Dark Angel

by Heaton, Felicity

  She reached out without thinking and touched his forearm, placing her hand on the black leather cuff that protected it, and tried to pinpoint the emotion using her power.

  Apollyon frowned and took her hand. The sudden skin-on-skin contact boosted her senses and the feeling came through loud and clear. She stared at him as he toyed with her fingers, his attention fixed on them.

  Loneliness.

  “The couch sounds good.” He lowered her hand. “I have not slept in a long time.”

  “You don’t sleep?” She lifted the latch on the French windows of her balcony and walked into the dark room.

  When she bumped into the old wooden kitchen table, she snapped her fingers and the lights came on. She looked back at Apollyon where he stood near the door, his gaze scanning her kitchen and dining room.

  It wasn’t much.

  The white walls needed a new coat to make them vibrant again and there was a stack of washing in the sink of the compact kitchen to her left and a pile of laundry on the table. She wasn’t exactly painting herself in the best light by letting him see her home.

  “Not when I am on duty, unless I am given leave to.” Apollyon stepped forwards into the dining room and Serenity mulled over what he had said as she crossed the room to the open wooden door and went through into the living room. “I only sleep when on Earth. It has been centuries since I was last here.”

  “And I called you.” She hadn’t forgotten that. He had been surprised, and so had she. She snapped her fingers again, using her power to turn on the lamp in the corner of the living room behind the television. She pointed to the cream couch, hoping he wouldn’t comment on the haphazard stacks of old books that littered the coffee table and the floor near it. “I’ll get some blankets.”

  Serenity felt his gaze on her as she walked away, into her bedroom. The door was to the right of the television, directly in front of the couch. If she left it open, she would be able to see him while he slept. She grabbed one of the pillows from her double bed and then took a thick dark red blanket from the bottom of her wooden wardrobe to the right of the door.

  Apollyon was sitting on the couch leafing through one of the books when she walked back out. He lifted his blue gaze from the pages and smiled when she held out the blanket.

  “You have many books.” He flicked to the next page, scanned it and raised his eyes to her again. “Are the ones Edward took like these?”

  She shook her head. “No. They’re far more valuable to my coven. These are mine.”

  He turned to the next page and her eyes widened as she spotted her hand-writing all over it. She lunged for it but he held it away from her and frowned at the page.

  “You write in your books?” He arched an eyebrow at that, as if it was a crime.

  Serenity grabbed it but he refused to let go. “It’s easier than writing on paper and forgetting where I put it. It’s only pencil, and I was making adjustments to the spell.”

  She cringed as she said that and his eyes drifted back to the page and slowly widened. She should have kept her mouth shut.

  “Love spells?” He turned the book so he could read the spine and then looked up at her. “Why would you need to adjust a love spell?”

  He looked genuinely interested in the answer, and a dash curious too.

  “I needed it more potent for a client. Have you met many witches?” Maybe she was his first.

  “I have met one before.” His expression sobered. “She was under the protection of a friend, and fell under my protection too since he had been part of my team.”

  Serenity caught the glimmer of remorse as it flitted across his eyes, and the touch of sorrow that laced it, and held her tongue. Whoever the angel had been, and whoever the witch had been, Apollyon had lost them.

  She took the book from him and carefully closed it, giving him time to come out of his thoughts.

  When he finally looked at her, she smiled softly.

  “I tend to wake early. I’ll try to be quiet if you’re sleeping.” She set the book down on the low coffee table in front of the couch and lingered, part of her not wanting to leave him yet.

  “Thank you.” Apollyon nodded. “Goodnight, Serenity.”

  She smiled at the sound of her name on his tongue, spoken with warmth.

  “Goodnight, Apollyon.”

  He smiled back at her.

  Serenity took herself into her room and shut the door, pressing her back to it and closing her eyes.

  How was she supposed to sleep with him in the next room?

  It was going to be impossible.

  CHAPTER 8

  Serenity opened the bedroom door a crack and peered through. The lights in the living room were off but the moon had moved around, shining through the windows to her right beyond the television.

  She slowly swept her eyes over to Apollyon.

  They widened.

  His wings were gone.

  She opened the door, convinced that she was dreaming it, and took a good look at him.

  They were gone. He hadn’t tucked them away. They just weren’t there.

  He lay on the couch, his head at the end nearest the door to the kitchen, and his feet dangling over the end beside the windows. She stifled her giggle at the sight of him sprawled out so uncomfortably. He was far too tall for her small couch. She probably should have given him the bed and slept on the couch herself.

  Serenity snuck into the room, tiptoeing and grimacing with each step in case it made a noise. She wanted to look at him for a while and she didn’t want to wake him. If he thought her black dress had been provocative, she could well imagine what he would think of the small dark red slip she was wearing.

  She stopped a few feet from him, on the other side of the coffee table. He was beautiful bathed in moonlight and looked so normal without his wings. She could easily fool herself into thinking he was mortal just like her.

  His bare chest slowly rose and fell, the pace of his breathing measured and deep. Her mouth turned dry when she looked him over.

  He was naked.

  Clearly, he wasn’t used to sharing with female company.

  The red blanket rode low, barely covering his hips, in danger of falling off completely. Her eyes wandered over him, soaking up every detail, every dip and swell of his delicious torso. He had one arm tucked behind his head and the other rested on his hip, drawing her gaze back there. It traced the curve of muscle that arched over his hip and then the dark line of hair that led her eyes downwards.

  Looking at him now, it was hard to believe that he was a real angel.

  Yet she was a witch.

  Her mother had taught her to believe in everything, because you never knew what might just turn out to be real. She had always believed in angels but had never thought she would end up with one sleeping naked on her couch.

  It just seemed so incredible to look at him and know that it was possible that he had lived for an eternity already.

  He was immortal.

  A very handsome immortal.

  His face was a mask of peace as he slumbered and his dark hair was falling out of his ponytail and spread over his forearm where it disappeared under his head.

  Were all angels as beautiful as Apollyon?

  Her eyes drifted over him again, from the chiselled perfection of his face, to his broad shoulders, over the flat slabs of his pectorals and his dark nipples, to the tempting ridges of his abdomen.

  He twitched and loosed a quiet moan.

  Serenity stiffened, her heart leaping into her throat.

  When he moved again, she bolted into her bedroom and dived under the covers, hiding there and pretending to be asleep. Her pulse thundered, blood rushing through her head, and she struggled to hear over it as she listened hard for a sign that she had woken him.

  When only silence reached her ears, she breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed into the mattress.

  The light burst on.

  Serenity shot up in bed, clutching the dark pink covers to her ch
est, and her eyes flew wide.

  She slapped her hands over them, her cheeks blazing over what she had just seen. “Cover yourself!”

  Prickly heat chased over her skin at the flash of him stood naked in her doorway.

  “You seemed rather interested in seeing it a moment ago.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

  Her whole body burned with her blush. “I am not... was not.”

  “You can come out now,” he said.

  She peeked through her fingers to make sure he wasn’t tricking her.

  It was cruel of him to stand before her like that when she wanted him. He had said that other angels had mortal women, but she still couldn’t get past the fact that he was an angel and what she had been brought up to believe. Angels didn’t do that sort of thing. They were good. They were saints.

  Apollyon was bad. Apollyon was built for sin.

  She knew it in her heart whenever she looked at him. He exuded power and sensuality, a lithe beautiful creature with the body of a god and the smile of a devil. She wanted him and if he hadn’t put himself away then she was likely to reach out and take for once in her life.

  Serenity’s gaze slowly lowered to his hips. His small black loincloth covered him.

  She emerged from her hiding place.

  “Better?” He crossed the room and sat down beside her on the bed, one leg up on the mattress so he was almost facing her and the wall. “Were you having trouble sleeping?”

  Was she ever? Did he know how impossible it was to resist him? To sit here in a big bed alone while he slept just a few metres away, nude?

  Their dance still had her fired up.

  “A little.” She brought her knees up under the covers. “I don’t know what I’m doing. Revenge really isn’t my style.”

  “Let it be my revenge then.”

  Serenity looked at him and frowned. “Why?”

  Apollyon sighed, leaned closer and feathered his fingers across her cheek and then sifted them through the long wild strands of her hair, wreaking havoc on her control.

  “Because I saw your pain and felt your suffering, even before we met, and I want him to feel that too. I want to repay him for hurting you so deeply.”

  He really had been watching her. Her own guardian angel. He had seen her pain and then he had heard her call, and he had come to her, to ease her suffering and make her feel better.

  Serenity didn’t know what to say. It touched her that he clearly cared about her, enough that he would take the burden of revenge on his shoulders, lifting the weight from hers. It would still feel as though this was her revenge, even though he had said it was his, but she was thankful to have his support and to hear him say that he was in this with her.

  “Thank you.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

  She hesitated there, her mouth close to his and her heart beating wildly, awaiting his reaction. She hadn’t thought about what she was doing. It had been instinct to kiss him.

  He was still a moment, as though she had shocked him, and then he turned.

  Claimed her lips in a kiss that seared her.

  She instantly melted into it, swept up in the passionate play of his mouth over hers, and couldn’t hold back a moan as his tongue slipped between her lips to tease her. She tilted her head and leaned into the kiss, aching for more, bewitched by the hard demanding feel of it.

  His mouth was warm, inviting, and she didn’t pause to think. She focused on feeling instead, because everything about it felt right to her. She skimmed her hands over his shoulders as his claimed her waist, and she moaned as ripples of pleasure ran through her, sending her desire soaring.

  His tongue delved into her mouth again, stealing her breath away, and he moved on the bed, kneeling and leaning into her, driving her into submission.

  She went willingly, relaxing back into the pillows, eager for more, for whatever he would give to her.

  His bare chest pressed against hers, the hard feel of him divine and delicious, and she couldn’t resist gripping his biceps. They flexed beneath her fingers as he kissed her, drawing another moan from her lips. He was strong. Powerful. Everything about him spoke to her most feminine side, had her wild with a need to take things further than just kissing.

  He groaned, a low guttural sound that sent a tremble through her, and her eyes slipped shut.

  When he broke for air and lingered looking at her for a moment, sense reared its ugly head and she considered what she was doing.

  She was kissing an angel.

  “Wait.” She pressed her hands against his chest, heat flooding her at the silk on steel feel of it beneath her palms that threatened to shatter her control again.

  “No,” he breathed and kissed her again, sweeping his tongue across her lips and teasing her, tempting her into surrendering. “I do not want to stop.”

  Serenity caved for a moment, melting under the feel of his hands gliding up her sides, lifting her satin slip with them, heading towards her breasts. Reality kicked in again when they neared her chest and she pushed harder against his.

  “Stop.”

  Apollyon pulled back, leaning over her, his warm breath washing her face.

  “Is something wrong?” His blue eyes questioned hers.

  “What are you doing?”

  He frowned. “Exactly what I want to do for once.”

  He dipped his head to kiss her again and she almost relented. Almost. She braced her hands against his chest and leaned back so he couldn’t reach her.

  “You want this,” he whispered and stroked her sides, getting closer to her breasts.

  She shivered, tiny jolts of bliss skittering across her skin. He was right, she did want it, but she just couldn’t get past the fact that he was an angel.

  “Won’t you get into trouble?” She searched his eyes. “I don’t want to get you into trouble.”

  He smiled and her resistance melted a little. “I won’t. You drive me crazy. I need you, Serenity. Being close to you tonight, seeing you laughing, smiling, happy because of me... I want to make you feel that way again, and I know you want it too. Somewhere along the line tonight, it stopped being an act for me. It became real.”

  He smoothed her hair across the dark pink pillow, his eyes warm and honest, backing up his words. He wasn’t lying. She hadn’t been alone tonight. The desire he had shown to her hadn’t been pretend.

  He wanted her.

  Relief poured through her, washing away the last of her doubts, unleashing the need she kept trying to bottle up and deny.

  “Is it the same for you?” He looked hopeful and she sensed his nerves, his need to know he wasn’t alone.

  Serenity didn’t hesitate.

  She nodded. “It is... I just... with the wings gone it’s so much easier to fool myself, but I know that you’re an angel... it—”

  Apollyon pressed a lone finger to her lips. “Forget everything everyone ever told you about us. We can be with mortals and we are free to do as we please. Besides, you are my master right now. Whatever you want of me, you will have, but resisting you is becoming impossible.”

  She felt the same way. She had tried her hardest but she didn’t want to resist him now. She wanted to give herself to him, ached to fulfil the deep craving to have his body on hers, to drown in his kisses and lose herself in the moment.

  Apollyon had made her happy tonight.

  She had felt as though Edward had never happened and that being in Apollyon’s arms was enough to bring a smile back to her face. He had made her laugh for the first time in weeks.

  But none of that erased the fear in her heart that he was going to disappear when he’d had his vengeance and she would be alone again.

  She shut out the voices that warned her against going through with it and ran her hands over Apollyon’s strong shoulders, caressing his bronzed skin and feeling his warmth.

  “Where did the wings go?” She focused on touching him, using it to push out the doubts and slowly loosen the tethers of her
control.

  She wanted him.

  She could do this.

  “Away.” He looked at her left hand where it stroked his right shoulder and then back into her eyes. “I can keep them like this if I concentrate, but it only works for a short time. It was uncomfortable to sleep on them. Would you like me to bring them back?”

  “Not right now.” Serenity ran her hands up his neck to his jaw and stroked the square line of it, her gaze drifting over his face and putting it to memory. She would never forget it, and she wasn’t likely to find a man as handsome as him again. “Right now, I like you just the way you are.”

  “Naked?” he said and she couldn’t help smiling at his innocent expression.

  “Naked,” she whispered, not needing to look to know that what little he had been wearing was now gone.

  She slid one her hand around the nape of his neck and drew him down to her. With a wicked smile, she showed him he wasn’t the only one who could perform magic and made her satin slip disappear, leaving her naked beneath the dark covers.

  Apollyon groaned, his gaze running over her chest with blatant desire even though her nipples were still hidden. What would he look like when she was naked before him? She couldn’t wait to find out.

  She pressed her lips to his and he immediately tilted his head and fused their mouths in another hungry kiss. She let go this time, not thinking about tomorrow, only thinking about now and how good it felt to be in Apollyon’s arms.

  She wouldn’t give this up for anything.

  If he was brave enough to take what he wanted, then she would too. She would live with the consequences and pay whatever price she had to in order to have this moment with him.

  His tongue brushed hers and she moaned and clutched his shoulder, drawing him closer until his chest was covering hers again, his hands caressing her upper arms. On a low groan, he broke away from her mouth and pressed long kisses down her jaw and her neck, sending shivers chasing over her skin, spreading outwards from where his lips touched.

  She reached up above her head, clutched the pillow and closed her eyes as he feathered his lips over her collarbone and then down her chest. Her breath left her in a sigh and she arched into his touch, aching for more as he teased her, had her restless with a need for him to kiss her breasts.