Page 9 of Damned By His Angel

The unease flees his body as a whoosh of air escapes him. “Yeah, right. Come on, I made food.” He pulls away and leaves me here, feeling lost and lonely. Sighing I decide to worry about my fucked up predicament after breakfast. I stumble to a stop in the center of the living room, he has a picnic rug on the floor in front of the fire with an array of food set out in the center.

“Nos…” Words escape me at this amazing act of kindness, no one has ever done something like this for me before.

“What? You don’t like the food?” I can hear the apprehension in his tone and I quickly rush forward and drop down onto the blanket so he doesn’t storm off.

“I love the food, this was really… nice of you to do.” He huffs and grumbles under his breath before sitting opposite me and handing me an empty plate. I smile my thanks and begin loading it sky high with bacon, biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausages and few other meats. I don’t wait for him to begin, I can’t seem to get enough food into my mouth fast enough. I stop eating like a starved woman long enough to see him sit down and stare at me like I have grown two heads. “What?” I ask around a mouth full of food.

His face contorts in amusement. “You look like a fucking chipmunk, swallow.” Heat unfurls inside me at his last word as a memory of me on my knees in front of him with his cock down my throat assaults me—he loved it when I swallowed every drop of his cum and licked his shaft clean. Cronos has a dark side in the bedroom and I never realized how kinky I was until he and I explored it and fuck, sex with him was the hottest thing I have ever experienced in my life. I swallow audibly and don’t miss the way his eyes blaze with heat. The air suddenly seems to charge between us, my breaths growing ragged the longer we remain here in silence.

Cronos breaks the moment when he tears his gaze from mine and returns to eating. I scold myself internally, here I am pregnant with another man’s child and on the run from said man, hiding from my own family and trying to jump my exes bones—I need serious fucking help!

“You gonna be sticking around for a while?” His question snaps me out of my inner turmoil. Too ashamed to meet his gaze, I keep my own on my plate as I answer.

“I don’t know where else to go,” I say quietly, feeling like a weak mouse admitting that out loud, but he deserves better than me lying to him. I gasp when he reaches out and grips my chin, forcing my head up. I stare at him in surprise.

“Then don’t go.” I sense there is a double meaning to his words but I can’t decipher what it is.

“I’m not a freeloader, Grizz, you know I earn my own way and always have since I left college.”

“Then earn your way.”

I reel back and scoff. “That might take some time since I don’t think a lot of people want to hire a pregnant chick.” I can hear the bitterness in my own voice. Back in Chicago, the hospital would have been elated for me and helped me however they could but because of Colson, I can’t go back to the job I love.

“You have a job and will start Monday.”

My eyes widen at his response. “Say what now?”

“You’ll work Monday to Friday as my receptionist. Becky is leaving and I need someone to take over. It’s not a glamorous job like you are used to, but until we can… sort things out it’s the best one you’re gonna get.”

“I’ll take it!” I say excitedly. He purses his lips but says nothing else. I feel giddy at the prospect of getting to see him in action at his job. “So, who do you work for?”

He chuckles. “No one. I own the mortuary and I’m also the medical examiner.” My jaw unhinges at his response.

“I never knew you wanted to get into that line of work.”

He shrugs. “I didn’t until I moved here and met a guy who offered me a chance, no one has ever taken the time to teach me anything except Bill.” I can hear the respect and love he has for the man in his tone, it's clear he means a lot to him.

“So, you work and live here?”

“Yes, Amelia, was that not clear?”

I shoot him a scathing look. “I was just trying to be polite!”

“You being polite would mean you are not lying to me and telling me the truth as to why you are really here.” My face falls but he isn’t finished. “We both know you aren't going to spill the truth so let's just pretend we don’t have a past. You go about your life while I try to do the same with mine.”

“It’s not that easy,” I bite out.

“It really is. It’s like an addict coming off the drugs, you just need to trust the process but you don’t, which is why you came here. You knew I’m too fucked up to push you for the truth when I can barely handle living with the truth of my own life.”

Cronos

Sitting out here on my back porch, I watch the sun set, bathing us in darkness again, this is the time I feel most alive. There is something about the darkness that calls to me, there is no light to show your imperfections, just the never ending abyss of nothing in the distance.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me?” I don’t even bother to acknowledge Amelia as she claims the seat beside me. I have ignored her for the past two days. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to speak to her until tomorrow when we head into work but I guess the darkness didn’t hide me well enough.

“I chose Grand Marais because it was small. I didn’t need to know anyone or vice versa for them to become familiar enough that I had to keep checking over my shoulder. The day you arrived here everyone knew you were from out of town.”

“What are you trying to say, Nos?” I take a swig of my beer then let the bottle dangle between my fingers as I turn to face her. Her beauty still astounds me. She is a fucking angel living amongst mere mortals, yet she was so stupid and lowered herself to the level of a piece shit because she wouldn’t allow herself to see what I saw whenever I looked at her. Light.

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