BD pursed his lips thoughtfully, Gabriel watching as his hands caressed Bethany’s hips, pulling her closer against him. “He has a point, cher. You saw what happened at the dinner party. And the other night in our driveway.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He could resist her, damn it. He just had a hard time remembering that when he was close enough to smell her. To see those luscious breasts begging for his touch.
He watched the couple in front of him, wondering what kind of game they were playing. If they were aiming to make a match, they were going to be in for a major disappointment. They were also going to bring down the wrath of Rousseau, one of BD’s closest friends.
A fact that might save him from this delivery. “I think Celestin would rather I stay far away from his little sister. Especially since I’m so mysterious and scary.”
“Something you could fix whenever you wanted.” Bethany rolled her eyes. “But regardless, I’m asking you to do it as a favor to me.”
BD waggled his eyebrows. “Aren’t you getting the hint? My blushing bride wants to be alone with me. I was thinking sex on the kitchen table, maybe a little role-playing where I am the plumber and she is a naked woman in my clutches.”
Bethany looked over her shoulder at her husband, her lips quirking in helpless amusement. “A plumber is not the first fantasy I would pick.”
BD pouted playfully. “But you said it turned you on when I fixed the garbage disposal.”
Gabriel grabbed the envelope. “On that disturbing note.” He opened the door and took a deep, fortifying breath. He could do this. Bethany and BD hadn’t asked him for anything. Plus, they’d saved his life. He could hand one package over to the saucy, aggravating Angelique without attacking her as soon as she opened the door.
He hoped.
Gabriel knew within minutes of hopping into his rental car that Emmanuel was with him. “Where have you been?”
“Other than giving you some privacy for your wackathon?” Emmanuel mocked. “I’ve been around. You know, there are more interesting things going on this city than watching you mope.”
Gabriel’s hands clenched on the steering wheel. “More interesting than whatever’s happening to me? More interesting than ghosts and Loas and blackouts where I turn into the ninja from Hell? This should be good.”
Emmanuel, who was reclining in the backseat of the Mercedes, sighed. “As a matter of fact, yes. You know, when I was here before, all I could see was my tiny little corner of the world. The house where I grew up. You and Michelle and the family who purchased the house from mine. I had no idea that more than that existed. No one told me.”
“If you’re trying to scare me, you’ll have to do better than that. Who never told you what?”
Emmanuel suddenly appeared in the seat beside him, his intensely blue eyes sparkling. “Others. Not Loa. Not like me, either. At least, not that I’ve met yet.” He studied Gabriel, then shook his head, smiling. “Let’s just say Angelique’s professor may have something to his teachings, after all.”
Gabriel sneered. “You seen a Loup Garou recently, Manny? Great. Maybe you should go pop in on him when he least expects it. Drive someone else crazy for a change.”
“There’s more, but I can see you’re not interested. That stick up your ass wouldn’t have anything to do with seeing Angelique again, would it? Or have you finally come to your senses? Are you on your way to tell the Mambo what you can do?”
“BD doesn’t even know; I don’t even know; why should my mother? You’re like a damn broken record.” Gabriel’s shoulders were so tense they were practically pressing against his ears. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Emmanuel huffed out a frustrated breath. “Why don’t you tell me? Have you even tried to figure it out for yourself? What do you think happened the other night?”
He’d seen the darkness, and then it had seen him. It came into him and he’d blacked out, apparently kicking the shit out of the street toughs who had him sorely outnumbered. “It wasn’t possession.”
“Not in the sense you know it. But I already told you that.”
“It was clinging to those men.”
Emmanuel nodded. “It looks for their own. Seeks out certain energies, certain people.”
“Now we’re back to square one. I draw the darkness; therefore I’m a dick for bringing that wonderful gift home to my family. Thanks for clearing that up.”
Emmanuel frowned. “Why are we going to see the girl, anyway?”
Was he trying to change the subject? Gabriel sneered. “Some disembodied voice spoke to Bethany, telling her where I was the other night. She was upset that I wouldn’t tell her what I knew about that.” He sent Emmanuel a meaningful glance. “So I’m running errands, trying to get back into her good graces.”
“Oh. That.” Emmanuel sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, lowering his head, his dark hair swooping over his face to hide his expression. “She was the closest.”
“Whatever you want to tell yourself, Manny. But for someone who keeps telling me I need to talk to my mama, you seem to have a few familial communication issues of your own.”
He pulled up to park along the curb in front of the old apartment building Angelique was staying in and turned off the car.
Emmanuel reached for his arm before he could open the door. “Gabe, I have a bad feeling. I don’t think you should go up there.”
Gabriel laughed, but the sound was grim. “You and me both, buddy. That girl is more dangerous than she looks.” And he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. It didn’t help that his pillow still smelled of her. That he knew she’d showered in his bathroom, slept in his bed last night.
He walked around the front of his car to find Emmanuel already standing in front of the door. “Seriously, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Angelique isn’t why you’re here. She’s not part of the plan.”
Gabriel raised a suspicious brow. “Angelique, huh? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were worried about her, not me. Is it because of what I am? Because of this mysterious plan you won’t tell me anything about? Or maybe you can’t forget the way she looked, spread out on the grass, begging for me to fuck her. Does Manny have a little crush?”
Gabriel pushed past Emmanuel and opened the door that would lead him to the stairs up to her apartment.
“You’ll hurt her.”
He froze, refusing to look into judgmental blue eyes. A judgment he didn’t disagree with. The closer he got to her door, the more thoroughly he sealed his fate. This time he wouldn’t push Angelique away. He wouldn’t leave until he knew what it was like to be inside her. Regardless of the consequences.
“Then stop me, Manny. Because I don’t think I can stop myself.”
The silence turned Gabriel around on the staircase. Emmanuel was gone. He was alone, his guardian angel nowhere in sight. His only hope now rested with Angelique.
Heaven help them both.
ANGELIQUE SAT ON THE WORN, COMFORTABLE COUCH IN her childhood apartment, lost in thought as the sun began to set outside. Maybe she shouldn’t have turned down Ive and Kelly, who’d called her, worried, apologetic, and wanting to come over.
She’d told them she wanted to be alone, though she knew it wasn’t true. She wanted to find Gabriel and demand he tell her what he was, why he was here, and what he had done to her.
This wasn’t her. She’d never felt this out of control, this crazed. And all because of one man. Gabriel.
But she couldn’t blame him for her actions today. She wasn’t sure why she’d done it, pocketed the locket without showing it to Mambo Toussaint.
Even though she’d been told she could take something if she wanted it, a small voice in her head had worried that she wouldn’t be allowed to keep it. Barely aware of what she was doing, she’d slipped the locket into the pocket of her jeans while Bethany was busy with the Mamas.
She’d also rushed out before Elise Adair could hug her, ensuring that the older woman wouldn’t know.
Her gentle, petite mother would tan her backside for her behavior. And for what? Some old necklace?
Angelique studied the piece of jewelry in question. She’d set it on the coffee table, staring at it as if it were a venomous insect preparing to strike.
She’d take it back tomorrow and hope she hadn’t offended Michelle and Gabriel’s mother. The last thing she needed was to anger a voodoo priestess.
The red gem on the locket glittered in the flickering light of the candles. Angelique looked around the living room ruefully. If a stranger saw this scene, they might imagine that she was in for a romantic evening. Surrounded by candles, a bottle of wine at her side, in nothing but a white satin chemise.
As if she were waiting for her lover.
A dark thread of self-recrimination wound its way into her thoughts. How many nights had her mother waited, after her children had gone to bed, for the man she loved? How many nights had she spent alone, while he ignored her for one mistress after the next, for one dark deed after another?
Theresa Rousseau had not raised her daughter to be dependent on any man. She’d been determined, as had Celestin, that Angelique would have the strength and tools she needed to make her own way in the world. And until now, Angelique had never doubted her path. Her worth.
She wasn’t the kind of person who felt the need to hide what she was thinking. Wasn’t the kind of woman who had ever chased after a man who’d refused her, offering herself to him again and again, despite his resistance. And she certainly didn’t steal from friends.
She knew she needed to get her head on straight, but her body didn’t want to cooperate. It still wanted relief. Satisfaction.
Maybe she should call Ive back and tell her she’d changed her mind. That she didn’t want to be alone. She stood up and leaned over to blow out the candle in front of her. No more waiting.
The knock on the door made her jump, startled. She laughed softly at herself, relieved that, as usual, her friends hadn’t listened to her. They’d come over anyway.
“I should’ve known you couldn’t stay away. What naughty adventure do you two have planned for tonight? I’m ready for anythi—” She swung open the door and her throat closed.
“Expecting someone?”
She couldn’t speak. He was here. Gabriel was at her door. She glanced around his body, over his shoulder. And he was alone. She remembered the conversation she’d had with the Mamas and Bethany and mentally reworded her thoughts. He was alone . . . as far as she knew.
Her fingertips dug into the doorframe as she continued to stare at him, watching as her lack of reaction affected his body.
His shoulders tensed and his jaw tightened. She saw his gaze look past her and into the room. He took in her thin slip, the candles on the mantel behind her, and gritted his teeth. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your plans for the evening. I’m just here to deliver something from Bethany.”
Bethany? She looked down at the envelope he stretched out in her direction, having a hard time putting a coherent thought together.
She’d seen Bethany just a few hours ago. Why hadn’t she given this to her earlier? Then a sudden, jarring worry clenched her heart. What if she knew what Angelique had done? Was it a warning to return the locket? That didn’t seem like Bethany’s style.
Gabriel sighed roughly and Angelique straightened. “Come on in.”
She turned before he could pass the package to her and go, as he obviously wanted to. “My friends threatened to come over and cheer me up. That’s who I thought you were.”
Gabriel took a few strides into the room, looking pointedly around at the romantic setting. “The women from the other night? I didn’t think you would be up for that sort of thing.”
She whirled around in time to catch the teasing glint in his moss-green eyes. “You have no idea what I’m up for.”
He inhaled sharply, running fingers through his wavy hair with his free hand, offering the envelope with the other. “Take it.”
“No.”
“No?” Gabriel’s gaze narrowed, studying her stubbornly lifted chin, the lips that felt hot and swollen. Needy. “Fine.” He set it on the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. “I should go.”
Angelique crossed her arms over her suddenly aching breasts. She wasn’t begging him. Not this time. “You’re probably right.”
Neither one of them moved. Angelique watched him struggle ; she could practically see the battle being waged in his mind. He wanted her; she knew he did. But maybe he’d been right in the first place. She didn’t know what she was getting into with Gabriel. She should stay as far away from him as she could.
“Open it first.” Gabriel’s voice was rough, that rasp she loved seeming to scrape along her spine, making her shiver.
Why? She furrowed her brow and hesitated. She’d have to walk past him to get the envelope, near enough to touch him. To feel his heat. Was he trying to torture her?
He needed to leave before she threw herself at him again. This time there would be no one to find them, no reason to stop. This time he’d have to reject her without any excuses. She wasn’t sure she could deal with that tonight.
“Okay, fine.” She took a breath and started past him to reach for the long envelope. “You can tell her you’ve done your duty and—Hey!”
He dragged her up against his body, his fingers wrapping around her biceps, his gaze trapping hers. “Just sex,” he muttered. “I don’t have anything else to give. No one else knows; no one gets hurt. Just me, fucking you, until we get this out of our systems.”
Hadn’t she just been lecturing herself on not being led around by this man? Not letting her obsession cost her her pride? No woman in her right mind would say yes to such a crude offer. But Angelique was coming to realize she wasn’t in her right mind, and it was all his fault. He was a fraud. Pretending he chose to be isolated. Pretending he didn’t need anyone or anything. But she was on to him.
He wanted just sex? Well, so did she. “Just sex.” Her voice was more breathless than she’d have liked as she agreed, but his reaction was more than satisfying.
He shuddered against her, moaning against her mouth. “Where?”
Where what? What was he asking her? How did he expect her to think when she was so close to him? “What?”
Gabriel growled. “Fuck it.” He whirled her around and lifted her onto the small dining room table in the corner of the apartment. The same table she’d colored on as a child. Where she’d said her prayers before dinner. Done her homework.
God, why did that idea make her so hot?
He spread her legs and stepped between her thighs, his jeans rough against her bare flesh. He lifted his lips from hers to look into her eyes. “No going back, angel. Not this time.”
Thank God. Maybe that locket was lucky, after all.
CHAPTER 8
SHE’D GIVEN HIM AN OUT. HE COULD HAVE LEFT, COULD have walked away, unselfishly sparing her from what he was. On a good day he was a spoiled, arrogant jackass. The not-so-good days, which came more often than not lately, he was so much worse.
But he wasn’t one of the good guys. Never had been. He left the heroics to Angelique’s brother, to the patient Ben Adair.
Gabriel took what he wanted, when he wanted it. And he wanted her. More than he should.
“Wait.”
Fuck. Was she pushing him away? He tried to focus on her, tried to restrain himself from falling on her like a wild, hungry animal.
She licked her lush lips as if she were savoring his taste. Damn, she was beautiful. He saw her mouth move, but the blood pounding in his ears made it hard for him to hear her. “What?”
“Undress. I want to see you this time. All of you.”
He was having a hard time catching his breath, his hands shaking, cock so hard he was worried this might be over before it began, and she wanted a striptease?
But it never crossed his mind to deny her. One button flew across the room as he hurriedly complied.
He watched the flush darken her cheeks when he slipped off his shirt and felt a rush of adrenaline. She liked what she saw.
So did he. And he wanted to see more. His hands paused on the brass buttons of his jeans. “I need motivation. Show me those perfect breasts, Angelique. Offer them to me.”
She shivered, shrugging her shoulders so the straps of her silk, lace-edged gown slid down bare arms. Gabriel loosened the first button, then the second. Her breasts were so deliciously firm, despite their fullness, that they held the fabric up by themselves.
Her hands slid up, cupping her breasts like a lover before her fingers curled around the lace. Taunting him.
“Little tease.” His throat was tight and his mouth watered. He kicked off his shoes and finished unbuttoning his fly, but refused to push the denim down until she complied. Or he lost whatever restraint he had left.
She stared at the patch of tight, dark curls he’d revealed, her breath coming in short, sexy little pants. “Hello, Pot, this is Kettle.”
He laughed in surprise. How did she do that? Get him this crazy and make him love it? Surprise him? “I seem to recall you mentioning a spanking. Is that what you’re aiming for, baby? Is that what you want?”
Her brown eyes sparked, and he felt his cock jerk in response. She swallowed, pulling down the ivory satin to reveal her flushed golden skin, the dark nipples peaked and, he already knew, delicious.
He reached for her but she leaned back, her palms bracing on the table as she shook her head. The move arched her back, highlighting the edible breasts that remained just out of reach. “A deal’s a deal.”
“Tease.” But he was fighting a smile. He couldn’t help it. He stepped out of his jeans and his hands curled into fists at his side... waiting.
Her doe eyes were wide as she studied his thick erection. She sat up straight again, moving closer as she reached out her hand to touch it.
Gabriel gripped her wrist. “That’s not a good idea right now, angel.”
“It’s not?” She sounded distracted. Needy.
Tempt Me Page 9
