Coming out of the bedroom with my hair blown dry and tied off my face in a loose pony tail, I found Angel in my living room, accompanied by four roll-in carts covered with all different kinds of food.
One cart was covered with drinks. One was covered with fruit and vegetables. Another was covered with eggs made in a million different ways. And the last of the carts, was covered with all types of toast, waffles, and bagels.
�I didn�t know what you liked for breakfast,� Angel flashed me a dazzling smile. �So I figured I�d guess and hopefully get it right.�
�You were right,� I smiled back.
~~
Half an hour later, I sat back in my seat, and put my fork down. �Angel, I know you want me to eat a lot, but if I eat anymore, I�m not going to be able to breathe.�
�Okay,� he agreed. �You can stop. But lunch is going to be big too. You need to put on a little more weight. I know you�ve been upset lately, but you need to pay attention to your health.� His eyes showed how concerned he was.
His concern confused me. We barely knew each other, and he was protecting me and watching over me like we�d been together for years. But it felt so natural. So natural to have Angel as my constant provider and endless fountain of support. It was like being with him just felt right.
This brought up our plans. What were our plans? Did we even have any? Did Angel have any? Was he looking for a weekend of fun with me and then back to Devil�s Gorge? Or did he just want to never go back to Devil's Gorge?
�What are our plans?� I asked, looking down at my fingers nervously, and then up at him with hesitant eyes.
He looked up from the paper he was reading and stared at me for a minute, as if trying to figure it out for himself. He glanced to the window for a moment, and then back at me. �What do you want to do?� he asked after several long moments.
I sighed and shrugged softly. �I don�t exactly have any plans. It�s not like I have priorities or direction in my life.�
He took a moment to digest that and then asked, �if you could go one place, where would it be?�
I thought for a moment, and then sighed, �Maui. But Angel, I really think we should discuss what we�re going to do now. I mean-�
He cut me off, �I thought that�s what we were doing.� His face showed he was confused.
My eyes darted to the side and then back, as the rest of me stayed still. Then I had to accept that I had no idea what he was saying. �What?� My face showed my exasperated confusion.
Angel set his paper down, and turned his chair so that he was directly facing me. �I mean this,� he said, taking my hands, causing me to squirm in my seat. �Let�s go to Maui. If Maui�s the one place you�d like to be, then that�s where we�ll go.�
�Seriously?� I asked, doubting that he wanted to stay with me that long. �I mean�Don�t you have a job or something that you need to do? You can�t just ignore your priorities because of me, Angel.� I was trying to breathe reason into this heavy conversation that was making me more and more nervous by the second.
�I inherited twenty million from my grandfather five months ago,� he said, his face a mask that showed no emotion.
�Oh,� I understood that.
�So let�s do it!� he said with enthusiasm. �Let�s just go.�
I looked away from his bright face, to our hands. Our joined hands. Once more, it felt so natural. So right. But what should I do? Should I take the chance? It seemed like mystery followed Angel. Did I really want to be a part of that mystery?
�What do you say?� he prompted me for an answer, his concern growing that I would turn him down.
I looked up into his eyes. �I don�t know, Angel,� I whispered honestly, standing up. I walked over to the open balcony doors. The light, soft pink, see-through drapes were blowing out the doors in the morning breeze off the ocean.
I stood in the doorway, my arms crossing protectively over my chest, and I tried to make some sort of sense of what I wanted. What did I really want to do? Should I completely destroy any chance of having a connection or relationship of any kind with the man that had fathered me and �loved� my mother? Should I try to make it work in Devil�s Gorge? Try to fit in with everyone? Or should I just throw caution to the wind and run with Angel. Run and discover the world. Discover Angel. Angel�s mystery. Discover me and my heart.
I tried to talk myself into one choice or the other. �I mean, if I go with you, then I won�t ever want, or be able, to go back to Devil�s Gorge. I don�t care about that, but at the same time it�s a damn shame to live in exile from one of the richest places in the world.� I turned to face Angel again, my arms dropping to my sides.
�And if I go with you, what are we?� I asked, moving quickly to another point. �I mean, it seems from what I�ve heard that you�ve got a pile of ex�s around the globe, so do I want to constantly be fighting with them about being with you? Am I even with you? Are we together? Or are we just travel buddies? I mean�I don�t know what you want from me, Angel. I honestly don�t know what you want us to be.�
Angel stood finally, and came over to me. He was so tall. He towered over me. He took my hands in his, and bent his head to kiss my knuckles. �Come with me,� he whispered, and started leading me from the room. He led me down the small hall, into my bedroom.
I was starting to shake as I glanced at the bed. What did he want? What were we going to be? He�d stopped us in the limo before. If he hadn�t, who knows how far I would have let myself go.
But Angel surprised me by not leading me to the bed, but to the huge, full-sized mirror in the corner of the room. He moved to stand behind me, and he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.
�Look,� he whispered his command into the skin on my shoulder, laying a gentle kiss to my collarbone. �What I want?�Tell me what you see.�
�I-I see�I see me,� I could barely form words. My nerves were humming, and I felt so warm all over. I was sure that I would be breaking into a sweat at any moment.
�And that�s all I want,� he whispered into my ear, nibbling gently on my ear lobe. I shut my eyes as he nibbled, and then kissed his way down my neck again, to my shoulder blades.
I tried to hold on to my fleeting sanity. I took a deep breath, trying with all of my reserved might, to make it sound a little less ragged then it wanted to come out.
I turned slowly in Angel�s arms, until I could gaze up into his eyes. I felt so many emotions coursing through me. There was fear. Uncertainty. Trust. Doubt. Compliance. Desire. And there was a keen sense of lust in my every cell that I had never felt before.
But I had to know. I had to know how long he�d want me. Would he tire of me in a week? In a week, I could fall completely in love with Angel. And if that was the case, I couldn�t stand the thought of him wanting to end whatever we would have.
How long would he want me?
�How long?� I asked, my voice just barely a whisper. I didn�t intend for it to sound as husky and seductive as it came out. It just came naturally around Angel. I could tell instantly, by the sharp intake of breath, that he had been affected by it.
His eyes locked with mine; searching. Then his reply came. Panted. �Forever.�
And then his lips were on mine, and I was in heaven. I suddenly didn�t care about the warnings. The threats. The incidents of almost being assaulted by a shoe. I didn�t care what anyone said. I wanted to be in Angel�s arms, and no one was going to be able to keep me away from my dark prince. My only desire, was the mystery that he was. Possible angry temper, be damned. I wanted him, and he wanted me, and I was intent upon keeping it that way�
At all means necessary.
He pulled me flush up against him, and my arms twined around his neck as I tried to pull him closer. He needed to be closer. There was no way that he could ever be close enough. Of that I was sure.
His tongue licked a serpentine in my mouth, making me tremble. �Angel,� I gasped as his lips parted from my own to trail a blazing trail of fire down my neck with his tongue. He found a particular spot that intrigued him on my collar, and his lips and tongue sucked my skin ever-so-delicately.
Just as I was about to whisper for him to take me away, to take me to bed and never let me go, there was a loud bang.
No one could have seen the bullet coming. But we sure felt it.