Another enamel cabinet held the sink, with racks for dishes and tableware at the top, and more storage under. Next to the sink stood a massive 1950s-era gas cook stove with warming bins on top. Miya had maximized the timeless quality of the house and put her own stamp on it with artistic touches that fit perfectly. She'd taken what most people would toss out and made it not only serviceable, but beautiful. Miya's quaint little house was too clean and too pure for the likes of her. Nothing could scrub away the hell Kassie had survived. She was certain of it.
But then, that…oh God… angel—Kassie could hardly bring herself to think the words, especially with how she felt about him—had touched her. The nightmare hadn't disappeared like it never happened, but it had become bearable. She no longer felt as if her soul had been shredded. She would live, and her body and spirit would mend.
But even in thanking him, she'd done wrong. She couldn't simply fall to her knees and offer a prayer of gratitude. No. Not her. Instead, she'd kissed him. Oh God she'd kissed him like the brazen whore she was. She should wish for the ground to open up and swallow her, or for God to strike her down. But oh God what a kiss! Try as she might, no matter how wrong it was, she couldn't resist hoping it would happen again.
Everything was happening so fast, like a dream. Nothing felt real since three rough-looking strangers shoved into her kitchen and forced her up against the counter at knifepoint while they demanded to see Carrington. The nightmare started in that heartbeat and didn't end until Lyght scooped her and Tyler up in his arms in that damn rabbit hole those bastards had shoved them in. It could all very easily turn out to be a dream after all. And while part of her wished that were the case, most of her begged for it to be real. At the same time, terror rode her hard that only the nightmare portion would prove true, that Lyght was nothing more than a dream.
He was…So. Very. Beautiful. Real or dream, he was better than anyone like her deserved to behold. And she'd kissed him.
And he kissed her back.
She had been very happy for her Sam finding such an amazing man as Toren, but she wouldn't lie. At the same time, she'd been shamefully envious. She wanted a man like that to love her. Maybe she didn't deserve it, but she wanted it.
And that made her feel even worse, as if the desire were a betrayal of her sweet Bill. Her love for him had been very real, but with more than a thirty year gap in age, the love making hadn't been all she might have hoped for. And as the ranch foreman, Bill had borne witness to the dirty details of Kassie's life there with Sam's bastard of a father. So when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, he offered marriage and a degree of financial security in exchange for friendship and care in his last years. The only reason Sam's father allowed it was because Bill had cleverly asked her publicly, then turned and asked for the bastard's blessing. As much as that had irked Kassie, she knew Bill had done it that way to ensure his cooperation.
Then Bill finally died. Kassie never expected to care for another man, or to even want to, but she hadn't realized how much she had come to depend on his friendship to help her cope. It wasn't long before loneliness began to take a serious toll.
When Toren came along, she was sure Sam had snagged the last good man—and the hottest—on Earth. Until this guy Lyght showed up. What a name. What eyes. What a body. Oh. My. God. What a kisser!
Kassie placed a hand on her stomach to still the flock of butterflies threatening to fly off and take her with them. She busied herself with the breakfast dishes out of desperation for something to occupy her hands while the vivid memory replayed with swooning force. Miya and Lesedi were talking quietly in the living room offering no distraction from Mr. Perfection sitting at the tiny kitchen table, watching her.
Lord, she could feel his eyes on her. Of course he saw all her flaws, and her age. She'd always been prettier than average and as she grew older, everyone complimented her on how beautiful she was for her age. But, from the wrong side of thirty, she knew very well that a man—no, an angel—would clearly see every year, every heartache and every tear. They were all etched on her skin in the wrinkles and stretch marks. Oh God the stretch marks. They'd faded with age, nearly invisible in the right light, but she had far more than her fair share of them. The thought of him seeing them made her cringe. Then she cringed for even thinking he would. Of course he wouldn't. He'd have no interest in sex, let alone in sex with her. For God's sake, he was an angel!
Sudden warmth stirred the little hairs at the nape of her neck and Kassie turned, startled. "Shit!" There he stood, one lean hip resting against the edge of the counter, putting him right up in her personal space. That closet sized kitchen made escape impossible and forced her to stay put, her breasts a hairsbreadth from his chest. If she breathed too deeply her nipples would brush against his shirt. The thought tightened her lungs with the need for more air.
He gave her a slow sexy grin, drawing her attention to his mouth and reminding her how it felt on hers. His expression clearly said he knew just why she was so nervous and that he was quite aware of the thoughts racing through her mind. "I think I don't like how I make you nervous. I'd prefer another reaction."
Yep, see? He knew it all. "Y-you think?" His god blessed gorgeous gaze lowered to her lips and of course she felt the need to lick them in that very instant. She swiped at them with her hand next, sure there was food on them.
"Well, I do kind of like it."
Oh. She fanned her cheeks a little and he faced her completely, leaning closer. She was in trouble. Deep. Right up to the nipples straining toward his chest, hoping for some whisper of contact.
"Your temperature rises when I'm near." More sexy smiles. "It's a fascinating response to my powers. My presence should relax you. Yet I seem to have the opposite effect. And I find I quite enjoy it." He angled his head to the side just a little and studied her, his expression serious despite the smile continuing to curve that mouth.
A lock of soft-looking, nearly white hair fell across his sun-kissed forehead tempting her to brush it back with her fingers. She even had a ready excuse. The strands lay right next to that silvery white gaze framed with thick black eyelashes, only millimeters from getting into his eyes. She almost gave in to the impulse to raise her hand, but the act felt motherly. She felt far from maternal toward him. "So you…like making me nervous?"
He scanned her face slowly. "Very much."
The husky note in his voice reached right in and turned her thermostat up to volcanic. It also ruined any plans she might have harbored of showing him how very odd it was to take such delight in another person's discomfiture.
He moved even closer, close enough so that all she could see was his full, perfect mouth. Her lips ached and her lungs refused to draw in enough air. She attempted a deep breath and gave in to the impulse to lick her lips, realizing too late that he might interpret the automatic gesture as an invitation. To kiss. God help her.
He stopped a few inches before touch down and Kassie gasped a little from an intoxicating mixture of anticipation and fear he wouldn't go on.
He paused and slowly closed his eyes. A low feral sound vibrated from his throat or body, reminding her of a wild animal staking a claim. The contrast to his beauty startled her. "You do strange things to me, woman."
The half-growled words fanned his breath against her face and the clean winter scent made her wish she had a mint for her own.
He gazed into her eyes as if probing her reaction and estimating the potency of his effect on her. "Did you like kissing me?"
"No." The half whisper, gasp came without thought. As if she were capable of not liking his kiss.
He pulled back a little like the reply startled him, but not far enough to give her thinking room. "Why do you lie?" A smile tugged at the corner of his delectable mouth.
Lie? A tiny laugh gushed out of her. How could she have answered so very wrongly? "I think it was a joke," she whispered.
His exotic eyes sparkled with a hundred shards of silvery hues. He lowered them to her lips,
presenting a perfect fan of jet black lashes before they slowly rose back up. He pinned her with his intense gaze. "Do you want to kiss me again?" A heartbeat later, he swept the tip of his tongue over his full lower lip and sent rockets of excitement exploding in her stomach. "Your heart rate answers for you." He leaned in again.
It seemed like a good idea to keep her eyes open. A tiny grip on reality. She'd need it.
He brushed his lips against hers, silky soft. "I like the way you taste."
She couldn't hold back her whimper and he paused, his body making that strange animal noise again. "That sound you make…" He licked along the seam of her lips and she gasped, grabbing the counter ledge behind her. "I really like it."
He slid a hand up along her neck and into her hair until those large fingers cradled her head. He nibbled oh so gently at her lips, stealing Kassie's lousy control as well as more whimpers from that buried hunger she'd never known existed inside her. Heat embraced her every cell until she trembled with need and want and longing. To be taken by a real man who…who really liked her…who really wanted her.
Her heart slammed into her ribs as warmth danced across her neurons. She lost the battle with the logical part of her mind, the part that insisted the entire thing had to be a fantasy. Her fingers laced into his soft hair, pulling urgently, desperate for more, for all of him and all of whatever was going to happen between them.
Lyght gasped right in her mouth, taking her hungry submission eagerly. His other hand gripped the front of her neck, fingertips applying sensual pressure. She might have been scared of the vulnerability but she hungered for his touch too much to care. He seemed using his touch to feel the sounds she made. And she surely was making them.
His tongue probed every crevice of her mouth, tasting, possessing. Her needful moans grew in both volume and intensity with the building tension in her belly and the maddening ache between her legs.
"'Scuse me?"
Kassie jumped and pushed Lyght away, smoothing the oversized sweatshirt she'd borrowed from Miya. "Tyler, sweetie!" She hurried to the tall boy leaning weakly against the doorframe. Shame at being caught necking with an angel lit her cheeks on fire.
"Is there something to eat? I'm hungry."
Kassie glanced at Lyght who stood there, staring at her as though the kiss hadn't been interrupted, his smoldering eyes reflecting a desire that made her knees shake. That man was trouble with a capital T, as her mother would have said. "Have a seat young man. I cooked a special breakfast just for you. We'll have you all strong and feeling better in no time." She touched the tip of his nose with a finger and kissed his forehead. "Now you have a seat and I'll get your plate." She guided him to sit at the little table.
She busied herself getting Tyler's breakfast ready, glad to have something legitimate to take her attention off the memory of Lyght's kisses. Massive relief washed over her when Lyght left his distracting spot against the counter and sat next to Tyler in the only other chair at the little dinette table.
He reached out and tousled Tyler's now clean and fluffy dark sandy hair. "How do you feel, lad?" Lyght put his elbows on his knees, bringing his face close to the boy.
Kassie watched Tyler to see if he were scared of Lyght. She couldn't blame him if he were after what he'd been through at the hands of other men. Working quickly, she filled his plate full to the brim with the bacon, eggs and pancakes she'd prepared.
"I feel pretty good." An easy smile lit his face, even his eyes before he scratched his cheek and pulled his knees up to his chest. Kassie smiled, liking that he was comfortable enough to do that. Also liking that new color in his cheeks. Well hell, he looked brand spanking new. You'd never know he just came from spending weeks in one hellhole after another, starved and roughed up at every turn. He even seemed a little older now.
Kassie regarded Lyght and nearly dropped the boy's plate when his gaze landed on her. His eyes were clear windows to his thoughts, and they weren't sweet breakfast thoughts. Images of long sweaty nights and entangled bodies, intimate kisses and raging desire raced through her mind and left her breathless. Self-preservation spun her around to get busy with something, anything else. As if he knew exactly what preoccupied her, he flashed her a smile that made her want to lick his lips. The man seemed as curious and desperate to connect with her as she was hungry for him. Almost like…her hand froze on the cabinet door for a second before she jerked it open and got a cup. Surely he wasn't a…a….
"Need some help?"
"Shit!" she hissed, nearly jumping out of her skin.
Lyght chuckled and she gasped when he reached around her for a piece of bacon, pressing his body into hers—full body contact—leaving no secret of his desire. He kissed her on the cheek, silky lips lingering sensually, before gracefully turning to lean his no doubt perfect butt on the counter, chomping away. "You're an amazing cook. I should like to cook for you one day."
She sputtered out stupid noises and took Tyler his food. "It's bacon. Anyone can cook bacon." She dropped a little kiss to the top of Tyler's head. "Wouldn't that be a nice change, though? I can hardly imagine such a thing." She cheerily set the food down. "Having a man do all the cooking?"
A ravenous look replaced Tyler's shy smile when his food was before him.
"That's it, you dig right in and eat as much as you like. What would you like to drink? There's milk and juice."
"Milk, please," he mumbled around a mouth full of pancake.
"Coming right up." She hurried to the fridge, painfully aware of Lyght's eyes all over her. Lord help me not drop anything or trip on my feet. Why does he have to stare at me so hard? What am I saying, I love it. God you know I'm a natural-born klutz, so please give me grace and the right words to say. "Here you go sweetie."
"Can I see you in the next room, Kassie?"
She stood and faced Lyght who suddenly seemed fiercely…something she couldn't quite identify. She nodded. "Of course." Patting Tyler's head, she kissed his cheek and whispered, "I'll be right there in the next room. Just call out if you need anything, okay?"
Chapter Seven
Lyght took Kassie's hand and quickly led her into the spare bedroom. She shut the door and turned, once again startled by his close proximity. She stepped back into the wall as if to escape him and Lyght placed his hands next to her head on the light green plaster. He stared into her beautiful blue eyes, so vivid and pure.
If she had his powers, she'd know that his body was going crazy in that second, being so close to a woman of such faith. Awareness lay in the back of his mind of the strangeness of his arousal being connected with her faith and prayers. Those qualities should inspire his mind, not his cock. Nonetheless, every time she offered up a simple prayer, or some thought that demonstrated her beliefs, his newly discovered sexual response ratcheted up another notch. Combined with his burgeoning response to physical and emotional stimuli, his desire to possess her engaged his restraint in a very close battle.
Ever since he'd distracted her with that kiss, he'd been unable to stop craving her. Add her praying into that, and he was nearly crippled with the need to taste and touch her, to bring forth those glorious sounds of her passion that haunted his every brainwave. "You prayed to God in the kitchen."
Confusion filled her eyes then slowly cleared with awe. "How do you…"
He leaned in and slid his nose along her cheek, smelling her. "I can hear everything about you." The words quivered with the power flowing through him. "Your faith…" he drew his finger along the rapid pulse in her neck, wanting to taste it, "intoxicates me."
"I-I-'m not…" she gasped, and he pushed her face aside with his and licked along her neck. "I'm not a good person, Lyght, I've done really bad things. Things you couldn't begin to imagine."
He kissed the blasphemous whisper away, dizzy with her beautiful scent, wanting nothing more than to purify her of the lies she suffered from. He swept his tongue along hers, tasting her sweet salty taste, driving back her fears, drawing forth her passion. "You're so good
," he gasped in her mouth, his own hungers demanding more. "So much better than you know. I need to kiss you." He feasted at her soft lips, roaming his hungry fingers carefully over her, staying away from her secrets. "I need to kiss you everywhere Kassie. Kiss the bad away."
"Oh God, Lyght," she whimpered, holding on to his shoulders.
The urge to bond with her that second became nearly unbearable with those words. His name, God's name, those sounds. "Please, I beg you," he said, raining hungry kisses along her cheek and forehead, then neck. "I just want—need—to kiss you all over, nothing more."
Lyght knew what he asked was dangerous. She was still vulnerable from the traumas she'd endured. He knew how to navigate that nightmare with his powers, to ensure he didn't trigger the wrong emotions, but could he trust himself with such a delicate operation? With the way he felt in that second, he sincerely had to wonder. Uncertainty was as foreign a concept to him as the insane need to use his lips and tongue to heal her. The only thing he knew for certain at the moment was his need for her consent.
****
Kassie's legs were butter. Kiss her all over…nothing more? Why nothing more?
"It's what you need right now." His voice cracked, thick with want.
Suddenly all she could think of was giving this angel what he wanted and needed. She pulled his lips to hers, loving the feel of his smooth firm skin, and kissed him back the way a woman in love kisses her man. "Do it to me." The plea sounded muffled in his mouth and he groaned, scooping her off her feet.
As he laid her on the bed, reality hit. "I-I'm not…"
"Shhh, stop." He sat on the bed next to her.
"But I'm—"
He stifled her words with a passionate kiss, derailing her thoughts. "Perfect," he whispered, pulling up after a moment, his lips not leaving hers entirely. He softly nibbled his way to her chin, working down to her neck. His tongue and teeth glided over her, sending a wave of shudders rolling through her body and a steady current of fire to her core.
Summon Lyght (Archangels Creed) Page 6