Page 23 of Asher

It was the wrong thing to say, I realize as he snarls and launches himself at me with fingers hooked into claws. I guess I should consider myself lucky he didn’t shift—

Oops, spoke too soon.

I duck and sidestep as he shifts midair, and manage to avoid having the entire weight of an adult hellhound plow into me. As it is, he knocks me off-balance, and I know I’m going to have a bruise where we collided.

I could have teleported completely out of his way, but if I had, I would have been too far away to grab hold of him. Wrapping my arms around his torso, I bury my face in the fur at his neck and hope fervently that he’s not mad enough to actually use his teeth and claws.

“Love how soft your fur is,” I croon, rubbing my cheek in it as I squeeze tight. He’s wriggling to get free, but I’m not stupid enough to let go. As long as his claws remain sheathed, I have the advantage right now. “I’m sorry people are so stupid. Want me to rip someone’s head off? I can do it, you know. You’ve been making me eat extra protein lately, and I’m super jacked.”

He stills, possibly in shock. Or maybe he’s thinking about it and mentally composing a list.

“Is it one of my cousins who upset you? Or both? I can definitely rip their heads off… or if you want to take a shot, I can hold them down and you can rip off an arm or leg.”

His tense muscles relax, and he chuffs, then shifts back. I’ve never been so close to a shifter in the moment of their shift, and I freeze, not wanting to accidentally fuck it up and cause him to lose a limb. Is that even possible? It takes only seconds, and then my arms are full of warm, sexy Garrett in his biped form.

“You’re an idiot,” he mutters, turning to face me and burying his face in the side of my neck. He does that a lot, and when I teased him about being part vampire, he said it’s because there’s a concentration of scent there, and he likes how I smell.

“Why?” I ask, tipping my head to rest against his. “Because I want to avenge you against whoever doesn’t appreciate you?”

He snorts a laugh, then lifts his head. “You can’t just go around ripping people’s heads off because they irritated me.”

I look him dead in the eye. “I absolutely can.”

“You’re an investment banker,” he argues. “Not a commando.”

That’s true, and admittedly, I don’t have all that much experience ripping limbs off people… or even hitting them, unless you count pounding on my cousins when we were younger.

Speaking of cousins… “I can always call Gideon to help. He’s a commando… I think.” The truth is, I don’t know exactly what Gideon has done in some of the jobs he’s had over the past century or so. Since he went to work at CSG nearly sixty years ago, his role has been a little clearer, but I don’t think you get hired to work personally with the lucifer unless you have some very specific experience. He’s the cousin who’s most like Grandmother, which makes sense, when you consider how often she used to dandle him on her knee. He was the youngest of our generation, and she definitely spoiled him the most. We thought she was just reading him stories, but maybe she was actually training him to become a killing machine.

Do I really want to be the one who unleashes that on the world? “Or we can handle our problems in a nonviolent way.”

Garrett sighs and smiles. It’s small and tired but genuine, and I resist the urge to cuddle him closer and kiss him. He probably wouldn’t appreciate it right now. “That sounds more like us. I analyze things and try to reason with them, and you throw money at them, then threaten them financially.”

My jaw drops. “I donotthreaten people financially.”

The disbelieving look he gives as he steps back out of my arms is accompanied by a very dry “Oh, really?”

“Yes, really!” I’m offended that he even thinks that. I happen to be a highly skilled and respected investment banker, a financial expert peoplebegfor guidance, and—

“So when Archie Webber asked if I had hellhound enthusiasm in bed, you didn’t tell him it would be a shame if his nest egg broke?”

I clench my teeth tight together as residual anger from the memory trickles through me. Damn. I didn’t know he’d heard about that. Heshouldn’thave heard about that. “That wasn’t a threat. It was a… theoretical exercise. Archie’s very philosophical.”

This time, Garrett laughs out loud, and the sound of it makes me happy. I’ve gotten very attached to him, I can admit it, but it makes total sense. We’re sexually compatible, get along well on most other levels, and he’s meeting needs I didn’t even know I had. Aside from the drama with the wedding planning, all the stresses in my life have lifted since he came into it, and as soon as we’re safely married, the wedding stress will be over too. Keeping Garrett happy has become my number-one priority, because when he’s happy, my life is better.

“How did you know about that anyway?” I ask, trying to sound casual and not like I’m planning to threaten whoever told him.

He gives me an arch look and says, “I have my ways. Don’t think you can keep secrets from me.”

It’s ridiculous that I’m turned on by that, but I am. A completely nonsexy warning makes me want to throw him down on the bed and rip that sweater vest right off.

Speaking of nonsexy… how is it that I find him so desirable when he wears clothes like that? I’ve always been attracted to stylish, sharply dressed men and women. The middle-aged-suburban-dad-slash-professor look doesn’t do it for me… or so I thought.

I take a step toward him, and he narrows his eyes. “If you think we’re fucking before we resolve this, you’re about to learn whether or not demons can grow their dicks back after they’re cut off.”

Instinctively, I suck in a breath and cup my crotch. “I thought we decided not to be violent?”

“Problems first, then sex,” he promises. “Believe me, I don’t want to hurt your cock any more than you do.”

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