Shadowed 3 I’ll Be Damned (5 page)

Sinister didn’t so much as glance at Jodi. He wished he could squeeze the disgusting weasel’s head until it popped, but that would only send the little bastard back to hell where he’d report Sinister’s failures. If that happened then his superiors might not even give him a full month on Earth, and no matter what, Sinister wanted to stay here for as long as he could. This was the happiest he’d ever been in his entire miserable existence and he didn’t want it to end.

“Are you in
love
with her, Sinister? It makes me want to vomit. Since when does a demon who’s appeared from hell’s flames have a heart? I hope our masters rip it out and feed it to the devil’s foot soldiers. I hope you suffer for ten thousand years before being cast into oblivion. I hope --”

Sinister waved his hand and the smoke bars turned to solid walls that muffled Jodi’s rants.

John knocked on his door.

“What is it?” Sinister asked.

“A call for you, Cinder. A woman named Jayden is on the phone.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Sinister glanced at himself in the full-length mirror in its onyx frame.

Pathetic excuse for a demon
.

He no longer cared.

Just one day after Jayden provided Cinder with the information he’d requested, a mysterious tornado struck Francois’ club. It blew out most of the windows and destroyed enough of the building to close down the place. Strangely, no one was killed in the disaster, but that same day the missing girl mysteriously appeared in her mother’s house with no memory of what happened that day. The girl seemed ready to sever her ties with Francois, enter rehab and start a new life. She provided enough evidence against Francois for his various illegal activities to get him off the streets for a very long time.

The day after the news broke, Jayden was sitting in her office when Amanda stepped in to tell her Cinder was there to see her.

“Send him in,” Jayden said.

A moment later, Cinder walked in dressed entirely in black and looking unearthly sexy. His blue eyes seemed to grab her soul, and she didn’t hesitate before melting into his embrace.

He kissed her lingeringly, then smiled.

“Cinder, I --”

“Shh.” He touched a fingertip to her lips. “We’ll talk later. Right now I just want to hold you. Kiss you.”

She nodded and surrendered to his kiss. When it broke, she tugged away from him, walked to the door and locked it. Before she could turn around, Cinder pressed his body close to hers. He grasped her hands and held them above her head while nuzzling her neck. Jayden pressed her cheek against the cool door and closed her eyes.

Cinder slid his hands over her hips and unzipped her jeans. He slid them down and fondled her through her satin panties.

“I want to make love to you, Jayden,” he said in a rough whisper. “Say you want it too.”

“Yeah, I want it.” He had no idea how much she wanted it.

“Good.” He squatted and pushed her jeans down to her ankles. She kicked them off along with her shoes.

Cinder stood, picked her up and carried her to her desk. Jayden pushed aside her paperwork and leaned back, allowing him to pull off her panties and toss them aside.

He pressed close to her, kissing her. He groaned and thrust his tongue into her mouth. This kiss was rougher than usual but incredibly sexy. Jayden grasped handfuls of his hair and her tongue met his, tasting and stroking.

She tore his shirt from his trousers and fumbled with the buttons. She wanted to feel his warm, hard chest.

Chuckling deep in his throat, Cinder stepped back only to undress quickly. He moved toward her in all his naked glory, using his knee to spread her legs wider before he stepped between them and pulled off her T-shirt. His brow furrowed at the sight of her bra with a front clasp, but it didn’t take him long to figure it out. Once he’d opened it, she shrugged it off and he kneaded her breasts. He kissed them and licked her nipples. Then he grasped her ass and pulled her to the edge of the desk. The tip of his cock pushed into her soaked pussy and she moaned, tightening her legs around him.

They kissed and caressed each other while he thrust into her, sending little thrills of pleasure through her.

“Jayden,” he said, nuzzling her neck.

“Oh, Cinder,” she breathed.

Grasping her ass, he lifted her and straightened. Damn, he was strong! Still holding her, he walked a few steps until he pushed her back against the wall. Over and over he thrust, hurling her into a shuddering orgasm. He kept thrusting, his motions faster and his breathing harsh against her ear. A second orgasm quickly followed and when she came, he did too. His hard, hot body pressed her against the wall, and he grunted with pleasure.

Finally he relaxed, and she leaned against him. If he hadn’t been there, she’d have fallen for sure.

After a moment, he stepped back but still supported her until she straightened.

Smiling, she caressed his chest. “That was unforgettable.”

“I’ll say.”

They reached for their clothes, admiring each other as they dressed.

“You know, lately I’ve been thinking about everything you told me and I almost didn’t believe it. I’d have to be an idiot to believe in guardian angels at my age and after everything I’ve seen, but now I really can’t doubt you. Not after what happened with Francois.”

“Good. Now maybe it will be easier for me to watch over you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been following you undercover. Literally. In smoke. Now that you know I’m your guardian, I can tag along, right?”

Jayden raised an eyebrow. “On my cases?”

“Why not?”

She stepped away and folded her arms across her chest. “Cinder, I appreciate all you’ve done, but I can’t have an unlicensed investigator working with me.” She glanced at him with a questioning look. “You’re not licensed, are you?”

“No, but why should I have to be? I’ll only be watching over you, swooping in when you need me. No one will ever know.”

She gave a wry laugh. “They won’t know? You don’t think it’ll be a little suspicious that a tornado follows everywhere I go?”

“I can be discreet. It’s just that I couldn’t resist taking Francois down with a bang.”

“Can’t say I blame you. If I had your power, I probably would have done the same thing. Maybe worse. But you’re an angel.” She shrugged. “I’m just human.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being human,” he said, taking her face in his hands. “I like you this way.”

He kissed her again and she closed her eyes, sliding her arms around his neck.

“So can I tag along?” he murmured against her lips.

Opening her eyes, she smiled. “I probably couldn’t stop you anyway. Tell me one thing, Cinder.”

“With you it’s never just one thing.”

“True. Why didn’t you reveal yourself to me before now?”

He stared at her for a moment, his huge blue eyes unblinking. Finally he said, “You’re a new assignment.”

“Why don’t other angels reveal themselves?”

“They probably do. Usually beings like me can erase memories from human minds. If everyone knew about angels and demons there would be chaos --”

“Demons? There are demons?” She stepped away and paced the room. “Of course. You can’t have good without evil, right? Tell me, do people like Francois have guardian demons?”

A quirky smile touched his lips. “That’s a novel idea.”

“Wait a second. If you can wipe my memories, why haven’t you?”

“I can’t. I tried, but you wouldn’t take the suggestion. Maybe for some reason you’re meant to know about us. You’re handling the situation remarkably well.”

“I told you, my grandmother believed in the supernatural. She raised me after my parents died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, but I had a happy childhood. I couldn’t have asked for a better guardian.” Jayden smiled and caressed his cheek. “Until now.”

He took her hand and kissed her palm. “Jayden…”

“What?”

“I’m not… as guardian angels go, I’m not typical.”

She chuckled. “I kinda guessed.”

“What I mean is, you’re part of my training. I’m only allowed to watch over you for a month, then I’m afraid I’ll never see you again.”

She stared at him. “What do you mean you’ll never see me again?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. Jayden, I wish I could spend the rest of my life with you, but it can’t be like that for me.”

“You could have let me know there was a time limit before we… Damn it, Cinder! I know there’s technically no strings for us, or is there? With a freakin’ angel I thought there would be at least some commitment!”

“Jayden, it’s not up to me.”

“Oh no? Then some other entity flew in my window and climbed into my bed?”

“That’s not what I mean! All right, maybe I was wrong to make love to you. This entire situation is my fault, but I couldn’t help it. When I saw you I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

“Lord help me, I
did
seduce an angel,” she murmured.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all me.”

“Cinder, I’m trying to be patient, but for an angel you have a lot of issues. You have sex. You lie. You --”

“I know! I don’t need you to list my faults, Jayden.”

“Maybe somebody should. Are you going to be in trouble for all this?”

“Probably.”

“Can’t you redeem yourself? Is there anything I can do?”

“Right now the best thing you can do is let me keep watching over you until my month is up. This is my first and last time on Earth, and I want to make the most of it.”

“As a guardian angel you won’t be allowed back on Earth?”

“Uhh… not in this human form. Will you let me help you or not?”

“Okay, but I’m not going to keep adding to your delinquency.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean now that I know what’s happening, I can’t make love with you again.”

“Jayden, you’re overreacting. I told you, you won’t be damned for this. It’s all me.”

“Exactly. I like you, Cinder. If circumstances were different, who knows? Maybe I’d even fall in love with you. I won’t help you destroy yourself. I can’t.”

He sighed and shook his head. She thought she heard him whisper a foul curse, but his voice was so hushed that she couldn’t be sure.

“Can we at least be friends?” he asked.

“Sure. Definitely.” She embraced him and smiled. “You’re my guardian angel, right? For a month. Now I really need to get back to work.”

“I have some loose ends to catch up on too,” he said. “Jayden, if you need me, simply speak aloud or concentrate on the words ‘sin in smoke’ and I’ll come to you, no matter what.”

“Sin in smoke.”

“I’ll hear you at any time and from any place.”

“All right.”

He nodded and bent to kiss her, but she turned so his lips touched her cheek.

“Be good,” she said.

“Always for you.” He stepped away, blew her a kiss and left her office.

* * *

“Damn it! Fuck! Rancid, bloody hell!” Sinister snarled, entering his apartment and slamming the door behind him. He picked up the nearest piece of furniture -- a small gilded table -- and hurled it across the room. It smashed into the wall, breaking a large mirror.

John hurried in from the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

“The question is, John, what isn’t wrong?” Sinister picked up a crystal vase and flung it into the faux fireplace. It shattered.

The old man folded his arms across his chest. “Would you care to talk about what’s bothering you instead of destroying the place?”

“What’s the point?”

“It might make you feel better. Maybe I can help.”

Sinister snorted. “I pulled you off the street, remember? You couldn’t even help yourself.”

“You might have money to burn and a nice place to live, but at the moment you don’t look very happy. Nor do you look like a man who can help himself out of whatever problem you’re in.”

“The problem is the female sex. I should have listened to my mentors and used them just for pleasure.”

“Fallen in love with a young lady have you?”

“I don’t think I’m capable of falling in love, but I do enjoy her company.”

“What’s the problem? Did she reject you?”

“Absolutely.”

“If you wrecked her house like you wrecked this one, I can understand why.”

Sinister curled his lip. “Of course I didn’t wreck her house, old man.”

“Is she married?”

“Only to her work.”

“Then try harder with her.”

“I’ve tried. The problem is I was honest with her.” Sinister pointed at John. “I should have kept lying to suit myself. We were lovers. Now she just wants to be friends. Friends! How am I supposed to control myself around her?”

“That attractive, is she?”

“Attractive? She’s beautiful. Courageous. Intelligent. Good. And despite everything she’s seen in this world, she hasn’t lost her ability to believe in the unbelievable.”

John smiled. “She sounds like quite a woman. What are you going to do about her?”

“Whatever she wants, I guess. If friendship is all she’s offering, I’d rather have that than nothing.”

“Friendship is good. It can sometimes lead to other things.”

“I told you, we’ve already done that and she’s had enough. It’s probably better this way. I won’t be around much longer. It’s better for her if we don’t get too close.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes, so if I were you, old man, I’d start looking for another job. You can stay here as long as I’m around, but after that you’re on your own.”

“It’s a generous offer, Cinder. Thank you.”

“Yeah. I’m a hell of a guy,” he muttered and strode to his bedroom.

* * *

Jayden couldn’t help feeling depressed about having a mere month with Cinder, but in a way she was luckier than most people who never got to meet an angel. Even thinking about it, she felt silly. A grown woman who believed in angels. But she’d seen Cinder’s powers.

Even though he assumed responsibility for initiating their love affair, she couldn’t help feeling guilty. She didn’t want him to fail in his assignment and no matter what he said, she knew in her heart that he could be redeemed. He was a real angel, of that she was certain. He’d managed to rescue the missing girl, put Francois out of business and see that he was punished for his crimes, all without anyone getting hurt. That in itself was a miracle.