Angel (Fallen Angel, #3)(32)

I jumped up onto the center of the stage with ease, as Halo shifted on the seat and bent his head down over the keys. He was mesmerizing in his concentration, his skill making him even sexier, if that was possible, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Instead, I took hold of the thin black rail of the stairs leading up to where he was, and then I raced up them.

When I reached the platform, I stepped around the enormous wing closest to me so I was standing at the back of the piano and looking across it to where Halo was launching into the final chorus.

His curls had fallen forward, all around his face, and the tip of his tongue was flirting with his top lip, as it did whenever he was concentrating or all up in his head. His beautiful eyes were shut as though he were in another time, or maybe a different plane of existence—that was how unearthly he seemed just then. As he came to the end of the piece and his fingers went still, silence once again filled the warehouse and the angel finally opened his eyes.

Pure, undiluted pleasure radiated from those light eyes as they took in the piano in front of him, and when Halo finally raised his gaze and spotted me standing opposite him, he sucked in a breath.

His cheeks were flushed pink, the adrenaline of what had just happened still thrumming through him, and as I began to walk over to him, the pleasure in his eyes shifted and a whole set of new emotions began to take their place.

Love. Lust. Arousal. It was all there, mixed up with a healthy dose of excitement swirling in my angel’s eyes, and when I made my way around the second wing and stopped beside him, Halo shifted until he was looking up at me, and I close to fell to my knees.

With unsteady hands, I reached for his face, cradling it between my palms as I lowered my head and said across his lips, “You are extraordinary.”

Halo’s lips parted on a soft moan, and I sucked his lower lip between mine, needing a taste of him. But then he reached up to cover my hands and pulled back a fraction to say, “This gift, what you’ve given me tonight, Viper. That’s extraordinary.”

My heart thumped uncontrollably at the sincerity in his words, the total love and adoration in his eyes, and I didn’t even care that he could no doubt see the exact same emotions swirling in mine.

I wanted to worship every single inch of this man, shout to the entire fucking world that he was mine, and as I pushed his hair back behind one of his ears, I kissed my way along his cheekbone and said, “I’m so fucking crazy about you.”

Halo turned his face toward me, and I couldn’t wait another moment to take that mouth with mine. I crushed my lips down onto his, and as he tilted his head back, I threaded my fingers into his hair and groaned.

Fuck, he was so damn delicious that I could kiss him forever and never get enough. But I needed him closer to me. I wanted to feel him pressed up against me as I devoured his sweet, sweet mouth, and as though he could read my mind, Halo moved to his feet until he was standing opposite me.

“I want you so fucking bad right now,” I growled against his lips, and when Halo curled his hands around the lapels of my jacket and tugged me forward, I could feel just how badly he wanted me too.

Halo’s eyes shifted over my shoulder to the empty black warehouse behind me and then came back to mine, and that arousal I’d seen swirling to life a minute ago was now in full control. His pupils had dilated, his breathing was coming at a rapid pace, and when he scraped his teeth along his lower lip and said, “Then take me,” nothing in the world could’ve stopped me from taking the angel up on his invitation.





Twenty-Two





Halo





AS MY WORDS lingered in the air between me and Viper, he reached up, wrapped his fingers over my right hand, and pried it free from his jacket. Then he laced his fingers with mine and stepped around me.

Viper led me around the side of the piano and past one of the mammoth wings, and as we went, I reached out to gently run my fingers across the feathers. They felt luxurious under my fingertips, and when he guided me around to the back of the instrument, I traced the tip of my index finger along the curve of the lid and tilted my head back to once again take in their sheer magnificence.

“They’re breathtaking,” I whispered, as though I were in the presence of some kind of deity.

“So are you,” Viper said as he moved in behind me, wrapping one of his arms around my waist as he pushed my hair to the side so he could press his mouth to the sensitive skin of my neck.

At the touch of his lips, I automatically angled my head to give him better access, and Viper took immediate advantage. He kissed his way up to the spot under my ear, and as he flattened his palm on my stomach, I moved back into him.

He hummed by my ear, and a tremble racked my body. “You feel so fuckin’ good in my arms, Angel.”

And God, it felt good to be there. The heat from Viper’s body emanated from his clothes to surround me, and when he slid his palm down to cover the erection now throbbing behind the zipper of my pants, a soft moan left my lips.

I turned my head, wanting Viper’s mouth on mine, and when my eyes found his, the love that had been swirling in them earlier was still there, but now it was mixed with that dangerous edge I craved so much from him. The one that told me he was as turned on by me as I was by him, and it was still such a damn rush to know that this irresistible, compelling man was mine.

“Kiss me,” I said, and my demand had those wicked lips of Viper’s curving before he lowered his head and brushed them across mine in a flirt of a kiss that wasn’t nearly enough. “Viper…”