Toren drove that steely gaze into his own, no mercy. "Awed beyond comprehension. Brother."
"Holy Father in heaven!" Lyght couldn't keep the words in, or his shock out of them. He'd never heard such emotion come from his perpetually indifferent brother. "Wonderful."
"Oh yes."
"Oh God."
Toren's laughter ripped the air with the metallic sound of his own wings flapping before leaving Lyght staring into empty space. He very easily conjured up wedding chamber images that made him clench his diamond eyes shut tight and wish to drown himself in the War Chamber's cleansing pool, normally only put to use after battling filthy demons.
Lyght focused on Kassie's spirit. The purity of her sweet soul. Yes, that. She's harmless and gentle and full of light. Perfection in a…fragile human body.
With that in mind, he found her spirit and locked on to it. Then soared toward her at the speed of his diamond's light, suddenly realizing he hadn't decided when to break the wedding news to her. Or how.
Chapter Two
Annoyance crept along Lesedi's skin. Of a certainty, something had happened. His contact missed the check-in for the fourth time. Another day wasted and only one more opportunity to make the exchange before he would have to cut his losses and leave. Not a thing but frostbite to show for it.
With one last careful look around the winter-barren park, he rose from the bench to head for his car. Inane to use it for such short distances, even with the cold weather, but he could not exactly tote around his cache of weapons and survival gear. If trouble should arise, being defenseless was not an option in his business.
The young mother helping her son feed birds at the edge of the little pond kept a cautious eye on Lesedi. She had almost left when he arrived but the child begged for more time and she relented when Lesedi made no threatening moves.
Everywhere he turned in the little backwater town, his reception had been the same. The people had all been careful and watchful as if expecting him to sprout a second head at any moment, perhaps bang his fists on the ground like a gorilla and demand a white woman for a dish. The handful of gangbangers he had spotted his first day in the town apparently were their only experience with dark-skinned people. No surprise they expected trouble. If illiterate racists were his only experience with whites, he'd worry every time he saw white skin too.
By the time he drove back to the center of town and parked outside the little rooming house that passed for a hotel, the short winter twilight had started to settle. In any other place, he would have switched hotels every night and not eaten at the same establishment twice to avoid detectable patterns. Besides making his exchange and staying alive, his only goal was to evade pursuers, but in Mason Montana, his normal way of doing things was not an option. The one and only little hotel sat across the corner from the one and only restaurant with the one and only public Wi-Fi.
Never again would he set up an exchange and leave the details to someone else. Had he chosen the location, it certainly would not be in a place that made him such a large and easy-to-find target. The only bright spot he had managed to find thus far in the entire situation was the little diner. Not only was the food excellent, it was served by a rare treasure.
Her nametag read MIYA and her low musical voice drew his imagination. Golden skin, flashing black eyes and a careful smile combined with a thick fall of heavy blue-black hair to tempt Lesedi to just sit and watch as she went about her work with a natural grace. Her slender body with its ripe curves no doubt fueled a lifetime of fantasies for the males who ate at the diner. His own mind had certainly gone there. Repeatedly.
But that voice was the key to it all. Some magical quality of tone gave him the sensation of a supple hand wrapped in a velvet glove gently stroking his cock. Lesedi found himself spending an unconscionable amount of time dreaming up ways to coax her to say more than her usual what can I get for you, sir, without making himself look like a fool. Thus far, his efforts had yielded minimal results.
As the twilight gave way to full darkness, he crossed the street to the diner. Force of habit drew him to a halt just outside the door for a quick look around, marking possible vulnerabilities. With nothing out of the ordinary, he shoved through the door and went straight to the table that had immediately become his favorite. He'd initially chosen the corner for its strategic position, allowing a clear view of the room and the entrance, but he'd come back to the same one repeatedly because Miya would be the one to take his order and deliver his food.
Only a moment after Lesedi sat, Miya wove a path between the other tables, all occupied. She paused to top off someone's coffee from the ever-present carafe in her left hand, then continued toward him, the sway of her perfectly rounded hips nearly hypnotizing him. Her thick pony-tail swished with her exact halt next to him, echoing a passionate energy he sensed bubbling in her veins.