Falling Hard Ch. 16

"Athan, I'm worried about your meeting with the General."

Athan was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had on a pair of black pants, but that was all. Virta was curled up on his lap wearing just his t-shirt, which was long enough to be a nightgown for her.

Her arms were wrapped around his broad shoulders, enjoying the feeling of strength in them. Athan had his hand on her back, lightly rubbing there. She closed her eyes and let the gentle massage relax her.

"We'll catch him off guard this way."

His other hand began to weave through her long hair, his fingers played in the flowing tresses. A shiver of electricity went down the nape of her neck, on down her spine.

"Just stick with the plan, Virta. Things will be fine."

"But how can you be so sure? Something could go terribly wrong."

"Yes, it could. But I promise that I won't let anything happen to you. You'll be far away from the fighting."

"But I'm not happy with the part of the plan where I 'relic' you and then just leave you here for Rose to find. I kind of hoped to play a bigger part in things. Actually, I just don't want to leave your side."

"I wouldn't want to even imagine you there when it all goes down. You shouldn't worry, Virta. I'm actually looking forward to it."

And she could see by the steely gleam in his dark eyes that he was indeed looking forward to fighting... killing. She shivered a little and he wrapped his arms around her.

"But what if something goes wrong? You're taking an awfully big risk."

"Everything I do is a risk. It's the same for you."

He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him.

"But, Athan..."

His mouth came down and took hers in a deep, lingering kiss that stole her breath away. When he finally released her, her head was spinning and she forgot for a moment what she had been trying to say.

"Still worried?" he asked, peering down into her face with a sly grin.

She shook her head, clinging to his broad, strong shoulders for support.

"Now," he said, sliding his hands down to her bottom and adjusting her position on his thighs. "I want to have you one more time."

Sure enough, she felt his hardness pressing into her, and she inadvertently wriggled on his lap.

Athan turned and lowered her down into the big, soft bed before she knew what was happening. Without a word, he stood up and stripped off his pants. She was breathless as she stared up at his lean, muscled body, hard and strong. There was no doubt of his desire for her - thick, rigid, and standing out at her.

He crawled across the bed over top of her. His hands pulled the shirt off her body so quickly, she barely felt it go. Virta started to speak, to ask him if he really meant 'just one more time', but suddenly he was between her thighs. Athan leaned over her, stretching her out on the bed with more of his weight on her than he ever had allowed before. His skin was so hot, it was like fire where it touched hers.

His mouth closed on hers, silencing any words and scattering her thoughts to the wind once more. His cock, hard as a rock, pressed against her soft flesh. He wants me so much, Virta thought with satisfaction. She closed her eyes and sighed into his mouth.

Athan's big hands took hold of her thighs and wrapped her legs around his hips. His lips were grazing over her hair, his voice in her ear like a cat's purr.

"Last night, I made love to you, slow and sweet all night long," he said. "But this time, I'm going to show you another way we Ancient Ones can do it."

Virta just stared up at him, mouth hanging open. At his words, she felt excited, curious, afraid, and so turned on all at once.

He kissed down her jaw, to her neck. Then he sat back and looked down at her, just looking at her from head to hips with firey appreciation in his black eyes. His large fingers reached down to caress her breasts. Her nipples were already hard, but they pebbled tightly at his touch. She felt herself growing wetter and hotter between her legs.

Virta's thoughts dissolved into oblivion as she felt his shaft moving through her slick folds, seeking out her hot, moist core. He paused at the entrance to her body. Then, with a groan, he pushed the thick, rounded head of his cock through the torn and tattered remains of her hymen, pushing right on into her exquisitely tight, wet heat.

She gasped and he moaned at the same time.

"Are you OK?" he rasped, leaning over her, staring down into her face. His eyes were sparkling with lust.

She nodded. His lips came back down to cover hers, with lips so full and soft, capturing her mouth with the lushest, most devouring kiss. She felt him move his cock deeper into her body, and a little pain from the stretching of her walls. But his kiss was so distracting that all she felt from then on was delicious pleasure.

Virta reached up into the space between them and stroked her hands over his chest, feeling the scars, then on to the smooth skin, tanned and taut over honed muscle. Her hands slid around to his broad back. Athan's flesh trembled under her fingertips. She was excited and aware of the contrast of his large, hard, muscular body against her softer, feminine one.

Her breath caught when he moved his cock further inside her than she'd ever felt before.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice low and tantalizing, his forehead gently resting against hers. He'd stopped moving inside her. She heard his shaky breath, felt it against her cheek.

"Yes," she said. "You don't have to worry about breaking me." He lowered his mouth and brushed her lips again, tasting them, teasing them. She couldn't get enough of his kisses. He began stroking a little harder into her, rocking both of their bodies in a primal rhythm.

Later, he raised up to gaze down into her eyes.

"I love you, Athan," she whispered very, very quietly.

Where did that black night sky come from? It was suddenly there in front of her, as big as the Universe itself and she felt as though she was flying away into its fathomless depths. Her whole body throbbed with power and incredible energy.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that it was Athan's eyes she was looking into, falling into - more deeply and intensely than she ever had before. She was rushing with impossible speed that she felt would surely ignite her very cells. Then she came to a stop, just floating in the void. Fear gripped her as she stared into this black nothingness inside his gaze; it was too immense, too overwhelming.

"Virta." She heard his voice though she could no longer see his face. "Just trust me," he said.

Stars began to twinkle down on her and she was hypnotically drawn to them, reaching out as if she could grasp them in her fingers. In her new-found calm, she sensed his familiar presence, though she couldn't find him anywhere.

Then the whole space around her took on a beautiful white glow, brighter than anything she'd ever seen, but soft on her eyes. It was like uncounted numbers of diamonds twinkling just for her. She still couldn't see Athan, but she knew it was him as strong as she'd ever felt anything. She was also aware of his body moving deeply inside her.

Here, in this new dimension, with his very essence surrounding her, Virta had the awareness that Athan was a literal god here. She basked in the bliss of him everywhere around her, keeping her safe, comforting her while their souls and bodies joined.

"Oh god," she moaned, unable to keep from crying out as her pleasure was about to to explode. "Oh, Athan."

Her body and soul shattered into a million pieces of ecstasy, threatening to shake her off the bed if not for him holding her there. She thrashed, she bucked, she grabbed onto him with all her strength, clutching at him while her orgasm hit full force.

His came right after hers, and she floated with him through colors she'd never even seen before. She felt as though she'd fallen so deeply into those eyes that she'd come out on the other side, into a world of unending bliss.

Sometime later, she opened her eyes and found herself tucked protectively under his body.

"Did I die?" she asked, looking up into his face with huge eyes.

He chuckled, and stroked his fingers over her hair. "In a sense," he said, kissing her forehead.

"It.. it was indescribable," Virta said, stunned from their blissful union. Who needed Heaven when she had this? She felt boneless in his arms. In Athan's arms - where she wanted to be forever. I'm his forever... or as long as he wants me, she thought. His slave...

Later, she was drifting in thought while he propped himself up on one elbow, his fingers playing lightly over her belly, a slight grin on his lips.

She started to giggle.

He stopped his fingers. "Ticklish?" he asked.

"No, it's just a silly thought. It's just these crazy hormones in my body. They make me feel stuff, irrational stuff. Like my hormones try to override all sense."

"It's just because that body is new for you. Eventually, you'll have more control of your emotions."

"Like you..." she said, sudden sadness piercing her heart as she thought of how he never said he loved her.

Dammit, why did she need to hear it from his lips? Why couldn't the feelings she got from him be enough? Like that amazing celestial, mind-blowing experience they'd just shared together. Stupid, stupid woman, she thought.

"Like you," she started again to try and cover her tracks. "I mean, you really have no idea what I'm thinking?"

He stopped and just looked at her. "What are you getting at? I told you I don't eavesdrop on you."

"Well, try it right now. Try to guess what I'm thinking." She snickered at him. She felt giddy and silly all of a sudden.

He said nothing but just started kissing the back of her hand with that small smile on his lips, sending shivers of delight through her skin.

"Maybe I'm just punch drunk from that amazing sex," she said. "But come on, try to tell what I'm thinking." She laughed. "Try it."

He raised his lips from her hand and looked down at her. "Try?" he said, one dark eyebrow shooting up in mischief. "There's no try to it, I can read your mind like a book."

She giggled. "I hope it's not like a children's book in there. I'd be embarrassed if you couldn't find any intelligent thought."

"Speaking of children..." he trailed off as he got a funny look on his face. The amusement was gone as he stared down at her. "Pregnancy? You? Having a baby?"

She laughed again. "You got it! I told you it was a stupid thought. Neither of us is fertile."

His expression and his voice were serious. "No, Virta. You're not. I'm sorry if that disappoints you."

"Like I said, I think it's more those pesky human hormones than anything. Or just curiosity." She sighed as she took in his ruggedly handsome features, her hands lightly tracing his sculptured face. "But damn, with those genes of yours, you'd have to produce some really fine offspring."

He was silent then, and his touch on her hand dwindled to a stop. She could feel tension in the air where there was none before. She snatched her own hand back and sat up to look at him.

"I'm not in a position to be any kind of father," he said quietly, his dark eyes glittering as he looked at the wall by the bed.

"I guess it's just that it occurred to me after all the sex we've had, that a real human woman would probably be pregnant by now." She was growing uncomfortable from Athan's reaction to this.

He muttered under his breath as he rose from the bed.

What was it with him and subject of babies, anyway? She wondered.

"Is everything OK, Athan? You seem kind of upset."

He took a deep breath and seemed to relax, his expression softened back into the more placid one he usually wore.

"Please, Athan. Tell me what's on your mind. You said you'd always tell me the truth."

"Apparently you don't know that us older angels can conceive with human women. We were given the ability to have offspring with humans."

Virta twitched on the bed, shocked. "You can have children?"

"With human women. Not with angels or... angels in human form, such as yourself."

She sat there, her mouth gaping open, stunned. There was always some surprise, some blow to her worldview when she was with Athan. She felt jealousy rising like fire in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't believe this," she said, adjusting the sheet she'd wrapped around her body.

"You younger ones can't reproduce. But ages ago, we were made with the capability to not just have sex with human women, but to impregnate them. It was another one of those experiments they're so fond of."

Virta swallowed. "Have you ever... uh..."

"Yes, Virta. I...," he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Then he stood up and walked to the wall, turned around and leaned against it, crossing his arms at his chest.

"I have a son."

Virta felt as though she'd been cut in two with a flaming sword. Her mind was reeling. She was literally stunned.

"You have a son," she repeated, her voice reflecting her numb disbelief. "H-how old is he?"

"He's twenty years old," Athan said, a tense edge in his voice. "We haven't spoken for two years now."

Virta couldn't stop now. She had to know everything. "Does he know you're a..."

"A demon? Yes. That plays a big part in his hatred of me."

Virta just stared at Athan. She took a deep breath.

"What's his name?"

"His name is Michael."

"Michael," Virta repeated. "What about his... the mother?"

Athan shifted his position against the wall, but said nothing for a minute. Sadness darkened his princely features.

"Do you love her?"

"No. She was just a very beautiful mortal woman that I -"

"What was her name?"

Virta didn't want to interrupt, but for some reason, it was very important to her to know about this other woman.

This human, who had shared something so intimate, so deep and so profound with Athan... this human woman had actually had the glory of intermingling her DNA with his... had born him a child... something Virta would never be able to do with him as long as she existed. She thought she might choke from the heartbreak welling up inside.

"Her name is Savannah. I slept with her to blow off steam after a particularly bad day. Savannah was just something I saw one night, and wanted, and took."

He took a few paces along the wall. When he turned, he met her eyes. "A one night stand, you'd call it. She never knew what I really was."

Virta swallowed. "What happened when you found out she was pregnant?"

"I only saw her that one time, never even thought about when or if I'd see her again. I never knew she was pregnant. I used protection, so I never thought anymore of it."

"How did you find out?"

"I was told by Pearl, a contact at the Office, someone who's job was very much like a social worker and who also kept up on the Ancient One's, uh, production of offspring."

Virta tossed a strand of hair out of her face. "Did you say Pearl?"

Athan nodded. "She kept me updated with reports from time to time when I was in the field and couldn't check in on him."

Athan went back to leaning against the wall, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "After I found out, I tried to be a part of his life, to help raise our son. But I was never around as much as I wanted to be. It was impossible, given my responsibilities and the dangers to him because of me. If my enemies were to threaten his life to get to me..."

"Is this woman, Savannah, still around? I mean, what kind of relationship do you have now?"

A pained look shone out from his dark eyes. "She was killed in a car accident when he was five. I've only seen her once since then, in Paradise. I had to break in there just one time to see how she was. I could only stay a few minutes."

"Paradise..." Virta said. "I haven't thought of that place in a long time. We called it something else."

Athan nodded. "Michael went into the care of a good family. I tried to maintain relations with him, but he found out the truth of what I was when he was eighteen."

"How did he find out?"

"Being half demon, well, he was growing into some strange powers of his own. I took him away somewhere that we could spend some time alone. A father - son retreat, you might call it. I explained everything to him about the changes that were taking place in him. I showed him how to use his new-found powers, and told him that he needed to be careful, to be in control of them, and to use wisdom."

"What was his reaction?"

"He turned his powers on me. We got in an actual fight. He's very stubborn, very headstrong. He wanted to do what he wanted to do, and he didn't want me telling him otherwise."

"Oh," Virta said. "I kind of understand where he's coming from."

She looked up as Athan was shaking his head, still lost in thought. "He made it clear that he wanted no part of, and I quote: 'a demonic hell-fiend, fuck-buddy of Satan'. And then he took off into another dimension."

Unable to help herself, Virta started giggling, and the more she tried to stop, the more it turned to full-blown rollicking laughter on the bed. Finally, she got control of herself and cleared her throat, sitting back up to look at him sheepishly.

Athan was shaking his head, trying not to smile. "And I hear these reports of all the trouble he gets into in different dimensions."

Athan shoved off from the wall and came over to take a seat next to her on the bed. He brushed her hair away from her shoulder, smoothing it with his large hand. "Are you OK, Virta? I know this is so much to process."

She nodded. A wave of sadness went through her. She looked up at him, placing a hand against his chest. "I really am sorry about what happened with Michael. I know that must hurt. Forgive me for laughing."

He sighed and wrapped his arm around her, hugging her against his side. He kissed the top of her head. "I have to laugh about it too," he said. "What else can I do?"

She gave him a teasing smile. "I guess even demons have trouble with their teenagers, huh?"

Athan rolled his eyes and fell back on the bed, pulling her down next to him. He let out a weary groan. "I could kill that kid," he said, flinging an arm over his closed eyes. When she stiffened next to him, he added with a smile, "but I hope I never have to."

He started chuckling, shaking the bed with his quiet laugher. She loved the unique, melodic sound. She only wished she heard it more often.

Impulsively, she jumped on top of him. "Can we do that again?" she said, "the mind-spirit-body-melding, far-out sex?" She bounced lightly on top of him and he opened his eyes, his hands going to her hips.

He looked up at her, grinning. "You're hooked, aren't you, baby? You're hooked on sex with me."

"Yes, I admit it. I have to have some more of that."

He sighed and pretended to think about it for a minute. "I think we have time for another dose," he said.