When I got that under control, I hissed, “You didn’t just say that.”
“Right,” he clipped, his patience gone. “A day, Lilah, for me to work with Callum and see what I gotta do to get my shit sorted, fighting as wolf. A day where Lucien works with Xun and Wei to see where they’re at and what they need. After that, we take you on.”
Compromise. And a good one.
It was also an annoying one precisely because it was good.
“A day,” I snapped, and he grinned.
More annoying.
Then he leaned into me and ran his temple along mine.
That was not annoying, but I decided to pretend it was by turning away in a huff when he was done.
“Good call, not weighing in on that,” Sonia noted, and I looked to her and Callum.
Callum just grinned at his empty plate and murmured, “Mm.”
“Next time I’ll let one of you go a few rounds with your bitches so I can avoid gettin’ shit from mine,” Abel remarked, and my angry eyes shot back to him.
“What you did was avoid the doghouse. Don’t court a permanent stay,” I warned.
“Like you’d send me there for eternity,” he retorted.
“Don’t try me.”
Abel burst out laughing.
I again fought back the urge to slap him upside the head.
I did this by pushing my chair back, throwing my napkin on the table, and announcing, “Time for me to go and try zapping something. Any of you girls with me?”
“I’m in,” Leah stated immediately.
“After you’re done zapping things, we’ll all go out so I can talk to bunnies,” Sonia added.
“We’ve got a plan,” I decreed and turned to go but didn’t get very far when Abel caught my hand.
I looked down at him.
“Thanks, bao bei,” he said softly.
“Just so you know, you being sweet totally works. I’m still gonna pretend it doesn’t and bust your chops,” I informed him and got another grin.
“Have a feeling I draw from you again later, I’ll get tangy Lilah, seein’ as you’re in the mood to be sassy,” he replied.
“And just so you know, you being hot totally works too. I’m still gonna bust your chops.”
That got me a full-blown smile.
It also got me a tug on my hand that forced me to bend to him. When I got close, his other hand shot up in a blur and caught me at the back of the head so he could pull me to him and give me a short, but hot and wet, kiss.
When he broke it, he whispered, “Good luck zapping something.”
To which I replied, “Whatever.”
To which he delivered his kill shot, giving him the win.
He did it with his eyes to my mouth, still whispering. “Regardless of the extraneous shit and the centuries I had to wait to get what was mine, destiny fuckin’ loves me.”
As completely awesome as that was, still, I was me, so I shared, “That’s the sweet part I’m pretending doesn’t work.”
His eyes came to mine. “Keep it up, pussycat. I like tangy Lilah.”
“Let go of me so I can be annoyed somewhere else,” I ordered, though what I meant was so he’d stop turning me on.
“So full of shit,” he replied.
He knew what I meant, but of course he would. He could smell it.
I pretended that wasn’t the case too and told him, “I’m almost at my quota of bickering for the day so you need to let me go so I can save some up for later, seeing as I’m gonna need it.”
Abel kept smiling, this time doing it giving my hand and head a squeeze. Then he let me go.
Without looking at the other men, I stomped out, Leah and Sonia on my heels, so I could try to see if I could zap something.
I couldn’t. But I knew this already.
I still tried, though not for very long, since it was a lot more fun to go out and watch Sonia talk to bunnies.
Chapter Sixteen
Let the Day Begin
Abel
Abel woke and did it because he felt Delilah getting agitated.
He opened his eyes, feeling her body tucked to his, back to front, his arm draped around her waist.
He tightened his hold and opened his mouth to say something to wake her when her words of three days before came to him about trying to get in her head during a dream.
He closed his mouth and his eyes, tipping his head forward to rest his forehead against her crown. He made his attempt, using his abilities to control her mind by telling her to let him in her dream.
He got nothing. She simply shifted in his arms as she normally did when she was having a dream.
He’d never tried to control anyone’s mind while they were sleeping, so he tried a different tack.
As a test, he ordered her to find his hand and hold it.
Instantly, she did, but she did this still asleep.
And still dreaming.
That meant he could get to her. He just needed to keep trying.
“Bao bei, let me in,” he whispered, curling his fingers around hers and repeating his words to her mind.
Nothing.
Let me in your dream, he again ordered.
Her movements became more agitated but whatever was going on in her head was not his to have.
He tightened his hold on her hand and tried again, shouting, Lilah, let me in!
Instantly, he saw it in his head. A street. Blood. Bodies. Delilah there, several feet in front of him, her back to him. A man down the street from Delilah. Classy, haughty, a look on his face that was an amused sneer. A vampire.
The man looked beyond Delilah, saw Abel, and gave a start as his chin jerked back in shock.
Delilah turned and Abel’s eyes went to her, his body growing taut at the fear etched on her face. Fear so extreme, even in a dream, he could taste it.