Fall From Grace (12 page)

With her remaining
wing she gently pushed him back into the sand, sliding off his
jeans and her soft pants. Gracefully she positioned herself over
him, straddling his strong hips with her thighs. Evie leaned over
until her breasts brushed his chest, caressing the flat hard planes
of his body, her long, tangled hair on his face. His back arched
and he moaned. She grasped him, feeling him engorged with blood and
desire.

For a time she just
stared, thinking and yet trying not to think of all she had done.
For him and to herself. He was breathing hard, chest rising and
falling in anticipation. She moved him to the dark sheath of
muscles between her legs, watching him watching her. He pushed up,
trying to enter but she tipped her hips away, the goal just out of
reach. They looked into each other's eyes, then much deeper.
Enough. She positioned him where he wanted to be – where she wanted
him to be. Moving her hips exquisitely, slowly, she pushed
down.

Trick gasped, feeling
the pressure as he tried to enter. Supporting herself on her arms,
she arched her back, raising her full hips just a little. Unable to
restrain himself any longer, Trick grabbed onto her with his broad,
strong hands and pressed her down. The skin burst through and the
rest of him followed. Her muscles clamped tightly and convulsively
around him and he moaned as the sensation ripped across his nervous
system, spreading over his hips to climb up his spine and explode
everywhere at once. He throbbed in time to her passion. And
his.

Evie
rocked back and forth, reveling in the sensation of him. She had
given up so much for this Reaper, yet she could not regret it. Even
now, maimed as she was, she felt beautiful and whole and so very
much more than just alive. Maybe saving him is what she was meant
to do all along. The reason for her transition from human to
Avenging Angel and now to this. As Father Cortez said, things don't
always happen
to
us. Often they happen
because
of us.

The rain slicked her
hair down on her head and she suddenly looked very young and very
human. With a cry, Trick sat up, pulling her to him, saying her
name, holding her so tightly he knew it would leave bruises,
however fleeting, on her skin. He couldn't stop himself. She had
given up so much for him, fought so hard. How could he deserve
this?

Evie seemed to know
what he was thinking. She held him just as tightly, sheltering him
with her remaining wing, whispering words into his ear. Afterwards
she couldn't even remember what she said but gradually, slowly, the
awful tension and anguish left him. Then his lips were once again
on hers.

She stretched her
legs over his thighs and his arms wrapped around her waist. He was
hot, she could feel the heat coming of him and it inflamed her. He
increased the rhythm and she held her breath, the passion building,
centering, then spreading far and fast, unstoppable. She cried out,
falling back, trusting his arms to hold her up, letting the wild
storm of feelings sweep her along.

Letting go of the
pain and fear and doubt, he followed her down in the sand. Pulling
himself on top of her now, never ceasing his movements. He held her
close, pushing his chest and belly into hers, his arms under her
shoulders. She whispered his name, and he felt the release. The
climax took him like a storm, nearly shattering what little control
he had over himself after the events on the beach. It was almost
painful, as though she was drawing out all the poison of his past
life, burning it away with the purity of her spirit. No longer some
horrible half-demon. For the first time since 1879, he felt like a
man again. A man with a life worth living. Someone worth living
for.

They held each other
for a long time, the silence full of words unsaid. Words that did
not need to be voiced to be heard. Evie shivered, feeling the chill
at last though the rain had stopped. Trick gently withdrew,
stopping to kiss her once more on each eye.

Buried in the sand
and slightly singed, his shirt lay in a pile with some of their
other clothes. Shaking it out, he ripped at one seam, clumsily
fashioning an opening for her remaining wing and then buttoned it
up over her chest.

“There, that'll do
until we can get you some proper clothes.”

He dug out her short
leather boots. Everything smelled like smoke. Her socks had
disappeared somewhere in the melee as had his T-shirt and
shoes.

“So now I work
for...” he raised his eyes and pointed up.

She
smiled, punching him playfully in the shoulder. “No silly, you work
for me. By killing Marcus, I inherited your contract. Now that
you're alive again. Whatever he promised you about your freedom was
a lie. All contracts have to run their full term – even if you come
back from the dead. 'Death' being a somewhat fluid term in our
worlds.
I'm
the
one who no longer directly works for...” she pointed up as well.
“Or not until I get my wing back and redeem myself. A Celestial
paid me a visit while you were, um,
away.
Apparently I need to learn
humility.”

Despite the gravity
of the situation, Trick couldn't stop a little snort of
laughter.

Evie gave him an
affronted stare.

Instantly he was all
contrition, “No Evie, I didn't, I meant...”

Evie
was nothing if not honest and couldn't help seeing the humor in it
as well. “I
know
,
right? Humility. Of all things. Going to be a long
climb back up Jacob's Ladder for the both of
us.”

“Was it because of
you and I, because we had...”

“Sex?”

He reached out to
wrap his hands around her head and bring her face closer, “We did
not have 'sex', Miss Grace. We shared something far more
significant than those three letters imply.”

Giving him a lingering kiss, she agreed. “I know, and
no
. That is not why I am
being censured. I questioned my mandate.”

“I made you question
your mandate.”

“Stop interrupting
and let me finish!”

He made a zipping
motion over his lips and she continued. “Passion, as I said, is
part of what makes an Avenging Angel tick. That wasn't it. Nor that
I questioned my orders. As it turns out, questioning is good. Who
knew? Complacency is what's bad. And pride. That's worse. The
Celestials felt I should have presented them with my doubts instead
of just barging ahead, thinking I had all the answers. I'm a
bit...”

“Pig headed?
Stubborn?”

She
glared at him and he made the zipping motion again. “I was going to
say,
independent,
thank you very much. Anyway. I am in a heavenly time-out for
now.”

“But we'll be
together.”

“We will.”

“Then that's okay.
We'll make it better, Evie.”

For a time they
stood, staring out to sea, wrapped in each other's arms. “You're
going to miss flying. I can teach you how to trance jump. Not as
good as flying, I know.”

Without warning he
was enveloped in a burst of white smoke shot through with bright
flashes of gold. His arms dropped as Evie was suddenly gone. Just
as quickly the smoke cleared only to burst out again. She waved
from the top of a tall boulder farther down the beach. In a moment
she was back by his side.

“Actually, I can still
vaporate
.”

“Okay, Angel cool
factor still remains off the paranormal charts.”

He pointed to the
leather scabbard at her side, her sword waiting for her in the
sand. Indeed no other hand could raise it except hers. “They left
you your sword as well.”

Lifting the sword,
she slipped the bright blade back in the scabbard. “Though slightly
altered, my mandate remains even in my tarnished capacity. Avenge
the innocents.”

“And mine is to find
the Baron and get your wing back.”

She nodded.

Trick's brows drew
together in a look of worry; “He's not going to bring on the
apocalypse now or anything is he?”

“The
Baron? Oh honestly Trick, this isn't TV! You can't just 'bring on'
an apocalypse. That being said, the Baron has waited thousands of
years for that wing and I don't think it's so he can go joy riding
over Disney World.” She stared out at the waves, her mind just as
turbulent. How they were to take on a Fallen she couldn't begin to
guess. “Even with my full powers I couldn't, I
can't
defeat him one on
one.”

Trick flashed her his
crooked smile, the one that made his eyes crinkle up at the
corners. Walking over to the blackened circle of sand, he dug
around until he found the leather case that had held the relic. As
Evie watched, he seemed to work some hidden catch at the back of
the case and a panel popped open. Just as before, a miasma of evil
spilled out. Trick shut it quickly, rewrapping the leather straps
covered in protective amulets, locking in the evil.

“To
be honest, I left one little detail out of my story. There
were
two
blades in
that tiny Hungarian Church my Master apparently raided. I'm not
sure if even your handlers knew that. One I was to use on the
Angel. The other was for the Baron at some point. Like I said,
Marcus had more than one game in play. He just hadn't figured on
encountering the formidable Miss Evangeline Grace. Nor had
I.”

She smiled at Trick.
The odds were now just a little more in their favor.

He moved to hand the
case to her, saying, “Be careful with it.”

She shook her head,
“Keep it for me.”

Nodding solemnly, he
acknowledged the trust she was placing in him. He slipped the
spell-bound leather case into his jacket's inner pocket. The jacket
had survived the burning more or less in intact.

“So if I'm not a
Reaper and you're not an Avenging Angel, what exactly are we?”

She kissed him.

“Ah, that.”

He kissed her back,
deeply. He had fallen so hard for this woman, he could hardly
breath. Breaking away, he looked into her eyes, opened himself
completely to that mesmerizing gaze. “Whatever else we are or
become, I will forever and always be that for you, Evie.”

Staring back at him,
soul to soul, she saw the truth of those words.

Kissing her again, he
said, his lips still on hers, “Just please, as my new boss, promise
me we don't have to go back to Arizona. I hate that damn
desert.”

She laughed, loudly,
joyously. The clouds lifted and the sun burst out, startling them
with its brilliance. The sea shifted from gray to blue and Evie
inexplicably felt full of hope. Holding hands, she and Trick jumped
from the beach, heading for the Pacific Coast Highway. The road,
like their future, stretching out before them in the new morning
sun.

To be continued

Note from the author:
Thank you for reading Fall From Grace. I hope you enjoyed the story
and the characters.. I certainly had a good time writing about
Evangeline and Trick and especially the Voodoo bail bondsman Roman
Barracuda. I feel like if I hightailed it over to Compton, I just
might see the sherbet-yellow house. I'm excited about continuing
everyone's adventures as they search for the Fallen and Evie's lost
wing.

Author Bio: Eden
Crowne is from San Francisco, California. In her other life, she is
an international journalist writing on technology, pop culture,
trends, and travel in Asia. She calls Tokyo, Vienna, London and
L.A. home. She loves traveling, champagne, hanging out with her
kids, espresso at sidewalk cafes, people watching, really fast
express trains, and laughing like crazy – though not always in that
order.

If
you are interested in receiving emails from Eden about new books,
contests, story and character insights, and giveaways, please join
her mailing list at:
www.edencrowne.com
.

Upcoming titles from
Eden Crowne:

Dust to Dust
, Book 1: Fangs For Your
Memories

Fear Club
, Book 1: Tokyo
Masquerade

Deathgods
, first in a
series.