Hope in Love (6 page)

“Fuck.” He felt the pain stab through his back and heard his
wing tear.

Ram tumbled out of the sky and slammed into the hard bark of
a large oak tree.

“Bastard,” he cried. The goddamned demon hit him with a bolt
of white lightning.
Shit, concentrate.

Ramiel?

Stay away
. How had she entered his mind?

I will not. You are hurt
. There was nothing she could
do from so far away.

Yael, please
. Repairing his wing would take time.
Unable to fly until he mended it, he’d be vulnerable. His fault. He should have
paid better attention. These were dangerous and vicious creatures. They’d been
known to kill an angel. All angels, though they wielded the power of lightning,
were susceptible to its white-hot fire.
God damn Luke.

Ramiel, answer me, damn it
. Her voice shook with fury
because he tried to shut her out.

I will be fine. I need to—
Had she cursed at him?

Oh hell, the demon found him and he wasn’t ready yet. He
encircled his body in a camouflaging light to hide from the creature. He saw it
high above him in the very tree from which his body had recently torn bark.

Can you see it?
Yael would know about the light demons
and their use of deadly white lightning.

Yes
. The pain eased in his back.

Look at it.
NOW
, she yelled in his mind.

What did she think she could do? Then it hit him. Yael wielded
the magic of storms. And that included lightning bolts.

But you can’t see it
. Ram still didn’t understand.

I felt your pain. We are meshing. I may be able to see it
through your eyes if I concentrate hard enough.
Look at it
. He felt
her enter his mind and search for a mental path. He helped guide her and knew
the moment she saw the demon through his eyes.

He’s not expecting a fight now that I’m injured
.

He heard the fierce rumble of thunder in the sky and saw the
lightning dance above him. Damn, she was strong
.

A bolt shot in a blue-white arc and smashed into the back of
the demon. The air split with the piercing, high-pitched sound of death. The
branch broke away and fell with the demon to the ground at Ram’s feet.

“Nasty little fucker,” he said as the creature disintegrated
in a blinding flash.

Are you all right
? she asked.

I’ll be fine. I need some time to mend my wing.
He
couldn’t assume his human form until the damage was fixed. It would be healed
in the same way he did his bones. Mentally he would put it back together.
Yael
,
he whispered in her mind,
thank you. I look forward to our dinner together.

Hurry back.

Ram sat under the tree, and as he mended his wing he thought
about her. How was it he could mesh with an exulted? Meshing was a magical
coming together, an irresistible and uncontrollable bonding of souls reserved
for angels. Something they were only allowed to do with each other. Exulted
were, after all, humans. To mesh with one would make him no better than the
fallen angels who had been cast from Heaven millennia ago.

“Shit,” he said out loud. “Michael will kill me this time.”

It took awhile for Yael to calm herself after the attack.

She’d explored until she was content and now sat in the
largest bath in the world. Everything in the room contained varied teals and
coral colors of the sea. The towels were so soft she couldn’t believe it. Why
did Deborah live so sparingly if she had all of this at her fingertips? She
must be careful not to covet the luxury.

She found the answer to her dilemma about what to wear in
the closet of the room they would share together. An array of clothing waited
there. Her knowledge about this time period was nonexistent. She’d have to
trust Ram. She could not believe the small bit of clothing women wore today. It
was no wonder the angels came down here to rut with humans.

Earlier she put on a pair of shoes she found in a box and
thought she would teeter over. But she practiced in them, and after a few
tumbles, she finally mastered how to walk in them. They were a shiny black with
thin strips of material laced across her foot and little silver bows at the
back on another tiny piece of strap. The footwear made her feel womanly. And
sexy. Her hips swayed sensually when she walked in them.

He’d told her to wear a black dress and she found two of
them. She’d prepared the dress for tonight and it waited for her. It had no
straps and she prayed her ample breasts would stay inside. It clung to her
curves and showed off her body to no end. She refused to think about bare
knees.

The underthings she found were mere bands but she liked how
they felt on her.

Yael hadn’t given much thought to why she could feel Ram’s
pain or enter his mind. Now, as she waited for him and enjoyed a glass of wine,
she did.

They were meshing. A tie that would be unbreakable, and they
must stop it before it went any further.

Her nerves begged for a second glass of wine.

She’d never been out to dinner. Unless she counted going to
her deceased husband’s family home.

During conversations above, she often listened to exulted
who exclaimed over their visits to Earth. They went to restaurants and shows
with their benefactors. For the first time she wished for a little more
sophistication. Yael didn’t blame Deborah for the lack of education she’d
received. She could have gone on adventures with others. She’d chosen not to.

Yael hoped to impress Ram with what she wore. Afraid the top
of her dress wouldn’t stay up, she made a shawl. And then she covered her
knees. The two materials, both black, were not so different and she was an
excellent seamstress.

* * * * *

Mended, Ram arrived on the patio. He took one step and his
mouth fell open. He couldn’t move. Glad she faced away from him, he took the
needed time to recover. What had she done to the lovely dresses he left her
with? It appeared she’d sewn a hem on the strapless dress by using the other
dress’s material. And she’d made a shawl to cover her shoulders. The shoulders
he hoped to see bare all night.

“You were unhappy with my choice of clothing?” he asked.

Yael jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to face
him.

“Well there was scant material there. You couldn’t really
call it a dress. My knees showed beneath the hem.”

“You have beautiful knees.” He watched the red creep from
the top of her chest to the roots of her brown hair as his eyes roamed over her
body. To him, all of her parts were quite spectacular. He wished she had left
her coppery tresses to hang loose.

“It made me feel naked.”

“It’s fine. I only wanted you to feel a part of this time.
If you are more comfortable in the longer style,” he waved his hand at her
outfit, “by all means, it is what you should wear.”

The black strappy shoes peeked at him from underneath the
long hem of the dress which fitted like a second skin. He hid a smile. He
couldn’t wait to see her hips sway across the room in the three-inch heels.
Yael, already very tall, still only reached his chin with the additional boost
in height.

“If you’re happy, so am I,” Ram said. “Let’s go. The place I’m
taking you to is famous for fresh fish. They fly it in from the Mediterranean
every day. It’s very romantic and we’ll have a private room so there is no need
for you to worry.”

“Fly it in?” Her head tilted sideways in question. “I know
we are somewhere called Florida. How far is my homeland from here?”

“Many thousands of miles. Do you want to see how it’s
changed?”

“No.”

She gripped tight to his arm and Ram took them to the
restaurant.

* * * * *

He had been here many times and there would be a private
room for him. He opened the door and allowed her to enter first. He felt her
body tremble. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea, he thought. She seemed very
uncomfortable.

“Yael, I can ease your tension. I won’t invade your privacy.
I’ll just relax you a little, or we can return home if you like?”

Ram wanted her to enjoy herself, but not if it would be
traumatic. She looked as if she’d bolt at the slightest sound. To his
knowledge, she didn’t visit Earth with any of her cohorts.

Yael hadn’t returned below since the period B.C.—before
Christ.

He watched gold flecks glitter in her eyes as they darted
around the dimly lit room, and she took deep breaths. She wouldn’t allow him to
calm her. He’d done everything to make her feel safe. Why did she still fear
him so? Her benefactor should have made sure she experienced the newness of the
world.

The door opened and a couple entered the restaurant behind
them.

The woman was a sultry beauty. Makeup perfect, golden hair
hung loose in waves around her shoulders. The black sheath she wore looked
glued to her body. Her red lips curved in a smile at him as her eyes gave him
an unabashed once-over. Ram knew that look. He’d seen it before. Three days ago
he’d have gotten rid of her escort and taken her for himself. But now he felt
nothing for her.

He was fixated on Yael.

Yael watched the woman enter the establishment. She saw Ram’s
perusal of her and thought he looked a bit longer than necessary. Her initial
response to his question would have been “I want to go home”.

Not now.

No matter her age, no matter the time—she was a woman.

Seeing how the other’s eyes roved over his body, Yael wanted
to scratch them out. The palms of her hands hurt. They were sore from the marks
left by the pressure of her nails clutched there.
The hussy!
Amber
flames flashed from her eyes as she reached for Ram’s arm. She turned to him
and spoke overly loud.

“No, I don’t wish to go home. I’m looking forward to our
dinner. Could you show me the bath?”

The woman looked at Ram as though he were for sale in a
marketplace. Not a very ladylike thing to do. But considering who she looked
at, Yael understood it. He had the same effect on her.

All of her feminine wiles came to the forefront. She’d not
be upstaged by this skinny creature.

“The ladies’ room is this way,” Ram replied. He pointed out
the bar and told her where he’d wait for her.

Yael fumed, her cheeks red, as she looked at her reflection
in the mirror. How dare he look at someone else while accompanying her! She
would…what? What could she do?

“Damn it.” She’d cursed for the second time today.

If only she hadn’t added the extra length to the dress. The
hussy’s costume had been even shorter than Yael’s original dress.

Two females entered the room. One went into an enclosed
booth and the other stood beside her and used a tube to paint her lips red. She
watched as the woman ran her fingers through her hair then she bent forward and
shook her head, which sent the hair in every direction. It now appeared fuller.

The red dress she wore seemed to come just below her butt.
The woman stretched it down an inch, which made no real difference.

The other patron exited the enclosed booth and they both
left.

Yael looked at her hem and made a decision. She removed the
added length of material.

High-placed women painted their faces in her time and so did
those who kept secret company with men. Desire sparked men’s eyes when they
looked at these women. To see that same look in Ram’s eyes when they rested on
her would be a delight.

Yael, feeling bold, smiled at her face in the mirror. She
had a plan.

She didn’t have the benefit of paint, so she pinched her
cheeks until they turned pink under the bright lights. She bit her lips to draw
color to the surface and puff them a little. She pulled the knot out and bent
forward to fluff her thick hair around her head.

I am a woman.

She exited the ladies’ room and so many eyes were on her as
she moved across the floor, Yael’s body felt coiled and ready to spring. It was
impossible to find Ram in the dimly lit room. She squinted at various faces,
unused to the darkness.

Finally, she spotted him. He’d moved from where he should
have been. She used her hand to toss her thick curls out of her face and walked
in his direction. She was nervous as a newborn colt. With just as much leg
showing.

What in God’s name had come over her? She’d never felt like
this in her whole long life. Some of the customers stared, especially the
males. Even with the shawl, her body shivered and she started to feel foolish.
She wanted to disappear.

Afraid to bang into something or vanish inside of a wall,
she hadn’t tried her new powers or she would have used them now to vanish. Yael
only wanted to cross the room without making a real fool of herself by falling
off her new high shoes. Her knees knocked so badly, she doubted she’d make it.

She was right.

Yael reached for Ram’s mind and waited to feel the floor hit
her after she stumbled.

His face couldn’t hold a larger smile as he stood at the bar
and waited for Yael’s return. Ram remembered the glint of jealousy that
appeared in her eyes at his study of the woman at the entrance. And something
else—his prim and proper Yael had claws, and she’d bared them!

He didn’t have to be in her mind to know that. Her hands
were clenched as shoulders went straight and her lips formed a determined line.
The woman took a step back. She’d read Yael’s body language also. At the glare
full of menace lodged in her direction, she’d made a hasty retreat with her
escort.

Ram marveled at women’s uncanny ability to spot competition.

He liked the determination he heard in Yael’s usually soft
voice when she said she looked forward to their meal together.

Escorting her to the ladies’ room, he walked behind her just
to see her hips work the seams of the dress she wore. His cock reared its broad
head as he thought about her sweet butt.

While he waited for Yael to reappear, he saw the owner a
short distance away and went to greet him and make arrangements for the private
room. A long time passed as his fingers drummed with impatience on the bar
beside his drink.

Finally the door to the ladies’ room opened and she came
out. His jaw dropped. So did a few other males in the room and he didn’t like
the scent he picked up.

Desire.

The added hem was gone and he watched, mesmerized, as she
pumped her hips across the room.

He couldn’t move.

Her hair looked as if she’d just crawled out of a love nest.
Her lips were dark and puffed as though she’d been kissed long and hard. Her
cheeks glowed with color. What struck him most were her eyes.

Come-to-me-baby eyes.

Oh. Hell. No. She did
not
flash them around the
restaurant at every male in her path.

Ram’s blood boiled and his eyes grew dark.

Then he heard her panicked cry in his mind.

Ramiel!

No one saw him move to catch her. He held her so tight in
his arms she couldn’t breathe. Yael kept her face pressed to his chest to hide
the tears that stung her eyes.

“You’re the most beautiful woman alive,” he said as he
raised her chin and captured her lips in a scorching kiss.

Everyone saw the passion in their kiss and Ram smiled when
he lifted his lips from hers. Yael was red with embarrassment. She’d heard the
sigh that went through the room.

Ram pressed his palm low on her back and guided her to the
private room. He didn’t need food. He wanted her. He walked close behind her to
hide his cock, which stood at attention.

He reminded himself to talk with Michael about the spell,
the one that wouldn’t allow him to wish his hard-on away. Ram planned to be in
Yael’s company for some time and he definitely needed that power back. He didn’t
want to walk around led by his penis.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“Never be sorry that you’re a beautiful, desirable woman.”

“I didn’t see you right away.”

“I shouldn’t have moved. You’re safe now,” Ram said. “I need
to explain more to you about the way things are here. I’m afraid I’ve rushed
you into this.”

“I feel so silly.”

“Yael, I understand. Things are very different from when you
lived on Earth.”

“How can women be comfortable in so little clothing?”

“Woman have changed and trust me, men like their new style
of dress.”

He watched the color creep back into her face and he
surprised himself by thinking it endearing. This woman possessed no guile, no
deceit. He began to understand what Nona may have meant.

Was he pushing her to be something she should never be? He
remembered the flash of anger he felt as the other men looked at her. But he
also enjoyed the look of newness on her face. He could see that she felt sexy
in her new clothes. He wanted to see that look more. He liked the strength and
determination he’d heard in her voice earlier.

He refused to keep her hidden in his domain. He wanted to
see her face light up when she saw all the new things around her. He would just
have to limit how much he introduced her to at one time.