“Why?” she asked. She watched me as I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
I knew the question was coming but wasn’t prepared to answer it, probably because there was no answer, at least not a logical one.
“I don’t know,” I said, my eyes focused on the floor again as I did my best to answer her. “I wish I did. I feel like I’ve been body-snatched or something. One minute I’m fine and the nex—”
“No,” she interrupted.
I scrutinized her, confused, as she approached and took my fidgeting hands in hers.
“I mean, why are you sorry? You were right. Obviously, I can’t speak for the others, but you were dead on about me. When I agreed you should stay within the Sanctuary… after you were almost captured… I didn’t think about what that would do to you. It’s no excuse, but I really thought it wouldn’t be long before this was all over with anyway.”
I shook my head. “You couldn’t have known how long this would go on, Nora. You can’t blame yourself for that. I was wrong to say the things I did.”
“It doesn’t matter if I knew it or not. What matters is so much time has gone by and I haven’t bothered to see what kind of an effect it had on my best friend. God, Cassie, you’re even more than that to me. You’re family.” She sighed and squeezed my hands. “I’m so sorry. I feel terrible. You’ve been here suffering, and it seems all I’ve been worried about for the last few months is my love life. How petty am I?”
Not long ago, I was apologizing to her for completely missing that she and Eric had hooked up in the first place. Now, here she was apologizing to me for being so wrapped up in that very relationship that she’d missed out on what I was going through. It was the irony of life. Karma at its finest.
I pulled her into a hug. “You’re not petty, just living your life as best you can.” I leaned back but kept her at arm’s length so I could peer into her eyes. “You shouldn’t be sorry for that. I’m just going stir-crazy here, and apparently I want to take everyone down with me.”
“So what you’re saying is, it’s not me it’s you?” She grinned.
“Ha ha. I guess you could say that.”
“No, I don’t think so. We’re in this together. It takes two to tango. I’m the Jekyll to your Hyde. You’re rubber, I’m—”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Enough with the one-liners.” I laughed. Nora could always make me chuckle and it seemed like old times before our lives spun into a whirlwind of chaos. It was what I needed to bring me back from the low, dark place where I’d been dwelling.
She jumped and grabbed my arms, scaring the bejeebus out of me. “That gives me a great idea.”
“What does?”
“One-liners,” she cried out as if it were obvious. “It’s cheesy, but let’s have a movie night like we used to. They have an awesome theater room here. We’ll get some greasy pizza, make some popcorn, drink some beers, and watch the tackiest horror movies we can find. What do you think?”
The idea alone sounded like a full-blown fiesta to my doom and gloom world. She had me at cheesy. Even if the thought of having a seems like old times night with my best friend didn’t convince me, the sparkle of anticipation and excitement in her eyes would have.
“I would love that,” I said. “When?”
“Are you free at all tomorrow?” she asked, and I knew she was goading me now like she used to. It was refreshing.
“I don’t know.” I pretended to think about it. “I’m going to have to cancel all the exhilarating plans I had.” After a pause for dramatic effect, I said, “Oh, all right, but I want all the juicy details about you and Eric.”
“All of them?”
“Hell, yeah. You can’t give me cake without the frosting, girlfriend.”
We both erupted in laughter like a couple of schoolgirls whose lives hadn’t been corrupted by the life and death situations we dealt with.
“Oh, I’m totally excited now,” she said. “Okay, let’s start early, make it a whole day thing. We have a lot of catching up to do. Say noon?”
“Sounds great.”
“Cool. All right, well, I’m going to go and get a really good night’s sleep then. You better do the same. I’m going to paint your face with pizza toppings if you fall asleep on me.”
“No worries there. This is going to be one of the most exciting days I’ve had since I’ve been here. There’s no way I’m going to miss it by falling asleep.” I saw a quick flash of pity come over her expression. It was the last thing I wanted, so I steered her away from it. “I just hope they have some good horror movies here, being an angel sanctuary and all. I mean good by our standards.”
“If they don’t, I’ll send Eric out and get some for us,” she said with a wink. We stood there smiling at each other for a moment without a word, but then she sighed and her expression turned serious. “Come here, you.” She pulled me into a hug. “Things are going to be different from here on out. I promise.”
I believed her. When Nora was conscious of something and made a commitment, she was solid with it. I loved her for wanting to make me feel better under the circumstances, but all I really needed was for the circumstances to be over.
“Thank you,” I said, squeezing her tight.
CHAPTER SIX
After Nora had left, my spirit felt lighter knowing I’d cleared the air with at least one of the people I’d completely alienated. But I was also exhausted, run down from the spikes and plummets of my emotions. I decided I’d wait until tomorrow to talk to my mom and dad. My dad, of all people, would understand what I was going through, and mom… mom would always forgive me, the same as I would do for her. We had that unconditional love a mother and daughter share, probably more so than others because of all we’d been through together.
For now, nothing seemed more right than a long, hot bath to ease away any lingering tension. I grabbed a few candles and made my way to the bathroom, on a mission to forget everything that had transpired during the day.
It was liquid heaven in an insanely large, claw foot tub, with the sweet calming scents of jasmine and chamomile. Exactly what I needed. All of my anxiety, all of my anger, seemed to drift away as if the steam rising from the water was taking it all and evaporating into nothingness.
My eyes popped open when I heard a knock at my front door. Feeling lethargic, I slowly eased up from the tub when I heard the door open and then close. Had I forgotten to lock the door?
“Hello?” I called out while reaching for a towel and stepping out of the tub.
Hunter suddenly filled the bathroom doorway, and I jumped, nearly slipping back into the tub. In the panic to right myself, the towel slipped from my hands, but I quickly swiped it back up, holding it in front.
“Need some help?” Hunter asked, checking me out with a raised eyebrow.
I met his gaze with a deadpan look as I wrapped the towel around me and tied it. “When did you come in?” I asked in my most casual voice while sitting on the edge of the tub. Trying to avoid looking at him, I reached over to drain the water. I didn’t want to seem too eager to talk since I was still pretty mad at him. Regardless, my heart was racing from being caught off guard. At least I told myself that was why. It was definitely not because I was half-naked, and his eyes had just raked over my body as if they physically touched every inch of skin as they went.
“About an hour ago,” he said.
“Holy shit. How long have I been in here?”
“I imagine longer than an hour.”
That got him another deadpan look.
“Why didn’t you come and get me out?”
“You looked peaceful.”
“So you let me sleep in the tub? You know that’s dangerous. I could have drowned.”
“You were under constant observation.”
His eyes made another sweep over me, and his meaning sank in as his focus came back up and locked onto mine.
“You… you watched me the whole time?”
“Not the whole time. Someo
ne knocked on the door and I answered it.”
He was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was classic Hunter, no telling signs of what he was thinking or feeling. Well, except for the sultry look in his eyes. I’d seen those enough times to know exactly what was going on behind them. But they couldn’t sway me this time. I was still pissed at his little disappearing act during dinner. As petty as it was, he still owed me an explanation. He knew I’d take offense to him not being at the table without me knowing he wasn’t coming. I was certain that’s why he did it.
“Oh? Who was it?” I asked.
Breaking eye contact, because quite frankly, those eyes had a way of making me forget everything, and I didn’t want to just yet, I got up and opened the cabinet under the sink. After grabbing the lotion, I sat on the marble vanity bench and squeezed some of it into my palm. Deliberately slow, I smoothed the lotion onto one of my legs, from my ankle up to my thigh. There had been a time he would have been the one applying it. I hoped to refresh that memory, but only to torture him. A smart girl has more than one way to get retribution. My payback was a tease.
After I let the silence linger for a while, I peeked up to find Hunter watching my hands, his eyes zeroed in on each movement. His jaw tensed. He breathed deep when he realized I was watching him. I stilled my hands and raised my eyebrows, letting him know I was waiting for an answer.
Straightening, he uncrossed his arms, widened his legs, and hung his thumbs from his jean pockets. God, the man was sexy, and he didn’t even need to be half-naked rubbing himself to make me all gooey inside. At the moment, that sucked. I had the ball. It was in my court. I went back to massaging the lotion on my legs… massaging the hell out of them.
“Anael,” he said, his voice a bit raspier than it had been a minute ago. “She came to tell you that as soon as Hadraniel came back from his mission she’d talk to him about letting you out.”
I snapped my head up. “Really?”
A muscle twitched on the side of his face. I knew he was clenching his teeth.
“Yes,” he said. “Apparently your tantrum at dinner worked.”
While it was true, it was most definitely a tantrum, in a moment when I was trying to be a tempting seductress, he made me feel like a child.
I stood up, grabbed the lotion, and put it back in the cabinet, closing the cabinet door more forcefully than necessary.
As I walked past him, deliberately rubbing against his arm, I said, “How would you know? It’s not as if you were there or anything. You were on your break.”
My back to Hunter, I scrunched up my face and walked into the bedroom, mentally chastising myself for the immature comeback. Nothing like feeding into the childish persona he’d already tacked on me.
“Did my not being at dinner make you that mad?”
He knew it did. I was sure he got the whole sordid scenario painted for him by any one of the people unfortunate enough to witness my breakdown. I chuckled an extremely fake snicker.
“Not at all,” I said while continuing my path to the dresser. “You’re free to do whatever the hell you want, whenever the hell you want, apparently. Lucky you.” I added the last part under my breath.
“So that’s the way of it now?” His voice came from right behind me. When had he moved? “You’ve resorted to lies and pouting to get what you want?”
I swung around. “Lie… pou… wait just a—”
He stood there, straighter than normal, all pompous and snooty, with his arms folded across his chest and his eyebrows up on his forehead, as if to say, “Go ahead and prove me right.”
I took a breath and said, “I haven’t lied to anyone.”
“So, you weren’t mad that I didn’t come to dinner? You didn’t flip out on everyone there after you found out I wasn’t coming?”
“I didn’t flip out. I simply asked if they all might need the same kind of break you obviously needed.”
He narrowed his eyes, making me squirm from the truth I was avoiding.
“Okay, fine. I flipped out. But it was really shitty of you to stand me up like that. Where were you anyway?”
He smiled, and it melted my heart at the same time it boiled my blood. “So, what you’re saying is, it was really just an inflated case of missing me.”
“What? No.”
Laughing, he said, “C’mon, admit it. You missed me.”
He inched in my direction, and I backed up, but I didn’t get far since the dresser was at my back. When he closed in on me, I stood straight and raised my chin.
“No, I didn’t,” I said with complete petulance.
“You didn’t?” He brushed the backs of his fingers across my chest, above the swell of skin the towel had created. I stood as still as possible, trying my damnedest not to moan out loud when they moved up to my shoulder and slowly down my arm until his touch reached the inside of my wrist. The wall I’d created in anger seemed to be breaking away, brick by brick. His eyes transfixed me as they followed the trail his fingers were making. I sucked in a breath when his tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip and then retreated back into his mouth.
When his eyes connected with mine once again, I realized he was waiting for an answer.
“What’s the question?” I asked, breathless.
“You already answered it.”
His hands cupped the back of my head, tilting it just so before his mouth descended on mine like a predator capturing its prey. The familiar taste, like a heady, red wine, sent explosions of desire throughout my body, flirting with every one of my senses. His heavy breathing flooded my ears, while his clean, woodsy scent, hinted with musk, permeated the air all around me. The incandescence of his blue eyes bathed me in a shower of glowing brilliance.
It was Hunter’s most powerful weapon, at least with me. I fell easily into his seductive trance, my anger suddenly a distant emotion, buried beneath the pleasure his kiss promised to fulfill. I melted in his arms as he took his time untying my towel and letting it drop to the floor.
When Hunter’s mouth left mine, I tried desperately to catch my breath, but it was even harder to breathe when his kisses continued across my jaw and down my neck, his lips and tongue devouring my skin.
“I’m still mad at you,” I moaned.
He nipped at my earlobe, and I let out a squeak.
“Hold that thought,” he whispered, his hot breath soothing my lobe and sending hot waves of pleasure to my core.
One of his hands came around and grabbed the back of my hair, tugging my head back, exposing my neck to his torturous mouth. His other hand slid up from my waist and found a hardened nipple. He brushed his fingers across it ever so lightly, and I sucked in a breath as I arched into him. I needed more. Much more. More of his mouth, more of his hands, more of… him… everywhere.
“Hunter.” His name crossed my lips on a half moan, half plea.
Freeing my hair, both his hands went to my breasts, cupping them, molding them, roughly positioning them so he could toy with their peaks. Painful tugs with his teeth were followed by soft, fleshy massages from his tongue and lips. Every touch, every lick, seemed to be directly linked to the growing pressure between my legs. My body had betrayed me, and I couldn’t stop pulsing from his touch. His appreciative groans against my skin only made it race faster.
A hand slipped down my body and reached between my legs. Bracing myself against the dresser, I couldn’t help but lean into the palm he was using to rub against my most sensitive spot.
“I knew you’d be wet for me,” he said in a low, raspy breath. “You’re always wet for me, aren’t you, Cassandra?”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even think. He made me crazy with want.
“Tell me,” he demanded as his fingers teased the very place I was dying for him to touch.
“Yes,” I managed on a pant, barely able to breathe.
“Open your eyes, Cassandra. Look at me.”
I did, and his blue orbs burned into mine with
a fire that demanded my complete submission, simultaneously promising absolute ecstasy in return.
“Yes, what?” he asked.
My body had taken over my mind and complete control of everything, making me a slave to his mandates without question. “Yes, you make me wet. Please, Hunter.”
“Tell me what you want.”
“I want you.” He continued staring, demanding more. “I want you inside me.”
He kissed me hard, claiming me with his mouth. I reached for him and tried to wrap my fingers around his large, hard length through his jeans, but the denim was too thick, too restrictive. Wanting to feel his skin against mine, my clumsy hands tackled the button on his jeans, but he pulled away.
I cried out in frustration.
“Still mad, baby?”
I lifted my heavy, passion-leaded lids and caught him looking down at me with a sexy smirk.
“Seriously? You’re going to play that?” I glared.
His fingers stopped their magical antics and the hand that had been at my breast fell to my hip.
“Oh, yeah,” he said, his smirk now a cocky grin.
I narrowed my eyes and crossed both arms over my chest. “Well, then, yes, I guess I am.” My voice almost cracked from the strain of trying to suppress my over-anxious libido. I braced myself, knowing damn well all it would take was one flick of the finger he still had between my legs and I’d jump him. Hell, as jacked up as I was for him, even a come-hither look would probably do the trick.
He smiled. Shit.
Before I even knew what happened, my feet were off the ground. Hunter’s arms clamped around my thighs, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he hoisted me up onto the dresser.
I looked up at him as he stood between my legs. One side of his mouth lifted slowly. Cocky. Smug. Sexy.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” His tone was dangerous… exotically dangerous, and the ache between my legs intensified from it.
Slowly, he reached back and unclasped my hands from his neck. To my surprise, he placed them on his head. I looked at him questioningly, until he began to lower himself, keeping those piercing blue eyes on mine as he dropped, inch by inch. Torture.
Angel Of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) Page 5
