“You sleep like the dead.” Lore’s voice reached him as Nik reached the last few steps to the ground floor. “I could have robbed you blind in the time it took you to get here.”
Nik stopped in his tracks.Sleep. The angel’s words hit him with the impact of a sledgehammer to the head.
He’d slept.
In all his millennia on this realm, after being freed from Tartarus, he’d never slumbered, not with the dark souls’ ruckus inside him. His chest tightened, and he rubbed a hand over his sternum. Shadow gave him this freedom.
He wanted to go back to her and not deal with whatever had Lore demanding his presence.
His mind racing a mile a minute, Nik jogged down the last three steps into the circular, sunken seating area where the angel stood, and faltered to a halt, blinded by the dazzling pink that had taken over what used to be the living room—
“What the hell is this?” Nik swept his arm over the pink couches, armchairs…even the new glass coffee table sported pink freakin’ legs.
Lore shrugged. “Your female did not approve the white I chose. Michael suggested something called Google for assistance.” He waved a new cell. “Pink is supposedly a female color. Did you know just how informative this Google is about most things?”
Theós. Nik dragged his gaze away from the garish pink and glared at Lore. “I don’t care, just change it back.”
Barely suppressing a growl, he strode for the kitchen, shoved the door open, and made straight for the espresso machine. To deal with Lore, he needed the caffeine boost. The aroma of fresh coffee brewing permeated the air. He poured some into a mug, and as he sipped the rich, dark beverage, his gaze fell on a plastic container with something freshly baked, the aroma mouthwatering. It had a sticky note on the lid. Now, the fresh coffee made sense.
He picked up the message.
Brought food and stocked the fridge.
Left Shadow’s backpack on the chair.
-H
“You do not approve of the change in décor?” Lore asked, entering the kitchen.
Nik swallowed more espresso and expelled a weary breath. He far preferred being in bed with Shadow, taking a little time for themselves before life got in their way, over having to deal with a frustrating, by-the-book angel.
“No, I don’t.” Nik rubbed his temple and faced Lore, who seemed determined to bug the hell out of him. The angel lounged on one of the mismatched wooden chairs near the wall. “Shadow can make any changes she wants.”
“As you prefer.” Lore folded his arms over his chest as if settling in for an extended stay, watching Nik contemplatively. “Why a mortal?” he asked. “You and the other Guardians seem to gravitate toward a frail species. Do you not have goddesses in your pantheon to choose from?”
Thiswas why he disturbed him?
Nik narrowed his eyes. “Watch it. That’s my mate you’re disparaging.” The urge to shatter the angel’s complacency took hold. “Can’t wait until some human female shoots you down on your ass.” Yeah, he was a dick, he didn’t care.
Lore cocked his head, faint lines creasing his brow. “Why would that happen? I’m in service to my Heavenly Father. Humans hold no interest for me except for the duties I must perform.”
Father…The word left a sour taste in Nik’s mouth. While the human God was all benevolent, Eros was no father to him. But he’d work with what he had since it suited him. “You do know who my sire is, right?”
“The gods don’t interest me.”
The sanctimonious prick. “Oh, you should be interested in this particular deity,” Nik drawled, taking a sip of coffee and making the angel wait. “He’s an old one, the God of Love. An arrow—atouchfrom him— and you’re a goner for some mortal female.”
Lore glided to his feet, still stoic as ever, all six feet span of wings rustling open as if to emphasize precisely what he was. “I will take my leave,” he said coolly, but his eyes flashed like green stones. “I have a tutoring session at the castle with the Empyrean’s mate. I shall be back at sundown…” In a silver swirl of sparks, he vanished.
The door opened, and Shadow ambled inside, swamped in one of his t-shirts, revealing a glimpse of her short skirt and a tempting expanse of thighs. Hell, he wanted them wrapped around him again, his hips, around his head—his gaze met hers.
Her little smile lit up his heart. “Hi…” she said softly, faint pink tinging her cheeks. “I, um, don’t have any clothes.” She fingered the hem of his gray tee. “I borrowed another shirt.”
She looked too damn seductive in it. “It suits you.”
Her smile broke into laughter. “Sure, they do. It’s only so you can see my legs.”
“There is that.” His mouth twitched. Nik set his mug down and drew her into his arms, her body cool from her shower, and she smelled of his soap. Her loose, damp hair brushed his bare chest like a million stroking fingers as she hugged him. His entire being settled by just holding her. Hell, somehow between the hours of him finally making love to her and claiming her as his, it felt as if she’d seeped into the very heart of him.
