Angel Among Sinners (The Garden Book 1)

by Rachel Blake

  “Oh my God.” Embry felt her face heat with embarrassment. “Someone, please, just put me out of my misery.”

  Chuckling, Maverick pulled her to stand. “I’m sorry, Angel. I didn’t intend to embarrass you.”

  “It’s not like he was fucking you against the desk. You wouldn’t believe how many times someone walked in when James had me in that very position,” Eden said, brushing off the incident.

  “Really?” Embry questioned.

  “Well, it’s happened once, and it was Prim who walked in, but still.” Eden chuckled at the dirty look Embry shot her way.

  Embry turned into Maverick’s chest and groaned.

  “Is it too much to ask the world open up and swallow me whole right now?”

  “I would have an issue with that,” Maverick growled as he pinched ass.

  “As would I,” Eden announced. “Anyway, I stopped by to tell you Parker is getting out of the hospital today.”

  Forgetting her embarrassment, Embry moved to face her boss, “For real this time?”

  “Yes.” Chuckling, Eden nodded. “Prim talked to the doctor, and he’s releasing him today. We’re going to pick him up now, actually, and I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, so I was going to assign you your bodyguard for the night.” She looked Maverick up and down. “But it doesn’t look like that will be necessary.”

  “I don’t know, do you really trust him not to get distracted by my ass while he’s supposed to be protecting me?” Embry peeked over her shoulder to the man standing behind her, his playful scoff and light pinch to the seat of her pants, forcing her to hold back a laugh.

  “That’s a tough question.” Eden turned to Maverick. “Mr. Grandgeorge, do you think you can keep your mind on the job rather than her ass?”

  “I don’t know, it is a fine fucking ass.”

  “George!”

  “What?” Maverick shrugged his shoulders, not the least bit sorry. “It is, but I do think I can manage to do both jobs.”

  “Both jobs? Who said anything about another job?” Embry asked, looking between the two of them.

  “It’s always my job to keep you in line.” Maverick laughed when she smacked his shoulder.

  “Have a good evening, you two. I’ll see you in the morning, Em.”

  “Eden, wait.” Embry waited for her boss to turn back. “Any news on V?”

  “Nothing’s changed. Swelling has gone down, and she is still showing normal brain activity.” Eden shook her head. “They don’t know why she hasn’t woken up yet.”

  Nodding, Embry allowed her eyes to drop to the desk in front of her. “You’ll keep me updated, right?”

  “Of course.”

  As soon as Eden was out of sight, Embry was spun to face her boyfriend, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t too happy with her. “You’re not to blame for the condition V is in. You did not put her there.”

  “No, but there’s a really good chance someone hurt her as a message to me.”

  “Give me your eyes, please.” As soon as she looked into his crystal blues, he started talking. “You are not responsible for the actions of anyone else. Not this psycho, not me, no one but yourself.”

  “But if she was hurt because of me…”

  “That’s the other thing, no one is sure who did this, Angel. Yes, there’s a chance it was connected to you, trying to send some sort of cryptic message, but we don’t know for sure, and we won’t for some time, if at all.”

  “But…”

  Maverick held a finger against her lips. “Even if this slim chance is proven to be the reason for all of this, you are not to blame for anything. Say it. ‘This is not my fault.’”

  Searching his eyes, she tried to figure out if he actually wanted her to repeat it. When all he did was stand there, waiting expectantly, she got her answer. “This is not my fault.”

  “Again.”

  “This is not my fault.”

  Cupping her chin, it was his turn to study her face. “It is not your fault V is hurt. It’s not your fault Parker got hurt. That responsibility falls to the person who attacked them and whatever messed up agenda they have. You’re not to blame. This is not your fault. I will repeat it a hundred times a day if you need me to.”

  “I know.” Embry allowed her eyes to drop to his chest. She knew he was right, knew it wasn’t her fault, but the guilt was real, and she couldn’t shake it, no matter how much she tried to push it to the back of her mind.

  “You don’t sound convinced.”

  “I know you’re right. I know this has nothing to do with me and my choices. Frankly, it’s rather selfish of me to think otherwise, but I can’t shake this feeling of guilt.”

  “Then I’ll help with it. From now on, when you feel guilty, you tell me.”

  She huffed a laugh. “I would constantly be bugging you. No, that won’t work.”

  Maverick popped her on the ass once. “You are my priority.”

  Hands covering her butt, she dared to argue her point, “But you’re busy. You have other people who need you.”

  “I’m not saying I’ll always be able to drop everything and call you, but if you just text me, you’ll be taking away some of the power the feeling has over you and taking the power away from it is the only way you are going to get it to go away.”

  She thought about it for a few moments before finally agreeing. “Fine, I’ll text you when it rears its ugly head, but you’re not allowed to complain about the number of times I blow up your phone in a day.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be nearly as much as you think.”

  “I don’t think you understand the magnitude of the guilt I feel.” Embry pulled from his embrace and sat at her desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some things I need to finish before my boyfriend takes me out for the night.”

  His lips pressed to the top of her head before he headed for the door. “Be ready to go at 4:30, Angel.”

  “Yes, Sir.” She blew him a kiss as he walked out the door, a smile plastered in place.

  If only the smile wasn’t forced.

  ***

  “When you said you’d gotten us tickets, I was picturing a play or some hard to get into film,” Embry stated as they walked out of the darkened theater.

  “Didn’t you like the show?” Maverick’s smug smile gave away that he already knew the answer.

  “You’re kidding, right? I loved it. How did you convince them to play such an old movie? And how did you know it was my favorite?”

  “When you buy out the whole theater for the showing, we’ll play pretty much anything if we can get our hands on it,” a man in a red uniform said as he walked by, a smile on his face.

  Stopping dead in her tracks, she turned to her boyfriend. “You bought out the whole theater?”

  “I did.”

  “But all those people. If you bought it all shouldn’t it have been empty?”

  “All you have to do is tell a few kids, and the news of a free movie spreads like wildfire.”

  Embry stared up at him. “You did all of this for me?”

  “It isn’t a big deal.”

  “Isn’t a big deal? Are you kidding me? This is a huge deal. You bought out a whole movie theater, so I could watch my favorite movie. You did that for me. George, this is a huge deal.”

  “I’m trying to figure out if you’re mad at me or if you love it.”

  “I love it. I thought you were just being an old fuddy-duddy when we pulled up to see the early show.”

  “A fuddy-duddy?”

  “Well, yeah, it wasn’t even five o’clock yet, and you were taking me to a movie. That wasn’t even going to give us a chance to get handsy in the back row.”

  His laughter rang through the emptying lobby.

  “Wait, how did you know what my favorite movie was?”

  “You told me.” Maverick smiled at her questioning look. “Not recently, but when we were kids.”

  “You remembered that from all those years ago?”
>
  He blushed, actually blushed. “Well, yeah, it was one of the first things you told me about yourself.”

  Her eyes fell to the floor.

  “It was the only thing I knew about myself back then.”

  “Hey, don’t look away.”

  “I…” She allowed her eyes to search out his once more. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”

  “Honestly, neither can I, but I’m glad I did. Are you really disappointed we didn’t get to get all handsy in the back row of the theater?”

  “Maybe a little, but the second the movie started rolling, I forgot all about the back row.” Embry chewed on her lip for a second before she changed the subject. “So, Mr. Grandgeorge, how are you going to top this? Supper on the moon?”

  “That was the plan, but the shuttle left ten minutes ago, so you’ll have to settle for dinner on boring old earth.”

  She bumped him with her shoulder as she moved toward the street.

  “You know, you pulled out all the stops for this first real date. Now you have to top it with the second date.”

  “Oh, I’ll show you how I top something,” he teased as he wrapped his arms around her middle.

  “Since you aren’t taking me to the moon for supper, can we eat? I’m starving.”

  Interlocking his fingers with hers, Maverick led her down the street. “There’s this perfect little mom-and-pop Italian place around the corner. They make their noodles from scratch every day.”

  “Oh, I’d kill for a cannoli right now.”

  He pulled her into his side, his lips going to her ear.

  “I’ll feed you a hundred cannolis if you moan like that again.”

  “I can think of a better reason to moan.” When he stumbled, it was all she could do to keep from laughing. “What’s wrong, George?”

  “You know exactly what’s wrong, Angel, and if you keep teasing me, you’re going to find yourself moaning for another reason altogether.”

  “Promises, promises.” Embry stumbled when a person bumped into her from behind, “Oh, I’m sorry, sir.”

  “No, don’t mention it.” The man waved her apology off, not bothering to slow down. “I should probably watch where I’m going.”

  Smiling after the stranger, she elbowed Maverick in the side. “So, what does a girl have to do to get a plate of spaghetti around here?”

  “Well, first, you have to ask really nicely.”

  “Please, fill me up with all the noodly goodness. How’s that?”

  “We may have to work on your begging skills.”

  “I think I know just the man to teach me.”

  ***

  “George, you’re going to crush my cannoli,” Embry whispered when he pushed her against the door of the apartment she shared with Prim.

  “I’ll buy you another one,” Maverick growled, going for her lips once more.

  Holding the brown paper bag over her head, she pushed at his chest with her free hand.

  “But it was the last one they had.” Her protest was weak, even to her own ears, but the kisses he pressed to the underside of her chin meant she didn’t care in the slightest. “George…”

  “You’re talking a lot for a woman who is about to be soundly fucked.”

  That had her eyes widening. “You can’t fuck me out here. What if someone comes home and sees us?”

  “Then I suggest you get the door open.”

  Embry turned within the circle of his arms as she pulled her keys from her pocket. “Why the hell do I have so many keys?”

  His teeth grazed the shell of her ear.

  “I don’t know, but you’re taking entirely too long.”

  “Shit,” she cursed when he pressed himself against her ass, and the keys slipped from her fingers. Bending over to grab the keys from the floor only served to give him more of a target to grind into. Straightening, she growled over her shoulder, “George, you’re not helping.”

  “I’m not the one who has an aversion to fucking right here.”

  Finally slipping the key into the lock, she gave it a rough turn, opened the door, and all but fell into the apartment.

  Maverick’s arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her off her feet as he moved her further into the room, so he could kick the door shut behind them. As soon as they were safely inside, his free hand traveled to the front of her slacks and easily popped the button open.

  The arm around her waist moved to just under her breast, his fingers slipping under the cup of her bra, finding her pebbled nipple. He twisted it roughly as he slipped his other hand into her pants and ran his teasing fingers over the gusset of her panties. “Spread your legs.”

  It was an order she was all too eager to obey. As soon as she did, she was rewarded.

  He pushed further into her pants and circled her fabric-covered clit, all but forcing her hips to buck against his hand.

  “Fuck me.” The drawn-out demand earned her a sharp nip on her ear lobe.

  “You’re not in charge here, Angel. I am.” Maverick’s statement was accompanied by another twist of her nipple. “Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Who’s in charge?” he questioned, still torturing her beaded flesh.

  “You are, Sir. You’re in charge.” She pushed her ass back, rubbing herself against the swollen appendage in his pants, fighting back the smile at his groan while pushing her breast further into his hand.

  “You’re asking for it, Angel.”

  He was right, she was asking for all of it. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to fuck her senseless or spank her ass until she was begging him to do the former, but it didn’t matter as long as his hands were on her, and he didn’t stop.

  Pulling his hands from her, he grasped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head, the buttons on the cuffs causing it to get stuck at her wrists.

  It didn’t matter, he simply smiled and left the shirt hanging from her arms before moving to the clasp on her bra. A quick flick and it was loose around her chest, and he was able to move it down to join her shirt. “Counter, now.”

  Embry was at the counter in a heartbeat, not about to waste time. She wanted this just as badly as he did. Her need caused her breath to come in soft pants as she stood there, waiting for him.

  He didn’t make her wait for instructions. Following behind her, he spun her to face away from him, her belly contracted when she touched the edge of the cold granite. “Fucking gorgeous.”

  Working the zipper to her slacks, he finally got them loose and pushed her pants down her hips. He got them nearly to her knees before he pushed her forward, so her chest rested on the counter.

  “God, you are beautiful.” He ran his finger along the edge of her panties, tickling her.

  “George, please.” Embry knew how much he loved to hear her plead, knew if he was in the right mood, all it would take to get what she wanted was for her to beg effectively. Three solid swats landed on her pantie covered ass. “Hey!”

  “Trying to manipulate me?”

  Looking over her shoulder, she nibbled on her lower lip, “Maybe, but in my defense, I have to use the tools I have available.”

  Three more spanks landed before she was turned to face him and lifted to sit on the counter. A small cry fell from her lips when yet another part of her body made contact with the cold surface.

  He went to his knee and removed her shoes before pulling her pants the rest of the way off her legs. Eyeing the shirt still holding her arms hostage, he simply smiled and stood.

  “That’s not fair. I’m naked, and you’re still fully dressed.”

  Maverick quirked a brow. “Has whining ever gotten you what you want, Angel?”

  “Well, there was that one time last week.” She tried to hold in the laughter, but she lost it when he crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, so it’s never worked, but there’s a first time for everything, right?”

  “Not when it comes to this, baby.”

  “So, you’re not going
to take off your clothes?”

  “Oh, I’m taking off my clothes, but it’s not because you pouted.”

  “I could help you if you freed my hands.” She held out her arms expectantly.

  “Not a chance. I rather like you like this. Maybe your hands will stay where I put them this time.”

  “There’s a first time for everything.” Embry watched as he undid the first few buttons of his shirt before pulling it over his head, then his undershirt. The sight of his bare chest had her reaching out to touch him.

  “I guess that first won’t be tonight, will it, Angel?”

  She shook her head ‘no,’ the only answer she got out before she was distracted by his hands, going to the button of his jeans. She’s seen him naked before, but, God, it was beautiful every time.

  He pushed his pants down to his feet and kicked them carelessly away.

  Embry didn’t see where they went, too busy ogling the tent in his boxer briefs and rubbing her thighs together. Fuck, she was needy as hell. “Please.”

  That was all she got out before he pushed her to lie back. The counter was short and left her head hanging off the other end, but it didn’t matter. As soon as she was flat on her back, she felt his fingers slide under the fabric of her panties, the back of his knuckles grazing the lips of her sex.

  “Are you ready for me, Angel?”

  “Fuck, yes!”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, his finger was pulled from inside her panties, only to return to the waistband and haul the garment down her legs. “Heels on the counter. If you move them, we stop everything. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Sir.” She let the required answer fall from her lips, scrambling to do as he asked.

  Maverick moved bent slightly and allowed his breath to warm her spread sex. “God, you’re fucking beautiful.”

  A whimper was all she could muster, and it was pitiful at best. How he found her beautiful, she would never understand, but knowing he spoke his truth did funny things to her heart.

  The first swipe of his tongue had her arching off the counter. “Shit.”

  That was all it took for his tentative tongue to become sure. Spearing her core before he moved up to circle her clit a few times before sucking it into his mouth.

  “Shit!”

  His laughter rumbled against her sex as he buried two fingers in her and expertly pumped them in and out as his tongue beat a quick tempo on her bundle of nerves.