heavy advantage over Sara without him.
“I’ll think about it,” he said, then he shifted to Takeo.
Eve splashed water on her face, then leaned into the counter. Her eyes stayed fixed on her own reflection. It was safer than looking through the open bathroom door at Alec in the shower. They’d received a discount on the room because they didn’t need a bathtub. She hadn’t considered that they might get a glass-enclosed shower stall.
“Angel?”
Her fingers dug into the counter. “Yeah?”
“Can you hand me a washcloth?”
She looked at the towel rack on the wall next her. Pulling a rolled washcloth free, she took a deep breath and entered the bathroom. Alec stood with arms akimbo and feet planted slightly apart. He faced her head-on, his mouth curved in a wicked smile. Surrounded by steam and dripping with water, he was the embodiment of her hottest sexual fantasies. Ripples of lust flowed over her skin, building with every passing second.
“You’re rotten,” she scolded, tossing the washcloth over the glass.
He caught it with a wink. “Care to join me?”
“I showered this morning.” She set one hand on a cocked hip. “Besides, we’ve yet to have sex that didn’t last several hours. We don’t have that kind of time.”
“A quickie?”
“I’m marked, too, if you’ve forgotten.” Eve pulled open the glass door. She touched him reverently, brushing her fingertips over one dark nipple. His sharp inhalation made her smile. “I could probably ride you for days and call it a quickie.”
Alec caught her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I’ll take a rain check.”
Revved up with nowhere to go, Eve returned to the bedroom. She busied herself with cleaning up the second bed, returning their convenience store purchases to the bag. That took about half a minute. Then she sank onto the mattress and gazed about the room.
“A stakeout.” She reached for the nightstand drawer. As was to be expected, a Bible waited there. Eve pulled it out with a resigned sigh. Part of her had always believed it was fiction, or at least highly fictionalized. More like fables than absolute truths. But it was hard to deny the whole of it, when part of it was naked in the shower.
Eve reached to close the drawer. She paused at the sight of the postcards inside. They were generic cards for the motel, worn from frequent handling and boasting a photo taken many years back, if the cars in the picture were any indication. But it wasn’t the image that arrested her, it was the card itself.
Alec came out of the bathroom whistling. He wore one towel low around his hips and used another to scrub at his hair.
“Hey.” She caught his gaze. “We never figured out what was up with that invitation I received for the tengu building.”
His arms lowered.
“You didn’t tell Gadara about it either,” she noted.
“I’m not used to sharing every little detail with someone.”
“Are you sure it’s not because you don’t fully trust him?”
“I’m sure.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Okay, so I’m playing devil’s advocate here—”
“Sammael doesn’t need any help.” Alec tossed one towel on the bed, then pushed the one around his waist to the floor.
Eve glanced at the window, wondering if the sheers covering the glass really offered any privacy, or if some lucky gal was getting an eyeful. During the day they were opaque, but it was the other side of dusk now and their lights were on.
“What if Gadara orchestrated the tengu thing?” she suggested.
“Why?” He tugged on a pair of boxer briefs. She took in the view with a smile. David Beckham would be out of an endorsement deal with Armani if the advertising team saw Alec in his skivvies.
“As an excuse to keep me out of training?”
“Why would he deliberately orchestrate things to keep you untrained? There’s no benefit to anyone.”
“You have a better idea?”
“Maybe a masked Infernal did it.”
“Why?” she tossed back at him. “Kind of stupid to draw attention to themselves, don’t you think?”
“Unless they wanted you out of the picture before you Changed. Dead men tell no tales.”
“Are you telling me that people in Heaven don’t spill their guts?”
“You’re agnostic, angel. Are you sure that’s where you would go?”
Eve blinked at him. “Yikes.”
He held both hands up in a defensive gesture. “Just sayin’. An Infernal would think similarly.”
“The card was mailed the day before I was marked. That’s cutting it close, don’t you think? Why use the postal service? Wouldn’t it have been safer to slip it under my door or something?”
Alec stepped into his jeans. “Good