They said their goodbyes, and in the quiet cab of the truck, Storm blew out a breath. He supposed he deserved the dressing down Ira had given him. If Ira heard about it, it meant Nathan reached out to him, and he wouldn’t have reached out if he didn’t care.
Storm hadn’twantedto leave, but he’d assumed the holy man would need time to come to terms with what they’d done. He’d never been with a man before, never been with a demon before, and Storm worried his presence in the morning might’ve made Nathan shut things down before they even began. He’d expected Nathan to need time to come to terms with how good last night had felt. But maybe giving Nathan that much space was the wrong approach. He’d responded very well to a firm hand the few times Storm had used one. Maybe he needed to be a little pushy.
He decided to send a text, just to feel Nathan out.
I’ve been told I’m an ass for leaving. I wasn’t sure you’d want me there when you woke up.
He left the truck and went to wait near the front entrance, just to be certain he wouldn’t miss Nathan’s arrival. While he waited in the shade of the awning, he lit a cigarette. The familiar rush of nicotine calmed his anxious mind. He smoked all of it and lit a second one waiting for Nathan to arrive. Soon enough, he saw a familiar gray sedan pulling into the parking lot, and anticipation sparked down his spine as it passed him and found a parking spot a couple of aisles over from Storm’s truck.
Their eyes met through the windshield, and Storm flashed back to last night. The heat of Nathan’s body squeezing his cock, their eyes locked, Nathan’s chest expanding with rapid pants and his quivering thighs flanking Storm’s sides. Goddamn, it was perfect. Storm had been around for centuries, had had hundreds of sex partners, but no one else compared. Nathan ruined him for anyone else. No one else would do.
Nathan squared his shoulders before he emerged from the car, and Storm fought down a smile. He was as brave as he was beautiful, his human.
A lesser man might’ve strode past Storm and into the building to get on with the job, but Nathan came to a stop in front of him, waiting.
“You didn’t text me back,” Storm said.
Something hot flashed in Nathan’s otherwise cool gaze. He wasangry. That was good. It meant he cared enough to be offended. “You didn’t stick around.”
Storm lowered his gaze. “I thought you might’ve wanted to have a private freak-out.”
Nathan crossed his arms, shaking himself. “You know what? It’s okay. It’s better that you left, really. We should leave things as they are. We had a fun night. It doesn’t need to be more than that.”
Storm scowled. The fuck it didn’t. He opened his mouth to say exactly that, but Nathan continued doggedly.
“I have to go inside and look at this body. That has to be my priority right now. If you can let me focus on my job, you can come. If you’re going to press the issue, you can wait out here, and I’ll call Ira to send another —” he paused, glancing around to make sure no one could overhear them, “—demon here to help me.”
Storm’s jaw ticked, and he folded his arms. He didn’t want another demon coming here and helping Nathan.Hewas the one Nathan should turn to for help.
The stubborn set of Nathan’s jaw suggested that pushing him right now would just get him ejected from the morgue visit altogether, and being sent away would make it that much harder to get back in Nathan’s good graces. This wasn’t his Nate, his submissive ray of sunshine. This was Captain Accardi on a mission. After they saw the body, he’d have his chance to speak his mind. He could be patient.
“Okay,” he agreed, unfolding his arms and inclining his head. “Let’s focus on the job. Ira’s requested you come to the Rink when we’re done here to give them an update on what we find.”
He wasn’t giving up, but he could play by Nathan’s rules for now.
Chapter10
Nathan
Nathan had completely forgottenabout his plan to meet Storm at the hospital until he was getting in the car and thinking ahead to the meeting with the coroner. His thoughts had ground to a screeching halt when he was backing out of his driveway and realized that hecouldn’tput Storm from his mind and focus on the mission, because Storm was apartof his mission that morning.
He’d considered calling Ira again to beg for a different demon. But he’d already embarrassed himself to the prophet enough for one day. He could suck it up long enough to get the job done and then wipe his hands of Storm and his strange allure.
They fell into step together through the automatic glass doors and into the sprawling entrance of the hospital. Nathan walked right past the registration desk and the bustling lobby to a set of four elevators waiting in a row, their silver doors gleaming. He hit one of the buttons pointing down, noticing as he stepped back that Storm was eyeing him curiously.
“I’ve met with the doctor in this lab before, so just let me do the talking,” he said stiffly.
“Whatever you say,Cap.”
Nathan glared at Storm’s cheerful grin. He ignored the brief flare of disappointment he felt when Storm didn’t call him ‘sunshine.’ It would be agoodthing if he abandoned that distracting nickname. He wanteddistancefrom last night. He should be glad Storm was giving it to him by agreeing to be professional here.
It was his own damn fault he wanted to lean in and lay his head on Storm’s strong shoulder. He’d just have to learn to ignore these feelings.
The elevator doors opened with a pleasantding, and Nathan realized he’d been staring. Storm’s crimson eyes were soft, like he was already imagining Nathan in his arms.
“Just come on,” he said wearily, trudging inside. He was frustrated with Storm, frustrated with himself. Why couldn’t things just be easy? He was trying to do the right thing by brokering this truce. Why did it feel like he was being punished?
He didn’t glance over, but his body warmed with awareness as Storm stepped in beside him. The elevator wasn’t big enough for both of them. Or Storm was justbig. If he punched the button a little harder than necessary, that was the button’s problem.
