Page 76 of Angel I Am Not

My eyes snapped toward the door.

For the first time since Deus touched me, I actually looked around. Mirror. Sink. Locked bathroom door. Deus standing between my spread thighs with one hand down my jeans and a hickey already darkening my neck.

“Oh my fucking God.”

His mouth brushed the corner of mine, still distracted by my skin. “Wrong team.”

“No, I mean—fuck.” I caught his wrist before his fingers could move again. “Deus, we’re in a public bathroom.”

The realization clearly didn’t hit him with the same force. His eyes were almost black now, his breathing heavier as Lust sat visibly beneath his skin, and the slightest movement of his fingers threatened to wipe the thought from my head again.

I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to remember the word he’d given me. “Veyr.”

His hand left me instantly.

The change was so abrupt that I sucked in a breath. His fingers slipped free, his other hand released my waist, and the tail around my ankle loosened before he backed away from me. The pleasure tied to his touch vanished with him, leaving my skin almost painfully aware of the absence.

Deus crossed to the opposite counter and braced both hands against it. His horns had fully emerged through his twists, and only a thin ring of green remained around his blown pupils. He kept his eyes fixed on the wall while his chest rose and fell with slow, deliberate breaths.

“Holy shit,” I whispered, sliding off the counter and fixing my jeans. “I didn’t mean stop because I wasn’t enjoying it. I just remembered where we were.”

“I know.” His fingers tightened around the edge of the counter, but he still didn’t turn toward me. “Give me a second.”

I watched him take another slow breath. “What are you doing?”

“Thinking about Sister Agatha.”

I paused with one hand still at my waistband. “Who the fuck is Sister Agatha?”

“Old demon woman who lived three doors down from my first apartment.” His eyes stayed closed as he continued breathing through whatever Lust was doing to him. “Hairy chin. Six toes. Smoked cigars and screamed at pigeons while naked.”

The image hit me hard enough that I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing too loudly. Deus didn’t join me. He stayed braced against the counter, counting quietly beneath his breath until some of the tension finally left his shoulders.

“You really do this every time?” I asked.

“When I need to.” He opened one eye, accidentally looked toward me, then immediately closed it again. “And now I’m starting over.”

That only made the laugh escape anyway.

By the time he finally turned around, most of the black had retreated from his eyes, though his horns remained. His gaze dropped immediately to the hickey he’d left on my neck, and the satisfaction that crossed his face made it obvious he had no regrets.

“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not remotely sorry.” He came closer but stopped before touching me again, bending just enough to breathe me in. “You taste like Heaven, Sweetness.”

I frowned at him. “Is that supposed to be flattering?”

“From Lust?” His smile returned. “Absolutely.”

Nick’s attention settled on the hickey darkening along my neck the moment we got back to the table, his eyes narrowing before they shifted past me toward Deus. “Jesus, that’s literally visible from here.” I lifted a hand to cover the mark, which was pointless considering all three of them had already seen it, while Deus laughed quietly behind me. When I turned to glare at him, he lifted both hands with an innocence completely ruined by the satisfaction on his face.

Zel’s gaze moved to Deus, recognition settling between them. “Been a while,” he said, leaning back against the booth.

“Not long enough.” Deus stayed close behind me, his tail giving one lazy sweep near my ankle.

Luc let whatever history existed between them sit for later. His attention came back to me instead, his expression softening as he looked over my face. “Ari, are you okay?”

“Yes.” I let my hand fall from my neck and glanced toward Deus, remembering exactly what had happened in that bathroom. “I’m fine. More than fine.”

Nick didn’t look convinced. He rested one arm along the back of the booth and studied me for another few seconds before his eyes returned to the hickey. “He really did touch you.”