Page 11 of Death Match

“It was foolish of me to try and relate to you that way. Telling you what I thought you wanted to hear instead of the truth,” he said. He slid closer to me on the couch. “You need to be able to rely on me in every way. Your burdens are mine.”

His hand came up and cupped the side of my face, and his thumb touched the place my single tear had fallen. “You don’t need to hide anything from me, and I know you feel like you have to, but you don’t need to go through it alone.”

I was about to pull away from him, but his weighted gaze locked with mine and refused to let go. I didn’t know much about Guardians, but something told me his words weren’t ones of a typical Guardian/Archangel partnership. He was speaking from a different place entirely.

Not knowing what else to do, I touched his wrist and leaned into his palm. Closing my eyes, I let myself feel the warmth of his skin and drifted away from all my fears and doubts. Even if it was only for a moment.

That’s when his lips pressed against mine, and instantly, a delicious heat spread through every inch of my body. The dense fog in my mind cleared, and all I could think about in that moment was Eli’s mouth on mine, and the feel of my pulse gaining speed by the second.

It was just a kiss, but God, did I wish I could bottle this feeling and keep it with me forever. Whenever things got too overwhelming, I’d just uncork the thing and relive this. Over and over until things calmed down again.

I couldn’t quite explain it other than being with him was peaceful. Calming. Safe. It was as if he could fix my problems if I’d let him, but all I had to do was take the big step and give in to him completely.

Another thing I wasn’t ready to do.

I let him ease me back into the cushions as he crawled over me. The kiss deepened, and I pushed my fingers through his hair, urging him on.

How many times had we ended up just like this in the last two weeks? Me struggling with what was ahead of me, all while trying to sort out my feelings for this angel, then turning to sex in hopes that being with him would sort everything out somehow. It didn’t, of course, but those moments of happiness were enough to hold me over until the next time.

Before I knew it, my shirt was being lifted over my head and tossed aside, the kisses now trailing down my neck and along my collarbone. His pelvis ground against mine; his erection pressed hard against me.

Maybe I was feeling this way because of what Eli had told me the night the censor had lifted. He and I were cut from a similar cloth, and he… He had been chosen for me.

When he kissed across my breasts, my head whirled with anticipation and desire. When he took one of my nipples into his mouth and sucked, I almost cried out. He moved to the next one, and his fingers fiddled with the button and zipper of my jeans. Like always, his movements were slow, deliberate, and full of passion. It was all about the wait with him, or as I liked to call it, the torture. That was more accurate.

This style of sex was not the kind I was used to, but it definitely did the trick, so I wasn’t complaining.

When I sat up, I noticed his pants had vanished—the illusion clothing he always wore for me no longer needed. Just as fast, he pulled off my own and chucked them somewhere across the room, along with my underwear. Then, he returned his attention back to leaving hot kisses all over my chest.

Every so often, he would glance up at me to see if I was enjoying it, his eyes hooded with his own lust, and I couldn’t help but moan. Then, his two fingers rubbed against my sex, feeling the slickness there, and I almost jumped out of my skin in surprise. He pushed them into me gently as his mouth traveled down my stomach.

Holy shit. He really knew how to get a girl going.

Part of me wanted to grab him by the shoulders and tell him to fuck me already. Get on with it. But the other part was enjoying the game too much, the torment of it all, and that was the part that won out every time.

He shifted himself lower, his mouth coming down on my sensitive nub, and I squirmed like I always did. Little explosions erupted all over me as he flicked and licked and sucked while his fingers worked me from the inside.

My back arched, and when another moan escaped my lips that sounded too much like his name, I heard him growl with pleasure against me. That alone—knowing he was enjoying this just as much as I was—was enough to send me hurling over the edge head first. My orgasm rocketed through me. It gripped every muscle and had me soaring high into the clouds. I clutched the couch’s armrest above my head with all my strength, crying out as my mind rode the wave of sheer pleasure back to my body.

Before I could fully come down, though, I opened my eyes to see Eli had moved again; he now hovered over me. His cock pressed into my tightness, every nerve ending sparking back to life. Since I was still sensitive from the first orgasm, it didn’t take much for Eli to have me climbing that hill once more. As he thrust deep and slow, his eyes stayed glued to me.

I gripped his shoulders, and as my nails bit in, he groaned.

This time, when I reached my high, he came with me, pushing himself all the way to the hilt and making me tremble with a mind-blowing combination of pure bliss and pain. His mouth came down on mine, kissing me with more fervor than he had when we’d started this sexcapade. When he finally pulled away, he stared down at me with that same weighted look he’d given me before.

I was about to ask him what was wrong, when he took a deep breath and said on the exhale, “I love you.”

My mouth clamped shut, unsure if I’d heard him right. There was no way I had. Right?

“There it is. I’ve finally said it.” Desperation tinged his tone now. I could even see it shimmering in his eyes as he continued to peer down at me, searching my expression for a response. “Jade, I love you.”

Nope, I hadn’t hallucinated. He’d said it. Those dreaded three words. And not once but twice now.

For the life of me, I couldn’t form a sound. Every muscle in my body tensed, and suddenly, it was hard to move. Hard to breathe.

“Jade?” He was still looking at me, trying to find something in my face that just wasn’t there. “Please say something…”

With a new wave of panic washing over me, I rolled out from under him and started picking up my clothes on the floor. I practically tripped over myself in my haste to get them all back on.

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