With a token meeting that didn’t need to happen. But yeah, I appreciated the gesture. Still … “It’ll take more than one meeting to do that.”

Azazel stood and headed out of the room. “I have meetings of my own.”

Outlier meetings? “Wait.”

He stopped in the doorway.

“Can I come with you?”

He blinked at me in surprise.

I shrugged. “About time I saw what you guys get up to.”

Mal slowly unfurled his body from the sofa. “Take her with you, Az.”

Azazel looked me up and down again. “Go put your reaper gear on. Pinnacle in twenty.” He strode off.

Mal blew out a whistle. “Shit, I was expecting more of a fight.”

“Why?”

“Azazel’s a solo kinda guy, unlike me.”

He padded over to me, looking, for all intents and purposes, like a pantherine predator. I resisted the urge to back up. This was Mal. Play-around, talk-smack Mal. So, why was my tummy fluttering? It was that damn chest. That bare six-pack begging to be caressed.

He stepped into my personal space and hooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “It’s my turn next time.” He swept his tongue across his bottom lip and dropped his emerald gaze to my mouth. He leaned in, so our faces were an inch apart. “Next time, I get to show you my world.”

My mouth parted, blood rushing to my lips, making them throb and ache for him to close the distance between us. Tingles rushed up my shoulders and the sides of my neck, settling just below my ears.

“Stop it.” My voice was a whisper.

“Stop what?”

“The suggestion shit.”

His mouth hooked up slightly. “I’m not doing anything, Fee. This is all you.” And then he kissed me, claiming my bottom lip as if it was a succulent treat, sucking gently on it, then moving onto my top lip with just as much diligence. “You should stop me,” he said between kisses. “You should push me away.”

Yes. I should, but instead, I was running my hands up his chest to hook around his neck. Instead, I pulled him closer.

“Fuck.” He groaned. He gripped my nape and forced my head back to deepen the kiss. His tongue swept into my mouth in sweet invasion, licking me out in a way that had me squeezing my thighs together against the desperate aching pulse. Our mouths slid against each other, hungrier by the second. My breasts squashed against his chest, and his erection pressed to my abdomen.

I wanted more. I needed more. I needed him to fuck me. Oh, fuck. What was I doing? I pulled away with a ragged gasp and pressed a hand to my mouth, which still carried the imprint of his.

Mal reached for me, but then slowly lowered his hands. His eyes were dark and ravenous. Desire was stamped all over his beautiful face, and then he smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

“Took you long enough, Fee,” he said. “I thought I’d have my cock in you before you backed off.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks.

He shrugged. “Maybe next time, eh?” He dropped me a wink and then walked around me and out of the room.

The bastard. The total fucking wanker.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I had reaper gear. Iza had added it to my wardrobe, and I hadn’t even noticed, but I was wearing it, and I felt kick-ass in it. Shame it didn’t give me longer legs so I could keep up with Azazel.

“I know what it is.” I jogged to stay abreast of him. “You have a rocket up your ass.”

“You’re too slow,” he replied.

“My legs aren’t as long as yours.”

He conceded by shortening the length of his stride.

It was almost sunset here in Necro. The streets were less busy as the city transitioned from work to play.

I had no idea where we were headed. Azazel had taken a river to a spot behind a mall, and we’d walked from there. Having said that, this street looked familiar, and then I spotted why. Lumiers sat on the corner, lit up against the dying light.

“Are we going to Lumiers?”

Azazel answered by striding across the street toward the building.

What was his problem? He’d agreed to let me tag along, and now he was acting all standoffish and dickish. We stepped onto the pavement, and I grabbed hold of his arm.

“Hey.”

He stopped and stared at me. No, glared at me.

I flinched. “What is your problem? You agreed to let me come with you, and now you’re acting like a dick.”

His jaw stuck out mulishly for a second, and then he turned his head to the side and closed his eyes briefly. “Mal can’t give you what you want, Fee.” His tone was so soft it stunned me.

“What?”

“You’re smarter than that.”

“I don’t know what you … Oh …” Could he smell Mal on me? “Azazel, there is nothing going on between Mal and me. I mean nothing serious.”

“It doesn’t take long for not serious to become more, and Mal …” He smiled wryly. “It’s impossible not to love Mal.” He said it fondly. “But he has his own demons, and those demons will not be kind to you.”

“You mean the fact that he’s cursed?”

Azazel looked surprised. “He told you about that?”

“He told me he was cursed to feed off sex. I mean, it explains why he has so many women …”

“What else did he tell you?” Azazel asked.

“Nothing … wait. There’s more?”

Azazel tipped back his head and sighed. “Yes, there’s more, and if Mal wants to share that with you, he will, but my advice … Shield your heart.”

The look he gave me was pure pity, and then he pushed open the door and ushered me inside.

Shield my heart? I wasn’t falling for Mal or anything. It wasn’t like that, but then the delicious aroma of freshly ground coffee beans hit me, and I lost my train of thought. This was sex for my olfactory system. Throw in a little cinnamon, and I was mentally writhing on the floor.

“Fee.” Azazel frowned at me.

“One moment.” I took another whiff and then followed him across the room. The place was emptier than the last time I’d been here, but pink lady was behind the counter, grinning at me. No. Not at me, at Azazel. She tipped her face up and fluttered her lashes.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she said.

“Leana. Is my room ready?” he asked.

“Always. And the offer of company is still on the table too.”

It was obvious from her tone that by company, she meant sex.

He chuckled. “I appreciate that.”

She finally looked at me and winked. “The usual?”

I’d only been here once, but what the hell. “Please.”

“I’ll bring it through,” Leana said.

I followed Azazel’s leather-clad back up the stairs and into a room that held a desk and several chairs.

He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair behind the desk.

“How does it work?” I indicated the jacket. “Your wings … there aren’t any slits in the jacket.”

“Wings are not physical in the same way as our bodies. They exist on a parallel plane that we’re connected to, and therefore can be visible or not depending on will. Clothes don’t matter.” He indicated the chair by the window. “Sit. Observe. Do not speak.”

I folded myself into the chair. At least the seat was padded. “So, what do you do here, exactly.”

“Necro is a network of factions. Outlier species are varied. Allegiances are varied. And then there are those that ally to no faction. Independent witches, rogue warlocks, and Loup.”

“Why rogue? I mean, if the witches can be independent, why are warlocks called rogues?”

“The covens are a little more tolerant than the warlock factions and Loup packs. But even the independent witches pay a price. They lose their connection to the coven power and need to employ other methods to do magic.”

“Such as?”

His jaw tensed. “Blood, sex, and pain. They draw power from those.”

“Sounds peachy.”

“A long time ago, there was war and bloodshed among the outliers. Humanity was threatened by the overspill. The Underealm stepped in and negotiated peace. Necro is simply one of several hubs where I operate to ensure the outliers remain pacified and that their conflicts remain hidden from the human world.”

“Because we protect humanity?”

“We always have,” he said.

“Why?” I was genuinely curious why the Underealm gave a shit.

“Because it’s part of our treaty with the celestials. Part of the ceasefire that keeps the balance between the Beyond and the Underealm.”

“So, we’re basically the celestials’ bitches?”

He gave a surprised snort but didn’t deny it.

Leana entered carrying a tray. Her hips swayed as she moved, totally deliberate I’d say, and had she applied lip gloss?

Azazel smiled warmly at her as she set the tray on the desk. Two mochas and a cinnamon bun.

“I’m sorry, that’s the last bun,” she said. “I have a batch cooking, but it will be another half hour.”

Azazel’s gaze flicked up to me. “You like these too?”

Too?

It was Leana who answered. “You seem to share similar tastes.” She sashayed out, and something flicked across the floor behind her. Pink with an arrowhead tip. A tail.

She had a tail.

I waited till she was gone. “What is she?”

Azazel pushed the tray across the desk. “A beautiful anomaly.”

He said it fondly. He was fond of her. Something flickered in my chest, and the mark above my breast itched.

I picked up my mug and then reclaimed my seat. “You guys seem to be pretty comfortable around each other.”

Fine, I wanted to know if they’d banged. No idea why it mattered. Hell, it didn’t matter, I was just making small talk.