Her speculation astounded him, but then he supposed it was a reasonable enough assumption. Far more reasonable than the truth, at any rate. Only vagrants—those who dared to live on the streets, attempting to flee the Consortium—would generally be out at night.
“Is that what happened to your shirt?” she continued. “Did you use it to shield you from the broken glass when you snuck inside?”
He could lie to her, but he found he didn’t want to start their relationship on a lie. Better not to answer the question at all. “My name is Aaron.”
“Aaron.”
The sound of his name on her lips made his muscles stiffen. Just the thought of the other uses she could put her mouth to made him grow hard.
Looking far more self-confident now that she’d concluded he wasn’t a threat, she sauntered forward until she stood no more than an arm’s length away. Aaron forced himself not to fidget at her nearness. The last thing he needed was for her to look down and see just how much she affected him.
“I’m Samantha,” she said, the corners of her lips tugging upward.
Oh, he already knew. He knew as much about his little Samantha Bensen as he could learn from reading documentation. What he hadn’t known or expected was how self-assured or conscious of her own femininity she would be. But there was no doubt about that, as she gave him a leisurely perusal to match the one he’d first given her. When her gaze wandered down past his chest, he did his best to casually cross his hands over his crotch area in a vain attempt to mask the evidence of his arousal. From the way her eyes darkened and her body stiffened, he wasn’t quite sure he’d accomplished his goal. But then she looked up and gave him a sultry grin.
“I have one question for you,” she murmured.
“What?” he managed to croak out.
“How do you manage to stay on the run from the angels?”
“Angels?” It took one long moment for Aaron to process Samantha’s words. When he did, stark realization hit him like a slap to the face. While he was dangerously close to losing himself in his lust for her, she was completely in control.
His little mate was going to be more than a handful.
*****
Samantha was treading on dangerous ground. Here she was, in the midst of pulling off the biggest robbery of her life, and somehow she’d come across a vagrant. Not just any vagrant, but—with his short, dirty-blond hair, glittering topaz eyes, and molten golden skin poured over layers of muscle—the sexiest one she’d ever seen.
She had to admit, pulling off a heist always got her endorphins going big time. But not even that could account for the unfettered lust she felt for this stranger called Aaron. The primitive side of her brain, the one that had no thought for consequences, longed to throw herself at him and enjoy what promised to be a wild ride. But this wasn’t the time, and it certainly wasn’t the place, for such a reckless act.
And then her gaze wandered down his torso.
Her breath caught at the stark evidence that Aaron felt the sexual pull between them just as much as she did. Oh yeah, he was definitely turned on...and now she was even hotter.
Wow, but he was built in all the right places. No mistaking that.
How fun would it be to have a quickie in a museum while in the middle of robbing it? She probably had at least half an hour before the Consortium Guard made his way back around. If they hurried and were really quiet, then maybe...
Wait, where had her mind gone? What the hell was she even contemplating? Yeah, she’d done some crazy things before, even had a one-night stand or two, but sex with a stranger right in the middle of an incriminating crime scene? That was too out there even for an adrenaline junkie like her.
Besides, hadn’t she been in the middle of asking him something?
As if he sensed that she’d lost her train of thought, he grinned at her, soft and slow. Her heart gave a squeeze and then a hard thump.
“How did you bypass the security system?” he asked.
“Huh?” She forced her gaze to remain on his face. Wasn’t the worst place to look. The curves of his face cast shadows in all the right places, accentuating his long, straight nose, dark brows, and full, sensual lips. God, the man was beautiful.
One of his perfect brows arched. “The security system. Didn’t go off.”
“Oh. Oh!” Crap. She shifted nervously. How was she going to answer that one? “I...uh...”
His face lit up and he scratched his jaw. “You have the ability to manipulate electrical devices?”
“Wait...what?” She staggered back a few steps as all the breath squeezed out of her lungs in one quick flash. How did he know? More importantly, what would he do with this information?
“Hmm...explains the masking of your vibrations,” he murmured, clearly talking to himself and not her. “It’s related to that skill.”
“The masking of my what?”
“That’s right.” His eyes crinkled in amusement. “You don’t even know what you are. What you are capable of.”
How had she lost track of this conversation so quickly? Better yet, what was she even doing standing here conversing with a stranger when she should be getting the hell out of Dodge?
Samantha took a few cautious steps toward the hallway leading back where she’d come from. “Listen, it’s been fun, but I’ve got to go—”
Aaron held out his hand. “Come with me.”
That stopped her dead in her tracks. “What?”
“It’s not safe for you here.”
No duh. “That’s why I’m leaving.”
“No.” Something that looked like impatience shone in his eyes. “Not just the museum. This city. This entire world, for that matter.”
Okaaay. She revised her opinion of the man. Not only was he a vagrant, but he was also a psycho. Her hand crept up toward her backpack, where she kept her tools. If needed as a weapon, any one of them would do in a pinch. “I’ve got a better idea. I’m going to leave now, and you’re going to stay here.”
He started to shake his head, but then cocked it to the side, as if listening for something. Frowning, he said, “I’m sorry. I thought we had more time.”
“More time? What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, Samantha heard the clacking of booted feet on marble. Oh shit.
She barely had time to look over Aaron’s shoulder before the Consortium Guard appeared in the archway separating this room from the next. He saw them and his eyes widened.
“Hey!” Before either she or Aaron could stop him, the Guard pressed the red button on the walkie-talkie strapped to his belt. Then he reached into his holster for his stun gun and pointed it at them. “You two, freeze! Put your hands up now!”
“Fuck,” Samantha muttered under her breath. Now that the Guard had pressed the button, his reinforcements were already on the way. Based on the intel she’d gathered on the Consortium, they’d be here within the next five minutes. Which meant she was one-hundred percent screwed.
Slowly she raised her hands while throwing Aaron a heated glare. This was all his fault. All these years she’d managed to avoid getting caught, and now because of one sexy-as-sin vagrant, lord only knew what was going to happen to her.
To her surprise, Aaron didn’t raise his hands or even look particularly concerned. The Guard noticed, too. He pointed the stun gun directly at him. “I said hands up! Now!”
Rather than listening to the Guard, Aaron cocked a brow at her.
“Sorry,” he said again.
“Oh jeez, for what?” she snarled sarcastically.
For distracting me? Making me get caught?
“For scaring you.”
That gave her pause. He’d done quite a few things, but that wasn’t one of them. “You didn’t.”
Aaron grinned. “But I’m about to.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Guard begin to squeeze the trigger, but then Aaron lifted one of his hands into the air. The Guard gave a muted cry, and Samantha tore her gaze from Aar
on so she could get a better look.
“What the hell?” she whispered.
The Guard looked like he’d been frozen in place, an expression of horror lining his face. But nobody could freeze another person like that. Nobody human, that was.
Before Samantha could fully process what had happened, she heard the shouts of several men. She lowered her hands and turned to Aaron, who shrugged.
“Time to go.”
“But—”
The back-up Guards burst into the room, stun guns at the ready, at the very moment that Aaron strode forward and tugged her into his arms. A low hum of electricity tingled through her where his bare skin made contact with hers, but she didn’t have time to process that, because the Guards saw them and squeezed their triggers. Samantha caught no more than a flash of the wires on the guns before Aaron hoisted her into his arms like she weighed less than nothing and ran toward one of the large stained-glass windows.
“What are you doing?” she screamed.
“Escaping.”
He angled his body so that his shoulder collided with the glass. To her shock, it shattered around him. Samantha covered her face to shield it from glass and let out a loud scream as they began their descent toward the ground.
Seconds before she thought they’d go splat, they caught a pocket of air. She braved a peek just as a sharp gust of wind blasted her.
“Oh my God!” They weren’t falling anymore. No, they were flying.
Which meant...
She met Aaron’s gaze, and he smiled at her in what looked like reassurance. Heart racing, she glanced beyond his face to his back...where a large set of wings had emerged.
Holy shit, they were black wings.
“You’re...you’re...”
“Fallen,” he supplied softly.
“Fallen,” she repeated. The unexpected shock of that revelation coursed through her veins, pumping her blood until she thought she’d explode from it. When black dots started to race across her vision and the sound of blood rushed in her ears, Samantha gave in to the inevitable. At least if she was blacked out, she wouldn’t notice meeting a horrible death.
With that last semi-reassuring thought, she surrendered to the darkness.
Chapter Three
Samantha didn’t know how long she was out, but it couldn’t have been that long, because when she awoke she was still in Aaron’s arms, and they still soared over the familiar territory of Chicago.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, stiffening in Aaron’s grasp.
“Easy,” he said, tightening his grip.
The bare fingertips of one of his hands crept under the hem of her turtleneck and energy raced up her torso, hardening her nipples to taut buds. She gasped at the sudden furious arousal that ignited within her.
This was definitely not the right time for that.
“Put me down!”
He chuckled. “Not advisable at this point.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Hold still. We’re almost there.”
“There where?”
He didn’t answer, but a moment later touched down on an expansive open-air balcony at the top of one of the tower buildings. She recognized it as a luxurious apartment building that had made her envy those who’d been chosen to live there by the housing lottery.
Aaron set her down and backed up a few paces. “Samantha, I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“Easy for you to say,” she gasped. Freed from his grasp, she no longer felt the same uncontrollable desire as when he’d touched her. To her surprise, she missed the feeling.
Fighting the crazy urge to launch herself back into his arms, she put as much distance between them as the balcony allowed. When her back hit the concrete railing, she realized she still wore her backpack, which meant she at least had some tools to use against him. “I know what you are.”
A few years after the veil separating the angelic world from Earth had fallen, leaving the angel race stuck on this world, a group of angels had been condemned by the rest. About half of them had escaped before they could be put to death, and they’d been on the loose ever since. Humans had been told that the Fallen had been marked for death because they wanted to destroy all of mankind...
Which meant that Aaron was no friend of hers.
“Samantha,” he said in a faintly disapproving voice, “you should know better than to believe everything you hear.”
“What...what do you mean?”
Still gloriously bare-chested, he absorbed his wings into his body. The shock of seeing such a magical act made her suck in her breath. She’d never seen an angel up close before, fallen or otherwise, and she had to admit, he was spectacular.
Without facing away from her, Aaron stalked backward toward the door leading inside the apartment. “Come inside and I’ll tell you.”
Uncertain, she hovered near the railing.
“Come, Samantha. If my intent had been to hurt you, I could have done so many times over by now.”
Well, he had a point there.
As if he recognized that she’d conceded that point, Aaron slid open the glass door and stepped inside. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Samantha made a decision.
She was here. Might as well hear him out.
She slid in after him, and now stood beside Aaron in a living room. Though it was dark inside, enough moonlight and artificial light from the neighboring buildings poured in through the glass that she could make out white-tiled floors, white walls and modernistic artwork in shades of red and black. A gray sectional provided the only seating area, and to her surprise, there were two other men sitting on it. They took one look at her and rose to their feet, nostrils flaring.
She shifted in her spot, suddenly getting the uncomfortable feeling she was like a zebra in a lion pen.
Prey.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Aaron pointed at the men in turn. “Samantha, these are my brethren, Jason and Zach.”
“More Fallen?” she murmured.
His reply was just as quiet. “Yes.”
Great. Well, she had to hand it to these angels, they were spectacular specimens of manhood. Though Jason and Zach had the same golden skin and topaz eyes as Aaron, they were both dark-haired. And even though she should be terrified right now, she couldn’t help her visceral response to them. They were hot with a capital “H”. Maybe not as hot as Aaron, but definitely in the same ballpark.
The two men fidgeted, and a strange sort of tension filled the air. Samantha didn’t understand it, but apparently Aaron did because he let out a low growl that sent a shiver through her entire body.
The other two men averted their gazes as if in response to some nonverbal warning.
“How did it go?” asked Jason without looking at Aaron.
“We were made,” Aaron responded.
“Damn it,” Zach muttered, body tensing.
Jason nodded, his face grim. “We’ll go head them off.”
With those words, the two men started toward her, tugging their shirts off as they did.
Samantha let out an anxious squeak, but before she could run, Aaron pulled her to his side and stepped away from the sliding glass door. She shivered against his touch but didn’t fight out of his grip. Faced with the choice of him or them, she would choose Aaron. She’d known him for a few more minutes, at least.
Jason smirked as he stalked past her, as if he knew what she was thinking. Wordlessly, the two men piled out onto the balcony and grew their impressive black wings. They took off into the night sky.
She watched it all in silent fascination, unable to stop herself from admiring their forms as they flew off. Jason and Zach were just as stunningly built as Aaron, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that was due to all the muscles required to make use of their wings.
When they were nothing more than specks in the distance, Samantha shrugged out of Aaron’s grasp and moved to the other side of the living room. “What just happened?”
Aaron tugged a hand through his dirty-blonde hair. The movement caused his pectoral muscles to flex, and her thighs clenched in automatic response. Cursing inwardly, she tried to ignore just how deliciously fuckable he looked right now. Jesus, what was wrong with her? Her hormones were seriously out of control today.
“They are going to ensure that we aren’t attacked by any of the angels commanding the Consortium,” he said.
“I...” She tugged her arms around her chest. “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“I know.” He sighed, stalking to the couch and taking a seat. “Sit, please, and I’ll explain it to you.”
Even though he sat on one end of the long sectional, which would give her plenty of room if she sat on the other end, part of her balked at being so close to him. The man exuded some sort of irresistible sexual pull, and she didn’t know if she could resist. Not good when dealing with someone who might mean you harm.
“No thanks. I’ll stand.”
Irritation spiked his voice. “Sit.”
Okay, maybe it would be smartest not to upset the powerful angel. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.
Sulking, she took a seat on the couch. One of the tools in her pack poked her in the back, and she sat forward with a wince.
Aaron leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His glittering topaz eyes trained in on her. “Samantha, I know what you’ve grown up hearing about the Fallen. That we are evil destroyers of mankind. That we would like to see all humans dead.”
“You’re not reassuring me here.”
“The point is, everything you’ve heard is a lie.”
She blinked while she absorbed that particular bit of news. Growing up with Harry, it wasn’t as if she’d trusted everything the angels said. Honestly, she wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’d lied. But that didn’t mean she was going to believe something just because the yummy Fallen in front of her had said it.
Even if it felt like truth.
“How is it a lie? What’s the truth?”
Aaron took a deep breath, and the thick muscles in his abs contracted. Her gaze automatically shot down his torso and her body seared with heat, as if preparing itself for him. Gritting her teeth, she forced her eyes back up.
For Want of an Angel Page 2