“I broke the rules. I took a life that wasn’t mine to claim. I disobeyed, and they tossed my ass into hell.”

“Hell?” Her nails bit into his skin. “Oh, Keenan …”

“My wings were burned away when I fell. Fire blazed through my whole body, and when I hit, when I finally landed …” he rasped out a breath and let his gaze scan the lot before coming back to her. “I didn’t even know who I was. What I was. I woke up, in the middle of an empty field, the earth scorched around me, and when a farmer ran to help me … I just knew that I-I shouldn’t touch him.”

One touch had always meant death.

She didn’t speak. Nicole just watched him in the darkness, and he knew she saw too much with her vampire eyes. “After heaven, trust me, this … it was hell to me.” The emotions. The pain. The hunger. The thirst. The need. He hadn’t understood any of them. He’d been lashed with agony, again and again, and hadn’t realized why.

Because when he’d first woken, he’d known nothing but pain and rage.

Until he’d slowly started to remember … her.

Heaven.

Hell.

Falling.

“It took a little while, but I finally remembered.” Not everything. There was some time lost between his fall and the moment he’d woken up in that field. When he tried to recall those days, he heard the whispers of fire and the echoes of screams.

“I remembered,” he said quietly, “and then I came after you.”

A tear tracked down her cheek.

He caught the tear on his fingers. “Don’t cry for me.”

Another tear slipped down her cheek.

“Don’t cry for me, sweet.” I’m not worth it. Because he’d almost taken her that night. She’d been right, he’d just stood there, and watched.

Never again.

His lips took hers. He tasted the salt from her tears on his tongue. Pain. Angels didn’t know pain. They also didn’t know passion or lust.

Now he knew it all, and he didn’t think the emotions put him in hell anymore. The feelings didn’t rage inside of him and threaten to rip him apart.

Now … they made him feel alive. Human.

Her lips opened beneath his. He kissed her deeper, harder, and let her feel the need that drove through him.

It was a need only she could satisfy.

His hands slid down her body, found her waist, curled tight and pulled her closer. Whenever he was around her, he was aroused, hungry for her. Desperate.

The lust beat through his blood. His c**k ached, and he wanted her.

Naked. Open.

His.

But not against the side of a dirty building. Not with too many eyes that could see too much. When he had her—and he would—he wasn’t going to share.

His tongue tasted her as he let the kiss linger. He’d never be able to get enough of her taste. Sweet and wild—a combination that could be deadly.

Not that he was too worried about death.

Slowly, savoring her, he lifted his head.

“What happens next?” She whispered.

The scent came then, teasing his nose. Flowers. Faint. Fresh.

“We get the hell out of here.” He glanced at the lot. There. A pickup truck sat parked near the left. Big wheels. Shiny coat of paint. Probably with a motor that knew how to howl. “And we get out of here now.” The instant they were safe, he’d take her because he couldn’t wait much longer.

His control wasn’t that strong.

But finding a place to keep them away from the prying eyes of an angel … that wasn’t going to be easy.

The pickup’s driver-side door was locked, so he just shoved his elbow through the window and broke the glass. A quick flick of his fingers on the lock had the door opening.

“You know how to hot-wire this thing?” Nicole asked.

“What the hell are you doin’, you f**kin’ asshole?”

Keenan turned at the snarl and saw a tall human male with blond hair racing toward him.

“That’s my f**kin’ truck!”

“Yes.” Unfortunate but … “Sorry. We’re going to need it.”

“The hell you are!” The guy swung at Keenan with a hard roundhouse punch.

The punch missed.

The floral scent in the air deepened. The last thing I need now.

Keenan’s right hand clenched into a fist. “You should have stayed in the bar.”

“I’ll f**k you up, ass**le.” Spittle flew from the blond’s mouth, and the human pulled out a knife from his boot. “No one messes with Betty.”