The Fallen Part 10

I was breathing like an asthmatic horse by the time I got to the top of the ladder. I couldnat wait to rest, however. I had to make it across the roof until I was under the tower and out of sight.

Pardonably pleased when I managed the short run without slipping and busting my a.s.s, I settled at the bottom of the tower and waited until I didnat sound like an obscene caller before I moved to the rungs embedded in the tower itself.

Straight climb. That was going to be h.e.l.lish, but at least the watch at the top couldnat see me unless he decided to look straight down. I climbed slowly to keep from overexerting my heart and lungs. When I was near the top, I paused to listen. Step, step, step, pause. Step, step, step, pause. At the second pause, I went over the top, landing cat like on the tower floor--which meant I sounded like a thundering herd of elephants and everything on the f.u.c.king belt rattled.

The guy whirled, but I already had my taser out. I hit him with a few thousand volts and released, leaping toward him as his knees wobbled and gave way. It was a near thing, but I managed to lower him to the floor without pitching either of us over the side.

When Iad settled him, I whipped my trusty roll of duct tape from the pocket of my utility belt and trussed him like a yearling calf. He came to just about the time I wrapped a strip of tape around his head and immediately began wiggling frantically. Glancing around, I saw there was nothing to tie him to. Finally, I hauled him to his feet and tied him to the corner of the tower figuring the other guards would at least see that he was still at his post if they looked, and he couldnat do anything Iad regret.

Tucking the tape in the belt again, I pulled out a small flashlight and examined the floor. Sure enough, there was a trap door. My heart was pounding with excitement when I pulled it open and looked down into the belly of the building.

Burning candles were all over the place. The smell of candle wax was almost enough to overwhelm me.

I was a lot more overwhelmed, though, when I discovered there was no ladder leading down from the tower.

What kind of morons built a tower that was only accessible from the outside?

Dropping to my belly, I hung over the drop for a better look. To my relief, I spied rungs running down the inside of the tower similar to those on the outside. The catch was that they ended at roughly the same place, and there was no ladder under the tower.

Shrugging, I reversed positions and put my legs through the opening, feeling around with one foot until I found a rung. I left nail prints in the wood when I finally came to the point of no return. My arm was just long enough I could brush the nearest frigging rung and not quite grasp it.

Taking a couple of deep breaths for courage, I lowered myself until I was hanging by both arms and made a dive for the rung I hadnat been able to reach. I caught it, but my palms were so sweaty with fear by that time I almost lost my grip. Slipping an arm through the rung to steady myself, I wiped my sweaty palms, blew on them until they were dryish and started down. When I reached the last rung, I turned to look down and gauge the distance.

There was a podium about ten feet below me. I didnat especially want to land on it and the idea of swinging to miss it didnat appeal to me a lot more. Sighing in irritation that nothing so far had been easy, I unhooked the rope from my belt. Iad brought it to tie up cult members if the need arose, not for climbing. I decided it ought to be long enough though.

It took me a good ten minutes to work knots into it to have something to hold onto and another five to tie it off to my satisfaction. By the time I had, I was sweating, partly from nerves and partly from the f.u.c.king candles.

Jeeze! Were they trying to roast the guy? Or just trying to make him feel at home?

My palms were wet again. I dried them and started down. It was h.e.l.lish. I didnat remember having nearly this much trouble when I went through boot camp, but then again it had been a few years. The rope didnat quite reach. I dropped the last few feet before Iad had the chance to consider how I was going to get back up the frigging thing.

Not that it mattered. I doubted very seriously that I could climb up it. It had taken all I could do to climb down with gravity helping me.

I saw him/it as soon as I took my first look around. My stomach clenched in empathy. The bloodthirsty freaks had staked him to a cross and then hauled the cross up--to display him I supposed. Wings covered in feathers that were the inky, iridescent black of a ravenas wings were spread on either side of him and staked or nailed in place.

Chapter Two.

My heart failed me. I thought he/it was dead at first. I also thought it was fake, not the man part, but the wing thing. From what I could see, he looked like a man.

These people were crazier than Iad thought and Iad already given them credit for being some of the craziest f.u.c.kers not caged.

Something blue had been splashed onto him in several places. It dripped, forming small puddles beneath him.

Swallowing the bile in my throat, I moved closer.

Long black hair hung across his shoulders almost down to his pecs and pretty much obscured a look at his face, but the body--my ... my what a beautiful specimen of the male anatomy! I moved around him, studying the wings and discovered with a strange flutter in my belly that they were not only real wings, they were growing out of his shoulder blades.

The flutter of excitement became a tremor of revulsion. The blue hadnat been splashed on him. It was dripping from his veins where theyad wounded him. Bracing myself, I looked a little closer and saw that there was very little coagulation. It was blood, blue or not, and fresh. He hadnat been here long--like this. Otherwise he would definitely be dead as a door nail and I could see he was still breathing.

Obviously head fought like a demon--and made a good accounting for himself if theyad thought they had to stake him down and still bind him with wire.

He wasnat human, but he was an intelligent being.

Black hair, black wings, I mused. White, of course being the color of purity, it just naturally followed that black was sin. Crazy, stupid, backwards mother f.u.c.kers!

When Iad made a circuit and stood in front of him again, I discovered head lifted his head. His eyes were open. The irises were the color of ice, that next-thing-to-white sometimes but very rarely seen in humans, except his also had an iridescent shine to them like the eyes of a nocturnal animal. I shivered.

The face went with the body--masculine beauty personified.

So he had to be a demon because he was gorgeous and had black hair and wings?

Give me a break!

There was pain in his eyes--which Iad expected to see--but it paled beside the absolute fury in them--which I hadnat actually expected and was surprised to discover made me more than a little uneasy even though he was trussed securely and couldnat get his hands on me.

Those, I saw, were balled into fists.

My stomach clenched again.

That explained the wire. Head pulled free of the stakes.

aSpeaky English?a His eyes narrowed. aNot that version,a he responded tightly.

I felt my face redden. It p.i.s.sed me off.

aAll right smart a.s.s, so tell me--demon? Or angel?a His gaze slid over me speculatively. aElumi.a My brows popped upward in surprise. aAlien?a aElumi.a This was getting me no where fast. aIam not with them.a That time his gaze moved past me. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck, but I discovered he was looking at the neon yellow rope Iad used to climb down. Apparently head been playing possum and had noticed my unorthodox arrival.

That realization pleased me. I figured it meant he was in a lot better shape than Iad thought, which meant alive enough to give me what I needed.

He was still breathing, after all. I figured he wasnat that much different from a human male.

Time wasnat on my side. I couldnat afford to finesse the deal. aI heard of this woman who did it with one of you guys and got pregnant, even though she couldnat conceive. Was that a fluke? Or can you do that?a He gave me a speculative once over. I decided that meant yes. Otherwise, he wouldave looked at me like I was a fruit cake, right?

ah.e.l.l, Iam willing to try anything at this point or I wouldnat even be here--so hereas the deal. You do me and get me knocked up. Iall let you go.a His lips curled back in a sneer that made my palms itch. aI will free myself, or I will die. I will not taint my line with the blood of a lesser being. It would be a blood sin.a Shock hit me first, but I recovered quickly. I gave him a drop dead look, which he actually weathered better than most men, but that only p.i.s.sed me off even more. He talked like f.u.c.king me would be on a par with f.u.c.king a dog, and I d.a.m.ned sure wasnat a dog.

Alright, so I wasnat prime beef either. I was slightly aged beef, but I kept in good shape. I was no great beauty--like he was--but mirrors didnat crack when I looked in them either. Men, human men, usually gave me at least one look when I pa.s.sed them.

I studied him speculatively for several moments, my hands on my hips.

Superior f.u.c.king a.s.shole!

aYouave done a dandy job of freeing yourself so far,a I taunted, unable to resist the temptation to take a stab at him. The poison dart hit its mark. He gave me a look that sent a shiver down my spine.

He was better at athe looka than I was.

Shrugging it off, I went back to considering my plan. Finally, I decided I might as well have a talk with his c.o.c.k since I was here already. His c.o.c.k might not be as fastidious as he was about mixing with the lower order.

The cross presented a problem, though.

After studying the ropes holding it up for several moments, I discovered with little surprise that the freaks had used a pulley system to lift it. Moving to the wench, I grasped the rope, found the release and braced myself. Fortunately, it didnat just disengage. After a bit of a struggle, I managed to lower the thing until it was against the floor.

Striding back to him, I stepped across the post he was bound to, placing a foot on either side of his hips, then squatted down for an inspection of the plumbing. Catching hold of the sarong around his waist, I flipped it up. I was a little surprised to see it looked pretty much like any other c.o.c.k--slightly disappointed, actually. I was hoping for something a little different. All the same, it was pretty impressive equipment. It was adult sized, even flaccid.

At least it was going to be fun.

I stood up again, bent to grasp the zipper at the hem of my jumpsuit and unzipped the leg to the crotch, glancing at his face as I finished.

He was frowning, his eyes gleaming with suspicion and dawning outrage. Ignoring him, I squatted over his thighs again, grasped his c.o.c.k and said h.e.l.lo big fellow. I heard his teeth grinding as I sucked on it experimentally.

Iad never figured out why they called it blowing when you had to suck the thing to inflate it.

It tasted pretty d.a.m.ned good--which was both a relief and a pleasure since necessity dictated blowing him and I wasnat keen on giving head--a little exotic, but meat just the same. In about two seconds flat, the monster awoke and it was fully twice the size erect as it had been flaccid--very impressive!

Unable to resist, I lifted my head. aHe says yes.a He snarled at me, trying to jerk his c.o.c.k from my grip. Shrugging, I returned my attention to what Iad been doing. Since time was of the essence and I figured I might have trouble moving fast enough to jack him off while I was astride him, I fell to work with a will. After a few minutes he stopped trying to get away and held himself perfectly still--as if that would avail him! Ha! I was a world cla.s.s tongue flapper. n.o.body talked more than I did, even when I was completely alone, which was most of the time. I had a tongue, and jaws, of steel. I couldave sucked a blister on it if Iad wanted to.

He gave up trying to hold still, a clear signal that Iad gone way beyond his control. He began to make short, breathless sounds, trying to keep from groaning.

It turned me on big time. My own juices began to flow. I could feel my body burgeoning with desire.

Not that it mattered to the plan. I hadnat really considered getting off myself since it wasnat necessary, but I was turned on now. I got so carried away, I lost sight of the goal and almost screwed the pooch. When his c.o.c.k abruptly jerked in my mouth, it snapped me out of it, though.

St. Helens was about to blow. Panting with my own arousal as well as exertion, I pulled his c.o.c.k from my mouth, scooted up his thighs and lifted away from him, shoving his c.o.c.k head into my opening. As wet as I was--as stiff as his c.o.c.k was--it was still a h.e.l.l of a tight fit. I was sweating by the time Iad managed to work him deeply inside, and panting so hard I felt more than a little light headed. I felt like Iad impaled myself on a fence post and had to concentrate to relax my muscles enough to allow a little movement.

Worried that I might have interrupted the process and he might still escape me, I began moving as soon as I felt my juices coating him, lifting up and bearing down again so that my channel stroked his member. I had to fight the urge to focus on my own pleasure instead of getting him off. Fortunately, Iad been right. He was about to blow. At just about the same instant my feverish ride took me to the top, I felt his c.o.c.k jerk inside of me. Groaning, fighting the urge to simply hold still so that I could enjoy the sensations jolting through me, I kept moving, milking his body until his c.o.c.k ceased to pump his seed into me.

Weak in the aftermath of the best climax I could remember having in a very long time, I wilted over him, struggling to catch my breath. His heart hammered in my ear, his own chest rising and falling in hard gusts.

Iad just begun to wonder it if was safe to linger a while longer and take another shot at collecting his seed when I heard a sound that made every muscle in my body tense for trouble. Jerking upright, I looked for the source.

A young female cult member stood just inside the chapel. As I looked at her, she dropped the jug of water she had in her hands.

Adrenaline flooded my blood stream instantly. I sprang off of my rape victim like he had catapulted me off with his c.o.c.k. The girl was still trying to find her voice to scream when I reached her. Clamping a hand over her mouth just as she emitted a high pitched mouse squeak, I dug frantically for the taser. Finally, my hand curled around it and I jerked it from the belt, released her and gave her a good jolt.

She jerked all over, let out another squeak, this time of fear, and began to wilt toward the floor.

My ears p.r.i.c.ked for trouble. I heard it bearing down on me. Grabbing a candle stand, I shoved it through the handles of the double doors, made a half hearted attempt to stamp out the burning candles Iad poured all over the floor and dashed back to my victim.

He looked furious enough to breathe fire. There was something in his eyes that told me he wasnat the least bit pleased with me.

aHate to eat and run--but gotta go.a aYou said you would free me,a he growled.

I shrugged. aYou didnat give to the cause,a I pointed out--because there was no way in h.e.l.l I was going to just turn the guy loose when he was looking at me with such promise in his eyes--promise of mayhem and bodily harm.

On the other hand, I couldnat bring myself to leave him at the mercy of those maniacs who obviously didnat have any. Digging frantically at my pocket while I listened to the two guards at the back pounding on the rear door, I finally managed to unearth a pair of wire cutters.

My hands shook as I clipped through the wires wrapped around his wrist. When Iad cut the wire, I had to rap him smartly on the knuckles to make him let go of my arm because head grabbed it the instant I freed him. Slapping the cutters into his open palm, I jumped back. aYou wanted to free yourself. Do it.a Leaping over him, I dove for the front of the chapel and wedged another candle holder under those door handles before they got the idea to run around the building. They still didnat appear to have tumbled to the fact that there was an intruder inside. From what I could hear of their conversation, they were trying to figure out why the doors were stuck and apparently thought the girl was lying in front of them.

When I glanced around again, I saw Iad set fire to the chapel with the candles Iad dumped.

as.h.i.t!a The whatever-he-was, had already gotten his other wrist free and was working on his feet.

That galvanized me more than the sounds from outside.

Nuts on the outside, fire on the inside and a totally p.i.s.sed off whatever.

I looked up at the dangling rope, but I didnat figure I had enough adrenaline pumping through me to climb it again, even with fire--and brimstone--chasing me up. Glancing around a little frantically, I grabbed a hymnal and pitched it at the nearest window just as one of the candle holders bent and the doors burst inward.

They screamed. Grown men didnat usually scream when they saw fire. I knew instantly that the ademona was loose. Taking a running jump, I dove through the broken window, managing an awkward tuck and roll when I hit the ground on the outside--awkward because one of my arms gave. Pain shot through my arm, but I was too revved to pay it that much attention. Leaping to my feet, I sprinted toward the woods.

I could hear a good many shouts and a lot of screaming behind me. Some of it was screams to stop, the rest screams of terror.

Like I was going to stop! Get real! The yelling to stop only made me run faster. I was traveling at such velocity by the time I got to the edge of the road I had a h.e.l.l of a time braking to make the turn, sliding halfway into the road like a baseball player sliding toward home base.

Rocks burned my palms as I clawed at the ground and finally regained my feet.

The adrenaline made it easier to s.n.a.t.c.h the driveras side door open in spite of the underbrush. Thankfully, Iad had the foresight to leave the keys in the ignition. I started the vehicle, yanked the gear into reverse and floored it.

There were a couple of screams behind me--first news I had that my pursuit was that close. I hoped the jouncing was just the SUV bouncing over the ruts, but I sure as h.e.l.l wasnat getting out for a look. The smell of burning rubber and the scream of tires filled the cab as I slammed on the brakes when I hit pavement. Jerking the gear into drive, I floored it again.

The fire in the temple was already out of control by the time I zipped by. People were running in every direction. I got a glimpse of something really big leaping from the belfry.

A mixture of relief and nerves tightened in my belly.

He was free. I wasnat going to have to spend the rest of my life wondering--not that any of it was my fault. Head gotten himself into the mess, after all. And the bloodthirsty kooks had caught him. It was their war. I was just a bystander.

My thighs were sticky with his seed, though.

Chapter Three.

I decided, under the circ.u.mstances, to take the rental through the car wash before I returned it. When Iad washed it and vacuumed it several times, I returned it to the rental place, praying it had been too dark for anybody to catch the license plate.

I was pleased that I managed to behave perfectly calm and naturally.

Iad used a fake ID to rent the thing. Iad felt a little silly at the time, like someone playing spy, but it was a covert operation, after all, and Iad decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

I had reason to be pleased with my foresight.