by ERIN BEDFORD
“Very well,” he said, and with that, he was gone.
“What?” Mandy asked, searching around. “What happened? Did he leave?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “He went wherever.”
“What was that all about?” Mandy touched my shoulder, and I shrugged it off. “Did you two really …?” She gestured to the bed and then back to me.
“Yeah, we did.” I chuckled. “It was fucking fantastic too.” I met Mandy’s eyes and smirked. “Remember that guy, the one in college.”
“Mister All Weekender?” Mandy asked, a grin spreading across her lips. “He’s that good?”
I laughed. “Oh, better. We’re talking about stamina here. And …” I held my hands out in front of me measuring out the approximate size of Michael’s hardware.
“Really?” Mandy’s eyes widened. “Man, not only are these guys real, but they’re well-equipped.” She dragged a hand through her hair, which she had let down after the civic center. A thoughtful look crossed her face, and then she asked, “Do you think one of them might want to be my new fuck buddy?”
The violent reaction I had to Mandy’s question caught me off-guard. “No, absolutely not,” I shouted, glaring at her.
Mandy’s mouth dropped opened, and she took a step backward her hands up in a defensive position. “Jeez, bite my head off. I thought you didn’t like these guys.”
“I don’t,” I grumbled. “Okay, maybe a little. Or a whole lot. I don’t know. They grow on you, and now that I actually have a chance to get physical with them, it makes it all different, you know?” I turned away from Mandy and searched for my purse. If we were going over to Jack’s, I’d need my stuff.
“I understand how you feel.” Mandy followed me toward the door after I grabbed my bag. “There’s this guy at the office that really pushes my buttons, but there’s this magnetism between us that just makes me want to let him bend me over the copy machine and really let me have it.”
I quirked a brow at her. “Really? Cliché much?”
Mandy grinned. “What? I like the classics. Shower sex. Office sex. I’m a shove me up against a tree in the middle of the rain kind of girl.”
I made a face. “That sounds painful and wet. Not to mention the chance of catching a cold.” We exited my apartment, and I locked up before following her down the stairs. “So, where are we heading to? And can we stop and eat first? Celestial sex really works up an appetite.”
Mandy shook her head. “You and your stomach.” We got in the car, and she sighed, glancing at her phone. “I have to wait for a warrant anyway, in case this Jack guy ends up not cooperating.”
“Gonna be hard to cooperate when he’s dead,” I reminded her, clicking my seatbelt.
“We don’t know that for sure.” Mandy shot me a look. “Where do you want to eat?”
“Burritos?” I asked and then added, “And we do know for sure, Gabriel said so.”
“Fine. He’s dead. We don’t have an autopsy showing that, so we still have to do it by the book.” Mandy pulled out of the driveway and down the street. “Didn’t you just have a burrito for breakfast?”
“So?” I shrugged. “I like Mexican. Breakfast or lunch. Besides, I need some alcohol to kill some of this” - I shook my jittery hands - “energy.”
“Sure you don’t want a cigarette?” Mandy glanced over at me with a smirk.
“Why? Do you have one?”
“No, and that’s so bad for your health.” Her lip curled in disgust.
“And so is drinking, but we’re all gonna die sometime.” I lifted a shoulder and dropped it.
Mandy pulled into the Del Macho Taco parking lot. “You know, eating fast food will kill you just as fast as alcohol or tobacco. You’re starting to look a little, well, hippy.”
“What?” I exclaimed, glancing down at my hips. “I am not.” Mandy chuckled, and I glared. “You’re evil you know that?”
“Hey, I’m not the one going to pound town with a bunch of angels,” Mandy countered as she pointed a finger at me.
“One.” I held up a finger. “One angel. I’m going to pound town with one angel.”
“For now.”
What could I say? She was right. The moment I had the chance to get with Gabriel or Lucifer, I didn’t see myself saying no. I didn’t think I had the willpower to choose just one of them if it ever came down to it.
Michael had his domineering personality that had me wanting to bend over and say, “Spank me, please.” I wanted to be the naughty secretary in his billionaire CEO. Whatever he wanted me to do, I’d do it. Probably why he wore the big angel pants up there. He was used to giving the commands.
Lucifer, on the other hand, could command my panties with one look. That guy had some serious game. I had no doubt if Lucifer were solid, he would have his own harem of women chasing after him. Probably why there were satanic cults. They’d gotten a glimpse of his sexiness, and that was that.
Now, Gabriel was a different story. I didn’t see him being the type to need to be in control. He seemed more like the wine and dine kind. Don’t get me wrong, Gabriel could perv out with the best of them. The number of times I’d caught him staring at my boobs - I didn’t have enough fingers. Nevertheless, Gabriel would be a gentleman about it, I was sure.
“What are we talking about?” Gabriel’s voice came from behind me, making me jump in my seat, my hand to my heart.
Turning around, I glared at him. “Don’t do that!”
Gabriel gave me a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I thought you were expecting me.”
“Is someone back there?” Mandy twisted in her seat to stare in the backseat. “Is Michael back?”
“No,” I grumbled. “Gabriel just about gave me a heart attack.”
“Gabriel?” Mandy raised a brow. “He’s the one who can see the future, right?”
“Yeah,” I said at the same time that Gabriel said, “No.”
Of course, Mandy didn’t hear his answer, and I didn’t let him explain more as Mandy pulled up to the drive-thru menu. “I want a number six and a number 12 with no tomatoes and a margarita.” Mandy gave me a warning look, and I sighed. “Fine, nix the margarita, but we are getting trashed after this tonight. This is my day off, remember?”
Mandy relayed my order to the little person in the box. Just as we are about to move up in the line, the car fizzled and died.
“What the hell?” Mandy yelled, trying to crank her car again.
I twisted in my seat to see a pouting Gabriel. “Really? You’re like a million years old, and you’re going to throw a temper tantrum?”
“I’m not a fortune teller. I don’t see the future,” Gabriel snapped, his large muscular arms crossed over his chest making them bulge. I’d have been drooling had he not been acting like a child. A big sexy man-child.
“Fine, you’re not a fortune teller,” I quipped with an irritated growl. When he refused to turn the car back on, I turned to Mandy. “Gabriel wants you to know, he’s not a fortune teller. He’s a …?” I glanced back at him, waving a hand at him.
“A seer.”
“A seer?” My brow furrowed, and my head angled to the side. “How’s that any different than a fortune teller or a psychic?”
“There’s a big difference.” Gabriel leaned forward, his hands on each of our headrests. “I don’t just see the future, but the past and present too.”
“What’d he say?” Mandy asked, giving up on trying the car back on. We were lucky we were the only ones in the drive-thru at the moment.
I repeated back to her what he said.
Mandy’s face scrunched up. “So, does that mean if he wanted to, he could see what happened with you and Michael?”
I glared at Mandy, but it was too late.
“What happened with Michael?” Gabriel asked, a curious expression on his face. Before I could open my mouth to make something up, Gabriel had a dazed look in his eyes. Then as soon as it came it changed, his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. “Michael was solid?
”
“Yeah but —” I started but was cut off again by Gabriel.
“You had sex with Michael!”
My mouth snapped shut and glowered at my best friend. “Thanks a lot.”
15
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but I’m sorry,” Mandy complained as I stuffed my face full of Mexican food.
Gabriel had finally turned Mandy’s car back on, and we were on our way to the police station, where hopefully we had a warrant to go after Dead Jack.
“It’s not her fault.” Gabriel leaned forward from the back seat. “You shouldn’t let her take all the guilt. It’s you after all who was keeping secrets.”
I didn’t look at him but kept putting food in my mouth. If I couldn’t talk, then I didn’t have to explain. Which was something Gabriel was trying really hard to get me to do. I didn’t know why he didn’t just use his seer powers and see what happened. He was the one after all complaining about being lumped in with fortune tellers.
Men.
“You really shouldn’t be keeping secrets from them anyway.” Mandy glanced my way, but I ignored her, the bean and spicy meat combination my sole focus. “You say you like these guys, but if that were true, wouldn’t you want to get with them as soon as you can?”
If I had laser vision, I would use it right now to melt in Mandy’s brain. She just didn’t know when to stop talking sometimes. What next? She was going to reveal my darkest secrets from high school?
Believe me, if you think my ‘four ways with the angels’ dream was kinky, what I thought up during my hormonal teen years was way worse. We’re talking cartoon porn.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Mandy continued, glancing my way every once in a while with her puppy dog eyes, but I would not be swayed! “Plenty of women would kill to get half the attention you get from those guys.”
Gabriel laughed in my ear, a sound that made it hard to swallow. I grabbed my drink, sucking as much down through the straw as possible as I tried to talk.
“Just because it’s normal doesn’t mean you need to tell everyone,” I chastised Mandy and then turned my attention to Gabriel. “I wasn’t hiding it per se, Michael just wanted to check it out first. Make sure there aren’t any drawbacks.” Gabriel gave me a disbelieving look. I twisted around all the way and put my hand on top of his, well, more like inside, but you know what I mean. “I’m serious. It would kill me if something happened to you guys just because I wanted a little poke and tickle.”
Mandy snorted. “Poke and tickle. What are you, a velvet coat wearing gentleman? Who says that anymore?”
I smacked her on the arm. “I do! And don’t interrupt, big mouth.” Mandy grumbled to herself, but I focused back on Gabriel. “Besides, you know what would happen if Lucifer found out about this before we knew everything about it.”
Gabriel grinned. “He’d push you in front of a pair of scissors if he could.” I gave him a pointed look which made him frown. “I can see what you mean.” Sighing, Gabriel dragged a hand through his already tousled brown hair. “Fine, I understand, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still upset that Michael got there first. I thought we had a connection. We did meet first after all.”
“We do,” I assured him with a soft smile. “And if it had been you instead of Michael, I would have been just as happy. But promise me you won’t hold this against him. I don’t want me to come between you guys.”
“I promise.” Gabriel nodded, his eyes serious for a moment before giving me a lopsided grin. “Besides, did you think millennia of being friends would get destroyed so easily by a human?”
I placed my hand on my chest, pretending to be offended. “Why, I never!”
“A beautiful, gorgeous human who I can’t wait to get my mouth on.” Gabriel leaned toward me, licking his lips as he gave me his best bedroom eyes.
Little rivulets of desire spread through me and settled between my thighs. The thought of Gabriel's mouth on any part of my body made me wet and achy. I wanted him to touch me as much as I had wanted Michael. I was even willing to open a vein for it.
“Well, play your cards right, and you might just get your wish.” I grinned coyly, earning me a dark smirk from Gabriel.
Mandy, on the other hand, did not find my words arousing. She made gagging noises before shoving the car into park before the Blessed Falls Police Station. “If you two are done eye-fucking each other, we have real work to do.”
“Eye fucking?” I giggled. “How do you know we are doing any such thing? We could have been talking about cards or knitting.”
Mandy scoffed and pointed at me. “I might not be able to see Gabriel, but I know your horny look anywhere. Remember we were roommates during college? We grew up together. There isn’t a look of yours I don’t know.”
“Oh, yeah. What look am I doing now?” I deadpanned, staring directly at her.
Grinning like a fiend, Mandy said, “The ‘you’re my best friend in the world, and I love you’ look.”
“Not even close.” I shook my head.
“Come on.” Mandy opened her door. “O’Connor is probably blowing a gasket already waiting for us.”
“When isn’t he?” I asked, getting out of the car. Gabriel appeared behind me, his hands in his short pockets as he strolled by my side.
“Good point.” Mandy laughed. “But really, we should get this warrant before someone tips him off.”
“No one’s going to tip him off,” Gabriel said. “He’s dead.”
I repeated back to Mandy what Gabriel said. Mandy shook her head. “Like I said, proof is needed, not the word of an angel.” We walked into the precinct, the office busy even though it was a weekend. Lowering her voice, Mandy pointed at me. “And you need to keep the crazy talk to a minimum. Just because I believe you doesn’t mean that everyone else will. You sure as hell know O’Connor won’t.”
“I won’t what?”
Mandy, Gabriel, and I stopped in place as the tall Irish man stood before us. If possible, it seemed like the stick up his ass had been shoved in even further.
That didn’t keep me from saying, “Won’t be joining that dating site for Jews. You know ‘cause you’re not Jewish.” I cocked my head to the side, “Are you?”
Instead of answering my question, Detective O’Connor glared at Mandy. “I don’t think my dating life is any of either of your concerns.”
“Of course not,” Mandy quickly said with wide innocent eyes. “I would never —”
“By never, she means she’d never think you were into large women.” Mandy gasped and tried to cover my mouth, but I quickly darted away. “Not that there’s anything wrong with liking bigger women. Everyone needs love. Even guys like you.”
At this point, the vein in Detective O’Connor’s forehead started to pulsate, and I thought I was one second away from getting him to blow. Sadly, just as he was about to go, the captain came barreling toward us.
“O’Connor, Stevenson.” Both the detectives snapped to attention. I exchanged a grin with Gabriel and then copied their movements, half tempted to add a salute to the mix.
“Yes, captain?” Detective O’Connor asked, his face still tinged with anger.
“I have that warrant you requested, and we’re good to go.” Captain Welling’s eyes landed on me, and he smiled. “Miss Mehr, how good to see you. I hear you did wonders in finding us this lead. Excellent job.”
I nodded my head and smiled broadly. “It’s all in a day’s work, captain. But I have to say I couldn’t have done it without my girl here … and Detective O’Connor’s impressive eyebrows.” I glanced toward the detective, pointing at the furry caterpillars nesting above his eyes. “They were crucial in our intimidation tactics.”
Captain Welling gave me a curious look and then nodded at Detective O’Connor. “Well, good work, team. Keep it up. Let’s find our victim.”
“Yes, sir,” Mandy and Detective O’Connor said in unison like it was somehow rehearsed. Must be something they learned
in the police academy.
When the Captain walked away, Detective O’Connor spun around and jabbed a finger in my direction, his teeth clenched tight. “You are walking a fine line, Mehr.”
I leaned forward slightly, my eyes squinting. “You have something green in your teeth, right there.” I pointed to the left side of his canine. There wasn’t anything there, but it still made Detective O’Connor reach up and dig his nail in between them, a glower on his face.
Mandy grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the door.
“We’re leaving already?” I pouted as Gabriel followed behind me. “But I was two seconds away from making O’Connor go ballistic.”
Gabriel chuckled at my side. “You’re just as bad as Lucifer. No wonder he’s attracted to you.”
“Am not,” I countered and then grinned. “Okay, maybe a little, but don’t you dare tell him.”
“My lips are sealed.” Gabriel zipped his lips with his fingers.
“Come on, Mandy,” I urged, getting into her car. “You have to admit it was funny.”
Mandy didn’t even crack a smile.
I hadn’t seen her this mad since Donny Terman took off on her during homecoming. Of course, I beat the crap out of him later when I found him with his pants around his ankles and Slutty Sally blowing him. Nobody messes with my girl, but me.
Cranking the car, Mandy whipped the car out of its spot and headed down the road. Her hands gripped the wheel until her knuckles were white, her eyes focused intently in front of her.
After a few minutes of silence, she finally blew up, “Do you think this is a game?”
“Well, no —” I tried to say, but she cut me off.
“This is my job. My livelihood,” she snarled, shooting a look my way. “You can’t just act like that to my partner. You could get me fired.” She sped around a corner, throwing me against the door of the car.
“Jeez, Mandy. Slow down. You’re gonna get us both killed.” I held onto the ‘oh, shit’ handle above my head. “It wasn’t that bad.”
