HAVE YOU EVER LOVED SOMEBODY?

Love sometimes hides behind an alluring curtain of lust, often revealing itself after we allow the physical to render us blind to the obvious.

Newark City Hospital, 116 Fairmount Avenue, Newark, NJ - 1963

“I’ve been to every hospital in this pissant city but this one,” Nicodemus Urakabarameel groused. He’d been out since early evening, searching every human place of healing in the city. Now, he stood atop a building across the street from Newark City Hospital surveying his surroundings. Save for a drunken derelict taking shelter from the pounding rain on the hospital grounds, the streets were devoid of energy, human or otherwise.

If she is not here, I shall tear this motherfucker apart, he vowed to the universe as lightning flashes lit up the night sky like Fourth of July fireworks. An obstreperous clamor of thunder boomed in response to his steadfast resolve.

The fearsome half-breed angel, beloved by the Nephilim Nation and feared by the inhabitants of all seven levels of the Hells, was oblivious to the driving rain buffeting his face with its icy needles and the sudden gust of angry wind swirling around the hem of his long black hooded coat. He was a male on a mission, in search of the sweetest prey. He executed a slow one-hundred-eighty-degree turn and froze, his focus on the sound of his heartbeat pounding inside his skull.

I am close, he thought, acknowledging, albeit grudgingly, that only one female in the universe had the power to affect him like this.

A surge of raw, unbridled carnality punched through every pore in Nico’s body as an unknown force drew his attention to the second building. The bright light from a bank of windows lured his unerring gaze to the fifth floor. Unable to contain his excitement, Nico zeroed in on the subtle hint of his quarry’s familiar scent. The ruthless preternatural being, singlehandedly responsible for reducing the demon population by the millions, swayed and nearly stumbled.

The exquisite music of the green-eyed sorceress’s unique vibration was strong enough to bring him to his knees, where the pelting rain and raging winds could not. He’d hit pay-dirt. 

“Ah, there you are, my beautiful Joie,” he said, licking the razor sharp tips of his fangs with a self-satisfied smile. “I shall take you one more time. Once I have my fill, I shall be free,” he surmised.

Nico turned his attention to the generators on the hospital campus and the miserable old human sheltering between them. Suddenly, an overwhelming stench of terminal disease traveled on the wings of the wind like rotten meat. The wretch observed Nico vanish and materialize on the roof of the first of the three-building medical complex with unblinking eyes.

Nico raised his powerful arms toward the heavens, intent upon taking command of the elements and putting the poor wretch out of his misery. A loud clap of thunder boomed in protest as he harnessed the energy from the next flash of lightning.

With merely a thought, he redirected the electrical power toward the generators. A solid molten arc of fire-breathing current attached to the human’s sodden clothing, cooking him from the inside out. Nico watched until there was nothing left of the human but a smoldering pile of filthy clothing and the smell of burnt human flesh.

Moments later, the generators blew, resulting in a power outage within the twelve-block radius from where he stood—including the hospital.

“May you know favor in the next life,” Nico whispered, and disappeared.

***

“My goodness, Joie!”

Dr. Peggy Butler shuddered, placing her hand on her chest at a startlingly loud crack of thunder. “That felt way too close for comfort. And it looks like the streets are flooding.”

“Yup, and that’s why I’m leaving right now,” Dr. Joie Samuels remarked. “I plan to get home before the flooding gets any worse. I don’t intend to spend the night in a hospital bed.” Joie marched to the reception area where she’d left her purse. Peggy followed closely on her heels.

“Seriously, Joie, I don’t think you should try to drive home in this mess. I’m on duty all night. Stay. We’ll keep each other company,” Peggy pleaded.

And then the power went out.

“Shit!” Joie wanted to kick herself for not leaving earlier.

“Look, Joie!” Peggy exclaimed. “The backup power just came on in the other two buildings, standing in the newfound light of the window. The power in this building will be on before we know it.” 

Joie was quick to dash Peggy’s hopes. “No, it won’t. The backup generator restored power to the buildings deemed essential. The other buildings fit that category as they house the operating rooms, life-saving equipment, and patients. There is no such imperative for administrative buildings. Back in 1872, this building housed the Essex County Insane Asylum. I suspect they did not upgrade the generator when they constructed the new buildings.

Do you have a cigarette lighter, Peggy?”

“Yes, I think I do.” Joie could hear Peggy rummaging around in her purse.

“What do you propose to do?” she asked, handing Joie the lighter.

I’m getting my black ass out of here. That’s what I’m doing. Joie kept her thoughts to herself.

“I am going to take the stairs down to the basement and exit the building through the parking lot, Peggy. I can’t stay here another minute.” An inexplicable urge to flee came over her.

“Joie, please don’t leave,” Peggy entreated. “The fire department should be here any minute now. I think it will be safer if you just stay put.” She was buoyed by the distant sound of sirens. 

But Joie would have none of it. Determined to leave, she gave Peggy a quick peck on the cheek and allowed the BIC to lead her to the stairwell.

***

The light from the BIC formed eerie shadows on the wall as Joie took cautious steps from the fifth to the fourth floor landing. She silently cursed herself for wearing shoes far better suited for a cocktail party than for trudging down dusty hospital stairs.

“Thanks a fucking lot, Peggy,” she murmured in disgust when the flame from the lighter flickered and threatened to go out. Joie extinguished the flame and continued down the remaining steps in pitch-black darkness.

I must be close to the first floor landing, she told herself a short while later.

She lit the BIC to see how far she’d come, hoping the cheap one-time lighter would not fail her, and stood stock-still.

There stood the man she’d been ducking for the past three months, dripping wet and so fucking fine she nearly came on herself from the sight of him.

Joie couldn’t move as Nico’s dark, rapacious eyes left a trail of fire from the top of her head to the tips of her well-shod toes, eating her alive. Memories of their last time together flooded her mind when his hungry gaze returned to the pulsing juncture between her thighs, making it clear what he wanted from her. The cocky bastard had the nerve to lick his lips at Joie’s involuntary whimper. 

The lighter slipped from Joie’s fingers, plunging the stairwell into an impenetrable wall of inky darkness. Trapped on a wave of dizziness, Joie lost her footing and would have fallen had Nico not caught her. Joie feared how this encounter would end the moment her body melted into his. Their racing hearts beat as one.

***

“How did you find me?” she whispered, straining her eyes to see where there was no light.

Unlike Joie, Nico could see very well in the dark. He filled his eyes with the sight of her, finding her just as beautiful as he’d remembered, if not more. Sensing his nearness, she backed away.

“You returned none of my calls,” he replied, ignoring her question. His voice was as Joie recalled it, deep and mesmerizing, with an unidentifiable foreign accent.

“I ... I ... have been extremely busy.”

“Really?” His right brow rose in disbelief.

“Yes,” she replied, simultaneously yearning to see his face and glad she could not.

“Did you receive the flowers?” he asked.

“Yes. They were beautiful. Thank you.”

Nico stepped closer, invading her personal space, and forcing Joie to take in the unique smell that had been haunting her dreams for the past three months—a smell that was his and his alone.

“How long do you intend to run from me, doll baby?” Nico asked, perplexed. He knew Joie lusted for him. He could tell by her erratic heartbeat at the whisper of his breath on her face, yet she continued to resist him.

I’m good-looking, rich, a skilled lover, and of nearly pure-blooded angelic lineage. What more can a female ask for? he wondered.

***

Joie bit her bottom lip to keep from groaning as Nico molded every inch of his delicious body against hers. She nearly wept when he used his superior strength to press her back into the stairwell wall. She could feel every inch of his long, thick hardness through her smock and the dress beneath it.

Nico placed both hands on the wall above her head, caging her in. The aggressive move elicited a sweet whimper that echoed in the dark stairwell and made his balls as hard as concrete. Licking lips suddenly gone bone dry, Joie cast her fevered gaze downward, robbing Nico of the mystery he sought inside her beautiful eyes. Nico gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look into the darkness.

What he saw in her luminous green eyes caused his breath to hitch in his chest. He saw hunger that rivaled his own and something else that closely resembled fear. Nico lowered his head to capture lips that tasted of the sweetest honey, feasting on the gift of Joie’s kisses and snatching her ability to think.

Suddenly, his lips and hands were everywhere—on the soft curve of Joie’s breast, the indentation of her slender waist, and the hem of her skirt. Before she realized what was happening, Nico was kneeling before her, running his finger along the crotch of her panties. Joie spread her legs to accommodate him.

“I should punish you for making me wait for this,” he threatened, breaking the music of their heated desire.

Nico stood, lifted her thigh around his waist, and slipped first one then a second finger inside her tight heat to the hilt.

Soon the sound of their harsh breathing and his wet, slippery fingers going in and out of her slickness echoed in the dark stairwell. Joie held on to Nico’s broad shoulders, her hips meeting each thrust of his fingers as the sweet smell of sex perfumed the air.

Nico could feel his fangs descending, and there was nothing he could do about it. This woman brought out something primal in him. She drove him crazy. He didn’t know what he wanted more–to bite her, to fuck her, or both.

Joie couldn’t believe she was allowing this to happen again. She was no fool. She knew this man had the power to take everything from her—her body, her mind, and her soul—that he could hurt her in ways she might not be able to rebound from. But when he ripped her panties off and poised the fat head of his cock against her weeping opening, she thought, Fuck it. I want this. I want him. Joie would have allowed him to do anything he wanted—had the fucking lights not come on.

Nico abruptly pulled away from her, groaning.

Joie had no way of knowing how much self-control it had taken him to turn his back on her to give his eyes an opportunity to return to their normal color and his fangs time to retract.

He had yet to explain what he was and didn’t want to frighten her any more than he already had. He tucked his aching cock inside his pants and turned to her. What a wanton sight she made with her breasts heaving, her hair in disarray, and her panties in tatters around one ankle.

In an act that was purely carnal, Nico shoved his two fingers in his mouth, hollowing his cheeks as he sucked every drop of her essence from them.

“I need for you to trust me,” he began, tracing the soft skin of her cheek. “I will come to you tonight at midnight,” he added, as if his words were to be taken as fact and not a request, leaving Joie to wonder how he knew where she lived. Joie grabbed hold of his arms before he could leave.

“Wait! How can you expect me to trust you? I know you are not what you portray yourself to be.”

“Well then, get this through that brilliant mind of yours,” he said, melting her resolve with a power she had yet to identify. “I am the male who will bury my manhood inside you so deep you’ll feel my imprint for the rest of your natural life. Once I’ve had my fill, I shall tell you who and what I am. Trust me,” he repeated. 

And with that, Nico simply vanished, leaving a tearful Joie to slide down the wall onto the dirty floor with her hand covering her mouth to stifle a scream.