Angel's Power (7 page)

“You haven’t, have you?”

She frowned at him and put the
cookie back down, her appetite for sweets suddenly gone. Her appetite for
flirting had disappeared, too, damn him. “So?”

He leaned back in his chair. They
were sitting in the library, near the fireplace. Heat from the burning logs
warmed her toes and she’d taken off her socks. The fluffy rug that ran the
length of the hearth felt good on her bare skin. The rest of the room held
floor to ceiling books, like something out of an old gothic castle.

She dug her toes into the rug and
curled her fingers into the old leather of her chair.
This
is
an old gothic castle, you ninny,
she told herself.

“You need to rebuild your
strength,” he said, in that faintly superior tone that drove her insane.

“I’m fine,” she said, not wanting
to talk about this. She’d shifted once since the battle, in front of her
dresser mirror. The midnight blue wings had shocked her and she’d changed back
to human, almost in tears. Everything felt different. Her wings felt strange,
like they were larger or more sensitive. Energy flowed around her in patterns
she could almost touch. When she tried to lock it all down, wanting desperately
to feel like her old self, it had hurt.

“Gabriel said you used to fly every
day, in the morning. And sometimes more than that.” Suriel spoke as if he was
talking about nothing more important than the weather.

She pushed her fingernails into the
hand rests. “It’s none of your business when I fly. In fact, I don’t even know
why you’re here, in this room with me right now. Every time I try to get close,
you run away. Why are you here?”

His face tightened. “I told you, I
feel responsible for what happened.”

She shook her head. “I make my own
destiny.” One of the logs shifted in the fireplace, sending a shower of sparks
up the chimney as if to emphasize her statement.

Suriel stood up. “Prove it.”

“What?” She stared at him. He was
stripping off his shirt. Not that she minded looking at his bare chest, but
since every time she tried to flirt with him he ran away, his undressing
confused her.

“Fly with me. Right now.” He held
out a hand.

She scrunched up her face. She’d
rather just sit here and look at him take off his clothes. “No.”

He stepped closer. She stared at
the dusting of hair that disappeared into his jeans. Shit. His pants didn’t
hide a damn thing. She licked her lips and forced her eyes away. He leaned
down, looming over her. “Come fly with me.”

“You’ve been running away from me
for weeks. Now you want me to fly with you?” she tipped her head up.

His face was flushed. “Maybe I’m
tired of running.” He was looking at her arms, eyes bright.

“Are you feverish?” she asked,
completely baffled.

He stood up. The lines on his skin
flashed silver and blue at her. “No. I’m just—” He broke off and ran a hand
through his hair, turning away.

She watched the muscles in his back
work as he clenched his fists.

“I’m tired. I’m tired of being the
good angel,” he ground out.

She blinked. “What are you talking
about?”

He whirled around, eyes hot. “Did
you think your little touches didn’t affect me? Your games with the straws.
Your fingers, trailing along my back?” His eyes dropped to her lips. “Your
mouth, saying one absurd thing after the other.”

Her temper flared. “Don’t
condescend to me. I won’t have it.”

“Prove it,” he repeated. “Come out
into the winds with me.”

She took a deep breath and stood
up. Anger gave her courage. “Turn around.”

He stared at her. “Why?”

“Just do it,” she said, hands going
to her sweater.

His eyes tracked her movement, hot
and suddenly mysterious again. After weeks of teasing and acting impervious to
her flirting, he picked tonight to get all hot and heavy? What the hell? She
straightened her spine. He might be a sorcerer, but he wasn’t God. As far as
she was concerned, she was his equal in every way. “Turn around.”

He pressed his lips together and
obeyed. Ariel wasn’t reassured he’d stay that way. She quickly shed her sweater
and adjusted the halter that she wore under her clothes. The marks on her arms
looked strangely luminous in the firelight. “Okay,” she said, voice low.

He turned back. Her eyes fell onto
his groin.
Good God, he has an erection,
she thought, shocked. Her face
went hot.

“Let’s go,” he said, ignoring her
look. He strode over to the window and shoved the drapes aside. He glanced at
her and cranked open the casement. Cold air wafted indoors.

Ariel followed slowly, not sure she
wanted to do this. She wanted Suriel, sure, but this seemed like the precursor
to something way more complicated than she’d intended. She wanted to flirt, and
enjoy herself. Maybe have some fun in bed. Flying with someone, with intent,
was a whole other thing. Especially now, when her wings were different from
what they used to be. Whenever she shifted, they fluttered like strange birds
on her back. The beginnings of a tension ache tightened her spine.

“Shift,” she told him. If she was
going to do this, she wanted to watch him change. Slowly.

He bowed his head slightly in
acquiescence, holding her gaze as his body changed. His eyes flared molten
silver. Ariel couldn’t look away. When his wings unfolded behind him, she
gasped. The midnight blue color was even more impressive up close.
Do mine look like that?
she mused. She
reached out a hand, but true to form, he danced away before she could touch
him. She glared at him.

“Your turn,” he said, stepping up
to the windowsill.

She swallowed, pushing a knot of
fear down. She hadn’t flown in weeks. She wasn’t sure she could. She glanced
past Suriel. Outside, the snow on the ground glittered under the full moon,
unforgiving and brittle.

“Afraid?” he taunted.

Anger slid through her, strong and
comforting. “No,” she said shortly, lying through her teeth. She let out a
breath and the change happened, easily, smoothly, like water flowing
downstream. The peculiar energy that had freaked her out so badly the first
time she felt it moved through her wings. She locked her spine, willing herself
to hold still.

“Beautiful,” Suriel breathed.

She looked up at his face. He was
smiling. And then, without warning, he turned and leaped from the window.

“Dammit,” she muttered, hopping up
and following him into the night.

****

Suriel let go of all his
self-control, at long last, as he soared into the wind. The moon was full, the
air was cold, and behind him, the woman who’d driven him crazy from the moment
he’d met her, flew out after him. He’d finally let go. One minute he was
leaning back from her, watching her red mouth open for that damn cookie, and
the next moment desire raced through him, wild and impossible. He couldn’t
resist anymore. His power was still unstable, still dangerous, but Ariel seemed
to enjoy sticking her hand in the fire. He couldn’t resist her any longer.

“Suriel! Damn you!” she yelled from
the castle.

He dove, rolling over the wind so
that he could see her. The silver on her wings glowed in the moonlight like a
beacon to everything he’d ever wanted. She leaped from the window, letting the
air catch her wings. Her face showed fear and anger, but her eyes told him a
different story. She desired him, but he already knew that. What he found most
interesting was that she wanted him badly enough to ignore her misgivings about
her new wings and follow him into the unknown. He raised his arms and let his
power carry him, beckoning to her with his upturned palms.

“Come get me, Ariel,” he said.

She sped closer, wings angled for a
swift pursuit. He grinned, suddenly delighted. Why had he let himself resist
for so long? She was magnificent. And if her wing color was any indication, she
would soon have just as much power as he did. Sorceress to his sorcerer. He
ignored the little voice in the back of his head telling him that two unstable
angels were not necessarily better. He didn’t care anymore. He wanted her too
much.

“You think you’re so great, don’t
you?” she said, blazing past him, eyes sparkling. The fear seemed to have left
her.

He laughed and took off after her,
rolling again and swooping across the breeze left in her wake. She narrowed her
eyes at him, a mere ten feet away, and stretched her arms out. Power whispered
along his wingtips and he caught his breath just as she increased her speed.
The land below them blurred into black and white: winter done at a hundred
miles per hour. He opened his senses and let the power fill him, too, catching
up with her. He tapped her upper tail coverts and she twisted away. He flew
closer, energy sparkling along his skin. When he slid a hand over her shoulder,
the power flared, shoving them higher into the atmosphere.

She gasped, staring at him. Behind
her, the stars stopped twinkling as the atmosphere thinned. He reached out
another hand, slipping it up her arm and hauling her next to him. His cock,
erect since before he’d shifted, throbbed as her body slotted up against his.
No other angel could fly this high and live, but the power running through them
gave them air and loft and an awareness that heaven was only a breath away.

“Suriel,” she whispered, twining
her arms around his neck. All the anger his goading had prodded through her
seemed to have disappeared.

“Ariel,” he replied, lips at her
cheek. She went perfectly still. His heart gave a hard thump, and then he said
the words he’d fought not to even think these past several weeks. “I choose
you. I choose you as my mate, my equal in power, sorceress to my sorcerer. I
choose you until eternity scatters our energy to the winds and we are reborn
once again, our power to serve our People, as God wills.” His hands tightened
around her, trembling. He wasn’t sure where he found the words to claim her as
his mate, but they felt right. Ariel was his destiny. He prayed she would
return his words to him, soul to soul.

She took a deep breath, and slid
her hands up to frame his face. This high up there was no breeze, but her
wingtips fluttered with the power that held them alive and warm in such thin skies.
Tiny puffs of warmth misted around their faces as they hovered above the
planet, almost at the edge of space. Her eyes were wide and shocked, but then
she seemed to see something in his face and her expression relaxed. “Suriel, I
choose you in return. I choose you as my mate, my equal in power, sorcerer to
my sorceress. I choose you until our energy fades back into the winds and our
souls are reborn once again, our power ebbing and flowing, always in service to
our People, as God wills.” The moment she stopped speaking, power slammed into
them, tossing them across the curve of the Earth.

Ariel cried out, but Suriel caught
her again, wrapping his arms around her as they plummeted down, wings tight
against their bodies. The power had them in its grip and it wasn’t letting go.
He tucked her face into his neck and began to pray. He didn’t understand what
was happening, but if he had to die, he at least wanted to go down protecting
the woman he loved. Her heart beat against his, skin to skin, and he felt her terror
as they fell from crystal cold into winter chill. Just as they were about to
hit the snowy ground, the power pushed through them again and their wings
unfolded in unison. Air caught them and they swooped up into the skies
together.

Ariel lifted her face as Suriel
took control of their flight, angling into the cold breeze that flew just below
the ridge line. Her long hair streamed out behind her, sifting through the
feathers at her shoulders.

“My God,” she breathed, still
trembling.

He swallowed, agreeing
wholeheartedly with her. “Yes.”

“We’re alive.”

He nodded, letting her slip out
from his grasp until only their fingers touched. The power calmed down,
settling into his bones. When he looked at her wings, the silver tips glowed,
bright with energy. “You are truly a sorceress now,” he told her.

She glanced at him and angled their
flight back to the castle, gripping his hand firmly. “I can feel the energy in
my body. It’s like a wild wind, untamed and almost brutal, and I’m holding the
leash.” She frowned. “No, I am the leash and the power, simultaneously.”

He smiled. “You’ve managed to
describe the indescribable.” His power felt different. Not weaker, but more
controlled. He sucked in a hard breath, trying to wrap his mind around what had
happened. He’d spent so much of his life trying to control this energy; he
couldn’t truly accept its sudden docility.
No, it’s not docile,
he
thought, letting Ariel lead him home.
It’s still ferocious, but it’s also
more a part of me than it ever was. It’s who I am, not what I can do.

She snorted. “Is this what it felt
like for you, all these years?”

The smile dropped from his face.
Above them, the bright moon hid behind a few dark clouds. The castle loomed
large and solid, just ahead. He didn’t answer until their feet touched the
windowsill. “No. The power wasn’t truly mine until you touched my soul, Ariel.
Without you, the power controlled me. Now that you are mine, we are the power
and the will together.” He cupped her cheeks, tilting her face up. Her nose was
pink from the cold, but she didn’t look one whit less stunning. “The power is
who we are, now.”