Chapter 9 Angel
I hated him.
I had no other word for it.
Hate was such a strong word, but even the four-letter word of hate didn’t accurately sum up how much I loathed him.
Loathed him.
With his coiffed hair, his permanent five o’clock shadow, his stupid smirking face, and his despicable dark eyes that were always laughing at me.
He played me.
Again.
As I hit send on the email with the contract for Ryan Carmichael to Onyx’s PA, I wanted to go to his office and kick the shit out of him. I’d never had a physical fight in my life, but Onyx . . . he made me want to hurt him.
Hurt him.
Cause him physical pain. God knows I couldn’t wreak emotional pain on the heartless dick. My foot itched to kick him in the belly after I jumped all over his head with my five-inch heels.
“Calm down,” I warned myself in the sanctuary of my office. “He isn’t worth it.” Scrubbing a hand over my face, I bit back my scream. “It would be so worth it.”
“Knock, knock,” Neil said as he poked his head around the door. “You free?”
“No, I’m tied to the devil’s side forever,” I lamented as he walked in and closed the door firmly behind him before he took a seat.
“You shouldn’t react to him,” he admonished me.
“He’s evil.”
“Angel,” Neil berated me softly. “He likes to test you. You do well against him.”
“Well? He took my client, again.”
“Yeah.” Neil gave me an uncertain smile. “Even I didn’t see that one coming.”
“He doesn’t even want Ryan. He just wants to fuck me over,” I yelled and then quietened my voice.
“It is a possibility,” Neil agreed.
“And I practically gift wrapped him as he made his stealth attack,” I cried.
“Well, all anyone saw was you attacking your employer and him graciously accepting an apology.”
“Ugh, he’s so . . . devious!”
“Hell of a negotiator,” Neil said with admiration.
“He’s a bully,” I said as I glared at Neil’s admiration.
“You really need to stop insulting him where people can hear you. Have you learned nothing this morning?”
“You’re not helping,” I scolded him. “Why are you here?”
“I thought I may need to check to make sure you haven’t done anything rash.”
“Too late, I already hired a hitman,” I deadpanned.
Neil chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “Did you take his UK sponsorship?”
“Yup.” I beamed at him.
“And was it worth it for what you lost?” Neil asked me sadly. “You seem to be very invested in this boy, Ryan? Was the sponsorship worth the price you just paid?”
My smile faded as I looked down at my desk. “No.”
“You’re smart, possibly as smart as Onyx—”
“Possibly?” I challenged him.
“You keep losing — be smarter.” Neil stood and crossed over to the door. “And keep the swearing and the name-calling to areas of the office where you don’t have witnesses. The he said she said is less effective when there’s another ten people in the room to back a party up.”
“Noted,” I said as he gave me a friendly smile and left me alone.
I really did need to be smarter. Action because of reaction wasn’t the way to win a game against the Devil.
“Or I could ignore him,” I told myself. “Just forget he exists and do your job.”
That was good advice. I could totally ignore him.
I did it for almost two years. I just needed to channel my rage into calmness and forget him.
Easy. I’d done it before, and I could do it again.
How I’d ever fallen for his charm . . . ugh, I still cringed when I thought of that night of the party at college when the two of us were trapped in the basement and he was all good looking and charismatic, and talking to him had been easy.
Realizing that the door wasn’t going to open anytime soon, we went back down the stairs, and now we both stood looking up at the window. I felt his eyes on me, and I returned his stare. “Trust me to lift you up so you can crawl out of here?”
Sweeping my gaze over him, I gave a slight dip of my head. “I guess,” I said as I thought about it. I wasn’t that heavy, and he looked strong. Fidgeting about the thought of his hands on me, I pulled my dress down again. He wasn’t going to miss much with me wearing this.
“I won’t look,” he promised. I think my snort told him exactly what I thought of that. “Hey, we’ve only been in here a few minutes, ten at most, maybe fifteen. We can go back up to the door, see if things have calmed down?” he suggested.
The loud bang against the basement door couldn’t have been more well-timed if it had been planned.
“I think they’re still fighting,” I said in exasperation. “Ugh, I hate parties.”
“You hate parties?” he asked me, and he looked genuinely surprised as he appraised me and my dress, and I knew I was giving off the wrong impression.
“My roommate had a really successful interview for her postgrad degree,” I explained. “We were celebrating. Then her boyfriend suggested we come here after our meal.”
“Ahh.” Did that explain my dress? “What are you studying?” he asked me as I heard the music resume, and somehow, I knew we were never getting heard at the door now.
“Sports management,” I told him, as, self-consciously, I pulled at the dress again. I wasn’t giving off the sports person vibe, and I knew it.
“If you hate dresses so much, why are you wearing one?” he asked teasingly.
“Chrissy made me. Said I had to make an effort.” My accompanying eye roll made him laugh.
“I think your friend Chrissy has a lot to answer for,” he said to me. “Dresses, parties, anything else I need to know?”
I thought of the date she set me up on with Dave, and I almost nodded. I was being unfair. That wasn’t her fault; she never knew he was a sick pervert. “Um, no.”
“You seem unsure?” he asked me softly, and I almost told him. I almost told him what had almost happened to me.
“Do you know what Mayhem is?”
He frowned at the change in topic but nodded. “Yes, the Devils’ Mayhem,” he said casually and then pointed upwards. “It’s what’s happening upstairs.”
“It’s stupid.”
“Some see it as harmless fun,” he countered as he looked around.
“They hurt people.”
His attention snapped back to me, and he took a small step forward. “Did they hurt you?”
“No!” I said hastily as I regretted my outburst. “No, but I heard that they do.” I also pointed upwards. “And does that sound harmless?”
He shrugged but didn’t say anything, and I watched as he went over to the corner and uncovered a chair. Pressing down on it, he tested it against his weight and then looked at me. “I think it may hold.”
“Me?”
“No, me,” he corrected me with a quick smile. “I’m taller, and no disrespect, I don’t think you have the upper body strength to pull yourself up.”
“Hey, I work out,” I said with a swipe of my hand against his arm. Holy shit, I was flirting with the hottie in the basement. Flushing, I didn’t make eye contact as he stilled, and then he was instructing me to hold the chair as he attempted to scale the wall like Spiderman.
“Hold steady and don’t let go,” he said as he crouched on the top of the chair, and I felt the spindle wobble as I pushed it against the wall to give it extra stability, and then he leaped up.
He landed on the chair heavily, and everything trembled, him and me included. “Almost,” he murmured as he narrowed his eyes on the small window ledge. “You ready?”
“Yeah, sure,” I told him with a croaky throat.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, um, dry throat.” Dry from losing all the moisture in my mouth when he leaped with such fluidity, it made all the moisture in my body rush south.
“We’ll be out soon,” he reassured me, and then I was back watching him as he coiled up tight and sprang.
The kickback this time was worse, and the chair didn’t like it.
As he jumped, the chair pushed off the wall and made me unsteady, but when he didn’t come crashing back down, I looked up and saw him hanging, literally, by his fingertips.
“Holy crap, you did it,” I whispered excitedly. Pushing the chair away, I quickly grabbed his legs and tried to offer him support. “I got you,” I assured him.
He tried to move, and with careless thought, I wrapped my arms around his legs and shoved upwards.
“Fucking hell.” I heard him curse as he surged upward, and then the resounding thump off the ceiling as he hit his head hard. “Ow!”
“Sorry!” I called, and I heard him grunt.
“A warning would have been nice,” I heard him grumble as he clutched onto the ledge with better purchase. “You got me?”
“Yeah, climb up me,” I called. “I can take your weight.”
“Just hold my legs, Hulk,” he said with amusement. “I just need you for a little bit longer.”
With my arms wrapped around his legs, I tilted my head back and got the perfect view of his butt encased nicely in his jeans. And what a butt. He stretched, and I moved my arms with him and was rewarded with his shirt riding up and exposing golden tan skin.
“Loosen a little, and if this hurts, it’s not intentional,” he warned me as he moved, and his black boot dug into my upper chest. Gritting my teeth, I tried to offer whatever support I could, and then I heard the click.
“Let go,” he instructed, and then he was using the wall and his own strength to scramble through the window.
A few moments later, his head was popping through the window and looking down at me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, are you?”
“Never better. Meet me at the door,” he said with a cheeky wink and then was gone again.
Eagerly, I ran up the stairs, and as I reached the top step, the door was opened and he stood there with a triumphant smile, which slowly faded when he saw the red mark on my shoulder.
“Fuck, was that me?”
“It’s nothing,” I assured him as I slipped out the door, my eyes widening as I looked around at the total chaos. “Holy . . . hell.”
“I think it’s time to go, don’t you?” He held his hand out to me, and as I still stared around at the complete devastation of the room and the people either shouting, screaming, or what looked like screwing, I felt a cool hand wrap around mine and was led outside.
“That’s insanity,” I told him as he led me from the house.
“It’s Mayhem.”
Huffing out a snort, I shook my head. “Yeah, well, that’s twice I’ve seen their mayhem, and I will gladly avoid it for the remainder of my time here.” As we walked along campus, I realized I was still holding his hand and immediately let go. “Sorry.”
He glanced at me and smiled. “I didn’t mind.” He reached out and caught my fingers again. “Do you?”
Heat flooded my cheeks, but looking down at the sidewalk, I shook my head. “Where are we walking to?” I asked quietly.
“I have no idea,” he admitted with a laugh, “but it’s a nice night, and I have a pretty girl beside me; I was just going to wing it.”
“Hmm, sounds chancy,” I teased him. “I mean, this girl, how well do you even know her?”
“You’re right,” he said with another laugh. Stepping in front of me, he looked down at me. “What’s your name, pretty girl?”
I couldn’t stop my smile. “Angel.”
I saw his small smile. “Suits you,” he said softly.
“That a line?” I teased, feeling flustered.
“No.” His voice was soft as he looked down at me, and his gaze stayed on my lips before he pushed my hair back and frowned. “I bruised you,” he said as he moved closer to inspect my shoulder.
“It’s fine, I can’t even feel it,” I told him as his fingers traced lightly over my skin. “Hey, you never told me your name.”
Dark eyes flicked back to mine, and his head tilted slightly. “Did I not? Onyx.” My delighted peal of laughter made him grin. “What is it?”
“Onyx?” I said as I looked away with a smile. “Dark.” I pointed at him and then at myself. “Light?”
He smirked, and my tummy fluttered as he looked me over appreciatively. “I don’t know, I think you may have a dark side,” he said as he stepped back and took my hand again. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
We walked back to my dorm with an easy silence between us, and I found myself sneaking glances as we walked. Was it normal for me to walk hand in hand with a stranger? Not really, but I felt like I already knew him. I felt comfortable with him.
When we were in front of my building, I tugged on his hand to stop him. “This is me,” I said as I fought off the disappointment that we were already here.
“Okay,” Onyx smiled at me and looked around. The campus was quiet, which was unusual but not unheard of for a Saturday night. “Angel?”
“Yes?”
“I really want to kiss you goodnight,” he said to me, his voice low and husky.
“Oh.” I really wanted him to kiss me, too, but I had literally just met him.
Onyx stepped back, his vulnerability showing. “I’m sorry, that was stupid. You don’t know me, I mean, I could be a serial killer or worse—”
Stepping forward, I stretched up and silenced him with a kiss. I only meant to peck him, but as soon as our mouths met, my feet flattened, and Onyx grabbed me around the waist to steady me. Our lips broke apart, and he looked down at me as I gaped up at him.
“Let me try,” he whispered against my lips, and he took over. As our mouths moved over each other, my arms snaked around his neck, and my hands tangled into his hair. We went from zero to sixty in a nanosecond, and I couldn’t believe this was me kissing the hot stranger on the path outside my dorm.
Onyx’s hand trailed down my spine, and I arched into him, and when his lips skimmed my jawline, the soft mewl of protest I let out caused him to smile as he kissed me again.
“Jesus, get a room if you’re that horny,” someone catcalled, and reluctantly, I stepped back.
“Um, wow.” Pushing my hair behind my ears, I looked anywhere but at him. “I think I got, um, carried away.”
“Me too,” he said to me as he moved closer, and his hand caressed my arm. “I better go.”
“Or you could come in?”
I saw his eyes widen in surprise, and I am sure my own surprise was mirrored on my face. “Angel?”
“I’m not saying for anything like that, maybe just a drink? Or . . .” Kill me now. Please make me stop talking.
“Coffee?” he asked me, and I saw the slight tilt of his mouth as he watched me.
“Or water, because you know, it’s late, and coffee would keep you up all night, and you don’t want to be up all night, unless of course you want to be awake all night, but then why would you be awake all night?
” Onyx raised an eyebrow, and I grimaced as I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Please don’t let me talk anymore,” I pleaded.
“I’m not used to this,” I added with a nervous laugh. “Oh boy.”
A light brush against my lips opened my eyes, and I stopped from swaying into his arms as he placed a finger under my chin and tilted my head up to look at him. “A water would be great.”
“Yeah?” I whispered.
“Yeah.” His smile spread slowly, and it was beautiful, like him.
Unable to hide my smile, I stepped back from him again. “Okay, well, it’s um, this way.”
And that was how the Devil got into my bed. I invited him in.