“They died when the enemy stalked the Earth killing mates. My dad died,” he pointed to him. “Stalking the evil. He left the five of us alone.”
There was a picture of five small boys and then a picture of five teenaged boys. They looked unloved, and her heart went out to them.
“Times were hard, and they have been for a long time. It took us centuries to wrap our heads around that fact that we will never have life mates or children. Many died alone. The shifters have diminished in numbers, and then there was a rumor of shifters being made in a laboratory and shifter females also being made. We began to hope maybe that would happen for us.
“Soon we lost hope. How do you make an Angel shifter? Then you came along and caused my Jewel to glow brightly. My mate, I knew I couldn’t leave you on that shore, so I brought you home with me. Your body is forming a Jewel on your wrist. You’re my opposite, the yin to my yang. My mate, but you don’t have to stay. I won’t keep you if you don’t want to be kept. Think about it?”
He left the room to get his boots on, and she stared at the pictures. His mother, her hand went up to trace the woman in the different pictures on the wall. The smile on her face said she loved her family. His sisters, they were so small just looking like they were getting their wings in the one picture and someone killed them, just like her parents. Like Marcus tried to kill her. Eden’s anger burned at a monster that could be that callous.
She turned to follow Kore, putting on her boots and her jacket, grabbing her hat and purse even as the thought of what it would be like to be his mate ran through her head. She had lots of reasons to ignore what he was saying to her. No one mated in two days; all right maybe they were on day three, but still love didn’t happen like that. Lust did, but you needed more than lust for a forever relationship. Marrying someone you just met because they felt like the other half of your soul was stupid, right?
Her head was going around and around until she felt like she was spinning, so she stopped thinking and enjoyed the ride in his Jeep.
“Real tree or a fake one?”
She didn’t know. They always had a real tree that some company brought to the house and made look super cute, and they sang around it. It never really felt like her tree. There were no ornaments that she picked out or special ornaments from her parents. Oh, they had a box of them in the basement, but they never seemed to make it on the tree after they made money.
“Fake.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I want the whole tree experience. Let’s put it together make its branches look spectacular and buy special ornaments for the tree.”
He pulled in front of a big warehouse. There was a sign that said Christmas Central and she knew they were at the right place.
“They have everything here for trees. You can get lost in this place for hours.”
“This is going to be so much fun.” She opened her door and slid out coming to a slight jar when her feet finally touched the ground. She was laughing, and he had his arms crossed over his chest making her wonder why they left the house this morning. A slight smile tugged at his lips, and she wondered once again how she could be so happy.
She gave him a saucy wink and walked past him to the entrance of the store. When she entered she had to stop; her mouth dropped in wonder.
There were trees and lights and ornaments. Santas flying in the air.
Reindeer were pounding their hooves. She’d never seen anything like this.
It was like being a kid who finally got to go to a toy store.
“Come on, Kore,” she called over her shoulder. “We have to see this.”
She stopped in front of a twenty-foot-tall Santa that was meant to go on your chimney. He looked like he was about to slide down it.
“This is amazing. Can you imagine seeing a house with this on the roof? I bet the kids would go wild.” She reached out to touch Santa and smiled.
“Do you want him?” Kore was looking at him with a critical eye.
“No, first I want a tree.”
He took her hand, and they walked down row after row of trees. She looked at them all giving them her fullest attention.
“I’ve decided I want a full tree. None of this slender stuff.”
“I agree, and we have room for a full tree in the living room. Do you want pre-lit or do you want to string the lights yourself?”
“I don’t know. The pre-lit ones look so pretty, I feel myself leaning that way. We still get to decorate it.”
“Then let’s get pre-lit.”
She nodded. “That was easy.”
“We still haven’t picked a tree.”
“Oh, right. I want a tall one. How does eight or nine feet sound?”
“Perfect.”
They came to a tree and she stopped. The beauty of it hit her, and she gasped for a minute.
“Is this the one?”
She nodded her head; she couldn’t stop staring at it. He picked it up and placed it on the long flat cart he got just for the tree.
“What next?” he asked her.
Her eyes lit up. “Decorations.”
He paid for the tree while she looked so they wouldn’t have to drag it around all day. She had a regular shopping cart by the time he came back and was standing in the middle of the aisle comparing decorations with another couple. They were telling her what looked good on a mantel.
She was smiling. Kore’s heart opened fully. She may leave, but he would always love her.
Chapter Eleven
Eden said goodbye to the couple she waas talking to and made her way to where Kore was standing. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a uick kiss on the lips.
“They were helping me, giving me some decorating ideas. They’ve been married for three years and have gone through some tough times. Christie's mother is watching their one-year-old so they could go shopping. I got their number though; maybe we could meet them after the New Year. I probably shouldn’t have done that.” The joy slipped out of her voice as she faced her future.
“Making plans for the future isn’t bad. We never know what tomorrow will bring. You can connect with them no matter where you are.”
She smiled at him and nodded, but some of the joy on her face didn’t come back.
“Let’s go down this aisle. I told them this was our first Christmas together, and they insisted we had to go down the aisle of first.”
She stopped to pick up an ornament that said babies first Christmas. It was done in blue with little booties and an angel on it. There was a place for a picture. Next to it was the same ornament with a place for a memory card. They found ornaments for puppies first Christmas as well as for kittens first Christmas. It wasn’t until they found the ornaments for a couple’s first Christmas that Eden swiped at her eyes before smiling at Kore.
“I think we need one,” he said, taking her hand in his.
“I think you’re right.”
They took their time examining them until she picked up the one that had an angel with its wings wide open with a woman sitting down with her legs under her. She was staring at the angel with a look of love on her face.
“This one,” she said. He took it from her and placed it in the cart along with another ornament he was careful to keep her from seeing. They walked down the aisle picking up decorations for the tree and the house until she was sure they had way too much.
“I think we’re overdoing it.”
“I’m not sure. I’ve heard people say you can never have enough, but we can always come back tomorrow.”
They turned the cart around both of them pushing it and made their way to the checkout line.
The voices around then were loud and filled with laughter along with the warmth of the season. So why was she beginning to shake? The warehouse was surprisingly warm but cold seemed to be penetrating it. The voices became muted background noise. She looked around feeling a presence of something or someone dark.
Kore’s arm snaked around her before he
placed her behind him. His wings outstretched enough to hide her.
“I can feel you,” Kore’s deep voice vibrated through the warehouse.
“All of you can feel me.”
Eden peaked around and realized that not everyone was standing frozen. There were people littered around that were still moving. They were protecting whoever they were with as they looked around the room trying to spot the danger.
“The others can breathe a sigh of relief because I am here to deal with you, angel.”
“Speak your piece,” Kore said, still looking for the evil but unwilling to leave Eden unprotected.
“Give me the female.”
Laughter rang out from different areas of the store.
“He’ll never give her up,” a male voice said. “I wouldn’t either.”
“Your day will come, but today I want the female angel.”
Female angel? Was he talking about her or someone else? Maybe she was Kore’s mate, maybe, but she wasn’t an angel. She pressed a little closer to him without touching, knowing he might need room to move or change.
“No.”
“No?” the voice boomed, and the building shook.
“I don’t care what you think she is; you can’t have her.”
“Make it easy on her, give her to me.” The voice changed; it held a seductive edge to it. “Come to me, female angel. Come, meet your doom.”
Ah no. She’d already met doom and gloom, and his name was Marcus and if she wasn’t going to allow him to kill her, she wasn’t falling for shadow man with the lethal canines. He appeared on the wall across from her. She felt a shiver go up her spine, but she stayed still behind Kore.
“No.”
He took a step toward her and every shifter took a step toward him.
“I’ll make you regret this, Kore.”
“The only thing I regret is your creation.” The shadow blinked out like he was never there.
The volume was turned up, and the animated conversation flowed like nothing ever interrupted it. She could still feel the goosebumps on her arms and in the pit of her stomach sat acid wrapped around a healthy layer of fear. Whatever that shadow was, it was going to come after her.
“Eden.” Kore wrapped her tightly in his arms. “How are you?”
“Lovely, every girl should have a holiday season when she’s the target of madmen and shadows.” A false smile was plastered on her face when she looked at him. Dropping her head, she leaned into him and allowed her shoulders to droop.
“I’m a little scared. It feels like everyone is out to kill me and I can’t figure out what I did wrong. Does that make me weak?”
“No, it makes you smart. Being scared of the things that you know are out to hurt you makes sense. Now we use that fear and find a way to make it work for us.”
She nodded her head as she began to put their purchases on the conveyer belt. That would work for her. It wouldn’t be the first time she had turned a perceived weakness into a strength.
Kore stowed away their bags as she sat in the front seat trying to warm up. He got in and turned up the heat before he started back to the house.
It was his house, but she was beginning to think of it as home, just like she was beginning to think of him as hers. If the evil had demanded Kore, she would have stood in front of him and done everything in her power to keep him safe. He didn’t need her to protect him; she knew that. This wasn’t about need unless it was her need to make sure he was safe.
She never felt this way with Marcus. She simply assumed he could take care of himself. Did Marcus ever need her? Her thoughts of Marcus and their time together played in her mind like a loop. No, Marcus never needed her; he simply wanted what wasn’t his, her money.
Kore needed her and didn’t even know it. His house showed how he was beginning not to care. He took his days one at a time, but he didn’t expect anything good to happen to him. He was just surviving until she came along. Already he was different, laughing, smiling, making her feel like his queen. He needed her, but the flip side of that coin was she needed him too. When she went back to her real life, it would never be as good as this.
She gave him a wan smile and exited the jeep when he parked in the garage. Together they brought the decorations in, and she sat on the floor with the tree and the decorations around her, and a tear slipped from her eye.
“Talk to me, Eden.” He sat on the floor facing her.
“I feel a little torn between the life that I’m living here and the one I’ve lived for years. I don’t want to lead you on, make a promise I can’t keep.
I don’t want to hurt you.”
His hand went under her chin until she raised her head to look into his eyes. “I’m not asking for more than you can give me. Right now all I want is this moment. When it ends, I’ll want the next moment but only if you’re willing to share it with me. When you can no longer share your moments, we’ll deal with it then. Deal?”
“Deal.” She wiped her hand over her eyes and he pulled her into his embrace letting her feel both his warmth and steadiness.
“All right, this tree is not putting itself up without our help.” She gave a forced laugh, and they stood up cleaning the living room before they began to put the tree together.
“I think you have to put this pole into this hole.” She turned over part of the tree trying to get a better look at it.
“No, that’s the bottom, it goes into the stand.”
She frowned at him her nose squinting up making him smile. “Are you sure?”
He nodded yes. They put the tree together with lots of laughter before the debate began.
“Let’s put on music.”
“I thought we could put a movie on.”
“We can’t watch a movie. It’s Christmas time; we’re trimming the tree and decorating, we need festive music to sing and dance to.”
“I don’t dance or sing.”
“That’s why you need me around.” She turned up the music and pretended she had a mic in her hands and began a sexy rendition of “Santa Baby.”
“You can sing that for me anytime.”
She gave a laugh. “Let’s see if any Christmas shows are on.”
Flipping on the television, she went to the menu to find Santa Claus is coming to town.
“I love this movie.”
“It’s for children.”
“No, it isn’t it’s for the whole family. My favorite song is “Put One foot in Front of the Other.”
“You like music.” He sat on the couch taking a break. The tree was almost ready to be plugged in. Eden insisted they had to finish decorating it before they could light it up.
“I do.” She sat on the couch next to him drawing her feet up under her. “I love songs about love and romance, and I think Christmas is my second favorite type of music.”
“What would you be doing if you were home and Marcus wasn’t in your life?”
“I’d spend time with my girlfriends, and I’d dream about what a real Christmas should be like, but honestly, I wouldn’t do anything about making it come true. I had gotten to a place in my life where I was becoming more of a dreamer and less of a mover and shaker. I was moving and shaking in the business world; I guess I wanted someone else to make those personal dreams come true. I was in a slump.”
“It happens to all of us.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “That tree won’t get done if we’re sitting down.”
They worked on the tree for the next hour until she stood back while Kore plugged it in.
“Kore, look at it. The tree is beautiful.” He turned to look at her. The lights reflected in her eyes. The Jewel on her wrist was glowing faintly. “Beautiful,” he echoed.
Chapter Twelve
Eden was stretched out in the tub, a yawn widening her mouth when Kore walked in. She was covered in bubbles moving her hands lazily through the water.
“Feel good?”
“Mmm, this is luxury. You know I have a great jetted tub in my b
athroom, but I can’t remember the last time I used it. It’s big, even bigger than this tub, so we could both be in there together and there would be room for your wings.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “Are you trying to tempt me to visit you?”
“Maybe a little, is it working?”
“I think it just may be.”
“I’ll have to work on my temptation skills a little harder.” He looked down at his hard cock and disagreed with her.
“Guess what I’m going to do?”
“What?”
“Since you’re in the tub, I’m going to take a shower. All that hard work putting together a tree, flying through the air to make sure the decorations were at the right height placing mistletoe throughout the house has worn me out.”
“Wait we have mistletoe? Where is it?” She turned in the tub just in time to catch a perfect view of his butt cheeks. Damn he was fine. It was official; she loved a man with a tight ass.
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
He stepped into the shower, her leisurely soak forgotten as she watched the water cascade over his body. Whoever designed clear walls for the shower was a genius.
With a sigh, she washed up and grabbed the thick towel that she set out. Maybe she should join him? Her bottom lip throbbed, that’s when she realized she was biting it. No, she better not. Regret dogged her footsteps as she walked into the bedroom.
When she got into the room there was a clothing box wrapped in gold paper with a red bow on it. She picked up the card.
It read Every woman should feel like a woman.
She opened the box with unsteady hands. The only people who gave her presents were her parents, and they told her she was too old for presents a while ago. They would give her money and tell her to get whatever she wanted. Taking the top off, she gave a small cry of appreciation. It was beautiful. When they had gone shopping that first day she had seen a beautiful nightgown and robe in deep red. When they were in Victoria’s Secret, it caught her eye; she wanted it but walked past it in the end never knowing Kore was paying that much attention to her.
She moved quickly drying her hair and preparing her body before she slipped the gown on. When Kore walked out the bathroom, the light in his eyes when he looked at her made her hot.
Kore's Angel: Angel Shifters Page 7
