Read Sapphire Angel Online

Authors: Khloe Wren

Sapphire Angel (2 page)

Except for one thing, "What’s your name?"

"Angelo" he all but purred in her ear.

She chuckled. It made sense. A dark sexy angel sent to save her.

"You find my name amusing,
piccola
?"

"No, not funny. Just ironic an angel is saving me. I'm Darcy, by the way."

"
Bene
, I understand. Will you let me save you, Darcy? Will you let me escort you home?"

She sighed heavily, "Back to La Cheap Hotel. My new home."

"Where is this hotel? I’ve not heard of it." Angelo’s heavily accented voice made her thoughts trip over themselves. She had to wait a moment before she could form an answer.

"It’s not its real name. I can’t remember what it’s called. It’s just a crappy little hotel. It was all I could afford when I left the house I was living in with that low life cheating son of a bitch earlier today."

She felt a tear leave the corner of her eye but before she could swipe it away, Angelo leaned in and kissed it away with his smooth cool lips.

"Your home is with me now. We shall go and collect your things and you will come stay with me."

Darcy swiveled around on her stool. Once her head stopped spinning, she moved to glare at Angelo. She couldn’t just move in with him! They’d only just met, and she wasn’t entirely sure she believed she was his Eternal Bride. Her intended glare of anger rapidly turned into a look of pure shock and awe. She raised her hands to his face, swiping her thumbs back and forth over the satiny smooth skin under his eyes. His beautiful sapphire blue irises were the exact same color as her own.

"Holy shit." She said quietly on a breath.

"
Si
,
il mio amore
. You are truly my Eternal Bride." His liquid smooth voice washed over her, easing some of her shock as it cleared the last of the alcohol haze from her mind.

Darcy had heard about the eye thing. Eternal Brides always had the same exact iris color as their vampire. She squeezed her lids closed and took a breath; she opened up and looked back into Angelo’s gaze as she spoke two words which would irrevocably change her life forever.

"Let’s go."

~ * ~

Angelo led Darcy out of the bar and down Chapel Street. They had just turned to walk down a side street when she suddenly stopped, causing him to nearly crash into her. He could hear the loud motor easily, revving before the turbo blow-off valve hissed its release. The sounds repeated, getting louder, before finally he saw the car responsible. A shiny well cared for vehicle rolled down the road, slowing as its driver saw everyone looking at his
bambino
.

Darcy sighed next to him and leaned into his arm.

"An electric blue Subaru WRX with gold mags. My dream car."

He watched her shake her head and step free from him as the vehicle continued down the road, "It will never be mine."

Angelo grinned as he followed her to the hotel. He could easily afford such a car and to see his Bride look this happy, it would be worth every cent.

Angelo’s smile vanished in an instant when they reached the grubby little stone building which housed what Darcy had aptly renamed La Cheap Hotel. It looked to be falling down. He would have thought the owners would have to pay people to stay there, rather than the other way around. The vampire friendly penthouse apartment he’d bought five years ago, when he knew he would be staying in Melbourne for a while, was much more suitable for his Bride to be living in. He was sure she’d be impressed with it, especially compared to this garish place.

It didn’t take long for him to help Darcy collect her few bags. She hadn’t unpacked yet so they were all ready to go. He carried the heaviest two of her three bags. He was saddened that this was all she had to her name, but knew he would correct that oversight soon enough. She would have all her heart’s desires for the rest of her life.

He strolled with Darcy to a taxi bay. After helping her in, he put the bags in the trunk and climbed in the other side. It didn’t take long for the vehicle to arrive at the Docklands, where his penthouse apartment was located. The taxi pulled up to the front doors of his building and he quickly paid the driver before making his way around the car to open the door for Darcy. She’d already opened it, but was still sitting in her seat, hand on the handle, mouth open slightly in what looked like shock.

"
Venire
, Darcy, let me show you your new home."

Without removing her gaze from the all the ritzy glamour of the apartment’s foyer, she slid her hand into his.

He pulled her from the car. Unable to resist, he tugged her into his embrace. Holding her tightly against himself, he breathed in deeply, relishing her delicious jasmine scent. He raised his head to watch the taxi driver take the bags from the boot and line them up on the curb before he took off to find his next fare. After one last deep breath he moved away from Darcy and collected the bags. Walking behind her, he gently guided her through the doors into the foyer. The receptionist at the desk greeted him in the usual way with a
buona notte
together with a slight bow. Tonight it was a young man who was dressed impeccably in a dark charcoal suit with a blood red tie. The owners of the building thought it funny to include lots of dark red in and around the entire premises. All he cared about was that his apartment was equipped with a central windowless bedroom, and all external windows had complete block out shutters.

Angelo steered Darcy into an elevator. He then lowered the bags to enter his code and press the appropriate floor’s button. That done he faced Darcy again. She was still looking a little pale and wide-eyed. Taking her face between her hands, Angelo bent down toward her. Stopping short of kissing her, he was close enough to feel her warm breath heat his skin. After endless seconds Darcy pressed herself up, fusing their mouths together. As she opened her lips on a sigh Angelo delved in. A groan escaped him as her taste exploded across his senses. He felt Darcy’s delicate fingers tentatively press against his chest, as if she were unsure of what her reception would be. As if he would ever refuse the touch of his Bride.

As Angelo sensed they were approaching his floor, he reluctantly withdrew from her. He looked down at her, eyes closed and a slight flush to her cheeks, as she appeared to slowly come back to her senses.

"You,
piccola
, taste divine. But we must stop for a moment. We are nearly there."

Darcy nodded shyly as she lowered her face from his and stepped back from him.

Angelo felt her loss instantly, she was less than a foot from him but he felt as if she were miles away. He picked up the bags just as the door chimed and opened. He waited for Darcy to step past him before he moved out of the elevator. He led her to the right and stopped at the apartment's entrance. Putting down one of the bags he pressed his thumb against the security-sensor.

The door opened immediately and he ushered Darcy into the room. He placed her bags by the wall before he closed the door. He turned back toward where Darcy had been, but she was gone. He glanced quickly around and found her over by the glass wall, looking like a small child with her palms pressed up against the panel overlooking the pool and the view of the harbor and all its yachts.

He came up behind her and gently rested his hands on her shoulders. He lowered his head to her neck and inhaled, before he began leaving small kisses over the vein that ran up the side of her neck.

Chapter Two

The cold glass against her palms helped her realize this was reality. She wasn’t asleep and dreaming. Looking out over a pool to the million dollar yachts below she drew in a breath. She was really standing in a penthouse apartment at the Docklands. This place was easily worth more than a few million, especially if it was 'vampire friendly'.

Angelo’s cool fingers caressed her shoulders, moments before soft lips began trailing kisses up her neck.

"Do you like the view,
piccola
?"

"Hmmm, it’s very nice."

He chuckled. It was a soft and sexy sound that cut straight through her.

"I am guessing you are feeling overwhelmed,
si
?"

"You could say that. This morning I was thinking up ways to celebrate my five-year anniversary with my boyfriend. By dinnertime I was alone in a bar drowning my sorrows at having caught him in the act of cheating on me. Now, at nearly midnight, I’m standing in a vampire’s very lush, very expensive apartment in the Docklands."

She paused to let a chuckle escape, "You could say it’s been a long, strange day."

"How about a swim? To relax. You can ask me any questions you like. I want you to be comfortable with me and your place in my life."

"What do you mean 'my place in your life'?"

He nipped her ear, "Come for a swim then ask your questions, Darcy."

"I need to get changed. What room will I be sleeping in?"

"The central master bedroom, of course. Where else would a vampire have his Eternal Bride sleep?"

Where indeed.

She still wasn’t ready to believe in this happily ever after which had landed in her lap. It was just too good to be true after all the hardships her life had provided so far. Growing up in the foster care system hadn’t been easy, nor had making it out in the real world as an adult all alone.

She followed Angelo through the apartment and watched as he carried her bags into a large walk in closet.

"The bathroom is through there. This is your space. I will get changed out in the bedroom then meet you back at the pool."

He walked away, leaving her alone. She quickly opened her bags and found her swimsuit. She pushed past the practical one piece she normally wore and grabbed her little bikini, the deep blue one she had bought on a whim but had previously never had the guts to wear. Before she could talk herself out of it she pulled it out and started undressing.

Once changed, she nervously walked back to the glass wall. She froze as she saw him. He was facing away from her, leaning against the side of the pool with his arms stretched out to either side. She could see the lines of the muscles in his arms and his upper back. Damn, but the man was sex on a stick.

She must have sighed as he suddenly turned toward her. His sapphire blue eyes flashed with heat as he ran his gaze over her body. A grin crept over his face and he raised a hand and curled a finger in her direction, wanting her to come to him. Darcy glanced up and down the wall looking for the door. When she located it, she forced her feet to move and headed out to the pool.

Angelo walked up to the steps of the pool and held his hand out for her to hold as she descended into the warm water. When she reached the bottom step, he stepped in close to her, ran a finger lightly across her collarbone and over her shoulder. He grazed the cool fingertip down her arm. Her body felt like it was about to combust, every touch left her skin tingling and her body aching for more.

"You are a vision,
piccola
."

His whispered words caused further havoc in her body.

He wrapped one arm around her waist and lifted her from the step. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Her breath froze in her lungs as his hard length came into contact with the aroused flesh between her thighs. With each of them only wearing thin swimsuits, there wasn’t much of a barrier. Before she could get her breathing back on track, he tangled his other hand in her hair and devoured her mouth in a kiss so raw and filled with passion she saw spots before her eyes.

She gasped when he finally released her lips and she guessed they were now in rather deep water. She clung tighter to his body and he chuckled in her ear.

"You can still reach the bottom. I am sitting on a ledge."

She tentatively lowered her feet to the bottom of the pool and stood before him. The water felt so good, and without another thought she dropped back, going under the surface. With a kick she was off to the other side. It felt good to stretch her arms and legs. The feel of liquid sliding against her skin had always been one of her favorite sensations.

When she reached the other side, she stood and swam back. First freestyle until she got close to Angelo then she ducked under and glided underneath the water’s surface. She came up just in front of him. Quickly wiping the water from her face before looking to see Angelo’s reaction, her breath caught at the look on his face. His eyes shone with laughter and arousal, and his mouth twitched up at one side with a sly sexy grin.

"
Grande
, you looked like an
acqua dea;
a water goddess rising from the ocean just now."

She felt the heat rise up her cheeks and she looked away from him. She wasn’t used to compliments. Working as a sales clerk at a high-end fashion store on Chapel Street, she was more accustomed to giving out compliments than receiving them. A finger beneath her chin turned her face back so she had no choice but to focus on his handsome features.

"Do not be embarrassed, Darcy. You are a truly beautiful woman.
La sua Sposa Eterna
."

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