Tempted (10 page)

Silence stretched between them as he allowed her words to sink in.
I won’t abandon you.
As he looked down into eyes that were incapable of lying, he believed her. He believed it like he’d never believed anything else in his life.

He brought his hand up to her cheek, resting it there as his eyes caressed her face.

“
You know, I was wrong about you,” he said.

“
You were?” she asked. Her lips parted and he felt her rapid breath against his wrist; it pulsed with the same rhythm as his pounding heart.

He nodded.

“
Yes, I was. You’re beautiful.”

Her breath stopped, suspended between her parted lips. She trembled as his arm came around her swiftly, bringing her body up against his. Fear and indecision flashed in her eyes briefly, but by the time his lips pressed against hers it was gone.

Her lips were soft and pliant against his, but chastely closed and still as if she didn’t know what to do. Of course she didn’t, he thought as he brought one hand to the back of her head; she’d probably never been kissed.

The sweetness of it, the purity of the moment touched him in ways he would have never thought possible. He allowed his lips to linger over hers, gently accustoming her to the intimacy of his mouth pressed to hers. As his fingers caressed the back of her neck, he gently coaxed her mouth open with his. She trembled against him as the inside of her mouth met his; warm, moist, heavenly. Her hand came up tentatively against chest, burning his skin through the wet fabric of his t-shirt. Her touch burned its way across his chest until his entire body was heated by it.

She became bolder by the second, angling her head and returning the bold caresses of his lips with her own innocent kisses. A primal satisfaction flared through him at the knowledge that no other man had touched her. No other man had kissed her. At that moment he held a pure, untouched piece of heaven in his arms.

He pulled her more tightly against him, molding her against him. He felt every inch of her through the wet fabric of his clothes. She shuddered against him, reaching up with both hands to grip his shoulders tightly. He wrapped both arms firmly around her, one hand at her hip and one at her back. He feared if he let go, she would fall at his feet.

When he’d nearly stolen her breath away, she pulled away slowly and stepped away from him reluctantly. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that the rain had stopped. His eyes remained locked on Sarah.

She took one step away from him, and then another. Her eyes were lowered, her lips tinged pink and parted. Her chest heaved as she struggled for air. She raised her fingers to her mouth as she gazed up at him, her expression of carnal bliss melting into one of pure horror.

“
Sarah,” he said gently, stepping toward her slowly. She shook her head and took another step back.

He reached one hand out for her, but before he could touch her she was gone. Her footsteps echoed across the roof, the skirt of her sundress fluttering behind her. Jackson was rooted to the spot, too numb to follow her. Seconds later, she disappeared from view, leaving Jackson staring off into darkness. Alone.

Chapter 12: Lead Me Not Into Temptation

Sarah pulled her knees up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Water poured from the showerhead above, running in steamy hot streams over her head and shoulders. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on the feel of the water rushing over her; it felt a lot like rain.

She would never think of rain the same again. Even now as water rolled over her, she could not stop thinking about Jackson’s tender kiss. Her every sense was overrun with feeling, barraged by unfamiliar emotion.

She’d seen humans kissing countless times. It seemed so simple; a meeting of lips and sometimes tongue and that was it. She never understood how something so simple could cause so many people to become slaves to their own urges and desires. She never understood why so many angels had fallen because of it.

As she sat on the floor of her walk-in shower, watching water swirl around the gleaming tiles and down the drain, she understood. When Jackson had touched his mouth to hers, the rest of the world had faded around them. Nothing else could ever feel the same after that shared moment. Even now her lips tingled as she thought about the sensual slide of his mouth over hers. Her skin burned with need as she remembered his arms wrapped so tightly around her. Her breasts felt tight and heavy from the sensation of being pressed so tightly against his strong chest. Her palms itched to touch him.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, she buried her face in her hands and tried to steer her thoughts in another direction.

It was impossible.

This was all her fault. As much as she would like to blame Jackson, she knew better. He was human, and had acted on human emotion and compulsion. She was supposed to be different. She was supposed to be divine.

She’d made a mistake by opening herself to Jackson’s emotions. They overwhelmed her, causing her to feel things she’d never felt before. It was confusing. It was amazing. The mixed feelings rushed through her veins, but none burned hotter than desire. She’d thought herself immune to it. She’d been wrong.

She hugged herself tighter, fighting back the tears that threatened the corners of her eyes. She stared straight ahead and willed herself to forget. This assignment was not over. There was still three days left and Jackson had yet to make a decision. Right now she should be with him, protecting him from Eligos and his minions, instead of cowering in her own apartment. In all of the centuries she’d spent walking the earth, she had never botched an assignment. She didn’t plan on starting with this one.

Resolved, she forced herself to stand on shaking legs. She switched off the hot water and carefully stepped from the shower. With a single glance in the mirror, she was dry and dressed, the perfect picture of her former self. She reached one hand up to her shortened hair, caressing the waving locks with a frown.

“
No use adding fuel to the fire,” she murmured, remembering Jackson’s heated stare on the back of her exposed neck. Within seconds, it was returned to its former length and bleak, mousy hue. She should never have cared what Jackson thought of her appearance; it had been foolish to allow herself even that small vanity.

“
You will finish this,” she said to her reflection with a determined nod. “You will not run away, and you will not fall.”

As she exited the bathroom, she felt the presence of another radiating from the living room. It was not a human presence. As she moved into the small but uncluttered space, she spotted the silhouette of a man in the corner of the room. Angel or demon, she wondered as she stood at the center of the room, waiting for the visitor to step forward and identify himself. Unlike angels, he emitted none of the light that radiated in her own soul. But unlike demons, he carried with him none of the rage and fear that caused the putrid odor they produced. Instead, there was a confused mingling of despair and sadness, something characteristic of only one spiritual being. Fallen angels.

“
Nathaniel,” she gasped, as he stepped toward her and into the moonlight streaming from one open window.

He was hardly the Nathan she remembered. His eyes, once a warm honeyed brown, were now black and dull. Grief pulled at the corners of his mouth, and hardness blanketed his features. The transformation had begun.

He studied her intently, in silence, for a few moments before he spoke.

“
It’s happened to you too, hasn’t it?”

Sarah lowered her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His laugh was dry and harsh, his smirk more like a grimace. “Come on Sarah. I don’t need supernatural powers to see what’s happened to you.”

Sarah shook her head and clasped her shaking hands together in an effort to still them. “I haven’t fallen.”

“
No,” he said as he inched closer to her, “but you will. All it takes is one decision, one moment that causes you to forget the consequences.”

She forced her narrowed gaze to meet his. “No!” she protested. “I’m stronger than that. Unlike you, I have not forgotten the consequences.”

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “I had the same attitude once. I thought myself immune to those overwhelming feelings. I wasn’t as careful as I should have been, and pride became my downfall. It’ll be your downfall too if you don’t listen to me, Sarah. You’re headed for a fall if you go back to him.”

“
And what do you suggest I do? You know that I can’t abandon my assignment. That brings its own set of consequences.”

“
Then ask to be re-assigned. I’ve been watching Jackson Bennett, and it seems like he’s ready to make his decision. You’ve done your job Sarah, and someone else could easily step in to take your place. It’s become too dangerous for you to continue.”

Jackson’s stormy, gun-metal gray stare flashed through her mind, and his words from the roof tugged at the corners of the conscience.
People have been leaving me my whole life…I do things to chase people away.
The forlorn expression on his face when he’d said those words reminded her of the sad, lost little boy he must have been once. She had promised not to do that to him.

“
He needs me,” she argued, her clasped hands tightening until her knuckles were ghostly white. “He needs someone who understands him. I can see this through, Nathan. I can control these feelings.”

“
Suit yourself,” he said, disappearing back into the shadows as he moved toward the open window. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“
Nathan,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the brand burned into the back of his neck. The inverted cross reminded her of what her friend would soon become. He froze and turned to glance back at her over his shoulder. “How does it feel?”

“
Wretched,” he answered, his jaw hardening as he said the words. “It’s hell, Sarah. I’ve been trying to fight the transformation and prolong the inevitable. It’s working, but I don’t know how long it will last. I’m basically in limbo, waiting for the day Lucifer sends his minions after me. It won’t be long.”

Without another backward glance or goodbye, he disappeared through the wall. Sarah released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and collapsed onto the couch.

Seeing Nathan only made her aware of her own precarious position. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was right. Was she in more danger than she thought? Would she able to carry out the rest of her assignment without falling?

Jackson’s eyes burned in her memory, his broken soul was forever branded on her soul, much like Nathan’s demonic tattoo. She would carry it with her always.

Asking for reassignment would be easy. Given the circumstances, Father would most likely grant her request. But as she thought about the little boy Jackson had been, she knew that she could never go back on her promise. She’d promised to see this thing through, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

Chapter 13: The Morning After

Jackson was surprised to find Sarah waiting on his doorstep the next morning. After what had happened on the roof the night before, he thought for sure he’d chased her away for good.

That kiss kept him awake most of the night. Its sweetness haunted him and tormented him with promises of what could be. Every time he closed his eyes he could see her, standing there in the rain, her eyes beckoning to him, her lips a sweet temptation. When measured against his other experiences with women, it hardly compared. The kiss had been quick. It had been chaste and innocent, much like something he would have experienced as an awkward teenager. Yet, somehow it had been the single most stimulating experience of his life. No kiss had ever meant more to him than that one.

Relief flooded him when he realized that he hadn’t chased her away.

“
Good morning,” he said gently, as he stepped through the doorway. His eyes traveled over her from head to toe, taking in the lengthened hair and plain clothes. Guilt washed over him as he realized that she’d done this to herself. She’d retreated back to her plain, shapeless clothes and heavy, mousy hair in her attempt at hiding from him.

It’s too late for that, Sarah
, he thought as his eyes came to rest on her face.

And it was too late. He could never look at her again without thinking her beautiful.

“
Hi,” she answered, her eyes still lowered, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment.

“
Mason and I were just stepping out for our morning walk. Want to come?”

She reached down to give Mason’s head a little pat. The slobbering dog edged closer and licked her fingers.

“
Sure,” she said, still avoiding his gaze.

They walked silently, Mason between them. Jackson snuck a peek at her from the corner of his eye. Her heavy hair hid most of her face from view, but her lips—those decadent, tempting lips—were a torture to look upon.

He was glad when they finally arrived at the park across from little Jack’s school and settled onto the familiar bench. His heart clenched with longing as he watched Rochelle send his son running up to school. He wondered if his son missed him. He wondered how long it would be before the boy started to resent him for his absence. He used the moment to exercise his newly discovered ability, reaching out to still everything around him. Jackson Jr. stood on the steps of P.S. 129, his smile wide, his hand raised as he waved good-bye to his mother. His silvery-gray eyes glistened happily.