“By whom?” Josh and the other passenger had extricated themselves from the rear seat, but didn’t come forward.
“I did,” said the white haired gentleman standing next to Josh.
Father.
Claire pushed by Audray and ran to the older gentleman. “You look well, my dear,” he said before he enveloped her in his powerful arms.
Jonas came up behind Audray and embraced her. “All is as it should be, love. Have no fear. The battle is done, for now.”
She melted into him, suddenly needing him more than she ever had. We’ve survived, my love, but what of our future?
We wait. We trust. We love each other. For now, that is all we can do.
With their arms about each other’s waist, Father and Claire made their way over to Audray and Jonas.
“I usually keep my distance from dark angels, but I’ve made an exception here tonight,” Father said. He dropped his arms from Claire’s body.
“I provide the stage but I don’t write the play, my new friends. It is your performance that makes it real. I give everyone a chance at redemption, just as the Underworld is a place to experience, um, the alternative.”
“We’ve accepted our fate, sir. We have no regrets,” Jonas spoke the words Audray was thinking.
“And then sometimes, a true miracle happens, surprises us all.” Father’s eyes lowered to Audray’s belly. “May I?” he asked as he extended his palm toward Audray’s stomach. She stepped to him and allowed him to place his hand on her there.
“Children are not my miracle, though I’d love to take credit for them. They are a true miracle, not one I created. Spontaneous. Perfect as life is perfect.”
“What’s to happen of us, Father?” Audray whispered. Jonas came up behind her, spooning his body against her backside, giving her the support her heart needed. He found her right hand and their fingers laced together. Whatever was going to be said, he was going to be there for her. Father removed his palm and crossed his arms, his face serious, with a small furrow to his brow.
“Is it your intention to raise this child in the human world?” he asked.
“In all honesty, I’d go wherever I must to raise this child. I want this child, Father,” Audray answered him. “Perhaps that’s not what you wanted to hear, but that is the truth, I think for both of us.” She turned and Jonas gave back a nod of agreement. “Will I live to carry this baby to term, and will I live afterwards?”
“You would give up your dark angel lives for this child?”
“In a heartbeat,” Audray answered him without hesitation, “As long as it won’t damage the baby. If I need to die to bring this new life forth, I will willingly do that. But Father, is there a chance we can be a family?”
“The war goes on, Audray. It is far from over. In fact, it will never be over. How will you stay safe?”
“Is anyone ever guaranteed safety? Living, either as a human or a dark angel, is risky,” Jonas inserted. “In the Underworld, there is no hope. Here, we have our love and with that comes a faith in a bright future. If you would allow such a thing,” he continued.
“Allow it?” Father winked at Jonas. “As a matter of fact, I can’t stop it!” He began to chuckle. “Give me your hands, children.”
Audray was having difficulty holding back the tears. Her chest was heaving, her lower lip quivered. She thought holding her breath would stop her tears, but when Jonas squeezed her other hand, she lost it. Audray glanced up at Claire and found that Claire too was crying. In fact, everyone was crying, even Doris. The sounds of sniffling even came from Josh’s direction. Father turned to him and smiled.
With Audray’s small hand sandwiched between Jonas and Father’s, she heard the words she would never forget.
“If it is human you desire, then it is human you both shall have. One special, limited lifetime to love, to raise your family, to pass on the faith you have in the human condition to others along your journey.”
Golden threads encircled their hands as Father removed his, and Audray felt for the first time as a human woman, the skin of her beloved Jonas. Their fingers entwined and she looked to his tear-streaked face and felt the miracle of a bright loving future.
Chapter 40
The chatter was light, but Jonas grew impatient as the hour grew long. His men picked up on his mood, and they each bade him farewell and good luck and promised to do what they could to protect him from the denizens of the Underworld, or to be his eyes and ears against any future war that might come to claim him. He thanked them for their loyalty and the hundreds of years of service they’d given him. It was harder to do than he’d expected.
He felt Audray’s eyes on his back, and when he turned he saw her compassion for his plight. He jealously watched her private conversation with Josh, who had not stopped grinning since Father had said his farewell.
He regretted not having thanked Doris who he’d seen fawning over little Alondra along with the great man himself. The two of them left together. There was much more he wanted to learn about the feisty Guardian and suspected there was some interesting history there.
His muscles were sore and tight from the fight earlier. He felt the weight of his human body, something he’d forgotten those centuries ago, and knew he needed sleep. But his need to be at Audray’s side was an even greater pull.
Claire led them to the master bedroom. Holding the baby, she opened the door to a soothing light green bedroom covered with Daniel’s jungle canvases. He had the feeling they were walking into a Brazilian rainforest, that some new adventure was at hand.
“We have a spare room, and have moved Alondra’s things there. Please, sleep as long as you desire. You will need lots of rest to accept this new change in your bodies. No one here will disturb you.”
“Thank you, sister.”
“I am honored your first night and day as a new human will be spent in our house. Who could have predicted this?” Claire tilted her head and smiled at both of them. “Welcome home, for now. When you feel like it, we’ll find you a more permanent home, but this will do for now, okay?”
“Thank you again,” Jonas whispered, giving Claire a peck on the cheek.
With Claire gone and the door closed, Jonas looked at his human lover, not sure what she was feeling.
I am feeling the same, lover mine. I am needing you now more than ever. Nothing has changed.
Thrilled at this new revelation that they could still speak through telepathy, he cupped her face and whispered to her lips. “I haven’t loved a human woman in over three hundred years.” He nibbled on her lips. “I think I am the virgin here.”
Audray’s warm smile made his heart soar. “You are far from that, my love. But for this gift of being your first, I am honored.”
Her lips tasted the same. Perhaps it was his imagination, but the salty tears that washed them he found intoxicating. He spread his thumbs over her cheeks one by one, and kissed her eyes. Her breathing was the same as he’d remembered. The perfume from her freshly washed body enveloped him as he slowly laced his fingers in her hair, pulling her to him, and then kissing the top of her head, the sides of her face, her ears, and then her neck as she rolled her head backward.
Her beautiful skin was smoother, more fragile. His fingers explored the top of her shoulder as he slipped the cotton sweatshirt off her head. He allowed his hands to feel the luxury of her long blonde curls. Her hands had dug under his shirt, pulling it apart, ruining the buttons, like the first time they’d made love. Except this time, it was Daniel’s shirt, which barely fit him.
She was kissing his nipples, biting the little nubs, pushing her mound against his thigh. The pressure of her hardness against his weary muscles was delicious. He sunk his palms into the back of her pants and squeezed the flesh of her butt cheeks.
“How is this for you?” she whispered, her hot lips coating his, sucking at his lower lip, her steamy breath fueling his erection.
“So far, better,” He whispered to her neck.
She moved her ha
nds quickly to undo his pants and they fell to his ankles. She quickly took him in her palms and squeezed.
“Far better,” he said with difficulty.
The thrill of the natural attraction they had for each other’s bodies, the human chemistry, free of glamour and unenhanced by thoughts had him nearly dizzy with delight. He was going to pace himself, because he thought perhaps he should, in their present condition, but when she fell to her knees and took him in her lips he nearly came undone. He held her head to his groin and finally could hold back no longer.
I don’t ever want you to stop.
He was sorry he’d said it. Of course they’d have to stop. Her sultry smile as she licked him from scrotum to his tip. “If you try to stop me, you’ll fail.” Then she took him completely, deeply into her mouth while telling him, Up for the challenge, love?
He was seeing stars and it was way too soon for this.
No worries, you’ll have your way with me when I’m finished.
He thought of the battle scenes he’d been in over the centuries, the snakes he’d seen today, the decapitations and horrible things that had happened today…
It isn’t going to work, lover. You’ll explode in my mouth any minute now.
Reflex made him swear under his breath. He’d wanted to show his stamina as a human male, but instead everything he thought of sent him closer and closer to the edge. She brought him from her mouth and placed him in the center of her chest, between her breasts and squeezed them together.
Panic set in as he felt his balls constrict and begin to release. She allowed the head of his penis to lazily rub against her nipples, coating with his precum, letting him feel the hardness of her knotted nubs. Her look of need and longing pushed him through the gate as he arched back and began to spill, throwing his concerns to the side. Just as he began to spurt, she covered him once again with those luscious lips, sending him deep down her throat while she sucked and accepted all of him.
He’d barely finished when he abruptly changed positions, lifted her up and threw her on the bed. “My turn.”
Audray gave out a little squeal of satisfaction as she found a pillow for her head and Jonas found another one for under her rear. He moved quickly to her mound, pulling back the lips of her hot sex, lapping the juices there, sucking on her nub and devouring her. His hot tongue found the juncture at the top of her leg where he sucked a bruise he hoped would hurt her slightly. His mental question was answered when she moaned, “Yes, my love.”
Eager to stimulate her insides, he placed his forefinger at her opening. She rolled her pelvis to receive him and he held her back. She arched and pushed herself on him and he withdrew his hand so her frustration would build. Her need was growing wild and he loved seeing the fire burn inside her.
“Please, Jonas,” she moaned as she touched herself and his cheeks, feeling the side of his tongue as he thrust inside her. “I need this, Jonas.”
Just a little bit longer. I want to taste more of you, love. Just a little bit more, please. Her deep guttural plea nearly broke his heart, but he was on a mission now.
Patience… he said to her.
Is not a virtue. Fuck me, Jonas.
Only words would do as his response, “Ah, well when you put it that way, love, I shall indeed fuck you.”
He climbed the bed raising her legs to rest on his shoulders, pushed the pillow underneath her plump little ass, spread her cheeks with his palms and inserted himself deep and to the hilt.
He felt her body turn to putty. He slowly arched and angled back and forth, changing positions, seating deep and holding, then changing his speed until he felt the delicious muscles inside her clamp down on him. Her body seized him, held him, but he wouldn’t stop. His own groans filled the room as he felt himself slip again, sinking into her body deep and giving him more than he thought possible.
In the lazy hours that followed, Jonas earned his birthright several times, and was at last satisfied when he saw the new dawn coming through the sheer curtains. As he rose to close the darkening shades, his legs could barely carry his own weight.
He remembered what Claire had said, they’d need lots of rest to adjust to their new human form. He agreed with her completely. He wasn’t going to let Audray out of his bed until he was good and ready to.
Perhaps he could stay here, with her, in this bed, for the rest of his human life, perfecting his human form. For as long as it was given him, he’d enjoy the woman he was created to love. It would be his new mission, full of hope and faith in that bright hereafter he now knew was possible.
The End
Sharon Hamilton
NY Times and USA/Today and Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author Sharon Hamilton’s SEAL Brotherhood series has earned her Amazon author rankings of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love. Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany earned her a #1 Amazon author ranking in Gothic Romance.
A lifelong organic vegetable and flower gardener, Sharon and her husband live in the Wine Country of Northern California, where most of her stories take place.
She loves hearing from her fans:
[email protected]
Her website is:
http://www.authorsharonhamilton.com/
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Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.
Other Books by Sharon Hamilton
Golden Vampires of Tuscany Series
Purchase Honeymoon Bite (Book 1 of the Golden Vampires of Tuscany) here.
Also available in print and on Audible.
Purchase Mortal Bite (Book 2 of the Golden Vampires of Tuscany) here.
Also available in print and on Audible.
The Guardians Series
Purchase Heavenly Lover (Book 1 of The Guardians) here.
Available in print now and on Audible
Purchase Underworld Lover (Book 2 of The Guardians) here.
Available in print now and on Audible
Purchase Underworld Queen (Book 3 of The Guardians) here.
Available on Audible 02/14/2015.
The SEAL Brotherhood Series:
Purchase Accidental SEAL, (Book 1 in the SEAL Brotherhood Series).
Also available in print and on Audible.
To purchase this short prequel to Accidental SEAL, please click here: SEAL Encounter, (Book .5 in the SEAL Brotherhood Series).
Purchase Fallen SEAL Legacy (Book 2 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Also available in print and on Audible.
Purchase SEAL Under Covers (Book 3 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Also available in print and on Audible.
Purchase SEAL The Deal (Book 4 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Also available in print and on Audible.
Purchase Cruisin’ For A SEAL (Book 5 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Also available in print and on Audible.
Purchase SEAL My Destiny (Book 6 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Available in print and on Audible.
Purchase full length version, SEAL Of My Heart (Book 7 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Available in print and Audible
Purchase SEAL’s Promise (Book 8 of the SEAL Brotherhood) here.
Available in print and on Audible
Anthologies
SEALed With A Kiss
Hot Alpha SEALs: Available on Kindle now.
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Underworld Queen Page 27