Heavenly Lover (26 page)

Josh shrugged himself from Daniel’s strong grip long enough to square himself and deliver a sneer. Just before going through the door, he looked at the two standing behind him. “You really think you are better at this game? You are fools, both of you. I’ll never give up. How long do you really think you can last?” He directed his comment to Claire. “How long do you think He’ll let you run around sleeping with your charge, Claire? Didn’t they tell you what happens to angels who break the rules?”

Claire had only her active imagination to tell her what the consequences would be. Truthfully, no one had ever told her what would happen, although she was certain it would include a gravesite in Mother’s locked garden.

“All it takes is once, Daniel. One time. Then she belongs to me. Wouldn’t you rather keep her for yourself? I can make that happen for you. Think, man. Think!” Josh shook his head, muttering something under his breath and let himself out, through the door.

That night, in the quiet solitude of Daniel’s bedroom, they lit one white candle. The moon was full. No words were exchanged. Everything was said with the urgency of their kisses, their touch, and, as Claire rose in heated climax, she was sure this would be one of the last times in her eternal life she would be able to have this mortal man while she was a Guardian.

Chapter 35

Daniel awoke to the feel of Claire’s fingers tracing up and down his spine, inching lower and lower. She was breathing harder too. His cheek rose and fell as he lay with his head on her breast where he had fallen asleep. Her soft white flesh had become his pillow, her smell the last thing he’d experienced at night and the first in the morning. This routine had not changed since the first time they made love, not even a week ago now. He knew he was trying to hang on to her. He also knew soon he would have to let her go. But not at this moment.

“Ah, my angel. You have an appetite this morning again? You are making me old.”

“I don’t sleep, I don’t drink other than hot chocolate, and I don’t eat. That leaves only a few things I can do in my human form.” Her hand found its way between their bodies to his growing erection. “Do you think it is possible to need you too much?”

Looking down at her angelic face framed in glistening blond wisps, he smiled and shook his head. “Not possible. The more you love me, the more of you I love in return.” He kissed her lips, trailing down to her neck and collarbone, mesmerized in the scent of her angel flesh.

“What part of me do you love the most?” She smiled up at him, earning another deep kiss.

“These lips are wonderful. But then, so is your neck,” he said as he buried his head under her ear. She giggled and raised a knee to press her sex onto his groin. Daniel’s fingers found her opening and he rubbed her clit between his thumb and forefinger. “And these lips,” he said as he descended on her mound, whispering to her as he licked the warm honey of her delicate pink skin quivering under his touch. “These lips belong to me. They are not yours; they are mine now.”

“Yes,” Claire responded as she arched up, giving herself to him.

Claire needed him more each time they made love. As soon as Daniel began pleasuring her folds, she was lost. She craved the warmth of his mouth as it laved her sex, whispering to her there, like telling secrets, as if he could turn her human, make her real. His stiff red cock plunged into her swollen peach with gentleness at first, but then thrust in and out fiercely. A long slow orgasm began to roll through her body and heat her bones like a warm bath. She felt she was made to fit over his shaft.

Her arms were pinned above her head as he held her at the wrists with one powerful hand, squeezing them down into the pillow but rubbing the whiteness of her forearms with his thumb, just to let her know his forcefulness came from his passion and desire for her. Her breasts pushed against his chest. She gasped at the pleasure she felt when he spent himself inside her, but she did not climax. Something lurked at the back of her mind.

They lay silently, breathing heavy. Claire knew this was the quiet before the storm.

A few minutes later, she looked at the almost black curls that hung down the sides of his face as he raised himself up. She watched his eyes as he slipped on his drawstring silk bottoms. With a satisfied smile and quick glance to her naked body, he left the room, but he didn’t fool her. She knew he was covering up something. A sense of dread overcame her as she turned her head to the side and wept, her tears soaking into her pillow.

The sound of Daniel grinding coffee drifted up the stairs. With sadness, she noted his routine that told her he wanted his wits about him for the discussion they would soon have.

Claire was purposely lazy, avoiding what was to come. She pretended to sleep, even though Daniel knew she didn’t need to, and lay back, looking at the splashes of sunlight on the ceiling. She listened for the sounds of an ordinary day beginning.

Ordinary, as if I belonged here—as if I was human.

Claire took a shower, halfway expecting Daniel to join her. Not this morning. She opened the medicine cabinet, using some of his aftershave behind her ears, and fingered one drop between her breasts, wanting to smell as much like him for as long as she could.

After donning her white gown, Claire brushed the water out of her hair and carefully applied her pink lipstick.

She stood at the top of the stairs, and when she saw Daniel sitting below on the high-backed chair by the fireplace, one leg over the arm, balancing a red coffee cup, staring out the window at the rain, her heart warmed. He was a different man than the one she met that day when he’d attempted to throw away his life. That first day she’d arrived in his life. Even then she’d known he was the only man she would love forever.

She inhaled, steeling herself against the realization of their future. Maybe somehow it would be better than she thought.

Daniel heard Claire begin the descent down the stairs and looked up to see his angel, fresh and new as the first day he saw her. Her beauty made it all the more difficult to speak with her this morning. But they had to talk.
No way around it.

He stood up out of respect for the woman she was. His heart felt heavy, aching with need, weighted by love—maybe too much love. She ran to him and crashed into his chest so hard he spilled his coffee. She was wrapped around his body tighter today.

She knows.

Damn, this will make it harder.

“Claire, we have to talk,” he said as he set his cup down.

He led her to the other chair and when she sat, he knelt before her, hands clasping hers, resting atop her knees. He kissed her fingers, pulling up the courage to say the words he was going to have to say, words she would not want to hear.

“Last night, when Josh came to you—”

“That won’t happen again, Daniel. We need to have a password so we can be safe.”

“And how long do you think that will last?”

She didn’t have an answer for him.

“Last night Audray came to the gallery. They had it all arranged.” At the mention of Audray’s name, Daniel noted how Claire suddenly held her breath.

“Tell me she is no threat to you.”

“No, love, she holds no power over me anymore. But Josh is another story. Audray more or less told me he would not stop until he claimed you.
Claimed
you, Claire.” He searched her face for recognition of the danger she was in, and it pained him to see there wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Ever so confident, she would be blind to Josh’s evil plans.

“I am not worried,” she whispered. She was begging him with her eyes.

“You should be! He’s going to keep trying until he wins. You told me yourself there is a limit to what Father will allow. How long will He let you play out this game—a few weeks? A month? What then? Do you honestly think He will turn his back on all of this, what we have started? Turn his back on you?”

“Give me just a few days. Maybe I could go home and reason with Father. Maybe he would make an exception. Maybe he would help us.”

“No, no, Claire, you’re not thinking.” Daniel got up and strode to the window then leaned against the frame, head resting on his forearm. Claire came up behind him and pressed her cheek against his bare back, wrapping her arms around him.

“We can do it, Daniel. I wanted to tell you last night I am not afraid. I think we can beat them.”

“This is folly. Josh is right.” He continued to stare outside.

“Listen, Daniel. I saw Angie. She’s been turned as well. Her charge came back and claimed her.” Claire moved around to Daniel’s front, placing her palms at the sides of his face. “I wasn’t tempted to do the same, even when she told me how wonderful it was. I wouldn’t let her touch me. She knows I will never turn. I think eventually, maybe soon, they will leave us alone.”

He drew her to his chest and kissed her forehead, whispering, “Sweetheart, you are more important to me than life itself. You must return home. You must go home to Heaven. I wish it wasn’t so, but that is the only place you are safe.”

“No!” Claire stepped away from him. “Don’t say that.” But Daniel could see the recognition in her eyes he wished wasn’t there. There really was only one solution: they could both turn dark.

Daniel shook his head as she spoke. “Please, just give me a little more time, Daniel. I need time to figure this out. I know I can.”

Daniel frowned. He looked at his angel squarely in the eyes.

“If you go dark, I will follow right behind you, Claire. You know this. So does Josh. So does Father. I doomed us the night I came to you at the planetarium and asked you to stay in human form. It’s all my fault.”

He could see Claire wanted to be angry. Her chest heaved as she took in a deep breath and clenched her fists. Her eyes scoped the room, as if looking for something to hit or throw. He loved her even more for it, wanting to fight a battle that could never be won.

He pulled her to him again and kissed her hard. She struggled to get away, but he wouldn’t let her go. She clutched, pushed at his chest, tried to unpeel his fingers from her back and waist, and then simply went into disappear in order to escape. She turned back into human form on the other side of the room, breathing heavily.

Daniel sat down and put his chin in his hands, looking at the floor, waiting for her to come to grips with the only reality that made sense.

“When?” She looked at him with tears in her eyes. Her miserable face was still beautiful to him. It broke his heart.

“Tomorrow morning.”

Chapter 36

The larger-than-life golden angel mannequins looked back down on them through the storefront window as Daniel and Claire strolled down the moist sidewalk. These angels appeared to weep in silence. Their heads were bent, smiles on their faces in eternal repose, hands up and fingers spread out in an expression of wonder—or was it panic? Behind them they bore white wings that looked heavy but sparkled in the display light. Claire never experienced having wings, but it was said some angels used to, a long time ago.

“They don’t begin to do you justice. You are more beautiful,” Daniel said to the back of her head. As he tried to lead her down the street, Claire was mesmerized by the angel mannequin’s expression. She wondered if she had ever looked that way.

They sat at the open-air café under a gas heater. The morning had turned sunny, and they basked in it between light rain sprinkles. Claire ate whipped cream off the top of her hot chocolate and dipped her tongue into the warm sweet mixture. Daniel sat next to her, touching as much of her body as possible. They watched people walk by on the wet washed sidewalk.

It was all arranged. The message from Doris had came back in a matter of minutes. Father would have to bring her across the threshold himself, so great her transgression with Daniel had been. She’d been barred from the automatic return she’d enjoyed for years. Daniel told her he was relieved Father accepted her at all, even if she would pay a price for their great sin. At least she would still be alive in her angel form. He wanted her to live forever, he said.

She had packed all her earthly clothes from the attic, especially the extra pairs of blue jeans she would not likely be able to replace and now had to last for eternity. She left the yellow clogs under the dresser. On the bureau top she left the can of sparkle spray, next to her pink lipstick. No one in Heaven would believe her stories of how humans invented dust without emotion.

What would someone think if they saw these things? Would they know an angel had lived here, an angel who had fallen in love? Would they know that she had saved his soul, done her job and kept her perfect record? Would they care that she was the only Guardian in the whole universe to be able to lay claim to this distinction? And how would they feel if they knew she could save Daniel but could not save herself?

She wasn’t going to tell Daniel she’d left the items there, as if, by leaving something behind, it would mean that she’d been a real woman, if only for a few days.

Claire had to admit that it had been worth it.

Daniel wasn’t going to be sad until she was gone, he’d decided. He was spending the rest of the day doing things she wanted to do. He took her through the perfume counter at Macy’s. He watched as she admired the twinkling lights and the brightly wrapped cellophane packages that made so much noise as she picked them up. She sampled scents, even managed to spray some on him too. He bought a white candle and a bottle of Chanel No. 5, her favorite.

“I’ll wear it every day in Heaven and think of you.” Then she’d sobbed again. Unable to stop her from crying, he gave up and just let her unload. It was taking a toll on her usually sparkling blue eyes, which were now red and sore-looking.

They decided not to spend their last night at the house, in case Josh had designs to spoil their plans. He rented a room with a large fireplace overlooking the ocean. It was close to the prearranged spot on the beach at Bodega Bay where Claire would ascend. Before they checked in, they took one last walk on the beach.

The beach appeared to be on fire as they watched the sun forfeit to the dark sea at the horizon.
The end of a sunny winter day, the end of the earthly life of an angel and her lover.

This will be the last sunset I see with him.

The ground was slightly warm, even though the air had turned chilly. Claire lay back on the quilt he brought, her hands above her head in the sand, feeling the warmth on her back come through the fabric as she sifted soft sand through her fingers. She aimlessly played with little pieces of shell and stones as she looked up to a sky that would be covered in a blanket of stars soon. Daniel was at her side, stretched out on one arm, looking out at the last of the sunset, the orange glow fading on his face.

“I have a confession, Claire.” He smiled and turned his gaze on her.

“Do I want to hear this? I know everything important about you, except what you will do with the rest of your life here.” She rubbed his arm and he bent to give her a kiss.

“This may seem strange to you, but I grew up near the beach and…” He traced over her lips, delicately lacing his fingers under her chin. “I have never made love on the beach. Never.”

 She sighed deeply, watching the flickering of his shiny dark eyes and said, “Neither have I.”

They both laughed.

Then his mouth slanted to cover hers and she parted her lips to allow his tongue entry. She tasted the whispered words from deep in his chest.

He removed all her clothes with care, lingering on every button, every touch of her skin as he raised her shirt over her head and slid her pants down over her hips and bare feet. She laid completely naked, nipples tightened from the chill, fully exposed to the early evening air, to the stars that were beginning to peek timidly through the deep blue of the heavens. There was not a cloud to be found in the deepening blue sky. A bright white moon was just beginning to ascend over the horizon.

He removed his clothes, laying them on top of hers neatly in the sand like a ritual they would carry out for a hundred years. Daniel lay down next to her, and as she looked at the stars, he watched her face. A few minutes later, she climbed on top of his bare, bronzed body, laying her head on his heart to hear him one more time, her knees hugging his slim hips.

“Tonight, I want you to know what it feels like to be worshiped,” she said as she kissed him first on the lips, then under his jaw and down his neck. She inhaled the musty male scent of him, the wonderful smell of a man in love with her. Her body rocked over his hardness. She inched slowly down his thighs, resting on his lower legs, kissing a trail down his chest and abdomen and then put his penis between her lips. He groaned as she curled her tongue over him. His chest rose and fell in the young moonlight as he gasped.

The sight of his pleasure heightened her own inner bonfires. His urgent eyes called to her.

I will remember those moonlit eyes in forever.

He finally pulled her up onto him. His hands firmly held the sides of her face as she found him and guided him to her sex. She lowered herself as slowly as she could onto his full shaft, the lips of her peach swollen with the fullness of him. In the presence of all the stars in the sky, she rode him gently by moonlight, stopping to kiss his warm red lips.

The sounds of the surf drowned out the rest of the world as it slapped and coaxed the shore. Claire raised her arms above her head, and with her thumb rubbing between her first two fingers, produced a tiny amount of dust that sparkled in the moonlight as it fell from her fingertips, down over her breasts and belly and onto his chest. His steady breathing accepted her offering as he closed his eyes. She saw it was just enough to cause arousal but not too much to cause sleep. He opened his eyes and smiled as she felt the delicious climax overcome her body.

His hands cupped her breasts and then became claws digging into her buttocks as he arched, rocked, and spent himself deep inside her.

She loved the warmth of their two spent bodies, and rested on his chest again, listening to his heart beating, starting to slow. His fingertips lightly laced over her back in aimless meanderings. They were breathing in unison. She pulled the quilt over them both and watched him rest in the cocoon of their love.

After a time, they dressed and walked slowly arm in arm, back to the car, Daniel holding the thick quilt. Her eyes ached from all the crying she’d done this day. Of course, the pain didn’t compare with the ache in her heart.

Except for the brilliant white moon and a profusion of bright stars, the sky was completely dark and night was in full force when they checked into the motel room nearby.  

“Father’s made an interesting choice of time and place. Crack of dawn, on a deserted beach,” Daniel said as he opened the sliding glass doors to the ocean. He leaned on the railing. She soaked in the vision of his silhouette in the moonlight and knew she would never forget what he looked like there, the breeze playing with the tendrils of his dark hair. She looked over the space of their room, the place where they would spend their last night together.

“I think Father wanted to give us some privacy. I don’t think He wanted an audience. Doris said not to tell anyone about the plan.”

“Obviously.” Daniel was looking at his toes, still peppered with a few stubborn grains of sand. “Why didn’t He just send you home with Doris?”

Claire thought about that while she scanned the room. Even the large king-sized bed was dwarfed by the chipped slate fireplace that was fully ablaze. The room was furnished in simple but elegant antiques, including the four-poster bed in dark mahogany with a deep green and blue polished satin coverlet. The flooring was of wood planking that squeaked when they walked across it barefoot.“He’s coming himself,” Claire finally said. “He has to be the one who admits me.” She suddenly ran to him and buried her head just under Daniel’s chin.

“Maybe He has something planned for me? Maybe He has words . . . ” Daniel sounded apprehensive.

“I don’t think you have reason to fear Him. I have to climb the stairs; I can’t just will myself home any longer, not until I’ve been admitted back. Be prepared for a bit of a show. He is my Father, after all. And I’m coming home.”

True enough, Daniel thought.
The prodigal daughter comes home to a Father who misses her.
Daniel hoped that Claire held a special place in Father’s heart. Though the decision was the hardest one he’d had to make, it was the right one. Claire would be protected, and live forever. And Daniel would be loved forever, long beyond his own human lifespan. They would have a love that
would
last forever, after all.

It was worth it. Every ounce of pain would be worth it.