by J. R. Ward
Chapter 18
As night fell, Adrian was drunk . . . but not horny.
The two didn't always go together. It was very possible for him just to be horny - for example, whenever he woke up, he was usually ready for some action as well as stone-cold sober. However, very rarely did he float a couple of beers without getting that itch that had to be scratched. And it wasn't that he ever got piss-faced drunk - he wasn't sure that was possible. But angels could get buzzed, and generally speaking, that led to all kinds of hi-how're-ya.
As he put down yet another empty longneck, he counted on his fingers. "Wait, was that six? Or seven for us?"
For once, the other angel was keeping up with the pound-backs. Ever since the pair of them had walked through the Iron Mask's front door an houromise t, the guy had been going one-for-one with Ad's pace.
"Eight," Eddie muttered, as he held up his hand for the waitress.
The woman immediately nodded and headed for the bar. She'd been good: moved fast, kept her eyes open, and didn't seem interested in cutting him and his boy off.
As Adrian waited for the next round to be delivered, he sat back in the crushed-velvet booth and surveyed the dark, moody crowd. Out of habit, rather than necessity, he guessed it was time to switch modes from drinking to fucking.
Such a romantic, wasn't he.
At least he knew he'd find something. This Goth club was the sort of place he felt perfectly comfortable in - the cast of characters, from the bartenders to the waitresses to the people filing past, were all his people: not a pink, paisley, or preppy POS in sight.
And usually it took him no more than a minute and a half to find a worthy candidate. Tonight? Even the chippie with the butt-length black hair and the Marilyn Monroe and the satin bustier wasn't capable of getting his ass off the couch.
Come to think of it, he wasn't even hard.
Fucking Jim Heron.
The waitress showed up with the next set of longnecks, and Eddie leaned forward to put yet another twenty on her tray. He passed Ad's bottle over and settled back.
"I think we need to get busy," Eddie said.
" As in . . . "
At that moment, Rapunzel of the night paraded by, shakin' that ass, and Eddie's eyes followed the show, burning deep red.
Well, wasn't this a role reversal. Typically, Ad was the scout.
"Why don't you do some business. " Adrian sucked half his beer on a oner. "I'll watch your Bud. "
The long-haired woman paused just past where they were camped out and looked over her shoulder. Given her expression, she might as well have just laid herself naked on a table for them.
"You sure?" Eddie asked.
"Yeah, I'm just going to hang. "
"I won't be long. "
"Take your time. " Hell, the night was long. Maybe a couple more in him and he'd be ready. God knew Eddie could go for days straight, so they could still double-team something.
As Eddie rose to his feet, his erection was obvious - and the kind of thing that Enzyte guy from the TV, Bob, took all those pills to sport. And as the female who'd caught the angel's eye got a proper look at him, she practically levitated out of her bustier, her hand creeping up to her throat . . . and drifting down to her cleavage.
You can cut the seduction, sweetie, Adrian thought. You got him.
And he was going to be spectacular.
Eddie always was.
"Have fun," Ad muttered.
"You know where to find us if you change your mind. "
As Eddie took off, Ad finished his beer . . . and, as time crawled by, went to work on his buddy's.
"You didn't find her attractive?"
The low drawl made his skin crawl.
And he refused to look to the left. "Evening, Devina. "
The demon sauntered through his field of vision and took Eddie's spot in the booth. From out of the corner of his eye, he saw that she was in a stunner of a black dress, the kind that made more sense for a fancy-schmancy cocktail party at some mansion . . . the kind that parted to show so much leg that the garters holding her stockings up made a brief appearance.
"You don't fit in here, Devina. "
"I know, I'm too good for this place - happens to me all the time. " As the waitress came over, the demon smiled. "A glass of white wine if you have it. And put it on his tab. "
"Don't have a tab," he cut in.
"Then he'll pay cash. "
Adrian felt the first stirring in his cock, but it wasn't sexual. It was anger toward the enemy. Man, he was never aroused by her the proper way, but she did make him hard.
Was it the same for Jim?
"So where is your third wheel," the demon asked. "I believe you are missing one part of your tripod. "
The good news, he supposed, was that Devina couldn't be in two places at once. So the girl getting banged in the bathroom with Eddie definitely wasn't her. And wherever Jim was, the enemy wasn't with him, either.
"What brings you here," he asked.
"No comment on my inquiry?"
"Nope. "
"Ah, well . . . I'm looking for you, actually. Flattered?"
"Not in the slightest. "
"I thought you might need some company. "
He opened his mouth to say he was good and she could fuck off, but then he thought about Jim out there on his own. No doubt the motherfucker was still working the angles with DelVecchio, charging forward without them. With that damn necklace around his throat.
And here they were, sitting on their asses, stalled out like a couple of bitches.
Adrian forced his head toward Devina. As she smiled at him, her perfect white teeth glowed even in the darkness, and he couldn't help remembering all the fun things they'd done together.
Real laugh riot.
His gut churned.
And the grinding got worse as she inched closer to him. "I've missed you. "
"I doubt that. I know you've been busy. "
"With Jim, you mean?" She leaned in, her perfect breasts pushing against his upper arm. "Jealous?"
"Yeah. Abso seething. "
Her ruby red lips brushed his ear. "You don't lie very well, but you are a very good lay. "
"And the opposite would be true of you. "
At least that offended her enough so she pulled back. "That is so untrue. I am a fantastic fuck. "
He laughed on a hard exhale. Typical - she didn't even care if she was called out on the other shit.
The waitress delivered the wine, and though he could have been a prick and made the demon pay was afraid of dragging the poor human with the cocktail tray into this mess. Ponying up a twenty, he was relieved to see the woman go on to other people.
Devina eased back into the booth and ran a delicate finger around the foot of the wineglass.
What the hell was she doing here? he thought. She was a vicious bitch, but she didn't kibitz. And she'd just had Jim, for chrissakes, so it wasn't like she was desperate for sex.
"So where is Jim?" Devina asked over the rim of her chardonnay. "Back with your boy, doing some silly piece of ass?"
Adrian frowned. She made the statement sound like it was rhetorical, but he could see through her falsely casual routine: She didn't know where the savior was, did she. Jim was blocking her.
Somehow, the bastard had figured out a way to go truly invisi, so to speak.
Holy. Shit.
Adrian smiled. "You could go see for yourself. "
Her eyes slid away. "I'd rather be with you. "
Liar, he thought. "I'm touched. But I don't think that's the truth, is it. "
"I'm choosing to sit with you now. "
"Yes, you are, aren't you. "
Her stiletto bounced at the end of her foot as she kicked her lower leg with impatience.
"You know, Adrian, you ever get bored with being a Goody Two-shoes, you could come over to my side. "
"Because yo
u have cookies, right. "
Those black eyes returned to his own. "And so much more. "
"Well, I'm on a diet. Sorry - but thanks for the invite. "
Devina licked her lips. "Temptation is good for the soul. "
"Only from the way you look at things. " He finished off Eddie's beer and got to his feet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go back and take a little ride. "
"Running from me, Adrian?"
"Yup, that's right. I'm flat-out scared of you. "
"Wise of you, angel mine. "
"I'm not yours, bitch. "
"Wrong, oh, so very wrong. " Her eyes gleamed with all the tortures of hell. "I'm inside you, Adrian. I'm right in there, wrapped around your heart. "
"I'll tell Jim you said hello. "
"I'm inside you, angel, and you know it. It's the reason you're getting up and walking away. "
"Nah. I just want to be with a real woman, not a fake one. "
As her face paled, Adrian turned his back on her and sauntered away, but somehow, it didn't feel like he'd really left her.
It didn't feel as though he ever left her. And that meant . . . she was probably right.
As he approached the bathroom, he wasn't worried about protecting himself from her wrath. She wasn't going to do anything with this many humans around. Too messy when it came to cleanup. Besides, it was too obvious. If she was going to get him back, she'd be more creative about it.
I'm inside you, angel, and you know it.
Shoving that voice right out of his head, he easily found the bathroom his buddy was in - and not just because there was a whole lot of female moaning going on. He could sense his best friend clear as day - which made him realize that Devina wasn't the only one who couldn't find Jim: He wasn't picking up on the savior, either, which was a shocker. He'd been so pissed off at that guy when they'd left that morning, he'd just wanted away from him. But now . . . as he reached out, there was nothing.
So where the hell was Jim?
Even as the thought occurred, he smacked a lid on the what-the-fuck: that demon was like a weather vane when it came to sensing things so the best course was to go about their business like there was nothing wrong. No rift. No infighting. Just Adrian and Eddie burning off some steam while Jim was cloaked and working the war.
Devina would realize there was nothing worth mining for here and go about her business.
Adrian didn't knock on the door. No reason to. A moment after he leaned against the jamb, Eddie cracked the seal and it was a case of slipping in and relocking.
The woman's bustier was off and there were breasts everywhere. Like Ad, she had both nipples pierced, and there was a stainless-steel chain linking the tips.
Impressive set. And the boobs weren't bad either.
Her skirt was up around her waist and her ass tucked in tight to Eddie's hips, her back and long hair against his pecs. His leathers were still in place, but it was obvious given the way she was arched that the buttons were free and a whole lot of penetration was going on.
Adrian sat down on the toilet seat facing them and reached up, pushing her breasts together, the little chain getting long because of the lack of distance. Before he ducked his head and started in on those nipples, he met his best friend in the eye, and relied on the centuries they'd spent together to fill in the blanks.
They had to stay in here and pretend all was okay.
And it was more than a little worrisome that Eddie, who usually had the best radar, had not caught wind of the demon's arrival.
There was the briefest of hesitations - which indicated that the message had been received. And then Eddie resumed the fucking, drawing his body back and then doing a resheathe. His face was harsh, though, and not because he was ready to come.
The woman didn't get that the vibe had changed, however. She just moaned and kicked her head back, offering her mouth to Eddie as she looked at the big palms framing her chest. As Eddie sealed their lips, Ad squeezed what he'd palmed up and then went in with his tongue, flicking one of the stainless-steel hoops; then sucking it and the start of the chain into his mouth. While he worked her nipples, he burrowed under the leather skirt, going up, up, up to the wet sex that was being used. As he found the chick's clit, it was not a surprise that she had a ball hoop through the hood - actually, it was a ho-hum cliche.
Of course she had one. And her belly button would be pierced. And maybe she had some dermals on her ribs or down her spine.
Yawn.
His heart was so not in this. It was just another fuck in another bathroom with another hard-core nothing-special.
As Eddie fell into a driving rhythm, his balls smacked forth, hitting Adrian's hand, and because Ad couldn't care less about the chick, he grabbed what his friend had and gave them a good twist - which guaranteed that at least someone other than the woman would have an orgasm.
Eddie barked out a curse and locked hard into the female's body, his hips kicking, his sac going tight. The woman cried out, as if the violent jerking inside her had kicked off her own little joyride, and their faces grimaced and then relaxed and then grimaced again. When Eddie eventually withdrew, his dripping erection slid across Adrian's palm, and knowing damn well his friend had another three or four rounds in him, Ad gripped that hard length and stroked it as he went back to sucking the woman's breasts and letting his forearm rub her core.
He was utterly dead as he went through the motions, making them both come again, taking over the session as he stayed sitting on the toilet.
Spinning the woman around, Ad eased her down onto her knees in front of Eddie and opened her mouth with some subtle pressure at her jaw. Grabbing the back of her head, he guided her to his friend's glistening cock, working her as he slipped a grip around to Eddie's ass.
The two of them were into this, so he upped the pace, bringing Eddie in and out faster, forcing her to take more and more of what she was panting for.
He knew Eddie liked the hookups better if he was there. That angel trusted no one, and sex was better if you felt safer. Granted, the guy never completely let go, but he was more likely to relax a little if Ad was around, and looking up into the mirror over the sink, he watched his friend. Eddie had bitten down on his lower lip and closed his eyes, his head falling back, his heavy braid swinging as he held on to the doorjamb and the wall on the other side to keep his balance.
It was getting time for another orgasm. Ad knew his buddy's body as well as he knew his own, so he stopped the furious in-and-out and gripped Eddie's erection, pumping it off as the female waited for the payload like a porn star, mouth open, puffy lips licked in anticipation.
Sometime between the stroking and when the female's face got glossed, Ad felt Devina leave the club. And it wasn't a mirage. Her physical presence was not fakeable.
But she lingered, anyway.
As Eddie panted in recovery, the female on her knees ran her fingers over her cheeks and brought them into her mouth. Sucking them in, she dropped her lids and stared up at Adrian, all wouldja-do-me.
Staring down at her, he tried to draw in a breath, but there was a weight on his chest that refused to be budged, and for some reason, the only thing he could see was the tail end of all that fake black hair of hers pooling on the dirty bathroom tile.
Her frantic, sex-starved eyes belied her fragility: There was a lost soul behind her desperate stare, an emptiness that reminded him too much of himself.
Up above her, there was a paper towel dispenser stuck to the wall, its offering like a tongue lolling out of its dull silver head.
Taking her chin in his palm, he held her face with care and snapped a white towel free. With careful strokes, he cleaned off her delicate, pale skin.
"Not tonight," he said hoarsely. "Not tonight, baby girl. "
She blinked first in confusion, and then in sadness. But that was what happened when you were forced to stop and see yourself clearly: Not
all mirrors were made of glass, and you didn't always need your reflection to take a good, hard look at yourself. The truth was something you wore sure as the suit of flesh that bound and gagged your soul until you were set free, and you couldn't ignore it forever.
Leaning forward, he snagged her bustier from the sink's counter, and like a child she held her arms up so that he could bind her naked breasts.
In attending to her, he felt as though he were taking care of the most broken part of himself . . . and all the while, Eddie played witness with his red eyes.
"Go on, now," Adrian said when he'd done up the last of the fasteners. "Go home . . . wherever that is. "
She left on unsteady feet, but not because of the sex or the drinking, and as the door shut, Adrian settled back on the loo, put his hands on his thighs, and stared at the floor.
I'm inside you, Adrian. I'm right in there, wrapped around your heart.
It was a strange night to realize his disease, but then, as was probably typical, when you lived with something a long time, you got used to the symptoms that told you what you had was fatal.
He had the cancer. In him. It had started growing long ago, this tumor no one could see. He'd let Devina in that first time he'd bartered something of himself for something he needed in the war, and she'd been taking over ever since then, inch by inch.
He had nothing to pull him out of the oblivion that was coming for him, not even Eddie.
And damn them all, she was doing exactly the same thing with Jim.
Looking up at his best friend, he heard himself say, "I'm dying, Eddie. "
Eddie's tan skin went gray, but he said nothing. Hell, no doubt the only surprise to the guy was that Ad actually brought it up.
"I'm not going to live to see the end of this war. " Ad cleared his throat. "I'm just . . . not going to make it. "