Her Dark Angel (6 page)

He unfurled his wings and dived from the building, rocketing towards the ground so fast that she clung to his neck, afraid that he was going to drop her. He pulled up at the last minute with a mighty beat of his wings and then they were soaring over the rooftops again, heading towards her home.

Serenity directed him once they were close, her heart heavy and her head aching. She wasn’t sure what she was doing. Was she imagining it all and just seeing what she wanted to see? Did she really feel something for Apollyon other than lust? She had never been the sort to flirt with a man or look for a quick fling. Was she serious about him?

He landed on the roof balcony of her apartment, touching down so gently that she didn’t even feel it, and his wings folded against his back. He set her down and she stood looking up at him, trying to figure out her feelings and what she was doing. She barely knew him.

It was probably best this way.

“Thank you.” She straightened out her black dress and fidgeted.

“For flying you home?”

“No... for helping me. It was very kind of you.” Could she have sounded more stilted? She wasn’t sure how to act around him when she wanted to throw herself into his arms, and seize both the moment and him.

Apollyon smiled. “We have not had your vengeance yet.”

Hadn’t they? Edward had been jealous. Just how far was Apollyon willing to go in order to make him suffer? There was darkness in Apollyon’s eyes that said he hadn’t been lying to her today, and that he would do terrible things to Edward if she commanded it. It was all getting out of control, and if they continued their charade, she was certain that she would only end up hurt again. She wasn’t sure if she could take it this time. The thought of Apollyon hurting her made her want to tell him it was over and to leave.

“Is it really okay for you to be doing this?” she said instead.

His smile widened, handsome and charming, devastating in its effect. Her heart beat faster, racing at the thoughts that crowded her mind, a continuation of the way they had been dancing together. She had never been so bold with Edward when they had danced. Pretending it was all a charade had made her feel free and she’d thrown herself into it, using making Edward jealous as an excuse to do as she wanted with Apollyon.

She wanted to dance like that with him again, right now on the rooftop under the moon.

“I can do as I please. Angels are not God’s to command. We merely work for him, and a number work for the Devil.”

“But you’re definitely a good guy?” she whispered, sometimes not quite sure. The things he told her about his duty left her feeling as though there was a very wicked streak in him. Why else would they have chosen him to rain destruction down on Earth?

“I am.” He stepped towards her, his tall broad build making her feel small. “You have that look again, the one that makes me feel as though you are about to say I am death.”

“You’re not.” She sounded confident even when she wasn’t. It surprised her. She stepped closer to him, tilting her head back to see into his eyes. Her heart hammered. “You’re just a bad boy.”

He grinned. “So I have been told.”

She frowned. “By women?”

He shook his head, his expression gaining an amused edge. “No, by my fellow warriors. That was a long time ago, and we have not seen each other in many centuries.”

“What happened?” Serenity studied his face, trying to read his feelings on it. He didn’t seem sad that he hadn’t spoken to his friends in all that time.

“They changed.” He walked to the edge of the small balcony on her grey slate roof and stared off into the distance. The breeze caught the strands of his dark ponytail and ruffled his feathers. He sighed and looked over his shoulder at her. “They chose to pass their years on Earth, in the arms of the mortal women they loved. We have a habit of watching humans, and celibacy in modern times is very difficult. Women dress so provocatively.”

His gaze fell to her dress, slowly running over it from her breasts to her thighs. She kept still, feeling awkward from the heat in his eyes but not wanting them to leave her. She liked the feel of them on her and how confident his hungry looks made her.

“They’re allowed to do that?” she whispered, not quite able to find her voice, and his blue eyes jumped to hers. She walked over to him, leaned her bottom against the black metal railing beside him, and looked across into his eyes.

He laughed again but it didn’t quell the fire in his eyes. It burned brighter now, flames that threatened to set her on fire too if she took the leap into his arms.

“We are angels.” He cleared her fair hair from her face, tucking it back into her chignon. “Not saints.”

“Oh.” Her wide eyes fell to his mouth and she imagined how good it would feel to kiss him, to have his lips playing over her flesh, teasing her until she shattered and he had to put her back together again.

“Some fall and choose to become mortal... others remain as they are but serve from Earth. It is a great sacrifice on both accounts.” He stroked her cheek, held her gaze for long seconds, and then stepped away from her. “Today has been a lot for you to take in. I will let you rest and return tomorrow.”

Serenity caught his wrist before he could move away. He looked down at it and then into her eyes.

She swallowed.

“Where will you go?” She released him and looked out across the rooftops. “Do you have friends here?”

“No.” He moved closer to her again, until he was almost touching her and she could feel his power radiating against hers.

He was strong. His power was far more potent than hers was and she didn’t doubt that he could be a deadly destructive force if he put his mind to it, but for some reason that didn’t scare her. He hadn’t given her a reason to fear him, only to trust him and feel safe around him, and the closer he was to her, the more she felt that way.

Serenity turned and plastered a smile on her face to cover her nerves. “You can stay here.”

A single dark eyebrow rose at the suggestion.

“I have a couch you could sleep on, and some blankets, and it’s better than being alone, right?”

His gaze raked over her again, giving her the impression that he was thinking of sleeping somewhere other than the couch, and then the passion that had been surfacing in his eyes melted away to reveal a feeling that surprised her. It looked a lot like relief or perhaps loneliness. She reached out 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.

“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. “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 when she walked back out. He smiled when she handed him the blanket.

“I tend to wake early. I’ll try to be quiet if you’re sleeping.” She lingered near the low coffee table in front of the couch.

“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.

S
erenity 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 when she saw that 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’d 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.

He was sleeping soundly, his bare chest rising and falling steadily. Her mouth turned dry when she slowly 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, and in danger of falling off completely. Her eyes wandered over him to her heart’s content. 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 his muscles 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 always 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 he had lived for eternity already.

He was immortal.

A very handsome immortal.

His face was a mask of peace 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 him?

He stirred and she ran back into her bedroom and dived under the covers, hiding there and pretending to be asleep. Her heart thundered, blood rushing through her head, and she listened hard for a sign that she had woken him.

For a moment, Serenity was convinced that she hadn’t disturbed him, and then she had the strangest feeling of being watched.

The light burst on.

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

She covered 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 and 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 was covering him.

She emerged from her hiding place.

“Better?” He walked across the room and sat down beside her on the bed, one leg up on 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 laid 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 and brushed his fingers across her cheek and then through the long wild strands of her hair.

“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.