Fire and Ice (5 page)

She squirmed as he licked and sucked her pussy. His hands roved over her body, touching her belly and sides, grazing across her ribs. Her brain fuzzed. Thinking beyond the need to fuck him proved impossible. She needed his cock buried deep inside her.

“Lash, please.”

He didn’t stop licking her clit. His tongue moved in swirling patterns across her sensitive nub. The release she craved wouldn’t come as he continued his torment. Finally, after she thought she would burst into flames, he slid two fingers into her pussy and sucked her clit into his mouth. She came, her body bucking against his hold on her. He kept her orgasm pulsing for over a minute, making her squirm with each brush of his thumb across her nipple.

Her muscles trembled as Lash kissed his way up her body. Her scent clung to him like a sexy perfume. Desire burned in his eyes. Any sane thought she’d had in her mind fled as he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her deeply.

Their kiss lasted for minutes, and still he hadn’t slipped on a condom. The anticipation of fucking him riled her. She reached for his cock, but Lash shook his head, his brows pinched together. He sat up, not looking back over his shoulder, and went to the bathroom. Not sure if she should follow, Alexandria lay in bed for a long moment as confusion set in. She stood on shaky legs and started towards the bathroom before stopping. Should she go in there? Eventually she made up her mind and pounded on the bathroom door.

Lash opened the door, his face filled with pain. Worry filled her.

“Lash, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t do this. Not like this.”

“What? Like what?”

“I really didn’t intend on having sex with you. Not tonight.”

“You don’t want me.” Alexandria was shocked. She’d thought for sure he wanted her.

Lash pushed her up against the wall, holding her hands above her head and pressing his body into hers. “Oh, I want you more than I can say, but making love to you would be wrong.”

Alexandria wanted to cry. This guy didn’t look like any of the men she had ever dated. His face wasn’t cute, his body not built, but she experienced something so deep in her soul each time they touched that she couldn’t keep her hands off him.

“I want you, too. Please, don’t leave without finishing this. I want to feel you inside me. I feel so good when we touch. Like we’re supposed to be together.”

He moaned and buried his head in the crook of her neck. “Oh, baby, you have no idea.”

She reached down between them and unzipped his pants, then snaked her hand down his underpants to his hard dick. She reached over to the top drawer in her bathroom dresser and pulled out a condom.

“I have protection.”

Lash laughed. “That won’t help.”

“Sure, it’ll keep me from getting pregnant and both of us free from disease.”

He sighed and leaned his head against hers. “If only.”

“Is there something you need to tell me?”

Lash glanced over his shoulder, then back at her. His eyes darted around nervously. Every sound made him jump. He started speaking twice, then abandoned talking and pinned her against the door with a devastatingly sexy kiss.

She pushed his pants down further, slid a condom over his dick and spread her legs as he lifted her up, ready to sink her pussy down on to his stiff cock. He stopped kissing her and pulled back.

“No. We can’t.” The veins on Lash’s neck popped out as he strained to hold her inches above his rod.

“Why not?” Lash’s refusals to get on with sex were getting ridiculous. She’d never begged for sex before, but something about Lash made her crave his touch. If he fucked her she knew something amazing would happen. He was like a fine wine, intoxicating and delicious.

Lash’s gaze bored into her. His eyes were haunted with pain and anguish. “I’m not who you think I am. Hell, I’m not who
anyone
thinks I am. Having sex with you would mean
he
was having sex with you. His seed, his body, his progeny.”

“Excuse me? Who is this
he
you’re talking about?”

Lash cringed, wincing as though he were in intense pain. His hands slipped against her body and she shifted down, letting his cock slide into her vagina. She cried out as an orgasm rocked her body. With her head thrown back and her mind lost in a haze, she pulled Lash closer and his dick pushed further into her. He filled her completely, taking her breath away with one thrust.

The air in the bathroom grew hot and steamy as Lash pumped into her. She dug her fingernails into his flesh as her entire body tightened. Her vision dimmed and her lungs strained for air. A loud humming sound began deep in Lash’s throat and overwhelmed her. Her orgasm began as she passed out.

She woke to Lash pressing a cool cloth to her forehead. Every time his skin touched her it was as if little fairies danced across her body. The man had some serious mojo about him that she didn’t understand. There was no logical reason for her to react to him in this way. She’d never before been an out-of-control person where sex was concerned. She’d only ever had sex with men after she’d got to know them, after discussions about being in an exclusive relationship. Not that she’d slept with many men—a total of two in her entire life.

“I have to get going, but I didn’t want to leave while you were still out.”

“What happened?”

Lash crawled into bed with her, pulling her into a crushing hug. He kissed her long and hard, taking her breath away. When he finally backed off, she gulped in air and tried to force her head to stop spinning.

“You make me… I don’t know. But damn, you’re almost too much,” Lash said.

The sincerity in his gaze made her heart squeeze. She stared deep into his eyes, connecting with his soul. For some reason she had the wild thought that his eyes didn’t belong with his face. He looked wrong, and felt wrong, like his soul was occupying a shell instead of his body. It was a stupid thing to think. No way could someone’s soul be ripped from their body and placed in a new one.

“I have to leave now. I’ll call you in the morning.” Lash kissed her one last time before jumping up off the bed and sprinting out of the room.

Chapter Four

Shit, how the heck did he know?
Lash had looked up and seen Michael’s face through the window. His heart hammered and fear raced through him as he ran out of the apartment, trying to find Michael before Alexandria saw him.

Lash rounded the building and bumped into Michael. He stepped back and took in the thin lips and squinty eyes. The archangel looked pissed off.

“What in the name of God are you doing?” Michael asked.

“You know I’m in love with her.”

“You are an angel—not just any angel, but a very special one. You remember, the Shining One Who Heals? God Has Healed is your name. You can’t do stuff like that with a human. It’s bad enough you’ve fallen in love with her. But this?”

“I’ve never lied about being in love with her.”

“This won’t work.” Michael stalked ahead of him then came back, stopping Lash in his tracks. “You have messed this up again.”

“What have I messed up?” Lash asked.

“Plans.”

“You should have told me I couldn’t sleep with her.”

Michael dragged him into the forest, his wings expanding at an ever-increasing rate. The golden glow coming off Michael reminded Lash of the Hall of Angels. Michael tossed Lash to the ground. His voice sped up, and the language of angels flowed from his mouth.

“Angels are never supposed to sleep with humans. It doesn’t go well. You know that. You can touch, you can tease, but you can’t fuck the humans.”

Lash closed his eyes, remembering Alexandria’s sweet scent and the way she’d felt in his arms. His memories of her tempting body warmed him to the core. Every minute with her had been worth the risk. Love didn’t explain the way he felt about her; his reactions to her were deeper than love. Few would ever understand what he felt. It was more than an emotion. Everything in his being cried out for her.

“I have been in love with her from the minute I first saw her. If I have messed up plans, tell me how to fix them. Tell me the plans, all of them. Don’t leave me flying blind.”

Michael growled, his angel voice overpowering the area as angry sparks flew around the trees. “I’m only telling you this because I know it will make you mad.”

Lash gritted his teeth, not wanting to hear what Michael had to say, but knowing he needed to hear God’s plans for Alexandria. “Fine, tell me.”

“God has changed His plans for Alexandria. At first she was to die, but now that she is alive He has changed his mind about her destiny. God has determined that her daughter is to make an important discovery in cancer treatment. Before you interfered it was to be another child from another family. Now you must make it Alexandria’s daughter.

“You see, only certain DNA mixed together will combine to make a human smart enough, with enough perseverance to get the job done. Sure, He could have chosen from about a thousand couples, but He chose Alexandria since you interfered with her original destiny.”

“You mean my child will be an amazingly wonderful woman? Curing cancer?”

“No, Lash, not yours. She is to marry and spend the rest of her life loving another man, and not only are you going to help her forgive her brother, you’re going to make sure she falls in love with this other man and has his baby. You are going to make sure she spends the rest of her mortal life loving this other man and making a happy family. They need to stay married and never leave each other.”

Lash couldn’t believe he’d heard Michael correctly. He’d known going into this relationship that Alexandria might not be his forever, but now he had to help her fall in love with another man. His soul felt crushed as he shrank away from Michael.

“You’re asking too much.”

“The choice to interfere with God’s plans was yours to make. You chose this path and now you must stay the course,” Michael said.

Lash gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. “Who?”

“There is no way to get out of this punishment. God will not allow you to terminate this man’s life.”

For a moment, Lash wondered how Michael had known his secret thoughts. The balloon of emotions burst and Lash sank to his knees, his shoulders slumped. He felt like the fire of Hades was singeing his soul. Nothing he could do would change Alexandria’s course. Her body would belong to another man, her soul paired with another mate, not him. But he would never abandon his love for her. The End of Times couldn’t come soon enough. Until the very last day of existence, he vowed to love her.

Lash looked up at Michael. The angel’s wings were spread wide, and a golden glow illuminated the deep shadows of the night-time forest. “As you wish. I will do everything in my power to make Alexandria love this new man and spend her life with him, having his baby and being his family.”

“You will know when your task is done,” Michael said, and began his ascent into the world of angels.

The forest grew darker, just like Lash’s soul. “Wait—who is the man I have to get her to love?”

“You’ll know,” Michael called down before he disappeared.

Anger squeezed its tight fist around Lash’s heart, sucking all happiness from his soul. His punishment was more severe than he could endure. Alexandria had given her soul, body and spirit to him as they’d made love. How the hell could he convince her to love another and get her to forgive her brother, all in a few days?

Alexandria had no idea where Lash had run off to. She pulled on her clothes, grabbed her keys and raced out of the door to find him. No way would she let him escape her hold.

The forest at the back of the parking lot glowed yellow. The tinkling sound of bells drew her to the area. The noise wasn’t loud, but under the breeze rustling through the trees the music played, crystal clear, unlike anything she’d ever heard before.

When she was twenty feet into the forest, the light faded and then died. Darkness surrounded her and she turned around, searching for a path back to the apartments. Why had she gone so far into the forest? The music had sounded heavenly and she’d wanted to find that amazing light source.

Trees rustled behind her. Something big moved towards her, raising the hair on her arms. She turned to run but her feet were swept out from under her. A twig snapped only a few feet away, but the dark trees hid the animal stalking her. Alexandria crawled to her knees, desperate for a way to escape. Closer the crunch of leaves came, making her heart thud frantically in her chest.

“Alexandria, is that you?”

She stopped moving, shocked to hear a human speak. The voice hadn’t been anyone she knew. At least, she’d
thought
the voice sounded foreign, but then he cleared his throat and coughed twice.

“It’s me, Lash.”

“Oh, my God. What are you doing out here? Did you see that light and hear that music? It was wonderful.”

“No.” Lash reached down and pulled her up next to him. “I didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was someone playing their car radio and I just missed it.”

“Why are you back here?”

“I saw you enter the forest and came after you.”

“But aren’t you coming from the wrong…?” She turned around, unsure which way the apartments were. It didn’t help that Lash’s hands were on her body, making her think of kissing him again.

Lash pulled her closer until her breasts pressed up against his chest. Her breath grew shallow as he ran his thumb over her lips.

“So beautiful.” His voice sounded sad.

Alexandria wished she could see his face and look into his eyes. He brushed his lips against hers, gently at first, then more demanding. The pull of his hands on her shirt shocked her since they were out in the woods, but she let her inhibitions go as he stripped off her skirt and underwear.

Lash carried her further into the forest and lay her down on a patch of soft grass, where the trees opened up and she could make out the stars and a sliver of the moon. He looked sad in the low light. She cupped his face and drew him close. Achingly slowly, her lips met his, softly at first but then she teased his lips with her tongue, begging for him to submit to her kiss.