There was no denying her. He crawled up her body and pressed a long, languid kiss to her lips, wanting her to taste her own sweet nectar. She kissed him greedily as he pressed the tip of his cock to her entrance. Her pussy felt even better as he rubbed it against her folds, and coupled with her pleas, he slowly pressed his head inside.
He’d gotten in.
Holy sweet fucking hell, he hadn’t been inside a female for a millennium, hadn’t felt the soft firmness of a woman’s body for far too long.
Malcolm’s heart pounded at the realization. He wanted to weep, he was so elated. Chloe was an angel, and she belonged to him and him alone. Elation filled his entire body, and he pressed inside farther, gaining another inch. The tip of his cock pressed against something, and he pulled back, knowing that he’d reached her hymen.
“This is going to hurt, my sweetling,” he whispered.
“Please, just go in. I need you in.” Chloe’s legs widened, and her fingernails clamped on to his ass as she pulled him all the way inside. In to the hilt, he groaned at the incredible tightness of her body.
He pumped in and out of her, trying so hard to not spill his seed so soon. She felt so much better than his fucking hands had all these years. Chloe moaned with every thrust of his hips, and he sped up. Jesus, he couldn’t get enough of the woman. Not the feel of her skin or the way her boobs bounced when he rammed into her. She was just so soft and…perfect. Trembling, he bent and kissed her.
Fingernails clamped on to his ass cheeks, urging him deeper inside. Again, he was powerless against her and ravaged her deeper and harder than before. Her body tightened around him, pulsating as she cried out his name. The sound of her voice and the scent of her arousal made him double his efforts as her body slickened his cock with her juices. He needed to pump her full of his seed. Needed his scent all over her as much as he craved having hers on him. She reached up, pulling his head toward hers as she dominated his mouth as thoroughly as he dominated her body. No, he couldn’t get enough of this woman.
Chloe Terranson was more than his angel. She was his heaven.
****
She couldn’t stop grinning. After their bouts of sex, which ranged from tender and slow to fast and rampant, Malcolm had held her to him, scooping her body with his own as his hand cupped her breast. Chloe had never felt such peace. She’d been able to take him inside of her. By miracle of miracles, she hadn’t clammed up as he’d entered her. Honestly, now that she knew how incredible sex was, she didn’t know why her body had failed her all these years.
“Chloe?”
Malcolm’s voice moved through her like a caress, and she turned over to peer at him. “Hmmm?”
“I think we need to talk.”
A prickle of foreboding washed through her. He was about to tell her that he was married; or no, he had kids; or maybe that he was a polygamist with ten wives and fifty kids…
“It’s nothing bad,” he added, frowning. “God, what is going through that head of yours right now? You’re looking at me like I’m an axe murderer.”
Axe murderer! That hadn’t even occurred to her! Maybe he murdered all of his wives and he’s looking for a replacement to take care of his fifty children.
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t even own an axe.”
Chloe laughed at Malcolm’s smile and sat up to get a better look at him. “Well in that case, I’ll stay and listen.”
“This isn’t really the easiest thing to say, but all I’m asking is that you listen. Okay?”
She pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts, and folded her arms to keep it in place. “Okay.”
“Have you ever felt like you’ve lived past lives? Or maybe have dreams about other lives, or things you couldn’t possibly know?”
Icy coldness spread from Chloe’s spine to the end of every limb. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t really know how to explain it, but have you ever felt like you could remember things that you’ve lived, only not in this lifetime?”
She knew exactly what he meant, and her parents had spent tens of thousands of dollars on shrinks to try to suppress her belief that she could remember past lives. Every dream she’d had of a different life had been lonely. Mostly husbandless. Childless. There had only been a few where she’d been filled with hope and happiness, and it was as if she’d lived in an entirely different plain in those rare dreams. “Yes.”
“What if I told you that those dreams are actually memories?”
Her gaze slid to his once more, and she narrowed her eyes. This all sounded so familiar, almost as though he spoke the same words she had said to her therapists. “I’d say that you have the same delusions I did.”
Malcolm shifted and took her hand in his. “Chloe, I know we haven’t known each other very long.” His eyes met hers, and a sideways grin lit his face. “Less than twenty-four hours, in fact. But I know there’s something special about you. It’s in your eyes and the way you smile. It’s the way you smell and the soft whisper of your voice. It’s also how I know, without a doubt in my mind, that the dreams you’ve probably had your entire life, are actually memories of past lives. Your past lives.”
Chloe didn’t know what to say. Her heart swelled at his words, and her doubt about what he was saying started, even in the minutest degree, to lessen.
“Do you ever have any memories from a different…land?” he asked, pausing as he thought of the best word.
“Yes,” she replied slowly.
“Blue sky, lotsa clouds, really pretty? Basically what everyone thinks Heaven looks like?”
Chloe gaped. “Yes!”
“That was where we lived before the Fall.”
There was a few seconds of silence between them as Chloe thought of all the dreams she’d had that included that white, cloudy place. “We, as in: you and me? And what Fall?”
“Well,” he shrugged. “We didn’t live there together per se, but we were probably in the same heaven. And, the Fall is when all of the angels who rallied for certain freedoms were cast out of the heavens.”
“Angels?” She blinked. “And heaven?”
Malcolm nodded. “You better get comfy, sweetling. This might take a while.”
****
Chloe rushed around her bedroom, yanking on her bra and top. If she didn’t leave in the next five minutes, she was going to be late for her second class, and Professor Higgins didn’t allow tardies.
After Malcolm had explained his version of her—of their—pasts, he’d driven her home. She’d promised she would think about what he’d said, but ever since she’d heard the words come from his mouth, she’d been of two minds on the subject. On one hand, his explanation meant that she’d never been crazy, and that her dreams had actually meant something. On the other, it meant that mythological creatures existed, and hello, if that were the case, creatures of all kinds would have been outed by now. And who knew Arien Stone wasn’t really a sales guy? He was just an angel in search for others of his kind!
There was a knock at her door, and she rushed out of her room as she buttoned her jeans. Pulling the door open, she peered out at Mable, who leaned against the doorjamb with her arms folded.
“Oh good, you’re alive,” she said dryly.
Chloe grinned. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, you ran off with Mr. Hottiepants, and I haven’t heard from you since. I did tell you to call me this morning, right?”
She arched a brow at Mable and turned to grab her purse and books. “Not here. On the way.”
“Fine.”
Closing and locking her apartment door, the two girls walked down the hallway and rushed down the stairs. “I planned to call you today. I just didn’t get around to it yet.”
“You better have a pretty damn good reason for not calling me. Like, say, maybe you got lucky?”
They reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs, and she grinned over her shoulder. “I got lucky.”
Mable’s shoes squ
eaked on the floor as she froze and then rushed to catch up as Chloe pushed through the door and went outside. “What? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. You actually fucking did it? I’m proud of you! You’ve earned your big girl panties now! So, how was it? Every. Detail.”
“It was…incredible. I can’t even describe it.”
“You are so not getting out of it that easy. How long was it?”
“We went until sometime this morning.”
Mable laughed. “Holy shit. Your man went all night? Mazel tov! But that’s not what I meant. I mean, how long is it?” She wiggled her hips as they strode down the sidewalk.
“Oh.” Chloe’s face flamed as other pedestrians looked at them quizzically. “I don’t know. It felt long.”
“Did he reach all the right places?”
“Yes. Ooooh, yes.”
“I’ll take it that you’re sore today?”
Like she couldn’t tell? She wasn’t even walking normal. Chloe looked at her meaningfully. They reached campus and rushed over the grass toward the building where they both had English class.
Bypassing one of the advertisement boards, Chloe’s eyes landed on a few classmen who were pointing and laughing at her. She slowed at the realization that it was more than one group of guys doing that, and hiked a thumb in their direction. “What’s their deal?”
Mable had gone completely pale, and Chloe rushed to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“Umm…Chloe?” Mable pointed at a picture on the advertising board. Following Mable’s gaze, she saw what had made her friend lose all her coloring. Chloe’s heart ceased beating.
It was a picture of her and Malcolm, in the throes of passion. Legs spread wide, skirts hiked up, top down, ecstasy on her face: it was a shot taken after Stephen had left the night before. “What the fuck?” Chloe yelled, ripping the picture off the board.
Guys made defamatory remarks from behind her, calling her a whore and a prostitute, and she turned on them with fury. They backed off at the mere expression on her face, and she huffed off toward class. The closer she got to the building, the more pictures there were. She and Mable tore down every one they came across, and just as they reached the entrance, they saw the blonde bitch who was responsible for hanging them.
“Becca?” Chloe gaped as she grabbed the receptionist’s shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?”
Becca turned around and gave her a satisfied smirk. “Just proving that you don’t have what it takes.”
“What a bitch,” Mable mumbled from beside her.
“You stepped way out of bounds,” Becca continued. “Mr. Thane is mine, and you stole him from me.”
“Stole him? Malcolm came on to me.”
“Because you’re a slut.”
“Oh no she didn’t.” Mable shook her head.
Chloe didn’t know how to react. Normally she’d just slink off and take whatever crap came down the pike later. But something inside her wouldn’t allow her to back off. Malcolm’s words resonated in her entire being and she latched on to them, believing in the strength he believed her to have. It was almost as though he’d instilled that strength within her.
She narrowed her eyes on the blonde bitch and lowered her voice. “You know what, go ahead and post these around campus. You and I both know that this isn’t approved usage of my picture, or of Malcolm’s. I’ll just go talk to Malcolm, and we’ll be sure to get a really money hungry lawyer to come after you in every possible way.”
Chloe stomped off as Becca’s eyes widened. Mable followed her, silent at first, but then a bubble of stunned laughter. “Oh my God. I don’t know what this guy has done to you, but that fucking kicked ass!”
She stayed quiet for a time, and then finally turned toward her friend. “I’m just going to go home.”
“Let’s just go get a bite to eat or something. By the time we get anywhere good it’ll be 5:30, and we’ll be sure to drink a lot. That should take the rest of the night.”
Chloe smiled at her best bud and nodded. Her first instinct was to go to Malcolm, to tell him what had happened. But she didn’t want to seem needy, and Mable’s suggestion had the potential of getting her mind off of wanting to turn around and slap that bitch right in front of everyone. “Alright. Let’s get sloshed.”
****
After dinner, Chloe and Mable had spent hours trying to forget the mess that Miss Priss Becca had caused. It had taken three daiquiris, two cosmos, and a really fruity drink the bartender called a “Pink Flamingo,” which she’d had four of.
“Feeling better?” Mable asked as they walked out of the bar.
“Yeah, I think so. I should probably head home though.” And call Malcolm.
“Alright.” Mable hugged her and stepped toward the curb, hailing a cab. “Wanna ride?”
Chloe lived only five blocks away, so walking wouldn’t take much time at all. “No, I’ll walk.” She stood on the sidewalk as the cab pulled away, smiling when her friend waved emphatically from the back window. She walked down the sidewalk, finding that there were fewer and fewer people out the farther she got from the bar.
Turning the corner, she gasped as she ran smack into something hard. “Whoa!” she breathed as she backed up, seeing a group of four men. “Sorry.”
The guys stared at her, and she moved to pass by, but the one she’d run into grabbed her arm. “You’re the chica in the pictures on campus, no?”
“Yeah,” another said, eyeing her. “It’s her. I’d recognize those tits anywhere.”
“I don’t know,” the one holding her said as he pushed her against a building. “I think we might have to see her naked to know for sure.”
Chloe’s heart beat wildly as she tried to wrench her arm free, but the guy was strong, and as he pinned her to the wall, his buddies moved in closer. “Wh-what are you doing?”
A sweaty hand moved up her arm and over her chest. She threw her shoulder into the one holding her, and he stepped back, surprised. The men started muttering to each other, but she was past the ability to hear them. Pushing herself off the wall, she swung out with her free hand and punched one of the bastards’ faces. He came back at her, and she flinched as his fist came barreling toward her face.
Just as his fist was about to connect, he was gone. As in, completely gone. His friends whirled around in shock, and as Chloe blinked in surprise, another man disappeared as well with a whoosh.
“What the fuck?” one stammered.
She was about to get the hell out of there before they realized she was still there, when someone landed directly in front of her with a loud thud. Chloe stared, completely astonished as a pair of brilliant white wings curled behind the man’s back. He stood to his full height, and she gasped as Malcolm’s steely gaze met hers.
Malcolm had wings. He was an angel.
“Did they hurt you?” he asked slowly, glaring at the men who were bumbling all over themselves, apparently even more shocked than Chloe.
“No.” She shook her head. “They grabbed me, but that’s as far as they got.”
“They intended to though.”
The men chose that moment to run for their lives, and Malcolm shot toward them in a flash. Within an instant, he had one in his grasp, and he tossed the bastard to the ground. Chloe rushed toward him, pinning that one to the sidewalk as Malcolm took the other in his hands, lifting him. “You dare hurt my female?” he growled, shaking the man violently. “Mine?”
Chloe’s pulse hammered in her ears, and she stood up, holding the guy to the ground with her foot. “Malcolm, wait.” She sensed the fury that her angel was only barely holding back. She feared what he’d do to the man, and that fear overwhelmed her, making her feel sick. “Don’t kill him.”
“What?” He faced her, astonished.
She wasn’t sure she could live with herself if that man died. The one Malcolm held in his grasp hadn’t personally touched her, nor had the one under her heel. She suddenly felt weak, wanting nothing more than to have that strong angel’s
arms around her. “Don’t kill him. Leave him for the—”
Chloe’s voice died away as dizziness overtook her. The next thing she knew, she was staring up at the night sky, her eyes rolling as darkness overtook her.
Her back screamed in agony, and she tried to roll over, wondering if she’d landed on a knife. She could hardly move though. Malcolm was already there, holding her in his arms. “What’s happening to me?” she cried as the torturous pain refused to lessen.
“I think you’re transitioning,” he breathed, running his fingers gently through her hair.
Transitioning? Chloe cried and arched as the skin on her back tore open. There was too much pressure; it was ripping her in two.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there when something shifted inside her, the pressure easing until there was no pain left. There was only a strange flutter now, a twinge of muscles she’d never used before.
As her breathing eased, she sat up and opened her eyes to see Malcolm’s filled with tears. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “You’re so beautiful.”
“I…I am?” She glanced over, gasping as a crisp white wing spread out to her side. She shot to her feet and ran a hand over the silky feathers, feeling the tingle of her own touch. “Am I dreaming?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
Chloe eyed him. Malcolm’s voice had been so full of awe, she wouldn’t have been able to avoid his gaze if she’d tried. Again, she was overwhelmed as she saw the tears in his eyes. As their gazes met, he closed the distance between them, sealing her mouth with his lips. One kiss, and then another before he pulled away again, his hands cupping her cheeks.
“I didn’t think you believed me,” he said finally. “About what I told you. About us.”
“I didn’t at first,” she admitted. “Not completely. But the more I thought about it, the more right it felt. In here.” Chloe pointed to her chest just over her heart and then cupped his face in her hands. “You have a surprising talent for worming your way into a woman’s heart.”
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