Shadow WIngs (Skeleton Key) by Skeleton Key, JC Andrijeski Page B

faint humor in his words a second time, and rolled her eyes.
    “Get in the car, comrade,” she said, smiling in spite of herself as she jerked open the driver’s side door. Before she could slide in however, he wrapped his arm around her again. That time, he lowered his head before she could react and kissed her on the mouth.
    She got the sense it was impulsive, like before.
    Or compulsive , perhaps.
    Unplanned at the very least.
    Maybe she was wrong, though. Maybe it was planned––maybe he’d thought about it beforehand––even back in her apartment when she started all this by staring at him when he was naked. Whatever he’d been thinking, when he raised his head briefly to look at her, all she saw in his eyes was surprise.
    Then that look in his eyes darkened.
    He kissed her again, harder that time.
    That time, when she let him, he used his tongue.
    As soon as she parted her lips, he pressed the length of his body against hers, pushing her into the car door and tightening his arm around her back. His hand wrapped into her hair when he kissed her a third time, and that time, he squeezed her even tighter against him. She found herself gasping by the end of that kiss, then she had her hand on his chest, pushing him back slightly, separating them before he could kiss her again.
    “Hey,” she murmured. “We are working, yes?”
    Breathing harder, he nodded, meeting her gaze. His eyes were slightly out of focus. “Yes,” he said, breathless. “I apologize. I was briefly... overcome.”
    She laughed. “Overcome? Do I want to know by what?”
    “Gratitude perhaps?” he said, giving her a faint smile. “I could say something else, but gratitude is probably more accurate.”
    “So that was a thank you?” She found herself shaking her head, smiling up at him in spite of herself. “Because that was more enthusiastic than strictly necessary, comrade.”
    He returned her smile, but that other look never left his eyes.
    She felt her cheeks warm when he continued to stare down at her. He hadn’t moved his lower body from hers, and she was uncomfortably aware of him pressing deliberately into the V where her legs met. Even as her mind drifted back there, he pressed against her harder, letting out a low sound when she pressed back.
    “I want to do that thing with you,” he said, gruff, by her ear. “Sex. The demon was not wrong.”
    She stared up at him, sure she’d misheard him.
    Or misunderstood him perhaps.
    But she hadn’t done either. She knew she hadn’t.
    “I didn’t fully understand then,” he added, his voice still low. “Why it was I followed you like I did. Such things appear... different. In that form.”
    “Different?” she snorted, hiding her embarrassment. “How?”
    “Less physical,” he said at once. “Less immediate, I suppose.”
    Still watching him study her face, she let out another half-laugh in spite of herself. “I will give you credit, comrade,” she said, disentangling herself partly from his embrace, even as it hit her that her knees were actually weak from kissing him. “...If this is all some elaborate come-on for sex, it is by far the most original one I have ever encountered. I would hazard a guess that it might be the most original of all male pick-up attempts...”
    “Is that a no?”
    Biting her lip, she shook her head. “No.”
    “Is it a yes?”
    Shoving lightly at his chest, she rolled her eyes. “No. Do not push your luck, comrade Archangel.”
    He smiled, his eyes on her mouth a beat too long before they returned to hers. “But I thought you wished to be helpful to the angels?” he said, smiling wider.
    She burst out in another laugh, caught off guard by his humor again.
    Controlling her own smile, she answered in mock-seriousness. “We have already established this, too, da? There is no religion in the Motherland. You said this yourself.”
    “Ah, of course,” he said. “How could I forget?”
    He gave her a final squeeze then released her after he