"I am prepared to do so." It pained him to think of losing her, but if she was whole again what did it matter? Her happiness mattered and that is all he’d allow himself to think of.
"Then it is done." The moment those words were said by Michael, Angelo saw a white light flash before his eyes, felt a searing pain along his shoulder blades where his wings and flesh met, then all went dark.
Chapter Two
It had snowed again, and if she didn't dread this time of the year, she probably would’ve thought it beautiful. But the snow reminded her of black ice, the swerving on the road, glass, torn metal, the smell of blood and tears. Sighing, she got up from the desk, stretched her arms above her head, groaning as the muscles in her body protested the length of time she’d spent in the chair. A glance at the clock on her desk advised her that she'd actually worked through lunch and dinner. Hell, she didn't even remember eating breakfast.
After the incident with the neighbor, she hadn't been outside for about two weeks. It was much easier to ignore someone who didn't want to be ignored by avoiding them. It was so nice to just have alone time. Granted she had more than her share of it, but she loved it. She heard her stomach growl and shook her head as she left her office, padding down barefooted to the kitchen to grab something to eat.
Just as she was opening a cabinet to grab the peanut butter, she heard a sound in the backyard. There was a flash of light, which she chalked up to her eyes playing tricks on her. Moving away from the counter, she walked towards the back door that led out to her backyard, slowly opened the door, and peered out. Squaring her shoulders as she told herself there was nothing to be afraid of, she went outside and stood, checking the yard.
She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her at her first. As she looked near her pool, there was a shape there she didn't recognize. The porch light gave plenty of light, but that one area there seemed a bit more shadowed. Tentatively, she moved forward and then stopped in her tracks as her eyes adjusted, and she saw what appeared to be a body with wings. Wings? I must be sleepier than I thought. She closed her eyes and opened them quickly, when another white flash went off.
She'd hoped that the body had been an apparition. No, the body was still there, wingless of course, but still there. She felt a strange calm wash over her and she knelt beside the body, shaking him gently. He was well muscled and seemed strong. What on earth could've knocked him out like this? She couldn’t stop her hand from stroking through his long black strands of hair, just once. Then she was back to the task at hand, seeing if he was ok and trying to get him up. He was on his side facing away from her, so she tugged gently on his arm, turning him onto his back.
Her eyes roamed his face and she couldn't help but admire his strong chiseled jaw, long black hair that curled at his broad shoulders, nor could she not help but speculate how his lips would taste in a kiss. She wondered what his eyes looked like. Would they be blue, green or a deep chocolate to go with his tanned skin? What the hell was she thinking? Kiss? He was a stranger. She had to make sure he was okay. She wasn't a nurse, but she could check to see if he was hurt.
His chest rose and fell steadily, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then her eyes fell between his legs, and she bit back the small moan that threatened to erupt as she looked at his cock. Why was he hard? And so very thick, a perfect length. A hunger began in her lower belly, not the same hunger of before, but something entirely different than the need for food.
Her eyes shot up quickly to his face and she gasped. His eyes were open and they were an intense gray. Her nipples tightened into hard, almost painful nubs as her awareness of him grew. She hadn't even been close in the picking of his eye color, she thought absently. He didn't say anything, just stared at her. Then a smile spread across his face and she found herself wanting to know what made him smile like that.
Then it hit her. He was naked and outside in the snow. She needed to get him in the house and warmed up. She frowned and looked at him as he continued staring up at her. He had to be all kinds of crazy.
"Come on, we need to get you out of this cold."
She held out her hand and stood, hoping that he could get himself up without much help from her. He was huge and would tower over her, dwarfing her smaller body. He placed his large hand in hers and stood, and she had to stifle the moan that his mere touch would have elicited from her throat. She wondered if he could speak since he hadn't bothered trying. He only stared at her with that intense look in his eyes. He felt so familiar.
She ushered him into the house and told him to sit on the couch. There was no way she could continue to deal with him if he was naked. She had to get him clothed. Marching into the spare bedroom, she paused at the dresser for a moment before she opened it slowly, revealing male clothing. Terry's things. She still couldn't bring herself to get rid of their things. She ran her hand over a t-shirt and her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them back, then grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans for him and laid them on the bed. Turning, she gasped when she found him standing just inside the doorway. She hadn’t heard him enter the room.
Averting her eyes from him, she pointed to the things on the bed. "There's a shirt and a pair of jeans for you to put on. I'm sorry but I don't have any underwear for you."
She heard movement and she couldn't help but glance at him. He pulled the pants up his muscled thighs, and then she saw his ass disappear in denim. The thought of how much of a shame it was to hide all that man in those jeans hit her. That was when saw his back: it was so muscled but before she could examine him any further he covered himself with the t-shirt and turned to face her.
"Okay, you obviously understand English, so tell me who are you and why the hell were you in my yard naked?"
She watched as his mouth opened as if he were going to speak, and she leaned in, waiting to hear his answer. When nothing came, she frowned and wondered if he was mute. He reached out a hand to touch her and she jumped back, holding up her hands to ward him off.
"What are you doing?"
He moved forward, but when she continued to hold her hands out to keep him from advancing, he stopped. He had the nerve to look affronted. His shoulders seemed to sag, and then finally she heard him speak.
"I’m trying to touch your beautiful skin." His voice was smooth as chocolate and did equally sinful things to her body. Why did she feel as if she'd heard him before? Knew him, even?
"Why in the hell would you try to touch a woman you don't know?"
"I've wanted to touch you for the longest time."
"Are you crazy? How could you possibly want to touch me for a long time? We've just met."
"So you're going to tell me you don't feel it?"
"Feel what?" She was playing dumb. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"The connection that we feel toward each other, the closeness you feel for me. I feel the same thing."
“We don’t have a connection.” Her voice rose.
“Why are you denying it?”
“I reject what you’re saying, because what you’re saying is crazy. How on earth can I have a connection with someone I don’t know?”
“Do you honestly believe you don’t know me?”
She opened her mouth to tell him yes, and then closed it because she knew that would be a lie. She knew him as deeply as she felt she knew herself. There was a familiarity there that she couldn’t quite explain away. He moved close again, this time holding out his hand slowly to cup her cheek. She shuddered, closing her eyes as she felt a shock of unadulterated lust, need and something else she didn’t want to define sweep over her. It wasn’t only mental. It was physical like electricity had shot through her body.
“Now tell me that you don’t know me…” His eyes pierced into her. She couldn't look away and found she didn't want to. He hadn't even kissed her and she felt herself getting wet, just from his hand on her cheek. Opening her eyes to look deeply into his, she swallowed. She knew he was right, she couldn't deny it anymore.
“I can't...” she sobbed, and pulled away as she slowly moved back. He didn't follow her, and she gave a cry of relief. The look in his eyes told her that he was fighting the urge to come to her.
“Why are you distancing yourself from me?”
“Even though my heart and body knows you, my mind doesn't. I can't forget my husband. No matter how much I may wish your touch right now. He deserves better than that.” His eyes shuttered and he nodded. The only other indication of his displeasure was the tightening of his jaw.
“I won't touch you now.” She gave a sigh of relief, but that relief was short lived when he spoke next. “I will give you time. You haven't allowed yourself to heal. I will help you do that.”
“I don't need help. What I need is for you to go back to wherever you came from.”
"My name is Angelo."
She stopped short and looked at him. "Angelo? No last name, Angelo?"
"No last name. I don't remember anything beyond that, other than I know you and I'm here to help you, Alexa."
"You've got to be crazy. There can be no other explanation. In the morning, you're gone. I don't care where, or how, but you're out of here." He knew her name. He had to have seen it somewhere. Why else would he know it? How else?
"I'm not even close to crazy."
Alexa backed out of the room with her eyes locked on him, bumping into a dresser so her exit was less than graceful. She saw his mouth quirk into a grin. She had to ignore the quivering in her lower belly and the warmth that flooded her core from just looking at him She hated how shaky her voice sounded as she spoke. "I need to eat, which is what I was going to do before I found you. I'll make you something and then I think we need to turn in for the night so that you can leave as soon as it's morning."
Alexa turned and quickly made her way to the kitchen, grabbing the items necessary to make a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She did it as fast as she could. She heard him enter and settle at the small kitchen table to wait. He didn’t speak and that in itself was a godsend. Once done, she brought both plates and set one before him, then settled across from him. There had to be distance. Alexa didn't sense he was any danger unless she accounted for the hazard he posed to her libido.
When she dared to glance up at him, she found him eating his sandwich slowly with the strangest look on his face. He put the sandwich down and opened it up, looking at the contents, and then leaned in close to smell it. She had to stop the smile that threatened to show. Coughing on purpose, she waited till he stopped to focus on her.
"What on earth are you doing?"
"What is this?" He pointed to his food. He’d put it back together, though a bit haphazardly.
“What do you mean, what is this?” He'd better not be dogging my food. I'll kick him out on his fine ass so quick.
"This strange yet satisfying food that you've put together, what is it?"
"Are you seriously going to tell me you've never had a peanut butter and jelly?"
"That's what it's called?" He picked it up again and bit into it, chewing slowly, savoring every bite. He looked to her like a man relishing prime rib instead of a basic sandwich.
"Yes, that's what it's called." Alexa shook her head and giggled.
His gaze swept over her again and held hers. "I like when you do that."
"Do what?"
“Laugh, it lights up your whole face when you do.”
Unsure of what to say, she started eating her own food. It felt good to laugh; it had been way too long since she’d laughed if she were honest with herself. Instead, he returned to his meal. She went to the fridge and poured him a glass of milk.
"Just in case you don't know what that is...it’s milk."
"Hmm...milk, okay." He nodded, picked it up and drank it. His face brightened and he had a cute little milk mustache.
"Wow, so you're going to tell me you don't know what this is too?"
"Never had it before. It tastes quite good with this peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
"I have to ask, what planet are you from? Oh wait, you don't remember."
He nodded. "That's right." He again looked so serious and honest it made her pause for a moment.
He went back to eating, and she stopped herself from laughing. There he was, a big sexy man, sitting there with a milk mustache. Even with that white line on his lips, it did nothing to take away the fact that she wanted him to fuck her senseless as she licked his lips clean. She’d been thinking that she needed to start moving on in some way, but like this? No, she couldn’t. It didn’t make sense nor was it right.
Alexa squirmed again, trying to stem the throbbing that radiated through her clit, dampening her panties. What the hell was wrong with her? All that she could think about was this man doing wild and wicked things with her. She had to get him out of her house before she did something foolish. She knew what emotions that he was arousing in her. It would be better if he left. Alexa also had a feeling that he was the cure for the numbness that had become her life.
Chapter Three
She shot up straight in the bed the next morning as her alarm went off. Rubbing her eyes, she huffed as she put herself in wake up mode. Last night had to be a dream. There wasn't some fine hunk of a male in her house who'd fallen naked from the sky. The counseling appointment, as taxing as it was, must have set her over the edge, making her a bit delusional. She groaned as she glanced at the alarm clock next to her bed and saw the flashing blue numbers, indicating there'd been a power outage during the time she'd slept.
She got up, grabbing her robe from the edge of her bed. She wrapped the silken cloth around herself and tied it. Moving to her dresser she grabbed her watch and noted it was later than she normally got up. Great. What with the weird dreams and sleeping longer than she normally did, today was going to be one of those days. She strode over to the sliding glass doors and looked out to be greeted with a sea of white. It had snowed heavily the night before. In fact, by the looks of it, she would be snowed in for a while. The snow still fell heavily. Good thing she'd gotten all the groceries and wood she'd need so that she could wait out the storm. The weatherman’s prediction had come true from earlier in the week.
"Coffee, I need some coffee." She laughed: now she was talking out loud to herself. What next? Answering back? Leaving her room, she moved down the hallway and stopped short. The bedroom door stood open, and she usually closed it. She went inside and gasped. Her dream was real and lying on his stomach, gloriously naked on top of the covers and sound asleep. Walking forward, she reached out and slid her hand along his muscled back, unable to resist the urge to touch him. What the fuck am I thinking? She jerked backwards and hit the opposite wall with a thud, making the pictures on the wall slant sideways from the impact. Damn! Please don’t let him wake up! She sighed in relief when he didn’t budge.
It all came flooding back to her, finding him, their strange attraction, and then eating a late dinner with him before leaving him in that very bedroom and going to bed. The plan to have him leave in the morning was now a non-issue, seeing as it had snowed, and they were now snowed in for a while. She didn't need this, and she didn't need him. She had to get some caffeine into her so she could figure out what the hell to do. She stepped away from the wall and rubbed her right shoulder. It’s going to be a great day, she thought sarcastically.
She set about making a much-needed cup of coffee when she felt arms slide around her waist. She gasped as she felt his face nuzzle the back of her neck. His cock pressed against her ass as he slid his hands up to cup her breasts.
"Angelo..." She sounded breathless.
"Mmm, yes?" His perfect teeth nipped at her neck, and she felt boneless as her head fell back against his shoulder. He slid her robe off, kicked her legs apart and rubbed his hands up and down her thighs.
"We can't." She whimpered but she didn't stop him. It was a weak protest on her part, because she wanted this just as much as he did.
"But we are..." He trailed off to lick the spot h
e’d bitten. Her heart beat to the same throbbing she felt in her clit. Then they were skin to skin, his cock nuzzled between her ass cheeks, and his fingers covering her clit, stroking in a slow circular movement. She'd let go of the coffee long ago, and her hands held on to the counter as she fell prey to the sensations he wrought in her.
She bit back a cry as his fingers expertly stroked the hood of her clit. Trembling, she rolled her hips against him. Her breathing escalated along with his as he thrust his cock up and down her ass cheeks. It had been too long since she had a male touching her in this way, and quite quickly, she felt herself closing in on a hard orgasm with just his hands and mouth on her body.
He pushed her forward, and two fingers stroked into her wet heat. She bucked as he thrust them in faster and faster, and then he pushed her over the edge and into one of the hardest orgasms she could remember having in a very long time. Her thighs were wet with her own juices, she’d come so hard. She heard his guttural moan and then a sticky wetness against her skin. When she felt in control of her body again, she found herself still pressed against the counter with his come on her back. Air whooshed into her lungs as she pushed back against him.
She couldn't believe what she'd done, what she'd allowed to happen. He let her go, and she ran from the kitchen into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. There was no telling how long he'd have to be there with her, and they'd just made things more than a little complicated. She locked the door and went to her bathroom to take a long hot shower.
****
He knew he'd messed up. But he'd needed to touch her. When he'd awakened that morning, the first thought he'd had was of her. Hell, the last thought he'd had when he'd gone to sleep had been of her. It had been natural to touch her, to taste her and to give her pleasure. But he'd seen that wild look in her eyes, the trepidation. He didn’t want to be the cause of that, of her pain.
The slam of the door had stopped him from going after her to reassure her. He'd have to talk to her when she left the safety of her room. Heading back to his room, he closed the door quietly and went into the bathroom to bathe himself. He needed to find some clothes. If he went out there without anything on, it would only make matters worse for them. He didn't want things getting any worse, but he truly wasn't sorry for giving her satisfaction. It’d been good and right and something that they’d both needed.
On Angel's Wings Page 2