Send Me An Angel Read online

  Ellie made a flying leap and managed to slam it shut before he walked out. “You do need clothes to fit in. So much so, you are not allowed to walk around in public without them. You wait here. I’ll go and buy you something.” She eyed his impressive physique. “I don’t suppose you know what size you are?”

  “I take a standard third rank Seraphim.” He looked over his shoulder. When he turned back, his eyes were bleak. “I won’t need provision for wings.”

  Ellie’s heart contracted. “Falling hurt you, didn’t it? Why did you do it?”

  Peter lifted his compelling eyes to hers. In them she could see infinity, just for a moment. “I was conceived when my mother made an illicit visit to earth. She had a passionate affair with a man she met there. He was an angel too. Or he had been. He was one of the fallen who’d followed Lucifer.” He leaned against the wall. “From the moment I was born, I have been watched carefully. Expected to follow the rules more closely. Kept from the temptation to rebel like my parents. He,” Peter’s eyes looked upwards at something Ellie could not see, “Wouldn’t contemplate giving me a job that let me leave Heaven, even temporarily. I could not be a warrior or a guardian angel. I was a counsellor. My duty was to help new arrivals. To listen to what worried them, to help them understand life in Heaven, to see how fortunate they were to be there. It was supposed to keep reminding me too. Heaven was where I belonged. Instead, I listened to people who grieved for the Earth. Who grieved for the ones they loved. For the things they left behind. People who couldn’t bear the thought of never having sex, or love, again.”

  He spread his arms wide. “Their longing for the physical was something I had no experience of, something I needed to understand. I came to see for myself.” He looked at her and his smile flickered back into life. “Falling was not so bad, really. After the first moment, I lost all consciousness. When I awoke I looked into the eyes of…” his grin turned mischievous, “someone who was not an angel.”

  Ellie blushed when she remembered exactly what she had been looking at when she’d first encountered him on the step, and that reminded her she had to get him something to wear. She was reasonably sure K-Mart did not sell clothes size standard seraphim. She took a quick, visual survey. Well, that was the intention. ’Quick’ and ’visual’ and ’survey’ did not go together in any way when dealing with Peter.

  She closed her eyes. She scrunched up her face in order to keep them firmly shut. When she knew she couldn’t see him, was sure she wasn’t going to accidentally allow her lids to flutter open, she was able to say, “I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” At least she knew she meant that part.

  She pushed him back down onto the lounge, gave him a quick rundown on the use of the remote and fled.

  When she returned, laden with enough clothes to keep Peter dressed for far longer than she expected him to stay, he wasn’t alone. Her friend Jeanne was sitting on the sofa, snuggled up right next to him. Jeanne’s head was on his shoulder. His arm was wrapped around her, holding her close. The only things stopping Ellie from hitting them both on the head with her shopping bags was that Peter was still firmly wrapped in the blanket and Jeanne had tears running down her face.

  Ellie dropped her parcels and walked to the couch. A long look from Peter stopped her. He gave a tiny shake of his head, not enough to disturb Jeanne, but a clear warning nonetheless.

  Ellie retreated to the other side of the room and watched as he bent to murmur something in Jeanne’s ear. Jeanne nodded and let him gently wipe away her tears. Ellie could see his lips moving and occasionally she heard the deep hum of his voice, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  As Ellie watched, the tight line of Jeanne’s lips relaxed and the two vertical grooves that had been carved on either side of her mouth disappeared. She looked different, and the change made Ellie realise Jeanne hadn’t looked happy for a while. How could she have missed the signals that something was wrong when Peter had obviously picked them up right away?

  Jeanne drew a deep, shuddering breath. She clasped both of Peter’s hands in hers and said clearly, “Thank you.” She looked up and for the first time noticed Ellie. “Oh, Ellie. You’re back. I came early to make sure the arrangements for your birthday were exactly the way you wanted.” She sniffed and ran her hand over her cheeks. “I met your friend. We were talking about David. I know when he went to the UK to work, you said forget him and find another man. But I can’t, Ellie. I miss him so much. Your friend Peter was helping me with ways to cope—with some alternatives.” Her smile was watery but definitely there. “He’s very good.” She turned back to Peter. “You must be a counsellor or something.”

  Peter smiled. “Or something.”

  Jeanne looked at Ellie, who braced herself for the barrage of questions sure to come. Jeanne had been her best friend since kindergarten. Surely she, of all people, would be curious, amazed, stunned to find someone like Peter in Ellie’s living room. Ellie tipped her head on the side and waited. Any minute now, Jeanne was going to start demanding to know how a naked man came to be sitting on Ellie’s couch. Any minute she was going to start shrieking and threatening to call Ellie’s mother, or the police, or a psychiatrist. Her shock and curiosity were going to burst out of her. Almost immediately. Any time now.

  Ellie waited. And waited.

  After a long pause Jeanne spoke. “Ellie? What’s the matter? You haven’t said anything since you walked in.”

  “Jeanne, there is a strange man, wearing nothing but a blanket, sitting on my couch. This is not some new decorating trend. Aren’t you at all interested in how he got there? Or why he’s there? Or who he is?”

  Jeanne smiled again. “Oh, I know who he is. He’s Peter.”

  Ellie shook her head. “And that’s it? That’s all you need to know? He’s naked, Jeanne. Did you happen to notice that?”

  “Maybe. But when he explained…”

  “Oh, he explained, did he? I would love to know how he did that.”

  Jeanne looked momentarily baffled. “He said… He said…” Her brow furrowed. “Well, I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it made perfect sense. I understand why he’s here.”

  Ellie shot a quick look over to Peter. His grin had all the innocence of a twelve-year old. His angelic face hid a very crafty mind.

  Jeanne headed for the bathroom to wash her face.

  Ellie squared off and faced him. “How did you do that? Make her accept your being here?”

  He winked. “That information is classified. A need-to-know basis. And not everyone needs to know.”

  “And you can control it so people don’t feel the need to know?”

  He smirked. Amazing how, with a face like that, even a smirk looked appealing.

  Ellie gave him her patented glare again. “If that’s true, why didn’t you do it to me?”

  He developed a sudden interest in the pattern of the blanket covering him. “When I first woke up, my mind wasn’t working quite the way it should have been. I, um, wasn’t fully aware of what I was doing. Even now, I don’t seem to have that kind of power over you. And then there was my body… I was being drowned in sensation.” He looked up at Ellie.

  She made a discovery. It was quite possible for an angel to look devilishly wicked. She cast her eyes downwards and gasped. The blanket covering him was starting to have a remarkable resemblance to a tent. A tent with a very definite centre pole.

  She licked her lips.

  Peter shrugged. “It’s you.” He followed her gaze, “This did not happen when your friend sat next to me, not even when I hugged her. This is part of sex, yes?” His grin got wider and even more devilish. “I think it wants to have sex with you.”

  Ellie swallowed. It appeared a small mountain had lodged itself in her throat. “Having, um, er, sex, actually involves, should involve more than just that particular, um, more of your equipment than…”

  His eyes glowed. “There’s more? Show me.”

  Ellie had no idea what she
would have said or done next, if Jeanne had not returned from the bathroom.

  Ellie shoved the bag of clothes at Peter and pushed him into the bedroom.

  Her doorbell rang, and two more friends arrived to help celebrate her birthday. They were standing around making the usual cacophony of sound that accompanied everything they did together, all talking at once, joking and laughing, when a total, unnatural hush fell over them. Ellie’s back was to the bedroom door, but she could tell by the fixed expressions on their faces and the glazing of their eyes, Peter had emerged.

  Ellie turned, slowly.

  She didn’t know what had compelled her to buy white jeans and a white shirt for him. If anyone had asked her, she would have said the combination was ridiculous and far too likely to show the dirt. But she’d put them in the basket anyway.

  Now she knew why.

  His narrow hips and long, long legs encased in the white denim fabric, the shirt he’d managed to button up just wrong enough to let the glow of his golden skin shine through, offering tantalising glimpses of the muscled wall of his chest, looked absolutely…

  “He’s divine.” Casey’s whisper was awestruck. “Where in heaven’s name did he come from?”

  “Oh, he, er, I just…” Ellie’s voice trailed off. She looked at Peter, hoping he’d provide some explanation. He gave another minute shake of his head. She was on her own. “Um, he’s a friend.”

  “You have a friend like him, and this is the first time we’ve met him? Does he have any friends? Will he introduce me to them?”

  “I… Yeah, sure. If any of his friends turn up, I promise to introduce them.”

  At that moment, Jeanne popped the cork on the first bottle of champagne. Questions were forgotten amidst laughter and the scramble to catch the foaming wine.

  Chapter Two

  Her birthday party should have been awkward. They were four friends, tight in the way only time and shared experience could make them, and one stranger. One male stranger. He should have literally been the odd man out, but he fit seamlessly into the little group. As the champagne flowed and the jokes got bawdier he simply leaned back and listened and watched. He didn’t say much, just occasionally replied to a direct question, but he observed everything. A sense of belonging radiated from him. It soothed rather than bothered Ellie. If she discounted the frisson of sexual excitement she got every time she looked at him, he was the most restful man she had ever encountered. His presence in her house, with her friends, seemed exactly right.

  Several times during the evening, Ellie looked up to find one of her friends sitting on the couch with Peter, obviously pouring her heart out to him. Each time, although there was no doubt Peter’s attention was focused on her friend, when Ellie’s gaze hit him he looked up at her. The force of that gaze went straight to her heart. He would give the tiniest smile and once again she could hear the sound of harps. Each time, she took another gulp of champagne in a vain attempt to cool her fevered cheeks.

  By the time her friends had helped her restore her apartment to the pristine tidiness they knew she demanded, said goodbye and headed out the door, Ellie was close to the edge of control.

  Peter stood up from the couch and stalked towards her. He stood in front of her, all golden and white, hot and sensual. “What else is there we can do together? Teach me.”

  His hands reached for her, and Ellie’s control was gone. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in. His lips settled on hers, and, for a moment, they remained motionless and rigid. Then he relaxed and followed her lead. He opened his mouth when she applied pressure. He drew in a quick breath when her tongue first penetrated. Then, as he grasped the basic principle, he reciprocated, running his own tongue over hers, stroking and exploring, developing a mastery quickly. With the last shreds of coherent thought Ellie realised angels were very fast learners.

  He pulled back. Not far, but enough so he could pant out, “I want to feel you. I want my skin to touch yours.”

  Ellie could only nod and reach for his clothes. Their hands fumbled and brushed together. Buttons popped. He pulled at her shirt when it refused to come off. She tugged the white jeans down. They struggled to undress, while keeping as much contact between them as possible.

  When at last Ellie stood naked in front of him, all movement, all struggle ceased. A sigh escaped from his parted lips. “Oh. You are so beautiful.” He looked down at his own chest, and further to where his erection strained upwards. “And so different. You do not have one of these. How can we have sex if you do not have a…?”

  His face was puzzled, his confusion evident. If Ellie had not been aroused almost to screaming point, she would have burst out laughing. “It’s called a penis, or, or a cock or, well, it doesn’t matter what else it’s called. I don’t need one for us to be able to have sex. I…I have a place where…” She could feel the flush of arousal being replaced by the flush of embarrassment.

  He took her hand and held it and the embarrassment began to subside. She led him to the bed and they lay down together. “How much did you actually learn about sex before you decided to come and experience it for yourself?” she whispered.

  He rolled onto his side and stroked his hand over her body. “I learned it was an immensely powerful drive. I learned people were devastated to think they would have to do without it for eternity. That some people actually felt cheated and not all of the delights of Heaven were enough to fully reconcile them to its loss. But I never learned anything about what was involved. There seemed to be some strong inhibitions against explaining the actual process to an angel. I think Heaven has that effect on people.”

  He was having a powerful effect on Ellie. Tingles and sparks trailed along the path his fingers took. She felt the hot moisture pooling between her thighs. The walls of her vagina twitched and clenched as the pressure began to build.

  Peter’s hand stroked lower. “Tell me, Ellie. Tell me what to do. Tell me what we will do together.”

  She placed her hand over his. Pulled it down. Guided it between her thighs. Pushed it towards her opening. “Here.” She helped him slide one long finger into her pussy. “Your cock goes in here.” She held his hand and moved it back and forwards, making his finger slide gently in and out. Her legs dropped open a little as his fingers dragged against her.

  “Oh. So tight. So hot. So smooth and wet.” His voice was husky and broken. “And my cock will fit in here? Are you sure? It’s very tight.”

  Ellie squirmed and arched. “Yes. Yes. It will. Put…put another finger, or two in. See what happens.”

  He obeyed, and Ellie shuddered with delight at the stretched fullness. Her hand reached down to rub her clitoris. She stopped. She had a man’s sexual education completely under her control. She was going to do something for women everywhere.

  “There’s something else you have to know about before we go too far down that track.”

  She pulled his fingers free and, pausing briefly to mourn their temporary loss, she moved them to her clitoris. “This is a really important part of sex.” She stroked his fingers over the hard ball of flesh. An involuntary twitch shook her and she sighed. He once again demonstrated his ability to catch on quickly. He stroked her harder, watching her face intently as he did so. What he saw there obviously told him what he needed to know, because he began a rhythmic pushing and circling that had her lifting her hips in delight.

  “Ellie?”

  She was almost too far gone to hear him, but there was something in the plaintive tone that called her back to awareness.

  “Huh? What?”

  “Ellie, my cock hurts and my…the things underneath it.”

  “B-balls. They’re called balls.”

  “Well, my balls. They feel tight, and full, and my cock…I want to rub it like I did before. Should I do that? Or is now the time when I can put it inside you? I would like to do that. It felt so nice when my fingers were in there.”

  A groan escaped Ellie. “Yes, yes, now is definitely the time t
o put it in.”

  She wrapped her fingers around his cock. It jerked and pulsed under her hand.

  Peter grunted. “I think it’s going to explode again.”

  With an extraordinary effort of will, Ellie managed to gasp out, “Try not to let it. It will be much better for both of us if you can stop it from doing that for a while. It’s better if it l-lasts l-longer.”

  As the tip of his cock slid in, his muscles went rigid. With a sudden thrust he took the initiative from her and, flexing his hips, buried himself to the hilt.

  The moan that burst from him seemed dragged up from the depths of his being. “That feels so good.”

  He lifted his hips and his cock began the long slide outwards. Ellie wrapped her legs tightly around him. Surely he didn’t imagine that was it? There was no way she was letting him out of there yet.

  “You haven’t finished. You can’t g-go yet.”

  Peter snapped his head up. “Go? I don’t want to go. I want to stay inside you forever. I might never leave here again. It feels wonderful. Incredible. I want to get as deep as I can.”

  He plunged back in, hard and powerful. His thrusts slammed her against the mattress. She arched her back to follow his outwards stroke. The pounding, thrusting rhythm surged through her body. A hot, glowing coil of need wound tight inside her. Her skin burned. The pulsing waves of orgasm built around the hard drag and release of his cock against the tight walls of her pussy.

  She tried desperately to hold it off, tried to make the incredible sensation last, but the relentless pistoning of his hips and the harshness of his breathing told her he wasn’t going to be able to hold out long. His control was gone.

  She gave herself up to the need whirling through her. He plunged into her over and over again, stretching her, burning her, fuelling the devouring flames.

  Her vagina pulsed and clamped around him. The groan forced from his lips was short, choppy and desperate. His whole body tensed and quivered. He lifted his hips and drove his cock hard and deep.