Ominous Love (18 page)

“You could say that.” He takes the feather
from my hand and sticks it in my hair. Then his face grows serious as he kneels
on one knee in front of me. “I’m your angel, Eloise.”

My legs feel like jelly and I’m shivering
with fear. I must be having a nightmare.

He starts unfastening a chain around his
neck. “There’s no need to be afraid, honey. I'm going to make you richer than
you could ever imagine.”

Oh, shit. There’s a ring on the chain. Please
don’t let him give it to me. I look to my left, getting ready to bolt. This
can't be. I’m hallucinating and I have to wake up. As adrenaline soaks into my
blood, I drop my shoes on the ground and take off the way I came. I thunder down
the steps and run across the grass to the beach. If I dive into the ocean, the
icy water will wake me up and my world will come back to me.

Devlin's laughter echoes from the cliff as I
tear along the sand to the sea. The beach is deserted and there’s no one to
help me, so I’m praying it’s all a dream. Glancing over my shoulder, I see a
man charging towards me. Oh, Lord, please don't let it be Devlin.

Determined to escape my nightmare, I run into
the freezing ocean and gasp. It takes my breath away, but the man is still
chasing me. I dive under the water and swim away, holding my breath and hoping
he won't find me. As I surface for air, a huge wave thunders over me, smashing
me onto the ocean floor, then tumbling me over and over and dumping me back on
the shore. Kneeling on the wet sand, I cough and splutter as salty water pours
from my nose. When someone pulls me to my feet, I jerk with fright and push the
wet hair from my face.

Devlin is smiling at me, his huge wings folded
behind his back. “Silly girl, now you’re all wet.” He lifts me into his strong arms
and kisses my forehead. “You can’t escape me, Eloise. I’m your destiny and
you’re mine.”

I shiver against his warm chest as he carries
me towards the sand dunes. Oh, no. Why is he taking me there? I study his face.
He may be a handsome hunk, but I’m not about to be some birdman’s destiny. I
slap his cheek. “Put me down. I don’t know who you are or why you have wings,
but you can’t just order me around.”

He grins. “Still as feisty as ever,
aren’t
you?” Holding me tighter, he climbs over a wire fence
and into a nature strip. “You may have escaped me before, but you won’t this
time.” He lays me down in-between two large sand dunes and rips off his shorts.

Oh shit. He’s stark naked and the full moon
is so bright I can clearly see him, all of him. My pulse quickens and I
scramble to get up, but he wrestles me to the sand and yanks my clothes off. As
I try to scream, he covers my mouth with his hand. “Don’t fight it, Eloise, or
I’ll fly with you back to the castle, then you’ll never see your friends or family,
ever again.”

Heart failure!

My blood runs cold as the memory of Devlin’s
castle comes flooding back to me. And as his dark, ominous eyes lock onto mine,
I realise there’s no hope for me. He’s much too powerful, and he has Lucifer to
help him.

Bile rises in my throat. How could I have
forgotten him and that awful castle in the snow?
 
Then I suddenly remember Seal and tears fill
my eyes. As I stare up at the heavens, I pray that he will come down and rescue
me.

Devlin climbs on top of me, pinning me beneath
him. Then he runs his fingers along my left hip as he gazes into my eyes.
“There’s no point praying, my love. I tried to do this the right way, but now
you’ve given me no choice. I have to pay my debt to Lucifer and take my revenge
upon Nathaniel.”

“Get off me!” I heave at his bare chest, but
I can’t budge him. His naked thighs are on mine and I just want to die.

He grips my left wrist,
then
forces the ring onto my finger.

“Take it off!” I scream.

Thrusting his hands into my hair, he holds my
head still and makes me look at him. “I’ve given up everything for this moment,
Eloise, and in a few moments you’ll be connected to me forever.”

My eyes dart over his face. “Why? Are you
going to kill me?”

He laughs.
“Of course not.
I am going to make passionate love to you.”

Tears fill my eyes. “No, Devlin. Please,
don’t. Just let me go and I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”

He raises his brows. “Not everyone has a soul,
my love.”

“I’m not, ‘your love’, I’m Nathaniel’s.”

“Oh, honey, I can love you more than Nathaniel
ever can. Does he come down and hold you in his arms? No, because he’ll never
give heaven up to be with you, but I did. I gave up eternal happiness for you,
only for you. So don’t
ever
say I
don’t love you because one day I’ll be condemned to hell for eternity, but it
will be worth it to have spent a lifetime of happiness with you.”

I blink my tears away. “You don’t get it, do
you? I don’t want to spend my life with you. I’d rather die. Then I can go to
heaven and be with Nathaniel.”

Devlin’s lips crease into a smile. “No,
sweetness, it’s you who’s not getting it. Nathaniel may love you, but there can
never be physical connection like you want, not in heaven.”

“Why not?”

He brushes my wet eyelashes with his thumbs. “Because
it’s not possible for an angel to have a physical relationship in heaven, you
already know that if Nathaniel tries to have sex with you, or if he kisses you
in a passionate way, he’ll be banished to earth.”

“So what?
If we’re sent to earth, at least we
can be together.”

Devlin sighs. “If Nathan loses his wings,
he’ll
be sent to earth as a human, but you
won’t, you’ll already be dead. You won’t
have
a body, just a soul.” He grips my chin. “And what do you think your precious Nathaniel
will do, then? Well, I can assure you, Eloise, a young virile man like him
won’t be able to resist beautiful girls.”

I squirm beneath him. “But you still have
wings and look what you’re doing.”

He strokes my face. “Oh, don’t worry, baby. I
don’t have heavenly wings. I only allowed them grow back so I could capture
you. I can lose them again. Anyway, they’re black wings and I’m limited with
where I can fly with them. Nathaniel may have burned them off, but he didn’t do
a proper job of it, and it was
your
fault they grew back.”

“Why’s that?”

He grins wickedly. “Because in the middle of
burning them off, Nathaniel weakened and kissed you, then he lost his own
wings, and his powers. He had to give you up to get them back, and
that
shows he loves his powers more than
he loves you.”

I push at his shoulders. “He’ll come down and
rescue me from you, you’ll see.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?” His eyes flash
angrily,
then
he grips my jaw and kisses me feverishly.

I turn away. “I love Nathaniel, not you.”

Sadness creeps into his eyes and he grabs my
face again. “Don’t say that, Eloise. I can love you more than he ever can. And
in a few moments you’ll bear my child,
then
we’ll be
bound to each other forever. Please, just say you love me this one time,
then
our baby can be conceived with love.”

A pain shoots through my heart and I scratch
at his chest. “No! I hate you, and I don’t want to have your baby.”

“Okay, have it your way, Eloise, but know
that I love you.” Holding my gaze, he forces my legs apart with his knees,
then
he grabs my hips and yanks them to his.

I try to wriggle free, but I’m pinned beneath
his weight and I can’t move. “Devlin, please stop. You’re hurting me.”

He kisses my cheek. “I love it when you say
my name, baby. Say it again.”

Ignoring him, I stare up at the stars and
scream, “Nathaniel!”

My pulse is whooshing in my ears. This can't
be happening. He’s making love to me and I can’t do a thing about it. I pound
on his head with my fists. “Get off me!” Then I remember he possessed Tom’s
body in his bedroom and took my clothes off, so I punch him again. “That one’s
for Tom.”

As I squirm beneath him, his tears trickle
onto my face and down my neck. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he murmurs. “But I’ll make
it up to you, you’ll see.”

“You’re not sorry,” I yell. “And I’m not your
baby, so get the hell off me.”

Without another thought, I dig my fingernails
into the muscles on his arms and press down as hard as I can. As blood seeps
from his skin, he laughs. “Now, it's written in blood, Eloise.”

“What is?”

He looks deep into my eyes. “We are, my love,
and so is our child.” He holds my chin and forces his tongue into my mouth.

While I pray to the heavens, an almighty
crack of lightning zigzags through the clouds, sending stars shooting in every
direction and opening up the sky. Thunder rumbles and cracks above the full
moon as the sea roars with anger, sending waves crashing to shore.

As Devlin heaves on top of me, I run my hand
through the sand in search of a weapon. Finding a rock, I hold it above his
head. Then as I smash it down on his skull, a lightning bolt cracks above me and
a sharp pain shoots from my thighs to my belly, making me cry out in pain.

Devlin rears up on his arms and groans,
“Eloise.” Then he collapses on top of me.

He's so heavy, I can hardly breathe, and as I
try to push him off me, his blood dribbles onto my arm. Then I freeze with
terror as a ghostly angel with huge black wings separates from his body and
floats into the sea. My heart drumming in my ears, I stare at the limp figure on
top of me and scream, “No! It can't be. What have I done?”

Tears pour from my eyes as I stare up at the
lifeless body of Seal. As I hold his precious face in my hands, I pray that
he’s alive. “Please, God, don’t let me have killed my beautiful angel?” I kiss
his sweet mouth. “Seal, wake up, please.” I press my fingers to his neck to
feel for a pulse, but I can't find one. My hands are covered in blood, and as I
look at his back, I notice with dread that his wings have gone.

Uncontrollable sobs escape my mouth. Poor
Seal. He sacrificed his wings to save me, to be with me. How can I bear it?
I’ve killed the only boy I’ll ever love. Holding him in my arms, I pray to die.
Then my heart thuds against my ribs as it suddenly dawns on me, not only have I
been raped by Devlin, but I could now be carrying his child.

Chapter Twenty

There’s no time to think about babies, right
now. I have to try and revive Seal. I wriggle from beneath him as gently as I
can, then I turn him onto his back. Oh, God, he looks so young, and he’s so beautiful.
Please, don’t let him be dead.

I brush his matted hair from his bloodied
face and peer at the small wound on his head. Oh no. Not now. I suck in deep
breaths as I start to feel dizzy from the sight of the blood. I can’t faint
now, I just can’t.

With trembling hands, I lean over him and tilt
his beautiful face to the sky. And though my heart is breaking into a million little
pieces, I inhale deeply,
then
I press my open mouth
over his and blow out two sharp breaths.

WHAM!
I'm suddenly thrown on top of him
as electricity shoots from my lips to my heart. I'm on fire. Oh my god!

I’m lying on top of him, my face above his.
Then his eyes pop wide open and he’s staring at me. As he starts to breathe, I kiss
his soft lips. “You’re alive. Thanks god, you’re alive.”

He blinks and looks down at our naked bodies
“What’s going on?”

Uh-oh.
Don’t tell me he’s got amnesia
again. Self-conscious at my nakedness, I scramble off him and sit on the sand
with my arms crossed over my bare chest. “I … I was just giving you CPR.”

“Where’s the blood from?” He touches the bump
on his head,
then
his eyes grow wide. “What happened?”

“It’s … it’s not what you think. Honestly, I
can explain.” I glance around for my clothes, but I can’t see them anywhere.
And I’ve no idea how to explain my nakedness to him.

 
“Aw,
come here, babe.” He pulls me into his arms and holds me tight. “I’m so sorry,
Eloise. I tried so hard to stop Devlin from hurting you, but Lucifer was
guarding him. I had to fight him off first, and when I finally got inside
Devlin’s body, I was too late. God forgive me, but I tried to kill him.” He
kisses my forehead. “Oh, honey, I should have protected you better.”

I hug him tight. “Oh, Seal, I struck you with
a rock and I could have killed you. I didn’t mean to. I thought I was hitting
Devlin. I have to get you to a hospital.”

“Don’t worry. It’s just a bruise. Anyway, I
deserved it.” He holds my head against his chest. “I’m never leaving you again,
not ever.”

I smile.
“Promise?”

“I promise, honey.”

I look up at him. “Where did Devlin go?”

Seal’s body tenses. “Hopefully to hell, but I
think he’s still here on earth as a human. I can still sense him.”