Chapter 15
ANGEL
Raleigh Jenkins was actually going to kill me. The words “good boy” from his mouth had been the object of my fantasies for years. Raleigh wasn’t a quiet guy, and sharing a space with him, I’d heard him say those words before, but they’d never been directed at me.
My hips jerked, pushing my cock through Raleigh’s fist. I keened in pleasure when the ridges of his piercings caught against my shaft. They felt so much better than I’d ever imagined. I looked between us, at the metal jutting out of our dicks, and my mouth watered .
I’d never been more frustrated with my inability to speak than in that moment. I wanted to cry out Raleigh’s name, beg him to roll over so I could lick every single one of those piercings until he erupted over my tongue.
But all I managed was another whine.
Raleigh’s finger brushed my lip, coming away covered in drool. He followed my gaze to his cock, a wicked grin curling his lips. “Are you hungry, my sweet Angel?”
My head frantically nodded against the pillow. I want to taste you; please let me taste you.
Raleigh rose onto his knees, and my cock protested the loss of his hand. He pivoted to sit against the headboard.
“Get over here,” he growled.
I moved so quickly that my head spun. Kneeling between Raleigh’s thighs, I spat onto the hoop that pierced his cockhead.
“Wait,” he commanded, folding one arm behind his head. Hand in my hair, his strong fingers massaged my scalp as he held me in place. “Slowly, darling.”
My muscles quivered with the effort of holding myself back. There was no way in hell I was going to burst before I got my mouth on Raleigh.
I lapped at his cockhead, flipping the jewelry with my tongue. Raleigh moaned, and precome burst onto my tongue. Absolute perfection . I licked the underside of his cock, my tongue stud knocking against each rung of his piercings until I earned my prize. Jacob’s Ladder? Please. It was a fucking stairway to heaven.
Raleigh’s hand clenched in my hair, forcing me to take it slow. It was so hard to obey, but I did. I wanted to be his good boy. The sting of my scalp only spurred me onward. I worked him down inch by inch, swallowing as I adjusted to his girth, the metal of his piercing rubbing the back of my throat.
“Damn, you’ve been holding out on me,” Raleigh managed. He sighed, “That’s my good boy.”
I hummed, and Raleigh moaned. I’d dreamt of this moment for years. Eli didn’t care for blow jobs; he’d rather be fucked to the point of orgasm without touching himself.
Guilt stabbed my chest, but I pushed it away. I tried to ignore what I was doing—making a conscious decision to cheat on my boyfriend.
Fiancé? He was still waiting for my answer.
Agh, fuck!
I banished all thoughts of the man who’d asked me to marry him. I couldn’t face the fact that I was meant to be with someone who wasn’t Raleigh.
All I had to do was focus on him, and everything would be okay.
I flattened my tongue against the sensitive bundle of nerves below Raleigh’s cockhead and he clenched his fist in my hair, the rings on his fingers digging into my scalp.
“You’re killing me, Angel.” My own cock throbbed, desperate for attention. I wasn’t sure if he was using my name or treating it as a term of endearment, but I didn’t care. When his cock swelled in my mouth, I pulled off and licked my lips, soaking up every taste of him I could get.
“Get up here, darling,” he commanded.
Like a dog offered a bone, I hustled to obey. Straddling his lap, I was elated to feel those piercings against my shaft once more. Raleigh opened the nightstand, and I realized a moment too late what he was going to find when he opened the drawer.
Already flushed red, I had no doubt the color deepened when he found my favorite toy. He held it in his hand, considering it. Instead of making some smartass remark, he tossed the dildo back into the drawer and withdrew a condom and bottle of lube.
Placing the condom aside, he beckoned me closer with one crooked finger. I crawled up his torso, settling on his chest.
“Up,” he instructed.
I rose onto my knees, and he slipped two fingers between my legs. My hole fluttered in anticipation, and I sighed in relief when his cool, slick finger found the taut muscle.
“Is this new to you, Angel?” he asked.
What a loaded question. Technically, no: I’d become very familiar with my prostate over the years, especially after buying that toy. But Raleigh was the first man to go there.
I peered down my nose at him, digging my nails into his chest. I didn’t want to talk right now.
“It’s okay,” he finally said, choosing that precise moment to push inside me. “I’ve got you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing through the delicious burn. God, there were those three words again. “ I’ve got you. ”
Though they may not have been the three words I wanted to hear out of his mouth, they were words that never failed to squash my anxiety, and this was no exception. I sank onto Raleigh’s finger, taking him all the way to the knuckle. The ring there pushed against my skin. My gasp turned into a ridiculous noise of protest when Raleigh threatened to move away.
“I’m sorry, I’ll take those off.”
I dug my nails into his skin, shaking my head emphatically. “ Don’t you fucking dare .”
Raleigh grinned. I guess I made my point. “You ready for another?”
In response, I rose onto my knees again. Raleigh added a second finger, and I rocked my hips back and forth. My cock wept onto his chest. I’d dreamt of this moment for way too long. Raleigh worked me open, pulling more and more indecent sounds from me with each passing second. He groaned, watching me through lidded eyes as he tapped my sweet spot.
I cried out, the noise reverberating off the walls. My orgasm prickled the base of my spine. I was barely able to hold myself off. By the time I’d taken three fingers, I was a babbling mess—and Raleigh ate up every bit of it. The sheets rustled and foil crinkled, and the next thing I knew I was whining at the loss of his fingers.
“Don’t worry, darling,” he said soothingly. “This is about to feel so much better.”
In one swift move, he wrapped an arm around my waist and flipped me onto my back. I hit the bed so hard that it knocked the wind from my lungs. Then he was over me again, blanketing me with his larger body. His hands bracketed my head, lulling me into an almost overwhelming sense of security. For the first time in my life, I feared nothing.
Raleigh dipped down into the crook of my neck, placing a soft kiss to my tender skin. “Are you ready?” he whispered, sending a shiver down my spine.
I couldn’t nod my head fast enough. Goosebumps pebbled my skin. I’d been ready for this moment my entire life. Words couldn’t express how much I wanted—how much I needed Raleigh. I worked a finger under his chin, raising his face to mine so I could communicate.
“Break me,” I signed. “Break me, so you can put me back together.”
Raleigh’s only response was a groan, and then the wide head of his cock was lined up with my eager hole. His hand pinned my hips in place, and I whined in protest when he wouldn’t let me move. “Let me, darling.”
Fuck, I’d give anything to hear him call me that and only that for the rest of my life. My name was suddenly meaningless. Being Raleigh’s darling became my top priority.
In that brief moment before he pushed into me, time seemed to slow, then stop altogether. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that the moment Raleigh claimed me, life as I knew it would change. I’d never be able to go back to pretending that he was nothing more than my best friend.
And Eli. Fuck . I’d never be able to give him the best parts of myself, not when I knew what it was like to have Raleigh as mine—to be his.
When I felt that burn, the one that meant Raleigh was now inside of me, my thoughts stopped racing. Every worry faded away, banished to be dealt with later. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, but even with us pressed together from head to toe, it still wasn’t close enough.
I met him with a slow roll of my hips, gasping when the first bar piercing his shaft caught on my skin. Goddamn, the ribbing felt so much better than I’d ever imagined. The sheets next to my head rustled as Raleigh clenched his fist. With a low, rumbling moan, he thrust again, and the second piercing pushed through. Each rung of the ladder served as a countdown, Raleigh claiming me more and more with each step. Three, and I was already a goner. The fourth brought tears to my eyes, my body unable to cope with the emotions bubbling to the surface.
Five, six, then the seventh and final bar brought us flush together. Tears ran down my cheeks in salty rivers, and Raleigh rushed to wipe them away.
“Hey,” he whispered, making me open my eyes and look at him. “Am I hurting you?”
My head thrashed side to side against the pillow. With my hands occupied with digging half-moons into his back, I tried to speak again.
I failed.
The only thing I managed was an impatient whine. I wanted to beg him to never stop—not ever.
“Shh.” He swiped my tears away while he held still for me to adjust to his size, trembling with the effort. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”
Move, Raleigh . I needed him to move . I needed him to claim me, to mark me as his.
I wanted him to ruin me for all other men.
Raleigh read my silent pleas and pulled his hips back, snapping them forward and pulling a sound from me that I was sure could be heard down the Strip. When he asked if that was okay, I nodded and scrabbled at his hips, silently begging for more.
Or not-so-silently in my case. Raleigh took his time, slow, measured thrusts of his hips—but with the noises that came out of my mouth, you’d have thought he was splitting me in two.
Raleigh adjusted his position, and his next thrust nailed my prostate. I shouted so loud that my throat felt raw. Raleigh chuckled in my ear, the sound vibrating through my body and traveling to my cock.
“I always knew there was a screamer in you somewhere,” he growled.
I only proved his point as he slowly rolled his hips and his piercing pressed right against my sweet spot. Now I experienced what Eli always lost his mind about.
Raleigh spoke again, pulling me back to the present. “I’m close, darling, but I need you to fall apart for me first.”
I lunged forward, pressing my lips against his. Raleigh took that kiss as permission. Precome slicked up my belly, creating a glide between us. The onslaught of overwhelming sensations hurtled me toward my orgasm before I could blink. Electricity shot through my veins, my climax crashing into me like a tidal wave. I wasn’t ready for this to be over, but I lost the battle.
My cock swelled and pulsed between us. If we’d had neighbors, I’d owe them one hell of an apology. My throat was raw from screaming and crying. My eyes burned, my chest ached. Raleigh assaulted my prostate, drawing out the orgasm until I was quivering beneath him from aftershocks. With one arm under my head, he worked the other around my waist and picked up speed. The repeated taps to that magic button inside me quickly built another wave.
By the time Raleigh gave in to his own release, my sensations were so heightened that it felt like I threw myself over the edge a second time. Even through the condom, I felt the warmth rush inside me.
He roared through his orgasm, fist clenching so tightly in my hair that it brought more tears to my eyes.
And I fucking loved it.
My heartbeat rushed in my ears, Raleigh’s matching it beat for beat. I could feel his pounding against my chest. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want this moment to end, to give way to the reality where we had to face the consequences of what we’d just done.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem that Raleigh did either. His arms shook, but he held his weight above me. My skin prickled, my wings aching to spread out, to wrap around the man currently ghosting kisses across my heated flesh and never let him go. I suppressed the urge, of course, but the combination of physical and emotional aches had me crying again.
“Angel…” he panted, lifting his head to look at me.
I protested, holding him in place by a hand in his hair. Choking back a sob, I let my body speak for me. The tears increased when Raleigh pulled out, and I released him long enough to dispose of the condom in the trash can by the bed. I cleaned our stomachs with a wet wipe, and he was right back in my arms, nestled between my legs with his head on my chest.
“Are we talking about it?” he asked, looking up to see my answer.
I didn’t bother wiping away the tears anymore. My throat ached when I swallowed. For the first time in our lives, I couldn’t get a read on Raleigh. His deep blue eyes sparkled in the neon lights streaming through the window. For a moment, I watched the colors bounce around his irises. Was he upset by what had just happened? I didn’t suppose so, since he was still lying on my chest.
We needed to talk about it. It would’ve been the smart thing to do. I should have told him that Eli had proposed and instead of giving him an answer, I’d told him to let me think about it and I ran home to fuck my best friend.
No, that was a crass summary of what we’d just shared. It had been so much more than just fucking. In giving myself to that man, I’d poured more of my heart and soul into those stolen moments than I ever had with Eli.
But I knew what I needed to do. I couldn’t cling to this fantasy. Raleigh made it clear from an early age that monogamy and commitment weren’t in his agenda. What made me think I was the exception? And even if I could be, I wasn’t going to put him through that.
In response to his question, I shook my head. Raleigh didn’t pry. Most people would have— Eli might have, as he had in the past. He was such a talker. Raleigh, however, gave me a smile and a soft kiss to the cross tattooed on my sternum, then laid his head down on my chest. With my hands combing through his hair, he drifted off to sleep.
Once I heard his telltale heavy breathing, I made what may have been a really bad decision. I closed my eyes, and let my powers spring free. My tattoos came to life, the tingling beneath my skin a welcome change to the building pressure of the past few years. I shifted on the bed, giving my wings room to spread out. I curled them around Raleigh, as they were large enough to cover even his massive form. He sighed and settled deeper into my arms. A golden glow settled over us, my powers as sated as I felt.
Tears threatened to come again. It was going to physically kill me to go back to normal after this. Guilt and regret tore through my chest. Worse, if given the choice I would do it all over again.
But now that I knew what it was like to have him, I had to face letting him go.
There, in the quiet bedroom with my wings gently stroking him into a deeper sleep, I spoke. “I love you, Raleigh.” The words hurt my already-raw throat. “I’m so in love with you.”
In the morning, I snuck out before he woke up. I was the one who got us into this mess, I needed to be the one to get us out of it. My heart, however, wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed with him and never leave again. I found myself standing outside of the shower for an embarrassingly long time, simply because I didn’t want to wash his scent away.
I couldn’t do what I needed to smelling like sweat, sex, and Raleigh.
An hour later, I approached the main entrance of Summerlin Medical Center. The place was bustling with people, and I blended in easily. I’d been with Eli through his whole residency rotation, so I was no stranger to the hospital. He’d been on the emergency roster lately, so I followed the signs for the ER and hoped he wasn’t in the middle of an operation. A typical day had him swimming in cases of alcohol poisoning as there were always a few drunken idiots who injured themselves one way or another.
I slipped behind a nurse who scanned their pass and found Eli standing at the nearest workstation leaning over a tablet. Almost as if he knew when I entered the room, his head turned and his face lit up.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” he said, abandoning the tablet to approach me. His eyes flitted to my neck, and for a moment I panicked. Had Raleigh left a mark I didn’t know about? I fought the urge to snap my hand up.
Eli seemed to think better of touching me, instead shoving his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. “Is everything okay?”
I didn’t answer his question. Instead, I signed, “Are you busy? Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“Follow me.”
From there, Eli led me to an empty on-call room, letting me inside before closing and locking the door behind him. Before he had a chance to speak, I grabbed his bicep to get his attention. Swallowing hard against a lump in my throat, I nodded my head.
“Yes?”
Another nod.
“Yes, what, Angel?”
I centered myself, trying to forget the sound of my name on Raleigh’s lips as he came undone. My hands shook as I signed my explanation. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”