“Shit.” Pain shot along every bone in Luther’s hand and up his arm to his elbow. It had actually hurt. Thunder rolled.
The man groaned and fumbled to his feet. Thana hesitated in her doorway. Luther waited as the man stared hard at both of them, then stumbled down the stairs toward the exit.
Luther scowled, sagging against the wall and sighed, clutching his injured hand to his chest, convinced Divinity would call him in to reprimand him soon enough. He’d committed an act of violence against what could be considered an innocent human. Luther couldn’t bring himself to care. That idiot had been vile and cruel, seeking to scare Thana and hurt her. Luther had done his Scion duty by protecting her.
He glanced over to where she stood now at the banister, peering down into the stairwell, her hands clutching the wooden railing.
Unable to stop himself, his gaze drifted over her shoulder-length dark bob to the plum-coloured slip hugging her sensual curves, to the lean lengths of her long, toned legs. Delicate yet strong of heart. Her fear had vanished, leaving behind the confident woman he was used to seeing.
She looked back at him, then stared down at her bare toes. There was a tattoo on her left ankle he’d not noticed before. An Egyptian Ankh. Symbol of eternal life. Fitting, he supposed, considering she was the mortal host of the fourth Seal of the Apocalypse—death. The irony amused him, pushing his pain from his mind. The sting in his knuckles dulled.
“I really am sorry.” Thana’s soft voice made every nerve ending in his body stand at attention. She crossed the hall and peered at his hand. “You should put some ice on that.”
Luther studied his red, swollen skin. His Scion healing abilities would take care of it soon enough, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Want to come in for some dessert? I made a chocolate cake earlier. It’s the least I can do for my hero.”
Luther blinked. He hadn’t indulged in such drugs in a long time. Chocolate was an aphrodisiac for Scion, with potent sexually stimulating effects. Best not partake of that with Thana tonight. If he did, he wasn’t sure what would happen between them, but the results could be embarrassing.
“No, thanks,” he said, sensing her disappointment. “It’ll keep me awake. All that sugar.”
“Right.” She shifted her weight, her gaze dropping before meeting his again. “At least let me ice those knuckles.”
He glanced through the partially open door then back at her. No mistaking the trace of fear still lurking there. Realization struck. She was afraid her ex would return and harass her again. Resignation settled in his gut. Fine. He’d accept her offer, but only because that the man had shaken her up, and she was scared.
It was his divine duty to protect her, the reason he was created. Tonight, that meant guarding her a bit more closely than usual. Once she was comfortable being alone again, he’d leave.
He nodded and Thana led him into the apartment. The place was basically the same as his—small, shabby, but secure.
She deserved better.
A better life.
He was here to keep her safe and watch over her. To protect her from the creeps and morons.
To give her that better life, if it was in his power.
Luther followed her into the tiny, galley-style kitchen, noting the lack of windows there, just like his. Her bedroom and bathroom lined the opposite wall across from the living room. The bed rested against his wall, so close and yet so far away. A long cream-colored couch faced a flat-screen TV, a pillow and dark blue blanket covering one corner.
Did she sleep in the living room?
He looked into the bedroom again, frowning at the smooth covers on the double bed.
When he’d observed her from his quarters in the heavenly realms, Thana had always slept in her bed. Something must have changed recently, since he’d moved to New Orleans in the last month.
Thana grabbed a towel from a nearby drawer then proceeded to fill it with ice from her freezer. He dragged his gaze away from the bedroom. Her small kitchen was brighter than his, the cupboards a pale wood, with stainless steel appliances.
His apartment’s former owner had liked a dark kitchen but Luther found it impractical. He loved to cook, but keeping the appliances clean was a nightmare, so he’d given up his favorite hobby Ishortly after moving in and resorted to take out instead.
Luther leaned his hips against the edge of the counter, wincing as the injuries in his hand began to heal, the bones and tissues knitting back together. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to physically fight someone.
She gathered the end of the red-gingham towel together then twisted it to keep the ice cubes in place, then came over to him. Carefully, she took his hand, her fingers gently brushing his palm.
She rested the cold pack on his knuckles and heat zinged through his bloodstream. He stared at their joined hands, trying to decipher how such an innocent touch caused his heart to race.
“Thank you.” She stared up into his eyes and his thoughts scattered, blown away by the instant connection they shared, the power of the Seal within her joining with his inner Scion strength to create an intoxicating cocktail of fizzing need and undeniable attraction. This wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real. She was his sworn duty. That was all she could ever be. He’d spent eternity watching one mortal Seal host after another, never once meeting them, never once wanting to. Until now. Her thumb brushed his and fire shimmered over his skin. “I really am sorry he woke you and you had to hit him.”
“No worries.” In truth, Luther hadn’t needed to hit the man. He could have made him to stop by other means but he’d reacted on instinct, and that instinct had been to strike. He scowled, remembering a million situations with mortals he’d been in over the eons and he’d never before resorted to violence. So why now? His analytical mind wanted answers.
Perhaps it was because he’d been consumed by anger, enraged by the derogatory things the man had said about Thana.
He was Thana’s Scion protector. Her divine guardian.
But he was not her lover.
Such remarks against her reputation shouldn’t bother him.
Should they?
Her fingertips traced his skin as she removed the ice pack to inspect his hand. Sensation shivered up his arm and down his spine. He took his hand away and rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension building there.
“How are they feeling?” She nodded towards his knuckles.
“Fine.” He took a deep breath to calm his thudding pulse.
“Are you alright?” Thana ducked to catch his gaze, giving him a pleasant view down the front of her slip to her cleavage.
Luther swallowed hard, staring at her plump full breasts, her smooth brown skin, before averting his gaze. He could not allow his errant desire to distract him from his duty. It had been too long since he’d taken a lover to bed. He’d been celibate too long, that had to be the problem.
“Fine,” he repeated, his voice sounding strained, even to his own ears. He took the ice pack from her and jammed it back on to his hand when in reality what he really wanted to do with it was shove it down the front of his sweatpants to stop the twitching of his traitorous cock.
Several of his fellow Scion warriors had recently fallen for and begun relationships with their mortal Seal hosts, but Luther did not plan on becoming one of them. He was dedicated to his work. He would not falter, gorgeous though Thana was. She was his mission and his allegiance was to Divinity, his loyalty to his Scion brothers. Nothing would change that.
Once this irksome mission had ended, he’d return to his heavenly quarters and continue work on the Nephilim conspiracy case his previous Scion brothers had started. He was close to making a breakthrough on the case, he could feel it. The half-breeds had been allowed to wreak havoc for too long here on Earth and now sought to do the same in the heavenly realm, something he would never allow. He would fight to the death to protect Heaven from evil intruders and the Apocalypse they hoped to bring about. He would defen
d what he believed in at any cost.
He couldn’t wait to return home.
“Are you okay?” Luther asked, setting the rapidly melting ice pack in the stainless steel sink beside him.
Thana shrugged. “Better, I guess.”
She didn’t look better. Dark circles shadowed the delicate skin beneath her eyes and he felt the nearly overwhelming urge to comfort her.
“He won’t return.”
Her smile brightened a moment before fading.
“You don’t know that.” She shook her head. “I know how to pick ‘em, huh?”
Luther ran his now-healed hand under the cold water, washing away the residual blood from his skin. The weight of Thana’s stare prickled the skin on his bare back.
“I’m surprised I haven’t driven you away too.”
Those words, softly spoken, made his frown darken. She met his gaze with a resolve that didn’t surprise him. This was the Thana he’d come to know over his three decades of watching her. Strong, capable, unflinching.
“What makes you say that?” Luther faced her again, aware he was bare from the waist up. He should have put on a T-shirt before leaving his apartment but he’d been otherwise occupied by getting that irritating bastard in the hall to shut up so he could sleep. He”d thought only of protecting her.
Defending her.
“The last guy who lived alone next door to me only lasted a few months.”
In truth, Luther had intervened by heavenly means to have the guy win the lottery to afford the down payment on the house of his dreams. That had allowed Luther closer to his Seal’s host. The old lady who lived on the other side of Thana was frail and had lived in the building over twenty years, relying on the assistance of those around her. She also slept heavily, meaning that Thana’s ex-boyfriends didn’t wake her when they knocked on her door at all hours of the night.
“You do live alone, don’t you?” she asked, a slight tremble to her question.
Luther nodded without thinking and Thana’s dark eyes warmed again. Smart woman, discerning his availability in such a way.
When he’d first moved in, he’d briefly considered making up a girlfriend to obliterate any attraction that might spark so he could continue his work in peace. Now though, seeing the vulnerability in her eyes, he couldn’t lie. Not to her.
The space between them seemed to disappear as she moved closer until she stood just inches away from him. Her soft breaths filled the silence, her full lips parted and pink. The tip of her tongue swept across them, leaving a trail of moisture that lured him closer still.
Luther couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed a woman. Not in this century, that was for sure.
He shut his eyes against temptation. Thana was his Seal host, his to protect. He had enough on his plate with his mission and his work. He couldn’t allow any more complications.
He couldn’t get romantically involved with her.
He had to maintain his distance.
No matter how impossible that seemed.
No matter how badly he wanted her.
Scion's Awakening (Seven Seals Series Book 3) Page 9