Her smile robbed him of breath. It was hard to think of anything but the swell of affection and longing for her that overtook him and the absolutely amazing feeling of her touch. She swept him away as surely as Lorelei.
The comparison shifted the gears of his brain. He tried to concentrate. The last thing he wanted was for her to be hurt or resentful over some misunderstanding. “Rachel,” he said, “things have…um…”
She turned his head to expose his neck. She kissed it, and then his ear, then his neck again. “Wow,” he breathed. “That’s…oh wow. Rachel. Wait. I have to tell you. Lorelei.”
She turned his head back to face her. Her smile was undiminished. It seemed to brighten. “I know everything,” she said with barely-contained excitement. Then she turned his head the other way and started on this untouched side of his neck.
Alex gasped again. “You know?”
Rachel giggled, releasing his head so he could face her. “She loves you. You love her. You’re in love together. It’s the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve hardly taken my eyes off of you since Friday night.”
It was then that Alex noticed. “You’ve got your wings back?” he blinked.
She kissed him again. He saw sparks. Fireworks. He didn’t have a word for it, nor did he need one. Rachel’s kiss was like nothing else. She hadn’t even come off of his face when she whispered, still partly chewing on his lips, “Thanks to you. And her. Mostly you.”
A shudder went through him. “How…” he gasped, “What’d I do?”
“The impossible,” she said before she licked and ravenously kissed his lips again.
Alex kissed back. He couldn’t get enough. His heart pounded and his body trembled. He’d just been pondering how much could be too much, but now…
…now there was another heart in the mix. One he cared about deeply. Rachel’s kiss robbed him of worry, but not of concern. She granted both excitement and comfort. She didn’t steal his thoughts. “Rachel,” he fought to say, “there are others. My life’s a mess.”
“Your life’s fucking awesome,” Rachel countered, not letting up in her assault of kisses and licks and nibbles all over his face and neck. “I’ve seen everything.”
“Everything?”
“I’m all better now. I can see you anytime I want,” Rachel said. It should’ve alarmed him, but he couldn’t see anything wrong with it. This was his guardian angel. She was supposed to see. “I saw you with Onyx before Lorelei got back to you. But after that…after the restaurant, I could see everything. I saw you together. I saw you with Jocelyn. With Taylor. I almost walked in and took her up on it yesterday when she said I should fuck you. You have no idea how hard it was to resist taking you for myself.”
“I’m worried that this is all too much.”
“I don’t think you’ve had nearly enough. I see you. I know you. Your girlfriend and I have already talked. I know how you feel about me. You know Lorelei’s okay with it. Don’t you dare tell me you don’t have room in your life for me,” she whispered hungrily into his ear.
“I want to. So much. But I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re not going to hurt me,” Rachel grinned. “We’re going to be awesome.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know you, Alex. Maybe better than you know yourself.” Her eyes seemed a bit sad for a moment. “I wish I could tell you everything I know, but I can’t. It’s all stuff that mortals aren’t meant to know. But if you trust me,” she said, running her fingers through his hair, “I promise you we’ll be happy together.”
Despite his troubles, he grinned back. “That’s kinda creepy.”
“I know. Can’t be helped. I’m not staring at you while you sleep or anything, ‘cause that’s just dorky. Still, it’s like Taylor said. I’m a total stalker,” she admitted cheerfully. “But I’m the sexiest stalker ever, and you love it and you know it.”
“That’s even creepier,” Alex chuckled. Then he blinked. “Wait, you watched us?”
Rachel trailed kisses up and down his neck and the sides of his face as she spoke. “I saw everything and heard everything. I’ll keep your secrets. I’ll protect you. I’m your angel. Your devoted…vigilant…naughty…horny angel.”
* * *
“That’s not who I saw,” Onyx said in slow awe. She and Molly looked on with wide eyes at Alex and the blonde in white crawling on top of him. A janitor yelled at them to get up off of the pile of leaves. He stood two feet away from them, seeing only an ordinary if very pretty blonde girl cuddling with a guy in a leather jacket. Yet the couple appeared to be utterly oblivious to the poor janitor.
“Well, the book said a succubus could change shape,” Molly suggested. Like Onyx, she could read auras and pierce supernatural concealments. It was all just a matter of practicing the right enchantments. Unlike Onyx, though, this was her first direct observation.
“The woman I saw had a tail but no wings. This chick’s got wings but no tail.”
“Pretty wings,” Molly noted. “But she can’t really be what she looks like, right?”
“They look happy together,” Onyx murmured.
“Yeah, but he’s worried. I can’t read her aura, though. It’s too bright.”
“You think that’s weird?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a chick with invisible wings and an aura this bright before.”
“Maybe it’s that bright to make it hard to read?”
“Maybe. Like you said, they seem happy. But he also seems worried.”
“He worries. He does that. I think that’s normal,” Onyx thought aloud. She still hadn’t taken her eyes off the blonde as she made out in the big pile of leaves with the only guy Onyx had ever gone to bed with. Onyx didn’t want to feel jealous; she knew he had someone else. So did she, and her lover sat right beside her. Even seeing him with his lover shouldn’t have been a bother. But to see him looking that happy with someone else…
“Can you be that happy and still be worried?”
“You are whenever we’re figuring out the bills together,” Onyx shrugged. “He was happy with me, too. I’m worried about her. They’re getting up. Think we should follow?”
“Yeah,” Molly nodded. “This is too weird.”
* * *
“Y’know, I’ve never been to his house before,” Taylor thought aloud. She sat behind the wheel of her car as Lorelei retrieved her keys. They were parked just outside the entrance to the building. “I knew it was here, because Drew lives right over there, but…huh. Weird.”
“How long would it take you to get from here to your next class?” grinned Lorelei.
“Oh no,” Taylor said with unconvincing reluctance. “I couldn’t. This has been crazy and wonderful already, I just…”
She felt a hand on her leg. Taylor looked down at it. That shapely, sexy woman’s hand slid up her leg toward her crotch. “What possible reason do you have to deny yourself, Taylor?”
“You’ve already been so good to me…” Her eyes slowly closed.
“And I have been happy to be of service,” Lorelei whispered into her ear. “I am made for this, Taylor. It is no inconvenience. Alex offered me to you.”
“Mmmhh. He told you?” Taylor’s words were almost dreamy.
Lorelei tilted her head curiously. “Told me what?”
Fingers brushed up against the material of Taylor’s jeans between her legs. “That I could borrow you sometime.”
Lorelei’s grin became a broad, hungry smile. “No, he did not. Did he say when?”
“No,” Taylor shook her head. She held Lorelei’s wrist with one hand to make sure it wouldn’t go anywhere. “He just promised not to ask questions.”
“This is intriguing. Are you sure you won’t come inside to discuss this?”
“Does discussing…involve being naked?”
“All the best discussions in that home do,” the succubus chuckled.
“Okay,” Taylor surrendered. As she followed Lorelei through the gate, Taylor figured there was something admirable about the way Alex put aside these pleasures to go to class. Admirable and downright silly. They had lingered in the honeymoon suite for two active, intimate hours already. Yet here Taylor was, sticking around for more.