Crave (Tainted Angels Book 1)

by D H Sidebottom

  Her excitement was contagious and I couldn’t help but grin back at her when she scooped me into a fierce hug.

  Dexter slapped Rax on the back when they man hugged. “Pleased for you, mate, although …” He turned to me, “I feel for you, Willa.”

  The air popped again and Zak, Jaron and Diablo appeared. Word spread quickly once Delilah knew, apparently.

  Diablo held the hairiest and most gorgeous hellhound puppy in his arms. For a puppy it was already the size of a fully grown tiger; at full size he would be the height of a horse and his ginormous bulk would eventually tower over me. His beautiful, long grey hair was silky smooth when Diablo passed him to me. “Coupling gift.” He grinned.

  I squealed, nuzzling my face into the huge beast. I struggled to hold him so I placed him on his feet and then sat on the floor with him as he proceeded to give my face a bath. I giggled, delighted with him. His breath was rank and his tongue actually took the skin off my cheeks but he was perfect.

  “I love him!” I cried as I wound my arms around him. “Herb,” I declared to the hound. “You like that, huh?” I laughed when he gave me another wet kiss.

  “Herb?” Rax questioned, his lip curled on one side.

  I nodded. “It suits him, short for Herbert. Doesn’t it, Herb?”

  Delilah laughed as she came to join us, trying to swat at Herb when he started to gnaw on the handle of her whip.

  Suddenly she grew sombre and looked at me. Taking my hand, she gave it a squeeze. “I’m pleased for you.”

  I smiled back, the tears in her eyes making my heart swell. She swallowed and I knew she had something to add. And I knew what that something was. “It’s okay, I’ve accepted it. But you know, Rax will have a child, so I’ll still be a stepmom.”

  Delilah gave me a huge grin when Rax came up behind me and dropped a kiss to the top of my head. “And she’ll make an amazing stepmum.”

  My heart ached but I forced a smile, hiding it from my spectators. It hurt, I could admit to myself that never having a child of my own was crippling me, but a life with Rax more than filled the gap in my soul. Although I’d forfeited the chance to be a mother, Rax’s love for me would never make me feel incomplete.

  Every morning I woke, for the rest of my existence, I would wake to Rax, to his eyes on me, his arms around me and his love soothing my soul. And that was more than I’d ever expected of my long existence.

  Miller sat watching Sadie’s chest lift and fall with each of her soft breaths. Her eyes were closed, the length of her lashes sweeping over the high contours of her cheekbones. Her soft plump lips were slightly parted, the tip of her tongue peeking out and every so often licking over the length of the bottom one. Her long cherry brown hair spread across the bed, the thick strands swathing most of the bed and falling a touch over the edge.

  Miller was awed by her, the beauty of her, the softness of her pale skin, the delicate way her long canines gave her a soft lisp, the elegance of her porcelain neck, the swell of her amazing breasts, the soft curves she carried off perfectly.

  He’d been almost too scared to touch her. She was small, her frame so tiny that he wondered if she might break in his arms as he’d carried her into the house the previous night. She had murmured against him, a soft sound that had caused his dick to jump in delight.

  But she’d remained asleep, her eyes now finally opening as the sun rose and soaked the room in light.

  “Hi.” He greeted her softly with a small smile as to not frighten her.

  For a long moment she just gazed at him, her stare inquisitive but definitely not hostile. Then she smiled and Miller was sure the chair beneath him trembled, either that or he had. His breath caught when she blushed, shyly moving her eyes away from him and looking around the room she found herself in.

  “No hospital and no police,” he said stupidly, kicking himself for how simple he sounded.

  She smiled again. “Thank you.”

  Taking a breath, he leaned forwards in the chair, his nose catching the subtle scent of berries and mint. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good, thank you.”

  He slid his eyes to her forehead again, for the hundredth time, and moistened his dry mouth. “Can I ask you something?”

  She nodded eagerly, the soft smile still making him feel so comfortable in her presence.

  “I have a bit of a dilemma,” he started, avoiding her eyes and pretending something important was glued to his fingernail.

  “You need help solving Marie’s death.”

  His eyes snapped up to hers, his lungs trying and failing to grant him oxygen. Strangely he wasn’t surprised she knew the dead girl, but it surprised him how she knew what he was going to ask.

  “You knew Marie Trent?”

  A sadness shrouded the previous softness in her eyes. She nodded slowly, “She was mine and Willa’s best friend.”

  “Willa?”

  She just nodded in reply before she said something that made his blood rush through the thinness of his already worn out veins, threatening to rip them apart with the ferocity it surged at. “The man, last night, the man who took me, he killed her.”

  Miller couldn’t believe how open she was being. It confused him, then cryptically she whispered in answer to the question he hadn’t asked out loud, “You’re a good man, Detective. I trust you to do the right thing with the information I’m giving you.”

  He continued to stare at her, numbed by her trust.

  She smiled again. “You’re wondering how my wound from last night healed so quickly.”

  He couldn’t help but nod. That was exactly what had been giving him indigestion all through the night. That and how it connected the dead girl to Sadie. He knew without a doubt that what had caused Marie Trent’s stab wound to repair itself had been the same thing that had healed the cut on Sadie’s head.

  “I know you wait for forensics to give you that answer. But it won’t,” she told him confidently. Then she manoeuvred on the bed, pushing herself around and dropping her legs over so her tiny little feet barely touched the carpet. She regarded him for a moment, then leaned towards him. Miller tensed when her soft fingers drew a line across the length of his jaw, her eyes watching her caress. “Tell me, Mr Miller, do you believe in God?”

  Her strange question stunned him for a moment but eventually he shook his head. “No,” he answered honestly, his truth making him wary of why he hadn’t lied to her.

  She smiled faintly and leaned farther towards him, the warmth of her breath brushing over his ear and making his skin appear to be on too tight. His lungs clamped down, holding in each breath as his heart stilled for a moment. “Then you should,” she whispered before she turned her head and touched his lips with hers.

  And then the most perfect feeling of heaven saturated every atom in his large body and Miller closed his eyes, sighing heavily as he gave in to the slumber that eased every tense muscle that ailed him.

  When Miller woke thirteen hours later, the angel had gone.

  I wanted to celebrate, so giving my parents dog-sitting duties, my mother and Herb bonding instantly, I met with the girls in Fred’s. It was a Friday night so the resident band were in and Bobby was already in high spirits.

  Jaron, Dex and Zak met with Sadie, Frannie and me, and then Lincoln joined us with a couple of his friends. The only person missing was Rax, whom after questioning Dex, I found out had gone to give the good news to his father.

  After a few hours I was well on my way to crawling home. Rax still hadn’t shown, unlike Delilah who had joined us in person, giving the punters in Fred’s something fun to talk about – luckily she put her whip away when I scowled at her.

  “So.” Dexter’s head came forward so I could hear him over the blast of the music. “I heard your angel might not have wings, but your demon certainly does.” He was grinning at me in that unusual way, and I gathered Rax had been quite forthcoming.

  “My angel?”

  “The hot chick,” Dexter slurred
, tipping his chin to a very loud Delilah who was currently dancing to Led Zeppelin across Bobby’s bar. I had to admit, she was good. Her swinging hips were attracting much attention anyway, but I put most of it down to the way her basque had slipped, giving everyone an eyeful of her nipples – no way was I related.

  I splattered his face with my mouthful of vodka/gin/rum and a splash of cranberry cocktail. “Angel? Delilah?”

  “I thought …”

  I shook my head, sucking at a straw hanging from the middle of a huge bowl in the centre of our table. I blinked rapidly at the sour taste and opened my mouth to allow the straw to fall back out. “Delilah’s just …” What the hell was she? “ …My resident ghost?” I said and questioned at the same time.

  Jaron laughed loudly, his deep rumble making me grin at him. “You may laugh …” I pointed a finger at him, “but she’s so damn nosy, Rax and me, we can’t …” Jaron and Dex stared at me, waiting me out with a high eyebrow each. “You know.” I grimaced, lowering my voice.

  “You can’t …?” Dexter smirked, knowing exactly what I was trying to say but trying to get me to say it out loud.

  I scowled at him, pointing my glass at him and sulking when I lost half my drink over the side of the rim. “Where is he anyway?” I looked at my wrist, checking the watch I wasn’t wearing and then looking around the room for a clock.

  “His father, although my boss, is a dick, Willa,” Jaron told me with a hiccup, giving his declaration a pause in the middle. “I almost feel sorry for you coupling into that family. You need to watch him, he’s a mage and those fuckers are sneaky. HH e’ll stop at nothing to ruin yours and Rax’s relationship.”

  “Ahh he’ll grow to love me!” I exclaimed, waving my hand over the region of my body and smacking the edge of my nipple with the tips of my fingers, generating a curse. “If not I’ll just set Delilah on him.”

  Zak barked out a laugh from his quiet drunken stupor in the corner, his eyes moving from Frannie to me, then past me, then back to me. The guy was slaughtered and I couldn’t help but blink as I moved my head and tried my best to catch his gaze.

  “Delilah would make even my demon run for cover.” He laughed in my head.

  “I bet your demon is hot.” I just came out with it. My eyes widened and I shook my head but Zak winked as if sharing a secret and turned back to Frannie.

  I narrowed my eyes on Frannie. “Are you linking with Zak?”

  I watched her throat move as her hand came under the table and she gave me a thumbs up, her gaze still secured on Zak. “Aww,” I whispered, “That’s sweet. You like him. You like him.” I giggled. “Frannie loves Zak, Frannie loves Zak!” I sang.

  “Ouch, you bitch!” I hissed when the heel of her boot flicked sideways and caught me on the shin. Yet her eyes still stayed with Zak. How rude!

  Sadie who had been quiet for the duration burped so loudly that every head at our table turned to her in shock. She giggled daintily and covered her mouth with her hand. Sadie was the baby out of us, and the spoiled princess. Everyone knew if you blew on her she’d topple over, but shit could the girl fight, her skills with a machete had me in awe every time I went to training sessions with her. She was known in Empyrea as the Midget Machine.

  She leaned forwards, her little body swaying. It could have been the breeze but I guessed it was the volume of alcohol she had consumed that made her wobble. “I think I’m in love,” she whispered.

  We all nodded slowly and leaned towards her, waiting for her to indulge us but she sighed dreamily, sat back and then slowly slid sideways, her head bouncing on the padding of the bench before she started snoring.

  We all blew out a disappointed breath and sat back.

  “I need a smoke!” I suddenly declared as I shot out of my chair.

  Frannie narrowed her eyes on me, her lips pursing at the same time and making her look like Yoda in a pink jumpsuit. “I wish you wouldn’t smoke, it’s so unhealthy,” she said.

  “Yada, yada, yada,” I shouted over my shoulder as I pushed open the back door of the pub, the stench of stale sick and kebabs making my stomach heave.

  Taking a long drag, I blew the smoke into the cool air and leaned my back against the wall. I missed Marie. She should have been with us, celebrating with me as my best friend, but smiling up into the night sky, I blew her a kiss, knowing she was watching anyway.

  A chill settled around me and I shivered when a splash of goosebumps burst over my skin. The temperature had been considerately high for March but the breeze that had suddenly whipped up made each hair stand on end. Wrapping my arms around my body, I pulled in another drag and leaned harder against the wall when I teetered to the left.

  I was so drunk. Rax would go ape on my ass. In fact I might let him, that could be quite fun.

  “Hello, Willa.”

  I jumped at the voice. He stepped out from the shadows and before I could do anything his hand slapped over my mouth and everything went dark.

  I dodged the butt ugly vase of Tabitha’s that I’d always hated when it soared across the room and smashed on the wall beside my head.

  “You bastard!” she screamed, her hand reaching out for another of her gross ornaments. “You utter fucking bastard! How could you do this to me? I thought … I thought …”

  “You thought I was your mate, Tabby, but I told you over and over that I’m not.”

  “But we’re having a child. How can you …? How you can you couple with that … that … fucking halfbreed?” she raged. I was quietly impressed how red her face was becoming without the aid of the usual fake tan she always used.

  I blew out a breath, trying to stay calm. “Please don’t call her that, Tabby. She’s my mate now and I don’t appreciate your choice of names.”

  She snorted, snatching up a framed photo of herself and hurling that at me. Losing patience quickly, I shot my hand out and caught it then carefully placed it down on the table to the side of me.

  “But … but …” Finally she gave in. A long choked sob erupted from her before she dropped to the floor and buried her face in her hands.

  I felt like a prick. I knew I’d used her but I’d also thought she’d understood that I’d used her, and when an ‘I love you’ broke from her in a strangled cry, I went to her, sitting beside her and putting my arms around her.

  “I’m sorry, Tabby. I really am. I wish I could say the same to you and promise you a future but I can’t. And I respect you too much to give you a life of lies. You deserve someone who absolutely dotes on you, who makes you happy and gives you a reason to smile every damn day.”

  She peeked up at me through her fingers, her red puffy eyes making my self-loathing even worse. “But I thought we were to be coupled. You’re supposed to be my lifelong mate, Rax, not just the father of my baby.”

  Shaking my head slowly, I gripped her hands. “And the very reason you thought I was your mate is because my father told you so, not because our hearts feel it. And that’s the reason I know it is Willa. I’m sorry, I’m being a dick but I don’t want to fill you with lies and words that will break you further down the line. You’re a great woman, Tabby and you deserve to be loved for that, not just because a child ties you to someone.”

  Her sobbing turned to soft weeps. “You really think I’m a great woman?”

  I nodded, giving her a smile. “I do, and I’m proud that you’re the mother of my child. You’re strength and love will nurture the fiercest of Gehenna.”

  She smiled back, and I was astounded when her cheeks blushed with a shyness I’d never seen in her before. Her face dropped then and she lowered her eyes. “I was a bitch to Willa. I was horrible.”

  “Willa is fine, a little upset that we can no longer have a baby of our own, but she will be the best stepmother you could want for our child, Tabby.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “Will you apologise to her for me?”

  I huddled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head when her apartment door opened and my father walked
in. My gut twisted; he was going to be the hardest of them to convert.

  “What’s going on here?”

  Tabitha looked up at him and smiled. “It’s okay, Damon. Rax and I have sorted it. Although we won’t be coupled, we’ll still be bringing your grandchild up as a unit.”

  She smiled at me and I grinned back, giving her a quick kiss before I pushed up from the floor and faced my father.

  “You won’t be coupled?” he asked with an undertone of anger. “Dare I ask why?”

  “Because I’m already coupled.” I decided to be blunt, it was usually the best where he was concerned.

  His eyes narrowed on me. “You coupled with the seraph?”

  I nodded firmly. “I did.”

  I expected his anger, his rage but curiously he paled, worry and despair making him suck in a long breath. He trembled and I went to him, guiding him over to a chair but he shook his head and grabbed my arm.

  “Come to my quarters, son.” He turned and walked out of the door.

  Tabitha frowned at me. “Is he okay?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “He looked like he was going to cry.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “I’ll catch you later and we’ll discuss everything. Okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m good.” As I was about to walk through the door, she called me back. “Rax.” I turned to her. “Thank you for being kind to me, especially after …”

  “I care about you, Tabby. I’m not just going to dump you with my child. I want to be one hundred percent part of his or her life. Honestly, I think with Willa we’ll make a great team and it will want for nothing.”

  Her smile could have eclipsed the damn sun it was so bright. I’d never seen such a radiant and genuine smile on her face before.

  As I went to catch up with my father I had a good feeling in my gut. I was glad Tabitha was so accommodating of Willa being part of our child’s life. It was not only important to Willa but Tabby wasn’t naïve enough to think she’d wouldn’t need all the help she could get raising a Torres.