Angel in Chains (3 page)

Read Angel in Chains Online

Authors: Cynthia Eden

Tags: #Romance, #Fiction, #Paranormal, #General

BOOK: Angel in Chains
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“You should fear me.” He tried to pull his hand away.
She tightened her grip. “And you should learn to trust other people.”
The wail of a siren drifted in the air. Jade tensed. The chitchat was fun, but . . . “We need to get out of here.”
His bright gaze raked her once more. But, after the briefest of hesitations, he nodded.
Yes.
“I’ve got a car waiting,” she told Az as she pulled him behind her. Good thing she’d stashed her ride close by,
before
the crazy shifter attack. She and Az could hop into the car and head out. Then he could just bleed in the vehicle and stop that dripping trail of blood. “In ten minutes, we’ll be safe.”
Well, as safe as they could be with one very angry pack of panther shifters after them.
Normally, panthers were a solitary breed. But if they got a strong alpha to lead them—a sick fuck who knew all about control—then they’d band together and make life hell for everyone else.
These particular panther shifters had been after her for years. Always hunting. Destroying everything and everyone in their path.
Some guys just had a real hard time letting go . . .
So you had to kill them in order for the message to sink in.
“Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Before another hunt began.
 
“Austin’s dead.”
Brandt Dupre glanced up at the announcement. The swamp waited behind him, bloody with the fire of the rising sun. He cocked a brow as he studied the panther shifter before him. Riley was practically vibrating with rage, probably because the blood and bruises on his body indicated the guy had just gotten his ass seriously kicked.
“Jade?” Brandt asked softly. Oh, but even after all these years, she could still surprise him. Taking out one of his most trusted panther assassins. He’d have to punish her for that, of course, but . . .
“It wasn’t her.” Riley spat on the ground. Blood dripped from his lips. “It was that big, blond bastard who—”
Brandt lunged at the shifter. His claws burst from his fingertips as he grabbed Riley by the throat. “A man was with Jade?” With
his
Jade?
Riley nodded as Brandt’s claws sliced his throat. Riley didn’t even flinch when the blood slid down his neck.
Rage burned in Brandt’s body. Jade should have learned by now. She should
know
better.
This was their war. She didn’t get to bring others into their battle. She sure as hell didn’t get to
fuck
others.
How many dead bodies would he have to leave before she figured that fact out? Did she
want
him to keep killing those foolish enough to go to her aid?
She must.
He tossed Riley back a few feet. The shifter fell onto the dark earth. Brandt turned to face the swamp as he fought to control his temper. “He’s dead.” An order. And what the alpha wanted . . .
He got.
Why couldn’t Jade understand that?
“He may not be so easy to kill.”
Brandt stiffened at Riley’s muttered words. Then he glanced over his shoulder.
Riley had risen to his feet. The shifter ignored his bleeding neck but brushed off his hands. “The guy’s not human.” Riley swallowed and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’m not even sure what the fuck he is.”
Interesting. “But you’re sure that he was with my Jade?”
Mine.
She belonged to him, body and soul.
“Damn white knight.” Riley’s twisted sneer showed his growing canines. “The dude came rushing up out of nowhere, trying to
save
her.”
His words calmed the beast inside of Brandt. If the stranger had rushed up and joined the fight, then the fool could have just been a good Samaritan. And perhaps the bastard wasn’t fucking Jade.
But whoever he was, he’d still killed a shifter.
“Find him,” Brandt ordered. “Bring him to me.” He smiled. “Then I’ll rip him open.” He deserved his fun, and the panthers deserved their revenge.
After all, he’d rather liked Austin.
Perhaps he’d even let Jade watch while he slaughtered her knight.
Another death. More blood. When her knight died, maybe then she’d finally realize there was no escape.
She belonged to him. Forever.
C
HAPTER
T
WO
“Y
ou should strip.”
Her big blond badass turned and frowned at her.
Jade offered him one of her innocent smiles. “Your clothes are soaked with blood. Give them to me, and I’ll go wash them for you.” Didn’t that sound friendly? Helpful? “And you can, um, go shower.” She waved her hand to indicate the small bathroom that waited just down the hallway.
Her temporary place—’cause, yeah, all of her places were temporary these days—wasn’t much. A small apartment nestled on the edge of the Quarter. She was on the top floor and an abandoned antique shop waited below her.
She’d painted the walls. Covered them with murals of the city. She had a . . . thing about painting. It was the one talent she’d always had. Well, painting and killing. But the killing talent had come to her later in life.
So while the furniture in the place might look like shit, she thought the décor was pretty stellar.
Jade held out her hand. “Ahem. The clothes.”
He turned to fully face her, and the guy showed no signs of being in the mood to strip. A real pity.
How was she supposed to seduce him if he was going to be so difficult? She barely smothered her sigh.
But then his hands reached for the bottom of his shirt. His eyes were on her. She offered an encouraging smile.
Come on, big guy, take it all off for me.
He yanked off the shirt. Tossed it to her with a casual wave of his hand.
She didn’t let her jaw drop. But, wow, damn, Az was built. Talk about some extremely lickable abs.
“I’ll . . . take care of this.” She stepped closer to him and cleared her throat. “Now let me see your back. I want to make sure—”
But he stiffened.
She put her hand on his arm. Oh, he was nice and warm. “I know, you said you’re a super healer. But just let me check those wounds out, okay?”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “My back doesn’t hurt.”
Right. The tough guy didn’t feel pain. “I need to see how badly you’re injured.” She stared up at him and waited.
His nostrils flared, just a bit. “Why do you,” he inhaled again, “smell like . . . strawberries?”
Ah, okay. Not the question she’d expected. But maybe this was a good sign. He was showing actual interest in her. Or, at least, interest in her scent. “It’s the soap I use.” She inclined her head toward the bathroom. “Pretty soon you’ll be smelling the same way.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t wish to smell like strawberries.”
“Don’t knock it.” It was better than smelling like blood and a piss-filled alley. She shook her head and pushed him toward the bathroom. As he turned—
ha,
she got him—her gaze slipped over his back, and she couldn’t control the gasp that broke from her lips.
“I told you I’d heal,” he tossed back as he stepped into the bathroom.
And he was right. The deep gashes from the shifter’s claws were gone. Blood stained his back, but the wounds were completely healed.
But it wasn’t his super healing that had caused her gasp.
No, the shock had come from the sight of the angry, thick, and still very fresh scars that lined his upper back. Those scars perfectly traced the path of his shoulder blades.
Perfectly.
He’d healed without so much as a scratch remaining from a shifter’s attack on his spine. So what the hell had gotten hold of him and left those deep scars on Az’s flesh?
He kicked off his boots. While she was trying to figure out what paranormal creature had cut him, Az ditched his jeans.
Of course, her gaze had to drop to his ass.
Nice.
Actually, much, much better than nice.
Then he stepped into the shower and the rush of water filled the room.
Jade remembered to take a breath then. Okay, step one of her plan had just worked. She had the guy in her apartment. Actually,
naked
and in her apartment.
She grabbed his jeans and snuck out of the bathroom. Her hands dove into his pockets for a quick and dirty search. A search that proved totally useless. Dammit, no ID! Who went around New Orleans without so much as a wallet?
Az—Azrael. Did the guy only have one name? She needed more info from him.
About
him.
She shoved the clothes into the washing machine and hurried back toward the driving rush of running water in her bathroom. Steam filled the room, and she could see the hard outline of Az’s body behind the thin shower curtain.
It had been a while since she’d had a lover. Actually, it had been seventeen months, fourteen days, and six hours. Not that she was counting.
Okay, so she was.
But she couldn’t erase the memory of her last lover’s screams from her head. No matter how hard she tried, Jade couldn’t forget them.
My fault.
The image of his death was burned in her memory, and she wouldn’t be forgetting it, or him, anytime soon. Johnny had been another painful lesson for her. Most humans weren’t strong enough to survive the battle that she found herself in. And falling for a human guy—one who couldn’t fight the shifters coming for her—that was a plan sure to guarantee death.
Her gaze lingered on Az. He wasn’t human, she knew that. But what was he? How strong would he really be? If she pushed him, if she got close to him, would he wind up the same way Johnny had? Bleeding? Broken? With her name on his lips?
But he took out a shifter. Killed him with just a touch.
She wanted to believe Az was strong enough to defeat anything or anyone that would come his way.
Only . . .
something had ripped his back apart.
He’d been attacked by a being so strong that he still bore the scars.
She reached for a towel. Placed it near the shower. Until she found out just who—
what
—Az was, she couldn’t risk sleeping with him. She’d just have to go back to counting the days.
Seduction would have to wait.
She couldn’t have another man’s blood on her hands. Not again.
 
When Az stepped out of the shower, he half expected to find Jade waiting on him. Maybe he’d been
hoping
that she’d be there with her bedroom eyes locked on him.
But the room was empty. He grabbed a towel, dried off with a rough scrub, then secured the cotton cloth around his hips as he went to look for her. The blood had washed away, turning the water red as it slid down the drain. He’d healed and now . . .
He wanted.
Angels weren’t supposed to feel emotions. Not desires. But since he’d fallen, he’d gotten slammed with every sensation that humans experienced. All the needs. All the wants. All the endless hungers.
And, right then, his body was hard and heavy with desire.
Because Jade had looked at him with hunger in her eyes. He’d seen the heat in her stare when she’d gazed at his naked body. She’d liked what she’d seen.
Only fair really. When he looked at her, he could certainly appreciate the view.
He opened the door. A quick glance revealed that Jade wasn’t in the small bedroom that waited to the right. He eased out of the bathroom and turned left in the hallway.
And he found her crouched down, painting an image of a street performer on her wall.
She hesitated, then glanced back at him. A faint streak of blue paint lined her cheek. “Your clothes aren’t ready yet.”
Fine. He stalked closer to her. Took the brush from her hand. Let his fingers linger on her skin.
But she shook her head. “You don’t want to do . . . this.”
“This?” He asked, though he knew exactly what she meant.
She nodded. “It’s not safe to want me. I thought . . .” Jade took a deep breath and licked her lips. He was discovering that he loved to watch the slick movements of her lips and tongue. “When your clothes are done,” she said, “you should leave and forget that you ever met me.”
He’d forgotten many humans. Remembered the screams of others. He put the paintbrush down on the small bucket of paint. Then his fingers slid up her arms. Curled over her shoulders. “I think forgetting you may not be an easy task.”
“You don’t get it.” She didn’t jerk away but held herself perfectly still as she told him, “Men who want me have an unfortunate history of death.”
If she only knew . . .
Her smile was sad as she rose—and pulled away. “So for once, I’m going to do something right.” But her gaze dropped down his chest. “Dammit.”
He lifted a brow and stood beside her.
“Thanks for saving my ass today,” Jade said as she took a few steps away from him. “But once you have your clothes, you really need to just get the hell away from me.”
Not quite what he’d expected. Before he’d entered the shower, Az had thought the human female was trying her hand at seducing him.
Others had tried. Tempted him.
But he hadn’t wanted them, not the way he wanted her.
He wanted Jade on the big bed in her bedroom. Wanted her open to him, her arms around him. Screaming for him.
He wanted to taste the pleasure that humans enjoyed so much. With her.
Every angel was tempted at some point . . .
“I know it’s none of my business. . . .” Her words had a husky edge that he found . . . sexy. “But,” she continued in that voice that seemed to stroke right over his flesh, “what happened to your back?”
“I fell.” Flat. The truth.
Her dark brows lifted. “You fell.” Jade gave a slight shake of her head and whistled lightly. “That must have been some fall.”
“It was.” He wanted to touch her again. Touch had been denied to him for centuries, and he hadn’t realized just how pleasurable it was to feel a woman’s skin against his.
So he stalked forward and let his fingers skate down her cheek.
Soft.
“You shouldn’t . . .” Her voice was like a whisper during sex.
“I should.” What else did he have to lose? His gaze locked on her mouth. Red, plump lips. “I want to know what you taste like.”
He caught the hitch of her breathing, but she shook her head. “I told you—”
Now he laughed. “I’m not scared of death.”
Her lips parted in surprise.
Az didn’t wait any longer. His lips took hers. Not a gentle, seeking kiss. He wasn’t much for gentleness these days. His tongue thrust into her mouth. Drove inside and
took.
She tasted sweeter than strawberries. So sweet. His tongue tasted her and his hands curled around her as he pulled her body closer to his.
Her body was small, her breasts lush, and he wanted
more.
His cock shoved against the towel, thickening and stretching toward her. He couldn’t pull away from her. Didn’t want to. Her lips sucked over his tongue and his whole body tightened.
He stumbled forward with her. Caged her against the wall and—enjoyed her.
Mouth. Tongue. Flesh.
The towel was in the way. He wanted skin to skin. He wanted to see the pink folds of her sex. Wanted to be
in
her.
Wanted, as he’d never wanted another.
Her hands curled around his shoulders. Her nails dug into his skin, and he liked the rough sting.
A growl built in his throat.
His mouth tore from hers, and he began to taste her throat. She trembled against him. Ah, she enjoyed that. Right there, on the curve of her neck and shoulder and—
“No!”
His head snapped up, and he stared down at her. Her breasts were tight, hard peaks, pushing against his chest. Her hips had arched hungrily against him, and her eyes—there was no missing the lust in her stare. The same lust that heated his own body.
But the human was telling him no.
“Why?”
Grated from him. Was it because he wasn’t . . . like her? He wasn’t less than human, no, he was—
She trembled against him as her fingers slid down his arms. “I told you,” Jade said again, “I’m dangerous. You don’t want to be with me.”
He did. He wanted to be fucking her right then.
“The best thing that you can do is to get away from me.” Her hands flatted on his chest and she pushed against him.
Az eased back a step. Just one.
She stared up at him with those green eyes that he suspected had probably broken mortal men. “That panther pack will be coming after me again. Coming after me and anyone who stands with me. So trust me on this, you don’t want to get caught in this war.”
Then she eased around him. Her body brushed his, a soft glide of feminine flesh.

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