Page 58

I followed her toward the bedroom, enjoying the unfamiliar pull of tired muscles and the warmth of her fingers between mine.

At the doorway, she turned and slipped both arms around my waist.

For a moment she simply looked at me.

Then she reached up to kiss me.

I met her halfway, drawing her against my chest.

There were no wings to fold out of the way, no celestial strength to temper, and no endless lifetime stretching beyond the reach of her hands. It was just the two of us.

Everly kissed me again, then drew back far enough to speak.

"I know everything's different now," she said. "And I know what being human means for you. I'm on reliable birth control, and I want to be with you tonight."

I rested my hands against her waist.

"So do I."

She smiled and guided me into the bedroom.

The bedroom was dark except for the harbor lights in the tall window, which laid pale bars across the floorboards and the foot of the bed. I reached for the lamp on the nightstand, and Everly caught my wrist before I could switch it on.

"Low," she said. "I want to see you without squinting."

I turned the switch until the shade gave off a dim amber glow that reached the nearest stretch of brick and little else. When I straightened, she had already closed the distance between us. She laid her palm flat against my chest and walked me backward until the mattress met the backs of my knees, and I sat down, mostly because my legs had been suggesting it for an hour.

"How's your back?" she asked, settling her hands on my shoulders.

"Sore, not broken."

She pressed her thumbs gently into the muscle beside my spine, found the place that ached, and eased off when I drew a breath through my teeth.

"Then I'll be careful," she said. "Tell me if I'm not."

"I'll tell you if you're too careful, too."

She laughed and took the hem of my T-shirt in both hands, drawing it up slowly to give my shoulders time to object. When the fabric caught at the top of my reach, she stopped to kiss the side of my neck and waited until I'd worked my arms free. The shirt landed somewhere behind her.

"You're covered in goosebumps," she said, following the ink along my ribs with one fingertip. "I don't think that's the weather."

"It's an excellent guess."

Her touch was so light that I felt each fingertip separately. On Monday night I'd believed I knew exactly what her hands did to me, and I'd been wrong by a considerable margin. Every pass of her fingers lingered on my skin after she'd moved on, and when she pressed her mouth to the hollow of my throat, I swallowed hard enough for her to feel it.

"There," she murmured, and did it again, more slowly. The breath that left me was rougher than I'd intended.

She went on exploring with the patience she'd brought to my wings, except that now she put her questions to me with her mouth. The soft skin inside my arm earned a shiver. The muscle above my hip made my stomach go hard under her palm. When she found the place beneath my ear, I made a sound I'd have denied making, and she smiled against my skin and stayed there for a while.

She laid her cheek on my chest. I could hear my pulse in my ears, and she had to be able to feel it, because she said, "You're out of breath, and I've barely started."

"I've had a trying afternoon."

"I'm not complaining." She lifted her head, and the smile she gave me went straight to my cock. "I'm delighted."

She stepped back, unzipped her ankle boots with two quick pulls, and slipped out of them. Then she crossed her arms, gathered the hem of her cream sweater, and pulled it over her head, and I learned that a human mouth could go dry. Her hair fell around her shoulders in a honey-colored tumble, and the black lace bra underneath did nothing to help my concentration. The fitted trousers went next. She pushed them down her legs and kicked them aside, then stood in front of me in black lace and bare feet, looking extremely pleased with herself.

I reached for her hips, and she let me hold her there. I kissed the soft curve of her stomach and the dip of her waist, and I'd only begun on the lace at her hip when she slid her fingers into my hair and tipped my head back.