“Shut up and listen.” I crossed my legs, the heel of my foot hitting the underneath cabinet. “This shit is good.”
He groaned. “Angel Eyes, your definition and my definition of good are on totally different spectrums. Now I am truly terrified.”
I smacked him on the arm and was rewarded with one of his yellow-demon glares. It was sizzling…and distracting. I bit my lip unable to stop thinking about his mouth, which suddenly looked way more edible than whatever concoction he was cooking.
“You’re thinking about kissing me,” he said, as cocky as ever.
“Am not,” I rejected.
The lips in question curled, earning him a dry look from me.
We were getting way off topic. “I’m really starting to dislike being bonded to you. The point is—”
He pulled out a cutting board and gave me a sideways glance. “Wait. There is a point to this?”
“Ahh,” I growled. “Will you stop and just listen for a minute before I strangle you?”
“Hmm.” He pursed his full lips. “That sounds…fun.”
“Damn it, Chase. This isn’t some kind of warped foreplay to get in your pants. Trust me, I am not that subtle.”
He rocked back on his heels looking holier-than-thou. “Don’t I know it.”
Glare of death aimed at Chase, I said, “What I have been trying to tell you, you douchebag…”
His brow arched.
“…is I think I have found a solution to our Emma problem.”
“You want to plot her death, too?” he asked genuinely, as he chopped veggies.
I rolled my eyes. “Can you be serious for one minute?”
Silver eyes dancing, he replied, “I was being serious.”
Good Grief. “That’s what I was afraid of. I am thinking of something less illegal and not so messy.”
“I love it when you talk criminal.” He stopped what he was doing and roamed his hands up my thighs.
It was apparent he was darn determined to distract me, and it made me want to scream. “All right, jerkwad. I am only saying this once, so listen up.”
Silence.
About time. I took a deep breath. “I want to compel her.” There. I’d said it.
His hands stopped moving, and his brows slammed together. “No.”
“No?” I echoed. Not the answer I had been expecting, but really I should have known better. It was not like I was dealing with a rational individual. Heck-to-the-no.
His fingers tightened through the material on my jeans. “Did I stutter? Absolutely not.”
Okay, now he was pissing me off. “Why not? It is a great idea and solves everything.”
“And puts you in danger, which solves nothing.”
“Grrr. You are so aggravating.” I jumped down, my feet smacking the tile.
A spurt of yellow laced his eyes. “Right back at you, babe.”
“You are not the boss of me.”
“Angel, we can talk about all the reasons this is the worst idea ever, after dinner. I am irrational when I am hungry. Let’s eat.” He gave me his back and returned to the stove of simmering pots.
Eat? Eat? Was he nuts? “I’m not hungry,” I snapped and spun on my heel.
I don’t know how far I expected to get, but one day, I was going to pull a fast one him. On the downside, I never could storm out of a room without him spoiling the effect, like now. Two strides toward the door and he was in front of me, blocking my path.
“Angel eyes, I don’t want to fight, not today. It’s the first time I’ve felt halfway human since…”
He didn’t need to say any more, and, just like that, he defused my temper. “I know,” I said, laying my forehead on his broad chest. “I’m just tired. We can revisit the idea later.”
He shook his head. “You are relentless.”
I wasn’t giving up on the solution; however, for tonight, I wouldn’t press him. He deserved that. Tonight we would just enjoy the quiet evening without all the demon crapola.
We ate his pretty darn amazing fettuccini alfredo and, afterwards, migrated to my room. He held me for a while as I dozed off and then pressed a light kiss on my forehead. I squeezed my arms around him before he snuck out for the night. I felt him leave, but he was never far and that was a comforting thought.
Tonight was the first night the dreams started.
Chapter 4
I’m not normally one of those people who remember their dreams when they wakeup. I couldn’t recall the last time I had a dream. Like all things in life, we evolve and so had my dreams.
So had our bond.
I sleep like the dead. Chase, not so much. Maybe it was part of his demon senses that had him constantly on alert. He could also survive on two hours of sleep and wake looking gorgeous and chipper. I, on the other hand, would have taken everyone’s head off for just looking my way. My sleep was precious.
Except tonight.
The sound of my name, whispered through my slumber, penetrated my head. Dim and foggy at first, I was teetering somewhere in between sleep and consciousness. Again it came, ribboning through my mind like silk. It was a voice I’d recognize through the perils of Hell itself.
“Angel Eyes.”
“Hmm,” I murmured.