Steal Me From Heaven (25 page)

He runs the rag down my neck while caressing my face with his free hand. When he reaches my breasts, I open my eyes. He is staring directly at me. The light is dancing across his blue eyes. I cannot look away from his beauty as he lowers his hand to clean my stomach. Then he comes around to the side of the table and rinses out the cloth. He raises one leg at a time by bending my knee and placing my foot on the table. I lift my head to watch him move his skillful hands across my body to cleanse my lower half. He rinses out the rag again before he urges my thighs apart. I am too weak to stop him. I do not voice my protest. I turn my head as he slowly encircles my center and inner thighs. He finishes and drops the rag into the bowl. Walking over to the stoves, he turns two of them off so the room will start to cool. My wings are still hurting from their abuse. Malachi picks up the rag again and gently washes my feathers. The water runs red as it drips down the ridges and into the bucket. His touch is delicate and I only notice a dulling pain as he finishes both sides.

“Drink,” he instructs as he holds his wrist to my mouth.

“No,” I say as I swat and miss his arm entirely. I am too weak and slow in my movement.

“You need your strength. You have already had my blood so you might as well take more. You will sleep for several days anyway to recuperate. My blood will be gone before your committee meeting if that is why you are hesitating.”

“How do you know that he is waiting until then?” I ask.

“He will want to make a proper woman of you once again. He is old-fashioned that way. I assume Adam will marry the two of you that night. That is the plan?”

“Yes,” I say. He turns and walks away. His back is to me. “Malachi, I am sorry. If you think that my feelings for you are false then you are wrong. I love you tremendously.”

“But not enough to leave him?” he asks.

“No. Maybe if I just met the two of you on equal terms, but I have a history with him. He was my first love. We have spent over
a millennium together. I know you were there watching over me and have loved me since the day I was born, but I only met you less than a year ago. You did not know that you would spend any more than maybe a good eighty years with me, but the fact that I was spellbound not to age and then turned immortal is too long for any Angel. You should be free to move on with someone else. Jacob had sacrificed going to Hell to get me back. I cannot deny him my love.”

“Should I go get him then?” he asks as he looks over his shoulder. I sit up on the table and stretch my wings. They are still tender.

“No, I am not yet ready to say goodbye to you. I know that after I leave this room our contact will be minimal. After the committee meeting, I do not wish to see you until the time comes for war. I need to focus on Jacob.” He turns to face me. His eyes are moist but he does not cry. I watch as one by one he unbuttons his shirt. “What are you doing?” I ask as more and more of his chest is exposed.

“Fold in your wings. They are dry enough in this heat.” He continues to undress as I try to focus on his command. The first attempt fails and my shoulders sting as my wings flap back open. “Again,” he says as he takes his arms out of his shirt and drops it to the ground. I succeed this time. By the time I look at him again, he is completely nude and erect.

“Malachi, no. Jacob could come in any second. He will kill you.”

“He can try. Lie down. Trust me, Jacob will thank me for this later.” I open my mouth to protest but he quiets me with a kiss. I do not kiss him back. He pulls on my lip and suckles. My heart is fluttering. Widening my legs with his hand, he strokes my opening. My breath is heavy, and I start panting. I try to blame it on the hotness of the room and not the heat rising between my loins. I start responding to his touch. He sighs my name upon my mouth as he brushes my lips softly. I slide over to one side of the wide table, and he climbs up to join me.

“Drink of me, Marion, one last time.” He arches back to expose his neck. I roll him over onto his back and tug his hair to angle his head in the position that I want. My fangs stretch out towards his jugular. I penetrate his skin as he penetrates my flesh. I take my time with my drink, coordinating my rocking on his rod with the drawing of his blood. He arches beneath me and moans in pleasure as I force my sex drugs into his blood. Releasing my mouth from his throat, I quicken my pelvis with my Vampire speed. I have never gone this fast with him; only Jacob can match me perfectly. He groans louder and louder. I do not know if it is pleasurable or if I am hurting him. I slow down.

“No, don’t stop,” he pants at me.

I pick up my pace as I bring him closer to the edge. I have already peaked and am climbing again. I cry out. There is a banging on the door. I feel Jacob on the other side. I cannot stop until Malachi is mine once more. Just before we climax together, my Angel raises his hand to my face. His eyes and hand emit a blue glow. Once he touches my cheek, he closes his eyes and blows a cool sea breeze onto my face.

“Marion, I release you just as you have released me. Go in peace.” Tears are rolling down my face. Our bodies are trembling in the aftermath of our lovemaking. Malachi waves his hand at the door, and I see it swing open and bang against the wall, knocking a hole in it. I realize that he was blocking it to keep Jacob out.

I hear Jacob scream as I feel his arm wrap around my waist. He is pulling me off of Malachi. I shout and kick at him. “Marion, no. You are mine. What have you done?” Jacob is yelling at me. He pins me up against the wall and turns to face Malachi, who has just gotten off the table. Jacob grabs a dagger from the surgical tray and backs Malachi into the wall and strikes him in the shoulder above his heart as Malachi expands his wings. His spear pierces Jacob’s side.

I scream. “No.”

Malachi speaks. “Remove your dagger, you fool, before I thrust my spear upwards and into your heart. Don’t think that I wouldn’t hesitate. All my problems would be solved with your death. You cannot come back from my blade.”

Jacob complies and slowly draws out the dagger. Malachi’s wound does not bleed very much. I realize that I have taken more blood than I had intended. Malachi still has Jacob pierced with his spear. Jacob threatens him anyway. “You dare to bed her twice in my presence. Never again.”

“If you hadn’t interrupted me earlier the first time, then maybe I could have severed our bond then.” Malachi withdraws his spear, and Jacob grabs his side. “Her connection to me will fade over time. She is released from our coupling. She has told me to move on and find another love. I have requested to be released in the past when you two were inseparable, but I am glad the committee refused. I finally got to experience her love the way it ought to be. She was worth waiting for. Now take her and be gone before I change my mind.”

Jacob nods his head at Malachi. I cannot believe that he is actually thanking him like Malachi said he would. Backing away from him, Jacob does not turn his back. I look back and forth between the two of them. I need some time alone. My body has been tortured and my soul connection to Malachi has been severed. I ache with every fiber of my being. Reaching down, I pick up the robe and open the door. I hear Jacob calling after me as I run as fast as I can into the night. Malachi is yelling. His voice grows softer as I get further away. “Let her be. She will show up at the committee meeting. Give her space. When she comes back, she will be completely yours. Don’t…” His voice is gone.

I notice Jacob is no longer following me. I swing my arms into the robe and tie it around me. Closing my eyes, I try to imagine a place that I could go to where I could be left alone and safe. The first thought that comes to mind makes me smile. I energize my body into a bright white shine. A spark ignites, and I disappear. I am heading home, to England.

Chapter 12

When I come through the doors at the committee house, Jacob and Malachi are standing on opposite sides of the lobby, each wearing pants of their chosen colors. Their wings are fluffed up like roosters. I laugh inside at their display and wonder if I just entered a cock fight.

Jacob notices me first. His mouth opens before he smiles. My hair is layered short and barely touches my shoulders. I have outlined my eyes with black eyeliner, and my lips are red. My shirt is silk and strapless. It is tied tightly above my chest by a string that wraps around to my back, which is open and bare. The front of the shirt flows freely down to my black pants. I have on black heels and nothing on underneath my clothes.

I hear Malachi sigh before looking away. Jacob comes up to me; his flesh looks unhealthy and his cheeks sunken in. He appears thin but retains his muscle mass. “You haven’t eaten,” I comment.

“No, I was waiting on you,” he says.

“Don’t be foolish. You didn’t know if and when I was coming back. I may have left you both. I pondered it.”

He closes his eyes after I said that. I know my words hurt him. “I will not let you. You chose me before and once you remember, you will choose me again.” He smiles as he reminds me of his response to my question back during my transformation process—what if I chose death instead of him? “Besides, I knew you would come here tonight,” he says as he lifts up my short hair to bounce it around in his fingers. “You’re beautiful.”

I blush and smile at him. “I guess you like my new look?”

“Very much so.” He kisses my cheek and lowers his head to my neck. Drawing in a deep breath, he inhales my scent. I know not to wear perfume. He prefers my natural aroma, and the factory concoctions are too powerful for a Vampire’s sense of smell. He kisses my neck. I know that he is starving.

“Go ahead,” I say. “You need your strength.”

He stops before biting me. “Have you eaten?”

“Yes, a woman at the boutique. I did not know how to do it as a Vampire so I just bit her and then asked her to forget about it.”

He laughs. “And that worked.”

“Yes, that is also how I got clothes, a hotel room, and a haircut. I just asked for it.”

“We will have to get you access to some money.”

“It would make things a little easier,” I joke.

I run my hands up his well-defined arms as he leans his head down to bite me. I stroke the back of his hair with my hand. My breath increases as he sends his pleasure my way through his fangs. He does not care that we are in public or that he is making me want to unzip his pants and free him for my taking.

“Careful, you must not drive me over the edge. There are people watching and no time to satisfy my needs.” My voice is low and sexy. I feel his eyelashes flutter open on my neck as he spins me around. His hand spreads out across my bare back. He sucks in more of my blood. I know that he is staring at Malachi, taunting him. I push him away, and he hisses.

“Behave yourself,” I say.

“I apologize.” He takes me back in his arms and licks my neck to clean and close the wound. He looks instantly nourished.

“Don’t go without again,” I say as I turn around to see Malachi looking at us. I nod my head at him, and he returns the gesture. We walk up to the double doors that lead to the banquet room, and the guard opens them. As soon as we pass through, we each head for our destined spots on the floor. This is our third time before the committee. Malachi had said that he only appeared before them once when the Queen ruled the Vampire seat. Now I know that it was to ask to be released as my Guardian.

I call forth my wings and flap them out to the side. I am stronger now and they grow bigger as time goes on. Jacob and Malachi both look at me and are shaking their heads no. Too late; I am tired of hiding who I am. I am Angel, and I am Vampire. Bring it on.

Adam comes through the door first. He sees me and shakes his head side to side as he smiles. Maybe this wasn’t my brightest idea. Next, Jessica comes through the door wearing a black spaghetti strap dress. She smiles at the three of us, but I notice she lingers her gaze a little longer than needed on Malachi. I stop myself from growling. He is not mine.

Adam begins to speak. “Lilith will not be here tonight, and I think by the way you are all presented that is for the best.” I know he is talking about me. “Alasdair, do you wish to be bound to Marion by marriage?”

“Yes,” he says and bows his head.

“Marion, do you wish to be bound to Alasdair by marriage?” Adam asks me. I find it funny to be staring at Adam and not at Jacob.

“Yes,” I say and bow my head.

“Then since you come before me as Vampires already, and you do not need the transformation process to complete your union, I will warn you of choice. Eternity is a long time to commit to a partner. Adultery is not something tolerated in marriage or by your species. Death could be your punishment if it is proven as truth in front of the committee. Are you both ready to make that commitment? You may speak freely.”

I do not dare look at Malachi. I have made my choice. “I do have a question but I think it is foolish to ask.”

“Feel free to speak. No one believes you to be a fool,” Adam says.

“The prophecy says that the Angel-hybrid will bed Angels, Demons, and Vampires. I do not know why I bring this up. I do not wish to bed anyone, but most of what I have seen of the legend has been true.” I hear Jacob snort from my right side.

“Alasdair, would you like to clear up the matter or should I?” Adam asks.