The Fallen Part 18

aYou will be.a His voice was low, incredibly husky and deep. He rolled her onto her back, covering her lips with his.

She opened her mouth to cuss him out and then gasped when his tongue surged inside to plunder her depths. He caught her right arm, smoothing his palm up to her wrist to pin it to the bed.

His lips slid from hers, over her chin, down her throat. He nipped her, his teeth gently sc.r.a.ping her skin, soothing the abrasion with his warm, wet tongue.

This was getting out of hand. aMmm. Oh. Stop that, Raphael. I mean it--a She broke off on a gasp as his mouth closed on her nipple, sucking it through her camisole until it stood in his mouth like a rigid point.

Izzy pushed at him with her free hand, looking at him from beneath heavy lids. She felt drugged by too little sleep and too much pa.s.sion. aI said stop it. Youare not going to change my mind.a He rested his head on her chest, looking up at her. His eyes glittered, almost luminescent--desire unmistakable. aNever has a woman resisted me before.a She swallowed. Wet heat made her womb clench with arousal. aLook, I just helped you get rid of a body. Iave got a things on my mind. I canat do this right now. It doesnat feel right.a He released her wrist, slowly. aI can make it feel better.a aAll I want is sleep,a she said, trying to convince herself as much as him.

He sighed and moved up beside her, curled his body around hers, and settled himself firmly in her bed.

Izzy gave up on fighting off contact, closed her eyes, and tried to ignore the presence of his erection digging into her backside. It seemed such a shame to waste it.

Chapter Five.

Isabel swore head bruised her with that thing between his legs. She had a muscle cramp right at the base of her spine, just above her a.s.s crack. She glared at Raphael as he wolfed down a pack of bacon, six eggs, four pieces of toast, and a pint of orange juice. She supposed he should have an appet.i.te, what with all head done the night before. If head had his way, shead be half dead now and unable to do more than lift a hand.

Shead had a hard time going to sleep last night--this morning.

Raphael was oddly endearing, both s.e.xy and sweet. Head cooked brunch for them both once shead shown him how to work things, allowing her to sit back and watch him move around in the tiny kitchen. He served her first, making sure everything was to her liking before he sat down to eat.

She didnat know much about him, but she liked him. He was very cute, slightly awkward, but incredibly powerful and capable of things she couldnat even begin to understand. Which was, perhaps, her biggest problem with him.

She couldnat handle the whole Elumi/angel battle/war thing. From what she gathered, having any kind of relationship with him was going to be a problem in the long run. Never mind the fact that he didnat seem to have a job--he had to kill a people to stay alive.

His lips curled into a roguish smile as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. aWhat is it you are thinking?a aStuff.a She was thinking of how to broach the subject without hurting his feelings.

She ma.s.saged her aching head and finally got up and went into the living room. After a few moments, Raphael followed her, studying her frowningly. aWhat distresses you?a Izzy stared at him in disbelief and finally shook her head. aEverything. Jesus! I helped you dispose of a body last night. I canat f.u.c.king believe I did that. I donat know whatas worse, that I did it, or that it seemed reasonable to me at the time.a She looked at him helplessly. aThis isnat your world, Raphael. We donat do things like that here--ok, well, granted there are bad people running around killing people, and there are soldiers fighting wars and getting killed and killing people, but-- aI like you--really, I do. I think youare sweet and cute and--but I canat deal with this. I donat want to be in the middle of your war, or whatever it is your people have got going on. I want--I need for you to leave. I just donat feel safe with you here knowing theyall come looking for you again.a He studied her, both hurt and anger glittering in his eyes. aIt would not help you if I left. It would put you in more danger--because of the babe.a His anger fueled hers and the hurt she saw in his eyes only made her angrier still. She hadnat promised him a d.a.m.ned thing. Was it her fault head followed her home and thought he could just aclaima her? aWell, if you ask me it was a really stupid time to decide to have a baby--right in the middle of some kind of war!a aThere is no agooda time for me! It will always be this way for me! I can never go back. There will always be enemies who walk among humans and they will always be seeking a trophy that will gain them favor with their king and redemption so that they can return to Pearthen,a he said angrily. aI will protect you. I am a skilled and seasoned warrior. I would not have considered taking you as my woman if I had doubted that I could protect you.a aThat may be, but you had no d.a.m.ned right to drag me into this without even telling me what was going on! I should have had a choice. You didnat give me one. You just decided for me, decided to give me your baby without asking me if I wanted, decided to endanger my life without even letting me know I was in danger! I donat want to be planting bodies for the rest of my life! I want you to go. Iall take my chances on some of the others finding me. I just want you to leave--now.a He stared at her angrily for several moments and finally turned, stalking straight through the wall and vanishing.

Pain and fury so blinded Raphael that he had no notion of where he was going, or any care. Stunned disbelief was not far behind the other two emotions, and he was so distraught that he very nearly lost his head.

Instincts honed of many years of fighting were all that spared him from instant death. As it was, the Garyn blindsided him, slamming into him from no where and pitching him against the wall of a tall building so hard it rattled the teeth in his head and crumbled brick and mortar, for he had not had the time or the presence of mind to morph.

The blow stunned him. He found himself falling, the Earth flying upward to meet him. With an effort, he threw off his shock and emotional distress and focused on the enemy bearing down upon him, executing a sharp climb at the last possible moment.

The Garyn, in close pursuit, was not able to do the same and slammed into a vehicle parked along the curb, crushing the top flat.

He was without his weapon and too disoriented for many moments to remember where he had hidden it. The memory surfaced as he saw the Garyn rise slowly, shake off his disorientation and shoot skyward once more.

Again, his distraction cost him. He would have managed to put far more distance between himself and his foe if he had had his wits about him. As it was, he had little lead when he dipped behind the top of a building and raced to retrieve his weapon in the building where he had sought shelter before--before Isabel, before he had come to the mistaken belief that he had found his lifeas companion.

Shaking that thought, he concentrated on eluding his enemy, struggling to reach the place where he had hidden his weapon before the Elumi could catch up to him.

He did not manage to shake pursuit, nor retrieve the weapon. Even as he entered the building and raced to retrieve his sword, the Garyn appeared before him, blocking his path.

Tightlipped with fury, Raphael halted abruptly, a.s.sumed a fighting stance and waited.

They circled one another, each looking for an opening. Raphaelas goal was to reach the beam where his sword lay, however, and each time the Garyn swung at him, he leaped back and to one side, leading, until he had managed to circle his opponent and stood beneath the beam.

He stopped there, curling back his lips in a feral smile as he waited for the Garyn to attack. When the Elumi charged, Raphael managed to catch him beneath his armpits. Locking his hands behind his foeas back, he lifted man clear of the floor and swung around at the same moment, abruptly releasing him. The momentum sent his opponent flying backwards. The Garyn morphed, disappearing through the wall.

Raphael did not wait to see the results, however. The moment he regained his balance, he leapt for the beam, s.n.a.t.c.hing his sword from it.

Head barely touched down once more when the Garyn slammed into his mid section, carrying him across the room into the wall behind him before Raphael could completely morph. The concussion broke them apart.

Growling in fury now, Raphael leapt away, swinging his sword in a deadly arch that caught his foe across his middle. The blade bit, sliding over his ribs and burrowing into his belly, but the Garyn managed to leap backwards and avoided being skewered.

Regardless, Raphaelas blow was a determining one. The Garyn was losing strength and blood too rapidly to prolong the fight. Uttering a challenging roar, he leapt at Raphael, hammering at him ferociously with his sword in an attempt to find victory before he grew too weakened to continue the fight.

Raphael found himself again fighting a defensive battle, meeting the blinding speed of the Garynas blade each time, but he discovered that he, too, was growing weak, losing blood. They began to slip and slide through the gore on the floor, nicking each other over and over, but finding no clear opening to deal a decisive blow.

Finally, when both were so weak and winded theyad slowed, begun to have difficulty swinging their blades, the Garyn abruptly retreated. Gasping for breath, Raphael stood watching his foeas retreat, knowing he should follow and finish it, but too weak by now to care. His knees wobbled and finally gave way and he landed hard on the wooden floor.

Bemused, he looked down at himself, wondering why he was losing so much blood. The white glint of bone showed in his right thigh. He did not think that that was the problem, however, nor the gash along his arm. The worst damage seemed to be his belly.

Mopping the blood and sweat from his eyes the best he could with his hand, he clutched his belly and pushed himself to his feet. He almost blacked out when he leapt for the beam to retrieve his scabbard, but he could not afford to be caught without his weapon again, and he was afraid he would drop it and lose it if he didnat secure it. Once he had donned his scabbard and secured the weapon, though, he was so weak he wasnat certain he had the strength to leave.

He could not stay where he was. The Garyn might recover first and return to find him.

An almost overwhelming yearning filled him to return to Isabel, but he was not so lost to his responsibilities to his mate and child to seriously consider it. To give in to his need to be with her would be to endanger her and the child.

Besides, she did not want him.

After looking around the building a little vaguely for some time, he recalled the place that he had found for his family. It would be secure--if he could reach it--and he would be allowed to rest and heal in peace.

He was barely conscious by the time he managed to reach his sanctuary, the anesta he had been so busily preparing for his woman and child. Wavering on his feet, he stared at the large bed that he had planned to share with his Isabel, envisioning her curled up among the pillows he had taken such pains to collect and smiling up at him in greeting.

A smile curled his lips in return just about the time oblivion descended with the suddenness of a light switch.

When head gone, Isabel stood in the middle of her apartment, thinking over the fight theyad just had, trying to ignore the sadness and the guilt that began to creep into her. Shead done the right thing. She knew she had, and she had been well within her rights to be so angry about what head done. He hadnat given her any choices.

Maybe, if he had told her at least a little she wouldave decided to be with him anyway. Maybe. Maybe not.

She supposed she could see his side of it. Selfish as it was, he could certainly have no hope of getting a female to let him within a mile of her if she knew everything going in.

He was lonely.

Shead seen it in his eyes--even from the first--that neediness that had nothing to do with s.e.x and everything to do with desperation for human contact--or whatever. He couldnat go home and he wasnat supposed to have contact with humans.

He had to have been horribly lonely.

She shook that off. As awful as it made her feel, it wasnat her fault. Maybe he did and maybe he didnat deserve the punishment head gotten, but she certainly didnat deserve to suffer with him.

She had as much right to think of herself as he did, and if head spoken the truth, she had to think of the baby now, too. Making him leave wasnat going to be enough. If the angels or whatever they were could find her at the bar, they could certainly find her if she stayed in the city.

As badly as she hated it, it seemed to her that the only option to keep safe was to leave. She didnat like having to change her life, especially on the basis of what was supposed to have been only a one night stand, but pregnancy was always a risk when having s.e.x. Shead just been caught this time into something far more complicated than she thought would happen.

Izzy touched her stomach, wondering what it would look like, how it would feel in her arms a how she would ever figure out how to take care of it.

aGreat. Iam already getting emotional.a She felt positively weepy.

She straightened her spine and went to work packing up clothes and other essentials into a suitcase. It distracted her from thinking too deeply on anything more specific than what shoes shead bring and how many pairs of underwear.

She loaded up her car with the suitcases and bags of food and then headed out of town. Her family owned a shack in the bayous. They hadnat been there since last summer, but it was very remote and hard to find. Shead always hated the place, as much for its pest problem as for its solitude, but the solitude was a huge bonus right now.

She couldnat imagine anyone other than family being able to find her there.

Two hours later, she parked the car at the family shack. It was worse than she remembered, but she was certain shead get used to it.

A box of chocolates, a bag of Doritos, a quart of chocolate chip mint ice cream, and three days later, Isabel hadnat adjusted, and shead used up all her edible aentertainment.a Electricity that came on and went off at random intervals, no phone, no television, no internet, and only one dog-eared romance novel shead already read three times over the years--why in the h.e.l.l had she thought she could stand being out in the boonies?

More than anything, she had time. Time to mope around the shack and clean until it was more or less spotless. Time to dwell on all the mistakes shead made in her life. Time to start fantasizing about baby names and wallpaper. And time to start missing the h.e.l.l out of Raphael and to feel ultra guilty for leaving him without a word of where she was going.

What if she never saw him again?

Izzy worried her knuckle with her teeth, sitting on the legless, old couch with her legs curled up. She growled out loud and flopped onto her back, covering her face with an arm. Shead be nuts if she had to take a week of this.

She had to do something. As tempting as it was to simply dismiss everything shead learned about Raphael and head back to the city as if nothing in her world had changed, she knew that would be a stupid move. Coming down had been smart, even if she hadnat completely thought it through. Going back would be the ultimate stupidity.

She needed a job, she decided. She had plenty of savings and money wasnat a serious issue--wouldnat be if she stayed in the cabin, because G.o.d knew the d.a.m.ned thing didnat take much to maintain when it was just a box with a lid on it--little electricity and nothing fun and expensive. Aside from food and a tank of gas now and then, she didnat have anything to spend money on.

She still needed something to keep from going stir crazy. Chances were whatever job she could land in the little town closest to the cabin would barely earn her enough to make gas money, but that wasnat the point. Keeping from going nuts was the point.

Grabbing her purse, she left the cabin and headed into town.

Chapter Six.

Jobs were scarcer than henas teeth. Isabel had tried every store, all--one--restaurant--even the gas station. Most of the places were run by a single employee--the owner. Giving up on that idea for the moment, she lingered in town searching for something she could use to occupy her time while she was hiding out at the cabin.

Raphael had said that, in time, the baby would develop enough that it would protect itself from discovery--whatever that meant and she didnat really want to think about it a whole lot. Maybe, if she could just get through the next couple of weeks, she could go back to her apartment in the city?

She managed to round up some reading materials at the grocery store and the small used bookstore. When shead deposited them in her car, she headed down the sidewalk to the feed store and picked out some seed.

The proprietor pointed out that it was past planting season, but she wasnat planning on harvesting any of it. The only part she cared about was having something to do.

When shead combed every shop in town for small projects that had at least some appeal at the moment, she headed for the grocery store again to buy some edible entertainment.

She was going to get fat as h.e.l.l if she kept dosing her depression with food, but the remoteness of the cabin made her feel threatened if her cupboards were even slightly empty--which was strange because when shead lived in town there was almost never anything in any of her cabinets.

It was late by the time shead finished s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around and wasting her money on things she didnat really need. Dismayed that she hadnat noticed it was getting so late, she headed to her car, stowed the last of her purchases and headed out of town again.

The narrow road that led to the cabin wasnat made for speed. There were too many sharp twists and turns and huge potholes in the thing. By the time she got to the over grown track that led off from the road and back into the woods, it was already dark.

Feeling distinctly creeped out, and trying not to think about the fact that she was going to have to go into a pitch black cabin and feel around for her lamps, Izzy focused on keeping the car on the road and missing the trees that grew so close to the edge.

The cabin was black as pitch. The glow of the moon and stars lit the sky just enough to make a pale, eerie backdrop for the moss draped trees surrounding the cabin and add a little more creepiness to the scene.

Isabel studied the area for any sign of movement, working on dismissing the uneasiness she felt about getting out of the car and stumbling around in the dark. Most of the stuff shead bought would be alright to leave, but she would have to make at least two trips to get her groceries inside.

Pushing the car door open finally, she used the light from the overhead to scan the ground between the car and porch steps for any sign of snakes. When she saw nothing slithering across the ground, she grabbed a bag and dashed for the steps. The door was still padlocked. She had to set the bag down and use both hands to get it unlocked. When shead opened the door, she pushed it wide, trying to penetrate the darkness within. Dark shadows lay in darker shadows. She knew it was the furniture, but the hair lifted on her neck anyway. After studying over it for several minutes, she remembered there was a portable lamp on the small table near her favorite chair. Feeling her way across the room like a blind person, she managed to locate every piece of furniture in the room and bark her shins and toes on them before she fell over the footstool beside the chair shead been trying to locate.

ad.a.m.n it! s.h.i.t!a Crawling up, she found the table and finally the light. Relief flooded her as light filled the room. Getting to her feet, she examined her bruises and then lifted the lamp higher and scanned the room.

A tall man stepped through the rear wall as she illuminated it and Isabelas heart braked to a halt in her chest.

It wasnat Raphael--the man was fair--and it was for certain it wasnat the Elumi floating in the bayou.

Letting out a shriek, Izzy hurled her lamp at the winged manas head and whirled to vacate the cabin. Shead almost made it to the door when he slammed into her from behind. The impact might have propelled her through the door and maybe even over the car except that his arm cinched around her waist at the same moment. Izzy doubled over the immovable object, her face slamming into her thigh.

The impact knocked the breath out of her. Stunned, she hung limply from the arm holding her, fighting to drag air into her lungs. It was just as well it hadnat occurred to her to try to use her weight against her a.s.sailant, because he didnat seem to be having any trouble at all holding her with one arm.

Turning, he kicked the door closed. After surveying the room, he moved to the couch and dropped her onto it. Isabel wilted onto her back, nursing her bruised stomach and paralyzed solar plexus. Finally, the pain began to subside and she was able to drag a deeper breath into her lungs.

Blinking back the tears of pain, she searched the room for the creature she knew had to be an Elumi of Pearthen.

aYou stink of Marceenian.a The low growling voice jerked her head around.

He was standing in front of the door, his legs braced wide, his arms crossed over his chest.

Surprisingly enough, her electric lantern hadnat broken when shead thrown it at the Elumi. It lay on its side on the floor near the back wall now, however, and shed little light within the room.

Izzy licked her lips. She didnat especially like the way the Elumi was studying her. His lips curled upward in something more akin to a sneer than a smile. aI would not shame my name by lying with a human--especially not one that had already lain with a Marceenian and carries his half breed babe in her belly.a Anger surged through Izzy, submerging her fear. She realized almost at once, though, that he was trying to make her mad. She wasnat certain why, maybe to test her to see if she would try to fight?

Swallowing her anger with an effort, Izzy pushed herself upright and drew her legs up to her chest, trying to keep from showing him how scared she was.

Her thoughts were chaotic and fear and pain didnat help her sort them any. It occurred to her, though, that he must have followed her from town. Nothing else made any sense, for shead already been here several days. If head followed her from the city, she felt sure she would have seen him sooner.

So--he just happened to be in the neighborhood and caught the scent and decided to follow her?

Dropping his stance when she did nothing more than curl up on the couch, the Elumi moved away from the door. aI know that stench. It is that dog of a Marceenian, Raphael.a Startled, Izzyas eyes widened and she glanced at the man.

A smile curled his lips and she couldave kicked herself. Now she didnat know if head just been fishing or if head known already.