Page 24 of Angels Don’t Date

“Do you want to go outside? I don’t suppose anyone’s going to stop you. Do you need me to open the door for you? You shouldn’t be imprisoned here, if you don’t want to be.” Not sure how you could imprison a flying horse without chaining it down to something.

He nickered and then nudged my chest with his nose, pushing me back while I clung to his face so I didn’t fall over.

“Do you want me to go out?”

He twitched an ear then raised his head, reached over my shoulder with it, and then opened the door with his teeth.

“Wow! You’re amazing! You can open doors with your teeth? I can’t do that! I can just make my fangs come down. See?” I showed him my fangs going in and out. “It’s kind of stupid. Your tooth skills are far superior.”

He whickered and pushed me out the door ahead of him. Once we were outside, he trotted around me, brushing me with his gold-tipped wing before he stopped, slightly to the side, and nudged me with his wing.

“Ooh, your feathers are so silky!” I touched the feathers, reveling in the soft deliciousness. Richard’s were just a bit softer, though.

Vesper nudged me again, and I stumbled against his warm, strong side. I froze there, my cheek against the breathing, living creature that was SunRae’s favorite in the whole wide world.

I spread my arms and gave him the biggest hug I possibly could. While in that position, he picked me up by the back of my white petticoat and dropped me on his back.

I perched there, feeling on top of the world with this strong broad creature beneath me. He looked over his shoulder at me as if to ask me what I thought about flying.

“I’ve flown on a dragon before,” I whispered, my fingers instinctively searching for something to hold onto. As soon as they tangled in his mane, he took off down the path. It started as a nice, soft trot, but then he shifted into a run that sucked the breath into my lungs. And then he spread those enormous, gold tipped wings on either side and lunged into the sky.

My eyes ran with tears that hopefully weren’t blood, and the world became a hazy speck far below. We flew and flew until I laughed and spread my arms, letting the wind shear my skin. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’d never, ever, forget it.

Vesper took a sudden turn, and off I tumbled, free falling a million miles above the earth. On second thought, I probably shouldn’t have let go of his mane.

The wind pulled at me as I plummeted, leaving my breath far behind me. Death by falling? How unexpected. I guess it really was once-in-a-lifetime because I’d be dead. How were you supposed to fall? Arms out so you had more resistance? Wasn’t there something about keeping your body relaxed? When I tried to relax, I tumbled until I was dizzy, so I put out my arms and legs, using my petticoat skirt as a kind of sail, which meant I was mostly upside down, but at least not flipping all over the place.

I saw gold in my periphery, and then Richard was there, wings spread as he wrapped his arms around me, guiding my fall until it wasn’t so messy, and then angling us up so we didn’t hit the ground.

He shifted me so I was in his arms in a proper bridal carry, and then his wings beat twice and we landed on the top of a hill.

I clung to him, my face plastered to his neck, clinging with all of my strength, which as a vampire was a lot, unable to breathe, my heart still in my throat, wind whipped out of me.

“Um. You can let go now,” he said, sounding slightly squeaky, and also amused.

I pressed my face against his skin and tried to breathe. I might be able to breathe better if I weren’t plastered against him, but then I might fall. Although we were on the ground. And his body was shaking as he struggled to contain his laughter. Amused was he? Sure, he had wings and was confident about not falling, but I didn’t! I’d almost died!

I squeezed him tighter until he squeaked.

“You need some good hugs? Fine.” He dropped my legs so we were properly aligned and then squeezed me back, crushing my ribs and making me finally feel like I wasn’t falling.

For a few more seconds the panic beat at me in time to my racing heart, but slowly it eased and so did my grip on him.

“There there,” he said, rubbing my back, still sounding amused. “That’ll teach you to climb on disreputable pegasus’s. Or is it Pegasii? I can never remember the plural.”

I took a shuddering inhale of his neck and almost bit him. He was so delicious, and so annoying. I pulled back to glare at him instead of biting. “I didn’t climb on him! He put me on his back with his teeth. His teeth are diabolically clever. Not that I wouldn’t have climbed on if I didn’t think that would be disrespectful.” I stared at my golden angel. He was more beautiful and otherworldly than the horse with the golden light capturing his hair and creating a halo. Not that I was thinking about how stunning he was. That would be awkward, and I wasn’t interested in anything other than friendship. “Why did Vesper put me on him if he was just going to dump me out in the sky?”

He grinned down at me. “We should ask him when he lands. Your hair is all messed up.” He put his large palm on my head and then scrubbed, like it needed more destruction. “Maybe this should be your brand, mussed pastel princess. It’s adorable.”

“Hmph. And your brand can be rescuing pastel princesses. Seriously, you should post signs to beware Vesper’s teeth. Your horse is sneaky.”

He grinned again and then started fiddling with my hair, fixing my curls. “Very sneaky. He would have caught you if I didn’t show up. At least I like to think so. He doesn’t usually let anyone touch him much less climb on him.”

“I didn’t…”

I gasped as he picked me back up in his arms and flew effortlessly with me to a large rock, landing in a swoosh of feathers. He sat down, putting me on the rock beside him.

We were overlooking a beautiful green valley with a golden river running through it. The sun was low in the sky, towards setting, and it made everything golden and glorious, particularly the angel beside me. The sky was turning cotton-candy pink around the edges and silhouetted in the distance was an outline of the gliding Pegasus.