Chapter Five
Angel fiddled with the coffee cup in her hand as the sound of a passing motorcycle outside drew her attention like a magnet. The V-twin’s engine thundered, hugging the street corner as it made a turn. Its rumble moved through her like an obscene promise spoken in her ear.
Like pretty much everything else these days, it made her think of one person in particular. She couldn’t help but wonder what make and model the bike was. She listened to the sound with guilty pleasure until her friend spoke again, pulling her out of her wanton stupor.
Cassiana Honeywell leaned her elbows on the café table between them and said, “Twenty-three years I’ve been with that man. Not one orgasm during sex.”
Angel had her eyes on her friend, but her mind was elsewhere and it was killing her. Her friend deserved better, she deserved for Angel to be one hundred percent in the here and now. This was a momentous occasion for Cass, her fortieth birthday. And the birthday girl wasn’t having an easy time of it. Right now, Cass seemed to be on the verge of an all-out nervous breakdown.
Not one orgasm. Shit. Why did you stay with him? Angel automatically thought. She was really glad she didn’t say it out loud. There were other reasons to stay with a man, after all, reasons far more important than sex. It was just that Angel had sex on the mind lately.
“Why did I stay with him, you may be wondering,” Cass mumbled.
Angel tried not to smile. She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I was definitely wondering,” said Elena Garcia, the third member of their small party.
Angel shot her a warning look, and Elena shrugged innocently. “What? I was!”
“I met him when I was seventeen,” said Cass. “Straight out of high school. I’m from a big family, as you know. Lots of dysfunction in it too. In the rigmarole, I was never taught to be self-sufficient. No one taught me how to apply for a job, much less keep one, and much much less how to create my own career or follow my own dreams. I wasn’t taught to respect authority, just the opposite. I was basically set up to fail at job keeping. Plus, you know me. Despite being told I couldn’t make it in the creative world, my brain is wired to work creatively, and the work-a-day world doesn’t allow for that. So frankly, when I graduated and was suddenly out on my own, I started to fail left and right, and I got scared. Terrified, really. I latched onto the first man I felt could actually make it in life and even though he was dirt poor at the time, I recognized that drive in him. That will to succeed. And I stayed with him.”
“Well…” said Elena somberly, “I guess you were right about him succeeding.”
They fell silent.
Angel was thinking that was true; Cass’s husband had a good job. But Cass made good money too, and finances were not the sole issue here, by far.
She was about to say as much, when she suddenly felt strange. She felt off, as if without warning she’d been removed from the conversation by some outer, stronger stimulus.
Something had her immediate attention, something under the radar. It was like a vibration in the air, an instinct she’d learned to hone and follow during her training as a warden and a mage. Of course, right now she wasn’t in warden mode. She had no wards up, no spells, and she wasn’t carrying any weapons. Her nearest weapon was in her Jeep. But magic ran through her, and it was always at work to some degree, as much as the blood that ran through her veins kept her heart beating.
The feeling she had wasn’t necessarily bad. It was just strong. That strength in and of itself was troubling.
She glanced around as an unexpected warmth spread through her, like the pleasant numbing of a heavy drug. She felt her cheeks flush, and her lips parted. She knew her pupils would probably be dilated. This was definitely powerful she was sensing.
But nothing in the café was out of order. There were a few people in line getting drinks, and a few scattered at the tables farthest from hers. Nothing else. So what was going on?
Hot on the heels of the warmth was a stomach-knotting wave of genuine anticipation. Oh hell no, she thought. She recognized that feeling. No way. I’m definitely imagining things now. I’ve really got to get that damn man out of my head!
Angel uncrossed her legs, shifted, and re-crossed them to try to tame her hormones. She forced herself to dislodge the sensual feelings moving through her, chalked them up to wishful thinking and tiredness, and willfully concentrated on her friends.
“We moved in together,” Cass said. “I even took a huge risk and left the state with him, moving across country. At that age? With nothing to fall back on?” She shook her head and laughed. “I was nuts.”
“Yeah, you were,” said Elena, punching her gently in the shoulder. “I woulda loved to meet that crazy Cass.”
Cass grinned a shy, sad smile and continued. As she did, even that smile slipped away. “I gave up everything for him and yet it took the son of a bitch four years to propose to me. And all that time, I still stayed with him. He left the door wide open. I watched the world go on beyond it, and I could have walked out at any time. But I stayed. Like I was frozen to the spot.”
The way you freeze in a dream, thought Angel. Her husband must have been a fool. Cassiana was so beautiful. She looked no older than thirty, with a slim build, long thick wavy gold-streaked hair, clear and wrinkle-free skin, a quirky smile, and a kind of wild, untameable air to her that made her instantly appealing to men around her. That her husband had left that proverbial door open as long as he had was beyond foolish. He had no idea what was right in front of him, or how lucky he was that it hadn’t slipped away. What an idiot.
She was so tired of clueless men. Weak men. Men who didn’t recognize their fortune or have the guts to really go for it and the talent to make the attempt attractive. Where have all the good men gone? she thought wryly, echoing Bonnie Tyler. She was beyond ready for a knight on a fiery steed, someone fast and strong and fresh from the fight. She pretty much wanted to just slip into a comic book Take On Me style and have a one-nighter with Thor.
Nah, he probably smells like lutefisk, she thought then, and it made her laugh out loud.
Her friends stopped mid-speech and looked at her questioningly. “Sorry,” she said, meaning it. “You know how I get when I’m tired.” She smiled a winning smile, and her friends shook their heads.
Elena ignored the outburst and turned to Cass. “You know what? You should go find some hot college student and make out with him for your birthday. Or better yet, just let him ravage you.”
Cass’s eyes grew very wide. “Yeah… because infidelity solves everything.”
“Not everything,” said Elena blithely. “But it sure as hell solves some things.”
Angel was about to smile, but she tensed in her seat again as that feeling was suddenly back, this time harder and heavier than before. It was much stronger, edged with a kind of sharpness that indicated proximity and instantly had her turning in her chair.
She looked toward the entrance just as the café door chimed open. A whiff of mist-touched night entered the coffee shop right on the heels of the tall, dark, broad-shouldered and green-eyed Monsters warden, Jacob Crow.
Oh… holy… hell, thought Angel numbly as the world sank out from under her and she felt a sudden shift in perspective, like the planet had been tilted a little more on its axis. This isn’t happening.
It just wasn’t possible!
Yet there he was, stepping with his black boots into the serenity of the coffee shop like a calm, beautiful portent of trouble. What were the chances? Bogey’s voice played in her head, though his words were a little different this time… Of all the coffee shops in all the towns in all the world, he walks into mine….