Kassern (Archangels Creed) (9 page)

The memory sent him to another dimension. He settled his other hand possessively on her lower back just as his lips found hers.

At the first contact, their breaths mingled, hard and erratic. Troy had never felt anything
so
amazing as her breath in his mouth. Except for her perfect breasts pressing into his chest. His fingers clenched in her hair and he pressed her hard to him, needing to feel all of her. She gasped and he took that moment to taste her, his tongue seeking as his lips pressed hers softly.

Devyn just stood there, letting him. It was suddenly more than meeting her need, it was meeting his. And God did he seem to have a lot.
Go slow, go slow, slow down.
His hands became dyslexic, sliding up and down her sides, eagerly feeling her shape, confirming the haunting fantasies that had plagued him. She was perfect. Her lips, all giving and submissive under his, were sweet and perfect.

Devyn
'
s fingers slid into the hair at his neck, encouraging with light moans. Her mouth opened more and the feel of her eager tongue fueled his well buried hunger. Her hands slid down his back and ended on his butt, fingers digging into muscle as she stepped into him, causing him to step back until h
e
met the wall. His own hands became desperate, feeling the curve of her butt, pulling her leg up. Getting her closer was all that mattered. Their moans turned hungrier and Troy
'
s heart raced at where this was headed. He held her face, needing to break the kiss.
"
Devyn.
"
The attempt to get her attention came across as beg
ging
for more, especially when his tongue continued to taste all he could reach. But God, she tasted amazing.

"
Troy.
"
 

Jesus, did she just whimper his name? Was she really stroking his abs under his shirt? If she didn
'
t stop, he wouldn
'
t be able to, he wouldn
'
t care what he did or where. He couldn
'
t let it be that way, not with her, never with her
. E
very man was fast with her
,
and he…
he cared far too much for her to let that happen
.
In fact, the realization of just how much he cared startled him.
The sudden importance of making sure everything was exactly right felt surreal, as if the rest of his life would be determined by how h
e handled the next few moments.

He grabbed her hands and held them tight, then broke the kiss.
"
Stop, please.
"
He reminded himself to be careful
.

She searched his face and Troy grabbed it between his hands at seeing the panic taking her. 

"
Not like this, Devyn, you
'
re too…I
'
m not…I don
'
t want to do this…not like this.
"
 

Confusion marked her brows.
"
What are you saying-I-I don
'
t understand what that means.
"
Troy held tight at feeling her try to get away. Her anger rose.
"
Not like this? You
'
re not what? You don
'
t what? Can
'
t you just talk fucking English?
"

Troy crushed her in a tight embrace and pressed his mouth to her ear.
"
You deserve better
—
roses
, romance, love, time. I
'
m not going anywhere.
"

"
It
'
s really true, he
'
s not.
"
The deep, unfamiliar voice rumbled through the room.

They jumped and turned.
"
Oh God!
"
Troy
shoved
Devyn
behind
him
, eyes darting around for more intruders.
"
Who the hell are you?
"

Chapter Eight

The man sitting casually at the dining table grinned.
"
That would be who the
Heaven.
"

"
Oh Jesus, oh Jesus,
"
Devyn whimpered, gripping Troy
'
s shirt with both hands, peering around him.

In a panic, Troy
took
in th
e
insanely odd
man
. Floor length shimmering ruby
-red
coat, hanging open over naked alabaster skin that
nearly
glowed, emphasizing the deeply defined musculature of his chest.
Red j
eans
, apparently of the same material as the coat,
hung low on narrow hips, not bothering to conceal the
thin
line of dark hair extending from just below his navel and disappearing under the waistband. Troy lowered his gaze to the white
bare feet
below the jeans' hem
.

Shoulder length onyx hair framed the flawless face. Dark beard stubble emphasized square jaws and high cheekbones. Full lips curved into a
n innocent
grin. A cleft chin combined with the other features to give the man a deceptively boyish look.
The relatively benign façade veiled something entirely different;
Troy's best friend from High School had that same look after becoming a Special Forces sniper.

Troy finally forced himself to look into
the man's
odd eyes, like glittering, finely cut
stones,
rubies.
"
What
…
are
you?
"
Definitely not a simple human.

The man reclined in the chair a little, stretching out one
long
leg,
as if he were truly
enjoying himself.
"
An
archangel
.
"

Troy's grasp on reality slipped a little more.
An archangel in his kitchen was nearly as farfetched as an extraterrestrial
or something similar
.

"
I thought angels had wings?
"
Devyn
'
s
trembl
ing
whisper heated Troy's arm.

He didn't blame her for not speaking
, w
ho knew what would set th
is
crazy person
off on a killing spree?

"
Ah, yes.
Wings.
"
The man stood and giant
scarlet
wings materialized behind him, threatening to fill half the room. Each exquisite feather glistened
with countless
sliver sized gems, cut perfectly.
A small movement from the man, and the stones glistened
in a magnificent show of refracted light and
tinkling chimes.

Devyn squealed her terror, digging nails into Troy's arm. He barely noticed as he plastered them against the wall. It was hardly far enough.

Troy stared, transfixed, as a ruby cross slowly surfaced from beneath his skin until it glowed over his entire torso
and radiated unbelievable heat across the room
.
Belief
that the man was what he claimed to be grew right alongside the dread in the pit of Troy’s being. T
h
ose
wings
were no joke,
and neither
was that crazy heat, which begged the question
what on
earth
was he doing there?

"
I
'
m on the good side.
"
His wings disappeared like a mirage, but the glowing cross on his torso remained.
"
Name
'
s
Kassern.
"

Troy cringed away from his extended hand, covering Devyn with his entire body.
He
swallowed back the freight train of fear slowly taking him.
"
What do you want?
"
His voice
sputtered,
barely audible over the erratic pounding of his heart.

The
archangel
suddenly held up the red panties in one hand and the crucifix in the other, seeming to compare their weight.
"
Your undivided attention for one, which I think I now have. And complete cooperation would be really nice too.
"

"
Cooperation?
"
Troy
'
s eyes remained fixed on the conflicting panties and crucifix. No doubt about it, in big trouble.

Kassern brought the items together in his hands
,
stepped closer and held out the necklace. But the crucifix was
no longer
gold, it was red. Like the panties. Which were
gone.

"
Yeah.
"
Kassern dangled the necklace a little.
"
First thing
you
need to get through your crazy head, is that those two things belong together.
"

****

Kassern was more than happy with their little kiss that opened the portal. It was made of just the right stuff to get the job done.

"
Mind if I speak bluntly?
"
Kassern tilted his head at the terrified human and grinned when Troy answered with barely a head shake.
"
Great.
"
Kassern returned to sitting comfortably in the chair before diving right in.

"
There
'
s a little trouble here on Earth that has come to our attention.
"
Kassern resisted a snort at seeing his little preachers eyes fill with guilt. As if his misconceptions about lust would require the undivided attention of
the
Archangel
Brotherhood
.
"
We have thirty days. Well, twenty-eight now.
"

"
F-for what?
"
Troy asked.

"
Devyn, I won
'
t bite, please, you can come out of hiding.
"
Kassern fixed a friendly smile on his normally rigid face. Odd to see the normally fearless woman behav
ing
like a scared child. He hoped
he
'
d
made the right choice with her. Too late to change vessels, since he
'
d already stepped through the portal.
He would just have to work with the raw material
, that’s all
.

What to reveal first?
Considering the amount of fear in the room, he
worried about
propel
ling
them into insanity
by giving the wrong info at the wrong time
.

"
Satan
'
s building an army. A
scientist
found a sort of loophole in the human genome.
A
simple way to alter the basic code that makes humans human. Satan
has
team
ed
up with the
scientist
, removed ethical boundaries, and convinced him to create…new beings.
"

"
New beings?
"
Troy scrubbed a hand over his face in a habitual reaction to stress.

Kassern nodded once, resisting the urge to influence their minds
.
If he violated their Free Will, the rules that governed the entire system would be broken, and the archangels would be penalized, giving Satan's
team a free advantage.

"
What kind of beings?
"
The girl finally spoke.

"
Like a rabid animal. But smart. And human
-based
.
Some can pass for human, some can't.
Very strong. And very demonic.
And we don't know nearly enough about them.
"

Silence followed as the impact of his words sank in. Kassern smiled at how his couple held hands.
Already leaning on each other for comfort.
Nice.