Angel on Fire (12 page)

“Your safety comes first.  We’ll deal with the rest later.”  He smiled faintly.  “You admitted you liked and trusted me, Angel.  I’m a dominant, aggressive and possessive man.  You’re going to have to learn to deal with that.”  He led her from the alley, his arm wrapped securely around his waist.  “Come on, I believe I promised to take you dancing.”

Inside the intimate club Chase picked, Angela shivered in anticipation.  She loved dancing but rarely had a partner of Chase’s caliber to share her passion. 
Passion
.
  The mere word combined with Chase’s intoxicating scent made her tremble with excitement.  Desire coursed through her as Chase held her possessively against his hard, male body.  Spinning in his arms, she moved to the dark beat, pressing her backside against his front, a feminine thrill racing through her when she felt him harden against her back. 

Chase threaded a hand through her long, dark curls while running a hand down her side.  His fingertips grazed the side of her breast and Angela held her breath, torn between wanting more and keeping her distance. 

“Girls who play with fire frequently get burned,” he whispered before spinning her to face him. 

“I have a feeling you know how to create quite the inferno,” she teased, the crowd and wine making her momentarily brave. 

His eyes darkened, and a predatory smile appeared.  “You have no idea, babe.”

A little more than two hours later, Angela’s delightful laughter filled the hotel room.  Images flashed through her mind:  Chase holding her tightly against his strong, warm body, his hips moving in tandem with hers; his breath warm against her cheek as he placed little kisses along her jaw line, his voice deep and husky as he whispered in her ear.  Dancing further into the room, she stopped dead at the sight of the king sized bed – the only bed in the room.   

Chase came up behind her, enclosing her in his arms, trailing kisses along her neck and collarbone.  When she moaned, Chase spun her around and attacked her lips with his own.  Passion flared, as their tongues tangled, tasting each other’s flavor.  She trembled and Chase eased back a fraction of an inch, running his hands up and down her arms. 

“Easy, Angel,” he murmured.

“Do you want to?  Are we going to?”  Her voice quivered with equal parts need and fear as she motioned to the bed.

“Shush,” he soothed, kissing her forehead.  “No, Angel, we aren’t.  Can’t deny I want to, but you deserve more than a quick roll in the hay.”

“I
do
want you, but.…”  She leaned her head against his chest, unsure how to explain.

“I know, babe.  Go take a shower,” he urged, nudging her toward the bathroom door.  “We need to get some sleep.”

“But?”
 She gestured toward the bed.

“Relax.  I can sleep next to you without jumping you.”  He tossed her his spare t-shirt.  “You can wear this.”

Angela stood under the showerhead, the hot water caressing her body the way she wished Chase would. 
Get real, Angela.  You may like the guy, but he’s not relationship material.  I bet the sex would be worth the pain and recriminations,
the devil on her shoulder argued persistently. 
Nice girls don’t have casual sex
, Angela’s conscience reminded her. 
Riiiight
,
the devil replied. 
Come on, Angela.  Even a nice girl wouldn’t turn him down.  He’s
sooo
sexy and sweet to boot.
 

She struggled to control the lust raging through her body, secretly hoping Chase would take the decision out of her hands by whisking her off to bed as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom.  Instead, she found herself ignored as she entered the bedroom.  Chase paced back and forth holding his cell phone to his ear.  After tossing the phone on the bed, he ran his fingers through his hair, causing some of the pieces to stand straight up.  Angela held back a giggle as he turned to face her.  “Zach’s still not answering.”

“So, maybe he took the day off,” she replied, not understanding his concern.

Chase shook his head.  “Zach never goes off-line.” 

Kicking off his shoes, Chase collapsed onto the bed, hands behind his head.  Although he looked relaxed, Angela could feel the adrenaline pumping through his body.  “Zach lives the job.  No wife, no kids, no relationships. 
Just the job.”

She crawled onto the bed and lay down.  “I’m sure he’s fine.  From what you’ve indicated, Uncle Zach can take care of himself.”

“I don’t like it,” Chase confessed, staring at the ceiling.  “His closest friend calls him out of the blue and then dies.  He sends me to protect you, and suddenly, he’s unreachable.  Something going on and it’s not good.” 

“Maybe not.”
  Angela rubbed his shoulder.  When he shifted slightly, giving her better access, she urged him to sit up and slid behind him.  She massaged his tense shoulders.  “Is there anything we can be doing right now to help Zach?”

“No,” he groaned as she applied pressure to a knot in his left shoulder.

“So, there’s really no point in worrying about it right now.  Enjoy your massage, get some sleep, and we’ll tackle everything else tomorrow.”  Relishing the feel of his muscles relaxing under her hands, she smiled and dropped a light kiss on the side of his neck.  “Maybe the girl from the office will be able to help us in the morning.  All of this is tied together somehow.  We just don’t have enough information to even know what to look for yet.” 

Chase rolled his neck before jumping off the bed.  “Get some sleep, babe.  I’m going to take a shower.”

Sighing, she slipped under the covers and rolled protectively to her side, facing away from Chase’s side of the bed.  When the sun streamed through the crack in the drapes the next morning, Angela woke slowly, enjoying the feel of the warm, hard, male body next to her.  She held her breath, freezing in place with her leg flung across Chase’s body, her knee virtually resting on his erection.  Her head lay on his shoulder, and he had one arm across her back and the other cupping her ass.  Angela stared, her eyes devouring his sleeping form.  Ever so slowly, she tried to scoot backwards without waking him, but his hand snapped out and grabbed her knee. 

“Don’t move,” he commanded.

“Why?” she teased, feeling playful.  “I could move just a little this way.”  She rubbed her center against his leg. 

“Damn it, woman!” he barked, tossing her off of him.  “You can’t do that to a man first thing in the morning.”

She wiggled closer and placed her head on his chest, smiling up at him. 

“Angela!” he growled.

Tracing his abdominal muscles lightly with her fingertips, she whispered, “It’s not often I wake up next to someone.  Can we just lie here for a moment?” 

He tugged her closer, dropping a kiss on the top of her tangled mess of curls.  “Just a few minutes,” he breathed, “then we need to get moving.” 

“
Mmkay
,” she agreed, placing a soft kiss on his chest.  Chase tipped her chin up and, leisurely, lowered his head to hers, giving her time to pull away before pressing his lips against hers, exploring her mouth as if he had all the time in the world. 

“Time to get up, babe,” he ordered a few minutes later.  Grumpily, she complied, tossing him a dirty look for making her move. 

“Get dressed.”  He stripped off his shirt, and Angela stopped to stare at his naked chest. 
“Babe.”
  He lifted her chin with a finger, shaking his head at her lack of focus before swatting her on the butt to move her along.

The small tap jarred her back to reality and she demanded, “Are you insane?”  Pulling on her tangled strands of hair, she headed for the bathroom.  “You don’t really think I can just get dressed and go, do you?  Managing this mop takes time and energy.” 

“Fifteen minutes,” he called out as she shut the door.

True to his word, precisely fifteen minutes later, Chase pounded on the door.  “Move it, Angel!”

Angela opened the door wearing just a towel, and Chase inhaled sharply.  Angela pushed past him, rifling through her clothes.  Tossing yesterday’s panties aside with a grimace, she yanked on her jeans under the towel and then slipped into her bra.  She topped the outfit off with Chase’s spare blue button down shirt tied at her waist.

As she turned around, Chase grabbed her, settling his hands on her waist and playing with the shirt tails. “I don’t recall you asking to borrow my shirt.  I think you should give it back.”

“In your dreams,” she retorted, covering his hands with hers. 

“Umm, hmm.
  Right now, you have the starring role,” he breathed, his lips only a hair away from her own. 

Rising to her tiptoes, she kissed him briefly.  “Hmm, maybe someday you’ll find out if reality trumps your dreams.”  She skipped to the door, relishing the fact that she had surprised him.  Chase yanked her back, kissing her with bruising force, practically devouring her, before stepping back. She stumbled slightly, her eyes glazed with passion and her lips swollen.

“Now, we’re ready to go,” he smirked, before gathering their things and pulling her out the door. 

“Hey!” she complained.  “This dragging me around thing has to stop. I’m not that kind of girl.” 
But I sure wish I was.  I wouldn’t mind him dragging me to bed and keeping me there for an extended stay.  Shit, I need to get my act together.  He’s made his feelings pretty clear.  Besides, I should be focusing on Dad, not my nonexistent love life.

“Then keep up,” he advised keeping a firm grip on her wrist.  “What kind of girl are you referring to?” he asked as they stepped into the elevator.

“You
know,
the ones that like the strong, domineering man.”  She shrugged quickly.  “It doesn’t do it for me.”

“Right,” he drawled out the word, an undercurrent of amusement lacing his voice.  “So, I don’t turn you on at all, babe.  ‘
Cuz
I guarantee that’s exactly the kind of man I am and so far, you seem to like it.”

“Humph.”  She crossed her arms and looked away petulantly. 

“Now for this morning’s rules:  you will stay by me at all times, and if I tell you to do something, you’ll do it immediately and without question.  Understand?”  His voice was harsh and his gaze heavy. 

“What the hell?  I’m not an idiot, and I never agreed to obey your orders.”  Miffed at his audacity, she glared, fighting every instinct that insisted she stomp her foot and walk away from this man. 

“I’m responsible for your safety, Angel,” Chase growled.  “I take my responsibilities
very
seriously.  So unless you’d like to spend the rest of this operation under lock and key in a safe house, you
will
obey me.”

“You can’t do that!” she protested.  “You want me to
obey?
” She spat the word out as if it tasted vile.  “Children obey.  I’m definitely not a child.”

His eyes darkened with lust, and his gaze heated as he inspected her body thoroughly.  “You’re definitely not a child, babe, but you sure are acting like one.”