Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Promise
My eyes slide closed, the feel of his weight on me the most calming experience… I’m sure the orgasm helped, but now I can barely stay awake.
“Epic,” I repeat. “Is that good or bad?”
He nuzzles into my neck, his thumb stroking my cheek. “Good.”
I turn just enough to kiss his cheek. I hope that’s true, but there is a part of me that doesn’t trust it.
Maybe it’s all those years with my father. Whatever the reason, however, I set my worry aside as Angel slides to the side, pulling me against his body, and tugging the covers tight around me.
I fall asleep, hoping that my fears are incorrect. Angel’s new partners have made my value clear. And with their help, maybe I can both avenge my mother’s death by exposing my father for what he truly is, and maybe I’ll even get to live to see it.
My sleep is long and deep. It turns out that Vegas’s hotel rooms are amazingly quiet, at least this one is, and surrounded by Angel, I feel so warm and safe that I don’t wake until I hear the clank of dishes.
I move my hair out of my face, pushing up on one elbow.
Angel stands next to a cart of prepared food as he pours himself a cup of coffee. “That smells good.”
He looks up at me, smiling before he takes a sip. “Morning, sleepyhead.”
“Sleepyhead?” It’s a term of endearment that sounds strange coming from Angel. His tattoos ripple as he sets the cup down. “I’ve never slept well. But maybe I’m making up for that now.”
His smile slips, his gaze growing dark as he stalks toward me. “You can sleep as much as you want, love. Anytime you want.” His hands come down on the bed and then his knees as he climbs over me. “You eat as much as you want. You relax as much as you want.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I’m going to get fat.”
He stops hovering over me. “So?”
My eyes get wide. He’s taken his contacts out, the amber of eyes only adding to the intensity of his gaze. “Angel…” I start but the words die out as he starts pulling the covers down my body.
I was going to tell him that if he really wanted this to be a long-term thing, I’ll need a job and an exercise routine and…
But he lowers himself, sucking one of my nipples into his mouth. “I love your curves,” he rumbles into the flesh. “But I wouldn’t mind if there was more of you.”
And then he sucks the puckering flesh between his lips.
My fingers slide into his hair, my body arching closer.
He keeps pulling the covers down until they’re below my thighs. Then he hooks one of my knees, opening my legs.
He lets out a rumble of dissatisfaction.
“What’s the matter?”
“Blood.”
I lift my head and look down. It isn’t much. Just a little that’s all dried on my thighs. “It’s nothing.”
“I don’t like that I made you bleed.”
I shake my head. “Women are pretty used to blood down there.”
His eyes connect with mine. “Periods are different and the next time you have one, you’re not going to be able to keep me away. But this…”
He leans down, placing a light kiss right on my mound.
I gasp, my body throbbing with anticipation. But he doesn’t sink deeper, Instead, he wraps his arm around my waist and lifts me off the bed.
My arms automatically lock around his neck. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to the shower,” he rumbles. “Have I told you how much I love your pink skin? Let’s go make it shiny and clean.”
“My pink skin?” I wrinkle my nose even as I relax into his arms while he carries me. “Fat and pink?”
“Yeah,” he rumbles. “It’ll be that much more skin for me—”
“Angel,” I say with a laugh. “I am starting to see where all my exercise is going to come from.”
“Fuck yeah.” He carries me into the shower, turning on the spray, then he lightly sets me on my feet, turning me so that my back is against his front.
I only have a moment to wonder what he’s doing when he lifts the handheld sprayer from its cradle, the warm water spraying my breasts and then my stomach. He keeps dropping it lower, his other hand wrapping around my thigh to lightly pull my thighs apart.
And then the warm water hits my bare seam, the water sending a riot of sensation coursing through me.
I gasp, my knees buckling as he tightens his grip on my thigh, his fingers digging into my skin. “Later I want to see if I’ve left any bruises. I want to see my marks on your skin.”
But I can’t answer as he shifts the angle, the water hitting me right on my clit. The orgasm that hits me is fast and so intense I can barely make a sound as I cum.
His hand slips from my thigh, wrapping around my middle as he lifts me up off my feet. I slide down his body as he lowers me again, right on his raging cock.
It hurts, sliding in. I’m still sore from yesterday, but I ignore the pain as Angel groans out his satisfaction.
I’ve only got one toe on the shower floor, most of my weight being held up by his arms as he pushes deep inside me.
My hands come to the shower wall, the overhead rain shower pouring down on us as he grabs my hips, pulling me off before he pushes back in.
I gasp at the pressure of being this full. It’s even more intense than last night and I curl my fingers against the tile.
But by the third thrust, the pain lessens and then he hits that spot inside me that seems to make me go crazy.
My face is now pressed to the wall, my chest too, as he ratchets up the pace. I’ve still got barely got a toe on the floor, his powerful thighs flexing as he thrusts his hips.
I wobble as I try to get another foot down, and that’s when his arm wraps around my stomach. “I hold up my woman.”
I don’t answer as he goes in so deep that all I can do is gasp. My entire body starts to tremble, and I can feel another orgasm building as I moan into the tile.
His arms are flexing right along with his thighs as he pistons in and out of me, his grunts, pushed out through his gritted teeth, fill my ears as I gasp his name. “Angel.”
He answers but he’s thrusting so deep that I lose it, breaking apart, my cries echoing off the walls.
He pumps into me a few more times before he starts to cum too, his body spasming as he does. The hand he had on my hip comes to the shower wall next to mine, his face slumping down on my back. “Fucking hell, Promise.”
I’d answer, but I don’t think I can speak. We stay like that for I don’t know how long, just trying to catch our breath, before he finally untangles us.
Then, while I lean against the wall, he scrubs my body. Kneeling on the floor, he places one of my feet on his thigh, washing the blood from inside my legs. “You’re in trouble, Promise.”
“Why?” I ask, leaning my head back, unconcerned. I’ve never felt closer to another person and if Angel decided to hurt me, there is not a thing I could or would do.
“Because your pink skin looks amazing with my marks on it.” I look down to see the bruising on my thighs.
But I only smile. “It does.”
He looks almost pained as he stares up at me, and then he leans in, kissing my belly. I thread my fingers through his hair. “You meant your promise to help me with my father?”
“You know that I did. And what’s more, I’ve got help to fulfill every vow I made to you.”
I nod, my hands sliding down his neck. I believe him. I lean my head back and close my eyes. “I might have to go back to bed.”
He rumbles out a laugh into my stomach. “What you need is coffee and breakfast. Then we’re going to do a bit of shopping before we head back to New York.”
I groan. New York. “We can’t stay here?”
His hands slide over my hips. “I’m afraid not. I’ve got an empire to build. I can’t have a queen who presides over nothing.”
“Oh stop,” I say as my hands skim over his shoulders. “I don’t want an empire and I don’t want to be queen.”
“What do you want then, Promise?”
“A bit of peace,” I murmur. From my father, and the memories of my mother that haunt me. The only place I’ve found it? In Angel’s arms.
We finally finish showering, and then, wrapped in fluffy white bathrobes, we head back out to the room to drink our coffee and eat our now cold breakfast.
By the time I’m getting dressed, I’m feeling recovered. The elevator to our suite chimes, Knox appearing with a bag of clothes that he holds up. “Mason’s wife said these should fit Promise.”
“Thanks,” Angel grunts, sitting next to me.
Knox looks at the floor where my wedding dress still sits in a pile, the pieces of Angel’s tux laying in a trail to the bed. “Have fun last night?”
“None of your business.” Angel glares. “Get any clothes for me, or am I wearing my tux again today?”
“I went shopping for both of us. I assumed we’re around the same size. If the stuff is too big in the shoulders or the dick, that’s bad on you.”
Angel snorts.
But now I’m curious. “Aren’t we going shopping for clothes?”
“No.” Angel takes another bite of croissant.
But I stare at him, my brow furrowed. “Then what are we shopping for?”
“Hardware,” Angel answers with a wink. “The kind that tells other men to fuck off.”
“Hardware?” But then my eyes widen. “Angel,” I start. “I don’t need any jewelry. I already told you, all I want is you—”
“You’re getting a ring. And you can think of it as a gift from me. I want everyone to know you’re taken.” His eyes narrow as he gives me a glare that tells me there is no arguing this one.
I let out a sigh. “If you insist.”
Knox shakes his head. “Weird,” he mutters. “He wants to buy jewelry, she doesn’t.”
“We’ll meet you in the lobby in half an hour,” Angel says in response. “But before you go, learn anything interesting last night?”
“Yeah. Vegas is fun when you’re not here for a fight.”
“Anything else?”
“That guy Sver was seen twice last night. Once during the reception and again on the cameras at about five in the morning. He left without incident, but he’s definitely got the Smiths and the Kincaids spooked.
Whoever he is, they are afraid of him, and I don’t think they’re afraid of very many men. ”
I cock my head as I take another sip of my coffee. This is a scene I’ve seen play out many times. Gain new allies, take on their enemies.
Not that my father follows through. He never actually intends to take on anyone’s fight, he just makes the false promises. But Angel…
“When you speak with Jake, I’d like to listen,” I say, pulling off a piece of toast. “How open he is, what he shares, will tell us as much about the Kincaids as it will about Sver.”
“That’s true, blondie.” Knox cocks his head as he looks at me. “I bet you know a lot about strategy.”
“My fair share,” I answer, popping the toast in my mouth. “I don’t know if it will help, but I can try.”
“Of course it will help.” Angel takes my hand and brings the back of it to his lips. “But first, we need to get back to New York and attempt to neutralize whatever your father is planning for his next move.”
“True,” I mutter with a sigh.