Chapter 1 ~ Her Life in His Hands
The sound of her screams as she pleaded for her life were swallowed by the howling wind.
“Please! Don’t drop me!” Marianna cried out.
She was dangling in the air like a ragdoll, gripped fiercely under her arms by the hands of a sadistic man whose wings beat powerfully in the cold night sky.
And as her heart violently pounded, Marianna glanced down to see her fate.
“You have made me angry Marianna!” her captor yelled into the cold darkness.
His hold on her was loosening. She could feel her body sinking. Julius Drone, her landlord, all macho self-love and despicable character, held her life in his hands, and her life meant nothing to him.
“You would have been wise to submit to me Marianna!” he hissed. “You are beautiful, but your beauty has limitations! When you are dead I will find another female to fill your apartment and I will fuck her instead! I was patient with you! I gave you time! I don’t know why! Maybe it is the gentleman in me!”
“You are not a man!” she roared at him through the wild, beating wind. “You are a beast! You and all your kind! You are all beasts!”
This cruel creature who held Marianna was a Pegasian. A man born with wings, privilege and power, he was going to kill her in cold blood because she had fought him when he tried to rape her.
“I have had enough of you now!” Julius Drone yelled. “Time for me to go! And time for you to meet your fate!”
And then he dropped her.
Marianna plummeted, straight down into the dark, empty sky.
She was a flailing object. Nothing held her. Her feet could find no firmness. Her hands could find nothing to grasp. And the air howled past, torturing her with its piercing cold.
Left to the forces of gravity and endless oblivion, the icy winds quickly enclosed Marianna like the grip of a giant hand. And as she was pulled down with increasing speed and strength, she knew the end would soon come.
Faster and more furiously she tumbled. She could see the ground zooming closer and she shut her eyes. In a few more seconds this would all be over. In a few more seconds she would never feel her heartbeat again.
But suddenly something solid collided with her, connected with her, encircled her waist and ripped her violently from the storming air.
Her descent was slowed to a sudden halt and as the grip on her body became firmer and more sure, she began to move upwards.
In confusion she opened her eyes. The buildings rushed past her, the air hummed around her, and cold darkness rippled over the front of her chest and legs.
But behind her, she was warm. Something solid, strong and incredibly large was holding her tightly. She could not look round, so she looked up.
Wings. Giant black wings beat above her, soaring into the dark sky, pulling her back up to the moon and the stars she thought she would never see again.
“Don’t move!” a deep, angry male voice shouted through the wind. “Do not try and fight me!”
Not for one second had the thought of fighting him entered her mind. All she could feel was the sweetest relief. A pegasian ha saved her, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was someone other than the despicable landlord who had dropped her from the top of her building only a few moments earlier.
“Where do you live?!” he shouted.
“Just here!” Marianna called, pointing to her apartment building as the light from her balcony hovered into view.
Landing on the balcony, the pegasian set Marianna down firmly on her feet.
Marianna stood there for a moment, calming her breath, allowing herself to indulge in the safety of his strong arms. His warm, solid strength was the only thing keeping her upright. Her knees were jelly, her limbs were weak and her throat was choked with tears.
She closed my eyes and breathed deeply, and as Marianna felt his grip on her loosen, she turned around.
His silhouette was framed against the glow of a dark, moonlit sky. Tall and broad, he loomed over her. Powerful masculinity rippled across his wide chest into his muscled arms. His face was not clear, but she could tell he was handsome. His jaw was chiseled; shadowed with the dark stubble of several days growth, and his eyes glowed with the same powerful vigor that emanated from his body.
His raw strength was all consuming, rupturing into her fast beating heart. But as she watched his giant black wings fold seamlessly into his back, it brought Marianna back to her senses, and she stepped away.
He was pegasian. He was a beast. He had saved her, but she could not trust him. He was one of the cruel masters who ruled over them all. He could take what he wanted, whenever and however he chose.
“Thank you,” Marianna said, her breath catching in her throat. “Thank you very much for saving me. But I really must go now.”
“Not before you tell me what the hell was that about!” he growled. “What were you trying to do? Kill yourself?!” He stepped closer, closing the gap that she had tried to create.
“No really. I am fine. I am just very grateful that you were there to catch me.”
The dark night could not hide the smoldering flame she saw in his eyes as they travelled over her face and neck. His gaze was as soft as a caress but as hungry as a wolf.
She watched his fists tightly clench and felt the strength that pulsed from his forearms. Locking eyes with his dark, glowering stare, the safety that she had felt in his presence was suddenly ripped away.
“Who are you?” Her voice was almost a whisper. “What do you do? And why were you flying so close to my apartment building in the middle of the night?” Unsteady, unsure, she stepped back.
“My name is Aleksandr. And all you need to know is that I have been patrolling the skies.”
He was glaring at her like she was a criminal, considering whether to take her prisoner, or just kill her.
“So,” he persisted. “Why were you tumbling through the air when I caught you? You have no wings. You cannot fly. You are not pegasian. You are only human.”
Only human. The phrase caught Marianna like an icy blast. He was arrogant, privileged, superior. And it riled her.
“Yes, you are right Aleskandr. I am only human. And you should not be here with me, standing on the balcony of my home. People would get the wrong impression. Afterall, by your laws it is forbidden for a human and a pegasian to be together.”
As if amused by her attempts to goad him, a grin lifted the corners of his wide sensual lips. His nostrils flared and his gaze flashed. “I have never made love to a human female before.” His voice was low and deep, his eyes inquisitive and searching. “But not because it is forbidden. Perhaps with you....”
Again, she stepped back.
“I would never make love to you, so don’t even think about it! Your people’s sexual urges are the reason I was tumbling through the air in the first place! Your kind are beasts! And I will never take one of you as my lover! No matter how....”
Marianna bit her lip, stopping herself from saying the things that were on her mind, and on the very tip of her tongue
No matter how grateful I am that you saved me. And no matter how handsome and dangerously attractive you are.
The grin on Aleksandr’s face was replaced by a hard line, and a frown furrowed his brow. “What is your name?” he demanded.
“My name is Marianna.”
His folded wings cut a strong silhouette out of the night sky, and they shimmered a little, like an ocean in the moonlight.
“Good night, Aleksandr and thank you,” Marianna said, turning to leave. “I am very grateful for your help. I am very grateful you were in the area.”
“You are welcome,” he replied, dipping his head. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
She thought she saw the grin flash over his lips again as he spoke. But she was not amused, and she did not want to play his games.
“You should go,” Marianna replied.
With a nod, he opened the huge black wings on his back and launched himself up into the sky, and as she watched him leave, she suddenly realized who he was.
Why had she not recognized him before now?
He was Aleksandr Zidan, son of their Pegasian Ruler. He was the heir to the Empire. He should be sleeping safely in the luxury of his beautiful home. So why was he flying over her city in the dead of night patrolling the skies?
And why would he have bothered to save someone who was only human?
Someone like her.
