"I promise to explain it later, in great detail, if you do as I ask now."
She turned and quickly made her way to the bed. Apparently he liked her backside, judging by the loud growling that ensued. She peeked over her shoulder. "Stop looking then!"
"I'm bloody trying! You're asking me to stop smelling you and tasting you. I cannot, you're all over inside me and I want to devour you. I want to take you right here and now and make you mine in the most animalistic and dangerous way. I'm extremely unstable, an angel with infinite powers, and you, sweetheart, are merely a fragile human. So, help me and get. Dressed. Now."
The urgency in his tone hurried her up.
"Oh God, you're aroused again," he whispered.
She trembled as she put her clothes back on. "It's your fault," she whispered, incredulous. "You're doing this to me, I've never had a man say those things, want those things with me." Her heart pounded with a mixture of fear and exhilaration.
His thrashing grew more violent, his growls more ferocious.
"Now what did I do!" Just the thought that she, plain little old Kassie, could affect any man so much, let alone an angel, was just laughable.
"You're bloody needing me. I can't stand not answering your needs. Go!"
She flew to the door with her shirt in hand, heading for the bathroom, not caring if anyone saw her half naked. She had to do whatever he needed to help him.
"Don't!" His angry command cut through the air with physical force, stopping her in her tracks.
She jerked around. "What now?"
"Do not show another man what is mine!" Every delicious word reverberated through his chest and throat as a growl.
His possessive command took her breath away in another first. No man had ever considered her his except as something to control. Breathless, she put the shirt on, realizing she forgot to hide by the way he jerked his head away. "I'm done." She opened the door.
"Gather the others into the room near the kitchen. The living room? Please."
He sounded weak and worn. She wanted to go to him and kiss him, to take care of him. Would she ever be able to do that?
"Yes, love. You will. Soon."
He said that without turning to her. She nodded and shut the door, hurrying to gather the others as he said, while wondering what he was going to tell them. She'd thought he was there just to save her, with no idea there might be something beyond that. She scolded herself for the little jab of disappointment over the new development.
Chapter Eight
Miya stood at the counter with her plate while Lesedi sat at the table with the boy. He'd insisted she take the chair, but she'd managed to overrule him on that, at least. She occupied herself with a slice of bacon while she tried not to be too annoyed that the man who'd demanded they meet him was already fifteen minutes late and Kassie was nowhere to be found either. Besides that, Lesedi obviously knew at least some of what the man wanted to say but refused to even give a hint.
Fine then. She'd wait. But whatever kind of scam the guy was running wouldn't work on her. She wasn't one to fall for just any handsome face that showed up with a hard luck story. In fact, she looked forward to hearing his tale. She loved using logic to refute the lies those con artists came up with. This one would be no different from the dozens of others who'd showed up at the diner since she started working there, all wanting something from her or the other servers, or worse, Craig. That man didn't have the sense to say no in most cases and usually ended up giving them a free meal at the very least.
Hopefully Lesedi hadn't been taken in by the weird English guy's accent and decided to invest in some hare-brained scheme or something. Lesedi was a genuinely nice guy and she'd hate to see him taken advantage of.
While she fumed, Lesedi and the boy, Tyler, ate enthusiastically and chatted. Something about the boy appealed to the instinct that made her feed the stray cat. He looked lost and alone, even while he laughed at some silly remark Lesedi made. And his eyes. They were clear and gray and should sparkle with mischief but instead they were haunted and fearful, as if he'd seen something really bad and knew for a fact that thing was coming for him. What on Earth could put that look in a person's eyes?
Even children she'd seen who were abused didn't have quite that same look about them. Tyler looked like he'd seen the monster under the bed, up close and personal, and knew the night was coming again all too soon.
She fought the temptation to ask him about it. One class in child psychology at the community college didn't qualify her to dig into a kid's brain and try to slay his demons. It was enough for her to know she didn't have what it took to do that kind of work. She settled for refilling his milk and offering him a blanket when he shuddered with a sudden chill.