Angelic Avenger (19 page)

His arms jerked around me and I found myself staring up into those fathomless eyes. There were too many emotions for me to track them as they raced through.

“Do you mean what you’re saying? No games?”

I blinked. He thought I was playing
games
? Oh, how little did he actually know me?

“Tomorrow, if we can get rid of the chaperones, we can see where this will go. Tonight, clothes and bed. I need to shower and clear my head.”

I escaped into the bathroom, but didn’t linger. Instead of drying my hair, I toweled out as much water as I could and braided it. Dressed in my favorite pajamas, which were frayed about the edges and the least sexy pair I owned, I emerged to find him propped up in the bed, waiting. Crossing the floor, I joined him on the bed. Without waiting for me to ask, he set the folder he’d been reading aside and turned off the lamp. Snuggling close to him, I sighed and let him fold me against his body.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked softly as he began to rub my back through the worn silk.

“No. Wait. Yes, I think I do.” I sighed. The whole point of boyfriends was to let them carry some of the weight, right? “We set up a meeting with DeFlores today. The Wolf King and I had a nice chat about the wisdom of mass suicide. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it did any good. The wolves are apparently on the side of the fence that’s voting on coming out of the closet. From what he said, I think there is a lot more support of the movement than anyone realized.”

“Do you think talking to him will help?” He continued to rub my back, but I felt the kiss he brushed across the top of my head all the way to my toes. Whatever I’d done right in my afterlife to deserve him, I was thanking my lucky stars. Somehow, the tables had shifted over the last couple of days and I had a feeling I wasn’t the only one wondering how long this would last after the outside dynamics were dealt with. I sighed and decided to worry about that when the time came and relaxed into the warmth of his body.

“Honestly? No. From the sound of things, it’s gone too far to stop. People are going to die because no one cared enough to consider the long term ramifications of this fiasco.”

“It’s not your fault, Bella,” he whispered. “You’re doing more than anyone else could have done. No matter how this unfolds in the end, you’ve done more than your job. You’re saving those you can, even if it’s only one soul. They’re choosing their own destiny.”

“But they’re making a mistake.” To my chagrin, it came out as a soft wail against his chest.

“Yes, they are, but it’s their mistake to make. Not everyone needs to be saved, honey.”

I pulled back to look at him. He didn’t say that to me. I opened my mouth to blast him, but he leaned down to kiss me softly. That’s one way to keep me quiet, I thought as I relaxed back into him.

“That’s not fair. You can’t end arguments with kissing,” I whispered when he pulled back.

“Oh yes, I can. What I meant was not everyone needs to be saved from their destiny. Some things happen because they’re supposed to.”

I sighed and hated that he was right. He knew he’d won and didn’t push it, tucking my head back onto his shoulder. That I let him do it was an indication of how much my night had bothered me. His breathing was still even and alert when I drifted off to sleep.

I was dreaming about erotic things. Soft touches traced my naked body and cupped my fanny, rubbing me against Gray’s body settled beneath mine. He groaned. I gloried in teasing him as I nipped his chin. He nipped back. I yelped and came awake at the pain to find I hadn’t been dreaming at all.

Some time during the night, the clothes had come off. That I’d been the instigator was obvious because he was still lying pretty much as he’d been when I had gone to sleep and I was sprawled on top of him.

Damn and blast. His eyes were glazed with sleep and he jerked me closer still. All he had to do to finish it was slide me up that last inch so I could slide down on him. Part of me wanted to let him wed our bodies together like this, to let the circumstances cross that line so I didn’t have to feel the guilt from the act. It was what we both wanted. The urge to let nature take the choice away was so strong I could very nearly taste it, but I was raised to be a nice girl.

His body tensed and I knew without looking he’d wakened. The opportunity had passed. He very carefully let his hands slide up from my ass to clasp them about the small of my back.

“Uhm. Should I be apologizing?” His voice was husky from passion and sleep, but the humor in it went a long way to letting me know he was okay with how he’d been woken up.

I dropped my face into the curve of his neck. “Actually—” I breathed in the scent of him, “—I think that’s my job right now. In my own defense, I was asleep when…”

Embarrassment came at last. What do you say to a man you tried to take advantage of in his sleep? I’m sorry just didn’t quite fill the bill. As importantly, how did I manage to get off him without showing him far more than I wanted him to see?

He turned his head and surprised me. Kissing my temple, he let go of me with a reluctant sigh. Chivalry was alive and well in his world. He gave me an out.

“I’ll close my eyes, if you want, so you can get dressed. We probably should get up, anyway. Lizzy will be up and wanting her breakfast. Apparently, I’m the only one who cooks in this place.”

“That would be because you’re the only one besides her that needs to eat.” I sighed and steeled myself against meeting his gaze. He was still very happy to be snuggled up against me. Laughter shone from his eyes when I finally had the courage to meet them. “Why are you being so nonchalant about this?”

Why had I asked that? Because I’m a glutton for punishment. That had to be it.

“Nonchalant? The woman I’ve been lusting after manages to get me out of my pajamas and crawls onto me? It’s every man’s fantasy.” The laughter turned down right mischievous. “I can afford to be generous. I have tonight to look forward to.”

Tonight. My promise. Oh hell.

“Now, I’m going to close my eyes and count very slowly to ten. If you still haven’t moved, I’m taking that for implied permission not to torture myself with the fantasy all day. One…two…”

I squeaked and rolled off his side of the bed. He was still counting as I made a dash for the bathroom, banking that his honor would keep his eyes closed. Leaning against the closed door, I covered my face with my hands. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The soft knock on the door made me jump a mile high.

“Bella, honey, it’s okay. Nothing happened. I’ll put the coffee on for you, when you’re ready.”

Just my luck. The man was the ultimate boy scout and I’d very nearly molested him in his sleep. What was wrong with that picture? I was a voluptuary.

It seemed…
wrong
.

I dressed and steeled myself for facing him as I left my bathroom. I don’t know what I was afraid of, really. What stopped me in my tracks wasn’t the man I’d woken up naked with, but the very large cougar sprawled in the middle of my living room floor. One amber eye opened and closed again. Trust Craig to take me at my word.

Gray came out of the kitchen to hand me a cup of coffee. I looked for any sign of frustration or agitation, but he met my searching gaze with a soft smile. Reaching down to cup my cheek, he grazed his thumb across my lips. I shivered as the tingle ran down to my toes. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, to break the spell. Lizzy beat me to it.

“Oh, look, a kitty!”

She came barreling past us and I turned to see Craig jump, shift into the form of a very naked man, and then shift back into the cougar. The look of unabridged horror on his face as he’d reached down to cover himself as he shifted back into the cougar form was absolutely priceless. I laughed, tears streaming down my face, until Ben grabbed my coffee cup to keep me from spilling it all over myself.

I felt sorry for the mangy cat as Lizzy practically fell on him, chatting excitedly as she pet his head.

Poetic justice. He wanted to be the center of female attention and he’d finally gotten his wish.

Chapter Seventeen

Somewhere in my naïve mind, I should have known one more man in my house was going to be a complication, especially if that man was a shifter who thought sex was a recreation sport. Granted, he wasn’t going to get anywhere near that point with
me
, but there was no arguing with the male temperament. To think they say women are difficult.

Lizzy sat on the floor babbling so fast I couldn’t catch a word in ten. She was so excited. Ben had moved to sit next to her. I almost felt sorry for Craig as the laughter died enough for me to hold my coffee without spilling it all over myself. Almost.

I knew there was trouble when Foras strolled out of the second bedroom where he and Ben had apparently been watching over Lizzy. The look on his face as his dark gaze slid over mine told me he was brewing for a fight. It wasn’t my fault. I’d never encouraged him. Whatever dreams he’d been fostering were totally from his imagination. That, of course, didn’t help my cause, though.

“We seem to be a bit crowded for breakfast. Perhaps we should consider going out for it? We can drop your cat wherever he needs to go on the way home.”

The droll tone made me glad I was nursing my cup of coffee. Instead of answering, I took a sip and choked on it when Gray answered for me.

“We’ll head to my house and set up camp there. I have the room for one more. It’s a little more isolated as far as civilians go, anyway. It’ll be safer for avoiding exposure. We’ve drawn too large of a crowd and people in the building are going to talk. The fewer civilians who notice what’s going on, the better it will be for all of us.”

Anger flashed across Foras’s face, but I couldn’t see where the challenge was coming from. Gray had a point. Moving our home base to his place was the logical move, especially with one more added to the crew. We couldn’t just abandon Craig to his fate after he’d gone out on a limb for us. For all I knew, the wolves really would hunt him down, even if they didn’t eat him. I’d not met the new Feline King since I tried not to be too friendly with people I might have to fight against. I couldn’t be sure the cats would stand up to the dogs, so to speak. It was hard to keep track of which species was dominating their hierarchy at any given time. Because there were so many different subspecies of cats, it was a toss up as to whether they’d band together or split apart on the major issues. Somehow, protecting one cougar who’d gone out on a limb against a pack of wolves struck me as a relatively minor issue. I was thinking the cats would let the wolves have him and shrug it off.

Me? I’m not so casual about life and death. Well, not anymore, anyway. Craig had done me a favor and I wasn’t about to let him get killed over it. Of course, he wasn’t helping his case any when he jogged over, fear large in his eyes, and rubbed up against my legs. Gray and Foras stopped glaring at each other long enough to turn even darker glares at him.

“Come on, big guy.” Ben looked between the three of us while talking to the cat. “Let’s get you dressed while the plans are put into motion. Come on, Lizzy. I’ll lay out your clothes, too. We’re going out to breakfast.”

“Can we go to IHOP? I love their pancakes. They make them with chocolate chips. They’re yummy with strawberry syrup on them. Can we?”

“Sure, honey. IHOP sounds great. Let’s get everyone ready to go out.”

Thank God Ben had a cool head under fire, getting the innocents out of the way. Somehow, I had a feeling things were about to get ugly. Craig padded out of the kitchen with a last look over his shoulder and the room suddenly flashed with angelic power.

“Oh, cut it out.” I groaned as I stepped between them to refill my coffee cup. “Moving to Gray’s is a logical move. I don’t understand what the big deal is, Foras. It’s not like you guys are doing a whole hell of a lot to catch him, anyway. I’ve got too much on my plate to worry about the minor details. If we can set up a little more comfortably somewhere else, I’m all for it.”

“We’re doing what we can to catch Turel,” he snapped back at me.

“Well, you aren’t exactly helping if you’re underfoot around here, are you?”

There was a bite to Gray’s words that took me back a second. The picture was suddenly clear. Moving out of the apartment would move the territory war off what Foras considered his home territory and onto Gray’s. By the same token, Gray would as soon Foras disappear for awhile. He didn’t view Ben or Craig as a threat, but he did view Foras as one. And here I was thinking everyone was aware that I’d already made my decision as to who was in my affections.

“You are quite right, Mr. Devereau. I guess I’ll go make myself useful.”

I blinked at the spot he had stood a second after he winked out. I rounded on Gray with a furious scowl.

“I am so sick of this shit.” I narrowed my eyes as I advanced on him. “This stops now, if you ever expect what
almost
happened to happen. Regardless of everything else, he’s my friend. You don’t get the right to run him off because you’re feeling territorial because I want to jump your bones. There are apparently an abundance of men who are more than willing to scratch that itch.”

He didn’t back away as I drew up to him. I don’t know why I expected him to, but I did. I let out an indignant yelp when he caught me by the waist and hauled me up against his body, pressing me flat. Before I had a chance to protest, he sealed his lips to mine. He kissed me like he wanted to become the air I breathed and I let him. I let him because I couldn’t muster the strength of conviction to step away. The kiss changed into tongues and teeth and passion that might very well have ended up back in the bedroom if Lizzy hadn’t interrupted us.

“Mr. Ben said we could go to IHOP for breakfast. Can I get the chocolate pancakes, pleeeaaassse?”

I jumped and realized my arms were wrapped around his neck and I’d pressed myself against his body all on my own. His hands were resting on my hips for balance and nothing more. While I tried to remember what I was mad at him over, he answered Lizzy over my head.

“Sure, honey. You can get whatever you like. Ms. Bella and I are ready to go as soon as we get our shoes on.”