Chapter 18
We walked through the lobby to the elevator in silence, and I pushed the button.
The door opened with a bing that made me jump, but I got in, surprised to see two other unknown people inside, both with variant bands.
I made my way to the back opposite corner, immediately missing the warming touch of his magic.
Angel took his place in the elevator in front of me.
The two moved back as soon as Angel entered, as if they didn’t want to be close to him.
I could feel their eyes on me, and my heart hammered as I glanced towards them.
They looked away, jaws tight, the entire situation intense, as if they weren’t happy to be in the elevator with us.
Was this what Angel meant about no one liking SVs, or was this related to shifters?
Neither of them had the orange band I’d begun to associate with shifters, nor were they red.
What did blue and green mean? Some kind of mental powers? Could they read my thoughts?
Fuck. And, of course, all I could think about was the fact that Angel stood in front of me, a six-foot wall of beautiful man with wide shoulders, a defined ass encased in a snug pair of dark jeans, and his hair pulled back into a ponytail.
I took a step back, as though to put distance between me and the unknown duo in the elevator, pressing myself to the back wall and trying to be small.
There were two ways to live life when the world slapped a target on your back.
Become loud and annoying, scaring people away, or shrink yourself to avoid notice.
I was actually an expert in both, depending on the situation, but being new to the SED, I went with hiding until I could better find my place in this crazy world of supernatural mixing with the mundane.
Angel glanced back, then over, took a step between the duo and me, and another half step back, as if to hide me from their view.
I sucked in a calming breath as his presence slipped back around me.
Like gentle waves on an ocean, his energy meshed with mine.
I leaned forward to rest my forehead on Angel’s back, taking in his strength and breathing through my anxiety.
He shifted both bags to one hand and slid his free hand behind his back to hold out his palm.
I slipped my fingers into his, squeezing lightly as the elevator reached the floor below ours and opened.
The other two rushed out, neither saying anything, but the tension was heavy as they fled. Angel waited until the door closed and we lifted to our floor before moving at all. He tugged me out, toward our office.
“Friendly bunch,” I muttered.
“It’s not you. You’ll find very few non-shifter variants who like shifters,” Angel said. He didn’t look at me when he said it. “As you experienced with Merrill this morning, the fact that you’re not uncomfortable with shifters will make you an outcast among the others.”
“I don’t need those kinds of people. Is that how you thought I’d be?”
He shrugged. His irritation at our first meeting made sense.
“But we all work on mixed teams, right?”
“Yes.”
Our bullpen buzzed with energy. Kerry and Victor were on the opposite side of the pen from our office with a handful of other NHVs I didn’t know.
Wade, Bobby, and Ezra were in the center, flipping through folders spread out across a wide, flat table.
Angel pointed out Tiana in another office, on the phone.
He walked by them all, waving, and murmuring names.
I followed, giving everyone a polite ‘good afternoon,’ though no one met my gaze, rather, offering nods of acknowledgement as they kept working.
If anyone understood how hard it was to work in a place where everyone looked at you like you were somehow part of the problem instead of a coworker, it was me.
Joe had betrayed my trust when I’d given him years of proving I had his back.
He’d failed me. Like so many others in my life.
I could only imagine how terrible Angel had it.
His team included shifters and NHVs. Then, they’d dropped me on his team; some weird, newbie SV that had no clue how his power worked.
No wonder he’d hated the idea when I’d first arrived.
Was there a way to fix it? To be friends—if we couldn’t be anything else?
I dropped my bag on my desk as Angel headed toward his.
I caught him, wrapping my arms around him as we entered our office. The backward hug was awkward, but I couldn’t help squeezing him. He froze, as if surprised that I’d willingly touch him.
“I’m sorry people are shitty to you,” I said. “And I’m sorry if my presence makes that worse. I know you didn’t ask for me to be on your team, but I’m glad I am, and hope I can be an asset.”
Angel glanced back. “You don’t care that I’m a shifter?”
“Why would I?”
“Is that because you think I’m hot?” he teased.
I laughed, but shook my head. “Nah. I mean, yeah, you’re hot.
But how is that related to you being a shifter?
Are all shifters hot?” I glanced out to the bullpen and thought maybe they were, but Angel was the one I’d pick of the bunch.
“I hope it’s okay to like you. I mean, since we work together? I hope we can at least be friends.”
“Is that what you want?” Angel asked. “To be friends?” He stepped out of my embrace and backed me up against the desk, his expression intense.
I couldn’t help but stare at his lips. Those molten brown eyes of his made me suck in air.
Why was he so beautiful and nice? I’d never in my life been instantly attracted to someone both physically and emotionally.
A double whammy to the gut of you-can’t-have-this need.
“Why is your touch different than other shifters?” I asked. “Soothing instead of biting?” Why did I want it so much?
“You like when I touch you?”
“Yes,” I said, a bit more breathless than I had planned.
“Shifters are really possessive,” he said.
“Okay,” I agreed. Did he not want me close? “I’m sorry,” I said, uncertain why, but as he had me against the desk, I had nowhere to go. “I’ll try to stop.”
“Don’t,” Angel said.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t stop flirting. I like it.”
“Okay,” I said breathlessly, fists clenched at my side to keep from stealing the last few inches between us and feeling his lips on mine. Would he really want my flirting then? “I want to thank you.”
He tilted his head to look at me. “Why?” His hand slid up to rest on my hip, body close enough that his heat and the soothing weight of his shifter energy pooled around me in a comforting cocoon of warmth.
“For calling me last night. I was dying to tell someone about seeing my grandma, but worried it would hurt my brother or my grandpa to know.” I sucked in a breath and continued.
“And for the elevator. I’m not used to everyone staring.
I’ve always been really good at getting lost in the crowd for being unremarkable. ”
“You are far from unremarkable,” Angel said.
“I owe you a lot of thanks, for not freaking out yesterday when I ran across the Veil and needed rescuing,” I said. “And the cake. It really made me feel better.” And dream terribly erotic things about him. I tried to stifle a yawn. “Wow, I’m super tired already.”
Angel studied me. “Did you get any sleep last night? Or did you dream of cake?”
I’d dreamt of him. And a little of cake, but wouldn’t dare say so, especially as he was covered in cake in the dream and I’d been licking it off him.
“I slept okay,” I said as I couldn’t help but lean into his hands.
Angel brushed his thumb along my cheek, caressing, as his molten gaze burned bright and his lips curled into a gentle smile. “Tell me,” he requested, his husky voice rolling over me with a wave of desire.
“You are part sex demon, aren’t you?”
“No, why? Did you dream of me?” He sucked in a deep breath. “You smell like lust and sugar.”
“Oh my god…” Heat flooded my cheeks.
“Why are you embarrassed?”
“Because you’re my work partner. Isn’t that weird? I’ve never felt like this around anyone before.” Or been so turned on, as I’d always considered myself on the demisexual side of sexual orientation. “You have to be some sort of sex demon.”
“Just a shifter,” he said. “Did the NHV shifters you met yesterday turn you on like this?”
“No,” I choked out. “I didn’t dream sexy things about them.”
“So, you did dream of me? Tell me about it?” he whispered in my ear, with a deep purr that made me gasp for air.
I nodded without thinking and said, “Covered in cake.”
“You do like cake.”
And I really liked him, even though it was too soon. And we were partners. That had to be a no-no, right? My heart raced as his touch brought every nerve in my body to life. His hand on my hip was grounding but gentle.
“Yes,” I agreed. Cake covered Angel was even better.
“What was I doing with the cake? Or better yet, what were you doing with the cake?”
I sucked in a breath, cock going incredibly hard. Shifter senses and all, he had to know how close I was. “I, uh…”
“Really?” Angel asked, drawing out the word like he could see inside my head.
I licked my lips to try to get out something in denial of my depravity. But he leaned in to press his forehead to mine. “Sweet Jude, who loves sweets…” Angel murmured, his breath across my face sending a shiver down my spine. “And isn’t afraid of shifters.”
“Yes,” I said. “Not afraid.” And so turned on.
“You know, most HVs avoid shifters because we can smell when they want us, and they think of us as more animal than human.”
“That’s insane,” I said.
“We’re just a kink to them.”
“Creepy.”
“But you don’t think that way,” Angel said.
“Uh, no.”
“You were turned on by me before you even knew I was a shifter.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Sorry.”
“Why?”
“Because you probably want a normal partner. Not one whose brain turns to mush with lust when he looks at you.”