Dark Admirer (15 page)

“Eve,”
he murmured softly as he brushed the hair that covered her face.
“You are aptly named. You are a creature of temptation, and like Adam, I enjoyed every illicit taste you’ve offered.”

Chapter Eight

“Where the hell have you been?”

Anael studied the man sitting across from him. Richard Stokes was still an asshole. “You called upon me, you wanted my services. It doesn’t mean you fucking own me.”

“Yeah?” Richard asked, his eyes flashing malevolently. “Well so far, I haven’t got dick out of your services.”

“So far, you haven’t deserved them.”

“Since when did God’s angels become moral judges?”

Anael felt his temper begin to rise. Richard Stokes was becoming a thorn in his ass. He didn’t like the mortal. Not that he’d cared much for the other mortals he’d helped in the past, but this one…this human male was different. There was something dark and sinister about this one. The others, they’d all been awkward and unsure around women. But not this one. Richard knew his way around women, even felt confident with them. If the way he was eyeing up their waitress was any indication, he had years of experience behind him.

Which made Anael sit back and really look at Richard Stokes. “Why do you need me?”

Richard’s lips curled up in a mockery of a smile. “It’s not to get my rocks off, that’s for sure. I have no problems landing chicks in my bed, it’s one particular chick I can’t seem to get there.”

“And why does it matter about this particular one, when you’ve already said you have no shortage of female flesh. And don’t tell me you’re in love. Because I’m not buying that. You love no one but yourself.”

Richard saluted him with his beer bottle. “Bingo.”

“Why am I here?”

“You’re helping me get the woman I want.”

“Who is this woman?”

Richard reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a folded piece of newspaper. He slid it across the table to Anael. “I want her.”

Anael unfolded the yellowed paper and felt his vision tunnel. It was a picture of Eve, her hair was pinned up in a tight bun, and she was dressed in unrelieved black.

“Not the nicest picture of her, but I’ll cut her some slack. It was taken at her parents’ funeral three years ago. She’s gained some weight since then, but that’s not a problem that can’t be rectified.”

Anael traced the fuzzy contours of Eve’s face. She looked so devastated. So sad. So lonely. He wanted to hold her in his arms like he had last night. Wanted to take away her pain with his body.

“You know how special this woman is?” Richard asked. He shook his head, disbelieving that this useless mortal could possibly have an inkling about just how damn special Eve truly was.

“I’m talking like twenty million special. Daddy was a business tycoon and a known tightwad. He kept his money. And darling little Evie got it all when the parents bit the dust in a car accident in the Caribbean. I want that money.”

“And the woman?” Aanel was unable to disguise the snarl that escaped through his lips. “What of the woman, or is the money all you think of, all you can see.”

“I can make her into what I want. I’m not concerned with that. Besides, I can keep a little ass on the side. What I’m concerned with is the fact that I can’t seem to get near her.”

And he wouldn’t be getting near now. Not ever. Anael would see to that. This mortal would not destroy the woman he was fast falling in love with.

Making love to Eve last night had solidified his feelings. He wanted her, not only her sex, but her. The woman she was. He wanted a life with her. Not even the threat of being returned to the Abyss was enough to make him veer from this path.

Richard Stokes was not going to have her. He’d find a way. There was always a way.

“Make it happen,” Richard snapped, finishing off his beer. “I’ll be waiting. I have a date with her tomorrow. My friend Martin finally came through. His wife is Eve’s friend, and I’ve got her convinced that I’m the perfect match for Eve, but I’ll need some of that renowned magic of yours. I want her hopelessly in love with me by the time the main course arrives. You got that, angel boy?”

“Fuck you.”

Richard looked back over his shoulder, his gaze taking in Anael’s face and his lips twisted. “Look’s like you’re the one who’s fucked. I already know all about you Anael. A little birdie told me that I’m the last one you need to find a soul mate for, before you can end your curse. And you want that. Bad. So hop to it and get me that little bitch. I want her millions and her chubby ass in my hands.”

Anael tried to look like he didn’t give a shit, but discovering that Richard knew more about him than any of his previous mortals made him wonder who he’d been talking to.

“Sariel,” Richard provided. “He came calling that morning you first found me. He told me a lot about you, about how you’ve suffered after your fall. He told me there was a place you couldn’t bear to return to. A place you feared, you, the big and powerful Angel of God. He told me you feared this place so much that there was nothing you would not do if it meant that you would never have to return to the Abyss.”

“He was wrong.” Anael said, his voice quiet.

“No, I don’t think he was. I see the fear in your eyes, the terror is there, shining at just the mention of the word. No. You’ll do anything to avoid that place. And all you have to do is bring me Eve and her millions. That’s all I want. Is that so bad? To want a future? To want some security?”

“You talk of her money but not the woman.”

“She’s a means to an end. I can do her, that’s not a problem. I’ve had a hard on for uglier chicks before. Hell, if she lost twenty pounds I might even enjoy it. And besides, what the fuck do you care what I do with her? She’ll like it, my brand of loving. And if she doesn’t she’ll pay for it.”

Anael’s skin tingled with awareness. Evil really did lurk in this mortal’s veins. Richard had plans for Eve, and none of them were loving.

Suddenly, Anael was up out of his chair and his hand was wrapped around Richard’s throat. Slamming Richard up against the wall, Anael leaned down and looked into his face.

Tightening his fingers around Richard’s throat, Anael pressed closer. “Stay the fuck away from her, you got that?”

Richard’s eyes challenged him. “What? You want her for yourself? What would you do with her? You’re not even a man.”

Anael’s fingers tightened, he could feel the bones in Richard’s throat and he wanted to crush them. He saw Richard’s gaze stray over his shoulder, and knew that he was slightly pleading with the other patrons in the bar to give him a hand, but Anael had already used his powers of manipulation by commanding the customers to ignore the commotion in the back corner and carry on with their own business.

“They won’t help you, mortal,” Aanel sneered. He was filled with satisfaction when a flicker of fear skidded across Richard’s face, but all too soon it was gone, replaced by smugness.

“You’re jealous of us humans. You want what we have. You want what I suspect your God is not willing to allow you, and that’s your cock in tight, hot pussy.”

“Shut your mouth.”

“That’s it, isn’t it? You want what you can’t have.”

“She’s mine,” Anael hissed. “
Mine
. And I’ll kill you if you go near her.”

“There will be no killing, not today.”

Anael turned his head to the right and saw Sariel and Samael walking towards them, their long dark coats swirling in their wake. This was the last thing he felt like dealing with. Sariel could go to the damned devil for all he cared. Richard Stokes was his and the son of bitch was dying today—
now
—as a matter of fact.

“Brother,” Samael said as he came to stand beside Anael. “It is not this mortal’s time.”

“Who says?”

“You know who.”

“Yeah? Well He doesn’t talk to me anymore, so how the fuck should I know what He intends for this piece of shit.”

“He intends for you to let him go.”

Samael’s hand wrapped around Anael’s fingers, slowly peeling each of his fingers away from Richard’s throat. When he was free, Richard slid down the wall, gasping and holding his throat.

“Go.” Sariel commanded Richard. The mortal didn’t waste any time, he ran like the devil was hard upon him.

“What were you doing?” Sariel commanded.

“None of your damned business.”

“Everything is my business.”

“If that’s true, then you should already know what I was doing.”

“You were planning to snuff the life out of that mortal.”

Yeah, and it would have felt damn good, too.

“You were never a murderer, brother,” Samael murmured.

“No. But there’s still room on my body for that particular sin to be marked.”

“Enough.” Sariel growled, coming to stand between him and Samael. “You have a mission on this earth, so fulfil it and get out of here. Get the mortal the woman he wants and leave.”