Jesus. The first time I’d heard him play this back in that little Savannah bar, I’d known it was something special. But in this mammoth space, with the piano all miked up and the speakers set for impact, what I was hearing and seeing was fucking phenomenal.
As though Halo realized at the exact same time I did just how goddamn good he sounded, he let his head fall back as his foot moved on the pedal, and then his fingers flew across the keys and led him into the chorus.
He was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Passionate, talented, and one hundred percent in the zone, and as he made the transition into the second verse, I found myself moving toward him, no longer content to be this far away from the angel lighting up the darkness.
I jumped up onto the center of the stage with ease, as Halo shifted on the seat and bent his head down over the keys. He was mesmerizing in his concentration, his skill making him even sexier, if that was possible, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Instead, I took hold of the thin black rail of the stairs leading up to where he was, and then I raced up them.
When I reached the platform, I stepped around the enormous wing closest to me so I was standing at the back of the piano and looking across it to where Halo was launching into the final chorus.
His curls had fallen forward, all around his face, and the tip of his tongue was flirting with his top lip, as it did whenever he was concentrating or all up in his head. His beautiful eyes were shut as though he were in another time, or maybe a different plane of existence—that was how unearthly he seemed just then. As he came to the end of the piece and his fingers went still, silence once again filled the warehouse and the angel finally opened his eyes.
Pure, undiluted pleasure radiated from those light eyes as they took in the piano in front of him, and when Halo finally raised his gaze and spotted me standing opposite him, he sucked in a breath.
His cheeks were flushed pink, the adrenaline of what had just happened still thrumming through him, and as I began to walk over to him, the pleasure in his eyes shifted and a whole set of new emotions began to take their place.
Love. Lust. Arousal. It was all there, mixed up with a healthy dose of excitement swirling in my angel’s eyes, and when I made my way around the second wing and stopped beside him, Halo shifted until he was looking up at me, and I close to fell to my knees.
With unsteady hands, I reached for his face, cradling it between my palms as I lowered my head and said across his lips, “You are extraordinary.”
Halo’s lips parted on a soft moan, and I sucked his lower lip between mine, needing a taste of him. But then he reached up to cover my hands and pulled back a fraction to say, “This gift, what you’ve given me tonight, Viper. That’s extraordinary.”
My heart thumped uncontrollably at the sincerity in his words, the total love and adoration in his eyes, and I didn’t even care that he could no doubt see the exact same emotions swirling in mine.
I wanted to worship every single inch of this man, shout to the entire fucking world that he was mine, and as I pushed his hair back behind one of his ears, I kissed my way along his cheekbone and said, “I’m so fucking crazy about you.”
Halo turned his face toward me, and I couldn’t wait another moment to take that mouth with mine. I crushed my lips down onto his, and as he tilted his head back, I threaded my fingers into his hair and groaned.
Fuck, he was so damn delicious that I could kiss him forever and never get enough. But I needed him closer to me. I wanted to feel him pressed up against me as I devoured his sweet, sweet mouth, and as though he could read my mind, Halo moved to his feet until he was standing opposite me.
“I want you so fucking bad right now,” I growled against his lips, and when Halo curled his hands around the lapels of my jacket and tugged me forward, I could feel just how badly he wanted me too.
Halo’s eyes shifted over my shoulder to the empty black warehouse behind me and then came back to mine, and that arousal I’d seen swirling to life a minute ago was now in full control. His pupils had dilated, his breathing was coming at a rapid pace, and when he scraped his teeth along his lower lip and said, “Then take me,” nothing in the world could’ve stopped me from taking the angel up on his invitation.