No Greater Loyalty

by S. K. Hardy

  Angel had briefly wrestled with the decision of whether or not to call Dom, but had decided against it. Even though he'd asked Angel to alert him if any news came up, Angel wanted to wait until they had more information. There was no need to call him right now when they didn't know what the hell was going on yet.

  "Made it home?"

  Hearing Nikki’s voice, he looked up and saw her sitting in bed flipping through a magazine. "Thought you’d be asleep.”

  Angel went over and lowered his mouth to hers, frowning when she barely kissed him back.

  "I’ve been awake for a while." Nikki leaned back against the headboard, watching Angel empty his pockets. "A.J. kept asking about you."

  "I was hoping to get home hours ago but couldn’t get away."

  "Again,"” Nikki mumbled. "You didn’t see him last night either."

  Angel’s eyes narrowed as they swung to her. "You know I would’ve been here if I’d been able to, Nicole. It was-"

  "Business," she cut in, finishing the sentence for him. "Yes, I know. You got tied up with business." The look she directed towards him was a brief one, but Angel saw the accusation that accompanied it. "I, of course, understand that, but he doesn’t."

  In the process of unbuttoning his shirt, Angel’s fingers stilled. His eyes turned decidedly chilly. It was late. He was tired and not in the mood. "It couldn’t be helped."

  Nikki knew that tone. It was an indication that she was treading on dangerously thin ice as far as his patience was concerned, but she’d just have to bring her life preserver if she fell through because she was going in. This was about so much more than him not being here tonight.

  "I’ve asked you not to make promises to A.J. if you don’t know whether or not you’ll be able to keep them. It only ends up disappointing him." She turned the page of the magazine with a crisp snap.

  Angel studied the obstinate set of her mouth, barely managing to reel back the biting lash of words resting on the tip of his tongue. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to fight off the beginnings of a headache that had been tapping away at his temples all night. His temper was being kept in check by a weak, frayed string; it wouldn’t take much to make it snap, and Nikki was doing her best to gnaw through it until it did.

  The next words he spoke started off in a deceptively calm voice, but with each sentence he uttered his tone sharpened until it ripped across the room like metal strips of razor wire.

  "Let’s get this over with. For some reason, you’re itching for a fight. I’m telling you right now, it would behoove you to let it go. Please, please understand me when I say I’m not in the fucking mood, Nicole."

  Eyes flashing a frosty green, he finished unbuttoning his shirt and practically tore it off his body. Balling it up into a crumpled wad, he flung it across the room and gave Nikki his full attention.

  "It’s obvious that something other than me getting home late has pissed you off, so tell me what that something is." When she cut her eyes away from him and continued reading the magazine, he growled through clenched teeth, "Now, Nicole!"

  Her eyes flew back to his, realizing she’d handled this all wrong. Nikki had intended to broach the subject with him in a more relaxed manner, but the more she thought about it tonight, the angrier she’d become.

  However, she knew from experience that if she let that anger get the best of her, Angel would shut down completely and she’d get nothing, no answers whatsoever. This was one of those times where the situation called for her to appease rather than antagonize, so swallowing her anger, she made an effort to keep her voice as even as possible.

  "Fine. Hawk Pattel."

  Angel’s expression remained noncommittal. "What about Hawk Pattel?"

  "What is this sudden interest he has in my sister?" She paused, her eyes never leaving his. "And what do you have to do with it?"

  The burning intensity simmering in his eyes turned them to glittering emeralds. He was trying to intimidate her. She knew that, but she wasn’t backing down.

  "Let it go, Nicole."

  Nikki’s back straightened, her spine stiff. "I won’t let it go. Raven is my sister."

  "Your sister is a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. I hardly think she needs you to protect her."

  "I’ll always be there to protect her, the same as you’re doing with Dominick." Nikki’s voice sharpened to match his.

  Angel’s hand lifted, waving away the statement as if it were inconsequential to what they were discussing. "That’s not the same thing and you know it. Raven and Hawk are intelligent, consenting adults who obviously have an attraction to each other. If they want to fuck their brains out from here to the ends of the earth it’s none of our business, is it?"

  "I don’t trust him."

  "We’re even because I don’t trust your sister." He headed towards the bathroom with the intention of taking a shower and cooling off. "This conversation is over, Nicole."

  "You didn’t answer the second part of my question. Exactly what role are you playing in Hawk’s sudden interest in Raven?"

  The string holding Angel’s anger intact snapped. He was tired of talking about Nikki’s conniving sister and didn’t intend to say another word about her. "What part of ‘this conversation is over’ didn’t you understand?" he hissed.

  Nikki’s mouth gaped open. "Who do you think you’re talking to?" she whispered.

  "I was getting ready to ask you the same question. You don't interrogate me, Nicole, are we clear?"

  Angel sucked in a deep breath before exhaling. The last thing he needed right now was crap from her about her sister.

  "Nikki, I’m not in the frame of mind to choose words to avoid hurt feelings so I’m just going to say this straight out. I’ve let you get away with a helluva lot lately…"

  "Let me?" Nikki leaned back against the headboard and folded her arms. "Interesting."

  Angel continued as if she hadn’t spoken. "But make no mistake about it, it’s only because I chose to indulge you. Don’t ever lose sight of that fact, so the next time you decide to bring up a particular subject, I'd advise you to remember that even though I love you more than my own life, you and I are not equals when it comes to certain things. Please be clear on this. There are things that I have to handle right now, issues that need my full attention. Raven is not one of them." He spat her name out like it soured his taste buds to even let it rest in his mouth. "You can fool yourself into thinking that last visit was about nothing more than her wanting to reconnect with you and A.J., but I know better."

  "She promised me that–"

  "I don’t give a fuck what she promised you. She’s lying. Listen to me closely, Nicole. I don’t want us to go through this again. I want to move forward, not backwards. When you decided to come back several months ago, you told me you accepted the man that I was. Do you remember that?"

  "I also said I didn’t want any secrets between us and you agreed, but it’s obvious that only applies to secrets you choose to divulge."

  Angel nodded. "You’re absolutely right."

  Nikki stared at him in surprise. "So you admit it?"

  "I sincerely hope you didn’t think I was going to run every decision I made by you first and get your approval. If so, you were seriously mistaken."

  "Of course I don’t expect you to do that, but…"

  "Good. Then that’s settled." A warning smoldered just beneath the surface of the look he directed at her.

  Nicole stared back, eyes flashing before she calmly resumed perusing the glossy pages of the magazine. "Fine. But just so there are no more ‘misunderstandings’ between us tonight, I’m sure it goes without saying that the last request you made when we spoke earlier will not be happening." She glanced up briefly to add in an obviously insincere tone, "I have a headache."

  Angel gave no outward indication that he was affected by Nikki’s gibe, but inside he was fuming. Nicole could push his buttons like no other bec
ause he gave her so much more latitude than anyone else on this earth.

  Angel was the first to admit he wasn’t an easy man to live with, but he had ways of getting his point across when he was displeased and those methods were extremely effective. His wife would find that out tonight.

  When he’d spotted Nicole at a DWC business meeting a couple of years ago, he had found himself instantly head over heels in lust in a way he’d never experienced. Angel never expected to fall in love with her.

  In all of his years, he’d never been involved with a woman like Nicole, had never particularly found businesswomen attractive. Before her, he’d much preferred females who were content with their life goals set no higher than that of ornamental arm candy, docile women who didn’t question his authority or challenge him at every turn.

  Jaw locked tight, Angel strolled over to the chair on the far side of their bedroom where he’d thrown his jacket. After retrieving a Cuban cigar and lighter from the inside pocket, he took great pleasure in lighting and inhaling it in deep, satisfying puffs. Nikki didn’t like him to smoke in the bedroom. He did so now to annoy her more than anything else. Ignoring her grimace of irritation as she eyed the cigar, Angel sat down, preparing to thoroughly enjoy it.

  Through the thin veil of smoke, his gaze skimmed over the short, sexy nightgown she wore. There wasn’t much to it, a couple of scraps of black lace panels and silky material that barely covered the tops of her thighs. His thoughts went back to that little sarcastic taunt of hers. Of course, he vividly remembered the conversation the two of them had engaged in several hours ago. He’d called Nicole to check on her and the kids but the subject had somehow changed and turned sexual. They’d ended the call with Angel explaining in explicit detail the things he planned on doing to her when he got home. And now she was saying that wasn’t happening? Bullshit.

  Casually crossing his legs, he silently reflected on his other half. His wife was one of those good girls who’d always done what was expected of her in order to please her parents, her friends, and society. She’d graduated at the top of her class, gone to an Ivy League school, and finished magna cum laude. Immediately afterwards, she’d stepped into a position at a Fortune 500 company drawing a six-figure income at just twenty-two years old. Impressive feat, be it man or woman.

  No, Nikki had never even considered being bad and telling the world ‘fuck what you think’…until him. He was her forbidden fruit. Once she’d taken a bite and experienced the things he could make her feel, the good girl was gone forever. She eagerly hungered for the freedom he gave her, sexually and in other areas of her life.

  Angel was an alpha through and through and he made no apologies for it, not even to his wife because she knew that about him before she married him. He loved control, and deep down inside, it was something Nikki craved. But from time to time, the independent woman in her balked at the very thing she ached for and admirably tried to take a stand. Like now.

  Bringing the cigar to his lips again, his eyes lingered on her smooth, brown thighs. Those thighs tempted him to open them wide and experience her sweetness, indulge in wanton gluttony of the flesh until he he’d had his fill for the night. And indulge himself he would.

  But first, he’d have to bring her back in line, remind her of the power of the beast which lay between his thighs.

  "Okay, enough," Nikki suddenly exclaimed in the quietness of the room. Throwing her magazine aside, she swung her legs over the bed and stood up. "I’ve asked you not to smoke in our bedroom, Angelo, but I assume this is just another way of telling me you’re going to do whatever you please no matter what I say or what I think, so -"

  "Sit down, Nicole."

  Snorting delicately, she slipped her feet into the black slippers on the floor beside her bed.

  Angel’s tone cooled several degrees. "I said…sit…down."

  Nikki stared at him for several seconds as if deciding whether or not it was worth defying him, but apparently decided it wasn’t. He would get his way whether she willingly cooperated or not. He always did.

  Without looking at him, she angrily kicked the slippers off and climbed back in bed, but this time she slipped under the covers and flipped on her side. Positively furious, she gave him her back and pulled the woven fabric of the Egyptian sheets up to her ears and closed her eyes, determined to ignore him for the rest of the night.

  Settling deeper in the chair, the corner of Angel's mouth relaxed into a half-smile. Nikki could throw a tantrum with the best of them. He’d have to be careful, though. She was far from stupid; he didn’t want this thing with Raven and Hawk to come between them. That was not an option.

  Angel felt some of his own anger fade until it pulsated to a mild throb of irritation. He couldn’t really be upset with her. His wife was a strong woman, and in spite of the women he’d been with in the past, he found her strength …stimulating. No matter how many times he swore he’d broken her in, she always came back swinging, ready for another round. He loved that about her. After all, he planned on being with this woman for the rest of his life, that was for damn sure. Nicole kept him on his toes, there was no doubt about that. These little bouts they engaged in from time to time made for some of the best sex in their marriage. Tonight would be no exception.

  He placed his cigar in the crystal ashtray that sat on the small table by his chair. Standing slowly, he approached the bed with the graceful fluidity of a stalking cat. A surge of energy raced through his veins, his earlier fatigue gone. Far from tired, he was now restless and wide awake.

  He was also aroused, hungry…and ready to feed.

  CHAPTER 33

  Nikki kept her eyes closed, refusing to acknowledge him. She could feel Angel standing over her, feel the heat of his eyes as if it were a physical touch. She willed her body to stay relaxed and her breathing to remain steady. Her resolve was put to the test when his finger ran down her cheek in the barest of caresses. Angel took his time pulling the sheet down that half-covered her face.

  Nikki imagined she was fairly convincing until his finger continued its exploratory journey and shifted a bit to outline the curve of her ear. She swallowed, the sound seeming as loud as a freight train in the still, quiet room. Her heart sank. Angel had to have heard it, and his next words confirmed that he didn't buy her act for one second.

  "I know you're not sleep, Nicole. You can be as angry as you like, but neither of us will be getting much rest tonight."

  Her hands balled into fists under the bedding, but she still kept her eyes closed.

  Angel's voice deepened in amusement. "You just reminded me of something. Remember in school how there would be material that the teacher went over in class? You'd have to pay close attention to what was being taught and take notes because there was always the possibility of being tested at the end of the hour."

  Nikki's heartbeat accelerated into high gear with every second that passed by as he continued.

  "Just so you know, this is going to be one of those nights I teach you a lesson, Nikki." Angel leaned down and brought his lips next to her ear. His voice dropped to a low whisper, his warm breath causing her to quiver like a leaf on a tree. "Make no mistake, sweetheart, I have every confidence you'll pass with flying colors."

  Nikki could no longer lie there and pretend that her body wasn't on fire from head to toe. Her senses on high alert, she instinctively went into defense mode. Turning on her back, Nikki brought her hand up to his chest to push him away, but she may as well have been trying to move a ten-ton boulder for all the good it did. Still, she fixed him with a sullen glower, desperately trying to show him she was not giving in.

  "Threats, Angel?"

  His deep laughter rumbled off his chest. "I don't make 'threats', Nikki. You know that."

  "Well, whatever you have in mind, you can just forget it. You coming in here and speaking to me like I'm some mindless twit instead of your wife spoils the mood quick."

  Angel's eyes warmed to a brownish-green hazel, a sure indication that he w
as deeply aroused. Nikki forgot to breathe for a moment. Angel’s moods changed lightening quick. Sometimes, she could barely keep up with them.

  "You're saying you don't want me tonight?" he asked.

  Nikki made an effort to keep her voice firm, using the same tone she used with A.J. when he tried to sweet talk her into getting his way. "I'm saying that I'd prefer we just go to bed...to sleep...and talk about this in the...wait...Angel what–"

  Nikki stopped mid-sentence, when he suddenly slipped his hand under the cover and smoothed his hand down the front of her body. She tried to catch his wrist, but Angel didn't stop until he found what he was searching for. Cupping her feminine mound, he confirmed that Nikki was hot and wet. Just as he knew she would be.

  Her breath became lodged in her throat. "Angel. W-wait. We need to talk."

  Nikki's feeble protest came out a garbled mess of barely decipherable words. Without conscious thought, her thighs opened with no prompting from him. She brought her hand down atop his, applying pressure to try and alleviate the ache that made her flesh pulsate like a separate heartbeat. Practically melting through the silk material of her panties, Nikki lifted her hips, pushing herself into his hand, seeking more, wordlessly begging for it.

  Angel easily read her body language. He used his fingertip to trace her pussy lips, teasing her with the barest of caresses.

  "You’re so wet. Open your legs wider, Nikki. That's it," he crooned, his eyes glued to her face. "Is this what you wanted?"

  "Yes. More. Please." She breathed the words out around sexy, breathless hiccups.

  Angel's fingernail grazed the imprint of her hard, distended clit, rapidly flicking over it. Nikki's back arched, her hips bucking in response.

  "Angel."

  "You're ready to cum for me, aren't you?"