CHAPTER 4

 

 

The click of the hammer falling was deafening in the quiet room. Had there been a round in the chamber, Alec would be sporting a steaming hole in his chest.

“You can’t hurt me,” he said softly.

“Don’t underestimate me. I always keep the gun stored on an empty chamber. You won’t be so healthy when I squeeze off a live round.” She gestured toward the door with a hard jerk of her chin. “Get out, while you’re still in one piece.”

Her home no longer felt like her own. Alec dominated her living room. The darkness of his clothes was completely at odds with the soft champagne colors she’d decorated with. In an odd twist of fate, she and he matched. She wore a black cotton tank top and matching shorts, her comfort clothes.

“I can’t.” He turned his back to her and pushed the door closed, the protruding dead bolts fitting into the gaping holes in the decimated jamb. He hooked the slender chain into place (the one piece of security she hadn’t bothered with before), then grabbed the wooden chair next to the console table and wedged it under the haphazardly hanging knob.

Locking them in together.

He faced her. “That mark on your arm is going to start messing with you.”

The damn thing was already messing with her. It throbbed and burned something fierce. “What is it?”

“Both a blessing and a curse.” Alec stepped closer, completely unconcerned with the danger her gun presented. “It’s a punishment, a form of penance.”

“What-the-fuck-ever. I’m agnostic and you’re insane. Take your lunatic bullshit and get out of my house.”

“You’re going to get sick and need someone here.”

“Well, it sure as hell isn’t going to be you. I’ll call a friend. Someone reliable.”

Outwardly, the dig didn’t appear to affect him, but she sensed it had struck home.

“A friend isn’t going to be able to help you, Eve. Especially a woman. Not unless you started swinging both ways, which I really doubt. You like men too much.”

“No, I only like parts of men.”

“You liked all of me.”

“I was a stupid kid.” She snorted. “But I learned my lesson the first time.” His challenging smile made her breath catch and she stilled, absorbing what he’d said. “Wait. Are you talking about sex?”

Eve’s eyes widened and her gaze dropped to his groin. The man was rocked, cocked, and ready to go. Every inch of that hard, muscled frame was edgy with tension and arousal. Sudden fury gave her strength, and her shaking stopped.

“No way, Alec. You’re insane if you think I’ll let you touch me again. Go find someone else to torment. I’m all stocked up on angst.”

The angular lines of his face softened. “Angel—”

“Don’t ‘angel’ me. I’m not your angel. I’m not your anything.”

“You’re everything, which is why I left.”

“Shut up.” Fire was coursing through her veins making it hard to think.

Alec studied her intently. “The fever’s kicking in. Your cheeks are flushed and you’re beginning to sweat. You need to lie down.”

“Yeah, that’d be convenient for you, wouldn’t it? Disarm me and get me horizontal.”

“If I just wanted to get laid, why hit up a woman who holds the grudge from hell? I’m not that hard up.”

That smarted, the knowledge that he could crook his finger and have whomever he wanted. She should take comfort knowing she wasn’t the only one to chase him. But it just made her jealous and cranky.

“If you know what happened,” she bit out, “then you know that man looked like you.” Although now that he was here in the flesh, Eve saw the differences between them. No one looked like Alec, although the winged man had been awfully close.

But at this point, she didn’t care. She just wanted Alec out of her house. She couldn’t deal with him. Not today. God, not ever. Never again. Even after all these years, he still drove her crazy.

Sweat dripped down her temple and Eve wiped it away impatiently. “This afternoon pretty much ruined me for men with your coloring. Switching teams actually sounds pretty good at the moment.”

“Don’t,” he said tightly, the muscles in his arms flexing. “I’m barely holding it together as it is. I’d hunt him down now, if you weren’t about to be extremely sick. You need me here, more than you need me out there.”

Her laughter was harsh and without humor. “You’re something I don’t need in my life, especially now.”

Alec rubbed the back of his neck. The pose showed off his well-defined biceps to perfection. It pissed her off that she could still find him so damned attractive.

“I’m sorry, angel.”

Somehow, he managed to fill those words with a wealth of regret. But she wasn’t buying what he was selling. He was one of those guys who never stayed in one place for long and left broken hearts in his wake. The first time she’d been too young to know better. There was no excuse now.

Perspiration gathered between her breasts and trickled down her chest. Eve rubbed at the wetness through her tank top. “It’s been a really crappy day, Alec. I need to go to the doctor in the morning. If you would leave and not come back, I’d be super grateful. I might even forgive you for being crazy. Someday.”

A sudden flare of heat spread across her skin and made her dizzy. The room spun and she stumbled. Alec caught her, cradling her violently shivering body down to the floor. He pulled the gun from her lax fingers, and set it down carefully beside him.

“Alec . . .” The smell of his skin, achingly familiar, drugged her already confused senses.

“I’m here, angel,” he crooned, pulling her into his embrace.

She clutched at his arm and found the raised mark with her fingertips. Turning her head, Eve saw it. The trinity knot and serpents were just like hers, only his brand had another image in the center. An open eye. His looked like an embossed tattoo, while hers was most definitely a blistering burn.

“Dear god,” she gasped, her breathing labored as she felt consciousness slipping from her. “What’s going on?”

He brushed strands of her hair away from her face. Her skin tingled where he touched her, goose bumps rising. Everything about the way he looked at her exacerbated her fever. There was nothing in the world like being wanted with a primitive desire. The one thing she’d never doubted was that Alec was madly in lust with her.

“You were drawn to him because of me, weren’t you?” His lips hovered above hers so that their panting breaths mingled and became one. It was as intimate as sex, that sharing of breaths between them.

She didn’t have to answer. He knew. He always knew.

His thumb brushed across her cheekbone. He moved to kiss her, but Eve jerked her head away.

“Damn you,” she breathed, her nails digging into his skin.

“We’re both damned.” He pulled her into his lap and tucked her flushed face into the crook of his neck, where the scent of his skin was so strong.

Against her will, she nuzzled him, rubbing her sweat into his flesh. She felt the urge to crawl inside him, to see what made him tick. Her tongue darted out and tasted him. He shuddered in response, squeezing her tighter. Her wound was on the arm facing away from him and she felt his fingertips move, feather light, over her bandage.

Her voice came as no more than a whisper. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You’re right, angel. You haven’t.” His lips pressed hard to her damp forehead.

“Then why?”

He exhaled harshly. “Because of me. Because I couldn’t resist you.”

Eve opened her mouth to reply, but weariness pulled hard at her and she sank into darkness.