“That’s terrible.”
“Only because you’re holding on to Before. You keep clinging to the life you remember.” Michael snuck a hand around me and pressed a palm at the small of my back. He held me not in a comforting way so I could relax and feel like an angel touched me, but in a much more carnal way, and when his kilt slipped and floated away, I wound my legs around his hips. He pushed me back against the pool wall, his body pressing against mine. A hand in my hair, he released my ponytail, then brushed stray strands from my face.
I traced his beautiful jaw, his soft plush lips, and the chin that jutted under my touch. “You’re made perfectly, you know,” I told him.
He smiled, flesh-ripping canines peeking over his bottom lip. I don’t believe I’d ever get used to them. Here was an angel, with a face both masculine and warm, and a body carved for battle, every muscle defined and perfectly hard. I traced his chest, felt though couldn’t see the tiny scars left from God only knew how many battles. Lower yet, his abdomen. I spread both palms over it and ran my hands up and down his torso. Inevitably, my wrist bumped the head of his penis.
I blushed profusely. I’d never touched this kind of man before. Every man-boy I’d been with had been just that. A man-boy. Michael wasn’t even a man, and definitely no boy. He fisted my hair and held it so my face would stay up, our gazes locked. He wouldn’t let me look down, but he thrust himself toward my hands. I took that as permission to touch him. I gripped his width with both hands. Thick, long, smooth, really large at the tip, I stroked it, my cheeks burning because of the intimacy in his gaze. His gaze was unraveling, his smirk even worse. I didn’t know if I wanted to slap it off his face or kiss him because he was so sexy.
He did know. He knew what he wanted, and he wanted my mouth. He kissed me, softly, at leisure, as if we had all the time in the world. And he did have all the time in the world, whereas I had a defined time. I better experience it to the fullest. I didn’t know a better way to live than to touch Michael. There was something addicting about him. A pull. It was so strong, I moaned as I stroked him, as his tongue swept mine and made it dance.
Water sloshed around us as Michael moved his body along with my hands, thrusting into them, making me think of sex, wings, and pleasure I was certain I couldn’t even imagine.
His golden eyes shone bright, and I couldn’t look away. The intimacy of his gaze made me both hot and self-conscious. My breasts bounced, water splashed over the pool’s edges, and I swore the entire room started shaking. Michael broke the kiss and threw his head back. His cock pulsed, and jets of semen shot up. Behind him, the wall cracked, but he made no sound.
I kept my hands on his cock, feeling it pulse in my palms.
Michael sank underwater and spread my legs, and I grabbed his hair, urging him between my thighs. He pressed his mouth on my belly and blew. It tickled, and I laughed.
He emerged, all wet golden hair and bright eyes. “You caused a quake.”
“Me?”
“That’s the story I’m telling when asked.”
“Nobody will believe you.”
“I will,” a voice said.
I gasped and jerked my head toward the sound, wincing immediately. I rubbed my collarbone as I stared at the angel at the entrance.
Chapter Sixteen
“Get out,” I growled at my brother, Raphael, who crossed his arms over his chest. I directed a thought at the pair of folded towels on the bench, and they floated toward us.
“Who is that?” Julia whispered.
“Nobody.” I willed the largest towel to spread, effectively blocking Raphael’s curious gaze and lifted Julia out of the water.
“I don’t think that’s a nobody,” she mumbled as I hopped out of the healing baths.
I covered her with the towel and grabbed one for myself, wrapping it around my waist. Hands on my hips, I shook out my wings, glaring at Raphael.
Unfazed, he groomed his shiny feathers with a brush. Fucking peacock.
The brush flew out of his hand.
Raphael chuckled. “You’re annoyed I caught you with a mortal.”
“Mighty annoyed.” I should’ve sensed his presence, and I hadn’t. Julia appeared curious and uncomfortable. I placed a palm on her back and nudged her so she’d walk toward him. When we reached the exit and my brother hadn’t moved, I stopped.
“Are you inviting me to move you?” I asked.
He didn’t even look at me, his eyes on my mortal. I suppressed the urge to tuck her behind me and strangle him.
He extended one finger as if to touch her.
I slapped his hand.
He tried again.
I grabbed his throat and squeezed. “Don’t.” Raphael’s eyes widened, and I released him, clearing my throat. “You arrived unannounced in my Court because…?”
“I never needed a reason to see you before.” Respectfully, he dipped his head, yet taunted me. “Your healing is primitive. It will leave a scar.”
“So it will leave a scar. She will live with it.”
Gaze on Julia again, he said, “What a pity to mark this lovely mortal with scars when I can offer her smooth skin. Are you going to introduce us, or stand here and argue?”
“Stand here.” And argue.
“Okay,” Julia said, “well, it was nice to meet you, Nobody.” She squeezed past Raphael, heading upstairs.
“You too, Nobody,” Raphael replied.
Julia’s step faltered briefly, but she kept climbing. When she climbed out of her mortal hearing range, I glared.
Raphael’s violet eyes brightened, and he stepped aside. “What
