Underworld Lover (A Guardian Angel Romance #2)

by haron Hamilton

Daniel threw back his head and laughed. Josh had a hard time not joining him, and managed a little smirk. Claire bore into the two of them with a glare, as if she could vaporize.

  “I don’t think this is funny at all. Those two get together, and who knows what power they could wield. Let’s not get too happy about all of this.” Claire straightened her white blouse and ran her fingers through her short hair, swishing it to the sides. Josh noted how Daniel watched every movement, his half-opened dark eyes lovingly fixated on her.

  Doris leaned forward and added her two cents. “That Audray. She is the worst of the worst. Never saw a human so much like a dark angel even before she turned. Gotta be deadly now.” She shook her head. “She must’ve been a handful, Josh. Probably still is.”

  “Not for me. I am clearly not her type. Besides, she has her claws in Peter now. And I think the two of them have met their match.” Josh made a sideways glance to Daniel. His former friend would not look at him and appeared to still be stifling a smile.

  “So I’m confused,” Melanie began. “If Audray and Peter are an item, why are we not worried she will protect him, warn him if she suspects we have a plan?”

  “Because, love, Audray is incapable of loving anyone or anything but herself. To be loved by this woman would mean the kiss of death itself,” Josh said to the crowd. “I’d bet on her over Peter any day.”

  “Me too,” said Doris. She stood. “Okay, I’m off to deliver my message to Father. He already knows I’m here talking to you guys. He’ll be ordering Cedric around the office and in a foul mood with Mother until he hears from me. Best be on my way.”

  Claire walked the angel to the front door and gave her a long hug. Josh overheard their parting comments.

  “I told you I’d see you again, kid.” Doris said.

  “Yes you did. And you were right about everything. You told me to have a nice life, and I certainly have.”

  “Hell, Claire. If I’d have met someone like Daniel, who knows what I would have done? Hey, do you suppose Father will come down in my taxi?”

  Claire shrugged. She hugged Doris one last time and watched her waddle down the driveway. The former angel leaned into the door and closed her eyes. Josh knew she was saying a prayer for her safety, perhaps asking for the safety of her own unborn child. Josh read fear in her. She was not the brave former Guardian she wanted everyone to think she was.

  An hour later, Melanie watched as Doris returned with some shocking news. Father wasn’t going to come to them. He wanted Claire to go back to Heaven, temporarily, to meet with him. And he wanted her to leave with Doris tonight. Melanie was filled with fear—for all of them.

  “I’m not sure I understand, Claire.” Daniel said as he held her in his arms.

  “He told Doris the baby would be safe. I must go, my love.”

  It was difficult for Melanie to watch the two of them. Just about everyone, including James, was weeping. Claire and Josh were the only two who didn’t. And Josh had his eye on Claire. He must sense her fear, Melanie thought. He must sense everyone’s fear.

  “Doll, I gotta hurry,” Doris begged. “He said we had to get right back up there.” Doris was pacing, hands fluttering at her sides as she walked back and forth across the room.

  “Yes. Let me just get my bag.” Claire was on her way up the stairs. She came down in a few minutes later with two yellow transport bags. She handed one to Angela.

  Angela took her bag, smoothing over the canvas surface, hand-embroidered with her name in script. She touched it with her palm as if it were made of fine porcelain.

  “You kept this. You didn’t return it?” Angie looked up to Claire’s face.

  “I couldn’t. I thought I would give it to you when I next saw you. It’s yours, not mine. And it didn’t belong up there all alone.” The two former Guardians hugged.

  Josh tipped his head toward Melanie and whispered, “They can bring things back and forth between here and Heaven if they put it in the bag. Angie returned it to Claire after James performed Angie’s turning.”

  Melanie was touched with the reverence Angela had for the bag.

  Claire shouted out, “I’m ready. Wish me luck.” She hugged James. “Daniel will make a bed up for you here. Watch over him, okay?” James and Angela nodded in unison.

  Melanie saw Claire approach. “So nice to meet you, Melanie. I’m so happy for the two of you. We’re going to win. I always do.” All but Doris chuckled.

  To Joshua, Claire said, “This time you’re on the winning side. Try to stay out of trouble. Don’t let anything happen to him, or I’ll come back and turn you over my knee.”

  “I’d rather like that,” Josh returned. “And I’ll keep him away from the port.” This brought a smile to Claire’s lips.

  Daniel walked her out to the transport for a private farewell. Melanie realized she was holding her breath and at last relaxed and let go. She looked up at Josh. “How long will she be gone?”

  “Not sure. I hope not too long.”

  They watched the transport lights ascend into the night sky and disappear.

  Suddenly, a bolt of fire landed in the front yard, where the transport taxi had just lifted off. The yellow glow and resulting boom threw Daniel into the front doorway and then onto the floor inside. Another light flash erupted.

  Melanie looked at Josh, who squeezed her hands, then tore through the doorway to the outside. James followed behind him.

  “Where are they? You see them?” James yelled out as another flash of fire tore through the sky.

  “I see two of them, over the top of that redwood. I think they perched in it,” Josh called back as he ran toward the tall tree. “I’ve got to get them in the air,” he added.

  James jumped up and down, yelling and waving his arms. He turned quickly to the door. “Keep everyone inside, Angie.”

  Daniel paid no attention to the command or to the pleas coming from Angela and joined James, mimicking his actions. James began screaming at him as well.

  Through the dining room windows, Melanie saw Josh fade into the shadows of green foliage along the driveway as two winged creatures descended upon James and Daniel, hovering just above them, ready to strike. They both flapped their wings, which extended a good eight feet to either side of their skinny red-tinged bodies that were draped in ashen rags. The movement sent them briefly backward and up into the sky. Their chests began to enlarge as if they were taking a deep breath. In horror, she saw the early signs of another fire bolt coming from each of the dark creatures.

  Just before they could unleash their reign of terror upon James and Daniel below, a red laser-like bolt dropped one, then hit the other creature right in the center of his chest, causing a gaping fire-ringed hole as they fell, thudding heavily on the ground. Josh continued burning the lifeless bodies with the red beam until nothing was left but a few smoldering bones.

  Melanie saw the pain reflected in Josh’s face as he spotted her and realized she had seen his unearthly power. She saw his body, lit by the remaining embers of the fireball, tall and dark, his arms out to the sides, hands clenched in fists, his face streaked with soot, and knew she had fallen in love with the Devil himself.

  Daniel was looking at the charred remains. James ran inside to Angela. But Josh stood in the driveway, immobile, looking back at her. Her heart ached with pain. Everything had changed. No turning back now.

  Have I made the right decision?

  “They got away safe. These dark angels were sent to get the transport, but they got away,” James said to both Angie and Melanie.

  Josh and Daniel started a private conversation. Daniel nodded as Josh held him by the shoulders, propping him up. At last, they came inside. Josh kept a room’s distance away from Melanie and avoided her eyes.

  The mood had turned somber. Not sure what to do, Melanie began cleaning up the kitchen. Angela jumped in to lend a hand.

  “Leave it.” Daniel said. “You two,” he pointed to Josh then Melanie, “go home. Not sure what tomorrow will
bring. This will distract me. I need to do it.”

  James stepped forward and spoke softly to Josh, “Angie and I will stay here with Daniel. You need to take her home. Now.”

  Melanie and Josh didn’t say anything all the way back to his home. They didn’t hold hands over the center console as they had done so many times before. Melanie watched the lights of other cars and streetlamps flash by. She was filled with dread—dread for her future, dread for what Josh would say to her next. She found solace in the fact he did not take her back to her apartment, but to his home.

  Thank God.

  Josh helped her up the back porch. Just inside the kitchen door, he grabbed her in his arms. He buried his head in her hair and clutched her body.

  Melanie held him as he shuddered. She spoke to the side of his face, telling him it was going to turn out the way it was supposed to. That she regretted nothing. That she would love him forever, and was grateful for every minute they had spent together. When their faces parted, she looked at the hurt in his dark eyes, adding, “No. No more pain, my love. We must pretend that we will be together forever. That we will love each other forever.”

  He looked like the strong, proud man she would always remember, as he bent down and tenderly planted a kiss, covering her hungry mouth. She lost herself in the warmth radiating off his body and the arousal it brought forth in her. The depth of her desire for him felt endless. There simply would never be enough of him in her life.

  He picked her up, one arm under her back, the other under her knees. She saw him smile just before she laid her head against his heart and heard the steady thumping in his chest.

  He almost danced across the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom and spread her carefully on the fur coverlet. She closed her eyes, waiting to feel where he would touch her next.

  Chapter 39

  Melanie opened her eyes. Josh had not touched her. Tears spilled down into her hair while she watched him sitting across the room. He was studying her as she lay on his bed, waiting for him, longing for him.

  He must know I cannot live without him. He must surely know.

  His face was still stained light gray from the searing fireballs he had used to destroy the dark angel creatures. Deep worry lines were embedded in his forehead. Josh’s black hair hung loose at one side, over his cheek. His legs were crossed as he sat, watching her from the shadows of the corner, moonlight illuminating him just enough to fuel her arousal.

  He is tormented by what he’s shown me of his true nature. There were no more secrets.

  She rolled her head to the side, looking at the fur coverlet as her fingers traced through it, willing him with her thoughts to join her. She arched up to look at the ceiling, breathing deep, excited, feeling alive for the first time in her life, and so sure of herself. She loved the feeling of being needed. She knew her devotion to him could heal his wounded soul.

  She propped her upper body on her elbows. She slid off her shoes, one at a time, smiled, and watched him. She saw his chest rise and fall in the still night air. His breathing grew deeper when she sat up and removed her top. She slid her jeans down her thighs, to show him the sheer pink lace bikini panties she wore. They were ones he’d bought her recently, with the little satin bow at the back. He liked to rub her there as he slipped his hands into the tops of her jeans. She rolled over onto her hip, so he could see the bow. He took a deep breath.

  Yes, my love. You see what I have for you?

  His legs uncrossed.

  Good, he is getting aroused. Love me, Joshua. Show me your three hundred years of longing. Show me you are the rock I cling to, that one I cannot live without.

  Melanie came to her knees, her back to him, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. She removed her bra and dropped it to the floor. She felt the warmth of her breasts, the hardened nipples as she massaged them, still looking at Joshua’s face over her shoulder. He had licked his lips, but he stayed in the chair.

  Steadying herself as she pulled one foot then the other off the bed, she walked to him in her pink panties and knelt in front of him.

  “My love, tell me.” She put her palm on his heart. The huge muscles in his chest tightened with her touch. “Tell me what is in your heart. Can you share a morsel with me? Can I afford your thoughts?”

  She focused on his lips and saw him attempt to speak, then stop. She leaned forward, the press of her body making him spread his knees. She kneaded his thighs and felt them relax under the dark fabric of his pants. He leaned forward and kissed her. He was holding his breath.

  She made fast work of his belt buckle, pulling the button apart and leaving the zipper deliciously at half-length. She slid her hands under his shirt and watched his eyes close as her palms found the flesh of his abdomen. She unbuttoned his shirt from the bottom up, one slow button at a time. Then she sat sidesaddle on his lap to remove the white fabric from the tops of his shoulders as she kissed the parts of his body now exposed. Her mouth watered at the salty taste of his skin.

  His stained white shirt found a spot on the floor at the base of his chair. He encircled her body as she tucked close to him, cradling her knees to her chest and resting her head on the thick base of his neck. She inhaled his man scent. She turned, pressing her breasts into his chest and heard a moan arise from deep inside him.

  I need you, Joshua. Hear it in me. Hear me say it with my soul. You can feel and hear everything now about me. Have all of me.

  Melanie decided to let him come to her. She played with his nipple, floated her fingertips up and down the dusting of hairs on his chest. She traced the lines of his lips and around the circle of his ears.

  At last they kissed, long and deep. He wouldn’t let her detach her mouth from his. When she pulled away, he came forward. He kissed her neck as she rolled her head back, his hands finding the top of her panties and reaching down the front of her with hungry fingers.

  His palm went from her belly, up the middle of her and over to one breast, and then the other, as he kissed her there, his tongue laving and sucking her nipples. She felt wetness between her legs and a gentle pulsation.

  “Yes,” he said. “I hear you. I can feel what you feel. Not just the fear,” he said as his eyes began to water. “I feel what you love, what you are.” She felt the words vibrate in his chest against the white flesh of her body, sending a charge that made every hair bristle deliciously.

  “I feel what you are too,” she said. “I feel the goodness in you.”

  At this, he abruptly picked her up and moved to the bed, where he gently laid her body down and covered her mouth and neck with kisses. He rose up to remove his shoes and pants. When he knelt over her, fully naked, his erection rubbing against her thigh, she raised her leg to caress him.

  His cock soon found the home it was seeking. She gasped as he held her head, watching her eyes as he slowly slid himself inside her quivering sheath. She felt every luscious inch of him, and when he was to the hilt, she pulled him in deeper with her muscles.

  Read me. It is not possible to get enough of you. Not possible to live without this, my love.

  He moved his lips to her ear. “Yes,” he whispered.

  “Promise me you will never go. Promise me,” she said as she felt him begin to pump inside.

  “Asked and answered. You were created for me.”

  Yes. Hear me. Give me more. Oh, yes!

  He smiled, and then he gently blew on her face. The flushing of blood all throughout her body made her warm. Her fingertips and her toes tingled. Her mind was floating on a red fog of delight, detached from her body, looking down at the two of them and their naked bodies moving in a sexual waltz on the bed.

  Joshua was there for her all night long. Every twist and turn of her body brought a kiss, a caress, and a taste. He filled her, then coaxed her until her breathing was soft and she would sift herself into a gentle sleep, wrapped in his warm arms, only to be awakened again by her own desire, and he would be there again for her.

  As he
pleasured her from behind, one strong hand at her neck, kissing the top of her spine, and whispering in her ear something ancient, something that made her feel wonderful all over, she saw through her half opened eyes the pink light of an early morning. She realized he had not slept more than a couple of hours total. Her weary body was on fire with the love of him. She was sure she could spend another day of the same.

  “Sleep, Melanie. Just let me help you sleep for an hour. Sleep strong and full.” He blew on her eyelids and she felt herself fall into a blackness and land softly. She was aware of his arms encircling her waist, holding her safe, pressing her nakedness into his. Satisfied, exhausted, and warm, she sunk into a deep slumber like it would be her last.

  The ray of sunshine across her face felt like another kiss in a night of so many kisses. Of course he was there. He would awaken her to the new morning by claiming her once again.

  “I haven’t told you how much I need this. It’s probably a little too late to reveal this about me,” he whispered.

  Melanie found a smile in her soul. “No, it is the kind of surprise I like hearing. My love has an insatiable appetite? What’s the problem with that?”

  “But what shall I reveal to you tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

  “Yes, I will. I promise I will think of something new to tell you,” he said as he searched her face, then brought his hand along her jaw line. He reached under her chin and kissed her.

  “And I promise to be here to listen to you say it.”

  Chapter 40

  Melanie insisted on driving herself to the shop this day. Joshua protested at first, but was reassured when she promised to send mental messages to him throughout the morning. Over the last few days, they’d experimented with their mind connection. What worked best was if she sent him a message laced with lots of emotion, fear, or sexual tension. He said he could actually hear her voice in his ear when she did this.

  They also enjoyed their experimentation during sex, the result being more thrilling than she’d ever experienced. Their normal daily routine was broken by interludes. She was so hot for his body she could scarcely concentrate.