Summon Lyght (13 page)

There was nothing to do but clench his eyes tight and hold on as her climax locked her legs around his neck and dug her nails into his scalp. The assault demanded hard and immediate retaliation and Lyght fought with all his angelic strength to keep from giving the answer his body insisted on.

He settled for tasting at a feverish pace, pressing his face into her quivering inner thighs, listening to the sweet music of her moans being carried by that spiral of unimaginable pleasure. His Kassie. She was more than he'd hoped for. More than he'd imagined. And he was bloody imaginative.

She sat up suddenly, her forearm hiding her breasts.

Lyght didn't move from where he was. He looked up at her, kissing the soft muscles of her inner thighs, waiting for the verdict and considering wedding rings. Which one would suit her? She was a size six to be certain.

He paused kissing when he sensed her nearly palpable shame. Guilt.

Not the consequences he wanted after watching her suffer such pleasure.

He stood and pushed himself between her legs, looking down at her lowered head.
"Look at me sweetheart." He stroked the satiny flesh of her lovely legs.

She hesitated two seconds too long and Lyght tilted her face up with a finger on her chin. The reluctance he felt did strange things to him. He stood there, contemplating the feelings that clamped down impossibly hard on his spirit. Crushing. That
's what it felt like.

He spun away and gasped, not familiar with that sort of pain. Not understanding it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He sought to interpret the meaning behind her words and the crushing sensation intensified. She was sorry she
'd…done that with him.

"
I'll be back." Lyght flashed out before he could make a fool of himself. He reappeared alone at the Outer Sanctum. He fell to his knees next to the clear lagoon and splashed his face with the renewing water. He let his wings loose, needing help to identify his problem.

The color in them was unlike anything he
'd ever seen. The darkest red just before black. The only color he'd seen like that was when he bled.

He remembered the look in her face, the feeling in her spirit and Lyght collapsed to his knees as that humiliating weight stole his strength.

Bloody hell
. She'd pierced him. And he was bleeding inside.

She was ashamed. Ashamed of what he
'd done. Ashamed…to be with him.

Chapter Thirteen
 

Lesedi stood in the shower for a long time letting the hot water beat him into oblivion. That was after he stood like a ten year old in the center of that diamond chamber of a shower. That's what the stall was. Like being in a rough square diamond cocoon. Even the floor's surface was coarse, but warm, and acted like a massage to his tired feet 

The last couple of days had been a lot to take in, especially the last few hours. Less than a week past, he had been just the illegitimate son of a woman from a well-off family, living on the fringes and expected to do whatever dirty work was necessary to advance the family fortunes. He had managed to translate that position to one that far exceeded the family
's expectations for him. Without Lyght's intervention, Lesedi would have assumed leadership of the family within six months, wresting it away from his lazy cousin, and his own younger half-brother. The pair had been given the privilege of control while Lesedi did the work, and he had tired of that arrangement.

But there he stood in the twilight zone, his family, in all likelihood, assumed him dead and had taken steps to mitigate the associated loss. That was how they did business. Frivolous things like emotion or family loyalty must never impede the progress of the family as a whole. His loss would hardly be noticed.

He allowed his head to drop and light glinted off the tiny diamonds embedded in the skin of his abdomen. His half-brother was the ostentatious sort and would no doubt cut off an arm for such a tattoo. Lesedi couldn't stop the little swirl of satisfaction that came with the knowledge the little asshole would never have one. He traced the strangely beautiful design. From where he looked, it appeared like some ancient lettering. He'd have to ask.

And then there was Miya. She was far more significant than anything else. Merely being allowed within her presence was something of a miracle for a man like him. To have her for his own? That ranked similar in magnitude with some of the miracles of the Old Testament. Parting the Red Sea was only slightly more momentous as far as he was concerned.

The mere thought of her speared him with need, and the memory of the innocent passion of her response to his touch acted as a spark to gun powder.

He was not thrilled with the circumstances though. He would have preferred to win her on his own, rather than her consent to his touch as part of a plan to save humanity. Having her that way did not exactly boost his ego, but it was better than not having her at all.

The water would have gone cold long since in any other shower, so it was past time he finished and went to meet his fate. Despite his concern over the circumstances, he was hard as steel with anticipation.

****

Kassie cried for a long time after Lyght disappeared. How could she have done something so awful? He must be so disappointed in her. For someone who'd never been able to really do anything right, she'd sure done a bang-up job of corrupting an
angel
!

How could she have been so selfish? She, of all people, knew the consequences of putting personal feelings and wants ahead of others. She
'd watched Samantha's father do it for two decades and observed the havoc it wrought in the lives around him.

And poor Lyght! What agony he must be going through! To have his whole mission endangered by a lowly slut must be killing him. He
'd never want to see her again.

With that thought uppermost in mind, she dragged herself from where she
'd slumped to the floor in her guilty grief and went in search of the bathroom and a shower. At least her body could be clean even if her conscience couldn't. Besides, washing away Lyght's smell and touch would make the lack of them easier to bear. The fewer reminders the better. Even as she told herself she could survive, she knew it was a lie. Without Lyght, there was no life for her.

Self-preservation prevented her from acknowledging the truth and allowed her to return to the small routines of daily life and her search for the bathroom. What she found was even more unadulterated diamond opulence in the form of a sunken tub big enough for several adults, and a huge steam shower. Her hands couldn
't resist the thick white towels that proved soft as clouds.

Sheer willpower let her ban the thoughts that warred for presence in her mind, images of Lyght in the middle of all that indulgence with her. If she gave space to the wishful thinking, she would fall back into defeat, unable to pull herself out of it again. In some distant future she might be able to think of him without crippling grief, but not likely.

The temptation of the tub and a long soak proved stronger than her willpower and she searched for a way to draw a bath. She finally conceded defeat and stepped back, unable to find any sort of faucet or any other mechanism to fill the tub. As soon as she moved back, water began to run soundlessly into the giant diamond cistern from some hidden access point in the bottom.

Kassie waited and watched in amazement as steaming water rapidly rose to the perfect level within only a moment or two. The water stopped rising and a small tray filled with tiny bottles of scented oils slid from a recess in the side of the tub. She looked through the bottles and quickly chose lavender.

Resolutely, she pushed her guilt away long enough to sink into the luxurious scented water and lean back with a sigh. The rest of the world, and the pain it could inflict, seemed so very far away as clouds of lavender steam carried her imagination off to where nothing could ever hurt her again.

Maybe it was the memory of being hurt, or some other errant thought, but her mind immediately flew back to the time she
'd spent in that rodent's nest of a nightmare. A fresh wave of guilt threatened to drown her, sucking at her limbs like quicksand on steroids. There were still people back there in that horror and God only knew when they might find some relief from the whole thing.

Tears surged and rolled down her cheeks. Somehow, she had to find a way to get the others out of that hell. No one should ever have to live that way and she wouldn
't be able to live with herself if she didn't find a way to help them. She had to stop those men from doing to others what they'd done to her. No doubt Lyght's powers were the only thing that kept her from dying of her injuries and the mental damage she'd borne. That she'd welcomed him, hungered for him, so soon after was unfathomable to her. Only the necessity for his mission had permitted it, she was sure.

She was probably the last person Lyght would ever want to see again, after what she
'd done to him, but maybe, just maybe, she could get him to listen to her. She needed to talk him and the other archangels into rescuing all those other people.

With a purpose in mind, she quickly finished her bath and dried off with a sinfully decadent towel. The adjoining dressing room held every sort of garment she could possibly want and then some. Formal gowns suitable for dinner with the Queen of England hung alongside casual sundresses and tank tops. She settled on a close-fitting stretchy tee with faded jeans and a pair of comfy leather clogs.

Somewhat presentable, she searched for a way back into the main compound, driven by a sense of urgency to find help for the other prisoners. How could she have waited so long to think of them? Just one more fact proving her selfish depravity. Finally, she found it—a broad corridor that left the diamond house and led, she hoped, back to the common area.

She hurried, almost jogging, desperate to tell someone, anyone, how she
'd injured Lyght and of the need to rescue the other prisoners. Soon, she began passing doors labeled with things like 'Garage 3', 'Dormitory E', and 'Armory 7'. The vast scale of the operation began to sink in at some point along that corridor. This was far more than a couple dozen people on a harebrained wild goose chase.

A faint electronic whirring sound caught her attention and she realized she
'd first become aware of it moments earlier. As it continued to increase, she looked around, searching for the source. A door bearing a label for 'Archives 2'
whoosh
ed open and a vehicle resembling a tow-motor used in warehouses rolled soundlessly into the corridor.

It came to an abrupt halt beside Kassie and the driver looked at her expectantly for a moment.
"It's Kassie, right? I'm Troy. Are you…okay?"

The kindness in his voice sent fresh tears spilling over her lashes. God, perfect. Grow up!
"I'm fine." She dashed the tears away and tried to force a smile. "Just a little lost. I'm trying to get back to the main compound so I could talk with someone about the people being held prisoner back there where Lyght rescued me." During her nonchalant explanation, emotion choked her so badly the words turned into a wail. 

Troy climbed down from the tow motor and handed her a tissue.
"Somehow, I don't think something like that would cause tears like these."

Damn it, his kindness just inspired more tears to spill and a sob to try and work its way out.
"No, but I'll have to live with the rest on my own. This at least maybe I can do something about." She forced a smile and dried the tears to make way for the next wave. "You were a minister, right?" At his nod, she continued. "Maybe you could say a little prayer for me? That maybe someday Lyght will be able to forgive me?" Again the final words dragged out on a wail.

A concerned frown crimped his handsome forehead.
"Forgive you? Why would Lyght need to forgive you? That angel is so in love with you I can't imagine anything you could do that would upset him."

She shook her head.
"I…I…you wouldn't understand."

"
Try me. I'm a good listener. We can talk while we walk back to the central area." He held a hand for her to accompany him.

Kassie drew a deep quivery breath, trying to steel her resolve, and nodded and moved to Troy
's side.

"
So tell me, what's so awful you don't think Lyght can forgive you?"

He sure believed in getting to the point, didn
't he? And she might as well tell right away because the burden was too great to bear alone. "I…I ruined him. I let my flesh overrule what I knew to be right."

Troy was silent so long Kassie thought he must be trying to come up with a nice way to tell her she was as horrible as she knew she was.
"Let me make sure I understand. You think that by making love to him, to a man you love and who loves you, that you've
ruined
him?" He paused to stare at her.

When he put it that way…
"Troy, he's an
angel
. Not just any old angel, an
arch
angel. What we did was blasphemous." She whispered the last shameful word. "He's un-corruptible. He gave in because of me."

Troy laughed at her. Actually
laughed
. "You're kidding, right? You think a mere
human
could sway one of these guys into doing something he knew was wrong?" He shook his head. "I don't know, maybe you're in shock or something, but when you think clearly about this, you'll realize how ridiculous the idea is. These are men who've spent thousands upon thousands of centuries fighting against the most unimaginable evil. Sex was not even on their radar before this mission. They're not like human priests who go through life constantly being told what they're missing. Lyght loves you because it's right and he wants you because passion is a divine gift he wants to share with you. Now, while you think about that, tell me more about the warehouse."

Taken aback by his words, Kassie stayed quiet for a moment, then told him about the other prisoners. But it was hard to think about that when what she wanted was to ponder the absurdity of his words. He, a minister of all things, should understand what she was saying. And why would he
act
like it were nothing? Something was wrong with him. All of them if they thought causing an angel to have
sex
was not blasphemy.  No, without a doubt, she'd corrupted Lyght. What she didn't know was how she could live with the knowledge.