Fallen: Celeste by Tiffany Aaron

tonight had
torn down walls around his heart and he was overwhelmed with feelings he had
always tried to hide from. She cradled his face in her hands and pressed her
lips to his.
    There was no finesse in his taking her this time. He ripped his
clothes off and covered her. She welcomed him as he thrust into her. She wasn't
totally ready for his entrance but she dealt with it. Adam was too far gone in
his fear and pain to notice her discomfort. She was willing to suffer if he
would feel better in the end. It was only a few minutes before he came
violently. She held him in her arms and stroked his back as shudders racked his
body.
    * * * *
    Shutting his eyes, Adam pulled away from her. He couldn't believe
he had taken her like that. Where had his legendary prowess as a lover gone? He
remembered how frantic he had felt while Celeste had cried. The fear that she
would decide to leave him had caused the little boy inside him to panic. He had
needed to tie her to him in some way, so he picked the most primitive way he
could. He'd claimed her with his body. Now if he could only be satisfied that
she really did love him.
    He brushed her hair from her face. "I'm sorry, angel. I
shouldn't have been so rough with you."
    Celeste smiled up at him. "It's all right. You have to
believe me when I tell you that I don't plan on leaving you. I'll be beside you
for as long as you're alive."
    "What if I'm like my father? What if I make you leave?"
Adam's heart filled with anguish.
    Celeste laughed softly. "Darling, I've already had the worst
thing happen to me that could possibly happen. I'm not trying to belittle you,
but your anger and violence couldn't compare to His. You would never be violent
with me anyway. It isn't in you to hurt someone you love."
    "I have hurt people. Don't make me out to be some kind of
Robin Hood. I don't rob the rich and give to the poor. Sometimes I rob both the
rich and the poor." For the first time Adam felt a twinge of guilt when he
thought about his past.
    "You would never look good in green tights." Celeste
shrugged. "You did what you had to do to survive. I don't blame you for
it. The streets are a jungle and it's kill or be killed sometimes. People who
live in nice houses, drive nice cars and have nice lives can't relate and so
they judge you. I've been down about as low as an angel can go, but I've
managed to make it and so have you. Now that we have each other, we'll learn
how to change together."
    "Even if I change, the money we live on will have come from
hurting others."
    "I've lived for centuries, Adam. I have money. We could give
all of yours away and still be well off. Don't over think things. We have to
capture Tomas first and then we can worry about how we're going to live."
Her hands slid down Adam's back and cupped his ass. "Right now, I think we
can figure out how to find a small piece of heaven."
    Adam laughed as he moved his hips. His cock had gotten hard again
while they talked. It seemed Celeste's body just naturally turned him on. He
didn't think he would need Viagra twenty years from now to make him want her.
    * * * *
    Celeste , Tomas' voice echoed in her mind.
    Her body was wrapped in Adam's arms, but she traveled to a quiet
place in her dreams. What do you want, Tomas?
    The fallen was standing in front of her. His long blonde hair was
dirty and his black eyes were crazed. The centuries had been hard on him. The
madness shone in him, but hidden deep within was a small amount of weariness.
Celeste had the feeling that Tomas wanted out of his life and punishment.
    He laughed. The list is truly endless, but at the top would be
peace. I'm tired, Celeste. Too many years living on this hellhole without any
hope of change. There have been too many nights with dreams of a place I'll
never go back to.
    Celeste felt a touch of sympathy for Tomas. The fallen that turned
evil tended to be the ones who suffered the loss of Heaven the most. They were
the ones who wanted mortals to suffer along with them.