by Gail, Stacy
“You’re only as crippled as you believe.” Curious, she burrowed her hand under the coat and sweater to stroke the silky-smooth feathers covering his wings. “I still can’t believe I’m alive and not a pancake. Your wings...”
“Gotta say, they’re kind of hard to get used to.” He grimaced and shifted his shoulders under the duster, then closed his eyes on a low sigh when she moved to rub his back. “But at least I now know what it’s like to fly. That’s something.”
“You’re something. I think subconsciously part of you understood you had to hide your gifts in order to survive your childhood, which I find ironic. While your mother was one of the more powerful in your bloodline, she was never able to uncover your hidden abilities.”
He snorted. “They were so well-hidden not even I knew they were there. Now all I need to do is figure out how to control them better.”
“You’ll figure it out. And you’ll figure out how to use these,” she added, once again stroking the curve of silken wing. When he shivered, she smiled and decided there were worse things than an unexpected addition in anatomy. “And one by one you’ll leave all your wounds in the past where they belong. These wings are going to make you soar in so many ways, and that’s a miracle to me.”
“You’re my miracle.” He kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her lips. And with each caress the last vestiges of the horror disintegrated under the exquisite sensation of being cherished. “For you, I can do anything. Believe in myself. Beat a demon out of existence. Sprout wings and fly.” He returned to her mouth, only to hover there until her heart rate tripled under the anticipation of his kiss. “Love you more than any man ever loved a woman.”
A fluttery breath escaped her parted lips before she brought their mouths together. The completion that sang through her filled every nook and cranny of her soul, and she was smiling with the joy of it when they finally broke apart. “You brought me back to life.”
“Right back atcha. I didn’t know I could love anyone like this,” he added, shaking his head. “It’s all so new to me, this crazy compulsion to just be near you. I’m not okay unless I know you’re okay. When you smile, I can now officially say it’s even better than flying.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, almost giddy with happiness. “After tonight I’m not a fan of flying, but I’m definitely a fan of you.”
“Yeah, I know.” His smile was impossibly cocky, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or hit him. “When that demon had you by the throat and was trying to feed off your fear, you fought that negativity by looking at me. You looked at me like I mattered. No,” he corrected himself before she could. “You looked at me like I was all that mattered.”
When he was right, he was right. “I had no idea I was so transparent.”
“No one’s ever looked at me like that, Ella.” All amusement drained away to be replaced by an almost stunned look of wonder. “And you know something? I want to be all that matters to you. I want you to be happy that you are all that matters to me.”
“Happy doesn’t begin to cover it. I never dared to dream that I’d be able to have anything normal after the hell Charles Rainier unleashed—a home, a lover. A future. Then you came along and everything changed. I almost feel like thanking the Rainiers for hiring you to find me.”
“Oh, hell. That.” To her surprise he loosed a wincing groan. “I completely forgot about the case that originally brought me to you.”
It took her a moment. “Oh. I was bequeathed something.”
“It’s a little more than something.”
“I never did ask. How much did Claudine leave me?”
“Pretty much all she had, upwards of fifty million. You don’t have to accept it,” he added when she just stared at him, fully expecting him to yell out, “Kidding!” “I’m taking you home with me, but I sure as hell don’t want to do it if you’re going to suspect I have designs on anything other than this knockout body of yours.”
“You want to take me home?” Her amazement dwindled under a haze of growing delight when he ran a slow, claiming hand from her knee over the outside of her thigh, to gently cup her bum. “You mentioned something about that earlier. At the time I thought you were talking about taking me back here, to the hotel.”
“Chicago’s too damn cold for me.” He swatted the cheek he so lovingly cradled, and her laughter melted into a purr when he bent to catch her lower lip between his teeth. “Come home to Atlanta with me, Ella. I want you with me where I’ll know you’ll be safe.”
She threaded her fingers through his dark hair. “Will you be all right if I do accept the money? I don’t want a penny of it to go to Richard Rainier’s legal defense, and accepting it is the only way I can think of to keep it away from him.”
He grimaced, then shrugged. “I suppose I’m okay with it, as long as we can put it in a trust for the kids to have when they’re all grown up.”
That was enough to make her jaw drop and her heart soar. “Kids?”
“Yeah.” He watched her with a wariness she couldn’t understand until he shifted his shoulders once more. “They...ah, hell. There’s no graceful way to say this, so I’m just going to put it out there. They might have wings. Actually, that’s pretty much a given. So, yeah. They’ll have wings. And if they want to have them removed, it should be their decision, no one else’s. So, if you don’t think you can handle that—”
“Shut up.” Just to make sure he stopped spewing nonsense, she kissed him hard. “Kids with wings or without, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll love them no matter what. My only concern now is whether or not it’s safe to start the next generation of Nephilim. What if Dantalion comes back?”
He shook his head. “For all I know we sent him back to hell. Even if we didn’t, he knows he won’t get anywhere with us.”
“Have you let the others know what happened?”
He nodded, though his interest seemed to be more on how he could get the zip of her hoodie down with one hand. “I talked to Macbeth soon after we arrived at the police station. He’s spreading the word. Let’s get one thing clear right now.” He waited until her gaze lifted to tangle with his. “I don’t want you to give Dantalion another thought. Even if I didn’t banish his ass tonight, make no mistake—I’ll protect you with everything I have.”
Just when she thought she couldn’t love him any more than she already did. “And I’ll protect you. I might not be a member of the Nephilim, but my heart’s got something that’s just as strong.” With a smile, she helped him with the zipper’s descent, then caught his mouth with hers. The world might be trembling on the edge of disaster, but she’d found out that the poets had it right—love conquered all. If she had Nate by her side, they could conquer anything.
* * * * *
Check out the first two installments of Stacy Gail’s Earth Angels series, available now!
Nobody’s Angel
Investigative journalist Kendall Glynn is horrified when a friend and colleague signs off permanently during a live newscast, jabbing a pen into his jugular. Kendall’s no expert, but judging by the strange white veil in the anchorman’s eyes, she would swear he was a man possessed. A descendant of the accursed Nephilim, Zeke Reece prowls San Francisco by night, keeping the city free from paranormal phenomena. But even he is no match for whatever malevolent force is behind a recent rash of murder-suicides. And when a beautiful tenacious reporter becomes the next target, Zeke has no choice but to stay close to her, until he can find the evil spirit and cross it over...
Savage Angel
Feel nothing. Sara Savitch’s personal mantra has been hard to live by ever since her torrid one-night stand with army doctor Gideon Mandeville. Descended from the Seraphim, angels known as heaven’s soldiers, Sara may be an expert fighter, but she’s an amateur when it comes to relationships. Physically unharmed, but still battle-scarred, Gideon has returned to Dallas in th
e hopes of regaining his faith in humanity—and in himself. Instead he’s walked into a nightmare. His father is on a serial killer’s hit list, and has hired a personal bodyguard—the very woman who has haunted Gideon’s dreams for a year...
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About the Author
A competitive figure skater from the age of eight, Stacy Gail began writing stories in between events to pass the time. By the age of fourteen, she told her parents she was either going to be a figure skating coach who was also a published romance writer, or a romance writer who was also a skating pro. Now with a day job of playing on the ice with her students, and writing everything from steampunk to cyberpunk, contemporary to paranormal at night, both dreams have come true.
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ISBN: 978-14268-9553-1
Copyright © 2013 by Stacy Gail Shoeman
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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