Jesse's mouth is on mine again, flicking his tongue inside my mouth.
I lift one leg, attaching it to his hip, unable to help the raw need lighting my skin on fire. At a future date, I have no doubt I'll be mortified, but now? I tangle my tongue with his and pull him closer, desperate to ride his cock.
He growls, lifting me off the floor, and I wrap my other leg around him. The tip of him presses against my opening. So close, and I can't help but want it. Want him.
Jesse pulls back, his eyes hungry and angry at the same time. "That's enough," he hisses, setting my feet back on the ground.
I shake my head, confused about the sudden shift of emotions.
"How long are you going to let this go on, Mira?" His sunrise eyes burn into me.
My mind immediately verifies what my body already knows. "All the way," I answer, my voice hushed.
He turns off the water. "Then what?"
Jesse knows. Somehow, he already knows why I'm here.
"Why didn't you just take the jewel and run?" He exits and grabs a towel, rubbing it over his face before wrapping it around his hips.
I'm frozen. My blood is humming with pleasure while my heart stutters with terror. Finally, I fall to my knees.
"Please," I beg, my eyes dropping to the white-tiled floor of the shower. "I was supposed to steal the gem, but I didn't. Let me make it up to you."
Jesse comes at me, grabbing me by the neck and lifting me off the ground. "Thief," he says. "Your kind don't deserve to live."
I'm choking and struggling to breathe. My nails claw at his hands, desperate for him to release me.
This is how it ends, I think, and meet his eyes.
But instead of him crushing my windpipe, he sets me down. His anger vanishes. "What the hell are you?"
I cough, trying to cover my nakedness.
He hands me a towel. "Spill it, creature."
Confused, I wrap the towel around myself. "I'm Mira," I say, unsure what he means.
"No, stupid girl. What are you, not who?" He pushes my hair off my neck and lifts my face out of the way so he can see my tattoo. Rubs the spot on my throat where I drew it on with waterproof eyeliner.
"Not human," he says, showing me the black smudge on his thumb.
"But I am," I say, some of my fear vanishing. "My mom is, I mean was human, which means I'm human too."
"And your dad?" He takes hold of my arm and drags me out of the bathroom, and pushes me onto the king-sized bed.
He removes his towel, and I'm mesmerized. His cock is still at attention. The body of an Adonis. Glorious. Beautiful.
My insides quiver. I've seen naked men before, but Jesse puts them all to shame.
"Speak," he says, drying himself off. "Tell me everything, or I'll fly you over the wall, drop you into the deepest, darkest hole, and leave you there."
At least he didn't say he'd spike me to the wall. "My dad died when I was little. Angels killed him." The hatred returns then, and the emotion soothes me.
He pulls on a pair of faded jeans and a tee-shirt with slits cut out of the back. Runs his fingers through his wet hair. "You're a damn liar. All humans bear the mark. You don't have the tattoo."
He spread my legs with a knee and kneels on the bed, his hands back on my neck. "You may not be able to die, but I can make you hurt, Mira."
Tears blur my vision. "I swear, I'm human," I eke out.
Jesse's eyes lock on mine as though he can search my very soul for the truth. "We'll see." He moves over to the chest of drawers and opens the top one.
From within, he pulls out a dagger. "Give me your wrist," he says, holding out his free hand.
"What are you going to do?" I try to sit up as terror like I've never known rushes through me. Despite that, I'm somehow still turned on, probably the aftereffects of my orgasm.
His fingers lock around my arm, and he touches the cold blade to my skin.
Did he intend to murder me and make it look like a suicide? "I should've known you would kill me. Angels are all the same. Egotistic. Evil. And revolting. I hate you all. I hate you," I say and spit in his face.
Immediately, I regret it.
In response, he slices the blade deep. Blood runs along the edge and down my arm, staining the carpet. Jesse brings the edge of the knife to his tongue. Tasting.
"Isn't this interesting?" He releases me, wiping the rest of my blood on my towel.
I grab hold of my wrist, expecting blood to gush out. Before my eyes, the laceration seals, and the cut is gone. I wipe away the blood. Too shocked to say anything. There's the truth. The voice—one I've ignored my whole life—fills my mind. You've known all along. You aren't all human.
Shit!
Memories erupt across my mind. All the times I fell and didn't get so much as a skinned knee. Most recently, when a mark tried to stab me. The blade had crumbled in his hand. I told myself it was just a cheap-ass knife.
Lies. I've been lying to myself for a really long time.
Jesse tosses the silver blade on the bed and yanks me onto my feet. He tugs the towel I'm wrapped in and wipes my spit off his face.
"Wh-What's interesting?" I ask. Because if I'm not human, then what the hell am I? I shake those thoughts away. I fucking am human, dammit. Again, I question the validity of that statement.
You know, the voice inside my head whispers.
I'm going insane. If I'm something other than human, that would also explain why the tattoo didn't take. It would explain a lot.
"I am human," I say again, not believing.
Jesse ignores my words and walks out of the bedroom and into the living area. "Get dressed," he says, without looking at me. Instead, he pops a piece of cheese in his mouth. Then he picks up the bottle of wine.
"Wait," I say, coming forward. Naked or not, I can't let him drink the poison. He might taste it and change his mind about not killing me.
Jesse turns, the tip of the bottle hovering near his mouth.
"I poisoned the wine," I say, glancing down at my hands.
He laughs and tips the bottle, pouring the liquid into his mouth. Some dribbles down his chin, and he wipes it with the back of his hand.
"I'm an archangel, Mira. There isn't anything earthly that can kill me," he says, slamming the empty bottle on the table.
"What about paranormal poison?" I can't help my curiosity even as I question whether what I put in the wine is anything more than water. Fileze obviously knew about Jesse, which means whatever was in that vial probably wasn't poison. If I lived through this, I'd find a way to make Fileze pay.
"Nope." Jesse retrieves my dress from the couch, studying it for a moment. Shakes his head. "I knew what you were here for the moment you turned up at my door." The cloth is dangling by his first finger.
"So you didn't ask me to come?" Fileze told me he'd worked Jesse over, and the angel had asked for a hooker. Another fucking lie.
"I don't need to pay for sex, Mira." Jesse flings the dress at me. "Have you seen me?" He tilts his head to one side, shoving a hand in his pocket.
I step into my dress, tugging it over my hips. The whole time, I watch him. Because yeah, the angel is damn fine. "You're okay."
At my retort, he laughs. Comes over and zips up my dress. "Whoever sent you here doesn't like you."
"Apparently, you're right," I say, feeling sick.
"What's his name?" Jesse drops onto the couch and grabs the box, opening it.
The jewel sparkles in the low light, and it's dazzling, but I look away.
"Fileze, the effing werewolf sleaze bucket," I say, pissed. Pick up my heels and sit beside him.
Jesse lifts one perfectly sculpted brow as recognition crosses his face.
"You know him." I bend over to slide on one of my shoes.
"Heard of him." Jesse holds out the box in front of me. "Pick it up."
"I don't want to," I say, shoving it away and moving to put on my other shoe. "I only came here because Fileze promised that I'd be free of him and could be my own boss if I did this job. He was giving me two streets to run.." The notion sounds ridiculous now. I'm an utter fool. "Are you still going to throw me in that pit?" I wring my hands together. Death would probably be better than that.
"Actually, no." He picks up the jewel and holds it out for me once again.
"Thanks, but I really—"
"Touch the damn jewel, Mira."
I sigh and do as he asks, taking it into my hand. It's heavier than expected. Warm to the touch. And getting warmer. The light that emanates from within leaks out and curls around my fingers. I gasp. Try to drop it, but the jewel clings to me. The light reaches my elbow.
"What's happening?" I search Jesse's face for answers.