Free sanguineangels by Various

anything other than take pleasure in her joy in life.
    When he rejoined with his body, he sagged to his knees. Titania sat up, gasping when she saw him, grabbing for him as he sank to the floor.
    “Diego!”
    He rested his head on his outstretched arms, gripping at the edge of the bed next to her. “I read somewhere a line: ‘Reentry is a bitch’,” he muttered. “I think I understand that better now.”
    “You’re so pale,” she said, her touch quivering. “You shouldn’t have done so much. I was already half-healed.” She brushed his hair from his face, her hands tender in her concern.
    He dragged air into his lungs. She would expect him to breathe. He needed to remember that. Diego had already allowed so much, he had no idea how much longer he could keep the truth from her.
    “Now you are fully healed. I will be fine. I just need a moment to rest.”
    “You are incredible,” she murmured in a tone laced with awe. She raised a hand to her jaw, her eyes growing wider still. “It’s gone! I don’t feel anything. I don’t care how gifted you are. You are amazing.”
    The depth of her acceptance sank into him. She made him feel so much. His focus fell to her mouth nearly in front of him. That sweet, luscious, bowed mouth, and he craved her sweetness again. Wanted to be bathed in her warmth. His heart jumped, raced, thumped behind his ribs with an increasing rhythm that was not solely his doing. Need clawed at him. Her eyes glittered with a depth that called to him. The pulse at her neck beat, her lips parted in invitation.
    What he was thinking, what he ultimately wanted, was not possible. He knew that, but it did not stop the feelings from gaining strength either. He had to taste her again, feel the heat of her skin. He was powerless against the magnitude of those wants. He leaned nearer, the soft brush of her breathing causing ripples of awareness to skate over nerves and skin.
    “Damn, what happened to the door? Tani!” came the worried shout right before a pounding on the door broke the charged silence, snapping them apart. “Are you in there?”
    She swallowed, sucking a deep breath. “Yes, David. I’m fine.” She never lost Diego’s gaze, shouting toward the door.
    “Have you seen this door? It looks like a cat used it to sharpen its claws. A huge freakin’ cat. Man, Houston’s going to wig out when he sees this.”
    “I guess he’s looking for me,” she told Diego. “I better go. Once David tells him about the door…” She shivered once, luminous eyes beseeching. “How am I supposed to explain Brakka? Or why he’s after me? He’s not like us.”
    That, more than anything, proved she had accepted him as human, gifted. It was a delusion Diego was not ready to destroy.
    He was not sure how he could explain Brakka either. It would reveal far too much. His expression was patient when he told her, “Tell Houston what you can. I will be here when you return. Call to me if you leave. I will not let you leave without me again.” He made it a dictate. She would never be alone, unprotected, again. Day or night.
    “How can you drop everything to do this?”
    “I had nothing to drop,” he told her simply. He stood and stretched to his full height, once more the warrior.
    His palm cradled her chin, drawing her to her feet. The long braid of her hair swept along her back, and the urge to dig his fingers through it, to feel its weight in his hands, was staggering. She was a temptation of unbelievable proportions.
    “Holy hell!”
    “That would be Justin,” Titania mused, a wry lift to her lips, her chin tilting toward the door. “I won’t be long.”
    “I will be with you even if you do not see me, cara .”
    “I know.” Acceptance blazed in her blue diamond depths.
    He released her before he dragged her into his arms. He watched the sway of her hips as she sauntered to the door, greeting the stunned faces of her two band members. She gaped for a brief moment at the door, hiding her