Vae. She’d never put the brother Shadow worshipped and this pain-in-her-butt and tormenter of her thoughts as one and the same person. Her heartbeat thundering in her ears, she stalked off, giving them their privacy. Heck, giving herself some much needed time to recover. She stomped into the living room and blew out a breath.Urias, she scrubbed her heated face with both hands—
“Are you all right?”
She looked up and found herself standing near the kitchen doorway. Aba shut the fridge door, watching her quietly. With the coppery hint of Nate’s blood still on her tongue, she rubbed her mouth—yeah, like it would get rid of his taste. The low-grade heat that started earlier hiked in vengeance.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She forced a smile, feeling so out of her depth while trying to lower her body temperature, but nothing worked. “You should try the cookies. Shadow made them,” she blurted for something to say, hoping to break the ice with this reserved demon who was a father to Shadow and, obviously, Nate.
“You look a little…agitated. Would you like something to drink?” Aba asked her.
“Yes! Water, please.”
He removed a small bottle from the fridge and handed it to her.
“Thank you.” She unscrewed the cap and swallowed some of the cold liquid, washing awayhistaste and hoping to find a way to excavate his scent out of her neural pathways, too. Except, now, she recalled the warmth of his skin, the sensation of his wrist against her tongue—
Goddess, I’m losing my mind.
She gulped down the rest of the water with the finesse of a panting hound and set the bottle on the table.
Aba watched her for a second, then gave a little nod of acknowledgment. For what, she had no idea, her mind like a sieve. “Shadow did like baking when she lived with us,” he said, passing her into the living room, as if he couldn’t wait to leave. “Please…” He waved a hand to the couch. “Make yourself comfortable. I must get back to work.” And then he was gone, the inner door shutting behind him.
Ely walked into the living room but didn’t sit, too worked up to remain still. She picked up a car magazine from the stack on the coffee table and flipped through it. Then she glanced at the open door into the workshop—
No! She glued her attention back to the magazine again, but his low voice drifted to her as if determined to plague her. Darn, Ely shut her eyes, aware she was fighting a losing battle.
This wassooobad.
CHAPTER9
“Nate? What is it?”Shadow asked, her soft voice taking on an anxious edge.
Nate dragged his gaze away from the empty doorway, rubbing his healed wrist where he’d accidentally scraped himself while working on the engine of the old SUV—the sensation of her soft lips, hertongueon his skin, gripping him by the balls. For a heart-stopping moment, she’d drawn him into a place of intense desire and burning need, making him forget his reality, and now his damn cock refused to ease the fuck up.
But Aba was his priority right now.
“I need your help.” He took the cloth lying on the grille and wiped the engine dirt from his hands, hiding his stiff dick. The last two days, he’d tried finding a safe refuge for his sire, but nothing panned out. Every damn place he knew, the fucking demons did, too, and finally, he’d resorted to calling Shadow.
“Are you hurt?” she demanded, her gaze rushing over him, searching for visible signs of injury.
He couldn’t blame her. The last time she’d seen him, many months ago, he’d just come out of a death fight, torn and bleeding. She’d also changed so much since then. It didn’t surprise him. Those fae symbionts he’d used to save her life years ago were known to cause changes.
He raised a hand, halting further questions. “Give me a sec. Guys,” he called out to the Otiums who worked at the garage. “Wrap it up. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He didn’t want anyone privy to what he was about to ask.
He rubbed his abs, tracing the dressing on his side as his workers nodded at him and walked out. Whatever the littlelaikahad given him for his gut wound worked, not as fast as he would have liked, but then he’d only used it once. At least it had stopped the infernal bleeding.
“It’s not me but Aba.” He glanced back to the entrance of the apartment, then at Shadow. “I need to get him to a safe place.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Christ, Nate, tell me what happened! I’m no longer a breakable human you need to protect, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I’m aware. First, do you know of any such location?”
Hopefully, being mated to one of those Guardians, she did. Whether they would agree to protect a demon, their natural enemy, he wasn’t certain. But he’d get Aba to a safe place one way or another.
“I’m sure there is.”
He nodded. His expression hardening, he told her. “Demons are after him.”
“What? Did they hurt him?”
