Darkness Met
Fae Harlow
1/03/03

A strong, pale finger moved fleetly to push a straying strand of black velvet from sharp masculine features. A single shimmering piece of malachite nestled in the slight hollow at the base of his throat. Her eyes moved to his shoulders, broad, strong and powerfully muscled. They seemed somehow comforting, enticing a weary head to lay upon them.

His chest was bare, save for the remnants of the black shirt that appeared to have been reduced to ribbons by some sharp implement. The remaining material clung to chiseled muscles that looked almost as though they had been carved from the finest marble. Slim hips were encased in tight black fabric that moved with him, looking more like water than cloth.

Goddess, how she wanted to touch him.

'Touch Me', the request echoed strangely in her mind. It was a voice she didn't recognize, and very different from the bell-like, musical resonance of her Lady. It was husky and darkly passionate.

His voice. A shiver whispered through her at the realization. She could feel his black fire gaze intent on her face, as he shifted again, dark locks falling into his handsome face once more.

Her fingers itched to touch the silky looking strands, to test the strength she could see. Those other worldly eyes remained fixed on her, as if waiting for something. A chill rustled down her spine as she watched her own hand reach forward tentatively.

Tiny tremors worked through her as she caught the strands of ebony silk in her outstretched hand. Her eyes locked on his, as she brushed the thick strands away from his face. With a will of their own, her fingers shifted back to brush along a sculpted cheek.

The moment her fingers touched flesh, the apparition before her gasped and shifted again. Ebony wings shuddered as though he were distressed by her touch, even as he leaned in seeking more, like a cat to long without touch.

He turned his face into her hand. Unable to resist the temptation, he moved closer, taking her gently into his arms. The wings moved, enwrapping them both in velvet darkness. He caught the frightened whimper that escaped her as she lost her hold on reality. She clung tightly to him, her slender form molded tightly to the long line of him, as the world around them seemed to shimmer in and out of being.

"Angel?" She gasped still clinging to him for dear life.

"Gavin" he whispered against her ear, sending an almost unwelcome rush of awareness through her.

The arms that held her seemed to tighten, holding her curvy form flush against the hard sculpted planes of his body. She berated herself for the purely feminine reaction that pooled in the pit of her stomach and the heat that filled her cheeks at the way his body seemed to mold the feminine softness her own.

A fleeting and unexpected image of this man hovering over her as he did any number of wholly inappropriate things to her shifted through her minds eye causing the flush of her cheeks to deepen.

'Okay...' she thought, 'lusting after the gorgeous guy with big, black angel's wings is not a good idea. Anyway, he's probably a eunuch.'

The husky laugh that sounded in her ear directly after that thought caused her to jerk away from the otherworldly creature, to seek out his strange dark eyes. What she saw within caused the heat in her cheeks to redouble. Humor and laughter stared back at her from his heavenly fathomless eyes.

‘Oh goddess, he can read my mind.'

"Yes", he whispered against her ear.

She shuddered once again and then eagerly hid herself in the crook of his neck, her embarrassment complete.

"Hush. We're almost there." He murmured pressing a tender kiss into her hair.

After an eternity that could have been but a moment he released her from his embrace. She took a step back and watched as his inhuman gaze drank in her form.

"I don't understand", she said finally, truly confused.

"You called to me," he stated serenely, as though it were explanation enough.

He could feel the emotions of the woman before him, hear her mind's insistence that this was a dream and that he somehow represented her desires.

Desires... A eunuch indeed, he thought humorlessly. He was as besieged by desire as any human creature could be even though he was something else entirely.

Gavin sighed. He wanted to touch her again, to feel her pressed against him, her breath warm and quick on his skin. He watched her for a moment as she studied him. Her eyes changed suddenly, as something akin to recognition flitted across her face.

"You," she whispered, shock clear in her pretty face.

Gavin nodded. Her thoughts whispered to him. Reaching forward, he lifted the single feather that had lain on the tether about her neck for ages. Her eyes widened slightly as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

"I called to you?" She repeated.

He nodded once, stepping closer, his fingers coming to touch her face. He had waited so long for her to open her eyes and see him. To see him as more then just a figment of dreams, forgotten in the light of day.

"I have loved you," he whispered as he closed the distance between them and captured her lips in a heated kiss.

Her lips fell open under the onslaught of his. She gasped as the taste of him, the feel of him overloaded her senses. The kiss continued, and she whimpered as his strong hands pulled her against his hard form once more.

"Gavin," she whispered. She turned over reaching for him.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked sleep from her mind. Glancing down at the bed, she noticed she'd kicked all the covers off sometime in the night. Her breath caught, and she stared for a long moment shocked, and yet somehow not surprised.

A single huge black feather lay on the blanket by her side.