He started toward the restaurant and was nearly blinded by what he saw walking out. She was flanked by two men, but neither had the appearance of being one of her lovers. Her smile was warm and caring, the exact opposite of the woman he’d made the mistake of having a child with. Her eyes were grey, which he thought was just about perfect against the rich earth-tones of her skin.
She looked up at him. It was a brief glance that immediately left him and went to his daughter. Then she gave his daughter a little wave and kept walking.
She was sweet. Even sweeter than the first, second, third…how many had there been? It didn’t matter. With the way she’d looked at him, she was definitely the one.
“Daddy. Food.”
He wished for a moment that his daughter had never learned how to sign the words.
He took one last eyeful of the woman as she crossed the street into the hotel where the convention was being held.
-5-
It had taken very little financial coaxing to get the contractor to send extra men to finish the master suite an entire two weeks earlier than planned. While the workers had been toiling away, Gage had sent their information over to Mo to have one of his old comrades pick apart their backgrounds. He wanted to know everything: where they were born, their blood types…even their high school GPAs. Unfortunately, his gut told him that he wouldn’t find anything pertinent. Tayler’s stalker wanted to be close, but the woods and snake incident told him that they weren’t quite ready to touch.
The sheriff still contended that the messages posed no real threat to Tayler. He’d also failed to acknowledge any connection between the stalker and the snake. Like the rest of the parrots that manned the medical center, he’d referred to it as a freak accident. Likely seeking reprieve from a predator, the snake had slinked through the automatic front doors of the medical center, somehow eventually ending up in Tayler’s office all the way in the farthest wing.
Townley’s reassurance that they were keeping a close eye on the case offered nothing, and as far as Gage was concerned, the man’s assistance was no longer needed.
Tayler didn’t leave his side over the course of the two weeks, not that he’d given her much of a choice. The medical center’s administrator had agreed that, due to the circumstances, she needed to take time off, so he drove her and Ares up to the house every day to sit around and watch the progress. He’d been reluctant to admit to it, but having her watch him had been nice. He’d even found himself pea cocking at times, stretching his muscles taut to pound a nail into a stud or bring in the wooden flooring to rest in the corner of the room.
“Hey Gage?” She appeared from the half-finished kitchen with a piece of a tan, sticky confection between her fingers. Ares trotted behind her, and Gage reared back from the banister for her to slip the morsel between his lips. “Tell me that’s not good.”
He chewed and tasted sugar, sugar, and more sugar. The woman loved her sweets. Slices of cake, dessert cups filled with chocolate mousse, and fruit tarts sprinkled with powdered sugar brought her an unnatural amount of joy.
His eyes flicked down to her wrist. “That looks better.”
“It does, but you’re changing the subject. You don’t like it?”
“It’s sugar.”
“There’s got to be some form of candy or pastry that you like.”
“He seems to have a thing for chocolate.”
Before she’d even had a chance to see who’d made the remark, Gage had pressed his forearm against the worker’s neck, forced him against a wall, and fixed a nail gun to his chest. His protective instinct over Tayler had increased ten-fold ever since the day she was bitten as he’d seen it as a personal failure on his part. One that he couldn’t forgive.
“What’s your fucking problem?” the man squeezed out, tugging at Gage’s arm.
Tayler walked up and wrapped her arms around him from behind. The softness of her cheek pressed into his spine. She had her own distinct scent, one that he couldn’t quite place but had come to recognize. It had trailed behind her whenever she walked from the shower to her bedroom at the cottage, blanketing the living room at night while he’d tried to sleep. It was like hell trying to sleep when all around him, he smelled her presence.
“You’re so odd,” she said, her voice soft as she squeezed him tight. “He was making a joke, Gage.”
Gage relaxed, allowing the man to slowly slide down the wall to his feet. His reaction had been too immediate; these were not situations like the ones into which he’d swam, parachuted, or trekked. There was only one target in this case, but the fact that he couldn’t place his scope on that target was causing him to lose his cool.
“He’s sorry,” Tayler said. “It’s like I tell everyone, sometimes he’s human and other times he’s Ares in human form. Isn’t that right, boy?”
She teased so much about his comparison to the pup that he couldn’t tell if she was talking to him or the dog.
Ares barked and she crouched to smooth the fur atop his head. “Good boy. Nothing will happen with my two guys around, will it?”
The vein in Gage’s neck twitched. Nerves fired, daring every one of his muscles to simultaneously contract. He didn’t know what to do with his hands. His blood went cold.
He stalked past her and out the back door, briefly catching a glimpse of Tayler and the worker exchanging confused glances before she followed him.
The lake behind the house was calm, the shore lifeless. In a few months, colorful ducks and golden-eyed ospreys would take up refuge on the brown rocks whose formations acted as labyrinthine traps for small schools of fish, crabs, and other sea life. With any luck, she would be there to see it all. At least, unless another cottonmouth appeared. The one that would finally kill her.
Tayler absent-mindedly stroked her injured wrist and stopped to watch what Gage did once he arrived at the point where the grass and sand met. Although she wasn’t sure what had happened, it was obvious that something had unsettled him.
“Gage?”
He didn’t acknowledge her even with a tilt of the head.
“Gage?” She cautiously moved closer. “Hey, buddy, what’s going on?”
“Don’t fucking patronize me, Tayler.”
“I’m not patronizing you, Gage.”
His gaze pierced her.
“Okay fine, maybe I am. I’m just worried. You seem like something’s bothering you.”
“Seem?”
“Okay, I know something’s bothering you. Is it the worker guy?”
“Fuck him.”
“Okay, not him.” She sighed. “You know I won’t shut up until you tell me what’s wrong. It’s not fair that you get to barge your way into my room at the hospital and I don’t get to even know what’s wrong with you.”
“That was different, Tayler.”
His shoulders had relaxed a bit, so she continued over until she was standing directly in front of him. He assessed her from head to toe, something he’d been doing since the hospital. While he looked at her, she stared back, searching through the previous few moments to see if she could figure out exactly what had gone wrong with him.
“Did I offend you by calling you my guy?” she asked. “I didn’t mean it that way, Gage.”
“That’s not the problem.” He brushed a granule of sand from her brow. “I just don’t know where you came from.”
“I’m from Baltimore, baby.”
He didn’t smile. She was certain that she would’ve gotten one that time.
“This is the second time you’ve said that to me,” Tayler redirected, clearing her throat. “That you don’t know where I came from. I’m still not sure I understand what it means.”
Something behind her head stole his attention, and she turned to see a boxy furniture truck pull up in front of the house. With the completion of the master suite, movers had brought over everything from the cottage’s bedroom and kitchen. Gage had threatened her with bodily harm if she’d even considered bringing her ten year-old so
fa, but she’d reminded him that without it, he wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep.
“I ordered new furniture for your living room,” he said.
“You’re very fond of changing subjects aren’t you? And I didn’t include new furniture in my budget so I hope you sprung for it.”
Still no smile. He was like a freakin’ British Royal Guard.
“I did.” He took her hand. “Come on.”
By the time they got back to the house, the movers were already attempting to come through the door. However, Ares was guarding the opening, preventing them from getting any further than the top stair at the mouth of the porch.
“What’s gotten into the two of you?” Tayler asked, stepping in front of him and turning her palm towards his nose. “Heel, big guy.”
One of the men took a step closer, and a growl shook through Ares’ body.
“Ares, heel,” she repeated.
Gage knelt next to Ares’ frame. “It’s alright, mate. I’ve got it from here. That’s a good boy.”
Ares relaxed and moved out of the door frame. Tayler’s mouth fell open. She looked from Ares to Gage, suddenly feeling as though she’d lost an ally.
“What did you do?” She went to Ares and wrapped her arms around him.“This is blasphemy, Gage.”
“That’s not what blasphemy means.”
“Oh, shut up.” She squeezed Ares’ face. “Did the big mean man brainwash you, Bubbie?”
“You’re raising a real killer there, Tayler.”
“Shut up.”
“Sir? Ma’am?” One of the movers, his face red and straining, looked at Gage. “If we could just…”
“Oh shoot, go on ahead,” Tayler said, stepping aside. “The living room’s not finished so they’re going in that back room there. The one that looks like a prison. That’s where this one,” she jerked her head at Gage, “will be sleeping.”
“You’re really asking for it tonight, aren’t you?” Gage tossed back.
“I’m asking for what, exactly?”
It would be entirely too easy to pick her up and trap her against one of the walls inside. She was already in a dress, so it wouldn’t take much to roll the fabric up her thighs, pull aside her underwear, and find satisfaction in the feeling of her heat suctioning his fingers like a tight sleeve.
Gage bent so that their faces were only inches apart. “I don’t think you want to know.”
She kissed him, the pressure against his lips so fleeting that his only confirmation it had happened was the way her eyes swirled ash black.
She then tried to walk past him into the house.
He grabbed her by the back of her dress, picked her up with one hand, and propped her up against the exterior wall. He’d been expecting her to go languid, but she wrapped her arms around his neck while his chest pressed against her breasts. Then, he devoured her lips. He didn’t know what the hell that earlier thing was, but if she thought that it would have satisfied him, she was a woman mistaken. He consumed women. The diminutive woman in his arms, though feisty, would never be able to handle that.
He released her lips and leaned back. Her gaze fell to his mouth and she traced his lips with her thumb.
“Don’t tease me,” he said. “I like being satisfied.”
“We have that in common,” she answered.
The corner of his mouth twitched. She watched it closely. He’d considered smiling just for the sake of making her happy, but there was a curious part of him that wondered what would happen if he’d just let her keep trying. Maybe it would happen naturally. She was definitely interesting enough.
“Ready to put me down?” she asked.
“No.”
“Okay.”
He let her down to the floor. When he glanced up, backs suddenly turned and power tools reanimated. He smirked. At least now they would all know that she was off-limits.
“By the way, I still don’t forgive you about Ares,” she tossed over her shoulder, walking into the house.
He watched her, still wanting her…and wanting her. God, he wanted her. Wherever the hell she came from, she was pulling him in a direction that he wasn’t quite sure he was prepared to head.
*****
The construction crew had been gone for several hours and they’d left quietly, knowing smiles exchanged among them. Tayler knew that the minute they were out of earshot, they would talk about what had happened between her and Gage. What they thought it meant. Hopefully, one of them would come back and explain it to her once they’d figured it out.
She was watching him from the window as he quietly moved around the perimeter of the house. So far, the last threatening message she’d received had been the one at the hospital. The sheriff had insisted that he was working diligently to find out who’d been writing them, but it hadn’t been enough to appease her. It had only pissed Gage off even further.
Despite building a life around avoiding trouble, especially at the insistence of her father, it had still stumbled upon her doorstep. She wasn’t sure exactly what she’d done to fuck up, but when Gage had shown her the note, it left her with chills.
Gage disappeared from sight, and she heard the front door open and close. Ares’ paws padded across the floor planks and he whimpered, meaning that Gage was giving him attention. For such a hefty dog, inside, he was nothing but a big baby.
Gage’s footsteps thundered up the stairs, the only time he actually wanted to be heard. It was peculiar that he could move with such stealth. Almost predatory.
He appeared in the doorway, and she continued to watch him. The master bedroom space was larger than she’d anticipated, and he’d been instrumental in the design. An archway separated the sleeping and seating areas. On each side of the arch were built-in bookshelves. The lighting was recessed and casted a soft, ambient glow throughout the room that was nearly romantic. New windows had been installed adorned with plantation shutters and surrounded by white trim. A tray ceiling and flawless crown molding gave the room a touch of elegance. The room was painted a color he’d referred to as dark cream, but the container had read Portobello.
“It suits you,” he said, leaning against the door jamb. “It’s a good space.”
“Lots of room.” She held out her arms at her sides. “I would’ve been touching both walls in the cottage.”
He nodded. “True.”
“That was a joke, Gage.”
“Oh?” His brow lifted. “I didn’t notice.”
“You would if you smiled more often.”
“I used to be very good at smiling.”
Her ears perked up. In between the weeks of renovation and the kiss on the porch, she’d completely forgotten that she’d had a mission of her own to figure out what made the oversized bear of a man standing across the room tick.
“What changed?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Loss.”
“Who’d you lose?”
“Everyone.”
Her chest tugged. “Oh.”
“Hurry up and take a shower. I’ll be downstairs with Ares. Call me when you’re done so I can jump in. We’ve got a long day ahead of us in the morning.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“You’ll see.”
She wondered about their upcoming day while in the shower, brushing her teeth, and after putting fresh linens on the bed. He took a shower while she situated the room, and she tried not to imagine what the water beading down his body had probably looked like. The days were cool, so he was always wearing long sleeves and jeans, but pushing against his chest had felt like being strapped to a stone pillar. When he was working, she’d caught a bit of ink below his wrist bone and wondered if it was a tattoo, and how far up his arm it went.
“Ran out of shirts.”
She turned around and he was standing just inside the bathroom with a towel around his waist, the tattoo on full display. It curled from his right wrist up over his forearm and bicep, then completely covered his right pectoral muscle. It seemed abstract
, lining his body without rhyme or reason. She made out a woman’s face, something that looked like the grim reaper, tribal markings, an ace card, skulls, wings, and a mash up of several different nation’s flags that she found she liked. On top of his shoulder, two wolf’s eyes stood out, sharp and yellow.
“As Dad would say, ‘Guess I’ll be sleeping in the nuddy then.’ ”
Her gaze reluctantly found his face. “Nuddy?”
“In the buff. Naked.”
She pointed to the door. “Get out.”
As he passed her, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head. She waited until he was gone before she released the restraints on the grin that tugged at her cheeks.
“Ares,” she called out the door, trying to hide the smile in her voice. “Bedtime.”
Ares came hopping up the stairs and moved to his cushiony sleeping spot at foot of the bed. She climbed beneath the covers and eased down onto the mattress, thinking that maybe she should have had Gage purchase another one of those as well. Something with memory foam.
She heard him moving around downstairs. Then the lights went out, the door to the room he was staying in opened, and everything went dark. Too dark. The size of the room and the shadowy doorway now seemed menacing. The waves thrashing outside were far from comforting. The wound on her wrist throbbed.
“Argh.”
She sat straight up in the bed. The light in the hallway came on, silhouetting Gage’s frame in the open doorway. He was still shirtless, but he’d managed to find shorts to sleep in.
“You need me,” he stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Don’t be smug. But yes, I need you.”
He flicked off the light and climbed in next to her on the bed. Once he was situated, she placed her head on his chest. He automatically pulled her closer and she reached for his hand, sliding her fingers between his.
Angels & Assassins: BWWM Romance Page 6
