All the Rules of Heaven (All That Heaven Will Allow #1) - Amy Lane Page 0,22

called from the kitchen. Angel appeared before the echoes of his name stopped ringing through the house.

“Yes?”

The pan Tucker had been holding clattered into the sink. Breakfast had been french toast this morning—Angel thought of Tucker eating french toast with that sort of decadent enjoyment he poured into everything and regretted not waking up sooner.

“You startled me!” Tucker laughed. “Look—someone is going to come pick me up so I can buy his truck—”

“I beg your pardon?” Fast! So fast! Ruth’s time had been so much slower, but Tucker, born to this time, in a city not that far away, seemed to move so quickly.

“I looked him up this morning, told him I’d just moved in, and he said that was fine. Computers, Angel—they really do make the world go faster.”

Angel clearly remembered Ruth getting internet. At first Angel had worried that the strange metallurgy of Daisy Place would render the entire operation moot, but apparently Daisy Place had the best internet in the hills. Go figure. And he had to admit, he’d made frequent use of it, even before she’d passed away.

“You should say a prayer of thanks to your aunt,” Angel muttered, remembering an entire day spent trying to convince the old woman that it would be a pointless expense. No, Angel’s grasp of the future had always been a little weak for a supernatural being. Ruth had accused him of being an old man in a beautiful ghost’s clothing, an insult that had provoked Angel to dress in neon clothes and sequins for the next month.

He and Ruth had really enjoyed irritating the crap out of each other. He missed her so.

“I will, just as soon as I get my hands on a truck and get to the nearest home improvement store.”

“There’s an Ace in town for the basics,” Angel supplied, hoping that’s all they would need.

“Excellent. If I need anything bigger, I’ll go to Auburn.” Tucker frowned. “After that, an animal shelter. I need a kitten.”

Angel felt his eyes go wide and his eyebrows go up, and Tucker suddenly noticed him.

“Your eyes are still green,” he muttered. “And still the same shape. But your hair is sort of reddish—your entire face has changed.” Tucker pulled in a big breath. “And Angel, your chest is broad as a barn!”

Angel looked down at himself in shock. “I, uh….”

“You have stubble! Oh my God, do you have stubble on purpose?”

Angel tried desperately to remember what he’d been thinking when he’d pulled power from the aether around the house and surged. Tucker had been deep into his own pleasure, and Angel had….

Oh Lord.

Angel had wanted to inflict that pleasure upon him.

And this form he was wearing—apparently, he’d thought that would be the perfect form to pleasure Tucker in.

“Do you find this form pleasing?” Angel asked, his mortification complete.

“I usually like my guys a little skinnier,” Tucker said, shrugging. “But it’s the person inside the body first, okay?”

Angel nodded helplessly. “I shall await your return,” he said, dispirited. He’d wanted to spend more time with Tucker this morning.

You wanted to see if he’d touch himself again.

Yeah, that, but Angel wouldn’t admit it!

“You could come with me,” Tucker said with a wink; then he frowned. “Right? I mean, you met me at Dakota’s house—”

“I’m bound to the house and to you. Yes, I could definitely accompany you.” For a moment, Angel perked up, but then Tucker sort of deflated.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t be able to talk to you in public, and that would be rude.”

Angel swallowed—even though it was something he didn’t have to do, his mouth and throat worked in concert like that. Living people do these things. What is happening to me?

“Maybe after you get the truck. Why a truck, though?”

Tucker ran his hands through his messy hair. “Usually I walk. It’s why I took the train to Colfax and then a bus here. I get… well, sometimes I need to stop and eat or have a drink on my way home. It’s hard to explain.” He scowled and then took a deep breath and seemed to let something go. “Anyway it’s easier when I’m walking. But up here, it’s all so spread out. I figure if I’m going to be renovating the place, I’ll need to haul stuff. So yeah. Truck, supplies, kitten. If I’m stuck here like Aunt Ruth, I might as well enjoy it.” He grinned and then turned his head, responding to a honk from the front of the house. “Gotta go, Angel. See you in the