Angelic Avenger (24 page)

“Move it along there, folks. We don’t allow tricks on the street around here.”

I blinked away from the bright flashlight the good patrolman flashed at us, turning my face away since the sudden burst of brightness hurt my photosensitive eyes. Gray turned his face into the light and if a man could have snarled, his expression would have been it. It would have done a wolf proud.

“Are you making accusations, Officer?”

“Mr. Devereau, I’m sorry,” the officer stammered, “I didn’t realize it was you…and your…uhm…”

Gray lifted my hand from his hip and I knew he was letting the diamond on my finger make his point.

“My
fiancée
and I were on our way home and stopped in for a quick…discussion. Do you have a problem with that Officer Kennedy? Your light is a bit hard on the eyes, too.”

Abruptly, the light flashed off and I blinked to reacquaint my eyes with the shadows of the night.

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t realize…I was walking by on my rounds since we’ve had some complaints about robberies and such and saw…well…”

“I’m aware of what you thought you saw.” Gray straightened and I turned back to see the young man’s face flushed as red as his hair.

Poor fool. He barely looked old enough to be wearing the uniform. Was the Atlanta Police Department that hard up for people?

“Gray,” I smiled my best smile and made sure my whisper carried on the night, “he was just doing his job. You can’t fault him for that. We shouldn’t have been making out like teenagers in public. If a body turned up here tomorrow, Officer Kennedy would have to live with the guilt of whether he should have stepped in on us or not. Cut the guy some slack. Lord knows, if you were bent on prosecuting a case like that, you’d have drawn and quartered him for walking on.”

I love to be right. The scowl on Gray’s face and the wash of relief on the officer’s told me how close to the mark I really was. See, two could play that game of knowing the inner secrets they shouldn’t know.

“Thank you, ma’am. Congratulations on your engagement. It hasn’t made the rounds of the precinct. Nice to know Mr. Devereau has such good taste.”

Okay, that was laying it on a bit thick, but I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as Gray’s scowl darkened. Let him think whatever he wanted to think. Heaven only knew what I would have said to screw this up if he’d not interrupted when he did. All things considered, Gray should be pinning a medal on him instead of his penetrating gaze.

“Thank you, Officer…Kennedy, wasn’t it? Let’s go home, Gray…”

Gray started to say something more to the young man, but I squeezed his hand. Gray turned and met my rueful smile. The humor of the situation was beginning to set in and I winked at him. His chest had inflated with the deep breath to blast the poor boy, but he looked at me and let it out in a long rush. His own eyes began to dance as he picked up my amusement and quirked a smile at me.

“Right. Home. I think we can pick this up in a more private setting and Bella is right, Officer Kennedy. Good job and I’ll make sure your supervisor knows you’ve got a sharp eye.”

“Thank you, sir. Have a great evening, ma’am.”

I could feel the blush, but didn’t bother to look at him as I led Gray from the alley and slipped back under his arm, wrapping my own around his waist to tuck my hand in his back pocket. As soon as we were out of hearing range, I looked up and asked the question I knew was on both of our minds.

“Your place or mine?”

“Are you sure?”

He didn’t slow our pace or stop as he looked at me. We strolled toward the street level exit entwined like lovers and I very much wanted to make it a point of fact. It had been entirely too long since I’d allowed myself the luxury of feeling. This may not be love, but it was coated with the warmth and security of
life.
Foras was right. It’s what I’d been searching for and I wasn’t too proud or foolish as to cut off my nose in spite of my face.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my
entire
life.”

“Is there really going to be noise?”

His lips quirked and I gave him my best devilishly mischievous look.

“Oh yes.”

“Your place.”

His answer was so prompt and full of such gleeful anticipation that I started laughing in delight. A heartbeat later, his rich laughter joined in and people stopped to watch us.

For once, I didn’t care. Let people look and notice and envy what we had. Lord knows, I’d done enough of it over the years.

The cab ride was too short for the tension to come back between us. I sat, snuggled under his arm, allowing myself to enjoy the warm comfort of his body. The nerves had turned to anticipation. It had been a very long time since I’d allowed myself the joys of a physical relationship. When I’d first returned to the mortal world, I’d gone through a blessedly short phase where I’d tried casual sex. It hadn’t taken long to realize I wasn’t cut out for it. There was very little satisfaction from it, so I’d stopped. Now, my patience was about to be rewarded. Gray Devereau may be a lot of things, but I had a sneaking suspicion unsatisfying wasn’t one of them.

I watched him pull out a bill far more than the cost of the fare and overpay the cabbie because he was in too much of a hurry to pay attention. The rush of power that gave me had absolutely nothing to do with magic. Of course, I didn’t help the matter by walking on ahead of him into the lobby of my building to give me a moment to collect my thoughts. He caught up to me at the elevator, stopping slightly behind me and letting me have my moment as if he realized I needed it.

Neither of us spoke as we waited for the elevator. Anticipation hummed through me as the doors opened and we stepped into it. Part of me expected him to take my hand when the doors closed, but he didn’t. I could have reached across those inches too, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. And then the moment passed as the doors opened on my floor.

He gently took my keys as we stepped out of the elevator and guided me down the hallway to my apartment door with a firm hand on my back as if we were dancing. Was that what we were doing? Damn, I hated being out of practice.

The click of the door was loud behind us. As happy as I was to be in my own little corner of the world, I suddenly wished we’d gone back to his place and put off the inevitable.

I squealed like a girl as I found myself grabbed and pinned against the door. Gray looked down with a devilish light in his normally calm blue eyes. Calm wasn’t what they were at this moment. They shone with a light of passion that made my pulse race and other parts of my body thicken and melt in anticipation.

“I believe,” he whispered as he lowered his face closer to mine, “this was about where we were when Officer Kennedy decided to meddle.”

“No.” My voice was breathy with a mix of desire and amusement. Gray raised an eloquent brow at me even as he settled his hips firmly against mine, letting me know he was very sure of himself and the situation. “There’s no chocolate. I couldn’t help but think…chocolate and sex…”

He sealed his mouth to mine and I decided chocolate was overrated.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Where I wanted fast heat and action, he wanted a slow, savoring seduction. My hands were frantic as I tried to fumble the buttons of his shirt loose while not breaking the kiss. I suddenly realized the benefit of not being able to breathe. It meant kissing was so much easier. His hands grabbed mine as his hips held me firm against the door while he pulled his face away.

“What’s your hurry?”

His voice was husky with need and something curled up from inside me. I blinked up at him and grinned.

“You’re not moving fast enough.”

“I’m moving plenty fast enough for what I have in mind. Things like this should be savored and enjoyed, not rushed through. We’re not on a rollercoaster, you know. We have all night.”

When did we end up in role-reversal? Wasn’t
he
the one who was supposed to be all grabby and fast? Trust me to find the one man in the world who wanted to go slow.

“Right. We have all night to play as long as you’re up for it.” I smiled that angelic smile I’d practiced in the mirror and knew it fell flat by the laughter brimming in his gaze.

“Trust me, Bella. I don’t think I’m the one who’s going to be falling over first.”

“Ohh…that sounds like a challenge.”

“Call it a promise.”

We shared a smile and another kiss, every bit as scorching as the first, but without the desperation. I conceded the point, to a degree. He wanted slow…who was I to argue?

“I like promises.” I gasped as his hands slipped under my shirt, soothing across the skin on my sides. “Can we save them for later?”

Okay, sue me. I wasn’t quite done with the argument. I wanted what I wanted.

“Bella.” He pulled back enough for me to concentrate on his face after his hands stilled against me. The laughter had leaked from his gaze to be replaced with an intensity that was nearly frightening. “You only get one chance at a first time.”

“We’re hardly virgins, Gray…”

“Yeah, but this is
our
first time. Anyone before was practice. Let’s not blow it with rushed groping in the dark. I want to remember how soft your skin is.” His hand drifted around my waist to trail up my spine, making me shiver. “I want to remember the little things like
that
.”

The question must have shown on my face because he kissed me quick before continuing.

“How you shivered in my arms because I found the right spot to stroke. Rushed fumbling in the dark is something for teenagers and men who have no better sense than to appreciate the beauty of their lovers’ body.”

How poetic. Who would have thought it of him? I tried to fight the quirk of a smile on my lips, but failed miserably.

“Well—” I breathed in a sigh, “—let’s take this somewhere we can fully appreciate all the little points of knightly love.”

“Knightly love was all about loving from afar, Bella.”

Damn man was laughing at me. I could hear it in his voice even as he fought to keep it back.

“I have no intention of being that chivalrous. I want to be very much up close and personal.”

I shivered and rubbed against him. “Well, it’s nice to know my knight in shining armor has a few chinks for me to corrupt.”

He swooped down and kissed me again, but let it draw on until he came up for air, panting from far more than shortness of breath. I squeaked when he swept me up in his arms and turned toward my bedroom.

“Well, if I’m playing the role of the knight, I get to be the one in charge.”

“Says who?”

“Me.”

“That’s so not fair. We’re going to have to renegotiate.”

Laughter finally broke free and his chest shook with the rich sound.

“Bella, honey, why do I think you’re going to argue your way into Hell?”

“Well, you don’t think I’m going to let him take me down easy, do you?”

“Of course not.” That scary intensity was back in his face as he gazed down at me. “If you were easy, I wouldn’t love you nearly this much. I guess I like things complicated.”

Love?
Oh hell. I wasn’t thinking love. I was thinking how hot and hard his body was and how much I was going to enjoy it. Panic bloomed in my heart and must have shown on my face because Gray hugged me close.

“It’s okay, Bella. You don’t have to say it back. I thought you should know where you stand before things got all hot and heavy. I know where I am in your life, so there’s no need to lie to me. You don’t do it that well.”

There was something calm and accepting in him that I didn’t understand. I couldn’t have been him in that moment. I couldn’t have crawled into that bed with someone I had such deep feelings for, knowing they weren’t returned. With that in mind, I tried to pull back, but the warm strength in his arms wouldn’t let me. It was cruel to let it get any further until I knew what I wanted out of all this beyond the moment. My bedroom was darker than the living room, which was almost always partially lighted from the larger buildings around me, and I was cowardly enough to appreciate the shadows. Reaching out with my magic, I pulled the darkness thicker around us and felt his exasperated sigh against my shoulder.

Suddenly, the room was lit with brilliant balls of light dancing around the ceiling as Gray’s magic met mine. My shadows halted and faltered and gave way to his burnished balls. Temper made me try to revive them, but Gray’s magic snuffed them out as if they’d never been and then capped off that well. He blocked me from them with an ease that told me one thing.

“You’ve been holding out on me.” My gaze was slightly accusatory, but more than that was the appreciation of his talent. There weren’t too many with angelic magic that could hide it from me since I was more powerful than the average bear. Genetics were a beautiful thing. Apparently, I’d been born with a latent magical gene or two that had responded to the magic that made me what I was. Too bad I’d had to be dead for it to work.

“I was warned ahead of time you played poker exceptionally well…for a woman.”

I slapped his chest and let it go with a smile. “I could take you down to your skivvies before you can blink.”

“I thought we were headed to bare bottoms.”

Heat flooded through us and I looked up at his face to find the crisis had passed with the teasing I found there. I wasn’t backing out of this and smiled as he halted beside my bed.

“Bare bottoms are good.”

He leaned down to kiss me quick. One minute, his mouth was firm on mine and the next I was airborne. I bounced on the mattress with a squeak and laughed at the glee on his face as he followed me down. I was glad I didn’t have a waterbed as we rolled a bit until his mouth found mine.

Passion flared again, but it had a different flavor. The urgency was still there, but Gray had tempered it into something I didn’t recognize. Of their own accord, my hands found the buttons of his shirt, but I didn’t fumble as they came loose and I found my hand against the smooth cotton of his undershirt. Breaking away from the kiss, I grinned as I shook my head.

“I can’t believe you still wear undershirts. Didn’t those go out of fashion with corsets for ladies?”