A Touch of Crimson

“I will see to it. If I can be of further assistance, just let me know.”

Adrian arched a brow. “You’re being helpful.”

“It pays to be useful.” Raguel smiled enigmatically.

“I’ll keep that in mind. If there’s nothing else…?”

With a slight mocking bow, the archangel left without getting what he’d really come for.

Adrian stared at the door after it closed, knowing Raguel had visited for one reason and one reason only: to see Lindsay. To see Adrian with Lindsay. To see how vulnerable she made him. The conversation itself could have been managed over the phone.

It wasn’t just the vampires who would smell blood and circle like vultures.

Fresh from the shower, Lindsay stood in front of the brightly lit vanity mirror and examined her left forearm. Twisting it to and fro, she noted the baby pink hue of the hairless flesh. Although it looked tender, the muscles and tendons beneath had been strong enough to wash her hair with. Her fingers and hand flexed smoothly and with only slightly compromised strength.

Her arm was regenerating. A fucking miracle.

She exited the bathroom wrapped in a towel… and found a lover’s gift waiting on the bed-champagne-colored silk pajama pants and tank top with a luxurious full-length robe in the same hue. The matching lace thong sealed the deal.

She stared down at the ensemble for a long moment, then removed her towel and dressed. She couldn’t fight the flare of desire the feel of the silk evoked, but it was tempered by everything she knew and everything she didn’t know. Adrian was intricately complicated, and she had more than enough complications in her life.

Belting the robe, she moved to the door and stepped out into the living room. Its massive size froze her in midstep. Aside from the grand piano, there was also a full-sized kitchen, dining room, and billiards table. Through a glass partition, she spotted an indoor swimming pool.

“Food’s here,” Adrian said, drawing her gaze to where he sat on the couch. His bright white pants were a sharp contrast to the blue of the upholstery. The way his legs were propped on the mahogany and glass coffee table, crossed at the ankles and barefoot, was gracefully erotic. He stood when she entered, his gaze sliding over her in a heated caress.

He was so human-looking… if not for his impossible beauty and sensual elegance.

Lindsay went to the dining table and lifted the domed lids from the plates one by one. Pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage and ham, hash browns, orange juice and coffee. A feast for two, but he wouldn’t be eating. She, however, would eat every bite. She always ate for an army after one of her power binges.

“You look beautiful,” he murmured as he resumed his seat and retrieved the iPad lying on the cushion beside him.

She sat and picked up her fork. “Thank you. So do you.”

His dark head tilted in acknowledgment.

“Why are we here?” she asked while slathering butter in between each layer of pancake.

“We’re regrouping.”

“You mean to say I’m holding you back.”

He looked down at whatever was on the screen. “No.”

“I’m grateful for whatever you did to my arm.”

“You’re welcome. But if you ever put yourself in danger for me again, I’ll make you sorry you did.”

She shot him a glare he didn’t see, while secretly wondering if she was crazy. No sane modern woman would listen to that chauvinistic bullshit and hear a sensual threat in it. But she did, and some primitive recessive gene made her body tingle in response. “Don’t threaten me.”

“It’s not a threat. I won’t lose you. I’ve lost too much already.”

Wincing, she remembered he’d just lost a friend who had been like a brother to him. Her affront drained away. Struggling to find something to say to fill the sudden void, she floundered and managed a lame “Thank you for the clothes.” After a mental smack upside the head, she added, “They’re lovely.”

“I’m glad you like them,” he said, too neutrally. His control appeared absolute, but the softly howling wind outside and the steady rain told her otherwise.

Lindsay couldn’t bear his turmoil. She was as scrambled as he was-vulnerable-but she couldn’t hide it the way he did. And she couldn’t let him hide it, either. He knew her secrets, and she needed to maintain that openness now that they’d achieved it. “Although they’re clearly not suitable for wearing in public. Are you leaving me behind?”

Without looking up, he replied, “We’ll be heading out tomorrow. Together. Until then, you need to eat and rest.”

“They’re not really suitable for resting, either.” She poured syrup over her pancakes and began to eat.

He lifted his head to study her. “Aren’t they comfortable?”

She swallowed her food. “Sure.”

Adrian’s brows rose in silent inquiry.

“They’re also very sensual.” She stabbed her fork into a sausage link. “Designed to be sexy for the wearer and for the beholder. But I heard angels might not be wired the same way-sexually-as we mortals are, so maybe you weren’t thinking along those lines when you bought them.”

Very calmly, he turned off his iPad and set it on the seat beside him. “You’ve been talking to Elijah. I would prefer it if you would pose your questions to me.”

“Well, see, that’s the problem. I don’t know what to ask.” She bit the end off the link with more gusto than necessary.

“Perhaps because there’s nothing to question.”

“I doubt that,” she said, chewing. “Are you leading me on? Maybe you picked me up because you needed a female companion for media purposes or a date for an upcoming event. Then I surprised you with the dragon and you’re not sure what to do with me now.”

He set his elbow on the couch arm and settled in, displaying his body to even better advantage. He might be an angel, but he knew his assets and her weakness for them, and he wasn’t above exploiting both. “Oh, I know what to do with you.”

“But you didn’t do it the other night. And apparently you haven’t been doing it for a long time-if you’ve ever done it.” Oh god. She was getting turned on by the idea of him being a virgin. The thought of training a man like Adrian-the things she could teach him…

“So,” he murmured, “the fact that I’m not promiscuous disturbs you?”

“Ha!” Lindsay wagged her knife at him. “There’s a big difference between discerning and celibate.”

“Maybe the celibacy exists because of the discernment.”

“Is that your answer?”

He examined the fingernails of his right hand. “I didn’t know there was a question on the table.”

“Okay, here’s one. Are angels forbidden to have sex?”

“No.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Any truth to the rumor that lust is beneath you?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I want to be beneath you. And I thought we were headed there-eventually- but I’m sensing there’s a whole lot going on I don’t know about.”

His tongue slid along his bottom lip, making her as damp as if he’d licked her with it. “Let’s head there now.”

Lindsay wiped her mouth with the napkin in her lap, then pushed back from the table. She moved toward him with a deliberately slow and sultry stride. Her hands went to the belt of her robe, her fingers sliding through the silken knot and loosening it. Reaching the coffee table, she allowed the robe to slide to the floor. She smiled when Adrian’s breath hitched. He straightened, planting his feet wide on the floor and revealing the thick length of his aroused cock. The act of the tease was enticing on its own, but his physical response took her quickening hunger to another level.