Once an Angel, Page 3

things. Gradually, Ella relaxed. Her hands unclenched, and she let her head rest against his shoulder. It was okay. She was in control. She sighed. He was solid and steady, and just being close to him eased the horror of what she might yet become.

  "I guess you're more than eye candy, Tapp."

  "Eye candy?" She heard the smile in his voice, but she didn't dare look up to see it.

  "You're a very handsome man," she said.

  He smelled so good. The concrete at her back and under her butt was cold, but Tappani was warm. He was close, and full of hot, tasty blood. Harpy lust raised its head as she thought about him, about the naked chest she leaned against, about his flesh and how it would taste. Against her will, her hands began stroking the silky skin of his back. Her mouth moved up the tasty, warmth of his neck where she could feel the strong beat of his pulse. Under her tongue, she felt Tappani's heart beat faster, which excited her more. She fought the desire to bite down, to feel the hot spurt of that blood in her mouth.

  "Ella, I think you should stop," Tappani said. But his protest was weak and breathless as his own body responded to Ella's desire. Of course, she thought, Tappani had never been human. He wouldn't have a clue how to deal with his body's response. The pheromones of the harpy blood would work on him, too, making him want what she wanted.

  Ella tore her mouth from his throat in a desperate effort to keep from biting down. Her lips were on fire, and only he could quench the flame that consumed her. She was out of control, and she took Tappani's face in her hands and brought her lips to his in a deep, demanding kiss. She wanted him, and she wanted him now. That was all that mattered.

  Her left hand was tangled in the hair at the back of his head. She slid her right hand down between them until she found the bulge in the front of his pants. Tappani moaned, and she felt him trying to pull her hand away from his crotch. What was the matter with him? The harpy blood was running strong, stoked by his reluctance. She realized that the same blood made her stronger than Tappani, just as it made him feel the same lust she felt.

  Again, she captured his mouth with her own and forced her tongue between his teeth. She tried to push him onto his back, but the damn chain that bound them was too short. The best she could do was climb onto his lap and force him back against the concrete wall. With a jerk of his head, Tappani managed to free his mouth. She didn't care. She bent her head to lick his nipples. She heard him gasp as she bit down.

  "Ella, stop! Don't let them win; you aren't like them."

  What was he talking about? Why didn't he just shut up? Ella didn't want to talk. She wanted to forget this stinking cellar. Forget the harpies. Forget the harpies . . . How could she forget the harpies? Oh, Gaea save her! What was she doing? She felt like a swimmer kicking desperately for the surface. She'd been downing in the harpy blood. She threw herself away from Tappani, as far as the four-foot chain between them would let her. Ella buried her face in her hands. If shame could kill, then she was dead. She felt Tappani reach for her.

  "No!"

  "It's okay," he murmured as he once again drew her into his arms. "It's okay, Ella."

  How could he be so nice to her, so kind?

  "I almost killed you," she said.

  "But you stopped. You beat them. You won." He rested his chin in top of her head.

  He was right, she realized. The cruel urge to dominate, to control was gone. The insane harpy-generated lust and blood hunger faded like fog burned away by the morning sun. She knew that if she had a chance to get to know Tappani better, if they survived, there might be lust again. But it would be her own lust, not the awful harpy-driven perversion that had almost taken control of her.

  "You're a nice guy," she said, and embarrassed herself by adding a sob.

  "So, you think you like me?"

  "Yeah.

  "You think you might want to jump my bones later, when we get this mess cleaned up?"

  "What!"

  "Just asking. It's seems to be a kind of human guy thing. You know? I just want to be sure it's you who wants me and not the harpies."

  "Tappani, I don't need harpy blood to find you gorgeous. But to be honest, I don't see any future for us. I barely managed to stop myself this time. They'll be back down here soon, if only to gloat. They get off on that. And then things will get a whole lot worse. Their blood gives them control of me, Ocypete's blood actually. If she tells me to rip your heart out with my bare hands, I'll have to obey her."

  "No, you won't," he said. He spoke with such assurance that she could almost believe him. "You controlled yourself once; you can do it again."

  Ella sighed and leaned into his shoulder. He was wrong. She could feel the poison lurking inside her, waiting for a moment of weakness to take her over again. And that was just the first dose of harpy blood, Ocypete meant to feed her more, and Ella didn't think she had enough control over her own body any longer to stop her. Still, she was her own woman for the moment, and that woman wanted to enjoy the simple comfort Tappani offered.

  "You know, Tapp, I don't think you're plain vanilla human any more than I am." Did that mean the harpies could control him, too, she wondered?

  "I'm not?"

  "You weren't born, right?"

  "No, the heavenly authorities told me I needed to learn to experience being human so I could learn humility. I went from the Dreaming straight to Belle and Nathan the Beast."

  Nathan the Beast? She was going to have to get the whole story from him, if they lived that long. "So, you've still got super strength and super speed."

  "But not what I had as an angel," he said.

  She raised her head to see Tappani smiling down at her. "Of course not." Super strength, super speed, and a killer smile. Definitely not plain vanilla.

  Suddenly, their peace was broken by a loud bang as the door at the top of the stairs slammed open, followed by the furious shrieks of the harpies. Ella scrambled to her feet and wiped at her dirty, tear streaked face with her hands. No point in letting those bitches know they'd gotten to her. Tappani rose and stood next to her.

  All three harpies were present. Ella could tell by the sound of their voices as they cursed each other in what passed for conversation among them. She heard the scrabble of their bird-like claws scratching the wooden steps and smelled the incredible stink of their filthy, lice-ridden feathers. The harpies were destruction personified, chaos given form in the Dreaming and now escaped into Gaea's world. It had been Ella's job to cut off their heads and send them back to the Dreaming, back to where they belonged. But she'd failed. They'd caught her, and they might well have destroyed her. It was just a matter of time before their poisonous blood did its work.

  Ocypete, swift wing, the eldest sister, entered first, followed by her sisters, Kelaino, fleet foot, and Aello, storm swift. The volume of cursing and shrieking doubled. Ocypete took a stance beside the doorway, her human face smug now that she'd once again established her dominance.

  The stench of the sisters was enough to make Ella gag. She glanced at the ex-angel and saw the way his eyes widened as he watched the three foul creatures crowding into the room. His face was pale, and she saw his Adam's apple move as he gulped. But he stood his ground, shoulder to shoulder with her, as he waited for the fearsome bitches to do their worst. So, Tappani was brave as well as beautiful, or maybe he was just too innocent to realize how bad the these three could be.

  "Aren't they sweet," Kelaino rasped. She scratched at the lice crawling through the dirty brown feathers of her lower body. Her blonde hair hung in greasy straggles around her face, looking like nothing so much as a dirty mop stuck on her head. Like her sisters, she had the face of a pretty, petulant cheerleader.

  "Our two little love birds," Aello agreed. She leered at Tappani. Their appearance was all the more disgusting because of the way their sweet, girlish faces contrasted with their ungainly feathered haunches and huge raptor's feet. "So, tell me pr
etty boy, how many times did our little avatar have you since last night?" The question brought more gales of shrieking laughter.

  Ella felt a hot flush of shame because they were so close to what had almost happened before she got control of herself. She felt the back of Tappani's hand touch hers. Not holding, just a brush of skin on skin that sent a message of reassurance. She took a deep steadying breath. Ugh! What a stink! But she felt calmer. She'd deal with these three. One way or another. Even if they turned her into a harpy, she'd remain herself at her core, and by Gaea's grace, she'd send all three of them back to the Dreaming as nothing more than a trio of toucans.

  Kelaino and Aello rustled forward, shedding feathers and bits of unnameable crud as they moved. Ocypete watched from the rear. The redhead was the eldest and cleverest of the three sisters, the one who thought up all the really nasty amusements. And Kelaino and Aello were happy to carry out her dirty designs.

  "Look at him!" Kelaino said, "Oh, sweetie, why don't you take off the rest of those clothes and show us what you can do with that beautiful body? Or are you all worn out by our sister-to-be?"

  Ella frowned. Concerned, she glanced at Tappani. That was no way to talk to an angel, even an ex-angel. But Tappani was looking at the sisters with—was that compassion? Of course, it was, she realized. Tappani wasn't looking at their hideous exteriors; he wasn't