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.She wouldn’t be here, walking this earth beyond his reach, tormenting him any longer.The moment he claimed her would be the moment he’d find true peace.He should be angrier, far angrier, about what had just been done to him.But, try as he might, he couldn’t muster more than mild annoyance at the angel for being one step ahead.How could he, when he knew Madeleine was probably arriving at her little apartment at this very moment, thinking of him, waiting for him, anticipating the night ahead? Everything else faded into the far distance.He didn’t understand it, but neither was he fighting it.The promise of one night of peace for his kind, with no scheming or agendas—just pleasure—was far too precious to question.It was all he could do to kill time, to allow enough of a delay in his arrival that she’d believe he’d run his imaginary errand.His shields were still raised from his conversation with the angel, so prying eyes were no concern.He paced the parking lot, he watched the people coming and going from the restaurant.Couples arm-in-arm.Laughing and snuggling, driving off into the night.For the first time in his entire existence—far longer than even his earliest memories allowed him to contemplate—he knew exactly how they felt.Her door flew open after he’d barely tapped on it, and she stood there looking up at him with an eager wide-eyed expectancy he found fucking adorable.“Okay,” she said before he could make a move.“You can totally say no if you want.Totally.But my friend called, and when I told her I was off early and, um, seeing you…she asked if we wanted to meet her for a few drinks at this club downtown we like to go to.I just thought, maybe it would be fun to hang out, dance…if you like that sort of thing.If not, that’s cool too.I said I’d ask.That’s all.”He couldn’t stop grinning at her nervous excitement, at her babbling, at the way she practically bounced from one foot to the other.He so did not dance.But if it meant that much to her, hell, he could pretend.“Sure.We can do that.”“Awesome! But will you tell me one thing first?”“Anything.”“Um…what the hell is your last name? I’m sorry, it’s just…I’d like to know.”“All you had to do was ask.” He thought fast.“It’s Emmons.”“Emmons.Ash Emmons.Great.And I’m Madeleine Dean, in case, you know, in case you were wondering.”He clasped her hand in his and brought it to his lips.“Charmed, Madeleine Dean.” Oh, was he ever.She beamed at him, her blue eyes bright, her white teeth sinking into her plump lower lip.“So, um…will you tell me some more about you?”Great.She tugged him into her apartment and closed the door behind him, shutting out the rush of traffic and a gaggle of voices from the parking lot.“What do you want to know?”“Like…do you live here?”“No.I don’t.”“Oh.” He saw her face fall even though she obviously tried to maintain an air of cheerfulness.“Where are you from?”“Here and there.I move a lot.” Dammit, he had to do better than that.But she was already moving toward her bedroom, having accepted his nonanswer with good grace.“Must be interesting.I’m going to take just a few minutes and change, okay?”“All right.” Now he felt like an ass…and, in the grand scheme of things, that was ridiculous.“I live in Houston right now.” He’d been there on enough assignments to know it was a nice comparison to his true place of origin.He quite liked it.“Wow!” she called from her room.“I never would’ve thought.You don’t sound like— But then, I guess you wouldn’t, since you move a lot.Duh.Are you here on business or pleasure?”Business that has very unexpectedly turned into pleasure.“Business.”“The contract stuff you don’t like to talk about, huh? Sorry.”He reserved comment and ambled over to the parrot’s cage, which she had rolled into the living room at some point.The bird was perched inside, utterly still and gazing impassively at him.His feathers were jewel green, except for an explosion of yellow around the face.“Demon,” he chirped.“You know it,” Ash muttered.The almost intelligent, assessing way the bird stared at him was disturbing.Madeleine emerged from her bedroom a minute later, wearing a slinky black top and jeans that hugged her curves in all the right places.Her hair was a wild, glorious cascade of curls.His mouth began to water.The bird wolf-whistled accordingly.She laughed and spied Ash standing near the cage.“Making friends?”If he’d quit calling me out, sure, we’d be great friends.Yeah, the parrot’s name was supposed to be Demon, but…looking into those beady little bird eyes, he couldn’t help but wonder.Animals didn’t like his kind as a rule, but thankfully, most animals couldn’t talk.“Hey,” Madeleine said, approaching him and reaching up to fiddle with the zipper of his leather jacket.“I’m sorry.”“For what?”“Well, I knew what was up when I brought you here last night, and now I’m pressing for your life history like this is something that… I’ll stop, okay? You just tell me what you want, when you want.If you want.”He stared down at her, her angelic beauty, the cerulean blue gaze that somehow managed to be shy even as it was direct.She would be—should be—any mortal man’s dream.Yet again he thought of that poor clueless bastard who’d let her go last night.And hurt her tonight.A slow burn of fury slithered through his blood.“The truth is, Madeleine…” She stared expectantly at him, her breath held.“I’m only in town for a couple of weeks.”“Okay,” she said, nodding vigorously.“I get it.”“No, it’s…complicated.” He reached up to push a curl from her forehead, allowed his fingertips to linger on the soft, unlined flesh.So vibrant.Now he could feel her roiling emotions.Something had happened to her tonight, and the fear hadn’t left her yet.“But if it’s all right with you,” he continued, “I certainly wouldn’t mind your company while I’m here.”“It’s all right with me,” she said, but he thought her voice was tinged with the hint of sadness he could feel emanating from her.Or maybe that was only because he was listening for it.“I appreciate your directness.So we’ll just…have fun while you’re here, then?”“Sounds like a plan.”She smiled.Something broke in his chest.For the first time in his existence, Ash actually entertained the thought of thanking Nicolae.After she smiled at him with such sweetness, such trust, there was no way in Hell he could have taken her tonight, and he would have been in a world of shit as a result.He might be already.Because he’d begun to wonder if there was any way he could take her at all.“Well, he can’t dance,” Delia proclaimed a couple hours later, shouting to be heard over the music.“But he’s hot enough to make up for it.”Madeleine giggled and downed a good portion of her apple martini.Ash had drifted off somewhere, presumably to the men’s room, so they had a moment for a brief huddle as they stood at a table a safe distance from the writhing bodies on the dance floor.“Oh, he’s not that bad.”“Nah, not that bad.If he’s got the moves to give you the look I saw on your face this morning, there might be hope for him yet.”“Not that it matters.For me, anyway.He told me tonight he’s leaving in two weeks.”Delia turned smoky eyes on her.“So?”“So…so it was said in a way that was sort of…putting me in my place.I mean—no, that sounds harsh.He wasn’t rude at all.But he made it pretty clear this was just a fling, and I’m okay with that.”The smoky eyes narrowed.“No, you’re not
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