“Do you want to explain what the hell that was about?”
Gus sighed, and spread his wings wide, stretching them before folding them delicately against his back. He took a gulp of his drink and winced. Apparently it didn't taste any better than it looked.
“That's really something you should ask Memphis.” He flopped down on the couch, suddenly looking exhausted, less luminous. Like his millennia of life was crushing him. I hated it. I hated the loneliness and despair that sat in a fog around him.
I reached out, touching his cheek with the back of my fingers. “What happened to you?”
His brows furrowed, as he pulled back. “What?”
I took a deep breath. Rella was going to kill me. I’d kept this secret for two decades, and now I’d blurted it out three times in a week. “I can sense your emotions. I feel your wounded heart, your hopelessness. It’s tearing me up inside.”
I waited for the Blue style meltdown. But all I felt was surprise. “I guess Acerezeal’s children were a little more angelic than everyone let on. Any other secrets I should know about?” He raised his eyebrows high, seeming more bemused than angry. Though, I guess he wasn’t a societal reject with a career in murder, like Blue. He also wasn’t human. His secrets ran so deep, they were basically part of his physical makeup, like he was comprised of blood and bones, sinew and secrets.
I can mindspeak. We are a blindspot to most angels, even Luc.
“Even Michael?” He sounded almost awed. I shrugged. I’d never met the Archangel Michael, and if I was lucky, I never would.
He downed the rest of his fluro pink cocktail, and stood. “I should go and smooth things over with Mephistopheles. He can seriously hold a grudge.”
I put my hands on my hips. “So can I. You really aren’t going to tell me what that was about?”
He gave me a sheepish look, leaning forward to kiss me gently on the lips. “See you soon, Sweetheart.” Then he just disappeared. So rude.
The next two days were almost blissfully Angel free. No Memphis, no Gusion and surprisingly, no Azriel.
I also didn’t leave the house. I didn’t open the front door when anyone knocked, or order in unless Adnan was here too. I didn’t open the blinds. I knew I was slipping down a hole that was going to be difficult to claw my way out of, but I couldn’t seem to catch myself.
Rella didn’t help. I could feel her turmoil from hundreds of miles away, her heart pounding anxiety, worry and fear all compounded with my own. I was a wreck.
Then she’d come to visit, and I finally understood the weird emotions she’d been sending. She had changed. She was no longer my twin in every way. We were different now in a way that seceded my silly little tattoo. She was immortal and I was...me. She was a Gargoyle Queen, and I was scared of standing in front of windows.
Now, I listened to her and Adnan fight in the other room, sitting beside Charlie, who held my hand, and under the watchful eyes of her new gargoyle consorts? Conquests? Boytoys? Whatever.
Charlie’s hold on my hand was both comforting and excruciating. So much turmoil. He loved Rella, he hated them, he liked them and hated Rella. Well, her choices anyway. I knew there was no way he could ever hate Rella. She was a part of his soul, much like he was a part of hers. They were just too dumb to work out what that meant yet. They’d get there.
So much hurt and rage flowed from the hall, where Adnan was acting like a child. But that was just Adnan. Blue Halloran hadn’t been wrong when he’d called Adnan the Mulligans Little Prince.
Rella strode out of the hall, and I was surprised to see Naz right behind her.
Well, maybe not so surprised. Naz had changed, more than just being turned into some weird Gargoyle/Human hybrid. He was no longer the swirling vortex of despair and depression I’d sensed long ago. He had purpose, and it glowed around the edges of his depression like dawn break.
Rella kissed me on the cheek, and I resisted the urge to pull her to me and not let her go, like a security blanket. I pushed the thought right down so she wouldn’t be able to skim it from my mind.
“Be safe,” I murmured, and she left, her men flanking her like the Queen she was now.
I kissed Charlie’s cheek. “Her heart is big enough, and so is yours Charles Mulligan. Don’t throw away something amazing because it doesn’t fit with your boyhood dreams.”
With that, I pushed him off the couch. He threw me the Charlie grin, to which I was impervious, and followed the rest of his pack. His family, if he’d just let them.
I laid my head on the back of the couch and closed my eyes. The steady hum of Adnan’s rage and disbelief echoed through the house like a discordant noise. I knew he wouldn’t just go and brood in his room, that wasn’t Adnan’s style. I was waiting for the inevitable confrontation in five, four, three, two…
“I know she’s your twin, Hope, but she’s gone too far this time.” I didn’t bother to open my eyes.
“What was her alternative, let him die?” I repeated the words that Rella had used.
Unfortunately, that only made Adnan madder. “How about you leave him out of your freaky fucking world altogether. I should have said no when you asked me to talk to him. I should have known it could end nowhere but bad with your family.”
Oh. Oh no, he did not. My eyes snapped open and I leapt to my feet. “My freaky fucking family is the only reason you are here in this lavish apartment, and not scrabbling in the dirt in a war-torn country. My freaky world is the only reason you didn’t bleed to death when you were five. I know you’re hurting, so I’m going to let it slide, but show some damn respect.”
He got right up in my face then, his finger pointed at my nose. “You guys think you are better than the rest of us because, why? You have the ability to sense my feelings? Well, what am I feeling now?”
He sent a huge pulse of disgust and it cut me like a knife, just as he knew it would. Adnan was my best friend, and he knew all the best ways to hurt me.
Adnan was wrenched away and held against the wall by a blacker than midnight hand. “You would do best to watch your tongue, child, before I remove it.”
Adnan turned his head to look at me, his eyes burning with righteous anger. His look said, “this is what I mean” but his emotions told me that he was scared under all the bravado.
“Memphis, please put him down.”
Memphis did something that I could only assume gave him his stellar reputation. He pulsed his wings wide, sucking the light and some of the oxygen from the room. His face was the scariest thing I’d ever seen, and when it was mixed with his spiked brand of rage, he became the scariest being I had ever seen. Scarier than Ace in a rage, and even scarier than Luc.
“Leave.” That single word made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. He dropped Adnan to the ground, and my best friend disappeared into his bedroom. I stood there, silently contemplating the huge angel in front of me. What did he look like before he fell? Were his wings the snowy white of Azriel’s?
Adnan strode back through the room, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He grabbed his wallet and his phone and slammed out of the front door.
As the sound echoed around the room, only to be replaced by silence, I crumbled.
11
Falling to my knees, I put my face in my hands and tried to suck in a single breath that was large enough to fill my lungs. But it felt like there was no air left in the room, like there was a hand around my throat threatening to choke the life right out of me.
I pulled at the collar of my sweater, trying to give myself more space to breathe. But nothing helped.
Memphis scooped me up into his arms, holding me against his chest. “I can’t breathe,” I gasped, sobbing at the same time. “I can’t breathe.” Panic raced through my veins like wildfire.
He sat down with me still clutched against his torso, and grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his brilliant, bright blue eyes.
“Look at me. Now breathe.” It was a command. “You are okay.”
His eyes held me. Waves of strength and reassurance pulsed between us, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his throat and did what he said. I just breathed. I breathed in the scent of Memphis, a scent I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t anything as basic as human cologne. No, he smelled like something earthy, but not of the earth. Ugh. Whatever it was, it was delicious. Maybe even addictive.
Sucking in gulps of air, eventually my breathing slowed, my sobs calming.
I wanted to pull away, but I wasn’t ready to return to life just yet. Instead, I brushed my lips against the steady, slow thud of his pulse. I sucked gently, tasting his skin on my tongue, feeling his pulse quicken.
I shifted against his body, straddling his lap. He groaned, and I felt the vibration against my lips.
“Hope…” it was a question, or a lament, I couldn’t tell. But I didn’t want someone to tell me no. I wanted to take what I needed, and I wanted Memphis to ignore right and wrong for a moment. I kissed up his jaw, until my lips hovered over his.
“Memphis. Be quiet.”
I felt his lips curl against mine, but he didn’t speak. I kissed him, tracing the soft curves with my tongue, devouring his moans. His hands roamed up my back, the gentle pressure of his fingers massaging the stiff muscles on either side of my spine.
I moaned against his lips, and felt the hard press of his body between my thighs. I moved, grinding our bodies together, making him let out an involuntary moan. There was something thrilling about dragging pleasure from this giant of a man, so I did it again. His hands stilled, spanning the width of my back.
I kissed him harder, exploring his mouth with mine, tempting him, teasing him into kissing me back.
I knew I was out of control, I knew that if I let him take a breath, Memphis would tell me so. But I didn’t want to be in control, I just wanted to feel. Not other people’s emotions, my own. I spent so much of my time digging my way through everyone else’s feelings, my own got buried beneath the weight of the world.
I grabbed the bottom of my sweater, pulling everything off in one swift movement. My nipples pebbled as they hit the cold air.
His eyes went black as he watched my breasts. His wings spread wide and he ran his hands up my back, and over my ribs.
I hissed as he hit my tattoo. I’d forgotten about it.
Moving my body back, he stared down at the dual coloured wings, rubbing the skin beneath the tattoo with his thumb.
Deciding there was time to stare at my new ink later, I dived back into our kiss. Grabbing his silk shirt, I gripped the lapels and pulled. Tiny black buttons scattered across the room as I stared down at the hard expanse of his body. He was like a statue made of some kind of precious stone. Hard ridges of his midnight black skin shone under the apartments downlighting. I ran my hands down his torso, and hissed in a breath. So perfect.
“Hope,” he started, his voice strained as I reached the waistband of his black linen pants.
I dragged my eyes from his abs, seriously I think he got an extra set or something, and back to his face.
“Memphis. Take me to bed. Please.” It sounded a little more like begging than I would have liked, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. “Please.”
Memphis stood, with me still in his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms snaking back around his neck.
His hands under my ass, he hiked me up until our noses touched. And then he kissed me. I mean really, really kissed me.
The world tilted, or maybe that was just Memphis moving us toward the bedroom, I didn’t know or care. I wanted to just consume him and let his fire consume me.
He pressed me against the wall in the hallway as his mouth devoured mine, biting my lower lip until it was my turn to moan. Tearing his mouth away, he kissed down my neck, biting softly down my collarbone before he found my nipple, sucking it between his perfect lips. Holy shit. I arched against him as the sensation pulsed pleasure through my body like he was electrifying. My yoga pants we wet, and he grunted as his hands shifted to my thighs and he pressed the tips of his fingers against the seam of my legs.
He made a feral noise around my nipple and pulled away, clutching me against his body as he moved to my room with inhuman speed, his wings bumping into the doorjamb with a painful thud. He didn’t even wince. Instead, he placed me on the bed, and peeled me out of my yoga pants.
I laid on my comforter, naked, and he stared down at me like I was an actual gift from god. He stared so long, his eyes roaming over every inch of my body, it was like he lost time. Feeling unnaturally bold, I let my knees fall apart, baring my most intimate parts to his eyes.
He sucked in a harsh breath, then his eyes were back on my face and his clothes were just gone.
Fuck.
I forgot how to breathe.
Fuck. He was…
There were no words.
I didn’t get much time to stare, because that beautiful body was over mine and Memphis was kissing me with all the skill and passion the Fallen Angel in front of me possessed. I could no longer think of him as a simple man.
He kissed me until I could no longer think at all, his hard length pressed against my core, making us both moan.
His hand moved down between our body’s and stopped where my pussy dripped. His fingers skimmed over my clit, making me writhe, and making him grin. Like really, full on grin. I was so dazzled for a moment that I forgot his hand was between my thighs.
Then he slid a finger inside me. Holy hell. He stroked me like he’d had a millennia to work out what made a woman sing. I whimpered as he stroked me. Then he added another finger. I let out a little scream as I rose higher and higher on his clever fingers. I was so close, my climax just out of reach as he drew his fingers away. I let out a desperate noise, but he caught it on his lips as he positioned his body between my thighs.
Whispering to me in a language that no longer existed, he kissed me deeply and slid his big cock inside.
I sucked in a breath and held it until my lungs began to burn, waiting for him to move, my body adjusting to the size of him. Then he thrust hard, burying himself in me and it was so damn beautiful. My climax crashed over me, but Memphis wasn’t nearly finished with me. Lifting my leg over his shoulder, he slid in and out of me in slow, controlled movements. But I didn’t want control, no matter how exquisite it felt. Pushing on his shoulders, I leaned up and bit his lip. Hard.
“My turn.”
He let himself be pushed onto his back, his wings spread across my bed. I slid back down on him, seating myself. And just stared. He looked divine, the pale milkiness of my skin contrasting so beautifully with his midnight darkness of his. He thrust up and all thoughts of aesthetics disappeared as I moved.
“Oh god.” It was hardly a whisper as I moved faster, Memphis holding my hips but not restricting my movements.
He let out an amused huff, but didn’t comment as his fingers slid around to brush my clit. My moans were coming out in gasped pants now. He sat up, pulling my legs around his waist, going even deeper. His shallow thrusts hit pleasure zones I didn’t even know I had.
“Come for me, beautiful Hope.” He whispered against my ear, his eyes holding mine as we moved as one, our bodies entwined. I was helpless to resist. I came in huge shuddering wave, crying out over and over as pleasure lit up every nerve ending. Letting me lean back, Memphis watched me cum like a starving man, thrusting harder and harder insider me, milking my orgasm until his own rocked his body, making him shudder and let out a groan that was half pleasure, half pain.
Pulling me down against his chest, he wrapped his arms and wings around us both. The hammering of his heart was a staccato against my cheek. We sat there for a moment, completely connected, as I calmed my breathing.
“That was…” I flapped my hands around a bit, hoping they’d portray what my words were failing to describe.
Memphis kissed the top of my head. “Yes,” he said reverently. “Come, I’ll run you a shower.”
I smiled again
st his chest.
“Will you join me?”
A low rumbling laugh vibrated beneath my cheek.
“Always.”
I collapsed back onto the bed. The shower had been invigorating in every way possible. I lay in Memphis’ arms as he spooned himself around me, his wings relaxed behind him. They really were beautiful. Dark and wet, they glistened an electric blue under the soft lights in my room. I also discovered that if I rubbed the undersides, it drove Memphis wild.
I grinned at the memory of making the cool angel lose his control. I was enjoying my brief stint of being irresponsible. First with Gusion, and now with Memphis. I didn’t know what kind of woman that made me, but I was finding I didn’t care.
But that reminded me…
“Why did you hit Gus?” The question had gotten lost under the caresses and the embraces. But it pushed its way back into my conscious now like a freight train. Memphis stiffened slightly around me. I could almost hear his mind turning. This close, it was weird that I couldn't hear his thoughts. But since discovering my little secret, Memphis had become very good at blocking my abilities. Perhaps even better than Rella. I enjoyed the silence. Well, most of the time. Now, I’d really like to know what he was thinking.
He let out a long sigh against the nape of my neck, and I briefly wondered if angels could lie. Especially fallen angels. Something to ask Ace next time I saw her.
“Gusion saw something a while ago. He is the Angel of the Past, Present and Future, and it makes him privy to certain information. However, he is still a Fallen Angel, and our scruples aren't what they once were.”
I rolled in his arms so I could see his face. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“He told me, a very long time ago, that I would find someone to love again. A true love, if you will. A soul deep connection with another person.” My heart stopped beating, and maybe it was still going because all I could hear was the blood whooshing in my ears.
“And that other person is...Gusion? Ace?” I said, in vain.
The Fallen- Part One Page 8