“How do you know that for sure?”
“He promised to rescue every human who calls upon Him, and He always keeps His promises.”
“Every human. Even me?”
His brows furrowed into his hairline—or what had once been his hairline. “Are you human?”
“Har, har. You know that I am. Wait. I am, right?”
Do not smile. “You are. And now, I’m ending this conversation.” For both their sakes. “There are chores to be done, and hopefully I’m man enough to do them.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
NICOLA WATCHED as Koldo stalked through her entire house, fixing everything that was broken, reinforcing the locks on the windows and doors, and even flashing in and out to stock her cabinets and refrigerator with food. All the while, she reeled.
The monsters she’d seen as a child were real.
Demons had poisoned her and her sister.
The guy she couldn’t stop thinking about wasn’t even human.
She focused on him—the least complicated. Was he naturally bald or had he shaved his head? There was no hint of stubble on his scalp, which led her to believe there were no follicles. But that hardly mattered. As beautiful as he was, he had no need of hair.
And now that she knew what his back looked like under his robe, she found him more than beautiful; she found him breathtaking. Running parallel to both sides of his spine was scar tissue about twelve inches long and four inches thick. At one point in his life, he’d had wings. Something or someone—a demon?—had cut them out. Now, crimson ink branched from both scars, forming glorious wings. The design was so amazingly detailed, each individual feather accounted for. And the muscles underneath those tattoos...sweet mercy.
How could a man who looked as fierce as he did be so kind? Or were the man and the Sent One intertwined? Could there not be one without the other?
And what about the smoldering fire in his eyes? Did it spring from a place of danger? Or desire?
He finished stocking her cabinets and leaned against the half wall between her kitchen and living room. He folded his arms over his chest and nodded. “So you do know how to relax.”
Har-har. “If you want to pamper me, I’m going to let you pamper me.”
“Actually, I want to question you. Why do you work so hard?”
What he was really asking: Why do you work so hard, yet live in such squalor? “Medical bills” was all she said.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then pushed out a heavy breath. “I want to pay your bills,” he said hesitantly, probably expecting her to fly off the couch and attack him for daring to suggest such a thing.
As if such a kind proposition would offend her. “I wasn’t hinting or anything like that,” she said with a smile. “And wait a second. You have money?”
“A lot of money. Sent Ones are rewarded for our work. And I would like nothing more than to do this.”
“But—”
“I’d planned to pay your bills one way or another. This way, I can take the past-due notices stacked in the basket you’ve labeled Doom with your knowledge rather than stealing them and perhaps earning myself a punishment.”
To have such a huge financial weight lifted from her shoulders...to no longer live in fear of losing her house, having her utilities turned off, to be able to afford real Hostess Twinkies rather than a dry knockoff...
“Oh, Koldo.” She leaped from the couch and threw herself against him. At first, he was stiff. After a few seconds, however, he softened and wrapped his arms around her. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. I accept. You’re welcome, by the way,” she teased in an effort to mask her trembling chin. “I mean, I’m such a giver, unwilling to allow you to be punished.”
He snorted, and it was such a gorgeous sound. “This pleases you, then? Makes you happy.”
“It does.” Her heart thundered in her chest in a boom, boom, boom rhythm. “I know I should feel guilty, too, like I’m using you for your money or something, but I just can’t summon the emotion.”
He stiffened all over again, saying, “If you feel a shred of guilt, I will rescind my offer.”
“You heard the part about being unable to summon the emotion, right? And you’re loaded, aren’t you? That’s what ‘a lot’ means, right?”
“Yes, I’m loaded,” he said, the stiffness leaving him.
Of course he was. A dreamy sigh left her. “You have to be the sexiest male I’ve ever met.” Beauty, brains and megabucks.
He stilled.
Her words echoed in her mind, and she almost groaned. No. No, no, no. She hadn’t just said that aloud. She couldn’t have said that aloud. “I mean, you have to be the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”
He peered down at her, silent.
“You consider me sexy?” he finally asked.
She had. She really had said it aloud. Heat filled her cheeks. To hide, she buried her face in the hollow of his neck. “What would you do if I said yes?” He might have touched her today, might have held her close, but she hadn’t forgotten what he’d said. I don’t want you in that way.
“I would tell you...that you have had a very eventful evening, and that you will have to wait until tomorrow.” His voice was gruff. “I would show you my reaction then.”
And just what, exactly, would he show her?
Her heart fluttered as he set her away from him and strode to her kitchen table, where the Basket of Doom waited. He lifted it high—and it disappeared.
She blinked, saying, “Uh, what just happened?”
“I placed the items inside a pocket of air.”
She closed the distance between them and reached up, trying to feel the spot where the basket had last been seen, but she was too short. Even when she jumped. And jumped again.
His lips twitched at the corners. “Is there a problem?”
“Do not crack a short joke, Gigantor.”
“Very well. Allow me.” Koldo wrapped his big hands around her waist.
The strength of his grip wrung a startled gasp from her, though he was nothing but gentle as he lifted her off her feet. She palpated the air. “There’s nothing solid,” she said, amazed.
“The pocket is a small doorway between the spirit realm and the natural.” Slowly he set her back down.
“Realm?”
“One for your world, and one for mine.”
“That’s so cool.” She turned, intending to return to the couch.
He reached out and cupped the back of her neck, forcing her to stay. No, doing more than that. Tugging her deeper into the hard line of his body. Heat rolled through her, and she gave another gasp.