A laugh came from nowhere, just one, nearly choking her. She angled her head away from his chest and met his unflinching gaze. He couldn’t fool her. His human track record didn’t please him. “Who’d shoot an angel?”
He shrugged and snorted. “More humans than you’d think.”
The warmth of his gaze, the mirth in his eyes, replaced her fear of heights. She sucked up her courage and peeked at the ground.Fuck.It was far away. The lights mere dots. The cars ants crawling along. And still he went higher. “This is good enough,” she shrieked and closed her eyes.
“Look at me. Focus on me,” he commanded. This time, she had no will to refuse.
Moonlight illuminated his face. She could see him clearly. His perfect features were on display. More than rugged and handsome, he was beautiful. A strong jaw, a straight nose, a high, even brow, a square chin, and his eyes that seemed electric in the moonlight. Along with the stunning, long white feathers of his wings, all of him glowed.
“The air up here is too thin for humans. You should be gasping, your chest caving in, but you’re not. You’re fine.”
“Now I’m an experiment?”
His hand stroked her back. “An observation.” He soothed her anger.
His hands roaming her back was a great distraction. “Grace?” It had to be.
He nodded. “Along with the ichor. You’re stronger. And getting stronger every day.”
“That’s a bad thing, right?” It had to be because nothing good ever happened to her. Ever.
A smile tweaked his mouth, and he shook his head. “It’s the best thing possible. A stronger you will be harder to kill. I consider that to be excellent news.”
She heard him, but her focus had shifted to his lips. She wanted to kiss him. Taste him. All he had to do was tip his head and come to her. She willed it, poured everything into a silent command. He said she had power. Let’s see how much.
Ten seconds and his head tipped. “Wait. Are you going to kiss me because you want to or because I compelled you to?” It mattered.
The widest smile she’d ever seen graced his face. “No compelling involved. I’ve wanted to kiss you since...” He stopped talking to move his mouth over hers in a gentle caress, until she parted her lips, allowing his tongue to slip inside.
He tasted pure, if pure had a taste. And intoxicating. She’d get drunk off him. Already her head swam, and she didn’t care.
Eden threaded her hands in to the short strands of his hair and sank into the kiss as he licked along the roof of her mouth. She canted her head to the side and gave him complete access. To everything. He wanted to kiss her, so be it. He wanted to touch her, so be it. He wanted to fuck her, get to it.
The hand on her back drifted to her ass and squeezed. She moaned, low, from her gut. Fisting his shirt, she tightened her thighs around his waist, determined to keep him where she wanted. In her mouth and between her legs.
He squeezed her ass again and pressed her close. Eden rolled her hips, grinding her core into the hard length straining in his pants. His moan was a symphony to her ears. Had she reduced her stoic angel to this needy creature straining against her? Yes, she had, and Eden couldn’t be more pleased. She pulled back, teasing him with her tongue. She licked his lower lip, bit him gently, then soothed it with another swipe of her tongue.Groaning, he angled her head just the way he wanted, gaining a deeper access as he arched his hips and gyrated against her core. Thank God she didn’t need air because she didn’t want to stop, wouldn’t stop as long as he kissed her like this, exactly like this as they glided over the Puget.
He took charge. She took charge. Each lost to their hunger, each dominating the other. Equals.They spiraled, twisting, turning, flipping. She couldn’t keep track, not with his tongue deep down her throat, tapping into the overwhelming need she’d kept under wraps.
Rational thought was lost as she poured all of herself into the kiss. Each lick, suck, thrust, buffeted with a whirlwind of sensation she couldn’t get enough of. Sensations paralleling in Seren. Something cracked opened inside her and she felt him, felt all the emotions pouring from him. Lust, a deep, drowning well of lust she willingly submerged in. Along with threads of worry for her safety. Hatred of what was done to her. Sorrow at how her life had been altered, and guilt at something. A deep, simmering, vat of guilt she was afraid to touch.
“Eden,” Seren growled, and delved into her mouth again.
The guttural, raspy way he said her name made the inside of her skull itch and her brain spark. Maybe it was the inflection. Maybe it was the harsh growl on the last syllable. Either way, her name triggered something in the depths of her brain, something buried, but rising. Confused, she pulled away.
For a moment, he chased her, then stopped. Rough fingers stroked her neck, chin, and cupped her face. “What?” Seren murmured. His face tight from concern.
She couldn’t put her finger on it. A memory teased her, but it was ether in her brain.
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “It’s nothing. I-I feel funny. Stomach tumbling. Air sick, I guess.” It wasn’t a lie, just not the complete truth. And he knew it. By the subtle shifting of his features into his usual stoic mask, he knew she hadn’t spoken truthfully.
“I’ll take you down.”
His hands shifted from her hair and ass to her waist. Impersonal once again. She hated it, but kept her mouth shut until her feet touched the ground. Metal. They were on an empty barge in the middle of the Puget, sailing past Pier 57.
She glanced at the pilot’s house.
“He can’t see us.” He tucked his wings and they vanished.