Page 14 of Achille's Earth Angel
Achilles nodded, his eyes darkening as he ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “You are a feast for all my senses,” he replied huskily. “I want to smell you, taste you, touch you and feed my hunger for you in every way possible.”
Her anger forgotten, Ange felt primal in that moment, possessive and hungry for all the same things he wanted from her. She pulled his head back down to meet her lips in a crushing kiss that set her own senses spinning. Her nipples hardened and ached with the desire to touch him skin to skin. The fire flared in her belly and pooled between her thighs.
She could feel him hardening beneath her bottom, his hands sliding under her tank top. Long fingers cupped her breasts and his thumbs found her nipples again, causing her body to arch backward in response. Their gazes locked and she ran her hands up beneath his shirt, feeling the humming in his chest and beneath her fingertips when he growled possessively.
She could smell him too, she realized, his scent was all around her. The smell of the ocean breezes, and a slight tangy odor as if he spent most of his time outdoors among the trees and the grasses. It was very appealing to her.
“Who do I ask for permission to court you, Angel? I understand your father is gone from what you said earlier on the beach. Do you have a brother?”
His words completely dampened the sensuality of the moment and Ange came back to reality with a heart-stopping jolt. Quick as a cat she was out of his arms and into the kitchen, suddenly needing a strong cup of tea. Flipping the teakettle back on for hot water, she set about getting the other things she needed. It felt good to have something routine to do in her suddenly crazy world.
When she glanced up, Achilles had followed her. He stood in the doorway, his broad arms folded across his chest, his green eyes penetrating as they studied her.
***
“I’M SORRY ABOUT YOURfather, Angel. Is that him in the picture on your wall?” Achilles nodded back towards the living room.
“Yes, that’s him.”
Her voice was clipped and he could feel the hurt in those few short words. He’d respected his father, and he’d taught him the art of war, but they’d never been particularly close. His family had been gone for centuries, but he still felt the loss of his mother and his son. And especially the loss of Briseis. He and Briseis had never been blessed with children either. Another wound from the past. Time was a strange healer, though. Given enough of it, you learned to endure loss.
“Do you want some tea?” Angel asked quietly as she reached for another cup from the cupboard over the counter.
“Yes, please.” Achilles moved to the cabinet and took her trembling hand in his as she picked it up. “I can get my own cup.” Her sky-blue eyes stared up at him as if unsure of herself, then she nodded and returned to the teapot.
“My mother loved teas of all sorts. I never failed to get her some when I had the chance.” He slid one of the kitchen chairs out and sat down to wait for the tea and sugar. “What kind do you have here?”
“It’s chamomile,” she replied briefly, her eyes flashing to his. “My father was the tea lover in our family. According to my father, Mother liked some teas, but she preferred diet Pepsi more, when she could get it. I like Pepsi, too.”
“Diet Pepsi? What sort of drink is that?”
She chuckled then and Achilles was happy to see her face losing some of its rigidity.
“It’s a calorie free drink because it has no sugar,” she explained. “Don’t ask me how it’s made, it just is. I think it might have cacao beans in it but I’m not for sure so don’t quote me on that.” The teapot began to whistle and she picked it up and poured hot water into both their cups.
“I’d like to try this diet Pepsi sometime,” he declared, shooting her an encouraging grin.
She grinned back and sat across from him, stirring her tea. “I think you’d like regular Pepsi better if you’re not on a diet, which I don’t think you are.” She cocked her head and Achilles took that to mean it was a question.
“I don’t restrict my food, if that’s what you mean,” he replied, stirring his own tea. Mother of Zeus, she was beautiful to look upon. Her wonderful hair, so pale with golden streaks in it, was loose around her face. His hand had taken the band away when they’d been kissing. He liked it better this way, she looked softer and more yielding.
“Do you like sweets?” she asked, turning slightly pink from his perusal.
He noticed the tips of her sweet breasts were hard against the thin material of her light blue tank top. He could feel his arousal beneath the table just from watching her sip her tea with pursed lips. What would they feel like on his manhood he wondered? He cleared his throat.
“I like all sorts of fruit, and some cakes with nuts, and sometimes dried, sweetened fruit in them. And I enjoy dates and figs now and then.” He took a sip of his tea, noting the goosebumps rise on her arms and a slight shiver shake her body. “Are you cold?” he asked. So far, she had ignored his original question. He didn’t intend to let her get by with that for long.
He wanted to court her, to woo her, not treat her like a courtesan from his father’s palace. The depth of his feelings for her actually surprised him. It had been like that with Briseis though. That instant attraction that means you’ve found a soul mate. It hadn’t been that way with his first wife, the mother of his son. Theirs had been an arranged marriage.
Ange shook her head. “No, I’m not cold, just...just...it’s been a long day,” she finally finished. She took another sip of tea. “I didn’t expect my father’s death to hit me this hard. And I suppose I’m having some regrets for not spending more time with him these past few years. I’m all he had, and I should have stayed closer to him.” She laughed lightly, shrugging her shoulders. “I think he would have been happier if I were a boy.”
Achilles didn’t miss the glisten in her eyes that indicated she was holding back tears. He immediately moved to the chair beside her and picked up the small fist of her left hand. Opening it, he brought it to his lips and tenderly kissed the soft skin of her palm. “I’m sorry, sweet one, but I’m glad you weren’t a boy. I’m also sorry that you don’t have any siblings. Being alone in the world can be frightening.”
She gave a hollow laugh. “I’m not really alone, Achilles. I have uncles, aunts, and cousins around. But I’ve often wished I had a sister at times. Dad never remarried after my mother died, he always said she was irreplaceable.”
“What happened to her?”
“She had a weak heart, a defect from birth. The doctors said it aged faster than the rest of her body and she died giving birth to me. I have no memories of her at all.”
