He smiled, perfect white teeth flashing against warm mahogany skin. "I would not have believed anything so delicious could be made from a pumpkin. I have eaten more sweets this past few days than in my entire life. You have forever changed my appetites, Miya."
Her heart fluttered hearing those words a mile deeper than they sounded. She couldn't help feeling like he'd meant much more than he'd literally said. Like she'd marked him, and he wanted her to know. Could he really mean she'd changed his appetites for more than food? The idea thrilled her very bones. But how on Earth could she reply to that? She seriously wanted to ask him to specify which appetites, but anything more than a smile—
"Miya? A word please?" Craig, the owner/manager, saved her from coming up with a suitable answer.
"Excuse me." She backed a step from his table before forcing herself to turn and walk away. It only took a few paces to realize she'd given in to the subconscious urge to exaggerate the sway of her hips just in case the stranger watched her walk away. Still scolding herself, she approached Craig.
"Miya, honey, I hate to ask, but do you think you can handle closing alone? Melinda called. The baby's sick and she wants to take him to the ER. I wouldn't consider it if that man were the only customer still here, but the Lykins boy and his girlfriend are here, so he'll be long-gone by the time they leave."
Miya glanced around, a little surprised to realize the diner was wrapped up and ready to close. Only the two occupied tables and one other remained open, the counter lights had been turned down, and the kitchen lay in darkness. She'd been so preoccupied with flirting that she hadn't even noticed.
"Don't worry about it, Craig. I'll put up the Closed sign so no one else comes in and you get home to Melinda." She patted his arm with a smile. She was unbelievably lucky to have such a nice boss, even if he did periodically make half-hearted efforts to get into her pants. He didn't mean anything by it. At twenty-odd years older than his pretty wife, his ego occasionally needed some reassurance.
"I'll schedule you a paid day off next week to make it up to you, sweetheart. Thanks."
"You'll do no such thing. Now go!" She shooed him out the door and flipped the sign over to say 'Sorry, We're Closed'. Back behind the counter, she occupied herself with small closing tasks while she waited for the diners to finish.
Raised voices drew her attention to the table the Lykins boy and his girl occupied just as the girlfriend stood and dashed her glass of soda in the boy's face then stomped out the front door with him hot on her heels. Miya chuckled and grabbed the mop to clean up the mess when the expression on the stranger's face stopped her in her tracks.
He'd frozen, coffee cup half-raised, when the drama began. Noticing her attention, he smiled. "Do teenaged dates here generally end that way?"
She sputtered laughter. "Not normally. That boy seems to have more trouble keeping a girlfriend than most."
He started to rise. "Since I am the last, I will go and allow you to finish your work."
Miya glanced around. "Nonsense. Take your time. I still have several things to do. Besides, you can keep me company." Oh, great, idiot! Just beg the man!
He straightened fully and gave an elegant little bow. "Keeping you company will be my pleasure." He sat again.
Oh Lord that sexy voice of his. So deep and rumbly in her tummy. Not just her tummy, but her… yeah, not going there with those thoughts.
With the worst of the spill cleaned up, Miya wrung out the mop and let it wait while she started bussing the Lykins boy's table and searched for some witty way to begin a conversation.
"Do you have family nearby, Miya?"
Ugh. Family was the last thing she wanted in a conversation. She shook her head. "Just my mom." She scrubbed the table clean after loading the tub with the few dishes then paused with a smile. "She worked two jobs to raise me after my dad disappeared. How about you? Where are you from? Hell, what's your name?"
He smiled. "My name is Lesedi Letsie. I was born in Lesotho, but I have spent a great deal of time in South Africa, primarily Johannesburg."
"Oh, wow." She bit back a little huff of amazement in an attempt to not seem like a country bumpkin. Probably waaaaay too late. "And here I've never been out of Montana." Miya smiled, almost wishing she'd had an exciting life in faraway places, experiencing all the things she'd dreamed of. Knowing stuff outside of books.
"You are fortunate to have roots, a place to belong."
Miya shrugged, not convinced, and hefted the bus-tub to her hip. "I guess—" The bell over the door jingled harshly, and she turned. "Sorry but we're closed for—" The group of guys that shoved in froze her in her tracks.
Oh shit. Not tonight. Not that bastard.
The one particular disgusting pervert that she couldn't even stand to think of looked up and grinned at her. "Mi-ya. You didn't think ol' Jay Bee done f'got about you, did you? 'Specially not when you's here all by your lonesome." The lock on the door clicked as it slid home.
Miya glanced back at the one occupied table and found it empty. Lesedi was long gone. Fear seized her. Why had he left her? He hadn't seemed the type to run at the first hint of trouble.
JB Parsons had been the bane of her existence for years and after he took control of the Mason Aces gang, he'd really started pushing things.
He grinned again, approaching her slowly while his men split to either side so she couldn't bolt around him. "Now you be nice to me, Baby Girl, and maybe I won't hurt you too bad." He lifted a wicked looking handgun in one hand and waggled it in a clear threat.
Miya's hand started to slide on the bus-tub and she shifted her grip to keep from dropping it. The tip of her middle finger encountered a sharp point. She changed her grip again, sliding the knife up the side of the tub where she could get it quickly.
She took a slow careful breath, determined not to let JB see how scared she was. "JB, get lost. You're a bully. You've always been a bully. Your behavior—"
"Shut the fuck up bitch." He strode closer, sliding the gun back in his waistband.
She bit her lip, waiting, forcing herself not to bolt because he'd catch her and hit her like last time. Her mind raced, searching for some way out of the predicament.
JB paused for half a heartbeat just out of arm's reach and Miya thrust the bus-tub at his chest.
The whole thing did little more than disrupt his balance and piss him off.
"You gone pay fuh dat, bitch." He lunged forward, grabbing for her neck.
Miya fought back the scream that wanted out as she jumped back barely out of reach.
JB cursed and gauged the distance while Miya waited, balanced on the balls of her feet. Instinct urged her to bolt away but the other two men closed in from her sides and they'd managed to maneuver her around so that nothing but a solid wall waited behind her. Her only hope lay in staying out of reach until she could get her hands on a weapon.
JB dove at her again and she leaped back and to the right to clear a chair. The ends of her hair slid through his fingertips and at the same time her right foot hit a wet spot on the floor and sailed out from under her.
Her left knee struck the floor, but she scrambled sideways, fighting to regain her feet.
JB laughed aloud, sensing victory, and dove at her.
Miya braced for the impact and kept the nearly forgotten steak knife at her side, ready. Just wounding JB would infuriate him so she had to be certain to incapacitate him.
His knuckles brushed her cheekbone, just a hairsbreadth short of a serious blow. In the same instant, JB vaulted backward with a grunt and hit the floor hard, taking a chair down with him.
One of his men cursed and they both ran toward him. Miya struggled to her feet. What the hell had happened? The first gangster to reach JB crouched beside him, dragging a handgun from his waistband. Leaning low, he peered about for some unseen foe while JB cursed and groaned on the floor.
Ten feet away, JB's other man went down hard and lay unmoving. The one at JB's side cursed again. "Walt? Walt! Fucker I kn
ow you hear me! Speak the fuck up!"
His only reply was JB's continuing chorus of moaned curses.
"Bitch, I don't know how you done dis, but you gonna pay! Ain't nobody touch the Aces and don't pay. No. Bah. Dee." Another look around reassured him and he stood. "Sweet Tee be comin' for you, bitch. How dat feel?"
She shouldn't do it. Shouldn't antagonize him. "Like I'm watching a really bad rap video?" Miya took advantage of the precious seconds of stunned silence to move.
The man stood and leveled his gun in a sideways grip, snarling. "Well, see how dis feel, bitch."
A dark shape hurtled out of nowhere and the gun clattered to the floor, followed an instant later by its owner. JB fell silent.
"Are you okay, Miya?"
Miya blinked. Lesedi? She could only nod as tears filled her eyes.
He helped her to her feet and brushed his fingers along her cheek. "I made an anonymous call to the authorities." He shook his head, appearing confused. "With such a small town, I thought they would have come sooner, before I would have to intervene. Now it is safe and I hear them. I must go. The police will ask questions I would prefer not to answer. Is there a back way?"
Miya nodded even though she trembled. "Come on, I'll show you." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the kitchen and straight through to the rear entrance. The dining room erupted into noisy chaos as the local deputies entered, and she quickened her step.
Out in the fresh cold air of the clear night, she halted and looked up at the man. "I can't thank you enough." For reasons she failed to comprehend, she stepped close and rose to her tiptoes to press her lips to his.
He drew a shocked breath and before she could step back, he slid one hand into her hair, angling her head for his kiss. Pulling her close, he plundered her mouth in a way she'd only ever read about. When he drew back, she fought to catch her breath, staring up at him. "I will be back, sweet Miya. Go inside. Tell them you took a self-defense course. I will be here when you finish."
Just like that, he disappeared into the darkness of the alley, leaving her shocked and gulping air. Shaken to her core, she wondered what had just happened. Why had she done that? Everybody had spoken so negatively about him since he came to town, calling him uncivilized and trash, an illiterate heathen.
But from the moment he opened his mouth and spoke so intelligently in such a beautiful accent, she'd been mesmerized. Intrigued. Curious to get to know him. When had her curiosity turned to…hunger? And her hunger to need? Her need to…desire? She put her hand over her thundering heart and closed her eyes. Yes. Lord yes, desire. She went breathless again as the vivid memory of his full lips dominated her body as though he stood right there.
A shaft of light spilled out the door to illuminate her feet. "Miya?" Her friend, Janet, the only female deputy in Mason rushed to her. "Are you okay? Omigod, I was so scared when the call came in that you were being robbed!"
All Miya could do was stare at Janet.
"Come inside! It's cold out here, and that criminal might be lurking nearby. Come on." Janet guided Miya by her shoulders toward the door. "You need a coffee."
Moments later, Miya sat at a table, a hot mug grasped between icy fingers, the memory of Lesedi's firm lips and hard body superimposed on everything else. Would he truly be waiting for her?
She hoped so.
More than an hour later, she signed the last police statement and watched as Janet finished her paperwork.
Craig, the owner, came in to deal with the fallout. He made his way over to her. "Do you need a ride home, Miya?"
"No thanks, Craig. I'm fine."
"You're sure? It's no trouble."
"I know, but Melinda will worry about you. You go home to her and the kids, make sure they're okay." Reminding him of his family never failed to shut him down. "I have my car here. I'll be fine." And maybe her rescuer would put in an appearance.
Waiting until everybody had left was the hardest thing ever. When she'd insisted she was fine on her own for the hundredth time, they left her in peace. Exactly five minutes after the coast cleared, she headed out the back. As she double checked that the door was locked, warm air brushed against the side of her neck, raising goose bumps.
"I told you I would be here."
A quick wave of heat sailed through her belly as she spun around. "I'm glad." The word rushed out on her surprised breath.
"Are you, Miya?"
She nodded as his lips brushed against her neck. Instinct guided her to turn into his embrace but before she could, light flared inside the kitchen, visible through the security glass of the door. "What on earth?"
He stiffened against her, closer than she'd imagined. "You have the key?"
She handed it to him without question and waited while he unlocked the door and slipped inside. Following on his heels, her jaw dropped at the scene before her.
Her friend Kassie, shaking and fragile-looking, braced a lanky boy against her slight frame. Seeming barely conscious and hardly able to stand, the kid moaned softly.
Everything else forgotten, Miya darted forward. "Kassie, what's wrong?"
Before she could reach Kassie, the largest, brightest man she'd ever seen put himself in front of her.
"It's okay, Lyght." Kassie's soft voice trembled, betraying fear and pain.
Miya ignored the man and went around him to her friend. "What can I do?" Even while she spoke, her gaze searched, finding the signs of horror and injury. "Oh, Honey, what happened?"
Kassie shook her head. "Not now. The boy needs food, fast. He's too weak to eat solids."
Miya nodded and switched gears into first aid mode. It took only a second to grab one of the individual serving-size cartons of OJ and pop a straw into it. She held it under the boy's mouth while he drank weakly. Close up, she realized he was rather large for the twelve year old she'd first taken him for.
Looking back to Lesedi, she hoped he didn't mind helping. "Would you get in the fridge, over there?" She nodded toward it. "There are little bowls of jello ready for tomorrow. That will help."
He complied without a word, his mahogany skin looking even darker in the dim light of the kitchen.
Miya helped Kassie adjust the boy in her lap and knelt to feed him. Poor thing. He was shockingly pale, with cracked and bleeding lips. He would need careful watching.
While she concentrated on the boy, she kept one eye on her savior. He approached the big man who seemed to be with Kassie and thrust his hand out. "I am Lesedi."
The other man looked at his hand, seeming confused for an instant, then took it. "Lyght."
"Are you followed?"
"Maybe."
Lesedi nodded and moved quickly to lock the door and checked the window, then disappeared into the front for a few minutes.
When he came back, he spoke quietly to the other man, then they both nodded, before he came over to Miya. "I think we should gather what might be needed here and move across the street to my hotel room. It will be safer."
Miya started to nod. "No, wait, my place is only a few blocks away and there won't be anyone there." She waited for his agreement then touched his arm. "Grab some more of the jello and OJ, and a tub of soup from the bottom shelf of the fridge." She glanced around until her gaze landed on the big industrial first aid kit over the sink. "Bring that too."
Miya caught the strange man's inquisitive stare on Lesedi who complied quickly with her instructions. He suddenly turned his diamond-looking eyes on her. Fear froze her breath in her throat as they locked gazes. This one was more foreign than the foreigner. Her mind struggled to connect logic to his appearance and the aura he carried but it was like running in circles, nothing working.
He suddenly nodded at her with a smile. "Perfect."
Just like that, the fear inside her rushed out like he'd turned on a tap. Miya couldn't resist a bubbly grin, feeling like she'd gained favor with someone extremely significant.
The Twilight Zone moment continued on as she numbly lead the little crew cautiously
out the back door to her car. The new guy had brought bigger issues into her little world than Lesedi had. And as much as that should have alarmed her, she felt oddly at peace.
She drove them to the front of the diner and Lesedi hopped out. "Give me a moment and I will follow you. My car may be useful soon." He disappeared and a moment later headlights flared to high beam for a second, then back to low, signaling her to lead the way.
Chapter Four
Lyght couldn't believe his extreme good fortune. Well, actually, he could, but his Brothers would certainly not. Within only a single hour of hitting Earth, he had rescued his wife and found his couple. And they were both falling in love. And they had kissed. He'd accomplished in a fraction of a day what had taken the others nearly a week. As much as he'd like to proclaim his success entirely due to skill, he recognized what humans referred to as good luck when he saw it.
Even as he cataloged his surroundings and paid careful attention to the entire experience of his first ride in a car, his peripheral vision strayed to the woman he had just claimed. He'd finally had the common sense to clothe the poor girl. Was he supposed to find the task as pleasurable as he had? It was a simple dress, really. He had seen the attire in his indelicately crammed human studies, one the article had referred to as 'classic style'. But fitting the finely woven fabric of diamond on her slight frame had proven to strike quite a fancy in him.
He could literally feel the desire to create an entire wardrobe for her take root in his infinite mind. Imagining her parading before him in each outfit became an unexpected pleasure. He'd particularly envisioned her in what was called honeymoon attire. Damn, he'd meant to find out what honey and the moon had to do with human coitus. It must be important for all the emphasis placed upon it.
Lyght went to the now familiar business of rewinding time in his head to replay the kiss she had shocked him with. He had known she was thoroughly confused from trauma but would never have dreamt it would display itself in such a way. He paid close attention to his body's reaction to the memory of her soft lips pressing into his. No signs of the physical symptoms he'd been told to expect with sexual arousal. That was a relief since he had no business having it yet.
Summon Lyght (Archangels Creed) Page 3
