by Frank, Ella
“Geez, Angel. You in a rush or something?”
Halo swiped his tongue over his lip as he smoothed his palms up my naked torso, and then he wrapped his arms around my neck. “It’s been a long four days.”
I grabbed hold of his ass and pulled him flush against me. “Fuck yes, it has,” I said as I lowered my head and nuzzled my nose into the golden curls by his ear. “Missed you so damn much.”
“Mmm.” Halo angled his head to the side. “Me too.”
“I was so fucking miserable. Stayed in bed all week with a shirt you left here just so I wouldn’t forget the way you smelled,” I admitted, and when Halo raised his arms and drew his black shirt off, I took it from him, brought it to my nose, and inhaled.
“Viper?” Halo reached out and gently pulled my hands away, before taking his shirt and tossing it on the floor. “You don’t need that anymore. I’m here. Take me to your bed. I miss being in it with you.”
I held my hand out to him, and as Halo slid his palm into mine, the initial chaos that had accompanied our whirlwind of emotions settled, and a new feeling began to take its place. One that warmed me from the inside out as I tightened my grip around his and quietly led him back into my bedroom and into my heart.
Three
Halo
AS VIPER SHUT the door to his bedroom, he leaned back against it and pulled me in front of him. He arched his hips toward me, and his dark eyes were hungrier than I’d ever seen them, but Viper didn’t attack like I’d expected him to. Instead, he brought our interlaced hands up to his mouth and pressed a kiss on my knuckles before placing my hand over his bare chest, covering it with his. Then he led us in a slow slide down, over the hard planes of his body.
It was strange… I’d been with Viper so many times, but tonight was different. It felt like the first time I’d ever touched him, and my hand trembled as he ran my fingers over his abs to dip lower. At least I thought it was my hand. It could’ve been Viper trembling for all I knew, because as I curled my fingers under the waistband of his jeans, he sucked in a deep, shuddering inhale. His hold on me disappeared, but his eyes stayed intent on mine, as he waited to see what I would do.
For a long moment, the only thing I could do was stare. Stare at the man who’d promised himself to me. How was it that he was mine? It still hadn’t sunk in, and I wasn’t sure it ever would. One thing I did know—he was wearing entirely too many clothes.
I brought my hands up to his shoulders, and Viper pushed off from the door to let the shirt fall down to the floor. My body warred with my mind when all that smooth olive skin came into view, because part of me wanted to devastate his body and take what I’d been denied for days, but the other half wanted to soak in this moment and take my time.
I trailed my hands down his arms and leaned forward, stealing a kiss before pulling away and reaching for the button of Viper’s jeans. I flicked it open and slid the zipper down slowly, and Viper’s eyes flared. But before I could push the jeans off his hips, Viper grabbed my waist, hauling me flush against him so he could devour my mouth. I got lost in his kiss, barely noticing when he began to walk me backward to the bed, or when he quickly unfastened my dress pants. As my legs hit the edge of the mattress, Viper wrapped his hand around my growing erection, and the firm, warm heat of his palm had my eyes practically rolling in the back of my head.
“I almost forgot how good you feel,” I murmured against his mouth before nipping at his lower lip.
“Then it’ll be my fucking pleasure to remind you.” As Viper stroked my cock, I pushed my pants and boxer briefs off my body, ready to get as close as physically possible. Then I tugged Viper’s jeans down, and surprise, surprise, he wasn’t wearing a damn thing underneath them.
“Shit, Viper, are you kidding me?” I said, and as I took hold of his erection, sliding my hand up and down his solid length, he cursed.
“Get on my goddamn bed.” His words were practically a growl, one that sent a shiver down my spine. I did as I was told, because when had I ever been able to resist a dominant Viper? My ass hit the mattress in two seconds flat, but I didn’t have time to scoot back before Viper straddled my lap, his cock bumping against mine as he slid his hand into my hair.
“I need you, Angel.” His warm breath ghosted over my lips, and I opened my mouth to breathe him in.
“Then take me. I’m yours.”
I’d barely gotten the words out before Viper’s mouth crashed down on mine and he moved his free hand down between us to take hold of our erections. Shit, the feel of Viper’s cock rubbing up against mine and his thumb swirling over the head was almost too much to take. It felt like years since I’d had his hands and mouth on me, not days, and I wanted more, so much more. I wanted tonight to erase the memory of the last time we’d been together, up on the roof of my building, when I’d been so angry, so disappointed. I’d tried to use him the way I’d felt used, but trying to hurt Viper had only been hurting myself in the end.
As if he sensed where my mind had gone, Viper drew his mouth away, and his hand stilled. “What is it, Angel?”
“I’m sorry too,” I said, cupping his cheeks with both hands as I stared into his beautiful face.
“What for?”
“That night on the roof. I…I was trying to punish you.”
“I know.” He brushed a stray curl out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. “I deserved it.”
“I don’t want to hurt you again.”
A hint of a smile turned up Viper’s lips. “Then don’t ever fucking leave me.”
“Never.”
Viper lowered his head until his lips were on mine and whispered, “Never?”
I nodded, ran my hand down his neck to his chest, and laid my palm over his heart. “Not ever.”
Viper took in a deep inhale and then slid his fingers into my hair, tilting my head back so he was looking down into my face. “That should scare the hell out of me.”
“But it doesn’t. Does it?”
As Viper’s eyes roamed over my face, I let my hand slide further down his body, and this time I circled both our lengths, making Viper arch forward into my grasp, and I leaned forward to meet him halfway.
My lips found the hollow at the base of his throat, and as his fingers tightened in my hair and he pulled me closer, I heard him say, “No, it doesn’t.”
I shut my eyes and let his words wash over me, the emotions swirling around us bigger than anything I’d ever felt before as Viper rocked against me, the tempo in the room going from fast and frantic to slow and sensual in the space of some heartfelt truths.
I wanted this man. I wanted to laugh with him. I wanted to fight with him. I wanted to fuck him until I couldn’t move other than to smile. But the biggest revelation here, the one both of us were learning as we rediscovered one another in the shadows of this New York night, was that we wanted to love each other, no matter the cost.
“Angel.” A low purr rumbled out of Viper’s throat as he tugged my head back, and when I opened my eyes, he moved a hand up to my chin and held my face in place as he ghosted his lips across mine. “God. This face…”
My lips curved, and so did his, as he brushed his thumb across my cheek.
“I’ll never get tired of seeing this face looking at me. Especially the way you’re looking at me now.”
“How am I looking at you?” I asked, but with the way my heart felt close to bursting, I already knew the answer to that.
“With your heart in your eyes, Angel. With your heart in your beautiful eyes.”
“Careful,” I said, and nipped at his lower lip. “That sounded very close to something a romantic would say.”
“Mmm. It did, didn’t it?”
I stroked my fist up our lengths and grazed my thumb over the piercing that was now slick from both our pre-cum, and Viper shuddered. “It did. But don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret.”
“Tell whoever the fuck you want,” Viper said, and growled as he pressed a possessive kiss to my lips, tumbling
me back onto the bed. “I want everyone to know. You’re taken. Mine. No one else’s.”
I grinned and brought my hands around to grab at his ass and pull his body in nice and tight to mine, loving the feel of his weight once again pinning me to the mattress. “Yours, huh?”
Viper fingered one of the curls by the side of my face. “You better believe it. These lips,” he said, and placed a kiss to them before raising his head. “This body.” He shifted down the bed and placed a kiss to my chest. “This heart.” He grinned as he raised his devilish eyes to mine and slid even further down. “And this cock? They’re all mine.”
I chuckled and raised my hips, hoping to get Viper’s attention, as he slid his lips down the length of my dick. He sucked on me, driving me out of my mind with need, and I slammed my eyes shut as I arched up off the bed. Viper groaned, and the vibration around my cock had my fingers twisting in his hair.
My brain shut down to everything then, except the way Viper was making me feel, and as the waves of pleasure began to build and his lips tightened around me in a way that was designed to make me lose my fucking mind, I tugged on his hair, not wanting it to end like this, not wanting to come before he was back inside me, filling the part of me that had been empty since I’d walked away and left him behind four nights ago.
Four
Viper
THIS IS EXACTLY where I’m supposed to be. In my bed, Halo beneath me, and his cock in my mouth…
As I savored the taste of him, his fingers tightened in my hair, and I reluctantly took my mouth off him. It’d been too long, and neither of us wanted to end things tonight without being deep inside each other. I crawled up his body, leaving kisses along the way, and when I reached his lips, he leaned up for me, taking my mouth with his. His tongue slid inside, tangling with mine, and I moaned because it was one of the things I found the hottest about the angel. He wanted to taste himself on my lips, and fuck if I wasn’t going to oblige. I’d give him anything he wanted, and as he pulled away and stared up at me with unfocused eyes, I knew exactly what he was asking for.
I quickly grabbed the lube and a condom out of the bedside drawer, and as I sheathed my dick, I could feel the way it throbbed in my hand. Hot, hard, and more than ready to get back inside where I belonged.
“Viper,” Halo said, the need in his voice music to my ears as his hips arched up, meeting nothing but air.
I flipped open the lube and coated my fingers with the liquid, and then I leaned down over my man’s body.
“I got you, Angel,” I said, massaging his entrance in circles with the pad of my finger. As I pushed inside him, he let out a long exhale that relaxed his muscles, giving my finger an easier slide. After a few strokes, I added a second finger, stretching him and getting him good and ready for me.
Halo’s chest rose and fell as his jaw clenched tight. Sweet torture, that was what the angel was feeling right now, and I’d made him wait long enough. I removed my fingers and grabbed hold of my cock, positioning it at his entrance, but before I moved any further, I looked over all that smooth, naked skin on display and the way Halo’s curls splayed out across the mattress, framing his stunning face.
He’s mine. Somehow this beautiful man had chosen me, and, miracle of all miracles, I’d chosen him back. Despite telling myself for years that I didn’t need anyone, I’d somehow fallen without warning for Halo. He’d hit me with the force of a speeding train, and now I was powerless to stop what had been inevitable since the first time I laid eyes on him.
With that final thought, I pushed inside him, letting my body take over telling him how much he meant to me. I dropped my hands to the mattress on either side of his face as I filled him up, and the hitch of his breath as I went balls deep had me grinding my teeth to keep from exploding right then and there.
God, he felt good. Better than good—he felt fucking amazing, and for a moment I stilled, unable to move just yet, or this would all be over too fast.
I dropped my head to his shoulder, breathing him in. I was sure it would be weird to say I’d missed his scent, but goddammit, I had. He was everywhere even when he was gone, and even if there hadn’t been a party tonight to use as an excuse to see him, I would’ve found some other way, because living without the angel was not an option.
“Viper. Look at me.”
I lifted my head, my eyes connecting with Halo’s, and the look in them had my stomach bottoming out. There was so much emotion contained in that gaze that I could barely breathe, and then Halo’s hips rose up off the bed, taking me even deeper. A shudder rolled through me, and my eyes slammed shut.
“No. I want your eyes on me.” Halo rested his hand on the side of my neck, and when I opened my eyes, he pushed his hips up again. Message received: he wanted me to move, and he didn’t want to break our connection.
I pulled out of him slowly and then thrust back in, keeping my gaze on him. Like this, I could watch his face as I stole every ounce of pleasure from his body, but that wasn’t the only thing I’d stolen tonight.
As I rocked inside him, angling my hips so the head of my cock rubbed up against his prostate, I put my hand on his chest, right over his heart. The smallest flicker of surprise crossed Halo’s eyes at the move, but then it was gone, a deep satisfaction replacing the emotion as he placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed.
Fuck, why did it feel like my chest was on fire? Like someone had a scalding grip on my heart, and it would burst at any moment? Was this what it felt like to love someone? To share a connection so powerful it could devastate you while also making you feel more alive than you’d ever been?
“Are you scared?” Halo’s eyes searched mine as the steady pace of my hips stuttered and stopped.
I blew out a breath and answered honestly. “Angel, I’m scared shitless.”
A chuckle left him, that smile lighting up the room. “Then we’ll be scared shitless together.” He laced our fingers where they rested on his chest and reached for my hip with his free hand, urging me on, before gripping his cock.
This time when I began to move, it was slow, sensual, and nothing like any of our previous encounters. When we weren’t looking at each other, I was leaning forward, my tongue exploring his mouth as he opened to me. There was always a time and place for a rough, hot fuck with my angel, but this was so much more. It wasn’t just a joining together of our bodies anymore. Halo belonged to me now, heart, body, and soul, and even though that was an entirely new concept in my world, I knew he’d steer me right if I fucked up somehow.
Halo’s breath began to come out in jagged pants, a sheen of sweat covering his body as his release drew near, and I ramped the intensity up to a ten, driving myself deeper inside the hole that was made for me—and only me.
My balls drew up tight, and it was all I could do not to squeeze my eyes shut as the force of my orgasm hit me full-on. Halo’s name left my lips like a prayer, over and over again, as I watched him start to come apart beneath me. There wasn’t a more gorgeous sight in the fucking world than the angel biting down on his lower lip as the first hot jets of cum landed between us. On his stomach, on mine. His eyes stayed on me, his pupils so blown that it edged out the sea-green of his irises, and then he was reaching for me, bringing my face down to his, kissing me with a passion I felt all the way to my toes.
“Yours,” he said against my mouth, and my lips curved.
“Mine.”
Five
Halo
“SO,” VIPER SAID as he shifted in the bed beside me, moving so I could burrow into his side and he could wrap his arm around me. “Now that I’ve bared my heart and soul to you, are you ever gonna tell me what Halo stands for?”
The lights twinkled outside the wall of windows that made up Viper’s lavish bedroom, but the view inside the room was what held my attention as I tilted my face so I was looking up at him, and when he eyed me, I grinned. “What makes you think it stands for anything? Maybe my parents were hippies.”
Viper frowned and screwed h
is nose up at the thought. “Cheryl Olsen doesn’t exactly strike me as the flower child type.”
“No?” I said, scooting a little closer to him so I could drape my leg over his thigh, and Viper reached down to pull it across his body.
“No. And you said your father was a music professor, so… Come on, fess up.”
I chuckled and felt a flush creep up to my cheeks as shyness suddenly swept over me. The thought of telling Viper, the King of Cool, my real name was embarrassing to say the least.
“Angel?”
“You can’t laugh,” I said, which was the exact wrong thing to say, judging by Viper’s low chuckle that filled the room. “That’s a promising start.”
“Oh, come on. How bad can it be? You know mine.”
I put a hand on Viper’s chest and pushed up so I could look down into his handsome face. “David isn’t bad.”
“My mom will be thrilled you think so.”
I grimaced at the mention of his mother, thinking about how rude I’d been leaving her house without dessert Monday night. “I feel terrible about how I left things with her. I can’t imagine what she must think of me.”
Viper squeezed my thigh. “She thinks you’re wonderful. Me, on the other hand?” Viper shrugged. “She isn’t too impressed. We might have to have a do-over to make it up to her.”
I nodded. That wasn’t a bad idea, and Viper’s mom had been welcoming.
“But don’t try to sidetrack me. Name, Angel.”
I shook my head, the heat rushing back to my cheeks. Thank God the light was off. “This is so embarrassing.”