“What isn’t a good idea, Blue Eyes?”
BD appeared from the living room and Gabriel swore under his breath. He’d been looking for the bastard all morning, determined to get some answers, but he’d been nowhere to be found.
Bethany lifted her cheek for her husbands gentle kiss, leaning back against him affectionately. “I asked him to make a simple delivery, but Gabriel is afraid he won’t be able to resist Rousseau’s little sister.”
BD pursed his lips thoughtfully, Gabriel watching as his hands caressed Bethany’s hips, pulling her closer against him. “He has a point,
cher
. You saw what happened at the dinner party. And the other night in our driveway.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He
could
resist her, damn it. He just had a hard time remembering that when he was close enough to smell her. To see those luscious breasts begging for his touch.
He watched the couple in front of him, wondering what kind of game they were playing. If they were aiming to make a match, they were going to be in for a major disappointment. They were also going to bring down the wrath of Rousseau, one of BD’s closest friends.
A fact that might save him from this delivery. “I think Celestin would rather I stay far away from his little sister. Especially since I’m so mysterious and scary.”
“Something you could fix whenever you wanted.” Bethany rolled her eyes. “But regardless, I’m asking you to do it as a favor to me.”
BD waggled his eyebrows. “Aren’t you getting the hint? My blushing bride wants to be alone with me. I was thinking sex on the kitchen table, maybe a little role-playing where I am the plumber and she is a naked woman in my clutches.”
Bethany looked over her shoulder at her husband, her lips quirking in helpless amusement. “A plumber is not the first fantasy I would pick.”
BD pouted playfully. “But you said it turned you on when I fixed the garbage disposal.”
Gabriel grabbed the envelope. “On that disturbing note.” He opened the door and took a deep, fortifying breath. He could do this. Bethany and BD hadn’t asked him for anything. Plus, they’d saved his life. He could hand one package over to the saucy, aggravating Angelique without attacking her as soon as she opened the door.
He hoped.
Gabriel knew within minutes of hopping into his rental car that Emmanuel was with him. “Where have you been?”
“Other than giving you some privacy for your wackathon?” Emmanuel mocked. “I’ve been around. You know, there are more interesting things going on this city than watching you mope.”
Gabriel’s hands clenched on the steering wheel. “More interesting than whatever’s happening to me? More interesting than ghosts and Loas and blackouts where I turn into the ninja from Hell? This should be good.”
Emmanuel, who was reclining in the backseat of the Mercedes, sighed. “As a matter of fact, yes. You know, when I was here before, all I could see was my tiny little corner of the world. The house where I grew up. You and Michelle and the family who purchased the house from mine. I had no idea that more than that existed. No one told me.”
“If you’re trying to scare me, you’ll have to do better than that. Who never told you what?”
Emmanuel suddenly appeared in the seat beside him, his intensely blue eyes sparkling. “Others. Not Loa. Not like me, either. At least, not that I’ve met yet.” He studied Gabriel, then shook his head, smiling. “Let’s just say Angelique’s professor may have something to his teachings, after all.”
Gabriel sneered. “You seen a Loup Garou recently, Manny? Great. Maybe you should go pop in on
him
when he least expects it. Drive someone else crazy for a change.”
“There’s more, but I can see you’re not interested. That stick up your ass wouldn’t have anything to do with seeing Angelique again, would it? Or have you finally come to your senses? Are you on your way to tell the Mambo what you can do?”
“BD doesn’t even know; I don’t even know; why should my mother? You’re like a damn broken record.” Gabriel’s shoulders were so tense they were practically pressing against his ears. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Emmanuel huffed out a frustrated breath. “Why don’t
you
tell
me
? Have you even tried to figure it out for yourself? What do you think happened the other night?”
He’d seen the darkness, and then it had seen him. It came into him and he’d blacked out, apparently kicking the shit out of the street toughs who had him sorely outnumbered. “It wasn’t possession.”
“Not in the sense you know it. But I already told you that.”
“It was clinging to those men.”
Emmanuel nodded. “It looks for their own. Seeks out certain energies, certain people.”
“Now we’re back to square one. I draw the darkness; therefore I’m a dick for bringing that wonderful gift home to my family. Thanks for clearing that up.”
Emmanuel frowned. “Why are we going to see the girl, anyway?”
Was he trying to change the subject? Gabriel sneered. “Some disembodied voice spoke to Bethany, telling her where I was the other night. She was upset that I wouldn’t tell her what I knew about that.” He sent Emmanuel a meaningful glance. “So I’m running errands, trying to get back into her good graces.”
“Oh. That.” Emmanuel sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, lowering his head, his dark hair swooping over his face to hide his expression. “She was the closest.”
“Whatever you want to tell yourself, Manny. But for someone who keeps telling me I need to talk to my mama, you seem to have a few familial communication issues of your own.”
He pulled up to park along the curb in front of the old apartment building Angelique was staying in and turned off the car.
Emmanuel reached for his arm before he could open the door. “Gabe, I have a bad feeling. I don’t think you should go up there.”
Gabriel laughed, but the sound was grim. “You and me both, buddy. That girl is more dangerous than she looks.” And he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. It didn’t help that his pillow still smelled of her. That he knew she’d showered in his bathroom, slept in his bed last night.
He walked around the front of his car to find Emmanuel already standing in front of the door. “Seriously, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Angelique isn’t why you’re here. She’s not part of the plan.”
Gabriel raised a suspicious brow. “Angelique, huh? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were worried about her, not me. Is it because of what I am? Because of this mysterious plan you won’t tell me anything about? Or maybe you can’t forget the way she looked, spread out on the grass, begging for me to fuck her. Does Manny have a little crush?”
Gabriel pushed past Emmanuel and opened the door that would lead him to the stairs up to her apartment.
“You’ll hurt her.”
He froze, refusing to look into judgmental blue eyes. A judgment he didn’t disagree with. The closer he got to her door, the more thoroughly he sealed his fate. This time he wouldn’t push Angelique away. He wouldn’t leave until he knew what it was like to be inside her. Regardless of the consequences.
“Then stop me, Manny. Because I don’t think I can stop myself.”
The silence turned Gabriel around on the staircase. Emmanuel was gone. He was alone, his guardian angel nowhere in sight. His only hope now rested with Angelique.
Heaven help them both.
ANGELIQUE SAT ON THE WORN, COMFORTABLE COUCH IN
her childhood apartment, lost in thought as the sun began to set outside. Maybe she shouldn’t have turned down Ive and Kelly, who’d called her, worried, apologetic, and wanting to come over.
She’d told them she wanted to be alone, though she knew it wasn’t true. She wanted to find Gabriel and demand he tell her what he was, why he was here, and what he had done to her.
This wasn’t her. She’d never felt this out of control, this crazed. And all because of one man. Gabriel.
But she couldn’t blame him for her actions today. She wasn’t sure why she’d done it, pocketed the locket without showing it to Mambo Toussaint.
Even though she’d been told she could take something if she wanted it, a small voice in her head had worried that she wouldn’t be allowed to keep it. Barely aware of what she was doing, she’d slipped the locket into the pocket of her jeans while Bethany was busy with the Mamas.
She’d also rushed out before Elise Adair could hug her, ensuring that the older woman wouldn’t know.
Her gentle, petite mother would tan her backside for her behavior. And for what? Some old necklace?
Angelique studied the piece of jewelry in question. She’d set it on the coffee table, staring at it as if it were a venomous insect preparing to strike.
She’d take it back tomorrow and hope she hadn’t offended Michelle and Gabriel’s mother. The last thing she needed was to anger a voodoo priestess.
The red gem on the locket glittered in the flickering light of the candles. Angelique looked around the living room ruefully. If a stranger saw this scene, they might imagine that she was in for a romantic evening. Surrounded by candles, a bottle of wine at her side, in nothing but a white satin chemise.
As if she were waiting for her lover.
A dark thread of self-recrimination wound its way into her thoughts. How many nights had her mother waited, after her children had gone to bed, for the man she loved? How many nights had she spent alone, while he ignored her for one mistress after the next, for one dark deed after another?
Theresa Rousseau had not raised her daughter to be dependent on any man. She’d been determined, as had Celestin, that Angelique would have the strength and tools she needed to make her own way in the world. And until now, Angelique had never doubted her path. Her worth.
She wasn’t the kind of person who felt the need to hide what she was thinking. Wasn’t the kind of woman who had ever chased after a man who’d refused her, offering herself to him again and again, despite his resistance. And she certainly didn’t steal from friends.
She knew she needed to get her head on straight, but her body didn’t want to cooperate. It still wanted relief. Satisfaction.
Maybe she should call Ive back and tell her she’d changed her mind. That she didn’t want to be alone. She stood up and leaned over to blow out the candle in front of her. No more waiting.
The knock on the door made her jump, startled. She laughed softly at herself, relieved that, as usual, her friends hadn’t listened to her. They’d come over anyway.
“I should’ve known you couldn’t stay away. What naughty adventure do you two have planned for tonight? I’m ready for anythi—” She swung open the door and her throat closed.
“Expecting someone?”
She couldn’t speak. He was here. Gabriel was at her door. She glanced around his body, over his shoulder. And he was alone. She remembered the conversation she’d had with the Mamas and Bethany and mentally reworded her thoughts. He was alone . . . as far as she knew.
Her fingertips dug into the doorframe as she continued to stare at him, watching as her lack of reaction affected his body.
His shoulders tensed and his jaw tightened. She saw his gaze look past her and into the room. He took in her thin slip, the candles on the mantel behind her, and gritted his teeth. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your plans for the evening. I’m just here to deliver something from Bethany.”
Bethany? She looked down at the envelope he stretched out in her direction, having a hard time putting a coherent thought together.
She’d seen Bethany just a few hours ago. Why hadn’t she given this to her earlier? Then a sudden, jarring worry clenched her heart. What if she knew what Angelique had done? Was it a warning to return the locket? That didn’t seem like Bethany’s style.
Gabriel sighed roughly and Angelique straightened. “Come on in.”
She turned before he could pass the package to her and go, as he obviously wanted to. “My friends threatened to come over and cheer me up. That’s who I thought you were.”
Gabriel took a few strides into the room, looking pointedly around at the romantic setting. “The women from the other night? I didn’t think you would be up for that sort of thing.”
She whirled around in time to catch the teasing glint in his moss-green eyes. “You have no idea what I’m up for.”
He inhaled sharply, running fingers through his wavy hair with his free hand, offering the envelope with the other. “Take it.”
“No.”
“No?” Gabriel’s gaze narrowed, studying her stubbornly lifted chin, the lips that felt hot and swollen. Needy. “Fine.” He set it on the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. “I should go.”
Angelique crossed her arms over her suddenly aching breasts. She wasn’t begging him. Not this time. “You’re probably right.”
Neither one of them moved. Angelique watched him struggle ; she could practically see the battle being waged in his mind. He wanted her; she knew he did. But maybe he’d been right in the first place. She didn’t know what she was getting into with Gabriel. She should stay as far away from him as she could.
“Open it first.” Gabriel’s voice was rough, that rasp she loved seeming to scrape along her spine, making her shiver.
Why? She furrowed her brow and hesitated. She’d have to walk past him to get the envelope, near enough to touch him. To feel his heat. Was he trying to torture her?
He needed to leave before she threw herself at him again. This time there would be no one to find them, no reason to stop. This time he’d have to reject her without any excuses. She wasn’t sure she could deal with that tonight.
“Okay, fine.” She took a breath and started past him to reach for the long envelope. “You can tell her you’ve done your duty and—Hey!”
He dragged her up against his body, his fingers wrapping around her biceps, his gaze trapping hers. “Just sex,” he muttered. “I don’t have anything else to give. No one else knows; no one gets hurt. Just me, fucking you, until we get this out of our systems.”