Sparks of Blue (Dark Light Book 2) (11 page)

“Now,
that
was an angel,” Gwen exclaimed promptly before collapsing into Belle. Belle stumbled under the sudden dead weight until Kai was able to pull her up, into his arms. He hadn’t regained his energy yet, but his physical strength was nearly restored already. Thank goodness.

“We should get her inside,” Kai said as he managed to slip his wrist through the strap of Gwen’s bag.

Belle released a breath and nodded. For as glad as she was at Isabella’s arrival, and the infusion of temporary power, she was more relieved that the angel hadn’t come with them. While it was true she genuinely liked Isabella, it was also true that her respect for Isabella’s power incited a little twinge of fear. If Isabella learned of her relationship—such as it was—with Kai, she’d be a dead woman. And she had no idea what would happen to Kai.

But she shoved all that aside and moved toward the front door of the house they’d been sent to. She could only presume that Isabella had pulled the location from Gwen’s mind.

The seconds dragged by before she heard the excited
woof
of a dog and shuffling footsteps approaching. Then the door swung open, revealing a youthful male with unkempt light brown hair identical to Gwen’s. He had brown eyes, nearly the same shade as his hair, and a natural smile—a smile which faltered when his gaze landed on Gwen.

“Gwen! Who are you? What happened to her?”

“May we come inside?” Belle asked. “Your sister will be okay, but she needs rest and tending to.”

The man, Ben Manning, grabbed hold of his yellow lab’s collar and moved to the side. “Straight down the hall, veer left,” he said as he held the door wide.

Belle led the way and quickly found herself in an open living area. The far wall was half-missing in favor of floor-to-ceiling glass doors that led to a spacious backyard. Off to the right, the room opened to a decently sized kitchen. Belle indicated a rounded sofa and Kai moved calmly, setting Gwen down on the chaise extension. He set her bag next to her, out of Belle’s way, and stepped back.

“Seriously,” Ben said as he followed them. “Who are you? What’s going on? If you’ve hurt my sister—”

“We haven’t hurt her,” Kai interrupted. “She wanted to come see her brother, but the journey put a strain on her heart.”

Belle put a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Try to ease him into this, okay?” With a smile of encouragement, she moved and knelt beside Gwen, summoning the borrowed power within her. Technically Isabella had merely transferred a good portion of her energy, raw and malleable. Which made it easy for Belle, even tired, to absorb and use as her own power. Unfortunately, she’d need nearly all of it for Gwen this time. She’d hoped Gwen wouldn’t react so badly to the jump, but having already been over-stressed in such a short time, Gwen’s heart wasn’t able to withstand the strain.

In her peripheral vision she kept an eye on Kai and Ben, knowing Kai wasn’t always too great with people. She was pleased to note he made a point of
not
standing between Ben and his sister.

Ben was rubbing his temple, other hand on his hip. “I’m not following. I mean, she’d called and told me she was in a hospital up north or something not more than two days ago. Now she’s here, and she looks worse than she sounded on the phone!”

“This is temporary,” Kai replied calmly. “Belle’s already healing her.”

“Healing?” Ben repeated. His brown eyes went wide then, and he sucked in a breath. “Holy crap. You’re demons, aren’t you? What, are you making sure she survives to her damn birthday? Get away from my sister!”

The dog, still sitting calmly beside his master, barked. But made no move to attack. Dogs were sensitive to the energies around them; he could likely sense that Kai and Belle posed no threat.

Kai held his ground, but Belle heard the frustration in his voice. “We’re not demons,” he said shortly. “I’m an angel. Belle is our best healer.”

“Gwen can tell you all of this when she wakes up,” Belle offered with a smile. She kept her hands poised over Gwen’s chest as she continued to work the stress and exhaustion out. “We saved her at the hospital from a demon and have been traveling with her since.”

Ben looked between them, but Belle recognized his look of defiance. He was far from convinced. “I’ll admit,” he said, “if demons are real, then angels certainly could be. But I don’t believe you
are
angels.”

Kai crossed his arms. “What I am,” he said, “is less than patient. You want proof?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before his skin shimmered and his wings unfurled, each feather shimmering with a faint blue flame. His wings were large, each one measuring the same in length as he stood tall. But being made of pure energy they did not collide with the furniture in the space. He’d made them visible, not solid.

Ben stumbled back, eyes wide, and nearly tripped over his dog. “Impossible,” he said.

Kai snorted, and his wings curled in before fading from view. “For you.”

Chapter Eleven

“You know I hate meetin’ out here,” Creed said, fighting the urge to scratch at his arms. Though the building complex appeared only barely kept up on the outside, the inside was so clean it was sterile. Void of
everything
. No dust, no smudges on the glass displays, no pictures on the walls. Impersonal modern-chic furniture filled strategic spaces. Creed didn’t know what this room was mainly used for, but he imagined even the average human would find it odd, if not suspicious. This was far from Creed’s favorite place to be.

The man he was meeting, Uriah, turned away from the curtain-less window and clasped his hands behind his back. Uriah stood the same height as Creed at six-three, but whereas Creed tended to slouch and use his broad shoulders to intimidate those smaller than him, Uriah used his height. Dressed in a perfectly pressed charcoal gray business suit, sans tie, he presented himself like the debonair businessman he wanted the humans to think he was.

Creed doubted he’d ever understand why.

“You forced my hand on this, Creed,” Uriah replied coldly. “I thought the little human girl would be out of the picture by now.”

Digging his blunt nails into his palms, Creed forced his head down in a show of respect. “So did I,” he said. “But she’s got some impressive angels watchin’ over her. That bastard Kai and a pretty little Nephy, too.”

Uriah hummed. “You mean to tell me
one
angel and a
Nephilim
are getting the best of you?”

Creed bristled. “I don’t see you out there gettin’ blood on your hands.”

“Nor will you,” Uriah assured him. He turned and started toward a far door, a door Creed had never been through. “What is the Nephilim’s purpose?”

“She’s trying to heal the woman,” Creed said. “Her name’s Belle.”

Uriah stiffened almost invisibly. “You’re certain?” When Creed nodded, Uriah reached out and pressed his thumb to the wall beside the door. It unlatched and slid back with a hiss as automatic lights snapped on in the room beyond. “Follow me. I want to show you something.”

****

“Do you think he believes us?” Belle asked as Kai helped her into their borrowed room. Ben had graciously offered them his guest room on the premise that his sister didn’t immediately demand they get out when she woke up. Since they weren’t worried about that, and Isabella had temporarily warded the house, Belle had allowed Kai to insist she get a little rest of her own.

“I think he’s reserving judgment,” Kai said. He guided her to the bed before detouring to properly shut the door.

Belle watched him move, his shoulder blades stretching and rolling beneath a fresh black tee. She swallowed as another feeling began creeping up over her exhaustion. Damn, he looked good in denim. The way the jeans hugged his tight ass made her mouth water. Liquid heat started to pool low in her belly, and she looked away, trying to tamp down her stupid, confused hormones.

“Do I have to tie you to the bed?”

Kai’s question snapped her back to attention and her cheeks flushed. “What?” She simultaneously wanted to curse and kiss the smirk that teased his lips when their gazes met. He’d caught her.

But the smirk was as far as it went. He gestured to the bed she was barely perching on and said, “You’re supposed to be lying down. Resting, remember?”

Belle blinked, glanced down at the mattress, and bit back a groan. The only thing she wanted to do on that bed was the one thing she knew she shouldn’t allow herself to indulge in. Again. “Right,” she murmured as she worked off her boots.

Kai remained stationary while she tucked her boots beside the foot of the bed and scooted to the center. It wasn’t until then, in a desperate flight to think of something other than Kai’s naked skin pressed against hers, that Belle remembered she wasn’t the only one probably dead on their feet. And Kai would never volunteer such emasculating information.

“Kai,” she called, propping her head up on one elbow. She patted the mattress between them and said, “Come lay with me.”
Oh, hell.
How in the world had that sounded less sexy in her head?

One dark brow arched high, and the corners of his lips twitched again. “You sure about that?”

Doing her best to pretend she had in no way meant it the way he’d taken it, Belle argued, “You need rest, too.”

Belle was all too familiar with the desire that darkened Kai’s eyes. “Not as much as I need you,” he said.

She swallowed, trying to straighten her tongue. Kai had never been one to mince words, but given their complicated history, she was still a bit surprised at such a straightforward declaration.

Kai released a breath and strode up to the bed. He sat on the side, angled in to face her, and caught her by her nape in one fluid motion. The next thing Belle knew her lips were pressed firmly over his. He held her there long enough for her brain to kick back into gear before he began teasing the edges of her mouth with his tongue. Asking, not taking. She could feel the tension in his arm through his touch.

Her walls melted.

Belle parted her lips for him as she wound her arms around his neck, burying one hand in his thick, dark hair as the other dipped below the collar of his shirt. She arched into him as their tongues dueled, flattening her breasts into the hard muscles of his torso. He rumbled against her, the vibrations rippling through her in delicious waves, and the hand at the back of her neck slid up until it was tangled in her hair.

After a long, wet kiss, Kai eased her back down onto the mattress and broke from her lips. His breath was hot as it assailed her skin between the kisses he rained over her jaw, up to her ear. His tongue slipped out again, teasing the skin, and Belle moaned. One of Kai’s knees slipped between hers as his kisses blazed down the side of her throat and she dug her nails into his back. She couldn’t find the words to tell him how badly she needed him in that moment, but she knew he would understand. No one could read her body better than Kai.

He trailed his lips and tongue down until he reached the collar of her shirt, slipping his tongue beneath teasingly. But then he pulled back and looked up, locking his focus on her. His voice was thick with desire when he spoke.

“Decide. Now. If you want me in this bed, we have to be naked. If you want me in this bed, I’m going to take you until we both pass out.”

She shivered with anticipation and felt her body pulse in response to his words. Despite herself, despite what she might have said to that comment a week earlier, Belle knew her answer. “You better live up to that promise.”

Kai growled, grazed his teeth over her collarbone, and rolled off her in order to tear his shirt over his head.

Belle took a moment to appreciate the fluidity of his muscles before arching her back and peeling her shirt off in a deliberately seductive way. Hips up, skirt and panties down, then she rolled to her knees and popped her bra free, letting it slide off her arms before tossing it away.

Kai’s blue eyes were clouded over with desire as they raked over her figure. His jeans fell to the floor, boots already removed, and he stalked forward without looking away. They came together as soon as Kai’s first knee hit the mattress, locking his arm around her waist as their lips met in another hard kiss. He rolled them until she straddled his hips and he sat near the center of the bed, one hand on her ass and one tangled again in her hair.

Kai swept his tongue through her mouth, drawing a low moan from her, and Belle wasted no time impaling herself on his thick cock. She doubted either of them had the energy for all the usual foreplay, and she wanted to orgasm with him buried inside her.

With another rumbling growl, Kai bucked his hips up against hers, and she rocked over him. She broke from his kiss in order catch his earlobe in her teeth and moaned when he flipped them expertly over. He pressed her into the mattress, catching her wandering hands and holding them with his over their heads. The way his weight was balanced now drove him deeper, and she gasped, arching into him.

“Kai,” she gasped as he thrust harder, brushing over the spot she most desperately needed him. “More!”

He slid his tongue down her throat and grazed her skin with his lips when he murmured, “Be careful what you ask for.” He latched his lips onto her pulse point, sucking hard as he snapped his hips forward in a wild, delicious rhythm she could barely match.

Throwing one leg over his hip, Belle dug her nails into the backs of his hands and did her best to swallow the outcry of pleasure that was suddenly threatening. She doubted she was wholly successful when one more sharp thrust threw her over the edge. White exploded in her mind, and she lost control of her body as searing pleasure burned through her, blurring her vision.

Kai ground hard one more time before his body stiffened over hers and his forehead landed on her shoulder after a deep, guttural groan. Seconds passed before he eased out of her and rolled to the side, scooping her up and holding her against him like it was the most natural thing.

And why wasn’t it?

All Belle knew for sure was that right here, right in this moment, for the first time in far too long, she finally felt at peace.

****

The old, familiar dream released him slowly and Kai drew a deep breath. The first thing he noticed was the scent of Belle mixed with filtered morning air. For a moment he wondered if his dream hadn’t shifted to another memory, but soon enough his brain finally woke up, and he remembered everything that had happened. And exactly how he’d managed to wake up for the second morning in a row with Belle in his arms, her arm tossed over his chest as she slept peacefully.

Telling himself not to get too used to these old, familiar sensations, Kai took a moment to reestablish their surroundings. Gwen and her brother, Ben, were downstairs. Both awake and moving. Both calm. He could feel the slowly fading power of Isabella’s wards; they were intact, which meant no one had tried to break them. And they would probably last another good four hours at least.

There was no need to rush out of bed, then.

Glancing down at the messy head of blonde hair beneath his chin, Kai allowed a smile to lift his lips.
Even if this is the last time … at least I’ll have one more memory.

Belle moaned, and her body tensed as sleep began to release her. He wondered briefly if she would prefer to wake alone but quickly decided against it. If he were to have half a chance at winning her back, he needed to be clear about his desires in every way. So he tightened his arms around her and rolled her properly on top of him. Sliding his fingers into her hair and tugging her sleepy lips up to his he kissed her softly until she moaned again.

“Morning,” he murmured when their lips parted.

Her blue eyes were still sleepy, but also lighter than the day before. She offered him a small, beautiful smile and looped her arms loosely around his neck. “Good morning,” she replied.

“How are you feeling?” After so many hours of rest she should have been feeling fairly good, but he wasn’t willing to make any assumptions. Not when it came to her well-being.

Her smile widened a bit, and she said, “I feel good.” She paused as if mulling over whether or not to say something, before adding, “Thank you for staying.”

Kai tugged her down, tucking her head into the crook of his neck, and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Kai…” Her tone was soft and warm. Not lustful or hesitant. It gave him a dangerous flicker of hope. A moment later she tensed and pushed herself up, horror and worry twisting her expression. “Gwen! We completely abandoned her!”

And back to work.
Normally he didn’t complain about a good work-ethic, or a noble mission, but he would rather have stayed in bed with her for a while. Unfortunately, though her concern was unnecessary, her point was valid.

Kai sat up as Belle moved toward the edge of the bed to get ready. “She’s all right,” he promised with a hand on her shoulder. “I already checked.”

Belle paused, relaxed, and smiled again. “Thank you. I still feel guilty, though.” Her stomach made a noise, and she flushed. “Maybe we should grab breakfast while Isabella’s wards are strong enough.”

“Breakfast is a good idea,” Kai agreed, releasing her shoulder in order to stand. They dressed quickly and, once Belle had wiggled her last boot into place they stepped from the room. Gwen’s and Ben’s voices drifted up from downstairs, guiding them to the open living room. Gwen was seated on the sofa, her brother occupying the armchair.

Both siblings turned their attention to Kai and Belle as they stepped into the room.

Belle immediately moved forward and sat beside Gwen. “I’m so sorry I didn’t check on you last night. How are you feeling?”

Kai leaned against the nearest wall, letting his senses sweep the outside property while they chatted. Just to be safe. But, fortunately, he sensed nothing suspicious. Not even a wandering human.

“And how are
you
?” Gwen asked suggestively as he tuned back in. She was wiggling her brows at Belle when Kai glanced her way, and he bit back a sigh.

Should’ve tuned out a little longer.

But Ben was stepping up to his side, so he supposed that wouldn’t have been an option. Still, he waited for the man to address him.