Eve of Darkness - By S. J. Day Page 0,88

her, his hips sinking between her thighs as she opened them.

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him closer. His body mantled hers, his warmth and strength became hers.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Eve didn’t know what he was apologizing for. His curtness earlier? Or maybe everything?

She pushed her fingers into his thick, silky hair. It felt so good to be held. A tear slipped down from the corner of her eye, then another. Tears that had been lying in wait since she’d found Mrs. Basso that morning.

Alec rolled to his back, taking her with him. He draped her over his body, whispering soothing words of comfort. In her mind, another soul touched her. She didn’t know Reed at all, but that didn’t matter. She found solace in the evanescent feel of him.

Together the two brothers gave her the brief respite she needed.

CHAPTER 18

Reed flinched away from the nails that scraped down his back. He stood with his forehead resting against a granite shower stall, one arm hanging at his side, the other pressed against the wall above his head. Steam swirled around him and scorching hot water sluiced down his spine.

“Leave me in peace,” he growled, his lower lip throbbing from the sting of Sara’s bite.

“The team is ready to go,” she said. “They’re waiting in Ontario, California.”

She was docile now, appeased and somewhat contrite. It didn’t matter. He hated her in that moment, hated how she made him feel about himself, hated that she’d seen motives he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. But most of all, he hated that Eve was in pain and he’d had to feel it while buried deep inside another woman.

He shouldn’t give a shit about Eve. What did he know about her?

Sadly, the excuse had no validity. Cain didn’t know any more about Eve than Reed did, but Cain loved her.

Reed shut off the water and accepted the towel Sara offered him. She wore a short white silk robe and her silver-blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders. She couldn’t look more angelic. “You are truly worried about her,” she said.

“You should focus less on her and more on the reason why there’s cause for concern.”

“I am focused,” she retorted. “That is why I am accompanying you.”

“Like hell.” He scrubbed his head with the towel.

“You forget your place.”

Dropping the towel on the floor, Reed brushed past her and moved into her office. He retrieved his clothes and dressed with deliberation. There was no point in arguing. He was in full control of his gifts. The archangels, however, paid a price for using their powers. Reed could be in California in a blink of an eye. Sara had a long flight ahead of her.

“I want you to fly with me,” she said.

He glanced at her and smiled.

Her gaze hardened. “We were good together.”

“Occasionally.”

“Then why are you so distant?”

“You manipulate me, Sara.” He crossed over to the wet bar and used the mirror there to adjust his tie. “I’m just an object to you.”

“You used me, too.”

“You’re right, I did.” He had once been foolish enough to hope that she might help him achieve his own firm. They could work together, he’d thought, and thereby be twice as strong. Then he realized that not only would she never allow her “boy toy” to achieve similar stature, she also didn’t want to add to her competition. Perhaps more so than her six counterparts, Sara saw the other archangels as impediments in her relationship with God. “We both got something out of it.”

“Then, why her and not me?”

His gaze met hers in the mirror’s reflection. “You don’t love me,” he scoffed.

“I am not talking about my feelings. I am talking about yours.”

A bark of laughter escaped him. He returned to her. “I don’t love her.”

She studied him with narrowed eyes. “But you want her.”

“And you’ve hit on Cain in the past.” His hands gripped her forearms through the silk, his thumbs stroking rhythmically. “Do I hold that against you?”

Her hands went to his waist and he released her, backing up. He pulled on his coat and waistcoat, then slipped on his shoes. “Let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be.”

“It could be wonderfully simple,” Sara said. “We could work together.”

Reed paused in the act of buttoning his vest. Why would she offer help now when she wouldn’t before? “Doing what?”

“Getting Cain away from Raguel.” Her arms crossed. “It would leave the field open for you.”

Cain. Of course. Reed’s jaw clenched. Raguel would no longer have such a