Her Guardian Angel 4-Her Angel Series (17 page)

The sound
of the ocean and the warm breeze soothed away the anger he felt
over Taylor and Einar’s trick on him. They had sent him into
Amelia’s inner world rather than to his own. He would have a word
with his old friend when he woke. This wasn’t allowing things to
progress naturally at all. This was matchmaking.

Marcus
walked across the boardwalk to Amelia and leaned his elbows on the
metal railing that ran at waist height to him. Amelia didn’t look
down at him. She continued to stare into the distance, her skin
glowing in the warm light of sunset and her hair threaded with
golden highlights. Marcus drank his fill of her beauty, taking his
time to put her face to memory as it looked in this moment. A
slight smile played on her lips, shining in her eyes, and he knew
without asking that she was happy here.

It was
definitely her world.

But it
wasn’t her happiness that gave it away.

He hated
sand.

It got in
his feathers.

He looked
down at himself and shook his head when he saw that he was only
wearing a pair of loose black swimming shorts. That wasn’t going to
happen either. Water was a pain to get out of his feathers, worse
than sand, and for some reason his wings were out and he couldn’t
convince them to go away.

Were they
out because Amelia wanted to see him this way? This was her world
which meant that in part she was controlling it, and controlling
him too.

When he
turned to ask her about his wings and whether she wanted to see
them, his gaze caught on the skimpy black bikini top she wore. He
stared unabashed at the flimsy triangles of material barely
covering her breasts, his stomach tightening and temperature
rising, and then slowly lowered his eyes to her hips. A short black
near-see-through strip of material covered her from waist to just
past her backside, tied on her hip closest to him. The light fabric
fluttered in the breeze, revealing her creamy slender
thigh.

“It’s
peaceful here,” she said, distant sounding. “Am I
dreaming?”

Marcus
forced his focus back up to her face. “I do not think so. We are
both awake. Taylor can make a world in which we can hide but I am
not sure how long it can last.”

“I’m
scared, Marcus,” she whispered and her grey eyes finally came to
meet his.

“Of me?”
He wasn’t sure why he said it. The gnawing feeling that she feared
him now had lingered at the back of his mind since he had rescued
her from the Hell’s angels and revealed his true self to her, but
he hadn’t intended to say anything about it. Her look instantly
softened, warming again, and she smiled.

“No.
You’re the only thing that doesn’t frighten me.” She went to touch
him but he shifted to one side, enough that her attempt failed, and
stared at the ocean.

How could
she look on him so kindly and with such compassion? She had seen
him fight those Hell’s angels, had witnessed him kill without
hesitation and had been covered in blood because of him. He had
shown his darkest side to her and she still looked at him with
warmth in her grey eyes. It astounded him and drove him to question
her, to confess the things that he had done and the reason he had
warned her away from him. Need burned deep in his heart, a desire
to know if she really could feel something for a man like
him.

“I am a
guardian… but there are times when I have been a warrior…” Marcus
couldn’t bring himself to look at her. He clenched his fists and
stared intently at the sunset, afraid of what he would see if he
turned to face Amelia. Would she look upon him with such warmth
after his confession? He didn’t think so, and while he wanted to
stop now before he ruined everything between them, the greater part
of him needed her to know what sort of man he was and why he felt
he didn’t deserve the love of such a pure and beautiful woman. She
might have managed to convince herself that he had only done what
was right when he had killed those demons in front of her but she
had feared him at the time. He knew that. He had frightened her.
Now he had to do that again so she would know him, and he would see
in her eyes and hear in her voice whether she could ever bring
herself to love him. “A bringer of death. I am not a good man,
Amelia. I have killed many without remorse… hundreds… if not
thousands.”

He
uncurled his hands and stared at his palms. Hands made for killing
in the name of Heaven. He had followed those orders without
question, obeying his superiors, loyal to his duty and happy to
carry it out. Not once in his life had he regretted the things he
had done. Not until he had met her, and then he had wished it all
away.

He had
wanted to be a better man so she would love him.

He could
see that now. For all his attempts to remain distant from her, he
had fallen for her, but new to the experience, he had not realised
his feelings until she had first touched him, thrilling him with
little more than a brief caress and bringing him to life with
emotions he had never known existed.

“If
you’ve killed, then I believe you did so out of loyalty, just as
Einar said about you. You killed to protect others, and to protect
me. I can’t offer you absolution, Marcus, but I can forgive you for
killing others in order to protect me. You are a good man. I
believe that.”

Marcus
looked up to find her watching him, her grey eyes not full of icy
cold or hatred, but full of the warmth and tenderness that had been
in her words. There was no fear in her, only a calm that he knew
was real and it touched him, warming his chest and making him crave
a stronger connection to her. She smiled, twisted towards him,
still holding on to the railing she sat on with her left hand, and
stroked the unruly strands of his hair from his face.

And he
stared at her.

Awed and
transfixed by the beautiful acceptance she showed towards
him.

For her,
he could be a good man. He could be the man that she
deserved.

“Was that
why you stopped me the other night when we kissed, or was it
because you’re an angel and it was wrong?” She lowered her hand
from his face.

“No.” His
eyes followed her hand, leapt to her thigh, and then he lifted them
to her face again.

There was
such understanding in her eyes.

“Was it
because you’ve never been with a woman?”

Marcus
exhaled and stared out to sea. The sun had set and a full moon was
rising in its place, beautiful as it hung over the darkening
ocean.

“Einar
told you?”

Amelia
made a small noise and then touched his hands where they were
clasped together in front of him. He looked up at her, wanting to
explain and needing to ask her not to believe him any less of a man
because of it, and she dipped her head towards him. She kissed him
before he could utter a word, her lips soft against his, slowly
shifting in mesmerising waves that drew him into responding. He
leaned into the kiss, eager to taste her again and believe that
this was another good sign. When she broke away, briefly resting
her forehead against his before sitting up, she was smiling at
him.

“I think
it’s beautiful that you waited so long,” she whispered and his
heart leapt in response, turning his insides with it. He stared up
at her, torn between kissing her again and saying something that
would bring another smile to her face.

“I never
really thought about it. I never cared about mortals.” Marcus
straightened and then cupped her cheek, keeping her eyes on his.
“But I care about you.”

Amelia’s
smile was brilliant and he thought that she would kiss him, but she
slipped down from the railing on the other side, landing softly in
the sand.

A mixture
of light from the strings of white lights that hung between the
palm trees, illuminating the boardwalk, and the moon played on her,
turning her skin pale and eyes dark. It had turned dark quickly and
the moon was far higher in the inky sky now. How long had the kiss
lasted? It had felt like barely a heartbeat had passed but it must
have been close to an hour.

She
crooked a finger at him.

“I think
we should swim.”

Marcus
warily eyed the sand and then the water. “Unwise. I don’t seem to
be able to put my wings away.”

She
looked at them and his eyes widened when they shrank into his
back.

“No
excuses.” She reached over the railing to him.

Marcus
vaulted it and looked down at the warm sand beneath his bare feet.
Amelia laughed and ran down to the sea, leaving footprints in the
soft sand for him to follow. He hoped his wings didn’t reappear.
Just as he looked up, Amelia untied the slip of black material
around her waist and tossed it aside.

A deep
pulse of arousal beat through him at the sight of her in such a
small scrap of fabric. Her bikini bottoms didn’t cover her buttocks
at all. A single dark line disappeared between them, leaving them
on display. Hell. His groin responded in an instant, cock twitching
against the loose swimming trunks. He had been intent on mentioning
that he couldn’t swim but the thought of playing with her in the
shallows and seeing her wet all over had him striding towards the
sea.

She
smiled and crooked her finger again, and Marcus could only obey. He
followed her into the shallows and then hesitated as a gentle wave
came rolling in and the dark water reached his waist. The current
wasn’t strong but he didn’t dare venture further out. Taylor hadn’t
mentioned what would happen if one of them got into trouble inside
this world. Would his consciousness be trapped here if he
drowned?

Amelia
took hold of his wrist and tried to tug him into deeper water. He
stood firm and she frowned.

“You
can’t swim, can you?”

“I don’t
know. I have never tried.” He might be able to swim. Angels
sometimes remembered how to do things that they had experienced in
a previous lifetime. If he had known how to swim then, he could
instinctively remember it now, but he wasn’t willing to risk
drowning in order to find out.

It didn’t
seem to bother Amelia. She splashed his bare chest and face, and he
responded by sweeping his arm across the warm water, sending a wave
rushing towards her. She ducked under the surface and the water
settled around him, lapping at his waist. He turned on the spot,
searching for Amelia. When she didn’t surface after a few seconds,
his pulse picked up and he waded further out, fearing that
something had happened.

Something
brushed his backside and he turned sharply, causing ripples to
spread outwards from his chest. His senses blared in warning but he
wasn’t quick enough. Amelia launched out of the water, looped her
arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. Her playful
attack caused his heels to dig into the soft wet sand under his
feet and he fell backwards, sending them both
underwater.

It went
straight into his mouth and stung his eyes.

He broke
the surface a split-second later, coughing the vile water up, and
Amelia re-emerged, her sheepish smile visible in the strong
moonlight.

She swam
towards him and then around him, and his anger faded away when she
came to stand behind him and stroked his back.

“They’re
beautiful. Are they really a curse?” she whispered, her warm
fingertips tracing the wings marked on his shoulder
blades.

Marcus
stilled, his focus so intently fixed on her that every light touch
stirred his insides, fanning his desire for her. Her breath washed
over his wet skin, teasing it and he closed his eyes, wanting to
absorb how he felt when she was so close to him. Warm. Hungry. Mad
for her.

“Apparently so,” he said and she came around him. He caught
her bare waist and drew her flush against him. She surprised him by
taking hold of his shoulders, lifting herself up and wrapping her
legs around his waist. He groaned and clutched her backside to
support her, and then remembered the flimsy thing she was wearing
on her lower half. He pressed his fingers into her bare bottom and
groaned again, his body stirring and aching as he familiarised
himself with her soft flesh.

“How did
you get them?” Amelia leaned in and peppered his shoulder with
kisses, gradually working her way along towards his collarbone and
then his neck. He couldn’t think straight to answer her when she
was touching him like this. It seemed like torture to have to think
at all. She placed a single wet kiss on his jaw and then leaned
back and rested her hands on his chest. Her pupils were wide in the
low light, darkening her eyes, and he stared into them.
“Well?”

She
really expected him to answer.

“I got
drunk and when I came around, I was sleeping face down and couldn’t
call my wings. Heaven called me back to them and I discovered that
someone had drawn this curse on me whilst I was
unconscious.”

Her hands
ran up his chest to his shoulders and then she leaned towards him
and caressed his shoulder blades, her breasts pressing against
him.

“That’s
terrible.”

He
murmured his agreement and stared at her mouth.