Page 13 of Secrets in the Shadow

Which was true. The guy looked to be about six-four or six-five.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Raziel’s grin widened, showing off pretty, straight, white teeth.

“Don’t.” Cody’s tone came out harsher than he’d intended, but he was scrambling to ground himself under the weight of Raziel’s piercing gaze.

The mischief in those green eyes—he hadn’t even noticed when they’d turned from swirling back to their natural color—shifted into something deeper and made it harder to deflect his attention.

Glancing back toward the stove, Cody forced himself to ignore the goosebumps trailing down his arms. Somehow, he needed to get the half-naked jerk out of his house.

As if he was invited company, Raziel swiveled a kitchen chair around then straddled it, resting his forearms lazily on the back.

Did the guy have to look sexy with every move he made? Cody wasn’t sure how to combat that. He didn’t even know if he wanted to. Now all he could think about was sliding between the chair and Raziel, trailing his tongue over that perfect, exposed chest.

Great, now his cock was half-hard. He seriously needed to kick the angel out before he ended up on someone’s shitlist from all the dirty thoughts circling in his head.

Was he allowed to lust after an angel?

He frowned. “You know, you could at least pretend to be less of a freeloader.”

Raziel grinned but said nothing.

Frustrated for more reasons than one, Cody turned back toward the stove and plated the remaining bacon. He was not going to ogle the way light carved golden edges into Raziel’s skin.

Finally, he set the plate down on the counter, not slamming but firm enough to feel resolute. If he didn’t take back control, Raziel would run all over him. He could just feel that coming,

“Why are you following me? You’re an angel, right? Shouldn’t you be off, I don’t know, saving people or smiting sinners or something?”

Raziel tilted his head slightly, causing his long, blond hair to tumble to the side like a golden waterfall. Cody’s gaze slid downward and stopped at the dark corded necklace the guy wore, the metallic pendant resting against his chest. The pendant was some sort of tooth or claw.

Did it hold some kind of significance for Raziel?

Looking back up, Cody froze under the weight of the man’s piercing stare.

“Maybe I find you more interesting than saving the world.”

What did that mean? He felt as though he stayed in a permanent confused state around the angel. His stomach gave an involuntary flutter that he didn’t appreciate. “Well…” He had no idea what to say. Warmth crept into his neck despite his best efforts to fight it. “I don’t need…whatever this is in my life.”

Raziel’s smile softened. That expression, that quiet, tender thing Cody hadn’t expected, made it impossible to stay focused on the irritation he was trying hard to muster and portray. “I’m not here to make your life harder, Cody.”

Startled by the sincerity in the man’s tone, he blinked. “Then why are you here?”

The guy shrugged, and his gaze dropped briefly to the table, his jaw tightening before their eyes met again. “Because I wanted to…”

“Wanted to what?” Cody’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. An ache rippled through his chest, his thoughts scattering for reasons he didn’t want to closely inspect.

There was a wealth of heartache in Raziel’s eyes and pain so profound Cody wanted to weep for him. No one should feel that level of anguish, especially not an angel.

“Because maybe I like spending time with you.” Raziel lifted his hand and reached for him, like the guy wanted to touch him, but he pulled it back and rested it on the chair. “You have the most amazing red hair I’ve ever seen.”

After being teased relentlessly growing up, Cody had always felt self-conscious about his hair. But when Raziel complimented it, he wanted to preen.

He opened his mouth to respond but found himself completely at a loss. How was he supposed to process this? A half-naked angel was casually eating bacon in his kitchen, sweeping Cody effortlessly off his feet and looking ridiculously good while doing it.

This was not how he’d envisioned his Saturday morning.

A sharp knock at the front door broke the tension, making Cody jump.

That had to have been the most intense moment of his life, causing him to feel as if he was coming out of a dream. He quickly exited the kitchen, desperate to breathe any air that wasn’t infused with Raziel’s smoky, masculine scent.

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