R & R Ch. 04

So, it's been a while but this is the latest in R&R, I recommend reading parts 1-3 for plot development but if you like being confused and bewildered well then just read this one :D Enjoy!

***

A soft, warm hand caressed my crotch and for a second I thought I was still dreaming, but no there was no doubt a moment later when the hand began to massage my hardening member. I let out a small moan and opened my eyes a fraction.

Next to me lay Rachel, glorious in all her nudity with one hand slipped beneath the covers that half covered the two of us. She slowly stroked me whilst a giant grin that reached her eyes played across her flawless face.

"Morning," She whispered coyly in my ear.I've created a monster,a quick thought flashed through my mind. Not only had we been up to the wee hours of the previous night masturbating the other, but here she was, barely five hours later, waking me up by perhaps the best way possible.

"Morning yourself," I grunted back, fairly distracted by the pressure and slow gyrating motion she exerted on my penis. By now I was stiff as I could ever remember and I was wet with my precum. Rachel leant over and kissed me softly on my mouth, whilst she continued to play with my penis. I was amazed at her ability to multi-task. I could barely return the kiss and I wasn't even doling out any pleasure, just receiving it!

She quickened her pace and thankfully stopped kissing me, instead studying my face with abject fascination. I began to thrust my hips and dipped a hand beneath the covers to place upon her own, guiding her in a rotating motion over the head, sending deep tendrils of pleasure shooting from my groin to all over my body.

"Faster, harder," I grunted, letting my hand fall as I lay back and enjoyed the show. I was surprised to feel a second hand upon my shaft, moving in tandem with the one clenched around my head. I couldn't hold back, I couldn't prolong the dump of pleasure that she had just delivered. With a load moan bordering upon a scream I let go, feeling squirt after squirt erupt from my member to splash into her hands and over my crotch.

"Wow," was all I could think to say, lying spent and panting.

"Well, you've a busy day ahead of you and I wanted to thank you for everything... again,"

I rolled my head to the side and felt my heart flutter as I gazed upon her. She sat, cross legged, her hands still upon my crotch, her long blond hair running down her front just covering up her nipples.

"God you're amazing," I half sat up and rotated to move my face closer to hers, she understood my point and leant down to join me in a loving kiss.

"I know," she responded after we broke our kiss, getting up and trotting off to the bathroom to clean up. I couldn't help myself and I stared at her ass the entire way, feeling a pang of lust at the way the cute heart shaped posterior bounced ever so slightly.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to return the favor, already running late from her morning surprise, and I barely had time to shower, gulp down a cup of hot bitter coffee, and give her a quick kiss and a promise to return the favor tenfold when I returned before I ran out the door to start a new week at university.

***

It was one o'clock and I was lying back on the deceptively uncomfortable s-shaped wooden chairs that were dotted around the large green in the center of the engineering campus. A crossword lay open on my lap, a blue ball point pen dangling almost forgotten in my right hand. I hadn't been able to wipe the smile off my face all day, a look which had incited more than a little ridicule from Jack and Peter, another friend in my course.

I let the sunlight caress my body, enjoying one of the last fine warm days we were likely to have before winter came. I had another three hours of class this afternoon but knew I'd be distracted throughout – something to do with the hot, horny blonde angel that waited at home for me.

I glanced around the large open area, examining the people around me. There was the usual smattering of couples, stealing a solitary hour to snuggle together on the aptly named 'make-out chairs', circles of four or five people lying on the grass, playing cards or just chatting, and the ever constant foot traffic that cut through on their way to class, home or for a much needed caffeine boost.

Three days ago I would have just smiled and gone back to the cross word, but not today. Despite how relaxed I was feeling I couldn't quite shake the sense of unease that had been near and never forgotten since Rachel shared her deepest secret with me. Now every glance in my direction was enemy surveillance and anybody moving towards me or even in a fifteen meter radius was an assailant hoping to get the drop on me.

Enough,I admonished,what's going to happen? Werewolves , arcane magic users and hordes of demons are going to erupt and attack you on a sunny afternoon in the middle of crowded university? Hell, no one probably even knows about you! Those guys the other day were probably just in the right place at the right time.

I forced myself back to the crossword. 17 across: Marks on a tennis court (9).Baseline?I marked it in. 17 down: French headwear (5).Beret,yup it fit. I was just about to write it in too when a streak of pain shot through my thumb.

"Fuck!" I called out automatically, my thumb felt as if a knife had just sliced deep into the flesh, I glanced at my thumb and was surprised to see... nothing. Not a single blemish or flaw.

"Got one wrong?" The a guy sitting in a similar chair ten feet away asked sarcastically. I glanced around and noticed that this time the looks people were shooting me definitely weren't in my imagination.

"Paper cut," I responded, half laughing, trying to hide the look of perplexity that was etched deep across my face. The pain was fading now and I couldn't figure out from where it had come. After a couple more minutes the momentarily intense pain had completely fled my mind as I launched myself back into the quick crossword at the back of the Sydney Morning Herald.

At five to two I got up, swung my black backpack across my shoulders, and headed out to my first afternoon lecture, a long and boring fifty minutes filled with confusing double integrals, partial derivatives and more Greek letters than you can shake a stick at. It was mundane and the most interesting thing that happened for the whole lecture was Jack falling asleep and waking himself up with a large snore, which set the class into a brief fit of laughter.

After Integral Calculus we headed off to an equally dull class that devoted itself to the material properties of concrete. I wondered, as I often do, how on earth they justified the devotion of an entire month to this common grey material which was about as interesting as watching... well concrete dry. Half way through the lecture my thumb started stinging again. I managed to hold in the expletive I had let out earlier but a sharp breath escaped my, drawing the attention of Jack and Peter.

"What," Jack whispered, raising an eyebrow in concern.

"Nothing," I responded shaking my head and trying to ignore the stinging in my digit.What's happening? Do I have a... I dunno... blister?I probed the soft skin and felt nothing out of the ordinary. I returned to pretending to take notes and felt yet another stab of pain shoot through my thumb.

For the next half an hour, the intermittent phantom pains continued, each time the feeling was less intense and at the end of the lecture it had subsided to an occasional dull throb, strangely reminiscent of putting pressure on a day or two old cut.

"What the hell is up with you?" Jack asked, dragging me aside after the lecture. Clearly he hadn't been as clueless to the subsequent twinges I'd felt as I had thought.

"I dunno. I just keep getting pains in my thumb," I responded truthfully, not really expecting any insight but wishing to placate him.

"Oh that's all? I thought you'd gotten bruised or something, you know... the other night," he raised his eyebrows momentarily to indicate the attack that had been carried out forty-eight hours earlier.

As if my osmosis we had all appeared to come to an understanding about not discussing the other night. Pierre and I hadn't even exchange a 'wink wink, nudge nudge' about it yesterday and this was the first time all day I'd heard even the faintest hint about it from Jack.

"No, just splinter or something I guess," I wasn't convinced by my answer but it appeared Jack was.

"Oh okay," he shrugged and turned to rejoin Peter, who was trying his luck with an attractive co-ed hanging around the entrance of the lecture theatre waiting for the next class to begin. I watched as Jack dragged Peter away from the exasperated girl and together the three of us moved towards the next class. On our way out of the building, listening to Jack rib on Peter, I noticed a strange looking guy in a black leather Jacket hanging around at the bottom of a stair case.

I'd been getting paranoid feelings all day but there was no way in hell that this guy wasn't staring directly at me. We've got a large demographic at Sydney Uni, everything from hipsters to goths, nerds to pretentious north shore kids, but this guy didn't fit into any of the categories. He was wearing a black leather jacket and plain blue jeans with a matching white v-neck shirt, but it wasn't his clothes that was the giveaway he didn't belong here, it was his demeanor.

Firstly his stance was all wrong, it exuded violence and he was veritably snarling. He might have looked at home walking around The Block in Redfern at midnight, but here he was as out of place as a fish in space.

Secondly, he wasn't rushing off to the next class or joining the throng pushing their way into the lecture theater. He was just standing there, resting against the banister of the stairwell, practically leering at me.

I didn't let on I'd made him, as Andrew would call it, but just pretended to laugh along with Jack as I noted him out of the corner of my eye. I noticed he didn't follow us once we left the building, perhaps he was just checking he had my schedule right or getting a better feel for me or... I don't know, but I didn't appear as if he was looking to engage right away.

God what's come over you? Engage? Look at yourself for Christ's sake. You're just an ordinary university student. One part in a million. Nothing unique about you kid... apart from that angel hiding out in your apartment.That was it wasn't it? Rachel. Ever since she'd come into my life I'd become Jason Bourne, well in my own mind at least. Was it some deep seeded need to protect her? Or was the incurable romantic in me near orgasmic by the thought of me versus the forces of darkness? Then again, I had been mugged just two nights ago....

Fortunately the next class drove all pre-occupation out of my mind, less fortunately the distraction took the form of a quiz that I had completely forgotten about due to the events of the last couple of days. Needless to say I did poorly, my performance not helped by the occasional pangs that shot through my thumb, and it was with a deep melancholy I emerged at five with a frown set upon my face.

"Cheer up," Jack said his face as mournful as my own, "We've got another one next week."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, my mood not helped in the least.

***

The key slid into the lock and I deftly twisted it to the left, unlocking the heavy door. By the time I'd arrived home my mood had improved marginally: partly due to the deafening music I'd pumped through my new iPhone, partly due to the gorgeous sunset that shone in my face the entire way, but mainly due to the salacious thoughts of Rachel that kept popping into my head. Each more vivid and arousing that the last, growing more and more potent the nearer I drew to my apartment.

"Hey," Rachel called out from the living room as she heard the door open. The last vestiges of sorrow were eradicated in that one single simple word.

"Hey," I called back, dropping my bag on the floor, closing the door and locking it behind me. The grin that grew across my face was mirrored by a similar growing in my jeans. I rounded the corner to see Rachel lounging on the couch, flicking through the trash on TV trying to find something half decent to distract her.

"How was your day," She asked, getting up and crossing to me.

"In the past," I noticed she had a plaster strapped across the thumb of her right hand. When she reached me I took her hand gently in my own and examined the injury.

"What happened?"

"Oh nothing, I just cut myself whilst making a sandwich for lunch," She smiled and tried to catch my eye, "Hey don't worry it's just a small cut."

I realized I was scowling and forced my expression neutral again.

"That's weird. I've been getting shooting pains through my thump all day," I dropped her hand looked up into her deep green eyes, expecting to see her trademark slightly mocking smile play upon her face but was surprised to see a look of dawning comprehension instead.

"Of course," she murmured.

"What?"

"Well, I've heard stories from some of the other angels about Fallens," we moved to the couch and sat whilst she told her story, "When they bond with a human they share a... connection. It varies in strength, sometimes it can be a full exchange of emotions if it's a very strong bond, but ordinarily it's just... well," to demonstrate her point she pressed hard upon her own thumb and I felt the familiar phantom pain shoot through my own.

"Okay, okay," I said quickly, grabbing her hand and stopping the pressure she was exerting on the cut, "So you mean we can feel each other's pain?"

"Well..." she started but I cut her off my banging my hand hard upon the coffee table. It smarted and I looked to her to see if she could feel it too.

"You should have let me finish," she said, a chuckle erupting from her lips. I was expecting her to be irritated not mirthful.

"Sorry?"

"The bond only forms when one... well... let's just say takes the other's essence," she wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive nature.

"Wha..."Oh, right.

"And I haven't... "

"Yeahp, gotcha," I sat there, feeling like an idiot, cradling my hand in my lap.

"So... what'd you get up to today?" I tried lamely to break the awkward 'Ryan's an idiot' silence that spanned between us.

"Not a great deal, mostly just hung around. Not too much for me to do. I had a bath,"

"Yummy," I responded, shooting her a ridiculously lecherous look and wiggling my eyebrows comically.

"Perv," she responded sharing my smile.

"Yeah, sorry it's kinda boring. I wish I didn't have uni and could show you the sites," I shrugged apologetically, knowing how stir-crazily-boring it must be hanging around in an apartment all day.

"That's alright, I'm just enjoying resting up and doing nothing strangely enough. I haven't had a vacation in..." she trailed off, her eyebrows knitting together in thought, "four centuries?"

"Wow shit. That's a long time without breaks! What exactly did you do anyway...." I was disappointed to find Rachel shooting me a dark look. Clearly my attempt at subtle prying had failed miserably.

"You know I can't talk about it. I said it before and I'll say it again, some stuff mortal's just aren't meant to know. All I can say is that I wasn't on the frontlines of the war,"

Huh,I thought,this is news. War?Apparently my angelic housemate wasn't quite as guarded and aloof as she thought she was.

"War?"

"Oh crap," she swore and shook her head, recognizing her own mistake, "don't worry about it. Now can we please change the subject?"

"Okay, okay. Can't blame a guy for trying right? So okay then where was your last vacation?"

"Europe, England mostly. I was in London during October-November actually, fascinating time. Not to mention I got to see King Lear a year later... not a bad time all things considered," a wistful expression spread across her face with just a shadow of...what? Pain?

"Sorry 1605 October November?'

"Remember remember the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot,"

"Oh you were there for that?"

"Yeah, I managed to see the aftermath. Bad times my friend bad times," She patted my hand got to her feet, clearly ending the conversation. I couldn't shake the feeling that the reason she came down to earth all those years ago was less of a vacation and more of... sabbatical? Pennance? Was that her second strike? Like a suspension in school before expulsion? I didn't know and she was as closed as a book about somethings, but I knew that as long as she was here I wanted her with me and happy.

"Do you fancy going out to dinner?" I sidled up behind her as she stood at the floor to ceiling glass retracting doors, gazing out over the darkening sky.

"Mhmm," she sighed, leaning back and letting me snake my arms around her waist, holding her close.

"Is that a yes,"

"Yes please, but not right now. Just hold me," I was only too happy to oblige. I could tell she needed this contact, that the memories of heaven and her position before all this happened hurt. She was so strong in her own way but I was glad that she could lean on me, use my help. I felt my desire to protect her deepening and I knew that yes, for this woman I would most definitely go to hell and all that entailed.

***

"Fuck off," not the most polite greeting in the history of the world but Michael thought it served his ends.

"Hey listen, I just want to make a mutually beneficial proposition," Sevyr held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture.

"What part of fuck off don't you understand?" Michael turned his gaze upon the asshole sitting on the barstool next to him.

"Come on, just hear me ou..." Sevyr's sentence was suddenly cut short by the hand that tightly grasped his throat.

"And why would I listen to a wet dog?" Michael curled his lip in a manner which served to illustrate his disgust and show off his needle sharp incisors and relaxed his grip slightly.

"Because," the werewolf croaked around the marginally reduced pressure on his windpipe, "I know where... a Fallen... is,"

"A Fallen?" Michael released his grip entierely, letting the despicable animal crash forward onto the bar

"Yeah," Sevyr panted, enjoying his ability to breath freely, "Listen, her protector beat up a couple of your brethren a few nights back and she's got potential. Christ has she got potential. You must have felt it last Friday!"

"So if you know where she is and how much power she has, why did you come to me? Why don't you and your... dogs," he spit the last word, "go and claim the prize."

"Cause if you and I go, we could share it. You have no patriarch but if I bring in my clan, the pack leader takes all the power, how fair is that?"

"Well, as tempting as your proposition is, I'm going to have to decline," Michael picked up the glass before him and drained the last drop of whiskey it contained.

"What are you insane! This is the opportunity of a century!"

"I've given up that life, now if you'll excuse me," Michael got up, threw a five down on the bar, and turned his heel to walk away as Sevyr tried one last ditch attempt to gain an ally.

"You're insane man! This Rachel chick can make you powerful enough to lead your own coven!"

"Rachel?" Michael turned on his heel and eyed Sevyr with a cold questioning gaze.

"Yeah, I hear her name is Rachel and her protector is..." Quick as a flash Michael took three long steps and with one hand crushed the pitiful creature's neck in a quick stroke, letting the body fall to the ground.

"Wow, what the fuck!" The bartender yelled, reaching for the shotgun he had secreted under the bar, whilst the rest of the patrons stopped whatever they were doing and took several hasty steps away from the scene.