An Angel's Song Read online

  “Morning.”

  “Hi.” Tessa combed her fingers through her sleep tangled hair and flipped it behind her shoulders. “Dare I hope that’s breakfast? I’m starving.”

  “Uh, yeah. I popped downstairs and picked up some cornetti. Luca claims Giovanna’s are the best in the city. Since I don’t remember the last time either of us had anything to eat, I figured they could taste like rolled cardboard and it wouldn’t make much difference.”

  He plunked everything down on the small, round dining table set in front of the window and pulled out a chair, waving her into it. Tessa perched on the edge and pulled the bag toward her, while Alec busied himself throwing open the shutters, allowing the golden morning light to fill the room. The window gave him slightly more difficulty, but at last, with a screech of protest, the warped, wooden frame lost the battle. He jerked up the sash and the industrious, early morning sounds of Borgo Pio filtered in from below. Boasting clean accommodations, restaurants, and souvenir shops dealing in everything from lavish ecclesiastical regalia to bobble-head figures of the pope, the small street in the old neighborhood near the Vatican teemed with people from morning until night.

  Tessa bit into the crisp, croissant-like pastry, still warm from the oven and decided Luca was right. This Giovanna had a way with dough. She washed a bite of the flaky roll down with a mouthful of dark, fragrant espresso and sighed. Alec flitted from one pile of boxes, books, and paintings to another, repositioning and rearranging them. Her father’s things occupied nearly every available space in the small flat, and no amount of reshuffling would bring order to the chaos. She didn’t relish the thought of going through everything, but it would have to be done. Eventually. Maybe she could simply maintain the flat as a storage unit?

  “You may as well sit down and eat. You’re fighting a losing battle,” she observed over the rim of her cup. I love you more. Did Alec truly utter those words? Or was it a trick played by her imagination somewhere in the twilight world between wakefulness and sleep? Once, she believed him giving up his work was exactly what she wanted. Childish, selfish, craving nothing less than his all. Now, the idea stabbed at her conscience like a splinter wedged beneath a broken fingernail. Love required compromise, but it shouldn’t require complete sacrifice of one’s needs for the other. Wasn’t that how they’d descended to this particular level of hell to begin with?

  “So, you said we needed to talk,” Tessa prompted, taking a deep breath and helping herself to another cornetto. Then she spread a napkin on the table and set one at Alec’s place, while he stepped into the kitchen to wash the dust from his hands. He returned and pulled out the other chair.

  “If I remember correctly, I said I need to talk and you need to listen.” He raised the cup to his lips and took a quick sip. Then set it back in front of him and broke off one end of the pastry. Instead of popping it in his mouth, he crumbled it between his fingers, and stared at her across the short width of the table.

  “Okay. We can start there, I guess. So talk. I’m listening.” She’d been waiting to listen for ten years.

  “I know Luca brought you home that night.”

  “Because he told you.”

  “Yeah. If anyone was betrayed that night, Tess, it was you, not me. I attacked out of guilt, you defended out of pain. I know it hardly cuts it, but I’m sorry.”

  “I see.” Tessa placed the half eaten roll on the table and picked up her cup as the light-as-air pastry turned to dust in her mouth. She drained the cup, then pushed back from the table and climbed to her feet on rubber legs.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Alec’s brows drew together and he pushed back his own chair and rose.

  “It means, I see. I see you know the truth, so now you’re willing to talk.” Tessa’s breath hitched and she gripped the back of the chair until her knuckles blanched. Her heart thudded dully against her ribs, feeling smaller and tighter with every beat. “I see Luca validating my innocence gives you a free pass to believe in it. Rather old fashioned to require a man to attest to a woman’s chastity, isn’t it? I had hoped you’d reached the conclusion on your own.”

  “I think maybe I did. But, projecting my anger on you over the years became second nature. I guess I found it a whole lot more comfortable than facing the truth.”

  “Well, far be it from me to disturb your comfort zone.” Tessa released the chair and wrapped her arms around herself, her fingers digging into the sides of her waist as though she could physically hold herself together. Funny, she’d envisioned this conversation completely differently. Alec shook his head like a baffled lion and stepped toward her, gripping her shoulders and pulling her against him when she tried to step away. Pinching her lips together to keep them from trembling, she lifted her chin, and forced herself to look him defiantly in the eye.

  “Look, Tess, I’m not very good at this, okay? The truth is, I’ve always known where to place the blame for what happened that night. I knew you’d be upset with me, justifiably so. Still, I arrogantly took for granted you’d forgive and forget, like every other time I’d thoughtlessly let you down. But, that night I crossed a line. I hurt you and made you feel unimportant and insignificant one too many times. And I knew it. If you had sought comfort elsewhere, I could hardly blame you for seeking the respect and affection you deserved from me.”

  “But, you did blame me.” She tore her gaze from his deep blue eyes, and focused on the front of his black tee, instead. “You cut yourself off, and you blamed me. For ten years. If my father didn’t die…” Her voice cracked. “I’d be in Kentucky and you’d still be somewhere blaming me.”

  “Then I guess we should be grateful for meddlesome parents, after all,” Alec sighed, releasing his painful grip on her shoulders and folding her into his arms. Tessa allowed her hands to drop to her sides, but continued to hold herself taut and slightly away. “And for the record, I didn’t blame you for ten years. Maybe seventy-two hours, tops. Then I forced myself to face facts, as unpleasant as they were. Yeah, I was hurt and angry, but I loved you. The blame was more mine than yours. I knew we could find a way to get past it. But, by then you were already gone.”

  “And you never tried to find me.”

  “I thought you made your choice. And considering the pain I’d already caused you, I decided it was kinder to let you go. I’m so sorry. If I could go back in time and do things differently, I would.”

  Tessa swallowed hard and glanced up through her lashes. There was tenderness in his eyes, and behind it, a flash of desire so raw it made her gasp. Her heart tripped, then kicked into a sprint. Her breath caught in her throat as an answering heat sparked in her core, the warmth racing through her body like a runaway train. Fisting her hands in the fabric at his waist, she tipped her head back to meet his gaze fully, ignoring the tears escaping the corners of her eyes and streaming down her face.

  “I accused you of failing to fight for me, for us. But, I failed, too.” Her words came out in a throaty whisper. “I could have stayed, waited you out, and tried to explain. Instead, I ran away. Then I stayed away, sure I’d pushed you too far to ever forgive me.”

  “Forgiveness was never an issue. I struggled with forgetting.” His voice was thick and hoarse. Burying his hands in the hair on either side of her head, he brushed the moisture from her cheeks with his thumbs, then traced their path with his lips.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t forget. Either of us. Maybe we should always remember that pain, so we never become those two impetuous, desperate, foolish people again. So we never repeat their mistakes.” Tessa turned her cheek into his palm.

  “I got so caught up in proving my own value, I destroyed your faith in yours. And you’ve always been worth at least ten of me. I promise you, it won’t happen again. I love you, Tessa. I’ve been half alive without you. Come home.”

  “Home isn’t a place, remember? It’s a choice.” Tessa reached to stroke back the stubborn curl tumbling over his forehead, then slid her hands up the hard planes of his chest and l
ocked them behind his neck, pulling his dark head down to hers. “And I choose you, Alec.”

  “I’ll always choose you.” She opened her mind and he responded in kind, allowing their thoughts and feelings to intertwine. She made no attempt to hide the jagged pain of their separation, but feeling his distress, she soothed it with the balm of a love strong enough to swallow the hurt and remain undiminished. Alec’s eyes shimmered with moisture, and she knew he’d gotten the message. No matter where she’d been or what roof stood over her head, he’d always been her home. He always would be.

  Still clasping her face in his hands, Alec captured her mouth with a slow, exquisitely gentle kiss. He didn’t rush, his lips and tongue coaxing and teasing, and time slid away as though it didn’t exist. When he raised his head at last, heated passion mingled with hesitant uncertainty in his eyes. Tessa melted into him and pulled his head back to hers. Her lips opened readily to his seeking tongue, and as he stroked and plundered, she answered his greedy kiss with one of her own. Thankful for the strength of his arms around her as her bones dissolved, Tessa sagged against him. Slipping her hands under the hem of his shirt, the heated skin of his flat stomach twitched in response to her light touch. Her hands skimmed higher, nails deliberately scraping over his sensitive nipples, and his heartbeat accelerated against her palm. The breath rasped in and out of his lungs. He looped an arm around her waist and hauled her against him, his mouth slanting over hers with a feral growl, as though he intended to devour her. Tessa could totally get on board with that. Sliding her hands from his neck to wrap around his waist and press her body more intimately to his, she felt him already rock hard and pulsing. Her stomach muscles tightened and a rush of moist heat erupted between her thighs. Alec tore his lips from hers, swept aside the heavy curtain of her hair, and began to work his magic along the column of her throat. With a soft moan, Tessa automatically tipped her head back to allow him access. While his lips and tongue relearned the contours of her ear, his fingers dove into the waistband of her jeans and splayed across her buttocks, kneading and caressing, his teasing touch so close, yet still much too far away from where she craved it most. He lifted, Tessa jumped, and her ankles locked around his waist as he staggered in the direction of the bedroom.

  “Sofa’s closer,” Tessa panted.

  “And not nearly sturdy enough. I plan to make love to every last inch of you until you scream.”

  A shiver rolled over her from head to toe as he dropped her on the bed and whipped off his shirt, tossing it in the corner. The ache of arousal swept through her body, a heated flush increasing in intensity in direct proportion to every inch of skin revealed to her hungry gaze. By the time he yanked off his boots, shoved his jeans to his ankles, and kicked them across the room, she managed to wriggle out of most of her own clothes. Only her lacy black panties remained when he finally reached for her.

  She squirmed as he hooked his thumbs in the sides of her panties and shimmied them down her hips, following their slow, torturous path with kisses as soft as summer rain. He slipped them over her ankles and tossed them aside. Then he began a slow crawl back up her body, teasing his stubble-rough jaw along the tender skin of her inner thighs and quivering belly. He climbed, his roving hands relearning and reclaiming the curves of her body, branding her as his with every caress. He reached for her breasts, mounding them in his big hands, and her core clenched at the hot clasp of his lips on her nipple. Tessa buried her fingers in his thick, soft curls and arched against his mouth, holding him to her. His insistent lips drew on her, while he slipped a hand between her thighs, his clever fingers igniting a wildfire that threatened to consume her. Her entire body trembled with need. He hadn’t forgotten exactly how to drive her crazy.

  “Did you expect I would?” He chuckled against her breast. She jumped, forgetting he could now read her thoughts.

  “You know I love foreplay, but at the moment I’m feeling it might be overrated. I want you inside me. Now.”

  He dropped his head into the hollow of her throat, his shoulders slick and heaving.

  “I want this time to be about you. Once I get in you, I’ll never last.”

  “Alec, look at me,” she said aloud, tugging at his hair until he exhaled loudly and lifted his head. The strain of holding a tight rein on his own need showed in the sweat peppering his brow, the dark, stormy passion blazing in his eyes, and the deep grooves carved along the sides of his lips. “This isn’t our first time. And it won’t be our last time. But, it sure as hell has been a long time.” She worked a trembling hand between them and curled her fingers around his shaft. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she pressed her heels into his ass, urging his hips to hers. “I need you. Now. It doesn’t matter how long it lasts. I just need to feel you inside me.”

  “Well, okay.” He drawled, settling his hands on either side of her head. He flashed a sly, seductive grin. With slow deliberation, he lowered his head and captured her lips in a leisurely and tender kiss expressing more than words ever could. “But, only because I promised myself I’d start considering your needs ahead of my own.”

  Then he rocked his hips and speared into her in one long thrust. Tessa moaned and writhed beneath him as her body welcomed every last inch of him home. They moved together, their hearts, minds, and bodies melding as closely and intimately as ever. Tessa gouged her nails into the hard slab of his wide shoulders and tightened her legs around him, tilting her hips, desperate to feel even more of him. He dug his fingers into her bottom possessively, shifted his position, and drove even deeper, as their bodies achieved perfect understanding in a language as old as time. Her eyes filled with tears as the unmistakably right sensation of the invisible ties binding them heart, mind, and soul wove back together, filling the empty gaps and repairing the frayed edges. It was almost too much. Tessa gritted her teeth and held on, as something deep and hot and aching raced toward a crescendo. She strained against him as every nerve ending in her body came alive, clamoring for attention. Features twisted in ecstasy, Alec drove into her over and over, the force of his passion lifting her from the bed. Lightning crackled through her veins, building to a storm that swept her up in a tidal wave. Then the maelstrom crashed over them both, drowning her in agonizing bliss as, with a powerful thrust and a deafening roar, Alec found his own release and filled her with the essence of his soul.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alec rolled to his back, relieving Tessa of his weight. She moved with him and snuggled into his side, her ragged breaths warm and moist against his skin. She threw a leg over his thighs and draped an arm across his waist, and Alec returned to Earth slowly, quite content to never move from this place. What seemed like hours, in fact, took only minutes. Not what he intended at all, yet no less profound in its brevity. His throat and chest were thick and tight, strangling him with riot of emotions that froze his voice. His heart punched against his ribs with such force, he could barely form a coherent thought, let alone find the right words. Then he felt the tentative touch of Tessa’s mind in his, and he realized words weren’t necessary. They were inadequate, anyway. She knew. How did he ever allow anything to become more important than this? Alec gazed down at the magnificent creature in his arms, her shimmering blue eyes, the fiery trail of her glorious hair spilling over his arm and blazing a path across the crisp whiteness of the pillow, and marveled at his miracle. A blind man whose sight had been restored. A rebirth, a second chance, a gift he knew he didn’t deserve. But, one he vowed he would never take for granted again.

  “God, how I missed you,” he whispered into her hair, inhaling the faint raspberry scent of her shampoo, now mingled with sweat and the musky perfume of their frantic lovemaking.

  “I missed you, too.” Tessa pressed her lips to his chest, then tilted her head back and gazed at him through her thick lashes, a smile curving her lips and a spark of mischief lighting her eyes. “And while that was damn good, and I love a compliment as much as the next girl, I hardly think it’s necessary to address me as a deity.�
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  Alec regarded her blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing as he discerned her meaning. He rolled to the side and pinned her beneath him. Then he smoothed her hair away from her face, and pressed his lips lightly to hers. “Sorry, I must have mistaken you for Aphrodite, my own personal goddess of beauty, desire, and love, risen from the sea and cast upon my bed. Seriously, Tess, could you be any cornier?”

  “Look who’s talking. Your Aphrodite? Anyway, I can’t help it if I’m feeling a little corny at the moment. Corny, and happy, and…complete.” She sighed and reached to cup his face. “How did we both get so far off track and then let it continue for so long?”

  “I think you hit the nail on the head when you said we’re two relatively intelligent people suffering from a severe case of common-sense-stupid syndrome. Of course, given the length of our lives, I figure ten years in our world is probably comparable to a separation lasting a couple of days, a week tops, in mortal terms.”

  “I call bullshit.” She yanked a lock of his hair, then combed her fingers through it, soothing the sting. “Ten years is ten years on any terms, and it’s—What’s that?” She turned her head toward a persistent buzzing sound coming from the corner of the room where his jeans lay in a crumpled heap. He dropped his forehead against hers with a sigh. Apparently it was too much to hope the world would simply disappear and leave them in peace for the day.

  “My phone. I knew my mother would call to check on my whereabouts sooner or later, so I turned the ringer off last night.” Alec reluctantly untangled his limbs from Tessa’s and climbed from the bed, immediately mourning the loss of her warmth. Scooping his jean from the floor, he fumbled through the pockets for his phone and checked the display. “Yep, two from Luca, three from Michael, and five from the woman who recently assured me she’d resigned herself to the fact her children were adults with several hundred years of life experience under their belts and who were capable of taking care of themselves.”