Angel in Waiting Page 12

  “Baby, listen to me. I’ve lost too many people to count and believe me, it never hurts any less. Sometimes it feels like I’ve spent most of my life mourning someone. Life is a gift, but longevity? Yeah, sometimes it can feel like more of curse. I fought this thing between us with everything I had. The thought of binding my soul to yours and then losing you in a couple of decades? You’re right, I wasn’t thinking in terms of damn near forever. Because I believed forever with you was a gift I couldn’t hope for.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Elle whispered as a slow smile stretched her lips. “If it turns out you’re stuck with me for longer than expected…you’re on board with that?”

  “Sweetness, I’m not just on board, I’m driving the freakin’ boat.” Dimitri grinned and hauled her hard against him, tasting her tears as his mouth locked on hers.

  “Oh, for the love of…get a room,” Mac groaned from the sofa. Dimitri thought it might have been the best suggestion he’d heard all night.

  “And on that note, I think it’s time for me to head out. I’m on patrol tonight,” Galen tipped the last of his beer into his mouth and climbed to his feet. With little more than a pleasant nod, he stepped to the door, yanked it open, and disappeared.

  “Not one for long good-byes is our Galen,” Alec nodded in the direction of the door.

  “You’ll stay with us, of course?” Mac quirked a dark brow in his brother’s direction.

  “If it’s not inconvenient,” Alec responded. “I’ll get my place opened up and aired out tomorrow if I decide to hang around a while.”

  “Well, I thought since we hadn’t seen each other in ages Elle could stay with us in the guest room, so maybe Alec could take the couch?” Kat blinked up at Dimitri, her expression the picture of innocence. “I mean, she can’t go back to her place, right? They could be watching it.”

  “I’m relatively sure they are,” Dimitri replied without changing expression. “That won’t be an issue however, since she’ll be staying with me.”

  “Hey, look at me over here,” Elle waved a hand in his face. “Last time I checked I was still able to speak for myself.”

  Dimitri released her, stepped back, and crossed his arms over his massive chest. Kat bit back a grin. Alec reached for another beer, and Elle thought McAllister couldn’t have looked less interested if he tried.

  “Well?” Dimitri arched a brow. Elle struggled to maintain a straight face. She found it totally endearing the way he stood there struggling to look as if her decision didn’t matter to him one way or the other. She couldn’t believe the big lug still had any doubts about where she would choose to spend the night no matter how much she’d missed Kat. She crossed the room to Kat and pulled her close for a quick hug.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, m’kay?” She stepped back and turned to regard Kat’s husband and his expression made stifling the urge to laugh a challenge. “You don’t have to look so damned relieved, McAllister.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he protested. “You’re more than welcome to stay in the guest room. To know my wife will finally have a good night’s sleep after worrying about you all these weeks, I’ll even fluff your damn pillows for you and make you a glass of warm milk.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll take a rain check,” Elle laughed. “Besides, I’m not sure Alec will actually fit on the sofa.” Tall, broad, and well-muscled, Alec was at least as large as his warrior brother and nearly as big as Dimitri. With a mass of thick, dark curls, piercing blue eyes, and deep dimples when he smiled as he was doing now, she bet he’d left an army of women panting after him over the centuries. She’d have to be blind not to notice Alec McAllister was an exceptionally beautiful man. Curiously, while she could admire his looks, she didn’t feel even a twinge of physical attraction.

  “You’re probably right about that. Of course the guestroom has a king-sized bed and there’d be plenty of room for both of us,” Alec winked.

  Elle’s head whipped around in surprise at a sound that should have had claws rumbling up from Dimitri’s chest. He quickly recovered, clearing his throat and schooling his features into a placid expression. Alec McAllister and his brother both burst out laughing.

  “I don’t think Dimitri appreciates your generosity, Alec,” McAllister guffawed.

  “Are you ready?” Dimitri growled, arching a brow in Elle’s direction, his tone belying the indifferent look on his face. Elle swallowed a giggle of her own and nodded, reaching for his hand and lacing her fingers with his.

  “Let me call you a car, bro,” McAllister unfolded his long length from the sofa, still chuckling.

  “Too risky. Your ’copter had your corporate emblem all over it. Anyone watching will have figured out exactly where we were headed and probably have eyes on the building as we speak. On the other hand, I doubt they have any idea where I live. We’ll fade out from the hallway. Safer that way.”

  “Dimitri, you know I can’t…” Elle began in a whisper. He simply squeezed her hand.

  “Good thinking,” McAllister nodded. “We’ll touch base tomorrow and figure out what to do next. I know you were scheduled to back-up Galen tonight but I’ll give him a call and tell him to alert me instead of you if he runs into trouble. You take a night off. It’s been a hell of a long day for both of you.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Dimitri tugged Elle along with him as he headed in the direction of the door, bending to snag her bag from the floor near the entrance.

  “Elle!” Katrina called suddenly and started in their direction. “You forgot something!”

  Elle turned to her friend with a confused frown. “What?”

  “The boots, girlfriend. Fork ’em over, a deal’s a deal.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I can’t believe she actually took them,” Elle pouted when the door to the McAllister apartment closed behind them and she and Dimitri stood alone in the dimly lit hallway.

  “So you’re telling me a pair of shoes is more important than a friendship?” Dimitri tipped her chin up with a forefinger and looked into her eyes, an amused glint flashing in his own deep brown ones. A reluctant grin tugged at the corners of Elle’s lips.

  “Of course not. It isn’t really about the shoes anyway,” Elle admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I love those booties, but it’s really more about what they represent. When I left, I left everything behind. I kept the Louboutins to remind me that whatever my future might hold, I had been able to escape Gatewick and build a life. I had been successful. Successful enough to buy three thousand dollar shoes. I really do love my shoes, Dimitri. You probably think it’s silly.”

  “No, I don’t think it’s silly. Okay, maybe a little silly. I’ve never understood women’s obsession with shoes, but I think you’d do better to judge your success by the amazing woman you’ve become, the things you’ve accomplished, and the people who love you rather than by the things you own.”

  Elle considered that for a moment. At the time, the shoes had seemed so important, but what if Dimitri hadn’t stopped her from running? If she’d found herself starting over, alone in a strange place with strange people, after a while, would the iconic shoes really have meant anything without the people she loved?

  “How did you get to be so smart?” She grinned up at him.

  “Been around a while.” He shrugged his massive shoulders and clamped his hands on her shoulders. “You ready to go?”

  “I guess so,” Elle couldn’t control the nervous tremor in her voice. “But, how is this going to work?”

  “I’m going to fade both of us to my place. Just hang on to me and it’ll be over before you know it. Might wanna close your eyes though…it’s likely to be a little disorienting the first time.”

  The first time? She sure hoped they weren’t going to make a habit of this.

  “You know, I’m really more of a limousine and public transportation kind of girl.”

  Without giving herself time to formulate another th
ought, she plastered her body to his, locking her hands together around his waist, squeezing her eyes closed, and burying her face in his chest. She felt his body vibrate with laughter as his arms came around her and snugged her close. She had a single heartbeat to contemplate how well they fit together despite the difference in size, and then she felt the indescribable sensation of her body dissolving as the world spun away.

  Certain Dimitri would keep her safe, her curiosity overcame her apprehension and Elle drew a deep breath and cracked one eye open. Then both eyes opened wide. Or at least she thought they did. Although she could still feel Dimitri solid and warm along the length of her body, neither of them appeared to have any substance. Racing ribbons of color and light surrounded them, weaving complicated patterns in the air as the city streaked by below. She was weightless, flying, nothing but molecules absorbed by the wind, yet oddly separate. Her heart hammered against her ribs at an alarming speed and she wondered how it continued to beat when she no longer had a body. The sensation was terrifying, impossible, exhilarating. She felt, rather than saw, Dimitri smile as she opened her heart and mind to embrace the experience, knowing even though she’d made a career of manipulating words, she would never be able to describe this to anyone, ever. She simply had nothing with which to compare it.

  “Hang on.” Dimitri’s voice echoed in the air and her knees buckled at the suddenness of her body’s reformation. She would have collapsed into a puddle at her angel’s feet if his arms hadn’t continued to support her as her feet found purchase on solid ground once again. As the room spun, Elle closed her eyes and forcibly swallowed down the bile rising to scald the back of her throat when an unexpected wave of nausea struck. Dimitri continued to hold her patiently, his big hands gently stroking up and down the length of her back while she struggled to regain her equilibrium.

  “Just breathe, baby. Remember what I told you earlier? In through your nose and out through your mouth… smell a rose, blow out a candle. Okay?”

  Elle nodded her forehead against his chest and relaxed the death grip she had around his solid middle.

  “That was…uh, wow! But maybe next time we should just take a cab?” Elle laughed unsteadily.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Dimitri predicted before dropping a kiss on the top of her head, scooping her up, and depositing her on an enormous leather sofa in front of a massive stone fireplace. He plucked a green chenille throw from the back of a nearby chair and tucked it snugly around her before stepping over to the wall and flicking a switch that set the gas logs blazing to life. The fire cast a warm orange glow that pierced the darkness and gave Elle her first glimpse of the place Dimitri Radchenko called home.

  “Get used to it? Doubtful,” Elle mumbled skeptically.

  “Will coffee help?” Dimitri strode back to the sofa and dropped Elle’s bag on the floor at the far end.

  “Never hurts.” She squinted through the dimness hoping for some insight about this man for whom she felt so much, yet knew so little. To her left, a wall comprised entirely of windows opened onto an enormous terrace. Such expansive outdoor space was an incredible luxury in the city. Beyond the patio, the city reflected in a breathtaking view on the waters of the Hudson, while across the river, New Jersey twinkled like a box of confused Christmas lights trailing off into the distance. Given the perspective, Elle guesstimated they were somewhere south of Canal Street. To her right, a wall covered from floor to fifteen foot ceiling in bookshelves extended all the way back to the breakfast bar beyond which Dimitri puttered about in the small but fully equipped kitchen. Dark, gleaming hardwood floors scattered with colorful area rugs ran the length of the space and continued on into a hallway next to the kitchen, which Elle assumed led to the bedrooms. The space felt open and airy, yet cozy and intimate. A place of impossible contradiction, just like Dimitri.

  Elle tossed the throw aside and wandered over to the bookshelves marveling at the incredible variety. Thick, tattered volumes of indeterminate age vied for space with medical reference books and the glossy jackets of current best sellers. Elle grinned as she noticed a few of her own romances among the collection. She glanced in Dimitri’s direction, but refrained from commenting. She closed her eyes, drew in a long, deep breath through her nose, and momentarily held it as a faint, satisfied smile curled her lips.

  “What are you doing?” Dimitri asked.

  “Smelling the magic,” Elle mumbled as heat rushed into her face.

  “Excuse me?” Dimitri stopped in the middle of pouring the coffee to regard her with a curious expression.

  “Growing up in such isolation, books were all I knew. They were magic to me. I could travel to distant places, meet fascinating people, lose myself in someone else’s reality, you know? When I was younger, I believed if I concentrated hard enough when surrounded by books, I could smell the magic.” She shrugged self-consciously. “Silly, huh?”

  “No, I don’t think it’s silly at all,” he responded quietly. “Lonely people invent ways to endure.”

  Something in the tone of his voice told her he was speaking from experience.

  “So what did you invent? To endure.”

  Dimitri’s massive shoulders rose and fell. “I paint a little.”

  The aroma of Columbian dark roast tickled her nostrils as Elle wandered back to the sofa and tucked her legs beneath her to make room for Dimitri as his footsteps approached. He squeezed in next to her after handing her a steaming mug and taking a tentative sip from his own.

  “Feel better?”

  “Yeah, thanks. I guess coffee can cure just about everything.” Elle sighed into her cup.

  “Well, the physician in me takes issue with that, but if it works for you, I won’t argue,” Dimitri laughed.

  “So how long have you been a doctor?”

  “Graduated med school in nineteen fifty-seven. Practiced until the early eighties.”

  “Why did you stop?”

  “I got tired of watching people die. Too often I had the power to save them but couldn’t do so without opening up a huge can of worms.”

  “Because it would have required methods you couldn’t explain?”

  “Exactly.”

  “That must have been difficult.”

  “Sweetness, you have no idea.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Not your fault. And realistically it wasn’t like I could have saved them all. Even Earthbound have limits. But the ones I could have saved? Yeah, they haunt me.”

  “Well, it might not be my fault, but it wasn’t yours either and I’m sorry for bringing it up. Clearly, it’s painful for you. It’s just…well, I feel like I know so little about you when it comes down to it.”

  “Guess I do know a helluva lot more about you than you do about me. What do you want to know?” Dimitri set his cup on the end table and turned slightly so they were half sitting, half lying on the sofa with Elle reclining against his chest. It didn’t escape her notice that in this position she was unable to read his expression. She suspected it was deliberate.

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Okay. Let’s see…after you saved me from the rabid squirrel, you said you grew up on a farm. Where was it?”

  “A little village in the Caucasus region, near the Caspian Sea. And the squirrel wasn’t rabid. He was twice as scared as you were.”

  Elle handed her cup over her head to Dimitri and snuggled into him even more deeply when she heard the clunk indicating he’d deposited it on the table near his own.

  “Says you. He looked crazed and vicious to me. So how did you go from farm boy to Defensori? Manhattan is a long way away from a village in the Caucasus.”

  “Thousands of miles and hundreds of lifetimes away,” Dimitri agreed quietly. Elle felt him tense beneath her and she turned so she was lying along his side, her arm draped across his flat stomach, her cheek against his chest. She listened to the steady, dependable beat of his heart for several minutes, waiting for him to continue. H
e scrubbed a hand over his face and remained silent.

  “Dimitri,” Elle raised her head and propped her chin on his chest to look him full in the face. “You’re safe with me, you know. Your secrets, your heart…they’re safe with me. Because you’ve given me that. Safety. You didn’t judge me, didn’t turn away when you learned the truth. For the first time in my entire life, here with you, I feel completely safe. Like no one can ever threaten me again. I never dreamed I could have that kind of security. So, yeah, I want to know everything there is to know about you. But if you aren’t ready to talk about this, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Dimitri’s eyes warmed with an emotion Elle couldn’t quite identify. He reached to cup her face in his big hand, stroking his thumb along her cheekbone, before picking up his head to brush his lips lightly along hers. Then he pushed her head back against his chest and drew in a deep breath expelling it with a sigh.

  “I just…I guess I don’t want you to think less of me when you realize I’m the kind of guy who holds a grudge. Pretty much forever.”

  “You forget I’m holding a couple of grudges of my own.” Elle burrowed her fingers beneath the hem of his tee to stroke the silky skin beneath.

  “I doubt you’re capable of the same degree of venom, but point taken.”

  “So your family had a farm in a village near the Caspian Sea,” Elle prompted deciding subtlety was overrated.

  “Yeah. We were one of several Earthbound families in the area. All Earthbound aren’t warriors. Some simply live among the general population and work to thwart the evil influence of the Fallen by example. It was around the time Genghis Khan was slaughtering his way through Eurasia and building his empire.”