The Fallen Part 12

Mixing my coffee, cream and sugar like a chemist until I was satisfied I had just the right number of grains of each in the cup, I took a test sip. It scalded my tongue and burned a path to my belly. Deciding to add a little milk, I stirred it again and trudged to my living room.

The newspaper Iad bought the day before was on the floor by the front door where Iad dropped everything when I came in. Ordinarily, I didnat like to mix bad news with my coffee, but I grabbed it up and read the article about my misadventures with the cult.

By the time Iad finished, I was wide awake.

Knowing journalistsa tendencies to sensationalize everything, I tended to take reports with a grain of salt. I found it a lot harder to do that when the tale was about me and a pack of the most outrageous lies Iad ever seen in print.

No one had been killed, which I was grateful to hear, mostly because I didnat want to go to jail. I donat think my conscience wouldave been killing me with remorse if theread been fatalities. I hadnat gone with any intention of actually hurting anyone and I certainly hadnat tried to do so while I was there. On the other hand, people like those s.a.d.i.s.tic cult members shouldnat be allowed to run free anyway.

If I hadnat gone, they wouldave been very gleefully preparing to murder Gideon by nightfall.

Thinking about Gideon reminded me that Iad forgotten to take my morning pee test--d.a.m.n it!

Sighing, I tossed the paper down and finished my coffee, wondering what I was going to do with myself all day.

I wasnat used to doing nothing.

When I got up to grab the TV remote, I decided gym time might not be a bad idea. I was sore as h.e.l.l all over.

Grabbing my bag, I stuffed what I needed in it and headed to the gym for a thorough workout. By the time Iad finished--workout, whirlpool, steam room--I felt pretty drained, but also much better.

Since I still had half a day to kill, I left the gym and headed for the office. Inside of fifteen minutes I discovered Iad been replaced.

I wasnat particularly disturbed. I didnat have to work--right away. My bank account was good and I hadnat even touched my savings.

I put job hunting on my mental athings to doa list and decided to grab lunch and wander around the mall for a while. My s.e.xy black jumpsuit hadnat weathered the mission that well. I bought another one and looked around the store a while before I left and headed down the mall.

Iad already pa.s.sed the baby store--slowly--but decided to back track. It was reasonable, I a.s.sured myself. My test could come up positive, and then where would I be? Nothing for the kid and no idea what things cost.

The prices were pretty staggering. Besides that, I didnat know what the s.e.x would be and I didnat really like the idea of taking the middle road and going yellow. I was an aall the waya kind of gal. Once I knew for certain that I was, and knew what it was going to be, then I could knock myself out with frills or blue.

I kept looking anyway--because I just couldnat bring myself to walk out the door empty handed.

Finally, I decided on a baby book. It wasnat too expensive and I figured I could always use it for something else if my plan fell through. It was a nice book. Something like that was always useful.

When Iad made my purchase, I headed for the parking area, figuring the best way to avoid temptation was to leave the temptation behind me. Iad pretty much made a full day of it anyway.

Stopping by a newsstand on the way out, I grabbed a paper so I could study the cla.s.sified ads when I got back to the apartment and see what sort of job openings there were.

There was another article about the church burning I discovered when I got home and sprawled on the couch. It was below the fold, though, so I figured they thought theyad gotten about all the mileage they were going to get on it. Arson hadnat been ruled out, but investigators werenat as certain as they had been before since theyad discovered the source of the fire was candles. They were saying now that it was possible that it was arson, but they couldnat rule out the possibility of accident or just plain carelessness since theyad found out there were lit candles all over the place.

The cultists were still screaming Satanists. One of the cult members claimed that shead seen a Satanist fornicating with the demon the cult had captured. She was in the hospital undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

Dismissing it, I flipped through to the want ads, found a pen and started reading. I had a headache before Iad made it through the first column and decided to grab a bite to eat. My fridge looked like something from a refugee camp. Aside from a couple of twelve packs of canned colas, an over ripe tomato, a partial stalk of celery that was withered and more yellow than green, a quart container of milk that had about a half a cup of milk in it, and some boxes of take-out that contained some really funky, unrecognizable food type substances, the cupboard was bare.

The cabinets looked about the same. Discovering a can of tuna on one of the higher shelves toward the back--it was out of my line of sight which explained its presence--I opened it, squeezed the water out and looked around for something to go with it.

No bread. Dragging the boxes of take-out from the refrigerator, I dug around until I found a packet of mayo and squeezed it into the can, then looked for a bread type substance to go with the tuna salad. I finally managed to locate a partial bag of chips--stale--and tucked them under one arm. Grabbing the milk carton, I headed back into the living room.

The coffee table was where I did most of my eating at home. Iad never gotten around to buying a dining table, or stools to go with the built in breakfast bar. When I had everything situated, I settled on the floor with my pen, newspaper, and the food. Iad finished eating by the time I made it all the way down the second column of job listings.

Frowning thoughtfully, I went back over the possibilities Iad circled and scratched through the ones I decided didnat especially appeal to me. I had two left out of two columns.

That wasnat very promising.

Tired from sitting so long, I glanced at the clock and realized Iad missed my evening jog. Glad for an excuse to abandon something that was starting to depress me, I went to my room and changed into shorts and a tank top, then headed out for fresh air.

I wasnat much of a jogger, actually, not in the sense that I was always pus.h.i.+ng myself to run a little faster and a little longer anyway. There was a playground area near the apartment complex and I limited myself to circling it a couple of times.

It was dark, but I didnat worry overmuch about that. It was a low crime area and besides I was pretty good at defending myself.

When Iad made my two circuits, I headed back to my apartment, feeling a little more clearheaded. I was almost at my door when I heard something land behind me with a soft thud and the distinctive flutter of wings.

Iad learned hand to hand combat when Iad been in the military. Part of that training had included martial arts. It wasnat any of the specific martial arts but rather a combination of several.

Whirling on the b.a.l.l.s of my feet, I sprang into action, throwing three punches in rapid succession. He blocked all three, finally grabbing me and shoving me against the wall beside my door when I attempted a kick.

aIt is I, Gideon.a Like I hadnat known that! aOh. What are you doing back?a He wasnat very pleased with the welcome. I could see that in the glitter in his eyes. Grabbing a handful of my hair, he dragged my head back and lowered his mouth to my neck. Barbarian! I thought fondly as a rush of pleasure exploded in a p.r.i.c.kling wave across my body, moving outward from the point of contact.

Chapter Five.

I could get used to this, I thought a little dizzily, feeling everything inside me go warm and mushy as he gnawed a path along my throat and finally covered my mouth as if he was starving and I was lunch, plunging his tongue into my mouth and ravis.h.i.+ng the sensitive cavern with breathtaking boldness.

I had to suppose he hadnat figured out yet that it was impossible to rape a willing soul. He could be rough or gentle or anywhere in between. As long as he touched me I was a happy camper.

Actually, I thought a little dimly, he hadnat been gentle. I might not like that. I was rather fonder of the forceful conqueror than I should have been. If there was anything I knew about men it was that the very minute you started thinking about letting them become a habit, they were off to greener pastures.

That thought dampened my enthusiasm just a tad.

I broke the kiss. aThe neighbors are bound to call the cops if they see me being a.s.saulted by a big winged man outside my apartment. You think we could discuss this inside?a While he was looking around to see who might have witnessed his arrival--which told me he hadnat actually considered that he might be seen before that--I unlocked the door and went in.

Iad barely cleared the door when he caught me, dragging me up against him and capturing my mouth again as he gave the door a push in the direction of closed. Everything in the room shook when the door slammed shut.

That was bound to attract a few rubber neckers--not that I cared.

By that time he had me on the floor. Carpet burn came to mind, but I was too interested in a different kind of friction to worry about that overmuch.

Grabbing my tank top, he shoved it up and over my head. I was prepared to balk when he grabbed my sports bra, but apparently he realized at once that it wasnat going to stretch over my head as the top had. He merely pushed it up above my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Capturing one with his hand, he covered the tip of the other with his mouth. I tensed all over as a jolt went through me like an electric current, gritting my teeth to keep from crying out and digging my hands into the carpet. He didnat linger overlong, just teased the nipple head sucked into his mouth for a few moments only, driving me wild with the need to gasp and thrash about feverishly, and then sought the mate to it to make me totally lose my mind. At about the same time he switched off, it finally occurred to me that he wouldnat have taken the time to warm me up if I wasnat supposed to be enjoying this. I stopped trying to dig a hole in the carpet and began stroking his back and anything else I could reach.

I loved the feel of his back. I suppose that made me a little weird, because most women seemed to go for the chest, but a strong, well muscled back was a definite turn on for me--and nice legs. Lucky for me he had nice everything.

Rapidly growing anxious for penetration, I ceased stroking his back and slipped a hand between us, trying to wrap my fingers around the erection that was rubbing bruisingly against my inner thighs. Instead of moving within reach, he pulled away. Rising to his knees, he grasped the waistband of my shorts and yanked downward.

I grabbed my panties and shoved them after the shorts. They tangled somewhere in the vicinity of my knees. I was still trying to wiggle out of them when he bent and scooped me up and headed for the bedroom. Somewhere between the living room and the bedroom I lost the panties and shorts that had been hooked on my foot and managed to disentangle my arms from the tank top, dropping that, too.

We crashed on the bed in a tangle of bodies that proved to be too much for the thin slats supporting the mattress and box springs. With a loud crack, the mattress fell through, tilting awkwardly. Grabbing me as we started to roll downhill, he corrected the imbalance by plopping me down on the high edge, which promptly fell through, leveling the bed once more.

Relieved of that worry, I groped between us again, searching. He lifted his hips, fumbled for a moment and then, after a brief struggle to free himself from it, tossed his sarong aside.

Surprised but pleased, I abandoned my pursuit of his c.o.c.k, ditched the sports bra that was binding my arm pits and threatening to cut off circulation to my arms, and settled for an inspection of his a.s.s. His b.u.t.tocks were nicely rounded and firm with muscle like the rest of him.

He s.h.i.+fted upward along my body, settling his mouth over mine again. I grasped his hips, pus.h.i.+ng up on him so that I could shove one leg under him. He responded to the demand. Settling between my spread thighs, he grasped his c.o.c.k and guided it along my cleft--up and down. I couldnat decide whether he was looking for the right spot or trying to annoy the s.h.i.+t out of me. I maneuvered my hips up and down, trying to help him hit the bulls-eye.

By the time I felt his c.o.c.k spreading my flesh I was just about ready scream with frustration. That mellowed considerably as I felt him pressing slowly but surely into me in short forays. I couldnat wait to take it all in. I lifted to meet him on his third thrust, pus.h.i.+ng in counter until I felt his groin grinding into my flesh.

It was all uphill from that point. I curled my hips up until I could feel him stroking my g-spot with each thrust, pus.h.i.+ng him to move faster and faster until rapture abruptly exploded around me. It was disappointingly short in duration, but almost the moment my body ceased to quake with release, it began climbing harder and faster toward a second climax. The second one hit me like an atomic blast. For several moments, I skated the verge of blacking out from the force of it. I was still quaking with the shocks when I felt him reach his peak and still shuddering in aftershocks when he finally collapsed, completely spent, on top of me.

Consciousness drifted in and out as I lay beneath him, trying to recover.

All I really wanted to do was grasp hold of the unconsciousness that kept teasing me and wrap myself up in it. Gideon was dead weight on top of me, however, and I was rapidly becoming too uncomfortable to drift off into lahlah land.

He roused enough to roll off when I started shoving at him--thankfully. It might have taken a crane to lift him otherwise. With an effort, I struggled out of the bed and headed for the bathroom to clean up. By the time I finished showering, I was wide awake, which was just as well since I discovered upon returning to the room that the a.s.s was sprawled in the middle of my bed, dead to the world.

Sighing with a mixture or irritation and resignation, I dragged a nightie out of a drawer and pulled it on, then headed for the kitchen. No food had magically appeared, so I started cleaning out the refrigerator while I made a mental list of things to buy.

I nearly had heart failure when I turned around and discovered Gideon had followed me into the kitchen and was standing in the doorway--frowning as usual.

aI suppose you donat have your own place?a I groused.

Something flickered in his eyes. I wasnat sure what it was, but as much as I had enjoyed our latest round of f.u.c.king, it made me uneasy. I was starting to like it too much.

All right, so Iad liked it too much to start with, I amended mentally. I didnat want to get used to it. Head move on sooner or later, and then I wouldnat have anything to play with but my vibrators--which did the job, but not terribly well.

aNot here,a he said finally.

I waited to see if he would elaborate. He didnat. I wasnat surprised. I didnat think the man had even made a complete sentence in all the time Iad known him--all three or four days.

Granted, we were usually grunting and b.u.mping uglies when he was around, but Iad still begun to wonder if he could actually put a whole sentence together. Beautiful but dumb? Or just not much for talking?

He struck me as an action kind of guy, actually.

He didnat strike me as stupid.

aAnd this is--where?a aI told you, Marceena.a aSorry. Forgot. Whereas Marceena?a aBeyond the gateway.a That was oh so helpful and informative!

Iad finished cleaning so I headed toward the living room to pick up where Iad left off in job hunting. He stepped out of the way when I pushed past him, following me into the living room.

I settled on the floor. He stood watching me for several moments and then disappeared down the hallway. I was wondering if head left when I heard the shower. Mildly irritated that head made himself at home, I finally dismissed it and went back to studying the paper.

The pickings were slim. By the time Iad read two more columns, Iad arrived at the conclusion that the paper wasnat going to be all that helpful. Even the few jobs Iad circled didnat especially appeal to me.

Maybe I was ready for a career change?

I was still trying to figure out what I might like doing when Gideon reappeared, dripping water since head only half dried himself, and sprawled out on the couch behind me. aDo you have food?a aNope.a He got up. aI will get food.a I was still staring at him in surprise when he simply walked through the wall and disappeared.

Actually, it wasnat simple at all, but it did explain how head come in and out of my apartment without any trouble at all. While I watched, wings sprouted from his back around his shoulder blades. The wall sort of wavered and rippled and then he walked through.

Jumping to my feet, I strode to the wall and touched the spot. It felt perfectly solid--oddly hot to the touch, though.

Particle manipulation?

I was no scientist, but it seemed to me that head somehow scrambled the atoms--or something like that anyway. Feeling really odd, I returned to my spot and stared at the floor for several moments, trying to gather my thoughts.

Abruptly, it occurred to me that I ought to log that incident. Iad never known a d.a.m.n thing about my own father. I hadnat really suffered over it, but Iad been a little curious. Supposing I actually did conceive? The kid might want to know.

Moving to the door, I dug through the packages Iad left there and unearthed the baby book, feeling pleased with myself now that Iad justified spending the money. When Iad settled at the table again, I started flipping through it, searching for a place to record the little bit of information I had about Gideon.

There wasnat really a place for it, I discovered, but there were several lined pages in the back for notes. While I was trying to compose my thoughts, it occurred to me that a description was in order. A photo wouldave been better, but a narrative sketch was better than nothing at all. It started out objectively enough, but by the time Iad made notations about his approximate height, weight, age and build, I was really getting into it and getting downright poetic about the color of his eyes, the faint cleft in his chin, the shape of his lips and so forth.

The lights dimmed, distracting me. I looked up, thinking there must have been a power dip, and discovered Gideon standing over me, staring curiously at the book.

The smell of hot food wafted from the bags in his hands.

I recognized the logo on the bags. aThe cops arenat on your tail, are they?a I asked a little uneasily, studying the bags.

aNo,a he responded, without concern, leaning down to deposit the bags and then s.n.a.t.c.hing the book from my hands while I was distracted by the food.

I frowned at him, mildly irritated until it suddenly flashed through my mind what Iad been writing. Three shades of color washed over my face before I could get to my feet. He held the book out of my reach. I punched him in the gut. When he bent over, I s.n.a.t.c.hed the book back.

He chuckled. Despite my irritation, I liked the sound. Deciding he couldnat have had enough time to actually read what Iad written, a.s.suming he could read English at all and my chicken scratch in particular, I closed the book, tucked it beneath one thigh and explored the contents of the bag.

It was filled with greasy fries and sandwiches. Grabbing a sandwich and a handful of fries, I used the newspaper for a place mat. He hadnat brought drinks. I had to suppose he couldnat wait around to fill cups.

I was starving. I hadnat had anything but a salad at lunch and the tuna a little earlier and Iad been working out half the day--besides the workout Iad just finished in the bedroom, but I couldnat eat without something to wash it down. When I got back from the kitchen with two cans of soda, Gideon was sprawled on the couch, reading the f.u.c.king book.

For once, my temper got the better of me. Stalking to the coffee table, I plunked the cans down and made a grab for the book. I wasnat certain if I overbalanced and fell on top of him when he held it out of my reach or if he jerked me down, but I sprawled heavily. Grunting, he dropped the book over the arm of the couch and wrapped his arms around me before I could roll off.

He was grinning up at me when I pulled far enough away to glare at him. aYou think I have beautiful blue eyes?a My eyes narrowed. I could feel blood pulsing in my cheeks, though. aI think youare an a.s.shole.a Without looking the least bit outdone by the comment or repentant for p.i.s.sing me off, he released me. After a brief struggle, I managed to get my feet under me and get up. When I leaned down to grab my book, he planted his face in my a.s.s, nipping one a.s.s cheek with his teeth. I came upright like I was spring loaded and rapped him soundly on the top of his head with the book.

He let go, rubbing his head and chuckling at the glare I sent him as I stalked around to the other side of the coffee table and sat down. Sliding from the couch, he crossed his legs and settled across from me, digging through the bag. aWhat sort of book is this?a he asked when he had finished downing the first sandwich in about four bites.

A sent him a resentful glance. aJust--a book,a I muttered. I really didnat want to talk about it at all. I most particularly didnat want to explain it, not after head been so nasty about giving up his d.a.m.ned seed to start with. If Iad conceived, it wasnat going to be anybodyas frigging blood sin.

I didnat know why he was so d.a.m.ned possessive about his seed anyway. Sure he could do things I couldnat, but I wasnat inferior, no matter what he thought about it.

aWhy did you describe me?a he asked curiously.

aIave got a p.i.s.s poor memory, thatas why,a I snapped.

I discovered when I glanced at him that he was studying me speculatively. I didnat especially care for the look. It seemed a little too knowing to suit me. I cast around in my mind trying to think of something to distract him and finally just decided to see if I could pry any real information out of him since he seemed inclined to talk.