Angelic Avenger (31 page)

“I take it that it’s time for Cougar boy here to go home?”

Tony’s voice so close to my ear made me jump. How had he managed to sneak up on me? I whirled to find him grinning. My outraged expression made him wag his eyebrows at me mischievously. Magic. Damn. I was so going to have to get used to that if…

Or maybe not.

Gray turned on his heel and stalked out of the room in the direction of his home office without a word. It would help my defense if I knew what I was supposed to be guilty of.

“Craig, you can go home. The danger’s passed, for the most part.”

“But I don’t think I’d wander down any dark alleys any time soon, bud.” Ben’s voice cut over mine smoothly. “We’re not so sure how the locals are going to feel about what’s going on, but we’ve run the Big Bad Wolf’s men out of town with their tails between their legs, but the rest live here.”

“Oh, okay.” Craig’s face fell and he suddenly seemed fragile. He set Lizzy down gently with a smile. Didn’t anyone else see the strength behind that forced smile?

“You can stay, if you want. Lizzy, would you like Mr. Craig to stay and play with you until we get you settled for your new home?”

“Oh, yes, please.” The sheer enthusiasm in her voice chased the shadows from his face and he scooped her up.

“Great. I promised Little Bite here ice cream.” He raced from the room with her under his arm before anyone had a chance to revoke my invitation.

Smart cat. I’d scratch his ears next time he was in cougar form. Hell, I’d do it now if I knew I wasn’t in trouble over some bruised male ego issue that I had no clue on. With that in mind, I strode after Gray, finding him in his office staring out over the carefully manicured back lawn.

“Do I even
want
to know what’s gotten you all fired up?” I tried to keep my tone gentle and light, but there was a thread of nervousness under it I couldn’t hide.

“What do you need from me?”

His tone was harsh and he didn’t look at me when he asked. I blinked and then blinked, again. I seem to do that a lot when I’m knocked on my ass. Where had
this
come from? Granted, he’d hardly been happy with me when I’d left, but what had happened to push it to this extent?

“Would you be mad if I said the obvious?”

I was fishing. I hated being clueless and it was a place I was finding myself in more and more. It was so not a happy place. Unfortunately, I really didn’t understand what he was asking because I still didn’t know why he was so upset.

“And just what is the obvious?” He turned to face me and the fury in his face matched the tremor of it in his voice. “Sex? Is that all I’m good for?”

I stared at him, lost as to what the right answer was. Why was I constantly finding myself stuck in role reversal situations with him? Somehow, I tried to understand what had his back up, but I couldn’t see the angle.

“I thought that was what all men wanted to be good for? A little sex without any repercussions would be dreams come true. Why don’t you tell me what your problem is so we can really fight and get it over with?”

“Foras…”

“Stop.” This time I was the one glaring across the room. Indignation rushed through me and I realized the bit of his soul I carried not only intensified my own emotions, but also channeled
his
emotions back to me. This really had the formula to get ugly faster than I was going to like. Then again, never hitting that point had a certain appeal, too. I wondered how well I remembered my childhood tap dancing lessons.

“No, I won’t stop.” He actually raised his voice and that shocked me to the core. In all the situations we’d found ourselves in, he’d never yelled no matter how provoked he’d been. When had my personal boy scout found a temper? Or maybe it was mine. Did the bond work both ways? “I’ve sat back and watched everything and been a good boy. I’ve not made too much of an issue about things a reasonable man would have drawn the line at such as finding naked men in your bed. Not only naked men in general, but potential rivals…”

“There haven’t been
men
!” I threw up my hands in exasperation. “There was
one man
and if you’ll recall, I was entirely too drunk to take advantage of him even if I’d had a mind to. If you’ll remember I passed out, thinking it was going to be you in bed with me. So if I
had
tried to take advantage of the opportunity he presented, I can assure you the brakes would have kicked on as soon as I realized he wasn’t who I wanted him to be.”

I started to rave on, but the look on his face stopped me, or maybe it was the sudden absence of outside anger pouring through me. Either way, silence descended on us and we stared at each other. Apparently, I had said something right, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Say it again.”

Shaking my head, I laughed. It had a slightly wild edge to it. I just couldn’t help it. The sheer insanity of the conversation was getting to me.

“Say what again? That I had no intention of jumping Foras just because he was naked in bed with me, and I was spun up after you?”

“Well, yeah, but I liked how you said it a second ago better.”

My confusion was plain on my face because he smiled the slow, sexy smile that had first made my heart flutter. I thought back and the light bulb flashed above my head. I think I had it figured out. God, I’m slow, sometimes.

“That I wanted it to be you? Do you want to know what he was saying to me when you caught us upstairs earlier? He was telling me to embrace what you offered me. He thinks the reason he never tripped my radar as a potential lover was because he’s as immortal as I am. Something inside me craves mortality, and that’s why I can’t live the way all the others do. You offer me that in an appealing package. You not only tripped my radar, but set it off the chart. Once I found you, none of the others were going to be any competition to speak of. He told me to embrace you and enjoy the ride while it lasted. And you do realize we’ve had this conversation before, right?”

“I know, I know. I can’t help it. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before and it’s got me tied up in knots.”

“Well, cut it out. I love you and that’s all there is to it.”

That knocked him speechless and he gaped at me for a moment before snapping his jaw shut. Of all things he apparently expected, that wasn’t it. Then again, it was always a shock to realize your chief rival was encouraging the object of your affections into your arms instead of out of them. He took a step toward me but I took a step back. His eyes widened as he froze.

“No, this isn’t a kiss-and-make-up fight because I soothed your emotional boo-boo. You don’t trust me as far as you could throw me and it’s gone far enough. I’ve given you absolutely no reason for this, and I don’t deserve to have to turn around to justify myself constantly. If you don’t want me, then that’s that. I can walk away from this as easily as I walked into it. If you do—” I shrugged. I was babbling and I knew it, but a part of me I’d thought long dead was aching, “—then we’re never going to be able to build anything more than hot sex as long as you’re holding onto this attitude of yours.”

Granted, I could walk away, but my heart would be broken. Damned if I’d admit that to him, though. What I’d found in his arms couldn’t be replaced by casual sex. If I’d not been watching him so closely, I would have missed the flinch. As it was, I didn’t. His words still managed to catch me by surprise.

“You’re right. I have a problem, but you’re wrong that I don’t trust you.” His gaze was tortured as it locked with mine. “Can you blame me for feeling insecure? You’ve got freakin’ archangels falling at your feet, practically begging for your attention. How’s a normal man supposed to compete with that? What do I have to offer you that
he
can’t top with a flick of his magical finger?”

He waved his arms in the air to accent his words. It was my turn to be speechless. He thought he wasn’t good enough? This wasn’t about egos and pride at all. It was about wanting something you didn’t feel you deserved. Wow. Silence reigned as I tried to find a way to say what was in my heart.

“You’re such an idiot.”

That wasn’t it, but was the first thought that bounced out of my mouth. It was becoming a litany where he was concerned. I really needed to have the filter between my brain and my mouth checked.

“Did it ever occur to you that if I’d wanted him, I could have had him years ago? Obviously, the entire angelic world knew he was hanging around waiting for me to get a clue, but I never did. Sure, he’s cute enough, but he never flipped my trigger as an option. He could have been a woman for all I noticed.”

Okay, I was overstating a bit. Foras would never be that asexual to anyone with or without a pulse who enjoyed men. Gray didn’t need to know that, though. The smile that began to spread across his face made me feel like that little lie was golden. I’d made my choice between them and the loser had accepted it. Why couldn’t the winner?

“Thank you for that.”

Okay, so he didn’t buy it, but that was okay. He was relaxed as he held out his hand to me. I took a step toward the hand as the door bounced open and Lizzy came bounding through with Ben hot on her heels.

“Lizzy Belle, you can’t go in there…”

“It’s okay, Ben. We’re good.”

He glanced between us and looked doubtful. “No blood, that’s always a good sign.”

Lizzy launched herself at me and I caught her by reflex. I couldn’t get over how small she was. Five-year-olds were supposed to be bigger than the fragile bundle of energy hugging me so tightly.

“Are we still going to get to go to the movie, Ms. Bella? You promised…”

I had, but the tone in her voice said she was prepared for me to tell her we weren’t going. Was that what her mother had done? Made promises and not followed through? Well, not this chick. I’d promised a movie so we were going, whether or not we had an angel escort.

“Yes, baby, we’re going to the movie. Mr. Gray and I were talking before we headed out. Did you take a good nap so you’d be ready to stay up late?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am. I napped really good. Mr. Craig napped with me, to make sure I got enough sleep. He purrs in his sleep, did you know that?”

He did, did he? I filed that little snippet away for future blackmail. It was bound to come in handy, someday. Turning to Ben, I winked.

“All aboard who’s coming aboard. The movie train leaves in ten minutes.”

“Is it something I’m going to like?” Tony asked, strolling in after them.

“Sure you will. There will be plenty of bright colors, so it’ll be right up your alley.”

Bad girlfriend, no treats. Don’t antagonize your lover’s brother. It’s bad for peace in the ranks. Right now, a little peace would be a good thing if I ever expected to get lucky again. Sad how a little hot sex, I was ready to compromise on my basic instincts, but there it was. Gray’s chuckle made Tony’s scowl worth it. Setting Lizzy down, I grinned down at her.

“Go find Mr. Craig and tell him to get his paws moving if he’s coming with us. Movie is your choice, so think about what you want to see as long as it’s animated. I don’t think Mr. Craig can follow anything else.”

She giggled as she dashed off. I patted myself on the back for being good and spreading the insults around. Can’t have Tony thinking I was picking on him or anything like that.

“So,” Ben said as he flopped on the couch by the door, “is this our trial run to see if we’re being stalked by mad angels or will we have an escort?”

“Where is our friendly angel?” I made no effort to keep the bite to my words. I could feel him, so I knew he was around here, somewhere. If I were being honest with myself, I would admit what had me so upset that he was playing the invisible man was, I couldn’t tell if he was lurking to observe my fight with Gray, or not. Some things should be private. True to form, Gavreel materialized near Gray’s desk, leaning against a bookshelf that had real, honest to God, law books. From the lack of dust on the tops of them, I was betting Gray used them for more than show. Go figure. Should I be jumping up and down because he had a mind as sharp as his body?

“I think it’s a good idea for you to do this on your own to see if Turel tries to take you unaware again. If he does, Tony can see what type of spells he’s using. If he doesn’t, then we know he’s becoming more cautious and will wait for an opportunity to present itself.”

Of course that’s what he’d think. Why had I thought any different? After all, my day was already shot to hell, what was one
more
crisis to deal with? Before my mouth could get me into trouble, though, Alex knocked on the door.

“I hear you guys are going out?”

Fear radiated off the wolf in waves. I’d totally forgotten about the wolves nestled upstairs in the guest room. My life suddenly seemed more appealing when it was dull.

“Whatcha need, Alex?” Ben was going to get bumped higher on the Christmas list. After all this, he was getting a very nice thank you gift, too. He’d more than earned it.

“Can someone swing by Gavin’s and bring him some fresh clothes? I think it would make him feel better not to be covered in blood.”

It said a lot for Alex to ask considering his own clothes were hardly clean. He could use a bit of comfort, too.

I glanced over at the angel in the room with a speaking look. He rolled his eyes, but got the message and used a bit too much show with his hand gestures, sweeping them into wide arcs with his palms upwards. Suddenly, crisply folded clothes were stacked there. The look he gave Alex made me want to smack him as he waited for the wolf to cross the office to get them.

“You’re such a jerk.”

Alex jumped as I stalked across the room to snatch the clothes out of the angel’s hands and carried them to him as he hovered in the doorway.

“Don’t worry about them, Alex. They’re good in a pinch, but you have to deal with the drama all the time. Will you guys be okay if we all jet out this evening or would you feel better if someone stayed behind?”

His eyes widened at the offer, but I smiled back at him. If I was taking in strays, I might as well make them feel at home.