Dark Awakening (6 page)

He moaned—a groan—really, before he brushed her hand away and gently slid his little finger into her.

"Now you're crammed full of me,” he murmured. “I will feel you come everywhere.” His palm moved over belly. “I'll feel what your body experiences."

Slowly he undulated behind her, in no hurry to take to his pleasure. Instead, he attended to her needs, building her up, loving her like she had never been loved before. Needing to see him, she opened her eyes, and watched in amazement as black wings suddenly appeared behind his shoulders. She watched, speechless, entranced, as they spread, the width of them majestic as they wrapped around her, securing her so that she was enveloped by him—his chest at her back, and his wings at her front.

"Gadriel, you're beautiful,” she sighed as he brought her closer to orgasm.

"No, Nadira. I am fallen."

"I don't care, Gadriel. You were meant for me. This night ... it was meant to be."

"Love me, Nadira. Love me like a woman loves a man."

"No, Gadriel. I will love you like a woman is meant to love an angel."

As the sunlight filtered through the curtains, Gadriel once more pulled back the blankets that covered Nadira, and allowed his fingers to caress her supple skin.

What a beauty she was laying satiated in the crook of his arm, her breasts swollen, her belly reddened from the little bite marks he had left. He had not been able to get enough of her. He'd had her nearly the entire night, and still he wanted her. She had made him beg, made him fall to his knees with desire. And the way she had cried his name, the way she had clung to him made him feel more powerful than he ever had.

The tranquillity of the moment when they had joined had shocked him. The peace he felt sliding inside her was something he had never known. No power, no matter how strong, could compare to the strength making love to Nadira gave him.

How beautiful she was in this moment of pleasure—of peace. He was struck with the fragility of her mortality, the beauty of her as a living, breathing thing. In that second of watching her sleep, of watching his big hand moving along her body, he was struck with how fragile, how meaningful life was. How lovely the human soul could be.

"Nadira?"

A female's voice came from the door. His body taut, he jumped from the bed and tugged on his jeans, his first instinct was to protect Nadira.

"Hey, it's me. It's Mary."

His blood turned to ice.
Mary
. The female the other Watchers were after. The female he had hunted, the female he had come to Earth to kill.

Tossing the bedroom door open, he strode down the hall into the living room where Mary, small and frail, stood at the window, pulling open the curtains.

Sensing him, she whirled around, her dark eyes shadowed purple.

"Oh,” she said, her hand flying to her throat. “I didn't know Nadira had company."

This was the moment he'd waited for. Finding the female. Exacting his revenge. Yet he couldn't stop thinking of Nadira. Of the way she had tried to heal his wound. Of the love they had made love all night. He couldn't forget the way she had made him eat, giving him the very last of her groceries when she had made him toast and eggs.

He couldn't put aside the memory of Nadira lying atop his chest, his hands running through her hair as she cried, telling him of her friend, and how she feared the death, the loneliness of the grief that she would be forced to live with once Mary was gone. He still felt the warmth of her tears trickling down his chest and the way it made his heart begin to beat in his chest.

He could not do this. He did not want to kill this woman. He no longer cared about his banishment. No longer needed revenge. He only needed Nadira, with her kindness, her passion, the love he had felt oozing out of her pores while he loved her with his body.

"She's sleeping, but I can go wake her,” he said at last.

"Ah ... no, that's okay,” Mary replied, reaching for her purse. “I can come back."

"She wouldn't want that. She was upset when you didn't meet her at the park last night. She'd want to see you."

Mary shrugged. “Okay, then. Wait,” she said, when he walked away. “What's your name?"

"Gadriel."

"Is that like, Gabriel?"

He smiled. “Yeah, something like that."

"Thank you, Gadriel,” Mary said in a quiet voice that suddenly revealed the weakness she kept hidden. “Thank you for coming into her life. I have been worried about her, about how she will ... cope, when I'm gone."

Cocking his head, he studied the woman, amazed at the courage he saw inside her. “How do you know that I am not just here for one night?"

"I had a dream,” she said. “I dreamt of an angel, and he told me that you were coming. He said that I mustn't go to the park, that you were going to meet her, and keep her safe. That you were her destiny."

"I am,” he said, knowing it for the truth. “She was born for me. And since last night, I have begun to believe that I may have been created for her."

The hot water poured over his head, running down his shoulders and back. Breathing in deeply of the steam, he became aware once more of how alive his body felt. He felt hunger—both for food and sex. He felt pain when the water hit his wound, felt pleasure at the sound of Nadira's laughter, felt protective of her when she snuck into the bedroom to steal a kiss and deliver him a cup of tea. All emotions he had never felt before Nadira's touch had awakened him.

He heard the shower curtain slide along the metal pole, felt the spray of water change as Nadira came into the shower with him. “Thanks,” she said, leaning up to kiss him. He brought her naked body up against his chest and ran his hands down her back before he cupped her bottom in his palms. “Thanks for letting me spend the day with Mary."

He tried to murmur, ‘no problem', but he couldn't get the words out. Couldn't stop kissing her or touching her. His hands slid over her wet curves, cupping and kneading, and she fell into him, her fingers massaging the insertion points of his wings. She had discovered that erogenous zone last night, and he growled, appreciating how damn erotic it was to feel her stroking that part of him—a part that no human male had—a part that was uniquely him, and all for her.

"Let me take you,” he urged, turning her so that she could brace her hands on the shower tiles. Arching her back, she pressed the side of her face to the tiles, offering herself to him, and he slid inside her, loving her slowly.

He kissed his way up her spine, stopping at the base of her shoulder. She was close, he felt her body tightening, clenching around his cock. He wanted to pour himself into her, to fill her up so that she was full of him. But he wanted to do that as he marked her.

Pressing his lips against her shoulder, he chanted, the language of angels, willing his mark to form on her flesh, even as he pulled out, and then pushed deeply into her.

"Gadriel,” she cried, grasping her belly.

He had grown so huge that he was certain she truly could feel him driving deep into her womb. And God, that made him feel powerful. Virile. So he pulled out again, and thrust forward, driving her against the tiles.

"Can you feel me all the way up inside you?” he panted against her ear as the water sprayed down on them. “Could you take me deeper, because I could give your more, Nadira. I could give you all of me. Could your body take that, could it suck in all of my cock, do you think?"

She nodded, her lips parted, and he thrust inside her, rocking against her. Gripping her thigh, he brought it up, widening her hips, allowing for deeper penetration. She moaned when he drove into her, and he nipped at her shoulder, watching her lips part on a silent scream of pleasure.

"I want to fuck you, to just take you hard against this wall,” he whispered. “I want to make love to you. To carefully slide inside you and show you how I feel. I want to crawl up inside you and never leave. Take me in, Nadira. Take me inside your body and don't let go."

And she did. Her scream of pleasure when it came shattered him. Her orgasm was the most intense out of any of the ones she had last night, making his own climax last forever.

"You're mine,” he whispered, thrusting into her as he watched his mark come to life on her shoulder. “Mine."

Sweat poured off her face, trickling down her neck, only to escape down the blue hospital gown she wore. The machine that wrapped around her belly emitted a sound resembling thudding horse hooves. Too slow, Gadriel thought as he gripped Nadira's hand in his big palm. The babe's heartbeat was much too slow.

"I can't,” Nadira gasped, falling back against the pillows.

"The babe's too big,” the doctor muttered. “And you've made little progress with the pushing.” His bushy brows puckered as he looked over at the machine that was tracing the baby's heartbeat. “The baby isn't tolerating labour. We're going to have to do an emergency caesarean section."

"I don't care,” Nadira grumbled, obviously exhausted. The physician looked at him expectantly and Gadriel felt his heart freeze. The hospital team mobilised so quickly that Gadriel felt as though the room was spinning around him. Flashes of blue and green whirled before him while the sound of a slowing heartbeat thundered in his ears.

"Gadriel,” Nadira whispered, reaching for him. God, she was so pale, so weak. “Don't leave me."

"I'm here, Nadira,” he said, pressing his mouth to her trembling hand. “I'll always be with you."

"Our baby—"

"We gotta go now, dad,” a nurse said to him as she took Nadira's hand from his. “You can follow us down the hall to the OR."

Helplessly he stood, watching as the staff ran down the long hall pushing the stretcher that carried Nadira and his child. Impotent with fear, he paced, trying to gather his control—trying to find the faith he had left behind when he'd been thrown out of Heaven.

Please
, he whispered hoarsely, looking out the window at the black night and the new layer of snow that blanketed the earth.
I will do anything if you spare them. Please...

The full moon, with its silver glow illuminated the heavens. The clouds suddenly parted, revealing millions of angels circling above the earth, their wings spread wide. Then one lone angel descended from the opening. Feet first, wings flapping majestically like a hawk, he came down from Heaven.

And Gadriel knew who it was.

Bolting from the room, he ran passed the nursing station. “Where have they taken my wife,” he asked, breathless from fear.

"Straight down the hall. But sir, you can't—"

He didn't wait for the nurse to tell him he couldn't be with Nadira. Instead, he ran, his feet pounding on the floor until he came to the heavy metal doors with frosted glass. Throwing the doors wide he was in time to see Sammael, dressed head to toe in black, with his hand on the door of the OR suite.

"I have been ordered here, Gadriel.” When he turned and looked at Gadriel, Sammael's eyes were not their usual warm brown, but black as pitch, yet Gadriel could see sorrow in them.

"No!"
Gadriel cried, pulling Sammael from the operating room door. “Please, no."

"It is His will, Gadriel."

"No!” he roared, throwing Sammael against the wall.

"If you could keep only one of them,” Sammael rasped, winded from being knocked into the wall. “Who would you choose?"

"Please, no,” Gadriel choked. “Sammael, don't do this.” Gadriel fell to his knees and bowed his head before his brother. “Don't make me choose between the two of them. I love them both. I love them more than you could possibly understand."

"I understand, brother. I, too, have loved. I, too, have lived with the pain of loss."

"Then spare me this!"

"I cannot. Even if I wanted to, I cannot do so. It is His will, Gadriel."

"To torture me? To show me Heaven on Earth then steal it away from me?"

"It is time, Gadriel. It will be peaceful and easy, and I will take very good care of them. I vow this to you, brother."

"No, Sammael,” he begged, not caring that he was on his knees like a pleading child. He had no shame, no care other than saving the woman he loved and his child. “I'll do anything.
Anything.
Tell Him. Tell Him I'll fight His cause. Just ... don't take them away from me. Please don't, I can't bear the loss of them. The emptiness—"

"Stand, Gadriel."

It was another voice, not Sammael's he heard. Glancing up through his tear filled eyes, he saw Sariel striding toward him.
God's Messenger
.

"Can you stop this, Sariel? Can you save my wife and child?"

"Does the human mean so much to you then, Gadriel?"

"I would die for her."

"Would you repent for her?"

"I would do anything. She is ... she is my life. My reason for living."

"Do you love her enough to leave her, brother, so that you may fight the war?"

His body went rigid, his mind a blur with possible scenarios. “What are you saying, Sariel?"

"That your wife and child can be saved, if you will only repent and take up arms in our war. You commanded His army for centuries. Help us now to defeat the enemy, Gadriel. Join us."

"I will do anything you ask, just ... just don't take them away from me."

Sariel nodded. “So be it then. Your decision has been made."

Sammael placed his hands atop Gadriel's head and peered down into his face. “I didn't want to do it, Gadriel. I fought against it, pleaded for Him to send another, but I, too, am doing penance. It is never easy to always have one winged dipped in blood, is it, my brother? But I realised that if I were the one, if it were me to take your wife and child, then I could make it peaceful. I could take them and keep them safe for you. My gift to you, brother, until you could be reunited with them."

Sammael trailed off and brushed his hands over Gadriel's head. “But I am relieved I didn't have to do it, Gadriel. I am glad you will be joining us, brother. You've been gone too long."

Sobbing, Gadriel could only nod. What had he done? What had he agreed to?

"You will be ready when you are called, Gadriel.” It was an order. One he could not ignore. “Gadriel?” Sariel demanded.