“I thought you said he was the guy for you? If you have to lie about who you are…”
“We all have to lie about who, and what, we are. I notice your mom isn’t knitting you sweaters that have holes in the back for your wings and no one has once mentioned how we’ll manage your veil around the horns.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it? Either way, I loved him, and when he fell apart like he did I wanted to just curl up and die. It was like there was nothing left in my life that mattered. If I could have found a way to end it…”
“So start over with someone who won’t lose his mind when your wings and tail come out. Matt is that guy.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. Why the hell was I having this fight with her, too? Any idiot—including me—could see I was hurting Matt by being closed off about these sorts of things. And hurting him made me feel like crap but didn’t change my stance on matrimony in the slightest. “He’s also the guy who understands how I feel.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Can we just drop it please?” I was sick of trying to get people to see my side of things. I knew Matt wanted some sort of commitment from me—and I wanted to give it to him—but the whole idea made me lightheaded.
We were very careful to not use the L word with each other. Not because he wasn’t cool with saying things like “Love” and “Feelings,” but I’d had a full-fledged anxiety attack when he mentioned either word during the romantic, candlelit dinner we’d had together last week. Love was too close to Commitment. Which was way too close to Marriage. And that brought up kids and all sorts of other things I wasn’t ready to deal with. Ever. Not that Lisa would get that.
“We might get to that point one day but for the near future I’m leaving the white dresses to you and Mom. They always make my complexion go sort of sallow looking anyway. Now, let’s go get you some bubble bath and see if we can’t save your feathers. I can’t have my best friend molting on her wedding night.”
CHAPTER TWO
I walked into my apartment carrying a bag full of groceries and found myself staring at a nephilim lying on my couch. He was perusing the sports section, with classical music playing and a full table setting for two spread out on my coffee table. That was weird. Not the nephilim—he was pretty common around here since we started seeing each other naked, but usually he didn’t bring Beethoven and flatware.
“Well, hello.” I moved into the kitchen and put my groceries on the counter. “What’s up?”
“My client’s court date was pushed back at the last minute, so I decided to leave at lunch.” Matt turned the page and whistled like he was surprised by the scores from last night’s game.
I shoved the bag of perishable stuff into the fridge without bothering to unpack it. I know, I know, not the best way to stay neat and tidy but, given that I had a gorgeous nephilim in my living room who obviously had something romantic hidden underneath his halo, I was pretty sure putting away the grapes properly could wait. “So you came here?”
“I wanted to surprise you and have a nice picnic lunch together on your floor, but, alas, I found my lady love missing.” He flipped the paper down. He was wearing his glasses, but I noticed that his usually neat “work” hair was already sticking up in inky black spikes.
He wasn’t a big, bulky guy, but his early morning five-mile runs and the three-day-a-week gym habit kept his body in stunning condition. I sucked in my tummy and made a silent oath to cut back on my morning cheese Danish routine. If you’re going to date a man who was built like a Greek god, sacrifices had to be made. Even, occasionally, when it came to pastry. “I had errands to run, groceries to buy. That doesn’t explain why you’re here and not at your place. So?”
“So?” He set the paper aside and gave me a mischievous grin.
“Why are you here?”
“I was waiting for you. So we could get naked.” He swung his legs off the couch, standing in one smooth movement. “That was the romantic part. I had planned a naked picnic on your floor.”
“But…” I moved backward, like I was making for the front door. “What if Lisa had popped in?”
“Who do you think came up with the idea?” He inched forward, stalking me like an animal. “She said I should be waiting for you wearing nothing but a big red bow. The thing is I thought that the whole waiting naked thing might look desperate.”
“A bit.” I swallowed and nodded as my back hit the door. For a being of love and light, he had one hell of a predatory instinct. I was torn between running like there were missionaries after my tail and surrendering so we could get on to the ravaging-his-victim part.
“It wouldn’t be much of a stretch.” He loomed over me, both hands coming up to pin my shoulders.
“What wouldn’t be much of a stretch?” My gaze flickered between his lips and his brilliant green eyes. In the name of all Evil he was gorgeous. And crazy enough that he wanted to keep coming around me and my particular brand of chaos. His eagerness to date me—and see me naked—could have been low self-esteem on his part but I didn’t care. One hot, immortal lawyer who liked to surprise me with naked picnics? Yes, please.
“Calling myself desperate?” He nuzzled my neck. His nose traced along my jaw while his hand dropped to grab my leg and wrap it around his waist. “I haven’t managed to get you alone since our little vacation last month.”
He was right. After saving the world last month we’d only had a week away together at my father’s private island in the South Pacific and ever since we’d been living with nonstop interruptions. First it was my mother and Lisa constantly showing up to discuss their weddings. Then Hope kept coming down to badger me into doing evil for her now that she was powerless. When that didn’t work she was constantly down here banging on the door because of broken appliances.
Once my family was handled, I’d gotten stuck with a ton of overtime at work. A week later Matt had been put on a case that required eighty-hour weeks. The most quality time we got anymore was a quick kiss in the hall and an anti-climactic grope over breakfast.
“It feels like someone, or something, is trying to keep us apart.” He pressed himself against me from shoulder to knee, brushing his hips against mine and trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down the length of my neck.
I moaned and tangled my hands in his hair, pulling him closer. I had no idea what he was yammering about, but he was a pretty smart guy. Whatever he thought I’d go along with, as long as he kept up with the kissing.
“I think your father is trying to play the Overprotective Daddy role again.”
“My father isn’t that petty.” I gasped when he wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and bent my neck to the side so I could nibble on his ear.
He sat on the couch and I shifted so that I was straddling him, while I used my tongue to find the spot behind his ear that always made him shiver.
“He’s the Devil.” Matt tugged my shirt up and over my head before I could protest. “He is that petty.”
He did have a point. The guy who’d taken my virginity still flinched every time someone said dear old Dad’s name. Or when he saw deep fried foods. Yep. All the interruptions had Dad’s name written all over it.
I found the spot I was looking for with my tongue and his entire body shuddered. He grabbed my hips and shifted us so that I was on my back with him looming over me. His blue eyes glittered possessively and he raised his right eyebrow at me, daring me to argue. Like I was stupid enough to pick a fight now? Not likely.
“Okay, he’s that petty.” I rolled my eyes and kicked off my ballet flats. He fumbled with the button of my jeans, and once freed, he pushed them down my hips.
I suspected my father had help, but his brother, the Alpha, had a strictly hands-off policy when it came to the Earthly Realms. He had some sort of idea that humans were an experiment meant to be kept in a bubble and allowed to mess with each other, evolving until they reached whatever stage i
t was that He and Dad found themselves born into. Yeah, talk about depressing. The Omnipotent Good, the Alpha, the Beginning of All Things, was merely an overgrown twelve-year-old with an ant farm. A big, complicated ant farm. But at least He stayed the hell out of our love lives.
Meanwhile His younger brother, the Omnipotent Evil, the Omega, the Blackness, the Death of All Light—whatever you wanted to call Dad—he definitely wasn’t hands-off. In fact, he was the original helicopter parent. Which meant he had no problems stooping to petty tricks to ruin my love life.
“Well,” I said, kicking my jeans off, “he’s not here now.”
“No.” Matt licked his lips and desire pooled in the pit of my stomach. He leaned back to look at me, his broad hands dropping down to caress my shoulders, across my breasts, stopping at my waist. “And thank God for that.”
I laughed and arched my back when he trailed one finger up the side of my neck and stroked my cheek. I bit my lower lip, and love and affection and all those emotions that I knew I couldn’t deal with started bubbling up inside me. Instead of getting into that right now, I decided to get him back on track to making me one very happy little creature of unspeakable evilness. “Let’s leave my uncle out of this. And why are you still dressed? Get naked already.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tugged off his shirt while I fumbled with the button on his pants. With two pairs of eager hands we managed to get him out of his clothes before most women would manage to say, “Thank you, God.”
At least if they took the time to get a gander at Matt’s abs. Because, I’ve got to say, if I didn’t have an inside track on the whole Heavenly Order thing, that man’s six-pack would be all the proof I needed that there was a God who’d earned one hell of a Hallelujah when He created the man on top of me.
He dropped the last of his clothes onto the floor in a neat pile and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together before bringing them to his mouth and kissing my fingertips. Black power and emotion flowed through me. Birds outside began to screech. A cat across the alley howled like it was in heat. I fought against the urge to stretch my power and let a little general chaos out into the world. Too bad I hadn’t had my new couch fireproofed yet.
“You’re pretty good at stripping off your clothes while horizontal and straddling a girl. Anything you need to tell me about? Women in your past I might have to hunt down and kill?”
“Less talking now.” He lowered himself so that we were pressed against each other at all the major important parts, and brushed his lips against mine once before letting his mouth dip lower. He worked his way down my neck, between my breasts, moving south with every seductive kiss.
“So what should I be doing?” He nibbled along my belly button and I sucked in my breath. This guy should come with a warning. I’d think he’d been getting tips from the incubi, but last I’d heard, none of them knew the belly button trick. Or they didn’t use it if they did. I shifted, trying to keep my wings folded up so they didn’t kink my back, but I let my tail slide free since it didn’t get in the way. My horns itched and, rather than fight to keep them under control, I let them uncurl.
It wasn’t like Matt was going to be surprised to find himself making love to a demon. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it last time. If all that screaming had been any indication. Or had that been me?
“Much more moaning and begging.” He kissed his way from my belly button toward my right hip while his fingers teased the inside of my thigh, his own white wings unfurling with an audible snap. “And I’m definitely going to want to hear my name in there a few times. I want to see if you can set the couch on fire.”
“You’re never going to let that go, are—” I moaned and he looked up at me with a playful grin before kissing back toward my center. Some things weren’t worth fighting over. Besides, what were a few scorch marks? Especially when your lover was a nephilim who believed that old saying about “any foreplay worth doing was worth doing thoroughly.”
The world grew tighter and blacker around me. Hellfire prickled at my skin, and I fought the urge to scream. He kissed the length of my right leg, stopping to lick the sensitive skin behind my knee.
“Matt.”
He nipped at the tender spot there, where muscle met nerve, and I grabbed the arm of the couch to keep myself from grabbing his hair and pulling him back up to me.
“What?” he asked, his tone mimicking mine. He looked up at me with glittering eyes and his lips curled in amusement.
I tightened my grip on the couch and wiggled slightly, trying to entice him upward with a decent view of cleavage so that I wouldn’t have to beg. The cocky bastard had become entirely too sure of himself after he’d gotten me to beg. If he weren’t so damn hot it would be infuriating.
“You know what.” I licked my lower lip and gave him my best come-hither stare.
“Say it.” He kissed the sensitive skin of my inner thigh. “Say it, and I’ll do whatever you want.”
I huffed dramatically and stuck my tongue out at him so he would know that there weren’t any hard feelings. “Fine, you’re the world’s best lover.”
“And?” he asked, tickling my side.
I giggled. “I’ve missed you.”
“And?” He slid upward so his mouth was barely a fraction of an inch from the apex of my thighs.
I tried to wiggle closer. He tightened his grip on my legs, holding me in place. “And, I sort of adore you, okay?”
“I sort of adore you, too, you stubborn, wicked, demon temptress.”
“Ah, hell, now you’re just flattering me to get out of trouble.” He kissed my hip and started up the length of my body and I couldn’t hold back the moan I knew he wanted to hear.
He nuzzled my breast with his nose. “Is it working?”
“Yep.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close.
“Good. Because I have a whole list of things to do to you this afternoon, all sorts of ways to show you just how much I’ve missed you.”
“Matt.”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up already. We can talk about our feelings later. Right now can we skip to the moaning and screaming each other’s names thing that you suggested earlier?”
His eyes widened when I pressed my hips upward against him. “Yep,” he said, nodding vigorously.
“I thought you’d see things my way.” I sighed when his body slid into mine and the entire world fell away, leaving me with nothing but the angelic being in my arms and a body that felt too full of pleasure. We shifted together on the couch, moving in sync with each other, and everything seemed to speed up as all my nerves fired together at once. My climax washed over me, leaving me gasping for air as the nephilim above me dropped his forehead down to lean against mine.
“If sex were an Olympic sport,” he groaned. “You would be a gold medalist.”
“Only if I were competing in the pairs events. I’m pretty sure I’d be lousy in solo competition.”
“The only pair you will be working in involves me.” Matt reached down to tickle my side and I tried to squirm away from him, laughing.
“The only pair I want to be in—”
A sharp rap on the door sounded and we both froze.
If this was the Jehovah’s Witnesses coming to spread the good news I was going to eat one of them.
“Whatever you’re selling we’re not interested,” Matt yelled and gave me a wicked smile. “We don’t care how much it will simplify our lives or revolutionize our home.”
He let his hands skate up the length of my sides, tickling as he went. “Now where were we?”
Whoever it was knocked again, and I brought my hands up to cover my eyes, fighting the urge to scream. “Who does a demon have to kill to get off multiple times with a hot nephilim in this realm?”
“Damn it,” he growled and pushed himself up. He grabbed his pants off the living room floor and jerked them on as I sat up and reached for my own clothes. Matt quickly scooped up my clothes and tossed them onto the far e
nd of my couch. Then he grabbed the blanket I kept on the back of my couch and handed it to me with a raised eyebrow. “If it’s a salesman I’m going to beat them to death with my wings. Then we’ll go back to what we were doing.”
“Kill him quickly, then.” I wrapped the blanket around me like a towel and burrowed into the couch so I could watch the potential carnage without Matt’s victim getting an eyeful of naked demon at the same time. “I’m already starting to get cold.”
“Somebody better be dying on the other side of this door, because if they aren’t when I open it, they will be by the time I close it.” He flung the door open and froze. “Brenda?”
I bolted upright, completely forgetting about my lack of outfit. Brenda? As in the Ex-Girlfriend-Wannabe Brenda? What was she doing here? How the hell had she found him? Found us, for that matter? I mean hello? It’s not like my address is listed in the Supernatural Being’s Guide to Pittsburgh. Damn it, if Mom had gotten me listed so people could find me to RSVP for her wedding shower I was going to throw away all her spell components.
“I know I shouldn’t come here,” a sweet, feminine voice said. “But I didn’t know what to do. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“What about your brother?” Matt ran both his hands through his hair and tugged on the ends. He had carefully angled himself so that his body was blocking the doorway, and while I was grateful that Brenda couldn’t see in, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want him to move a smidge to the right so I could check out my former competition live and in the religious fanatic flesh.
“Tony took one look at me and freaked out. Something about how he wasn’t ready to deal with Mom and Aunt Val. Last I saw him he was muttering to himself and rocking back and forth on the couch like he’d lost his mind.”
“Oh, damn it. Come in.”
“But…”
“Come on, get in here before someone sees you.” His arm shot out, and he pulled her into the room like she was some sort of naughty kid who couldn’t keep up with their parent in the grocery store.
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