of Karl.
“What did he say?” Josh ventured.
“He knows you’ve been here.”
“Does he know…”
“You mean does he know how much my body aches for you? How you make me feel, Joshua?” Melanie lifted her face to his. Her lips barely touched his as she continued, “Does he know what we did here? That I belong to you?” They lightly kissed again, and then she sighed. Her warm sweet breath made his face tingle and his ears buzz. “No. I tried to hide those feelings from him. But he may suspect.”
The nearness to her flesh was driving Josh’s body into oblivion. Unable to hold back, he kissed her mouth, then her eyes and the sides of her face. Her awakened libido matched his pace as she kissed his neck and the top of his chest. He slid his hands over her ass through her jeans, and up under the front of her pink knit top. He needed to be covered in her scent, with the warmth of her body. He needed to hear her breathing, feel how she pushed herself to match his desire. He did nothing to alter her state, careful not to breathe on her as much as he could. The delicious result was he felt she came to him completely willingly, of her own accord. The pleasure it brought him exceeded any gifted dark angel he’d had, even with Josh’s special enhancements.
Josh lifted her tiny body and carried her to the bedroom, laying her outstretched on the bed. On her dresser was a lit candle. By the light of the flame, he pulled off his shirt and removed the rest of his clothes as he watched her disrobe. She writhed on the satin bedcover until she was unpeeled and completely, glowingly, pink and naked. As he looked down at the valley between her legs he could not recall ever wanting a woman’s flesh more—either angel or human.
She raised her chin to the ceiling as his lips found her sex, and his tongue lapped and tasted her juices. She raised her knees, bringing her pelvis closer to his hungry mouth. Her hands flew out to the sides and grabbed the coverlet as his tongue curled and slowly found her opening and invaded it.
“Tell me you will not stop until the morning,” she whispered.
He smiled wickedly. “Careful for what you wish for.” Josh was sure she didn’t know that while it would be possible for him to do such a thing, she probably could not. “But I will give you all you need, and then some.”
“Yes,” she said as she sat up, moving her chest to press against his. Josh liked her initiative.
“You’re sure you’ve not done this many times before?” He chuckled as she headed down to suckle his nipple and then began to lower her mouth further.
“You make me feel this way. You bring it out of me.”
This stopped Josh cold. “No, Melanie,” he said as he held her face between his hands. “You must understand, I am not doing this. I am capable of altering your state, but I am not doing it. This is all you, love.” He stroked her back, ending in the plump roundness of her buttock cheek.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care,” she whispered as she disengaged her face and kissed the other nipple.
“But I do, Melanie. I do.”
She was on him, pushing him to his back as she drew one thigh over his and balanced her soft peach over his stiff erection, stroking it with the red-hot lips of her vulva. On one of the long rubbing motions, his cock became snagged in the flesh at her opening, and his head found the way to her core. She took him into her body so deep he was worried for her comfort. She shuddered, moving up and down his shaft, eyes closed, hands pleasuring and squeezing her own breasts.
He held her hips, moving them back and forth as she ground her body down on top of him, then up in a graceful arch to the tip of his head, then back down again. He felt the rhythmic pressure of the muscles deep inside her, clamping down around him, drawing him out, and then deeper still.
Melanie’s body rocked in spasms as she looked into his eyes. He watched the pleasure of her orgasm in her sweet face as he felt the pulsations around his cock.
He shifted their bodies, continuing the gentle pumping as they turned to their sides, and then he raised her knees above his shoulders and pressed deep into her as she lay on her back. She held his shoulders, squeezing them, digging her fingernails into his flesh. His chest pressed against hers. He could feel the soft mounds of her breasts, could feel her legs giving him deep access to her so that he was buried to the hilt. Again Melanie’s body began to spasm, and she looked at him. In that fleeting moment, Josh saw fear.
“Yes. Sometimes it happens more than once. Sometimes it’s stronger the second time.”
She closed her eyes and smiled dreamily. He watched as she gave herself into the passion. He blew a little breath over her and her eyes opened wide, then another smile, which he quickly claimed with his lips.
She began to moan as he felt his release come forward, filling her. Her little body shook. He poured into her as if it had been one hundred years of need.
Maybe it’s three hundred years.
She was sleeping, tucked into the cradle his chest and thighs made, her backside against his groin. His lips buried in the blond hairs at the back of her neck and he inhaled her essence. He could sleep but didn’t want to miss a minute of their pairing and the delicious aftermath, basking in the glow of their love.
Though he knew it was unwise, he felt safe with her. He felt as if everything was as it should be. If the universe came crashing down around them, as he knew it surely would, they would be safe if they could remain together, wherever that might be.
He remembered Claire, and how she had fought to stay with Daniel but in the end, had left him for the safety of Heaven. Josh was sure he would not have made that same decision. He would follow Melanie wherever she had to go. For them, there could never be a separation. So, instead of living, like Daniel and Claire, perhaps theirs would be a love shared in death.
Got to keep my wits about me. Can’t forget to stay focused.
As he kissed her shoulder, he knew he would have to be thinking for the both of them now. She was fully his responsibility. The entanglement and tether he felt filled him with a pleasure he had never experienced before.
Melanie trusts me.
He wasn’t so sure he could trust himself so unconditionally.
Chapter 29
Josh and Melanie lingered in bed until she’d noticed how late it was an
d headed for the shower. He thought for a few minutes about a world that could never be, where they could leisurely get up and have breakfast, go for long walks in the woods, or spend the night at the beach. Missing from the dream was the danger he now felt laced into everything he did. The longer he waited the more minions Peter was collecting, calculating, and preparing himself for battle with the forces of Heaven.
He’d been popular and had hordes of acquaintances, even fans, like Beau Bradley did. But how many of these were true friends? Who could he trust?
I’ve done it alone for centuries. I wanted it that way.
He’d tried to “turn” a partner in crime. He regretted not being able to claim Daniel’s soul, his one failure as a dark angel. If he’d succeeded, they would have rutted their way through the underworld together. Cure Josh’s boredom.
But Daniel got shagged by love.
And now I am. Melanie has claimed my dark soul.
Suddenly he thought about the former Guardian, Claire. Could he benefit from her wise counsel? That is, if she’d agree?
The sight of Melanie draped in a towel, standing at the foot of the bed, made his cock stand to attention, as he was sure she intended.
“I guess I could be a little late.” Her coy smile hid halfway behind golden curls. Her alabaster shoulder called to Josh—he needed to feel his lips on her moist flesh.
“You are wearing me out, little one,” he said, smiling.
She came to the bed and dropped her towel. “And you’re a bad liar.”
Josh watched her blond curls fall to his belly as she peeled off the covers and licked the length of his cock. She pushed it between her two plump lips and wrapped her tongue around his shaft. He suddenly didn’t care if she ever opened up the shop again. She belonged here.
With him.
A half hour later, she was dressed and ready to start the day.
“For your protection, I won’t be kissing you in public, okay?” he said as he embraced her at the top of the stairs. Josh had remained naked. “Go now, but watch for anything strange and call me the instant you feel you need to.”
Underworld Lover (A Guardian Angel Romance #2) Page 16