Grace’s confusion at the angel’s sudden departure was overwhelmed by the flare of need he had ignited with that hungry look. She closed her eyes and wound her arms around her stomach. As she tried to hold herself together, she couldn’t help but wish she’d died.
• • •
They were as easy to read as young children after forbidden sweets. Jayden shook his head, disappointed in the lack of challenge the defilers presented.
He wanted to hear whatever it was that his Temptation had been about to tell the mouthy one, but the men storming in with loud thoughts of escape forced Jayden to step outside and prepare for their plan.
Jayden reached the cave-in in seconds. He took up residence in the corner between wall and rubble, and slowly unfurled his wings — a move as close to a lazy stretch Jayden would ever get. He encircled himself with the iridescent feathers, immediately rendering himself invisible to the human eye.
He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest and his legs at the ankle. Now, it was a waiting game. If their thoughts had been any indication, the men would not be able to wait long before acting on their idea.
A handful of moments later, the door to the delicate one’s room swung inward without a sound.
Jayden never smiled, but nevertheless, he found it difficult to tamp down a surge of amusement. In the years that had passed since Jayden’s last unfortunate — for the human anyway — encounter with man, Jayden had forgotten that they were a constant source of lowbrow entertainment, not too different from watching baby animals blunder around.
The blond one stuck his head out into the hallway and looked right and left. He made a gesture as he moved to stand beside the door. The blue-eyed one sprinted out the door and toward Jayden and the cave-in.
“Where is he?” the blue-eyed one hissed, reaching for a rock and silently setting it aside.
Jayden parted his wings and cleared his throat. Both men froze. “I believe I can answer that,” Jayden said softly.
“Oh, hell,” the blond one muttered from his post.
The blue-eyed one turned his head slowly until he met Jayden’s gaze.
“I do not think I need to tell you that I could easily squelch this misbegotten escape attempt.”
The blue-eyed one shook his head.
“Good. Now, return to your women and inform them of your failure.”
Raw anger flared quickly in those blue eyes, and his thoughts screamed rebellion, but the man stared at Jayden without an audible word.
On the other side of the rubble, Jayden heard the whispers of many men. His temper frayed to the breaking point. A rescue attempt from both sides? These humans did not know what they played with.
The Compulsion throbbing within his skull, Jayden jerked forward and snatched the blue-eyed one to him with a hand around the throat.
“Hey, hey — ” the blond one said in a voice half urgent, half soothing. With palms out, he took several steps toward where Jayden now squeezed the other human’s neck.
“Stay where you are,” Jayden barked as he struggled to get the Compulsion back under control. If those men on the outside burst through, that would be it. Jayden would lose himself and regain awareness amid horrible carnage. No one was safe.
A vein began to throb in the blue-eyed one’s forehead, and still the man glared at Jayden with all the defiance he possessed. Against his will, Jayden felt a flare of respect stab through him.
He loosened his fingers slightly. The blue-eyed one sucked in a ragged breath.
Jayden would never be able to keep them here without them trying to escape. Without someone trying to rescue them. Unless —
Jayden abruptly dropped his hand. As the blue-eyed one folded over to clutch his knees and gasp, Jayden turned to the blond one. “How did the men on the other side know to meet you at the cave-in?”
The man’s wary eyes hardened, and his chin kicked up a notch.
With a sigh, Jayden marched forward, intent on prying the information from him bodily before realizing from the man’s thoughts that he would not cave to physical intimidation. Jayden turned once more toward the blue-eyed one and reached for him again —
“Okay, okay!” the blond one shouted.
Jayden let his arm fall to his side and faced the blond one once more with a raised eyebrow.
“We’ve been in contact through cell phone.”
Ah, yes. The humans were never far from their gadgets. Jayden stalked closer to the blond man whose Adams apple bobbed, though he did not step back.
“Listen to me now,” Jayden said in a low voice once they were toe-to-toe, “and know that I do not lie. No human, not even a strong one, stands a chance against me. If there is a rescue attempt — from
either
side — again, you are all dead. You
and
the innocents who would attempt to aid you.”
No reaction from either man.
“Your women as well.” Jayden looked directly into the blond one’s eyes, the truth and horror of his statement as apparent as Jayden could make it. “You will set me off, and not even I will be able to stop myself.”
Now the blond one reacted. “Don’t you lay a hand on — ”
Jayden cut him off with a raised palm. “Call them and tell them it is unsafe to attempt rescue.”
Still the blond one hesitated.
“Do it,” the blue-eyed one rasped from over Jayden’s shoulder. The man’s thoughts of his mate and unborn child mixed with panic and poured directly into Jayden’s mind. Whatever the human heard in Jayden’s voice, it was enough to convince him Jayden was as out of control as he probably was.
With fumbling fingers, the blond one pulled a slim phone from his pocket and made the call.
Jayden stretched forward his palm. “Give it to me.”
As soon as the cool metal hit Jayden’s skin, he crushed the phone within his fist. “That was the first wise thing you have done today. Return to your women. Enjoy the time you have left.”
The door to the delicate one’s room clicked shut behind the men, and Jayden had no problem overhearing what was said and thought within.
“ — completely deranged — ”
“Can turn invisible — ”
That particular divulgence drew a unique blend of wistful and envious thoughts from his Temptation.
All
of them felt their situation was hopeless, even if they refrained from saying so out loud.
A few minutes later, they all dejectedly decided to call it a night. As the door opened once more, Jayden surrounded himself with his wings, so he could watch the defilers in stealth. The blond one and the mouthy one took an examining room a few doors further down without once looking in the spot they both knew Jayden was hidden.
His Temptation, however, stopped mid-stride and turned to look directly at Jayden. Her stare was so penetrating that Jayden’s feathers ruffled as he strove to make sure he was fully covered.
She sighed from deep within her gut, and her thoughts hit Jayden full in the face:
Lucky angel
.
Without another thought, she continued to walk down the hall and into a room several away from everyone else.
She so desperately wanted to be invisible. For no one to see her.
Why?
The Compulsion jerked within him. As though he felt a chill, Jayden tightened his wings around his body. But the movement was not enough to stop an errant, completely inappropriate thought: He would shield her from all other eyes forever, if only he could.
The past twelve hours had not changed much, except for the humans’ strategy. Jayden leaned against the wall outside the delicate one’s medical room and listened unashamedly as they all talked in hushed tones within. Now, rather than escape, it sounded as though their plan were to “win him over.”
Jayden scoffed. Terrible plan.
They began urging his Temptation to play off of their connection.
Jayden frowned. Maybe they were smarter than he thought. And Jayden obviously revealed more weakness where his Temptation was concerned than was acceptable.
No
, Jayden shook his head. He had no weakness where his Temptation was concerned. He was resolute.
It did not matter anyway. His Temptation refused so violently, Jayden did not have to use any stealth to overhear.
Jayden sighed as he realized he automatically tensed at her refusal. It would only
help
matters if she vowed to stay away from him.
Then — through the walls, over their arguing — Jayden heard his Temptation’s stomach growl.
He did not realize he moved until his hand slapped the cool metal door. He pushed it open, and it bounced off of the wall.
They all froze like naughty children, their eyes blinking at him widely.
“You need sustenance.”
He was speaking only to his Temptation, but the mouthy one stepped forward. “Yes,” she said in a light, lilting voice that differed greatly from the one she had used thus far. “That’s a great idea. There are some MREs in the emergency supply closet. I could go get them.”
Winning him over
seemed to be in full effect. He realized that he had
again
shown concern for his Temptation and forced his face into a mask of indifference, with only a slight grimace. “It matters not to me.” Jayden shrugged. “You will all die soon anyway. But suit yourself.”
The mouthy one clicked her tongue and threw one hand up in the air as the other landed on her cocked hip. “Does he have to keep saying that?” She asked, turning to her mate. “I can’t be nice to him if he says shit like that.”
“Okay, okay,” the blond one said stepping forward and ushering his mate out into the hall as quickly as possible. Probably afraid Jayden would kill her on the spot. He was tempted. “We’ll be right back,” he threw over his shoulder. Jayden heard them argue as they made their way down the hall.
The delicate one tried to give Jayden a dim smile from her bed, but he barely saw it. This was the first moment since her longing stare yesterday that Jayden had seen his Temptation. And right now his eyes were riveted.
When she noticed him looking at her, her gray eyes quickly darted away from a glazed focus on his wings. Her hair was more a tempest than it had been yesterday. Her clothes, still sliced and bloody from his sword, were even more rumpled today. She had discarded the jacket of her oversized business suit, and Jayden’s eyes were caught by the flashes of smooth skin revealed by the barely-together garment. Her stomach was beautiful. Perfect. His hands itched to touch it, to slide across what was probably the softest thing he would ever touch.
She fidgeted under Jayden’s stare. “Sh-she didn’t mean it,” she said softly.
It took a moment for Jayden to remember the mouthy one’s casual insult. He could not focus on anything but his Temptation’s body. “Yes she did,” he replied automatically. Before his eyes, her nipples hardened, pressing into two distinct, perfect peaks. Jayden’s mouth watered. His belly ached, much worse than it had yesterday. He placed an open palm over his lower abdomen and rubbed absently.
She crossed her arms over her middle and chest, breaking the spell. Jayden raised his eyes to her face and froze at the pure, unadulterated terror in their stormy depths.
Jayden sucked in a breath. He petrified her. He closed his eyes and focused.
No, not just me.
What she felt for him scared her, too.
She
wanted
him.
Everything she had just been thinking washed over him. He saw himself through her eyes. Saw as lust and awe flashed across his face while he watched her breasts harden. Felt her breathless longing.
He opened his eyes in shock, barely suppressing a groan at the depth of her desire. But then he focused on her eyes again. None of those emotions were there now. Only the terror. It poured off of her in waves.
Oh, she had wanted him for a moment, but that moment was long gone. Her fear was so stark he could nearly taste it. He found himself wishing to reassure her, tell her he would not hurt her.
But it would be a lie. And the cherubim could never lie.
The blond one and the mouthy one reentered the room, piles of MREs in their arms. They skidded to a stop and, as one, looked back and forth between Jayden and his Temptation. Without a word, the mouthy one moved to stand before Grace, her brows crashed down over her eyes.
Jayden blinked. He realized every muscle in his body was taut with tension. He had taken several steps toward his Temptation while his thoughts had been occupied, and his hands were fisted at his sides.
He forced himself to relax, once more making his face a blank mask. “She needs clothes,” he ordered empirically. “I already told you so once. Get her some immediately. I do not want to see that,” he gestured toward the general area of her exposed skin, “anymore.”
Oddly enough, his words caused his Temptation’s face to fall. A corresponding ache sharply flicked through his chest. Before he could make a greater fool of himself, he turned on one sandaled heel and left the room. As soon as he was out of sight, he fell against the wall in the sterile hallway, his breath leaving him in a whoosh.
Inside the room, the blond one asked, “What the hell was that?”
The blue-eyed one gave a vivid — and accurate — recounting of Jayden’s reaction to his Temptation, making sure to leave nothing out. Jayden had completely forgotten the presence of the other two in the face of his Temptation’s charms. He brought his hand to his forehead to smooth the tension there. His hand was shaking.
The Compulsion stretched within him like a predator preparing to strike. Jayden gritted his teeth and forced it back down.
Lord of the Most High, this cannot be over quickly enough.
• • •
“Grace.”
I do not want to see that
anymore.
Grace couldn’t breathe, her chest hurt so badly.
I do not want to see that
—
“Grace.”
She knew they were calling her, trying to talk to her. She couldn’t make her mind track. Her eyes were stinging. That meant tears. And Grace knew if she started, she wouldn’t be able to stop.
I do not want to see that
. Grace rubbed her stomach through the gash in her shirt, trying to gauge just how horrifying her fat stomach actually was to look upon. It must be just as bad as it always had been, even though the fruit had caused her to drop so much weight. Weight she needed to hide behind; weight she loathed.