Chapter 5 #2
I rolled my eyes. He was just so annoying. “Why are you making cookies when you’re supposed to be in the library? Also, why are you here? I thought that the Cupid was going to be the angel, not you.”
He raised a brow and his lips twisted, showing a hint of the monster he was beneath the unearthly beauty.
“Disappointed? Me too. But when an angel agrees to a public stunt, an angel will show up for it. Unfortunately, Lorien is a bit of a flake, so I’m here instead.
Lucky you. I’m making cookies because sometimes when I’m stressed out, I go crazy if I’m not doing something, and making cookies is something, therefore I must do it. ”
He turned quickly and then winced, barely anything, but it made me actually look at him. His armor, while gorgeous didn’t seem quite right, not when the front left side was concave, pressing into his body.
I put the basket of books on the counter and went over to him. He watched me come, wariness in his eyes.
I scowled. Like I was going to hurt him. I wasn’t the monster who wanted to ruin people’s lives. “Did you come here directly from a war? Don’t answer that. It’s probably classified, and I do not want to be involved.”
I held my hands over the metal, frowning until I could see the spelling.
That’s what would hold up angelic armor more than any actual metal, although the heavenly gold helped.
I started humming as I ran my hand over the metal, and then I sang the words of the restoration spells I knew as well as I knew my favorite princess love song.
I’d restored so much reenactment gear with Sultry.
I slid my hand beneath the breastplate, against the angel’s silky skin. He was so warm. Did that mean he was feverish? Either way, he felt really good, and he smelled ridiculously delicious, like cookies, fresh grass, hot bread, and sweet blood.
I lost track of the world as I worked, singing over the metal, restoring it to its original shape, piece by piece.
The smell of his blood swelled, sweet, rich, unbelievably pure as I worked smoothing my hands over the metal and his skin.
With a pop, the armor took on its original shape so it wasn’t crushing his internal organs.
I worked the clasps over his shoulder, noting that it was the same clasp I’d seen on a Persian set I’d restored a few years ago.
A clank had me jumping, and I blinked up into his languid blue eyes for a moment confused, distracted, startled, until I realized that the back plate had fallen to the ground, leaving the front plate in my hands.
“Sorry about that,” I said, turning to put the breast plate on the counter.
His chest was bare under the metal, golden skin splattered with blood.
It wasn’t his blood on the surface, but beneath, under his skin, was more heavenly blood spilling.
It smelled so good. Not that I wanted his blood.
Okay, maybe just a taste. And now my mouth was watering which was absolutely not okay when we were dealing with internal bleeding.
And he was. Idiot angel, baking cookies instead of asking for help when he’s practically dying.
I placed a hand carefully over the place the armor had been the most damaged, and could feel the crushed area beneath.
I began healing spells, singing them while I touched his skin.
Was this weird? No, it’s just what I did when someone came in to the laboratory who needed healing, but it felt different with a heavenly creature.
No one else had ever smelled so delicious, but it was just another day at the Scholar’s lab.
It was normal for vampires to be tempted by heavenly blood, but I wasn’t going to actually drink him. I’d rather die first.
I cleared my throat and focused on the spells instead of him. I worked over his ribs, pectorals, and there was his throat, pulse beating hard and fast under the skin. He smelled so good. So very edible. And the cookies…
“Princess Katriana,” he murmured in a low voice like sunshine on a cold day.
Such a warm voice, with such gorgeous tone.
“I don’t mind being bitten by a vampire, however it seems in bad taste to allow you to be poisoned after you put so much effort into healing me.
That smacks of ingratitude, and I am never ungrateful. Have a cookie instead of me.”
He shoved a cookie into my open mouth before I could realize exactly what he was talking about.
I gasped and choked as a crumb went down the wrong way and then glared at him while I chewed and swallowed. Although it was the most delicious cookie I’d ever had, I’d never admit it. “I wasn’t going to bite you! I have perfect control around prey. I’d never bite an unwilling donor.”
He raised a dark gold brow. “I didn’t say I was unwilling, but the time it would take you to recover from being poisoned by my blood would have you missing the hot cocoa meet-and-greet.
We can’t have that. Rumors will start that you were alone in the kitchen feeding on the angel, and then you’d have to feed on everyone all alone in extremely inappropriate circumstances.
I’m the only man here who isn’t motivated by lust.” He wrinkled his brow as he studied me with those glowing blue eyes.
“You are aware that touching a man’s bare chest is an enflaming agent that will engage any normal man’s desire, aren’t you? ”
I blinked at him, humiliation and embarrassment mingling with self-hatred. Why did the jerk have to bring up something so terrible? Because he was terrible. Obviously. I bared my fangs at him. “I was trying to help you!”
He flashed a flirty smile. “I know. And I appreciate it. You’re the most useful woman I’ve ever met.”
“Useful!” I sputtered because didn’t he see my adorable chocolate librarian outfit?
“Useful!?” I grabbed his arm and his shoulder, because this whole time he hadn’t used it, and the way it hung suggested a dislocation.
I hissed at him as I yanked it out and around, popping it into the socket.
I held it there, muttering the spells of healing while he stared back at me, never flinching from the pain.
He seemed curious, like I was a weirdo who did all sorts of irrational, stupid things.
“You’re the idiot who came to a reality tv show directly from a war!” I hissed.
“Indeed. Do you want another cookie?”
I blinked and then let him feed me another piece of heavenly chocolate chip bliss.
I accidentally scraped his finger with my fang and then the taste of him went through me like a jolt of lightning.
I scrambled away from him, hands covering my mouth, horrified with the way his taste pulsed through me.
The pleasure was so intense, it was like unboxing fifty glorious princess dresses.
Also the cookie. I stared at him, gloriously golden, bare-chested, and absolutely delicious from the top of his golden head to his fingers.
Hm. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to touch a shirtless angel even if he did have internal bleeding.
I turned and grabbed Mitt where he watched in the shadows.
“Shirt.” He let me pull it off him, irritable yet resigned.
I hurriedly pulled it over the angel’s head and then backed off, like he was a very dangerous angelic tome.
He was worse than that. Heavenly fire. Dangerous, but different than any other danger I’d ever faced. Dangerously delicious.
“You shouldn’t smell so good after a war. You haven’t even showered.” I slapped my hands over my mouth again. Seriously? I said he smelled good? I needed to cut out my tongue!
He flashed me a smile as dangerous as it was glorious. “You must like the smell of war. Maybe you should go sometime.”
Mitt snorted. “Don’t give her ideas. And now that you’ve got a shirt, feel free to join the other potential candidates in the library.”
The angel looked at him curiously. “And you are?”
“Not a contestant.”
The angel raised a brow. “You’re her secret lover?”
Mitt huffed. “I see to the Princess’s nutritional needs.”
“Her personal blood bank?”
I rolled my eyes and started pushing the angel towards the door.
He didn’t resist, just let me push him and his sculpted back out.
He needed a thicker shirt. Five of them.
“Don’t bother Mitt. He already has to put up with me.
What, you think a princess wouldn’t have escorts? Go to the library and behave.”
I gave him one final shove out the door. He glanced at me over his shoulder, expression amused, gorgeous eyes dancing. “I’ll be an angel.” He winked at me and then strode off, whistling, like I hadn’t forcefully removed him from the space.
I sighed heavily once he’d turned the corner and went to collapse on the nearest chair.
“I knew he’d be bad, but I didn’t know he’d be this bad. Who comes on a reality TV show with cratered armor and internal bleeding?”
“And who makes internal bleeding look that good?” Mitt said drily. He bit a cookie, frowning as he analyzed the contents and then spat it out in the garbage. “They aren’t poisoned.”
I blinked at him. “Oh. I didn’t even think of that. I really am an idiot.”
“I mean, it is poisonous, but not to you. Did he put angel’s blood in these things? I think he did. Nasty.” He went to the sink and ran the water, putting his face under the faucet with his huge tongue lolling out so it could wash off all the crumbs.
“Why would he put angel’s blood in cookies? Is that normal?”
He straightened up and gave me a look. “I imagine he was trying to poison you. Happily, because you’re a born vampire and on the virtuous side, it wouldn’t have any effect.
I heard that he liked to go to vampire dens and poison the residence as he ‘let’ them feed on him.
Weird compulsion. Particularly bothering to bake poisoned cookies with a dislocated shoulder. ”
We stared at each other until I looked around for Mini to give her feedback about the situation.