“Call it a change of heart.”
“Didn’t think an angel’s hard glass heart was capable,” Pyx said, entering the kitchen.
The high ceilings lent a feeling of vastness. Glass-fronted cabinets and black granite counter-tops gave it a modern flair. Blue and green tiles backed the counter, and gleaming appliances sat here and there.
Most significant were the stained-glass windows over the sink. The doors leading into an adjoining bedroom were also intricate stained glass; the design touted flowers, trees and peacocks.
Cooper slapped a palm over his chest where Pyx knew his heart did not beat. “You pick up a lot walking the earth. Emotions. Ideas. Humility. You’ll learn soon enough.”
“Oh, I picked up a great sandwich last night and a tattoo.”
“A tattoo?” Cooper smirked and wandered to the stovetop where a delicious scent wafted. “I’ve got crepes with fresh bananas and Nutella. That’s chocolate hazelnut spread, kind of like peanut butter, but … not.”
“Sounds fancy. You going to kill me with kindness?”
“Perhaps. So show me the tat.”
Turning and lifting the back of her shirt, Pyx displayed her artwork. Pride prickled her ego sweetly.
“A burning angel, eh?”
“You got it. Can’t wait to see you burn.”
Cooper redirected his attention to the cooking. “Nice.”
Pyx plopped onto a kitchen chair and propped her boots up on another chair. She leaned an elbow on the table. “How’s a guy who’s only been around a few weeks afford something like this? You get a job as a gigolo in those nightclubs you frequent?”
He chuckled sarcastically. “Could if I wanted to. But, no. The owner of this apartment was looking for someone to watch it during the summer while she vacations in Greece with her lover.”
“Good for you. Haven’t had to sell your body yet. I got a place, too.”
“Did you?”
“Fully furnished. Rent is paid for the month.”
She took the iPod from her pocket and switched it to video. Scanning it around the room, she recorded, for the heck of it. Zooming in on Cooper standing before the griddle, she moved the screen up and down his bare back. The muscles flexed with his motions. His skin was tan too, which appealed to her in ways she couldn’t quite process.
“It’s in the neighborhood, actually.”
“In the—” With a dripping spatula in hand, Cooper dashed into the nearby bedroom and looked out the window. “The sign is down. You didn’t,” he said, marching into the kitchen.
She caught video of his frustrated huff, and the splatter of crepe batter that drooled down his pant leg.
“The place across the street? But I saw you last night. How did you …? So quickly? You stole that place.”
Pyx shook the iPod at his accusing shake of spatula. “Dude, it’s my nature.”
“Poor excuse. You want to fit in with the humans while you’re here on earth? You’re going to have to work on your morality.”
“Look at you, all high and mighty.”
His smile was neither high nor mighty. It was genuinely appealing. Pyx wondered if morals had given him that appeal. But then, she knew better.
“Cruising the clubs for booty doesn’t sound so moral to me.”
“It is the human condition to seek comfort in one another.”
“Comfort.” Pyx snorted. “So that’s what they’re calling it nowadays.”
He set a plate before her. A folded crepe hung over the edge. “You like bananas and chocolate?”
“Don’t know. I’ve never tried them.” She accepted the proffered fork and poked the delicious-looking delicacy. Brown, sweet spread oozed out. “You learned to cook in a few weeks? I shouldn’t admit it, but I am impressed. I thought the Fallen just stalked about looking for muses to bed.”
He poured batter on a wide griddle, his back to her. Every movement flexed the muscles. Strength, that was the appeal. Strength wrapped in warm human flesh that Pyx suspected would feel great if she touched.
“Did you hear me? I said—”
“I heard you,” he said, not turning around. “I choose not to dignify that remark with an answer.”
“Oh, so you’re one of those respectable angels who fell?”
“And you’re one of those annoying Sinistari.”
Touché. Well, if the shoe fit, she’d try it on and kick some ass with it. Thinking of which…. she needed some more feminine shoes. But the high-heeled travesties she’d seen looked like a form of torture she’d rather avoid.
Pyx forked in a mouthful. Nummy. Oh, man! Chocolate rocked. And bananas, too. All oozing together. What a divine creation. Oops. Divinity had nothing to do with this meal. This was all about sinful deliciousness.
Minutes later, Cooper joined her with a folded crepe and sat down. Licking the chocolate from his thumb, he then dug in heartily. Pyx had already downed half her breakfast.
“I wouldn’t think this combination could work,” she commented. “Bananas and chocolate?”
“Sort of like angels and demons breaking their fast together, eh?”
“Yes, sort of.” Was she seriously here, doing … this?
He didn’t seem the least disturbed by her presence. The angel should be. The guy was one stab in the heart away from oblivion.
Pyx devoured another gooey, hot bite of crepe, and while she chewed, drew out her blade and placed it nonchalantly on the table beside her.
The Fallen smirked. “I don’t intimidate easily.”
“I’m just setting it there. It’s big and gets in the way.”
“I have something that’s big and gets in the way.”
She caught his waggling lift of brow, but didn’t understand. Angels. They thought they were so clever.
With a flick of Cooper’s fingers her dagger slid across the table toward him. Pyx slapped a hand over the weapon and slid it back. “Fancy party tricks are for amateurs.”
He relented.
“So I understand you demons name your blades,” he prompted. “Something ominous like Angel Killer or Death Bringer. What’s yours called?”
She fingered the black steel hilt of the blade. Forged from materials unknown, the blade had been made before she had and then matched to her after she had been forged Sinistari from the earth’s metals.
“Joe,” she said, and forked in another bite of crepe.
“Joe?” The angel laughed. It was a deep, rumbly sound that made Pyx smile around a mouthful of banana. “Oh, that’s rich. I’m being pursued by the vicious demon Pixy and her faithful blade Joe.”
Pyx wielded Joe in a blink. She bent before Cooper a blink later, the blade cutting into the flesh under his chin.
“It’s Pyx,” she said sharply. “And I’ll thank you to respect my friend Joe here or he’ll get sloppy and spill angel blood on your fancy pancake.”
“You cut me, I will retaliate.”
She remained before him, testing the blade against his soft and easily damaged mortal flesh. His dark eyes challenged her to go for it. Draw the blade and spill blood. She could do it. She should do it to prove she wasn’t about to back down, no matter his disturbing charm.
The cut wouldn’t kill him; she had to pierce his heart to bring death. And the blade could not penetrate his hard glass heart unless he was shifted to half form, which usually only happened when the angel was attempting his muse.
Had she ever seen that color of blue before? It rimmed his gray eyes. When she’d been summoned she had initially only seen the world in black and white. Until she’d walked the world, taking it all in, breathing in its languages, customs and pastimes.
Wow. There was something in his eyes. A bright reflection of … a hard and ruthless warrior? Whatever it was in his eyes, it was of the angelic dominions.
He moved swiftly. The blade clattered on the hardwood floor before Pyx realized she’d dropped it. His lips connected with hers. He bracketed her head with his palms, not pressing too roughly, but keeping her exactly where he wanted her.
It was a kiss. A strange, surprising kiss. Rough and fast. But sweet from the chocolate that whispered from his mouth and into hers.
Pyx had not before been kissed. What was a kiss for? It didn’t fill the belly, or provide clothes, or gain material goods. And yet, it was definitely interesting.
And it was being issued by a Fallen one. To a Sinistari. How many ways of wrong was that?
It didn’t feel wrong. Felt kind of tingly and exciting.
Cooper swept his tongue across hers. A giddy sparkle radiated in Pyx’s belly—until he pushed her away and stepped across the room. Hand to a hip, he turned, head tilted downward, and gazed at her.
“What the hell was that for?” She swiped her mouth with the back of her hand, forcing out her most pissed tone. “That’s not how you disarm an opponent.”
“Oh, no?” He toed Joe and kicked it across the floor toward her boot. “Looks like it worked. You’ve never been kissed before?”
“I just came to earth a day ago. What do you think?”
“I think.” He stalked over on his bare feet, his movements sensual and silent like some kind of wild cat Pyx had seen stalking the Tibetan forests during her walk of the world. Tilting up her chin, he brushed the hair from her face. “That means you are a virgin. A strange situation for a Sinistari to be in when she should be indulging in lust. Want another one?”
The sparkle still hummed in her belly. “Kiss?”
He smirked. “No, a crepe.”
“Neither.” Pyx jumped to stand and, arms arched out and ready to strike, she instead looked about. Not sure what to do. How to react. Joe lay against her boot. Bending for it would put her in a position not conducive to defense.
The angel had served her a move she hadn’t expected. And she was still processing the delicious taste of him, and the startling sensation of his mouth upon hers. It was a hell of a lot better than the crepe, and she had loved the crepe.
And the smile on his face bothered her. He felt he’d gained advantage in this round. Had he?
“I gotta go.” She swept up Joe.
“Giving up before you’ve cleaned your plate?” he called as she headed down the hallway.
“Not on your life. I want to make sure the vampires aren’t hanging around outside.”
“They’re not after me.”
“They’re not after me!” she shouted.
“If that’s what you want to believe. It’s day. Vampires don’t do sunlight, do they?”
Pyx didn’t turn to look at him. She knew he brandished a triumphant smirk like some kind of scalp claimed in battle. “Read your Stoker. Most vampires can go out during the day. I’ll be back.”
“I do hope you will be.”
She stalked to the front door and strode through, leaving it open behind her.
All right, one point for the Fallen. That meant she had to regroup and figure things out. Like how to play against someone who doesn’t know the rules.
And what, exactly, would her defensive move be should he lay another of those delicious kisses on her?
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