HALO: Fallen Angel Series #1 Read online

  Goddammit, I wasn’t drunk enough for this, and my glass was empty again.

  I leaned to the side to get Killian’s attention, but to my surprise, the VIP was empty. Out on the dance floor with security guards in tow were all the guys, except for—

  “Need another drink there, Angel?”

  Viper.

  As he waited for me to answer, he set up a line of shot glasses and poured tequila over the top of them. He handed two to the stuffy tie guy beside him and then held one out to me. I took it gratefully as he refilled my glass.

  “Why does he call you Angel?” The femme fatale giggled. “Is that your name?”

  “His name’s Halo,” Viper snapped, handing me the vodka. “That’s all you need to know.”

  “Mmm, Halo. That’s sexy.” Prom queen leaned in and sucked my lobe into her mouth, and I flinched but didn’t push her away.

  “You good?” Viper asked.

  Was I? Suddenly this was the last place I wanted to be, but that was ridiculous. Three hot women, Halo. Don’t be a fucking dumbass.

  “Sure,” I said, settling back against the couch as the girls crowded around again. Viper nodded and headed back to tie guy on the couch opposite me. After taking another shot, Viper wound his hand around the guy’s tie and jerked him forward, taking his lips in a rough kiss.

  Shit, I guess the time for talking is over, I thought, as one of the girls’ hands inched closer to my zipper. Relax and enjoy it. Viper’s obviously enjoying it.

  He’d moved onto the couch, his legs spread wide, still tugging on that stupid tie. What’d he see in that guy?

  The answer to that was simple. He was a somewhat attractive, eager, and willing male body. It didn’t matter that Viper probably didn’t know the guy’s name, and if he did, wouldn’t remember it tomorrow. Tonight was about pure physical pleasure—that much I was painfully aware of.

  I tried to turn my attention back to the girls, but I kept catching glimpses out of the corner of my eye of what was happening only a few feet away.

  Downing the rest of my vodka, all I could think was: Please God, let me get drunk off my ass tonight.

  Eighteen

  Viper

  FUCK. YES. THIS is exactly what I need, I thought, as Brett—I think his name’s Brett—parted his lips and I slid my tongue deep inside his mouth. With the strong taste of tequila on his lips, he was the exact poison I needed to get my mind off the man who was sitting a few feet away from me, surrounded by ready, willing, and likely wet pussy.

  Halo.

  From the second I’d walked into the bar tonight, my eyes and dick had searched the angel out like a damn laser finding its target, and as I sat there now, it was taking some very heavy convincing from Brett to keep it occupied.

  As a hand landed on my thigh and inched its way up toward the hard-on I’d been packing since I’d spotted Halo, I had to remind myself for the millionth time that he wasn’t sitting there waiting for a moment with me.

  “Shit.” Brett groaned against my lips, his eyes wide with that familiar starstuck look in them. He licked his lips as he scooted in so close to my side that I could feel his cock pressing up against my leg. “You’re so damn sexy.”

  Yeah, that worked for me. I gripped his tie a little harder and nipped at his lower lip, making him tremble. “Why don’t you come up here and tell me that.”

  “Up…there?” Brett asked, his eyes dropping to my lap and then coming back to meet mine.

  “Straddle me,” I suggested, tugging him a little closer, and it didn’t take any more convincing than that.

  Brett shifted up on the couch and lifted one knee over the top of my thighs, and when he was hovering above my legs, I tossed a crooked smile his way and ran a hand up his thigh. As my fingers dug into his hip and I drew him closer, Brett bit into his lip and squirmed against me, rubbing his erection up against mine.

  “Oh fuck,” he whispered, as I licked my lower lip. “This is—” Before he could finish his thought, I yanked on his tie, bringing his mouth into contact with mine, hoping that would silence him for the time being, because honestly, we both knew why he was there, and I didn’t need him to kiss my ass to get into my pants tonight—it was already a foregone conclusion.

  I’d known that from the second my dick had taken over all logical thinking, back at Killian’s place this afternoon, that I needed to get laid tonight, and fast, and with the way Brett’s hands were now trailing down my chest, I was positive that was about to happen really fucking soon.

  Brett began to nip his way up my jaw line as his fingers continued south, and when I glanced over his shoulder to the opposite side of the couch, expecting to see Halo in a somewhat similar position—but more…breasts in face and hands up skirts—I drew up short when I saw his eyes locked on me.

  Well, well, well, would you look at that. It seemed the angel was preoccupied tonight. And it made my stupid cock throb that he seemed preoccupied with me.

  As Brett’s fingers found the button of my jeans and his lips found my ear, I aimed a wicked smirk in Halo’s direction.

  Halo’s jaw clenched, and I could’ve sworn he ground his teeth together, as Brett chose that moment to rock forward on his knees and rub his entire body up against my front. I grunted, the pressure against my cock feeling really fucking good, and let go of Brett’s tie to finally reach around and grab a handful of each of his ass cheeks. Brett moaned in my ear as I thrust my hips up off the couch, my eyes still locked on Halo’s as the blonde on his right began kissing her way down his neck.

  Fuck, he was gorgeous, with his jean-clad legs spread apart, cradling a now-empty glass in his hand like it was a damn lifeline. He had a scowl on his face I’d never seen before, and I didn’t know what it said about me, but that irritated expression was making my already hard dick even harder.

  Maybe it was because Halo was always so affable? I had no clue. But seeing him look like he wanted to shove the girls off him, and maybe tell me to go fuck myself, was really pushing my buttons.

  Twisted? Maybe. But hell if I could help it. There was only one reason I could think of why Halo looked pissed off at me, and it had nothing to do with the threesome on his lap and everything to do with the fact he was finding it just as hard to look away from me as I was from him.

  Just as that thought entered my head, Brett sat back on my thighs, blocking my view of Halo, and glanced down at the erection I had no hope in hell of hiding. He fingered the top of the zipper and gave me a coy look from under his lashes.

  “Can I?”

  I was close to saying, Yes, as long as you move so I can see the guy behind you, but considering how good he felt on my lap, I wasn’t about to piss Brett off until we’d both gotten what we wanted from this moment.

  Him: his twenty minutes with Viper.

  Me: some kind of release from the lust that had been riding me from the moment I’d laid eyes on Halo.

  I nodded and leaned forward to flick my tongue across the corner of Brett’s mouth, and when he lowered his head to the task at hand, I looked at the man across from us.

  Halo’s eyes were on the fingers I was digging into Brett’s ass, and when I squeezed to pull him closer, Halo’s gaze flew up to mine and I winked. A flush spread up Halo’s neck until it reached his face, and with the way he’d tied his hair back at the nape of his neck tonight, I could see every inch it covered.

  I leaned back against the couch as Brett’s hand found its way inside my jeans, and then he lowered his head and began to kiss his way down to the open neck of my shirt. Farther and farther he moved down my body, and with the way his tight fist was now milking my cock, I couldn’t have kept my hips still if I’d wanted to. As his ass scooted back to the edge of my knees so he could suck a spot under one of my nipples, my eyes found Halo’s again.

  His lips were parted now, his legs were spread even farther apart, and blondie was rubbing her hand over his dick as he continued to watch us. I wasn’t even sure Halo was aware what he was doing until Bre
tt bit down on one of my nipples, and a groan escaped my throat.

  Halo’s hips shoved up from the couch against blondie’s hand, and as his eyes roved up to my face, I grinned and mouthed, Like what you see? Halo blinked as though I’d snapped him out of some kind of trance, and when Brett flicked his tongue over my tingling nipple, I lowered my eyes back to his.

  Brett smiled up at me, and I forced a smirk—the one I knew would drive him fucking wild—and then leaned down and pressed my lips against his. “You have a talented fucking mouth.”

  Brett’s eyes shone with pleasure as his lips curved against mine.

  “Why don’t you show me just how talented it can be?”

  Brett nodded eagerly as he slid off my thighs, lowering to the ground on his knees. When he reached for my open jeans to pull them down around my hips, Halo jackknifed to his feet, as though someone had goosed him on the ass.

  My eyes flew up to his, and the annoyance and confusion swirling in them made it crystal clear Halo was fighting whatever it was he was feeling—and judging by the hard cock in his jeans, that was a whole fucking lot.

  Before I could say anything—what, I didn’t exactly know—Halo put his empty tumbler on the table and, without a thought to the women he’d left on the couch, made a beeline for the VIP restrooms.

  Fuck. What the hell just happened?

  As Halo disappeared out of sight, I glanced back to Brett and put a hand to his shoulder.

  “Wait,” I said, and then ground my teeth together, indecision warring. I knew I should just forget about Halo, let him do his thing. That was why I was here, but— Oh, fucking hell. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Wh…what? Did I do something wrong?” Brett pursed his lips in a pout I knew would feel really good around my cock, but—

  “No,” I said as I zipped up and ran a hand through my hair. “You order yourself whatever you like, and I’ll be right back.”

  Before Brett could say anything else, I shoved up to my feet and headed in the same direction Halo had run to, and when I saw the back hallway was empty, I shoved open the door to the men’s room.

  The deep blue light shimmered off the black tiles on the floor, and there was a wall of mirrors where the glass sinks were reflecting the opulence of the room. Off to one side was a vanity with a crystal vase with every size condom known to man, and beside that, a second one holding a variety of flavored lubes.

  None of that was what I was looking for, though. What I was looking for was—

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Halo.

  I turned away from the hallway that led to the facilities at the back, to find him standing in front of one of the couches in the aptly named “chill zone.”

  I swept my eyes down his body and noted his hands balled by his sides. “Maybe I needed to take a piss.”

  “Bullshit,” Halo said, and my lips quirked at his tone—someone was not happy, and maybe slightly drunk. “Try again.”

  I’d never been one to beat around the bush, and with the tequila buzzing through me, I was even less inclined to keep a lid on it. So I moved closer until only inches separated us and shrugged. “I wanted to see where you ran off to.”

  “I didn’t run off.”

  “Looked like it to me.”

  “Well, excuse me if I didn’t want to sit there and watch you get your dick sucked.”

  “Why not?” I said. “You not into watching? You like to participate? I’d be more than happy to accommodate you, Angel.”

  Halo’s eyes narrowed to slits. “I think I’ve been pretty clear that I’m not into guys, Viper. Give it a rest, would you?”

  I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep them from doing something stupid, like grabbing his chin and making him admit that was a fucking lie. But when Halo dropped his eyes to my open jeans, I decided to go a different route.

  “You didn’t seem that interested in the women out there, so you can hardly blame me for being a little…confused.”

  It worked like a charm.

  Halo’s eyes flew back to mine. “I was interested.”

  “Could’ve fooled me.” I let my gaze drop to his scowling lips and chuckled. “I bet you can’t even describe the one who had her hand on your dick.”

  Halo’s mouth opened and then shut. “I bet you can’t describe the guy who was about to suck yours.”

  “You’re right,” I agreed, and then leaned forward on my toes, getting in his personal space. “I was too busy looking at you.”

  Halo’s eyes widened until they looked as though they were about to fall out, and then he shook his head, blinked a couple of times, and, without another word, stepped around me and walked out of the bathroom.

  Well, that’ll give him something to think about later, won’t it?

  Nineteen

  Halo

  WHAT THE HELL happened back there?

  I clasped my hands behind my neck and stared up at the ceiling of my apartment, unable to get Viper’s words from earlier out of my head.

  “I was too busy looking at you.”

  Why? Why the fuck was he looking at me? He had a waiting list of men to choose from, so it wasn’t like he was hard up for attention. Why bother with someone he knew was straight, especially when I’d reminded him more than once?

  Groaning in frustration, I toed off my shoes and kicked them into the closet and then shrugged off my jacket, leaving it where it fell. Okay, so sue me, I wasn’t interested in the women tonight. That didn’t mean I was interested in Viper. Was that what he thought? That because I didn’t want to ride the groupie train, I’d be down for whatever he had in mind?

  The room began to spin, all the vodka I’d consumed tonight finally deciding to kick in full force, and I dropped back onto my bed.

  Maybe that was the problem. I’d gotten drunk and imagined Viper looking at me the way he had. He’d obviously been enjoying his choice for the evening, even if tie guy wasn’t anywhere near Viper’s league. It was annoying as shit to think Viper would even bother with someone like that, someone who was obviously using him. Then again, I supposed it was a trade-off.

  But…why had Viper followed me? He’d been about two seconds away from having tie guy’s mouth on his dick, so why blow off a sure thing to antagonize me? It didn’t make any sense. Hell, I didn’t even remember going in the bathroom or why, only that there was no way I could sit in the VIP and watch what was about to go down—which meant tie guy, literally.

  The image of Viper on the couch with tie guy between his legs flashed through my head again. It hadn’t been the man on his knees Viper was watching—it’d been me. And the truth I didn’t want to acknowledge was that I’d been watching him right back.

  This is fucking insane. I’m not attracted to Viper like that. To any guy like that. I closed my eyes, trying to conjure up a visual of one of the girls from tonight, but they came up only in the periphery as my mind focused in on Viper’s rogue grin as he’d mouthed, “Like what you see?” It’d been like a rubber band snapping me in my face. I hadn’t even realized I’d been watching them until that point, and I definitely hadn’t noticed Viper watching me watching them.

  That doesn’t mean you’re interested. Anyone would watch someone larger than life like Viper.

  But the girls hadn’t. No one else outside the VIP had either.

  Fuck. I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes, hoping to stop any other images from invading my mind.

  Damn Viper. What the hell was it about that guy that pushed my buttons? Was it just that it was “Viper, rock god and guitar legend”? Or was it something else entirely? Something I didn’t understand?

  Sighing, I dropped my hands from my face, and when I opened my eyes, they landed on the laptop beside me. I sat up, bringing the laptop with me, and opened YouTube. I typed in “TBD” and chose the first video that popped up. It was from their last concert in London at Wembley Stadium, and as I scrolled through, it was obvious the person who’d uploaded the video had focuse
d mostly on Trent, so I clicked off and typed in “Viper TBD” instead.

  This time, video after video focusing only on Viper popped up. I clicked on the first one, determined to figure out what it was about him that had me feeling unsettled every time he was near. Hell, even when he wasn’t. I’d left him back at the bar, along with the others, when I’d walked out of the bathroom, and that was where he should’ve remained, yet here I was, searching for him online.

  My fingers hovered over the back button, but as a spotlight beamed on Viper as he began one of his guitar solos, I found my eyes glued to the screen. There was just something about the guy that was magnetic, whether he was onstage or walking into a room. Some people had that “it factor,” that thing you can’t describe but know it when you see it.

  He swaggered across the stage, those piercing eyes making contact with the crowd as he played. Pure sex on a stick. He couldn’t help himself. As his solo ended and the drums kicked in, he thrust his pelvis forward, his head falling back in a way that simulated pure ecstasy, and my cock throbbed in response.

  It was so unexpected that the rest of my body went rigid. When Viper repeated the move, and it happened again, I could feel the heat creeping up my body, even though no one else was in the room to see my reaction.

  Viper ran his hand through his hair and winked at the camera, almost like he could see the way my dick had hardened painfully behind my jeans. I reached down to adjust myself, and then thought, Fuck it, and opened the fly, but it didn’t do much to relieve the pressure. I squeezed my cock over the top of my boxer briefs, and the shot of lust that ran through me at the move had my eyes practically rolling to the back of my head.

  Holy shit…

  My gaze fell back on the screen, and as it landed on Viper, I grew harder beneath my hand. My dick was utterly aware of one person on that stage, and while that should’ve been impossible, the evidence as the camera followed Viper across the stage told me otherwise.