“On Homeworld, a person is classified by their birth parents. Midworlders are half breeds, where an Angelic or Demonic has bred with one of the other races, and we never fit in. We come to Earth to live, or we take a pill and die. We can read minds when we are full-grown, and the powers in charge don’t like it.”
“That’s appalling. I can’t say anything, though. Man has done worse to one another. I reckon we’ve two choices, you and I: give in and let people get the better of us, or take control and do whatever we have to. Sounds as though we both might end up dead anyway, so we should go out fighting.”
“You continue to amaze me with your toughness after what you’ve been through. I’ve only felt a slight touch of the darkness within you, and I sense it has cost you much.”
“I think when we go back to the real world, we should ask my aunt to help us more. When I healed you, I found her chants helped me. What do we have to lose?” It went through her mind that they had each other to lose when they had only just found each other. This was going to hurt so much when the end came.
“Can you swim?”
His comment caught her off guard. She had been expecting a remonstration to say they had to be sensible so she wouldn’t get hurt. “Yes. Since I was a toddler. Dad took me to swimming lessons. He said he was the only dad in the class. I did pretty good and got through the grades but didn’t want to do more.”
“When was the last time you swam in the ocean?”
She tried to think back. “So long ago. A group of friends and I went down to Torquay and had a boozy week when we finished school. Lost my virginity that weekend on the beach. Was not the best for either of us. Turns out sand is a killer of romance and the nether regions. Cheap wine will do that to you. At university, I just studied. Went to the local pool, but that was it.” Why the hell had she mentioned the virginity bit? Bringing sex into the conversation was not a good idea. He didn’t need to know about that. His first time had probably been a lot more dignified.
“If you close your eyes, I can change your clothes so we can swim.”
Evie took a deep breath and closed them. She could feel the cool breeze of the sea on her skin and opened her eyes to see she was wearing a lovely blue bikini. For a moment, she wondered how he knew her size in this imaginary world. Heath was standing down by the water’s edge in board shorts. Her breath caught in her throat seeing the scars on his chest. She wondered if they would ever fade because of the poison.
He ran into the surf, and she followed him and screamed as the cold water hit her body. She had forgotten how good it could feel to just swim free in the sea. She swam out to where he was waiting beyond the surf. If this were real, she would be aching so much after this exercise. When she made it closer to Heath, she treaded water and considered how he looked sexy all wet in the ocean with his fringe hanging down across his face and his gorgeous smile. She hoped he couldn’t read her thoughts because she wanted to run her hands all over his body. Whenever she was near him, it was like her hormones went into overdrive.
“See the headland over there? I’ll race you there.”
Before she could say a word, he was off. This didn’t seem fair, since he had a couple of hundred years more experience than she did. Stuff it. Her competitive streak hit home, and she started out after him. She wanted to see the look on his face when she beat him. She forgot how much she loved swimming. The water had always been a place where she could zone out from the world doing laps. Evie put her head up, and could see he was not far ahead. She was determined to catch him.
They both stopped about ten feet away from the rocky ridge, and their feet touched the bottom. She looked at Heath and could see he was laughing. It suddenly occurred to her if this was his dream, he had probably let her win. She wagged a finger at him, and he pouted and pulled an innocent face. It didn’t work. She dove across at him, determined to dunk him under the water. He got her first around the waist and they were a tangle of bodies falling backward under the waves. They both came back up spluttering and gripping the other’s shoulders.
They could not stop the laughter, but when they did she could not look away from his eyes. They were in the cold water of the ocean, but she was hot to the core. From the look on his face, as he glanced down at her lips, she sensed that his feelings were the same. No man had ever looked at her like that before. This was beyond lust, and she felt as if he wanted to devour her. And she wanted it too. He reached out with his hand, and his palm cupped her cheek. She leaned into it and moved closer so their bodies almost touched. She needed to keep a few inches between them to let her brain try to understand what her body was feeling. She wanted him so badly.
“Heath, are these thoughts yours or mine? I need to know if you’re influencing me.”
“This is my mind creating this world, but whatever you’re thinking is not influenced by me at all. However, when Midworlders are close to humans our feelings leach out a bit.”
That answered her question but was not exactly true. “Being this close to you makes me . . .” She wanted to screw his brains out, but she couldn’t say it.
“I want to make love to you, Evie.”
She breathed out, unaware she had been holding her breath. He put his hands around her waist and moved them down so they cupped her buttocks, pulling her close. She gasped, feeling the hardness of his dick against her. She wanted it inside her and knew it was the only way she would get relief from this incredible yearning.
“Evie, I can’t read your thoughts, but I can get your meaning and I want the same. From the first moment we met I’ve been drawn to you and couldn’t move away. I want to be truthful to you. I bonded with you because I believed it would save you, but I also did it because I wanted to keep you close.”
“If you’d told me that before I might have thought it a bit scary, but I know you have a good heart. We’ve both had pain and deserve some happiness.” She couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than being in his arms.
Heath bent his head and touched her lips with his, gently moving them back and forth across her lips with an occasional nip. His tongue ran over her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth to him. His lips pressed closer, and his tongue flicked against hers as they fought to get closer to each other. She ran her hands up and down his back. She considered the tattoos beneath her hands, and within seconds his wings appeared, splashing up through the water and spreading out. He placed his hands under her butt and lifted her so her legs encircled his waist as they lifted from the water. She couldn’t stop the giggle erupting from her throat as she put her arms around his neck.
She thought he would fly her back to the beach, but he didn’t. He flew out over the ocean, skimming the tops of the waves as she screamed. Seabirds flew along beside them, squawking at the invader in their territory. Then he flew up to the cliff tops and over the trees, where she reached down and touched the leaves. It was wonderful, and she glanced up at his face to see him gazing down and smiling at her.
“Thank you so much for this. I’d forgotten what it feels like to be free.” They swooped back to the beach and landed next to the shack, where he let her feet down. Now that they were here, her stomach turned over at the thought of being naked with him. She looked to the surrounding cliffs.
“Is anyone else here?”
“Just you and me.” Heath’s wings disappeared.
Evie ran her fingers across his chest and walked around to the back of his body so she could see the tattoos up close. The feathers disappeared into the band of his board shots, but she could see the tips of the tattoos on the back of his knees. She was glad he had taken her flying because it reminded her again that he was not human, though she was about to do a very human thing with him.
She took his hand and walked into the shack and knelt down on the bed. He knelt before her and kissed her as he pushed her gently back, so they lay next to each other. His lips were on hers again as his hand went to the back of her bikini to untie it at her neck, and it fell away. He moved back, staring down at her breasts, and she almost went to cover them.
“Evie, you have the most magnificent breasts I’ve ever seen. I want to adore every part of your body until you scream for me to enter you and give you the fulfillment you deserve.”
No one had said anything like that to her before, and she could feel her eyes tearing up. In truth, her heart was melting with each word. So what if this wasn’t real? It felt real, and a stunningly handsome, caring man wanted her. He moved so he was lying on top of her and started to kiss her neck. Little pecks at first, and then he swirled his tongue just below her ear. It caused her stomach to take a flip. She wanted him inside her now.
He looked up for a second and smirked. “Not yet, Evie.”
The tip of his tongue made a trail down to her nipple, which he took in his mouth. Her hand went to his head to push him against her as he nipped and sucked, and she bowed her back into him. When she thought she could take the sensations no longer, he moved to the other breast while his hand moved down and slipped inside her bikini bottom, where he could slide his finger into her. Her body automatically clenched onto him, and she heard the smothered groan coming from his lips as he sucked her nipple. Slowly, he moved his finger back and forth as his thumb gently massaged her clit. Dear God, they had only just started, and she was coming already. She gripped the sheets as she screamed her release as it pulsed through her.