Chapter Thirty-Six
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RAMIEL FELT EVEN WORSE for hurting his female by comparing her to cambions he’d eradicated in the past now.
Caterina Blaze was nothing like the evil spawn of his enemies.
She’d saved his life twice at the risk of her own life.
Her great-grandmother had sent her on a quest to find him and his female was determined to follow her destiny.
He knew Caterina was attracted to him. She’d barely been able to keep her eyes off him when she’d extracted the heat from his injury.
It was obvious she’d retreated upstairs to grab a spare t-shirt to give herself some distance from him.
His alarm that she would see the book he was reading faded when she returned.
He hadn’t seen any traces of amusement on her lovely face.
A weight had lifted off his shoulders when he’d voiced his agreement that they needed to stick together. It felt right even though she would have been his enemy if her sire had control of her with his parental bond.
“Were you in love with the male you spent the night here with?” he blurted, then fought to control his flush of embarrassment.
Caterina looked startled by his question. “I barely knew him,” she said. “He was just a cute guy I met during one of our shows.”
“Did you frequently spend the night with random males you met during your performances?” he asked, aiming for a casual tone.
His female narrowed her eyes. “Only twice,” she said. “How many women have you slept with, Knight of Order?”
Realizing he’d offended her, he flushed even harder. “Too many to count,” he admitted. “My brothers and I have never had the opportunity to form lasting bonds with anyone before. Our wars don’t usually last for more than a few years, with occasional exceptions.”
“The single guys in my clan are all like brothers to me,” she reminded him.
“I didn’t find any of them attractive. We travel constantly, so I couldn’t exactly date anyone outside of our clan.
What was I supposed to do? Never have sex with anyone?
Cave in to Luca and let him be my first?
Or I guess I could have slept with a stranger from another clan when we met up with them occasionally. ”
Ramiel surged to his feet and strode over to the unlit fireplace.
Fire pokers were propped up inside a brass stand, waiting to be used.
Just looking at them brought back memories of the agony he was still recovering from.
“I don’t like the idea of you spending your nights with strange males,” he said in a low voice.
“I’m not crazy about the thought of you sleeping with thousands of strange women either,” she retorted.
He turned to face her to see her dark eyes were hot with emotion.
She was gripping the armrests of her chair like she wanted to strangle them.
Or maybe it was him she was envisioning strangling.
“I’ve never felt jealousy before,” the knight confessed.
“I don’t know why I loathe the fact that you slept with someone beneath this roof. ”
“Maybe it’s because you’re not just my destiny,” Caterina said. Maybe I’m your destiny, too.”
As soon as she uttered those words, he felt the truth of it all the way to his bones.
He strode over to her chair and took hold of her hands.
She didn’t resist him as he pulled her to her feet.
Lowering his head, he captured her lips with his.
His female melted against him, sliding her arms around his waist. He held her supple body against him as he kissed her until they had to come up for air.
“Wow,” Caterina said in a dazed tone.
“I’ve never been so hard in my entire life,” Ramiel said. His voice was husky with desire.
“I hate to break up such a tender moment,” an ironic voice said on the ham radio, ruining their mood. “I’ve just received a vision that the good alien and his mate need to leave the bed and breakfast. Bad people are on their way and you do not want to be there when they arrive.”
“That’s got to be the Mad Prophet!” Caterina exclaimed, stepping back reluctantly. He sounded just the tiniest bit insane, thanks to his fervid tone.
“Indeed,” Ramiel agreed, recognizing the voice and cursing the human’s timing. “We should heed his advice,” he said. Oracles received their information directly from Fate and this was a clear warning of danger.
Rushing upstairs, they grabbed their gear from their bedrooms, then returned to the parlor. Ramiel stuffed the ham radio into the backpack again and handed the map to his female. She’d grabbed her thermos full of hot coffee. “You’ll need to guide me,” he requested.
“No problem,” Caterina said. Her huge smile made his stomach flutter strangely. They’d altered their lives with just one kiss. Ramiel could no longer fight the truth. His cambion was now his main priority and he needed to keep her safe from harm.
Hurrying to the truck, they stashed their gear on the back seat, then climbed in. Caterina studied the map as Ramiel reversed out and turned the truck around. He sped down the long driveway and cursed. “I can see why the Mad Prophet warned us to leave,” he said in a grim tone.
Caterina looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the convoy coming their way. “There’s got to be twenty vehicles,” she said in a worried tone.
A jeep in the lead began to surge ahead of the other cars and trucks. “They’ve spotted us,” Ramiel said, then put his foot down. Their truck couldn’t outrun the smaller vehicle. “Can you slow them down?” he asked.
“I’ll try,” his female said. She powered her window down, then unbuckled herself so she could lean out. He felt heat emanate from her hands even with the wind blowing her magic away from the car. “Catch this!” Caterina shouted, then tossed a huge fireball at their pursuers.
He looked into the rearview mirror as the jeep tried to swerve out of the way.
His cambion still had control of the fireball.
It curved in mid-air and smashed into the grill.
Screeching to a halt, the doors were flung open and humans piled out.
The jeep exploded before they could get clear of the blast zone.
“Direct hit!” Caterina crowed in victory. Her grin of triumph faded when she saw more cars zooming towards them. “Uh, oh,” she said in dread when guns were poked out through open windows.
Ramiel swerved from side to side, making it harder for the humans to hit them.
The back window shattered and the bullet lodged in the headrest directly behind his head.
He flicked a look at Caterina to see her tossing smaller fireballs at the vehicles.
She screeched in victory when she hit the lead car.
It swerved to the side and collided with another car, forcing it to hit a fence.
“Swerve right!” his female shouted and Ramiel obeyed. He glanced into the side mirror to see her next flaming projectile land on the jeep on their tail. The fire was so hot the engine exploded instantly. Their truck was propelled forward by the blast and he did his best to keep it on the road.
“There are still two vehicles following us,” Ramiel noted.
“I’m on it,” Caterina said. Waiting for the perfect moment, she aimed at a tree this time.
Already damaged by a lightning strike, it broke in half and landed squarely on one of the cars, crushing it.
“You’re next,” she said, pointing directly at the next driver.
The human slammed on the brakes, but it was already too late.
He couldn’t hear her words, but he knew what her intentions were.
The men piled out and fled as the final fireball whooshed towards their ride.
This time, they made it to safety a moment before it exploded.
“You have incredible aim, female,” Ramiel said in admiration.
“I’ve had a lot of practice,” Caterina said proudly, powering her window back up.
Even with her curly hair so tangled and windswept, she was the most beautiful and captivating woman he’d ever seen.
The map had fallen to the floor, so she leaned forward to pick it up.
“Turn right at the next road,” she instructed him, face flushed from the excitement of the battle she’d just singlehandedly fought and won.