We last read Chapter 37, in which Sapphire Angel watches in hiding as Xavier Wheldon meets two men at the water wall. She follows as they set off together through the lush outdoor courtyard of the hotel, exiting through a locked gate in a wall at the back of the courtyard. From a perch atop the wall, the heroine spies the men enter a warehouse beyond the wall, but she also sees Conner trailing them. When he slips into the warehouse in pursuit of the men, she hurries after him.
The warehouse is filled with pallets and crates stacked high. Sapphire Angel uses her cable to ascend to a catwalk, and spies six armed men fanning out amid the pallets below, searching for the intruder— searching for Conner.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
She wanted to follow Wheldon, but Conner was her priority. She darted down the catwalk, keeping to her toes and watching the distance close between Conner and the two nearest men. They were about to turn a corner and come face to face, and Conner didn't know it. Perhaps the men didn't either.
Sapphire Angel looked at the pallets of items as she ran, and saw many open boxes and crates filled with food, paper products, cleaning supplies, and other supplies for the resort. The heroine identified a crate filled with boxes of paper towels, stacked high and wrapped with plastic wrap. She leapt out over the railing, sailing through the air. Her feet hit the top of the supplies on the pallet, and she flexed her knees and went into a somersault to absorb the impact. She let her momentum carry her off the edge.
The two men turned one corner just as Conner turned the adjacent corner. They faced each other, twelve feet apart.
"Hold it!" one man commanded Conner. He and his partner leveled their weapons at Conner, just as Sapphire Angel dropped into their midst. Her boots touched down between Conner and the men.
Startled, the smaller man fired his weapon at the superheroine. The bullet fell harmlessly to the ground near her, but the sound of the gunshot echoed through the building.
Sapphire Angel didn't wait to see if the other man would fire his weapon. She closed the distance to them in a blur, lashing out with a kick at one man and a punch at the other. The punch drove the smaller man to the floor, his head whipping back into the hard concrete. He groaned and stopped moving. Her kick sent the other man sailing through the air until he slammed into a crate. Sapphire Angel was on him before he even dropped to his knees, lashing a kick into his stomach and an uppercut to his face. He slid down the side of the crate and slumped to the floor.
Footsteps approached from behind Conner. Sapphire Angel spun and lept over him, landing as two more men came around the corner. They fired handguns, and again the bullets fell away from the superheroine. Sapphire Angel sprang at them, landing a punch to the face of one man and intercepting a swinging punch from the other man, grabbing his fist with her palm and halting its movement. His jaw dropped in shock, before she whipped him into a crate ten yards away, head first. He dropped to the ground, out of the fight.
The first man regained his feet, his nose bleeding, just as the final pair of men raced into view. They surveyed the carnage, spotting the three men laying on the ground and the fourth man holding his bloody nose.
"Get behind me!" she hissed at Conner. He complied, sliding behind her with his back to a crate.
"Spread out!" one of the newcomers shouted, and the three men formed a semi-circle around Sapphire Angel and Conner. Sapphire Angel dropped into a ready posture, waiting for them to make their move. She would have preferred to take the fight to them, but she couldn't leave Conner exposed.
"I don't know what you're doing here, Sapphire Angel, but you're going to pay for this bloody nose," the bleeder snarled.
"Perhaps your friends are jealous and would like one too?" she asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
"Go to hell!" the man hissed, charging at her. The other two men darted in on either side of him. As they were almost to her, she leaped up, lashing out with both legs Her left leg connected with the bleeder's chest, sending him staggering backwards. Her right leg struck home, hitting the far right man's face with a satisfying crunch. He flipped back like a rug had been pulled out from under him.
As the center man lowered a shoulder to pluck her from the air, she swung upwards with joined fists, catching him under the chin and sending him stumbling back. She darted to the man to her left, drilling him with alternating punches, and following through with a snapping kick to his face. As he slumped to the ground, she spun just in time to meet the charge of the last man standing. Still groggy from the punch under his chin, he swung at her like he was drunk, and missed. She snapped off three quick jabs to his face, and he toppled over.
All six men were down. Sapphire Angel heard Conner muttering behind her, and turned to see him standing, slack-jawed.
"Holy shit," he stammered. "That was unbelievable."
"More help may be on the way, so follow me." Part of her wanted to let Conner fend for himself, as a punishment for foiling her pursuit of Wheldon. But she needed to get him to safety.
She jogged back to the same door through which she had entered, turning to make sure Conner was following. He trailed her, but kept turning back toward the men on the ground to survey Sapphire Angel's handiwork, and shaking his head.
As they got to the door, it flew open and three more men charged in, guns out. They paused, surprised. Sapphire Angel did not pause. She whirled into action, bobbing in with a punch and stunning one of them, before ducking aside to avoid a blow from another and burying her elbow in his stomach. As he bent over, wheezing, she drove her elbow up into his face and lashed out with an upward kick at the third man, who was lunging at her, catching him with full force under the chin. His head whipped back and he dropped to the ground. Her elbow to the face had dropped the second man, so the first attacker was the only one standing.
He staggered toward her and jumped, leaving his feet and rearing back. As he came down with a swinging punch, her arm lashed out, grabbed his outstretched arm, and whipped him into the floor. He bounced twice before laying still.
She looked down, hands on her hips, taking in her opponents with a shake of her head. All three men lay on the floor, unmoving or groaning in pain.
"Come on!" she hissed, grabbing Conner's hand and yanking him toward the open door. Once they were through it, she led him back to the courtyard wall and through the door into the courtyard. He followed her in silence through the courtyard until the door to the hotel lobby was in sight.
"Head inside," she ordered.
Conner stood beside her, looking down at her like a love-struck teenager. She realized she was still holding his hand, which she had used to lead him this far. Her face softened.
He took her other hand and turned so they were standing face to face. She was shorter and titled her head up to meet his gaze. She felt it. A connection. An electricity between them. Her heart raced again, much to her chagrin. He didn't seem to be faring much better. His breathing was rapid, and he seemed to be struggling to speak. No words came, but still he held her gaze.
A pang of desire tingled through Sapphire Angel. She slid one of her gloved hands from his and reached up and placed it on the back of his neck. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled his mouth down toward hers. Their lips touched, and, like their first kiss, a surge of passion coursed through her.
They explored one another's lips, and she felt his hand touch her side, tentative at first, and then with a gentle caress down the side of her costume. She let out an involuntary whimper as they kissed, and her knees trembled. Just like the first time.
With a start Conner pulled his head back, a confused look on his face. "I'm sorry. You're amazing, but I can't do this."
They stared at each other for a moment, and she bit her lip.
"You need to get back inside," she said, her voice a whisper.
He nodded, his mouth still hanging open. He was breathing even harder now. He said nothing.
She took a step backward. "Go," she said, gesturing toward the door.
She turned and darted back toward the back wall of the courtyard. As she weaved through vegetation, she stole a glance back toward Conner. He continued to watch her, finally disappearing from view as she weaved further into the vegetation.
As she slipped through the door in the wall, she tried to get her trembling legs back under her, and to settle her pounding heart. She could no longer deny it. Conner had an effect on her. But he had stopped their moment of passion, unlike their kiss at his home. Why? She wanted to believe it was because of feelings for Beth, but that seemed like wishful thinking.
Sapphire Angel approached the warehouse, her shoulders sagging as she realized she wanted him to want her as Beth. She had to stop reacting this way around him. Aside from his cocky remarks, he had shown little interest in Beth Harper. Only Sapphire Angel. She shook her head. There would be time to think about this later.
After slipping through the warehouse door, the athletic woman ascended to the catwalk again. From there, she walked the width of the building, peering off to either side. Whoever had been here was gone. That didn't surprise her. Even the men she had defeated in combat had disappeared.
To be certain, she dropped from the catwalk, flexing her knees as she landed, and explored the warehouse by foot. Aside from pallets, boxes, and crates, all containing supplies for the resort, it was empty. When she had followed Wheldon here, she had thought perhaps the warehouse would hold answers. Now she knew better. It had only been a meeting place for Wheldon, or a shortcut to another location.
Wheldon had vanished and his goons — or who she assumed were his goons — had vanished. She thought of the men who had joined him in the courtyard. Perhaps they were the key, and perhaps Conner had recognized them or overheard something she hadn't.
Sapphire Angel navigated back toward her room, staying hidden amid the jungle-like growth. Once she reached the grassy area below her room, she scanned the neighboring balconies before making the leap onto her own.
Five minutes later she was wearing her cotton pajamas, thinking of Conner. The more that she thought about the situation, the more angry she became with herself for becoming a swooning fool once again.
She became angry with Conner, too. He may have stopped their intimate moment this time, but he otherwise was no different than the countless other men who lusted after Sapphire Angel. He was the one who had surprised her with a kiss at his home. The only difference between Conner and other men was he had the opportunity and the gumption to act on his desires. That thought made her mad at herself again, though. She had mistaken his lust for something more. Worse, she had done so as Sapphire Angel. She had let him reduce her to a quivering school girl.
She placed her costume back into the hidden compartment in the bottom of her bag, barely paying attention, and vowing not to let things happen again with Conner. As she stitched the cover of the compartment back in place, her mind was elsewhere, like she was in a trance. When finished, she snipped off the end of the thread, put the bag aside, and laid back in bed with a groan. Sleep would be difficult tonight.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
I appreciate any comments or email.
The way she took out all six men was amazing, and my heart melted when the two of them kissed the second time. Probably because it wasn’t some kind of hilarious accident like the first one was.
Conner and Sapphire Angel’s relationship seems.....complicated, to say the least. I still think they genuinely like each other but just aren’t ready to admit it. This would probably go so much more smoother if he knew.....