The Darkest Angel (Lords of the Underworld #4.5)(19)
Author: Gena Showalter

How could he still want her?

How could he want to do that to her in return?

How could he ever let her go?

“Bianka,” he said. He needed a moment to catch his breath. No. He needed to think about what had happened and how they should proceed. No. He tangled a hand in his hair. What should he do?

“Don’t say anything.” Her smile disappeared as if it had never been. “The cloud is yours.” Her voice trembled with…fear? Couldn’t be. She hadn’t showed a moment of fear since he’d first abducted her. But she even backed away from him. “Now take me home. Please.”

He opened his mouth to reply. What he would say, he didn’t know. He only knew he did not like seeing her like that.

“Take me home,” she croaked.

He’d never gone back on his word, and he wouldn’t start now. He nodded stiffly, grabbed her hand, and flew her back to the ice mountain in Alaska, exactly as he’d found her. Red coat, tall boots. Sensual in a way he hadn’t understood then.

He maintained his grip on her until the last possible second—until she slipped away from him, taking her warmth and the sweet softness of her skin with her.

“I don’t want to see you again.” Mist wafted around her as she turned her back on him. “Okay?”

She…what? After what had happened between them, she was dismissing him? No, a voice roared inside his head. “Behave, and you will not,” he gritted out. A lie? The bitter taste in his mouth had returned.

“Good.” Without meeting his gaze, she twisted and blew him a kiss as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “I’d say you were an excellent host, but then, you don’t want me to lie, do you?” With that, she strolled away from him, dark hair blowing in the wind.

CHAPTER EIGHT

FIRST THING BIANKA DID after bathing, dressing, eating a bag of stolen chips she had hidden in her kitchen, painting her nails, listening to her iPod for half an hour and taking a nap in her secret basement was call Kaia. Not that she had dreaded the call and wanted to put it off or anything. All of those other activities had been necessary. Really.

Plus, it wasn’t like her sister was worried about her anymore. Paris would already have told her what was going on. But Bianka didn’t want to discuss Lysander. Didn’t even want to think about him and the havoc he was causing her emotions—and her body and her thoughts and her common sense.After making out with him a little, she’d wanted to freaking stay with him, curl up in his arms, make love and sleep. And that was unacceptable.

The moment her sister answered, she said, “No need to throw me a Welcome Home party. I’m not sticking around for long.” Do not ask me about the angel. Do not ask me about the angel.

“Bianka?” her twin asked groggily.

“You were expecting someone else to call in the middle of the night?” It was 6:00 a.m. here in Alaska. Having traveled between the two places multiple times since Gwen had gotten involved with Sabin, she knew that meant it was 3:00 a.m. there in Budapest.

“Yeah,” Kaia said. “I was.”

Seriously? “Who?”

“Lots of people. Gwennie, who has become the ultimate bridezilla. Sabin, who is doing his best to soothe the beast but whines to me like I care.” She rambled on as if Bianka had never been abducted and she’d never been worried. Sure, she’d thought Bianka was merely shirking her duties, but was a little worry too much to ask for? “Anya, who has decided she deserves a wedding, too. Only bigger and better than Gwen’s. William, who wants to sleep with me and doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. He’s not possessed by a demon so he’s not my type. Shall I go on?”

“Yes.”

“Shut up.”

She imagined Kaia high in a treetop, clutching her cell to her ear, grinning and trying not to fall. “So really, you were sleeping? While I was missing, my life in terrible danger? Some loving sister you are.”

“Please. You were on vacay, and we both know it. So don’t give me a hard time. I had an…exciting day.”

“Doing who?” she asked dryly. Only two weeks had passed since she’d last seen Kaia, but suddenly a wave of homesickness—or rather, sistersickness—flooded her. She loved this woman more than she loved herself. And that was a lot!

Kaia chuckled. “I wish it was because of a who. I’m waiting for two of the Lords to fight over me. Then I’ll comfort them both. So far, no luck.”

“Idiots.”

“I know! But I mentioned Gwen has become the bride from hell, right? They’re afraid I’ll act just like her, so no one’s willing to take a real chance on me.”

“Bride from hell, how?”

“Her dress didn’t fit right. Her napkins weren’t the right color. No one has the flowers she wants. Whaa, whaa, whaa.”

That didn’t sound like the usually calm Gwen. “Distract her. Tell her the Hunters captured me and performed a handbotomy on me like they did on Gideon.” Gideon, keeper of Lies. A sexy warrior who dyed his hair as blue as his eyes and had a wicked sense of humor.

The thought of seducing him didn’t delight her as it once might have. Stupid angel. Do not think about him.

“She wouldn’t care if you were chopped up into little pieces. You’re too much like me and apparently we take nothing seriously so we deserve what we get,” Kaia said. “She’s driving me freaking insane! And to top off my mountain-o-crap, I was totally losing our game of Hide and Seek. So anyway, why’d you decide to rescue yourself? I’m telling you, you have a better chance of survival in the clouds than here with Gwen.”

“Survival schmival. It wasn’t fun anymore.” A lie. Things had just started to heat up the way she’d wanted. But how could she have known that would scare her so badly?

“Good going, by the way. Allowing yourself to be taken into the clouds where I couldn’t get to you. Brilliant.”

“I know, right?”

“So was it terrible? Being spirited away by a sexy angel?”

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and pictured Lysander’s glorious face. The desire he’d leveled at her while she’d sucked him dry had been miraculous. You don’t want to talk about him, remember? “Yes. It was terrible.” Terribly wonderful.

“You bringing him to Buda for the wedding?”

The words were sneered, clearly a joke, but Bianka found herself shouting, “No!” before she could stop herself. A Harpy dating an angel? Unacceptable!