Frozen Necessity (10 page)

She vaguely heard Sarah tell Colt to behave and not try and kidnap her guests. He muttered a response that Angelica didn’t catch, but by then, she’d become distracted by Ath’s raised eyebrow and Scarlet’s laughter.

“You wanted to run away? Why?” Ath asked while her eyebrow still chased her hairline.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Angelica mumbled.

Scarlet’s laughter wound down as she said, “So, it’s not a super-hot guy carrying you off for some super-hot sex?”

Angelica felt her blush intensify.

“No. It’s not,” Angelica lied.

“Pull the other one.” Scarlet started laughing again then turned to her grinning wolf. “Why don’t you carry
me
off like that?”

Archer put on an expression of mock horror. “And have Sarah yell at me? She’s scary.”

Angelica couldn’t help but laugh as Scarlet punched her mate in his arm and called him chicken.

She glanced up to see what Colt was doing, and found him leaning against the far wall, watching her with an expression she couldn’t identify.

Why had he done that? He’d claimed her with a searing kiss right there in front of everyone, when he had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her in that way. Something Scarlet used to say stuck in Angelica’s head.
A puzzle wrapped in an enigma.

She had no idea why he’d done it, and even with the embarrassment, she didn’t regret her response. That kiss had made her tingle in all the best places, and she regretted that it had ended before she had a chance to see where it might go.

Angelica realized she was staring at Colt, who stared right back at her, so she lowered her face to break the eye contact.

“I can help you get away, you know.”

Angelica’s head snapped up at the words and she found herself alone with Kate. The other Eternals had moved off to mingle with the villagers, leaving her to stare at Colt.

“I’m sorry, what?” Angelica was a bit confused. Why would Kate seek her out?

“I said I can help you escape Colt and this village.” Kate smiled, and it didn’t reach her eyes.

Angelica almost wanted to make a sign to ward off evil. There was something very wrong with Kate, but Angelica didn’t know what.

“How?”

Kate shrugged. “I know the area well, and I know how to make our tracks vanish. He wouldn’t be able to scent track you or track you visually.”

Angelica looked into Kate’s eyes and felt…unsettled. She didn’t think she could trust the other woman.

Okay, so jealousy aside—wanting to rip her eyes out, aside—there was something about Kate that felt bad, almost deceptive.

“Thanks, but I’m good for now.” Angelica tried to smile, but she was sure it was a failure. Nothing was going to make her like Kate.

The other woman gave her back the same unfeeling smile and said, “You know where I am if you change your mind.”

“Ah huh.”

Kate looked away. “Oh, how sweet.”

Angelica followed her gaze. Near the middle of the village hall, Colt and Jericho were at the bottom of a pile of squealing children, who were doing their best to keep the grown men down.

Colt was mock growling and pretending to be a trapped animal as children laughed and giggled.

Angelica was surprised to find she was smiling at the antics. It wasn’t every man who would get on the floor and play with children, and she liked that about Colt.

She heard Ath call her name. “Angelica.”

“Excuse me.” Angelica moved away from Kate and toward Athera.

“I like her and she can help us.” The words were a murmur in her ear and Angelica nearly screeched in fright before she realized it was Michael.

“Not talking about this here.” She tried not to let her mouth move as she spoke. How could the two of them have such a different view of Kate?

She reached Ath and the group. They had pulled chairs around with some of the villagers, and Ath patted the one she’d saved for Angelica, but when she sat down, Laz, who was sitting in the chair next to Geli, bolted out his chair.

“Okay, that’s just freaky.” he said as he glared at Angelica as if he could see through her.

“What’s freaky?” Archer asked.

Laz shook his head and his dark shaggy hair obscured his eyes for a moment, and when Geli could see his eyes again, they were glowing white.

“I keep picking up a presence around you, Angelica.”

She stared at him with what she hoped was a blank expression. He was picking up on Michael, and for some weird reason, she didn’t want to tell the Eternals about the ghost. She didn’t think they’d wrap her in a straightjacket or anything. It was more like Michael had been with her though most of this ordeal already and she didn’t want to share him. They might not understand.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Laz stared at her and his frown deepened. “That’s a lie. You know exactly what I mean.”

“Wait a minute. You can’t go around calling Eternals liars, Laz.” Ath stuck up for her and Angelica felt a pinch of guilt for it.

It must have shown in her expression because Laz went still. “Tell her, Angelica. Tell us all what you are hiding.”

“I’m not hiding anything.” Her shoulders went back and she fought the urge to stand so she could be on more even footing with Laz.

“There is a presence around you. I can feel it, and I know my shit.” His voice rose an octave in volume.

“Calm down, Laz. People are starting to stare.”

Scarlet tried to interject. His head swung and he pinned her with those white eyes.

“Seriously, Laz, you need to calm down. You are freaking us all out.” Archer stood and moved to stand next to Laz. Maybe he wanted to be ready to grab the necromancer if he did something.

The situation was starting to get out of hand.

“Okay.” Angelica sighed. “Relax and stop your glaring. You are giving me a headache.”

Laz continued to stare at Geli.

“There is someone, a ghost,” she admitted.

“I knew it,” Laz hissed and Ath gasped next to Angelica.

“When were you going to tell us about it?” she asked, and Geli could hear the accusation in Ath’s tone.

“I wasn’t. It’s not a big deal.” Angelica shrugged.

“You are so very wrong,” Laz said, as he and Archer took their seats again, but leaned in toward Angelica as the Eternals spoke in hushed voices.

“It’s dangerous, Angelica. When did the haunting start?”

Angelica started laughing at the question, but it petered out when she realized no one was laughing with her.

“Why are you all acting so weird? It’s not a haunting…just someone who hangs around.”

“A ghost hanging around you is the definition of haunting,” Laz informed her.

“I thought ghosts haunted houses,” she said, confused.

“They usually do, but when they haunt a person, there is a damn good reason for it, and it’s never a good reason for the person involved.”

Angelica shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn’t going to believe them. Her eyes found Colt, where he was deep in conversation with Sarah on the other side of the room, and she remembered how Michael had been there to listen to her when Colt had upset her. The ghost had never harmed her. Hell, she knew Michael better than she knew Laz.

“I’m done talking about this.”

“Do you have something? Did you pick up something, like a piece of jewelry or a stone from some place anything that the ghost could be attached to?” Laz asked.

“I said I’m done talking about this.” Angelica got up and left the hall. She would go back to the cabin. She didn’t need her supposed friends grilling her over a ghost.

Chapter Ten

Geli sat on the couch in the living room of the cabin staring morosely into the flames that were crackling in the fireplace. She knew Michael was near and agitated.

“Why did you tell the Necromancer about me? He will try and get rid of me.”

The ghost was doing this weird appearing and disappearing thing, like stop-frame footage.

“Calm down, Michael, I can’t think when you are doing that.”

The ghost ignored her and the room temperature seemed to drop by a couple of degrees.

“You should have kept your mouth shut.” His tone was nasty, as if he meant to add
bitch
to the end of the sentence.

“They are my friends.” Angelica frowned at the ghost. “They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them. I shouldn’t have kept quiet about you in the first place. I should have told them everything.”

Michael’s face became an ugly mask of rage. “You should have told them
nothing.”
He rushed towards her, then stopped with the transparent likeness of his face a few inches from her.

Angelica was scared. Perhaps Laz had been right about ghosts, because Michael had gone from pleasant and helpful—if a little annoying—to nasty and scary. Angelica had a feeling if she showed her fear, it would give him the upper hand, so she schooled her features to be neutral and said, “Why don’t you go wherever ghosts go and leave me alone for a little while, ‘kay?”

The sprit stepped back. “We need to talk about this, Angelica.”

“And, like I told my friends. I’m not in the mood to talk about anything, so please, go away.”

Michael vanished, going wherever he went when he wasn’t around, and Angelica went back to staring at the flames and feeling as if she’d been wrong in storming out of the town hall.

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the cabin. Heavy booted feet. She frowned in the direction of the door as it swung open and Colt stepped into the cabin.

The look he gave her was intense, but he didn’t say anything, but just shrugged off his jacket and bent down to unlace and kick off his boots, his socks going next.

Okay, so that was a little strange. Angelica opened her mouth to say something to him, but he started working on the buttons of his shirt, opening them one by one as he continued to give her that heated look.

Angelica swallowed, her skin suddenly feeling too tight on her body, her clothing constricting her.

Her eyes were riveted as he pulled the halves of the shirt apart and shrugged it off his large shoulders. It fell on the heap of clothes already on the floor, but Geli barely noticed. She was too busy looking at Colt. His broad shoulder tapered past defined pectorals and further down to the ridges of his abdomen. Her eyes moved lower. All he was wearing right then was a pair of low-slung jeans that hugged narrow hips. The fine dusting of hair that flowed from his navel to disappear into his jeans made her mouth go dry, and it took a moment for Angelica to notice he hadn’t moved.

Her eyes snapped up to look at him and his eyes were glowing with something she didn’t recognize.

“Have you looked your fill yet?”

How could anyone get enough of seeing this male close to naked, he was…She lacked the words to say what he was. Perhaps divine would work? Golden skin defined every plane and ridge of muscle, and it was all she could do not to get up and go and touch him.

He didn’t give her chance to. Colt stalked toward her and scooped her up out of the couch.

She squealed. “What are you doing, Colt.”

“I’m taking my mate to bed.”

“No!” Angelica squirmed trying to get out his arms.

He chuckled, and in a low voice, said, “Mm, keep doing that, Geli. It feels good.”

She stopped moving. “Why do you want to do this now when you didn’t want to touch me before?”

“Stop yacking, female, and just enjoy it.”

He kicked open the door to his room and Angelica had a moment to glance around as he stopped the door from swinging back and hitting them.

His room was neat, the double bed against the window immaculately made. She could see the white cotton of the pillowcases and sheets, and it had a quilt made in light shades of blue covering it. His nightstand held a lamp and a book. She couldn’t see the title and didn’t get much chance to see anything else before he dumped her onto the bed.

She suppressed the scream just before it left her lips and looked up at Colt.

He was staring down at her with his glowing eyes, his brown curls disheveled. His look was palpable. She could feel the weight of it on her skin.

“You looked so good in those jeans, it was all I could do not to peel them off you right there in the town hall.” His voice was a low murmur that made goose bumps rush across Angelica’s skin.

He lowered himself down onto the bed to lie over Geli, his arms taking his weight. She didn’t have a chance to answer before he bent his head and started kissing her.

Angelica didn’t know what to do. Her mind was racing. Should she let this play out and hope he didn’t push her away before they were satisfied, or should she push him away now and save herself the rejection?

Colt’s lips were warm and soft. He slanted them over hers again and put his weight on one arm so he could reach up with the other and cup her breast through her sweater.

The decision was taken out of her hands the moment he did that. With a moan of pleasure, she arched her back, offering him her breast and opened her mouth to his kisses.

His kisses must have muddled her senses, because she felt cool air on her stomach and realized he’d hiked her sweater all the way up. Geli lifted herself so he could get it over her head and she heard him toss the article of clothing to the floor.

Her fingers found his chest and she let them explore the hard planes of his chest, she flicked her finger over one of is his nipples and was delighted when he groaned a response. It felt so good to make him want her more and that was all Angelica needed to start becoming bolder and exploring his body.

Colt pulled back the cup of her lacy bra and pinched her hardened nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling the sensitive bud until Angelica thought she’d die of pleasure.

She ran the flat of her palm down his stomach and over the large bulge in his pants.

Colt broke the kiss, threw his head back, and hissed as if he’d been burned.

Angelica moved her hand immediately, scared that she’d hurt him in some way.

“No, you don’t.” Colt grabbed her hand and put it back on his erection. Her fingers curled around it and he groaned. “Mm, that’s so good.”