She snorted. “I’m sure. You’re the Angel of Love and you’d rather be traipsing about the underworld? I bet no one ever falls in love ever again.”
“Would that be a bad thing?”
“It would be horrible. That’s one of the things about living that makes it worthwhile; makes being human worthwhile. Love shows the best of what we have to offer the universe.”
“So, why do you blame it for following Vargill blithely down the primrose path?” Falcon asked as he stepped inside.
Tally slumped and sighed. She didn’t blame Vargill for the great and terrible evil. “I don’t. I know everything I did was my own fault. It was easier when I could blame someone else, though.” After their initial rocky start, Falcon had turned out to be pretty good at the parole gig. “I guess there’s a reason you’re Heaven’s parole officer. You’ve got this Big Brothering down to an art.”
She was suddenly crushed against him. “I’m not your brother.”
“No, but you are my parole officer,” Tally reminded him gently. Her palms were on his chest, keeping the illusion of space between them.
Goddess, this was what she’d dreamed about—his hands on her body again, the electric current of skin to skin. It would be so easy to tilt her face up to his, to beg him to take her on her back on the floor, bent over the couch....
“I don’t want you to go with Ethelred tomorrow.” Falcon still held her, his dark eyes serious.
“Don’t do this to me, Falcon,” she said as she looked down, her eyes on his chest rather than meeting his gaze. If she met his gaze, her lashes would flutter closed, her lips would part and she’d be writhing beneath him, just as she yearned to do, but this wasn’t right for them. Not now.
“I can see it in your aura, Drusilla. I know you want me,” he said as if it were only a matter of desire.
She dared to look up at him, moving her hands to his shoulders. “We can’t.”
“Oh, but we can. Merlin repealed the Shall Not.”
“It’s not just that, Falcon.” Goddess, he was going to kiss her and she wanted him to; she wanted it with every fiber of her being. She wanted it too much.
“What is it then? What’s changed?”
“Everything! I don’t want to be the person I was before,” Tally exclaimed and tried to twist away from him, but he held her firm.
“Then don’t be.”
Falcon tilted her chin up carefully with his thumb and forefinger. His descent was measured; a practiced stroke of seduction, but Tally couldn’t fight him. She craved his lips, his hands on her body, the fire she’d never felt with anyone but him. Tally leaned into his strength, and surrendered to her desire.
Falcon’s lips touched hers and the world fell away like a discarded gown to pool at her feet. Nothing was real but this, nothing mattered but this. Falcon was her only sensation; time began and ended in a single kiss.
She knew there was no stopping this runaway train between them, no matter what path either of them took. It had always been destined to come back to this moment. If she’d stayed that night Tristan Belledare had asked her out to Academy graduation, she would have fallen into Falcon’s arms then. Deep inside her heart, Tally knew it to be true. She’d been fighting the inevitable for years; she’d seen it in his eyes that night so long ago and it had scared her. Tally had run right into Tristan’s arms because she’d never believed that she could have something she wanted so much. Not without some terrible price.
Falcon was here right now, asking her not to leave again. Only this time, she didn’t have a choice. She had to go to Ethelred, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t hold on to Falcon tonight, if she dared to grasp at this thing between them.
Even if it burned hot and fast, only to flicker dark after this moment, it didn’t matter. Tally gave herself over to the burn and when she opened her mouth to his kiss, the flame became a wildfire.
“Drusilla,” he whispered raggedly against her mouth.
He was still asking, still giving her the choice. “Yes, Falcon. Yes.”
His hands slid up her rib cage beneath her shirt, over the lace cups of her bra, and he eased her shirt over her head. Falcon pushed the straps of her bra down her shoulders and Tally found her back against the wall and his knee between her thighs.
He bent his head and undid the front hook with his teeth and filled his palms with her breasts. Falcon took a nipple into his mouth, his tongue flicking the hard peak before his thumb replaced his tongue and he touched his mouth to her throat, the corner of her jaw, and just beneath her ear.
“Tell me how you want it, Tally.” His breath was warm on the shell of her ear. “Do you want it hard?” Falcon tugged roughly on her hair, but his mouth was gentle on hers before he spoke again. “Or have you dreamed of a tender lover?” He skimmed his forefinger lightly down her cheek.
She was so aware of herself, of her breasts rising and falling with her breathlessness, the throb between her thighs, the way each time he touched her the contact was an epicenter for concentric circles of pleasure that rippled ever outward.
“What have you dreamed of, Falcon?” She pushed her fingers through his hair and arched her body against him.
“Touching you. Seeing your face when you come for me.”
“And is it rough? Do you pull my hair and fuck me hard, or are you gentle?” She worked the button free on his leather pants and sank to her knees.
She freed his cock and wrapped her hand around the hard length of his shaft. Her eyes never left his. She watched him as her hand moved in a steady rhythm. Watched even when she used her mouth, her tongue laving over the tip.
Tally liked the feel of him in her mouth and the knowledge that she pleasured him; the way his eyes went impossibly dark as he watched her with a growing intensity. His cock surged and she increased the pressure and speed of her mouth and hand.
A low groan escaped him and he stepped back from her. “You have to stop.”
“Don’t you like it?” Tally asked as she got to her feet.
“It’s been too long,” Falcon said and swept her into his arms. He held her aloft as if she weighed nothing and carried her to the bedroom, where he eased her down on the bed.
“How long?” she dared to ask, afraid of the answer.
“Two years.”
He’d not been with anyone since his last relationship. Tally didn’t know what to make of that revelation. She didn’t want to think about what it meant, or if it meant anything at all.
Falcon settled between her thighs and unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off her hips in a fluid motion. He pressed his mouth to her stomach just above her mound and moved lower.
“Aren’t you afraid?” she whispered.
“Of what?” he said softly against her skin. Falcon slipped one finger inside her and she cried out, clenching around the invasion. He dipped his head again, and tasted her, his tongue on her clit.
“That I—oh,” she breathed.
There was no more room for coherent thought—only the awareness of his mouth on her, his tongue as it flicked that swollen nub, his fingers in her slick channel. It wasn’t enough; she wanted his cock inside her.
His mouth drove her need further, demanding she open for him, that she submit to his pleasures instead of her own. He wanted to taste her, wanted her to come for his lips and hands. He told her this with every swirl of his tongue, every thrust of his fingers. It was the sweet sound of pleasure that flowed beneath his every breath and Tally swore she could feel it.
The pinnacle came hard and fast. She’d not even dared touch herself in all this time. She’d been afraid of what she’d find. Even after the night of the reception. One moment, she was teetering on that ledge between bliss and need and in an instant, she’d fallen over the edge. Darkness enveloped her. She had no sense of sight or sound and endless waves of scorching pleasure tore through her.
Just as she thought she’d reached the crest, Falcon rose above her and pushed his cock inside her sheath. Tally c
ried out and hooked her legs around his waist as he drove into her. That crest had only been a plateau, a place where she waited for the next rush of sensation to claim her. Her passage clenched around him and pulled him deeper and Falcon froze.
“What’s wrong?” Tally’s high crashed. What if the great and terrible evil had come back? What if she’d hurt him?
He didn’t speak, but kissed her again, thrusting inside her, and his whole body went rigid. Tally realized there wasn’t anything wrong; he’d spilled inside her.
“Shit.” His lashes brushed his cheeks and he pressed his forehead to hers.
Shit? Oh, Goddess, not again!
“Like I said, it’s been a long time.”
“I was scared I’d hurt you,” she confessed.
“My pride, maybe.” He dropped a brief kiss to her lips. “Being inside you was too much after wanting it for so long.”
It was only a few moments before Falcon’s breathing was deep and even. He was asleep! Not that she was a cuddle in the afterglow kind of girl, but it would have been nice to have had the option.
Tally supposed it was just as well, since she didn’t have any witty remarks to parry with—she’d hoped maybe he’d want to prove himself and drill her like a Craftsman. Of course, she’d gotten off just as quickly. She’d never been one of those multiorgasmic witches anyway, but it could be fun to try. Then again, she’d never really been an orgasmic witch at all, if Tally was being totally honest with herself.
She looked over at Falcon’s sleeping form and decided maybe all the afterglow bullshit wasn’t bullshit at all. Her face felt warm, her body tingled all over, and Tally had the most ridiculous urge to giggle. She leaned against him experimentally and found herself tucked against the hard length of his body.
Yes, Drusilla Tallow liked the afterglow very much.
CHAPTER TEN
Falcon’s Folly
Falcon watched the sleeping woman next to him. She looked so fragile and small in her sleep, so utterly breakable.
He’d never known a woman to be so passionate in the bedroom when it meant nothing to her. Not that his experience was as vast and mighty as some, but he’d been with his fair share.
It was no surprise she was beautiful; no surprise he was hard again at the thought of being inside her, but what did surprise him was he found himself thinking of the future. What would happen between them when her parole was over? Or a question of a more urgent nature: What would happen when she went to Ethelred? He’d be twice damned if he was going to let her go back to Ethelred’s supervision. He could take his “bloody” Briticisms and blow them out his “arse.” Bastard. Tally could have been killed, something that would have concerned Falcon even if he hadn’t fucked her.
He cared about her, he always had. She’d been a part of his family since his sister could talk. She’d brought Drusilla home like a stray animal and Middy had asked prettily to keep her. None of them would deny her and Tally had become a part of their family.
The thought of being without her was like a knife in his chest. It occurred to him that since they’d crossed this line, he was destined to lose her. She’d eventually want more than what he could offer.
Falcon should have been there for her before she’d ended up with Vargill and then none of this would have happened. He realized his thoughts were at odds with themselves, which was why he wasn’t sleeping, but lying awake and staring in a completely non-stalker way at Tally while she slept.
He wondered briefly how many women had done that to him, lying next to him, watching him sleep. How could he want her so much and not enough at the same time?
Tally curled against him in perfect trust, her silken hair soft under his chin. He tucked the errant curls behind her ear and gathered her closer, as if the act would stop what lay ahead for them. Falcon reveled in the moment, for in this moment, she was his. He knew it was selfish and . . .
“I hope you don’t think this means she loves you, Pinky.”
Falcon had to fight not to jump to his feet, wings splayed and guns at the ready, until he realized this intruder was none other than the Angel of Death. Another guy who’d gained his lofty position through Tally’s antics.
“I’m kind of busy,” Falcon responded with a harsh whisper.
“I know, man. I waited as long as I could, but you know how the Powers are. I thought you’d never be done. Anyway, she curled up into me like that my last night at Loudun and you see what I got for my troubles?” Tristan demanded.
“You were aimless anyway. Death has given you direction,” Falcon offered, his voice still low.
“Fuck you, Cupid.”
“So, what do the Powers want? The sooner you tell me, the sooner you can leave.” Falcon pulled the sheet up to cover Tally’s bare bottom.
“You don’t need to cover it, I’ve seen it before.” Tristan winked. “Up close and personal like.”
“Let me guess. They want to see me because I’ve murdered Death with my bare hands.”
“Nope, that’s not it. They need you for a vote, but you’ve got to leave Tally here.”
“A vote? Do you have to vote, too?”
“Yeah, it’s something about that werewolf tangle the other day.”
“Damn it.” Falcon tried to extricate himself from Tally without waking her.
“Oh, it gets better. This is on the scale of apocalyptic.”
“Yeah, I knew that,” Falcon confessed. “I don’t want to leave Tally here alone. She’s supposed to go back to Ethelred today.”
“She’ll be fine. With Death and Cupid watching over her, what could go—” Tristan was promptly cut off by Falcon’s hand over his mouth.
“Don’t ask what can go wrong, because, invariably, it will.”
“Okay, fine. Just don’t put your fingers on my mouth again. I do know where they’ve been,” Tristan said before licking his lips. “Yep, definitely Tally.”
Before Falcon could process his impulse to knock Death’s teeth down his throat as a Good Idea or a Bad Idea, he had Tristan by the throat and had lifted him off the ground.
“That joke was in bad taste, I get it,” Tristan agreed and then laughed. “Bad taste. Get it?”
Falcon squeezed harder.
“Can’t. Breathe.”
“You don’t need to breathe.”
“Still uncomfortable.”
“Show her some goddamn respect.” Falcon dropped the other angel.
“Man, it was just a joke. You’ve got to lighten up.” Tristan rubbed his throat. “For a sissy with pink wings, you sure do have a grip.”
“I mean it, Tristan. She’s been through hell and she doesn’t need this shit from you.”
“Oh, so she kills me, eats my organs, and leaves me to rot and I need to be considerate of her feelings? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m dead.”
“So am I and you don’t see me crying about it or blaming her.”
“Maybe you should.”
“She blames herself enough as it is.”
“Is this a pity Tally party?” Tristan sneered. “I’ve had enough of this shit. I’ve been as good-natured and accommodating as I’m going to be. We’ve all had enough of the Surly McHero routine, Falcon. No one needs saving, least of all a—”
“Be careful what you say. Because like you said, we’ve all had enough of Surly McHero. You never thought that applied to you, Tristan? Oh, I’m the great war hero who’s so tortured, even though just between you and me, we know that you didn’t save anyone. Dred Shadowins did and you took all the glory. You’ve always wanted what belongs to other men.”
“I hope you’re not referencing Tally now, because she doesn’t belong to other men. She’s pretty equal opportunity for all men.”
This time, Falcon did have time to process the Good Idea, Bad Idea scenario, but he simply didn’t care. Tristan had called Tally a whore. Falcon was going to break his face in places that would ensure the man could never open his mouth again, let alone say such hateful things about
his woman.
Small fingers closed around his arm, giving him pause. He turned to see Tally standing behind him, wrapped in a sheet and her golden hair haloed by the light of the setting sun. Her eyes shimmered with tears and if her hands hadn’t been on him, he would have already beaten the Angel of Death bloody.
“No, Falcon. Please.”
He wanted to open his mouth and argue, but her emotions were written so plainly on her face. She felt all the guilt and self-recrimination anyone could ask her to feel. She didn’t want any more violence to happen because of her. Falcon lowered his arm to his side, though it went against his instincts.
“You’ve fought enough for me,” Tally said before turning her attention to Tristan. “I’ve already apologized to Falcon, but I know I owe you one, too. I was going to send a tea box, but somehow that doesn’t seem to cut it. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. I’m sorry for what you suffered; if I could take it back, I would.”
“You can. There’s going to be a vote today to take a man’s life. The werewolf who almost bit you? You could take the curse and channel it back to the Abyss and then no one has to die.”
“The portal to the Abyss isn’t a swinging door, Tristan.”
The pain on Tally’s face almost broke Falcon, but the steady pressure of her touch assured him she was holding her ground. Falcon wondered when she’d found such strength. He felt a warmth grow inside him and realized he was proud of her. She was facing her fears, her past, and her pain all on her own.
“No, it would most likely kill you. But you could atone for your sins. I’m giving you your way out, but you’re too selfish to take it.”
“I know you’re angry and you have every right to be. All I can do is say I’m sorry. I hope one day you’ll forgive me, Tristan. I’ve been thinking about something for a while, wondering if it would be the easy way out,” she began.
Falcon didn’t like the sound of this and when she moved to stand between them, he got a sinking feeling in his gut, but he knew her well enough to keep his mouth shut.
“You’re the Angel of Death. If you want to pay me back in kind for what I did, I understand.”
How to Seduce an Angel in 10 Days Page 9