It was the same routine starting early and leaving late. On his word every morning Dr Sutherland got a cup of coffee for both to start the day. The man worked like a machine and kept her on her toes. Ray was a compassionate but innovative boss taking impulsive business decisions that paid off well. He knew it was difficult for his employees to follow his train of thoughts and made the effort to explain his prerogatives as clearly as possible. That meant numerous staff meetings with her typing out minutes of the meetings one after the other. He had changed the architect who worked for the company and had hired a more innovative one in keeping with his business principles. He was trustworthy but unpredictable. That was a welcome thing for other than her work her life was basically empty. The chief reason for that was her restriction for touch.
Dr Sutherland never asked why she always wore gloves and she never asked why he never took a day off. Soon she got on a first name basis with him. He called her Cassie instead of Cassandra and that name on his lips made her stomach clench with pleasure. Two months had passed when Ray Sutherland asked her to accompany him to a business meeting in Vegas. She had no way to refuse. As his assistant, it was a part of her job. The conversation didn't seem to be like an order but rather an invitation. It went somewhat like this:
"What are you doing next week Cassie?" startled She looked at him. She replied honestly, "I am working for you, boss."
"I mean off work. Is there any social engagement you must attend?" he clarified.
"Off hours I sleep Sir. You exhaust me." She smiled at him.
He smiled back. "Ok. Get your bags packed. Get some nice dresses and we are going to Las Vegas for an event I must attend and you are my plus one."
"Las Vegas as in Sin City?" She asked wide-eyed.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I have never been there and I am definitely excited to go, Dr Sutherland."
"You never know but you could end up married to me on this trip," he teased.
Despite the impossibility she couldn't help the blush that crept up her face. Almost every girl in the office was crushing on the boss. She was no different. She knew the limitations though. Ray knew she kept a wall up and teased her constantly. She didn't have a problem with the teasing. She had a problem with her reaction to it.
Next week started with Cassandra packed and ready waiting for her boss to pick her up for the airport. He could have given the flight number and time but that was not how Ray Sutherland operated. In the airport, she got the shock of her life. Not only was he going to take her on his private jet but Ray Sutherland insisted on flying. "General rule is to have two pilots for navigation but since it's my jet I get to change certain rules. The co-pilot can stay in the passenger seat with you accompanying me in the front, but not during take-off and landing. So do you want you can come and sit with me in the cockpit?" He asked. Then he added "You will like the view. "
Cassandra had a hard time hiding her expression. It must have been like the cat that got the cream. She always loved to fly but it had been so long that she had been airborne. When coming to earth she had to ensure her wings were cut off to ensure her anonymity among the general humans. She still felt the pain from the severed limbs that threatened to regenerate. However, as long as she injected herself with the medicine it would stay redundant inside her.
Ray Sutherland enjoyed height and speed and it was fun all the way. She had never seen her boss more alive than in the cockpit of an A321 jet. The clouds flitted by them and soon they were landing on a large runway.
The event was a top-secret government affair and she wondered what she was doing there when Dr Sutherland came knocking on her hotel room. "You must be wondering why I brought you here." He stated.
She gave him an amused look and nodded. "There is a party in the evening in honour of an old friend who is retiring and I needed a female company for the evening. I don't do relationships so I thought of bringing you along. I hope you do not mind being my arm candy for the evening. I brought you some clothes and jewellery." As soon as he said this a man came in bearing in his hand a dress and a box of jewels.
Cassie looked to find a cream white halter neck dress with a thigh-high slit. The jewellery box contained a very expensive diamond necklace. She stared at the jewels in awe. She hadn't dressed so elegantly in the last seven years. "How did you know white was my favourite colour?" She asked elated.
"I didn't. It is mine." He stated and left.
She got ready to dress and was touched to find matching gloves along with the dress. Nothing missed that man's eyes. She decided to keep her hair open to hide the marks on her back both her birthmark and that from the severed wings. They drove up to the hotel in a stretch limousine and Ray Sutherland placed the palm of his hand on the small of her back. If she thought his gaze was burning then electricity passed at his touch even through the fabric. They walked up to a middle-aged crowd with a few gray heads. Some had the intimidating mannerism of the military and some were out and out scientists. They spoke mostly in code and she heard an animated discussion about a salvaged black star. In curiosity, she asked Ray what that was about. In response he lowered his mouth to her ears and whispered "top secret" and then he brushed his mouth on her cheek. She looked up at him with eyes wide as his eyes turned a darker shade of blue. Was it her imagination or were really light bursting from those eyes. She sucked in her breath and kept quiet. She had never been so intimately touched, not by a male, not by a human.
That brisk touch of his lips had started a hunger in her she had never realized feasible. She was surprised at her attraction towards a human and knew well enough that it would be difficult to control herself in his presence. When he asked her to dance her heart leaped into her mouth. She knew it would encompass more physical touch and more electricity.
As the evening progressed Ray Sutherland had his arm wrapped around Cassandra with his hand resting on her bare shoulder. She didn't know what feelings ran through him but she could feel sparks everywhere around her. Ray Sutherland took leave of his company and brought her to her room. She never asked him to come inside. She knew she couldn't. She was forbidden to. Standing on the doorway, when the giant of a man bent down to claim a kiss she couldn't however refuse. With that kiss, she felt the electricity running between them change to lightning. She knew he felt it too for he also shuddered. It was the last warning her body would send to him before succumbing to desire. Ray Sutherland did not pull back. She felt his moist tongue move against her lips urging her mouth to open. She felt his body push inside and heard the vague sound of the door closing. When she parted her lips his tongue swept in to provide a strange sense of fulfillment. Her mark throbbed against her back wishing for the mating to be completed, which Ray Sutherland, in his ignorance commenced.
Cassie vaguely registered the stab of pain as she was deflowered with abandon. The pain was followed by a thousand kisses and she drifted to bliss, swept in desire. She felt the rise and fall of his chest below her but she was too exhausted to care. When she woke up in the morning naked and lying on top of one heap of a man did last night's activity truly register. She should have never let Ray Sutherland kiss her for their fates were now sealed with the kiss. They were mated for eternity.
When Ray Sutherland opened his eyes he was smiling. When he touched her no electricity ran between them. She had already got dressed but as he pulled her towards his naked body she felt him reach up under her clothes. She tried to reach for his hand to move it away but he shook his head telling her not to. His hands simply roamed her skin. When it reached her mark there was warmth spreading over her. "I am sorry for being too wild." He whispered. She couldn't help a shy smile at what he referred to. "I didn't know you were so untouched." He admitted as his other hand slid to her breasts kneading them alternately.
"I enjoyed myself." She admitted like a wanton woman but she knew after the previous night he knew her better. She could hear her breathy voice and she wondered if he could hear the throbbing of her heart. Ray Sutherland slowly peeled off her dress kissing her down her neck. By the time he reached her shoulder he stopped. "Where did you get this tattoo?" He asked sharply. It took her a while to process what he was saying. When she did she was shocked. How could Ray Sutherland, a human, see her mark? "What tattoo?"
"This tattoo with angel wings and a halo on your back, this has some writing below the halo. What script is this?" He asked.
When she looked at his face the romance was all gone. He was serious. "I have it since childhood. It is our native tongue." She explained.
He narrowed his eyes and looked away. He was planning and calculating something she knew not what. How could he see her mark? Had she lost all magic for mating with a human?
"You asked me about operation black star yesterday. Remember?" He said looking back at her. She nodded pulling up her dress. She wondered if it did not bother the man that he was still sitting naked on her bed. As she was thinking this he got up to find his coat. He took out a piece of paper and gave it to her. "It is an extra-terrestrial artefact NASA found in a meteorite crash site which looks like a black star and has the following engraving in it similar to your tattoo. Can yo u read it?"
Cassie opened the piece of paper already dreading what it might contain and she was right. "Samael is coming for me" She managed to scream and she started to panic.