Chapter Thirteen-Giselle
CHAPTER THIRTEEN-GISELLE
I clear my throat to shake away all thoughts of how hot Angel really is, and I turn my attention to my surroundings.
It isn’t easy. I mean, I feel his presence looming over me, and my body shivers with remembered passion.
Get a grip, Sisi, I scold myself.
Like the rest of the condo, the hallway has been recently painted. There are no fumes, but it is brighter than I remember, and there are no pictures or anything hanging up.
“Through here,” he says, and I nod.
I remember where Anna was holed up for weeks with her pregnancy, but I pause as I enter the room.
The air isn’t stale like it should be, considering Anna and Nico moved out months ago. Like the rest of the place, it’s been painted, and the furniture is different.
But even so, I expected it to be impersonal.
Like a hotel.
Maybe smelling of cleaning supplies or whatnot.
Maybe Anna called a service?
I mean, this is fast work. Even if Anna knew I was coming today, this is too quick for it to be for me.
The bedroom is also completely redone.
The enormous bed seems larger than a king and I take in the expensive-looking quilt and the dozen pillows on top. I can tell it was recently made. I take a deep breath, and every bone in my body freezes.
The scent of a familiar masculine cologne lingers in the air. My pulse starts to speed.
The whole room is done up on black and slate gray with silver accents, including the bedding. The wood floors are dark and freshly polished, and there is a plush throw rug at the foot of the bed.
The baby hairs on the back of my neck stand. Something is up.
It hits me and I feel like an idiot for not spotting it a mile away.
But I don’t spot it. Not until Angel opens the door to the enormous walk in closet, depositing my suitcase inside.
“Want me to unpack your things?” he asks nonchalantly.
“Oh my God! Are you staying here?” I practically shout.
Angel raises his perfect eyebrows and tilts his head like he’s curious as to why I’m even asking.
“Considering it is my place, yeah, I’m staying here,” he replies easily.
Thunder roars in my head, and I take a shaky step backwards.
It all makes sense.
How at home he is.
The changes in the condo.
Buffy the snake.
Fuck. Shit.
I can’t do this. How the hell am I supposed to get over Angel if I am living with him?
And why didn’t Anna tell me it was his place now?
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
Panic and me, we’re old friends, and I am about ten seconds from having a major attack. I have my phone in my hand, and I am already dialing Anna.
That heifer.
She had to know about this. I know she knows about this. She set me up!
That’s the thing about people who are happy in their romantic lives. They think everyone else should be blissfully in love, too. And they meddle.
But Angel and me, we don’t have that kind of relationship. We don’t have any relationship, I remind myself.
Liar.
Shut up.
Frustration has me growling when it goes straight to voicemail.
“Easy, Little Doll,” Angel says, and I feel his presence draw near.
“Coward,” I mutter at my phone before turning to Angel.
“Thank you, but no thanks. I can’t stay here,” I tell him.
“You don’t really have a choice. Wait a second, hang on,” he says, moving to block my exit with his hands raised.
“Fuck you! I do so have a choice,” I shout.
I’m so mad. I thought I was through with this man and his manipulations. I cross my arms, shaking my head when he moves to touch me.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this. Surely, you can get other women in your bed, Angel. You don’t need to try to trap me here?—”
“Hey,” he says, and my gaze flicks to his as I huff out a breath.
“First, I don’t want anyone else in my bed. Second, I ain’t trapping you, but the fact is, it’s too dangerous for you to be anywhere else.”
“What are you talking about?”
I exhale a deep breath and look at the ground. His pale blue eyes are so damn enticing, I know if I look at him, I’ll melt.
Angel is the hottest man I know, and I have very little backbone when it comes to him.
Hence the reason I’m in this predicament.
Yeah, I wish things were different. I wish he was capable of having a real relationship with me.
But he’s not.
I saw him with that skinny blonde. He has eclectic tastes in women, I guess. Or he just likes them all. Fuck, if I know. But I can’t change what or who I am. And I shouldn’t have to.
Simply put, I am through wanting things I can’t have.
“Giselle, just wait a second. I didn’t want to worry you before,” he says.
“Whatever. It doesn’t explain why Anna or Maria didn’t tell me!”
Betrayal snakes up my spine, and I am about two seconds from letting angry tears wash down my face. I don’t typically cry when I’m sad. It’s usually a reaction to frustration or if I am seriously pissed.
Like I am now.
I try walking past him, but he takes me by my upper arms and slows my progress.
“Koukla, hold up. Anna and Maria didn’t tell you because they knew how you’d react,” he says.
He still uses that nickname he gave me the first time he saw me. It’s Greek for something, but I haven’t figured it out. Still, it does something to me whenever he says it.
It makes me wish I was his one and only. The only woman he uses nicknames for.
Stupid, Sisi. So stupid.
“To what? Being tricked into moving in with you because someone tried to blow up my apartment? No shit, I am mad. I mean, what the hell, Angel?”
“Goddamn it, woman, I’m not tricking you. And I’m telling you now,” he growls.
“Better late than never, is that it?” I snap and I feel his anger grow.
It really is something to behold. Angel in a temper, I mean. His eyes are glowing, and his chest is heaving as he tries to rein it in.
I’m not scared of him like this. I probably should be. I mean chubby or not, the man could snap me in two if he chose to.
But he won’t. I trust him that much to know he would never hurt me physically. Emotionally is another story.
“And just to set the record straight, someone didn’t try anything, Giselle, they fucking succeeded. Now look, you’re associated with the Vipers through Anna. Through me .”
He sounds so fucking angry when he says that, and I don’t know if it is at me or himself.
“Then can’t you just assign me a bodyguard or something? I already told you I won’t be your fuck buddy. I can’t stay here,” I say, shaking my head.
But he just narrows his eyes and pulls me tight against his body.
“No one guards this body but me,” he states, and his voice sounds like he just swallowed a handful of gravel.
Holy hotness.
“Now look, I can’t just let you go off and risk you getting hurt. So yeah, you’re gonna stay right fucking here, Koukla. With me. ”
“Angel I can’t?—”
“It ain’t up for discussion. This is the only way I can keep you safe, understand? Now, I know we have a lot to talk about, but let’s start by getting one thing clear. You are not my fuck buddy ,” he pauses and if it is for effect, then he’s succeeded.
But what does he mean? Does he mean he doesn’t want to fuck me?
That I am something else to him.
Something less.
His chest rumbles again and I swear it goes right to my needy little core. I squeeze my thighs together, and he inhales.
Oh my God. Can he smell my need?
I shake off that insane thought. Blame it on too many paranormal romance books courtesy of my bestie. Anna and Maria both are quite the avid readers, and they got me addicted to all the smutty goodness.
But Angel is no romance hero, and this isn’t a fucking story. It’s my life. And it’s important.
“Then what am I?” I find the courage to ask.
“I thought you knew,” he murmurs.
I shake my head, and his impossibly pale eyes roam over me from head to toe like hands. I bite back my moan.
“What are you, Little Doll? You. Are. Mine . ”
Angel seems to punctuate each word with a pause. By the time he is finished speaking, he is growling the words, not just saying them.
His chest is heaving, and his hands are holding me so tight, they’re likely to leave bruises. And it’s turning me on so hard.
So fucking hot.
My panties are soaked and all I can think about is how good he made me feel in that hotel room yesterday morning.
“Goddamn it. Look at you,” he says, and I’m stunned beyond words at this point.
“Standing there so defiantly. Your breasts jiggling with every breath you take, tempting me to sin.”
I stiffen and he just grins at me. The bastard.
“Oh, I can see it on your face, Koukla. You want to slap me? Go ahead. Do it,”
This time, I am the one tempted. But I don’t. His words have me circling the edge, and it’s too much to even imagine touching him at this point.
“You’re trying to deny this, to deny us. But I know you want me like I want you. And I’m not a good enough man to deny us both a shot at pleasure,” he says and bends down, claiming my mouth in a kiss that’s punishing in its brutality.
I moan. I can’t help it. Angel’s kisses rip me open. They leave me bare and completely naked. The truth of my desire is right there in my response.
There is no hiding it anymore. It’s like a living thing, and it can’t be tamed or stopped.
It just keeps growing and growing until I’m no longer in control of my own actions.
I’m his. Utterly his. To do with as he pleases. And that scares the shit out of me.
“That’s it, Koukla. Open that fucking mouth and show me what you like.”
I can’t deny him. So, I do. I open my mouth, and I slide my tongue inside his, tasting him just like he’s tasting me.
I don’t know what I’m doing. Okay, that’s not true. I know damn well what I’m doing. But the truth is, Angel is right.
I don’t want to fight it, either. Don’t want to pretend or deny what’s happening.
I just wanna feel.
“Are you wet for me, Little Doll? Have you soaked your panties?” he asks, walking me backwards until I feel the bed hit the backs of my thighs.
“Yes,” I whisper, nodding my head.
“Good.”
His big hands are sliding up my calves, to my thighs, and I thank God I shaved this morning. My pussy clenches on air, my clit practically vibrating with need.
I’m so hot for him, I’m about to combust. His thick fingers coast over my panties and he moans.
“Fuck. You’re soaked, Baby.”
I nod. I am. Wet and horny. But Angel doesn’t dip his fingers beneath the cotton like I expect him to. He kisses me again, and I give in to the demands of his searching lips.
I kiss him back with everything I have. I feel his hands move and I frown.
He’s righting my clothes. Next, he’s not even touching me anymore.
Wait. What?
I can’t believe it. He’s still pulling my skirt back into place. And I want to protest. I want to demand he do something about this state I am in.
A state that is all his fault.
But instead of taking me to bed and fucking me like I want him to, the big butthead just ends our kiss with a smacking sound of his lips against mine.
“Take a shower and get changed, Little Doll. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“What? What are you doing? Where are you going?”
I gasp as he stands to his full height.
My head lolls back and I can’t help but watch as he reaches inside his pants and adjusts his huge, hard dick.
I could help him with that. I want to.
“Angel—”
But he’s already leaving the room, and I am sitting there completely stunned.
Angel turns back to me with a wink, his eyes grazing over my body. I’m exactly where he left me, my brain having a hard time processing what just happened, or rather, what didn’t just happen.
“Two hours, Little Doll. Wear something nice. I’m taking you out to dinner when I get back.”