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  She shook her head in stark denial. “No, what I’m feeling right now isn’t real. It’s just a chemical reaction.”

  His laugh was low and liquid, the hoarse sound practically electrifying her nerve endings. “What more is there to life than that? Instinctive, biochemical responses from one to another? Attraction, fear, lust…all chemistry.”

  Ruby sucked in a breath as his hand lifted to her face, slowly tucking the loose strand of hair back into place. The arm that shoved into his throat slid back, though that did nothing to ease the tension from his body. His flesh was rock hard beneath the hand that pressed into his chest, making it impossible to escape the knowledge that he was probably just as hard everywhere else.

  God, how could any woman stand it? Her body was on fire. It was a miracle her clothes didn’t singe off.

  She placed her other hand onto his chest, trying her best not to notice the heat of his skin beneath the soft, fitted cloth of his T-shirt, and used it as leverage to push her upper body back. In a moment she’d have the energy to scoot off him completely. She hoped.

  “I don’t have time for lust.” To her surprise, her voice came off firm and strong. “I have a group to lead and a rebellion to plan. We don’t have time for any of this.”

  A hint of amusement bled into Jason’s eyes and his lips curled into an easy grin. “No one ever plans for love, but it happens anyway.”

  Instinctively she recoiled from his words. “Love? That’s not what this is.” It couldn’t be. She’d never allow herself to fall in love. She’d never give herself the opportunity to be broken, like her mother.

  One of his eyebrows quirked upward. “Call it what you will. All I know is this.” His voice deepened. “We are at war. For all we know, we may be dead tomorrow. What’s the point in wasting our time fighting what we want?”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but he made a very good point. They could be dead tomorrow. If the past few years had taught her anything, it was that. Angels were powerful, as Jason had just demonstrated. No matter how much fighting expertise she and her crew gained, the angels would always have powers they couldn’t compete against.

  “I…” She moistened her suddenly dry lips. “I don’t want this.”

  Jason snorted, clearly recognizing the blatant lie for what it was. “Can you truly say that?”

  His hands reached out to rest lightly against her outer thighs. Though his touch was soft as butterfly wings, it ignited a burst of heat deep within her belly. The sexual hunger that she’d long hidden inside herself.

  Hell, maybe he was right. Here she was, twenty-six years old, and she’d had sex a grand total of zero times. Needless to say, living down here, pickings had been slim. Of course there was always Adam, and she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t considered it a time or two after her mother died, if for no other reason than pure curiosity. But it would have complicated things, would have led him to hope for something that would never come to pass.

  She didn’t love him. So ultimately she’d chosen against it.

  Still, did she really want to die a virgin?

  Shit. She stifled a laugh when she realized the direction her thoughts had taken. An unmated angel had been in her presence for less than twenty-four hours, and here she was already contemplating having sex with him.

  You knew they were dangerous, Ruby. And she was just beginning to realize how much.

  “We don’t have time for this,” she found herself repeating. But when she tried to rise, his hands tightened on her legs.

  “Ruby…”

  The hint of longing and frustration wafting from his aura stopped her cold. For the first time she realized what she’d been trying to instinctively deny all along. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. Even more so, perhaps. After all, he was no doubt centuries old, and knew just what he was missing when it came to matters of the flesh.

  The awakening recognition of Jason’s desire caused an overwhelming wave of hunger to rise up within her, making her impulses go haywire.

  Oh, fuck it. Just one taste.

  With a muffled curse, she gave in to the gnawing urge to act. Snatching the cloth of Jason’s shirt into her hands, she lifted his upper body a few inches off the floor, then met him halfway down in a clash of lips, teeth, and tongue.

  Chapter Five

  He must be dreaming. There could be no other explanation for the honeyed lips touching him, or the silken tongue tangling with his. Ruby kissed him like a woman possessed, and surely that must be in his imagination.

  Jason wrapped his arms around Ruby’s shoulders, drawing her further down toward him. His fingers brushed along the soft tendrils of hair escaping her ponytail. Though he couldn’t see color of her red curls with her face pressed against his, he could practically feel the fiery shade through the press of his fingertips. Or maybe it was the woman herself who was almost on fire.

  Echoes of desire, frustration, and a hint of confusion wafted from her aura. Even more interesting, though she didn’t lack for passion, there was an inexperienced tint to the insistent rub of her lips and tongue against his.

  She let out a little moan and tilted her head just a fraction, and all thought melted from his mind. His cock, already semi-rigid from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her, grew even harder, urging him to shift his hips upward so just the tip of him grazed against her bottom through the fabric of their jeans. To his shock and delight, she rewarded him with another moan and ground down hard, sending slivers of sharp passion cascading through his body. His back bowed up in response, and he gasped hard against her mouth. After over ten years of abstinence, he feared he might not last much longer than this.

  “No,” he whispered, his voice harsh to his own ears.

  In a purely desperate maneuver, he tightened his hands over Ruby’s hips and expertly rolled until her body lay beneath his. Grasping her hands, he slid them up over her head and held them imprisoned there, giving him total control of the situation. Much to his surprise, she didn’t fight him on it, even though it must go against her very nature to remain in such a submissive position.

  A hint of guilt drifted over him as he gazed down at her gorgeous face. Her eyes were hazy and half-shut.

  Shit, it wasn’t really fair of him to take advantage of her like this, was it? She’d never been around an unmated angel before, so she’d had no clue what to expect.

  “Don’t stop,” she ordered, her eyes flickering with a layer of heat.

  Yeah, he couldn’t. Fair or not, primitive instinct urged him to claim his mate, to make her his own.

  A low rumble tore from his throat as he lowered his head back to hers, drinking in the oh-so-sweet taste of her lips. His hands longed to wander the length of her body, to feel the softness of her skin, but he kept them on her wrists, half afraid she’d push him away otherwise.

  When his hips lowered so that the hardened heat of him brushed at the apex of her thighs, she moaned and arched upward. The pressure of her body against his sent a wave of white-hot heat from the top of his head to his toes. He shivered with the intensity, so caught up in the moment that he didn’t process the soft tread of a pair of shoes until the voice began to speak from somewhere out in the hall.

  “Hey Ruby, you still in there? I need to know if you want--”

  Jason broke away with an inward curse, but before he could tear himself from Ruby’s luscious body, the voice cut off abruptly and the footsteps froze in place.

  Oh, hell.

  His stomach sank when he glanced toward the doorway, where Ruby’s second-in-command Adam currently stood, looking like he’d just gotten sucker-punched in the gut. Didn’t take a genius to figure out the man had a thing for Jason’s future mate. Well, it was for the best if he learn quickly what Jason meant the nature of his relationship with Ruby to be. Adam was simply going to have to adjust to it.

  “Get off me,” Ruby snarled into his ear. He realized with a start that while he’d stupidly been laying there processing the presence of
their unexpected intruder, she’d been struggling to free herself from his grasp. His cheeks heated and he scrambled off her, sitting back on the floor.

  Ruby’s face blazed as red as her hair as she rubbed her wrists and sat up. She couldn’t quite look Adam in the eyes when she muttered, “Uh…I…we were practicing some tactical maneuvers.”

  He fought back a snort. Adam would have to be a total idiot to buy that, and the man clearly wasn’t one.

  Adam’s jaw finally snapped shut. One hand crept to his stomach, pressing the spot as if to combat a twinge of pain. That unconscious maneuver sparked a nugget of pity within Jason’s chest, because he remembered all too well how it felt to get sucker-punched by love.

  Except, in his case, it had been because the woman he loved had died…

  When Adam’s gaze moved from Ruby to him, he swallowed at the intensity in the man’s eyes. If looks could kill, right now Adam would have the perfect weapon at his disposal.

  “What’s up?” Ruby asked, seemingly recovering her poise as she casually bounded to her feet.

  “I…um…never mind.” With those choked words, Adam turned and fled from the room.

  Ruby kept her gaze on the doorway for one long minute before taking a deep, shuddering breath. She turned to him, and it was only then he realized he’d never actually gotten up from the floor. Heavens, the woman made him lose all sense.

  “Great,” she spat, her cheeks darkening to match her name. “That’s just great.”

  “Sorry,” he offered lamely as he rose to his feet. What else could he say?

  Her lips twisted into a grimace and her gaze flickered away. “Please,” she said grimly, “just go.”

  His heart fell at the sad look on her face. “But—”

  “Please,” she repeated, with just the slightest hint of pleading in her tone.

  Though it went against his every instinct, Jason acceded to her wishes with a soft sigh. He’d give her the space she needed…for now. But whether Ruby realized it or not, she’d sealed her fate the moment she’d pressed her lips to his.

  Ruby Miller was his mate. And he would stop at nothing to claim her for his own.

  *****

  For all the on-the-job leadership training Ruby had received over the years, sometimes she could be a real idiot. What the hell had she been thinking?

  When she’d first sought Michael out after seeing him on her surveillance video, she’d expected to feel fascination for his kind. After all, she’d always been fascinated by her father. Even the lust she’d felt upon seeing Jason hadn’t been a surprise. She knew from her mother’s statements how intense the presence of an angel could be for a woman.

  But to want to taste his lips so badly that the desire overrode all common sense? She’d let him roll around with her on the ground, for heaven’s sake! And to think that Adam had actually found them like that. The thought made her shudder yet again.

  Living underground, it was mighty damn difficult to avoid someone you didn’t want to run into. Yet that was what she’d found herself doing the entire day: dodging left and right every time she thought she might have seen a glimpse of Adam’s figure. The last thing she wanted to do was have a confrontation with him. Worse yet, have to come up with some plausible explanation for her actions. Because she couldn’t very well tell Adam the truth: that she just couldn’t help herself.

  Hell, Ruby, what have you gotten yourself into now?

  By some miracle, or more likely because Adam was also trying to avoid her, she managed to make it through the whole day without running into him again. Jason either, for that matter, though she’d seen him wandering here and there with the other angel, Nate. She’d managed to pretend like their presence there was commonplace… until she walked into the dank, dark surveillance room that night and caught a glimpse of Jason on one of the cameras.

  “What’s he doing?” she asked, coming to a stop right next to where Rick was seated.

  He glanced at the screen in front of him. “Looks like he’s headed outside.”

  That’s what it looked like to her, too. Jason walked alone down the crumbling corridor that led to the manhole and the abandoned warehouse. Rocks and debris shifted under his feet as he purposefully strode forward.

  “Why’s he going outside?” she asked without bothering to hide the thread of alarm coloring her tone.

  Not that it was expressly forbidden, but she liked to limit the comings and goings aboveground. Most of her crew had set dates and times in which to leave their little sanctuary.

  Rick shrugged. “Got me. He didn’t say anything about it, just strode in here and went right through the door as if he owns the place.”

  A quick scan of the other cameras revealed the coast was clear in the warehouse and surrounding area. Still, the control freak in her had her whirling on her heel toward the iron door set into one end of the surveillance room. She grasped the handle and twisted it, pushing the door open just far enough that she could slide her body through.

  The door creaked as she shut it, focusing her gaze on the other end of the long, narrow tunnel. In the dim lighting, she could barely make out the shadow of the tall man standing on the other end. That didn’t stop her body from recognizing him though. Her pulse sped up, and the merest hint of seductive leather and spice wafted to her nose. What was it about that particular scent that was so arousing?

  Shaking off the dizzying haze of lust that had already begun to form, she started forward, concentrating on placing one foot in front of the other without stumbling. Normally that wasn’t a problem, even though the floor was littered with rubble. But she was beginning to realize nothing was normal when it came to the presence of a certain Fallen.

  Though he must have heard her approach, Jason kept his back to her, his gaze turned up toward the top of the ladder, where the manhole cover was set firmly into place. His feet were planted firmly apart, hands casually slung into the pockets of his jeans. The position showcased the muscles of his biceps where the T-shirt he wore stretched taut just about them. And with his head tilted like that, the back of his hair trickled down to wave slightly over the collar of his shirt.

  It’s just not fair that he’s so freaking beautiful.

  Only once she’d traversed almost the entire length of the cobblestone floor did he turn to face her. She stopped a few feet from him and his mouth curved into a casual smile that caused her heart to temporarily clench.

  Jason’s gaze flicked upward. “Think it’s safe to go up?”

  “Why?” Her cheeks grew hot when she noted the harsh tone of her voice. “I mean, what do you need to get from up there?”

  One of his brows arched. “Nothing. Just thought I’d scout the area a bit.”

  “But my cameras can do that,” she pointed out.

  Amusement flashed on his face and he shrugged. “Okay, you got me. I needed some fresh air. Besides, I want to stretch my wings some.”

  Her breath hitched at the thought of his wings. Though she hadn’t seen them yet, she could only imagine how they’d look: large and dark and imposing. Something about the thought was beyond erotic.

  Jason’s eyes traveled over her face. “Want to come with me?”

  All the air escaped her lungs in one whoosh. Was he actually inviting her along on a flight? The thought of it sent beams of energy racing through her body. She hadn’t flown since the last time she’d seen her father so many years ago, and words couldn’t begin to express how much she’d missed it. At the same time, it was dangerous…so dangerous, and she’d grown far too accustomed to living in close, cramped quarters beneath the ground. Flying high above it was an entirely different matter.

  “Do…do you think it’s a good idea?” she found herself saying.

  His brow quirked up once more. “You’re afraid.”

  Something about the way he said it got her hackles up.

  “Not afraid,” she argued, instinctively squaring her shoulders. “Just careful.”

  He looked at her for one
long, calculating moment before a cocky grin temporarily transformed his gorgeous face. “With my speed and your hypersensitivity to other angels, we can’t lose.”

  Well, he had a point there.

  Caution warred with the primitive desire to experience flight once again, flight in his arms. The latter finally prevailed.

  “Okay. I’m in.”

  Jason grinned again. Before she could prepare herself, he grasped the hem of his T-shirt and carelessly tugged it over his head, dropping it to the ground with no regard.

  Holy fu—

  Well aware that his gaze was tight on hers, she stopped her eyes from snapping down toward his abs, as they so desperately wanted to do. She couldn’t stop the heating of her flesh, however, or the softening of her body. No doubt he sensed the stark desire coursing through her veins as well.

  You don’t fight fair, do you, angel? Her gaze tight on his, she allowed the wordless question to form between them. His visible amusement increased, if anything.

  Did you expect anything less, his eyes seemed to ask.

  Honestly, no. She knew a little bit about angels. In order to preserve their strength and immortality, they needed to find a mate. Something about the chemicals released during intimate relations perpetuated their eternal life, but only when their mate also had angelic blood.

  In other words, a nephilim like her was more precious than gold to an unmated angel like Jason.

  Do your best, Fallen. I’m not ready to be caught.

  When he let out a long, low laugh, she realized he’d read her unspoken challenge…and accepted it.

  Oh boy. Something told her she was in for one hell of a ride.

  Chapter Six

  Shades of azure and gold from the lights on the neighboring bridge tickled the waters of the East River, casting an unearthly glow around the iron railing Ruby leaned over. One of the things she’d always enjoyed about their secret location was its proximity to the water. Walk a few hundred feet from the warehouse and you ran smack-dab into the river. On some nights, she liked to just come out here to look out at the water, and imagine what life would be like without the angels to rule over them. Since the area was abandoned and the curfew was in place, she never had to worry about strangers wandering by. This was the first time she’d lacked the foresight to bring a jacket with her in this sort of weather, however. While it was a bit warm for October, her thermal shirt didn’t provide as much protection from the biting breeze as she would have liked.