Eden was kneeling on the floor in front of the fridge; she had Christmas music playing, and she was singing along with the song.
“What are you doing?” Kore’s deep voice startled her making her jump.
“Well, I thought if you were going to cook then I should teach myself how to clean out the fridge. That’s fair right?”
“You want to stay?”
She could hear the confusion in his voice, but it was a valid question. Did she want to stay? She just ran away from her fiancé who wanted her dead and hired men to do it for him. Now she was in the home of a stranger on her knees cleaning out the fridge. If someone had of told her last week or even last year that she would be here, she would have laughed them out the door.
Kore held her last night; it was the first night of real rest she could remember since her parents died. His bed was large although the room was even larger. In his arms, it felt like she was in a warm private space only the two of them shared. He didn’t get fresh with her and even now he wasn’t making her feel like something was wrong with her. The way he treated her so far surprised her, but she liked it. Did she want to stay here? How was she supposed to answer that question? She wanted to take it day by day minute by minute and see what happened.
No, playing the long game, not this time, she had done that with Marcus, dreaming of a future and children. She’d been so busy looking ahead she couldn’t see what was right in her face. So yeah, if he was okay with her being there, she wanted to stay another day and see what tomorrow brought.
She rubbed her wrist against her leg grimacing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I must have banged my wrist without realizing it.” She rubbed it again trying to make the pain stop.
He came and knelt beside her taking her hand in his so he could see her wrist. Lifting his hand, he rubbed the jewel at his wrist over hers making her sigh in relief.
“Thanks, I don’t know what you did, but my wrist feels a lot better.”
“You’re welcome. There’s not a lot left in there.” He was looking into the fridge that was almost empty.
“Umm sorry. It was time to clean it out.”
“No, thank you, I’m not always on top of things like that. It looks like
I need to go shopping.”
She blanched and turned her head.
“What’s wrong?” His fingers went to her chin and turned her to face him.
“I don’t think sometimes, I just do. Maybe you didn’t want your fridge cleaned out. Maybe you didn’t want to know how empty it was.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to realize I was buying food for two, but there was only one mouth here to feed. Don’t worry, I have money. That’s never been the problem.” He shrugged and stood up. “I guess I should go shopping.”
“I was hoping we could go shopping, and maybe I could get some clothes. I found the washer and dryer, so my clothes are clean.”
He gave her that smile that wasn’t a commitment but said he liked what she was saying.
“So you’re going to stay for at least another day?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds good. We can eat breakfast out, then go shopping for some clothes for you, then food for the house.”
“Perfect. Are you going to make a list? Remember to put a turkey on it and cranberry sauce and we need the fixings for stuffing. I can already taste the turkey dinner.”
“You know how to cook a turkey?”
“Heck no, I was hoping you knew how. We can always YouTube it.
What day is it anyway?”
“December fifteenth.”
“Ten days till Christmas, I’m so excited.” She ran through the hallway on the side of the living room that led toward the bedrooms leaving him standing there with a bemused look on his face.
He stood in the kitchen listening to the Christmas music as his eyes looked around his kitchen. The dishwasher was on, the counters were gleaming all because a little human with happy smiles and music had come into his house. He picked up the heavy bag of garbage and took it out to the dumpster.
Eden, a smile tugged at his lips again. It had only been a day, but if he kept this up, he would be walking around with a smile. Eden, someone wanted to kill her. The white flames of justice consumed his eyes as the red flames of vengeance joined them.
“Kore, when are we leaving?” She raised her voice so he would hear her.
“When you’re ready.” He walked into the bedroom and took a seat. He was already dressed in a pair of jeans with a blue flannel shirt which he had paired with thick boots.
“Is that what you're wearing?” She ran her eyes over him with a critical look.
“Is there something wrong with it?”
She felt her critical look turn into a frown. Was there something wrong with what he was wearing? Her parents had always taught her to judge a person on who they were not on how they dressed but years of hanging out with friends who wouldn’t talk to a man unless he looked like money had caused her to think differently. Was that how she fell for Marcus? Had she been so focused on him being a worthy partner because he could match her wealth that she never took the time to examine who he was under the clothes?
“No, you look kind of cute. Can I touch your shirt?”
“Sure.”
Flannel, that was a material she never touched before. She walked up to him and placed her fingertips against the shirt. It was softer than she thought it would be. Her hand caressed the shirt. It didn’t take more than a minute before she forgot about the shirt. The muscles underneath it held her attention; he was strong, and the heat of his skin was penetrating the shirt.
She stepped a little closer and laid her head against his chest allowing the flannel to caress her cheek and the heat of his skin to warm her up. His hand came down and caressed her back. She took a deep breath in and sighed; he smelled so good.
What was she doing? She backed up and gave him a strained smile. She was running away from someone who wanted to kill her. Did she need to be making it any worse by hitting on an angel? Wasn’t there a rule that said angels were like off limits or something even if they were slightly messy angels that wore flannel? Flannel! How come she never realized how sexy it was?
He was standing there with those jeans that hugged his ass and made her want to touch with that flannel shirt that stopped just a little lower than his waist, and he looked better than a lot of the men she knew who wore tuxes. Get it together Eden, she whispered to herself.
“I’m ready. Breakfast first?”
“Yes.” He turned and walked out the room expecting her to follow.
They went through a door in a small hallway off the kitchen into the garage. The garage had tools that were neatly in place with a large jeep sitting in the middle of it. It sported large tires with thick winter treads.
“I don’t know why I thought you wouldn’t have a vehicle. I mean since you can fly and all.” She felt her face heat up with embarrassment. Good going, Eden.
“That makes sense, but I hate to carry groceries and other goods while I’m flying. Also, I can’t fight if there’s a need with my hands full. How would
I show you around without a vehicle?”
“You could always fly with me.” Her face was fire engine red now, she couldn’t help herself. If she were honest, some of that redness came from excitement at the thought of being in his arms again; it was making her hot.
“We can do that later.”
She looked up and gave him a shy smile before she allowed him to help her into his black Jeep.
He hit the remote opening the garage; the pathway in front of them was blocked by overgrown branches and bushes. With a wave of his hand, the trees and shrubs moved back making room for the Jeep.
She turned in the seat to look at him. “How did you do that?”
“It’s just an ability I have, like people who can see the future or manipulate numbers without ever being taught. It’s a gift.” She nodded and turned on
the radio.
“I love this song.” She started singing with enthusiasm filling the car with the sound of her voice. “Let the storm rage on; the cold never bothered me anyway.”
She stopped singing with a smile on her lips. “Did you ever see that movie?”
“Movie?”
“You know the Disney movie, Frozen.”
He shook his head. “I never heard of it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“No reason.” She placed her hand on his and watched the scenery in silence. They were on top of a large mountain, and there didn’t seem to be anyone else around.
“I own this property with my brothers.”
“You have brothers? Are they angels like you?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t seen them in a long time.”
“That’s sad. Maybe they will come back; it is Christmas.”
“What does Christmas have to do with anything?”
“This is the season of miracles.”
The landscape looked bleak and sad as if it was longing for laughter.
“Miracles don’t exist, Eden.”
“Are you sure, Kore? My car was going over a ravine in a freefall when this extremely hot angel caught it with his bare hands and flew it to the ground and saved my life. I would be dead if it weren’t for you. You’re my miracle, Kore.”
Turning the music up a little higher, she snuggled into the seat and watched him through half closed eyes. When he reached the bottom of the hill, he turned onto a road that led to the highway. It took about fifteen minutes after that, and they were in a populated area.
He stopped in front of a small diner. There were green and red wreaths over it with a Christmas tree in front of it. The lights blinked frantically making her want to laugh at them.
“Is it really called Magic and Mayhem?” she asked as he opened the door for her and helped her out of the jeep.
“Yeah. I should have asked you if this would be okay. The beings in there are different, like me.”
“Are they angels?”
“No, but they aren’t human as you think of human.”
“Will I be okay?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s eat.”
They walked through the parking lot, but the cars were sparse. The snow was covering the lot in a field of white giving it a mystical appearance.
She was surprised when they opened the door that the diner was full.
“Kore,” one of the waitresses looked up and called his name. “Your usual spot is free.”
“Thanks.” He weaved his way towards the back until they came to an empty booth.
The diner was small, but it felt warm inside with both ambiance and the warmth of the patrons. None of them smiled at her, but she had the feeling that if she tried to hurt anyone here, everyone would rise as one against her. She’d been in so many places where it was every man for himself that it felt nice to think they had each other backs.
Kore stood silently as she slid into the seat, then he slid into the seat opposite of her.
“Is this your first time at a diner?”
Her eyes widened. “Is it that obvious?”
“Everything seems new to you.”
“Sorry, I never thought of myself as a princess, but I guess I missed out on a lot of regular things growing up.” She ran her hand over the scared table wondering what happened to make the marks she felt under her fingertips.
“We all grow up different. What you think of as regular would probably amaze me, and what I think of as normal would probably make your eyes wider. I remember my parents trying to wrestle my brothers and me to the ground because we were trying to fly away on wings that would take us far enough to get us in trouble but wouldn’t bring us back.”
A smile took over his face for a minute as the memory played out and she gasped. He was handsome; she knew that, but when he smiled he was beautiful. His whole body lit up, calling to her on some pre-evolutionary level.
“I guess I’m saying be happy for the memories you have.” “You’re right. What’s good here to eat?” “Everything,” Talon said as he stared at Kore.
With a deep growl, Kore moved over allowing Talon to slide onto the bench next to him.
“I could sit next to your pretty…”
Kore cut his eyes to look at Talon while Talon laughed and gave him that look that said push me.
“Eden, this is Talon.”
“We met earlier. How are you, Eden.”
“I’m…I’m fine. You know each other?”
“We do but how do you know Talon?”
“He showed up in the car when I was going over the edge of the ravine. He said that everybody deserved a second chance and then left me there to die.”
“But you didn’t die.”
“No, I didn’t.” Was this her second chance and who was he? How did he stop time from moving? Was he the reason Kore found her in time to save her life and did it matter? Kore had found her. She looked back and forth feeling like she was missing something until she felt Kore place his leg along hers sharing his heat. A smile came to her.
Chapter Five
“Merry Christmas,” the waitress said with a wide smile breaking the tension at the table.
Eden looked up to see her eyes were yellowish with smatterings of brown in them. She was tall and slightly thick with blondish brown hair.
Eden gave the waitress a big smile.
“Can I have a glass of apple juice?”
“One apple juice coming up. Talon, Kore, can I get you anything to drink.”
“The usual,” Talon said.
“Sure. Kore?”
“I’ll take an apple juice also.”
The waitress lifted a brow and nodded her head.
“Take your time. I’ll take your orders whenever you’re ready. I’ll be right back with your drinks.” “You both must eat here often.” “I get around,” Talon said.
“I like it here. Most of the clientele leave you alone, and I like that.”
She smiled at him and placed her hand on his. Touching him gave her comfort she wasn’t going to ponder why, but she wasn’t going to deny herself.
“How do you feel, Eden?”
She turned to look at Talon. Maybe she was wrong, but Talon didn’t seem to be the kind that wasted words in idle conversation. She took stock of her body; she felt good.
“I feel fine.” She offered him a tentative smile hoping he would laugh and say of course she did.
“When you don’t feel fine, have Kore take you to South Side Medical and ask for Dr. Makal. He knows where it is.”
“Here are your drinks,” the waitress said as she placed them on the table. “Are you ready to order?”
Kore looked at Eden, and she nodded her head yes. She ordered and then he placed his order.
“Lian,” Talon called the waitresses name. “My mate said to tell you to stop at Fairfield on your way home. Merry Christmas.”
She smiled, her eyes going bright before she said thank you and walked away.
“I have shifters to annoy.” Talon stood, he reached down for his drink and disappeared.
“He’s different,” Eden said looking a little stunned.
“We’re all different, you’ll get used to it. Are you sure you’re feeling well?”
“Fit as a fiddle,” she laughed. “My parents used to say that, and I always thought it was funny. Now I find myself saying the things they used to say. I guess it makes me feel like they are still here.” He smiled at her.
She rubbed her hand against his, moving it back and forth.
“Are you used to being alone?”
“Yeah, I’ve been alone for a while.”
“I thought so, you can get real quiet.”
“Sorry, I never learned the art of small talk. Do you want to tell me who is trying to kill you?”
She tilted her head back and gave a genuine laugh causing him to smile at her.
“That is
definitely not small talk but yeah I think I can talk about it now. I have a fiancé, well I had a fiancé, it is definitely over whether he realizes it or not.”
“The male you love is trying to kill you?”
“Yes, no…wait. I thought I loved him but I realize now that I didn’t. I was just lonely. I was dating him because I wanted to be like my friends and be on someone’s arm like all my girls. I’ll never do that again. I bumped into him at some party, and I remember being embarrassed because I didn’t see him before me. I think he planned it. He was charming and nice, and I was lonely. We dated, going out, having fun and making my friends jealous because he was such a good catch.”
She stopped talking thinking about the things they had done. They were seen at every important society function, and she had even gone to some of his board meetings with him. He had shown interest in the affairs she would one day take over from her parents, but they hadn’t done the little things together.
They hadn’t sat on the couch and watched television. There were no moonlight walks, just the two of them or private dinners in his kitchen.
He’d never offered to take her shopping with big glasses and floppy hats as they avoided the lights and attention. That’s what her dad had been trying to say to her that last time they talked about Marcus.
“I thought I knew him and loved him, but I didn’t. If I hadn’t gotten sick, I think I would have figured it out. My parents died before he became my fiancé. They were in a fatal car crash that went over the side of the road.” She stopped talking as the color drained from her face.
They went over the side of the road just like her car. She raised her eyes to meet Kore’s.
“If he killed your parents we’ll find out.” He took both of her hands in his rubbing them together bringing warmth back to her.
“Here’s your breakfast.” Lian sat the food down before she gave them another smile and took off.
Eden took one look at her plate and grimaced, pushing it away.
“You have to eat, Eden,” Kore said pushing the plate back in front of her. “You’re not going to get justice for your parents by denying yourself.”
“Your right, it’s just the thought that he could have done something so evil, taken away the people I loved and cared about all for money.”
Kore's Angel: Angel Shifters Page 3
