Her Dark Angel (13 page)

He frowned, propped his head up on his palm, and closed his eyes. “The usual way.”

“I can’t let you drive.”

A smile curved his delicious lips. “I don’t drive. I fly.”

She laughed. “Well, I can’t let you drink and fly.”

He was drunk if he thought he could fly home.

Annelie covered his other hand with hers and he opened his eyes, their green depths meeting hers again. They were sharper now but not enough to satisfy her.

“I’ll give you a lift if you wait until we’ve closed.” Hopefully he would have sobered up a little by then and could direct her to his place. She had never seen him outside work before and didn’t have a clue about where he lived.

Lukas stared into her eyes for what felt like hours and then nodded. Annelie took her hand back and smiled, relieved that he would wait for her. She didn’t want him going home alone and perhaps she could talk to him during the drive and find out why he was suddenly drinking.

The bar would close in twenty minutes but it would be at least another hour before she had finished cleaning up. She glanced back at Lukas. He rested his arm on the counter and used it as a pillow, his eyes closing again. He hadn’t drunk that much, but it was still best that he slept it off. Andy would go home when the pub closed and she would be quiet while she counted the money and cleaned the place.

Before long, the pub was empty except for her and Lukas. Annelie tied her long red hair back into a ponytail and wiped the bar down, avoiding disturbing Lukas as he slept. She stopped by him and stared at his face. He looked so peaceful and gorgeous when asleep. She hesitated and then, with her heart in her mouth, brushed the tangled strands of his fair hair from his forehead. His lips parted and he murmured something. She smiled and brushed his skin again, lightly so he wouldn’t wake, but enough contact to make her feel a little giddy. When had she fallen for him? It had come on so slowly over the past three years that she hadn’t realised she had those sorts of feelings for Lukas until he had gone away, and then she had been worried that he wasn’t coming back.

But here he was again, at her bar in the same stool he always occupied, and she was happy to see him.

Even if he was asleep.

He stirred and blinked slowly, as though trying to wake himself.

Annelie didn’t take her hand back. She was feeling brave tonight.

“How are you feeling?” She combed her fingers through his hair.

Lukas frowned, his green eyes fixed on the distance, and then groaned. She took that as a negative answer.

“No better yet?”

He nodded, moving her hand with him, and she stroked the curve of his ear. A smile touched his lips and then faded again when he closed his eyes.

“I’m almost done. I’ll have you home soon.” She went to walk away but he caught her wrist, sat up, and looked at her with such earnest eyes that her heart beat harder.

“I ever tell you that you’re pretty?” Those words rocked her to her core. Her pulse raced and her throat turned dry. She shook her head and he reached out with his other hand and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. There was nothing but honesty and warmth in his eyes. They sparkled with it, looking brighter now even though the lights were lower, entrancing her. “Your beauty puts angels to shame.”

Annelie tried to convince herself that it was the drink talking but failed dismally. She had worked in pubs since she was in her early twenties, almost ten years ago, and had run this one since her parents had retired early. She had enough experience to spot levels of inebriation. Lukas’s eyes were sharper and his words weren’t slurred. He wasn’t drunk anymore. He was definitely still tipsy, but that excuse didn’t hold with her heart. It believed him. He really did think that she was beautiful. She blushed. It burned her cheeks before she could get the better of herself. She worked at a bar. She was used to men telling her that she was beautiful at the end of the night, but the way Lukas said it, the fact that it was him, made her believe him.

“You really are.” His hand slipped from her cheek to her jaw and he grazed his fingers along the curve of it. He smiled and her heart thudded. He was beautiful. She had never seen a man like him, with such deep green eyes and a smile that could make her heart pound and body tremble. “Beautiful.”

“Hush.” She took his hand away from her face and held it a moment. “Quit making me blush, Lukas.”

His smile held. “I love the way you say my name. Say it again.”

Annelie rolled her eyes. “Lukas.”

“Not like that.” He drew his hand towards him, luring her with it, until she was close to him. She stared into his eyes, her mind racing forwards to contemplate things it shouldn’t be. He wasn’t going to kiss her. Even if he was looking more sober now, she couldn’t let things go down that avenue. “Say it like you mean it. Like you said it just then.”

Annelie looked deep into his eyes, lost in them and the way the flecks of pale gold seemed to shift and move against their emerald backdrop, and blinked slowly. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Lukas.”

“Mmm, that’s more like it.” He pulled her closer and tilted his head.

Annelie broke free, pulse rocketing, and ignored the disappointed look on his face. She couldn’t kiss him, no matter how tempting it was.

“Let me finish cleaning and I’ll take you home.” She hurried away to the other end of the bar, not daring to look back at Lukas, not while she wanted to kiss him and was weak enough to go through with it.

By the time she had finished, Lukas was looking far more sober and he was watching her. Annelie could feel his eyes on her, following her around the room as she placed the chairs upside down on the tables. She would wash the floor in the morning before opening time.

She walked over to Lukas and he turned on the stool to face her. His eyes held fire that burned within her, enticing her to kiss him after all. She cleared her throat, averted her gaze, and nodded towards the door.

“Come on.” She didn’t wait for him to get down off the stool. She started towards the door and Lukas was soon beside her. She snuck a glance at him. He always looked good in the black shirt and jeans he wore. They hugged his figure just the right amount, giving subtle clues about how sexy the body they hid was and luring her into picturing him naked. Even when she shouldn’t be.

She closed the door behind him and locked up.

“You okay?” She pocketed her keys and started down the quiet road with him towards the car park at the back of the pub. It was nice to have company for once. The dark shop fronts and eerie silence cut only by the sound of distant cars on the main road often sent a chill through her and made her race for the safety of her car. With Lukas at her side, she didn’t feel afraid. She felt safe.

“I have been better.” He tilted his head back, stared up at the night sky, and sighed. There was such a look of melancholy in his eyes. What was he thinking?

“Where did you go, Lukas?” Annelie took her car keys out of her pocket, turned the corner into the car park, and pressed the button on the fob. The lights on her small car flashed. “I really was worried about you.”

Lukas stopped and looked at her. She turned and met his gaze, letting him see that she wasn’t just saying that. He had disappeared without a word and it had frightened her. She had missed him. He stepped up to her and touched her face again, his palm warm against her cheek. His eyes held hers and she swore she saw another flicker of affection in them.

“I had to go away. I should have told you, Annelie. I should not have worried you.” There was black magic in his voice and the way he said her name, soft but with an underlying note of passion, and she was under his spell. He stroked her cheek, sending a shiver through her, and smiled into her eyes. “I did not think I would be gone so long. I promise I will not do it again.”

Annelie told herself to break free but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to. She wanted to stand there in the warm night, feeling hot from head to toe because of Lukas’s caress and the ardent look in his eyes. She wanted to believe that his words meant what she thought they did and that he liked her and things between them would be different now. She hadn’t looked at another man since Lukas had walked into her life, had dreamed the impossible of him falling for her, and now it felt as though the impossible was possible after all.

Lukas wanted her as much as she wanted him.

She stepped into his embrace, her heart thundering against her chest, and stared up into his eyes. His fingers stroked her neck, his thumb brushing over her chin and then under her jaw. He tilted her head back, his eyes fixed on hers, and lowered his mouth. She shivered when their lips met and then pressed her hands against his firm chest and melted into him as he kissed her. It started out slow, a bare meeting of lips, but before she could draw another breath, his mouth covered hers and he stole it away.

She craned her neck, slid her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him, their lips meeting and parting, tongues tracing each other in a sensual dance that stirred fire in her belly and her blood. He groaned and it was music to her heart, driving her on. She licked his lower lip, tangled her tongue with his, and kissed him harder, her breathing coming faster now.

Sense reared its ugly head but she shoved it away, not interested in anything her mind had to say on the matter. The kiss was divine. Lukas was divine. It didn’t matter that he was still a little tipsy and that they were kissing in the middle of an unpleasant car park. She knew in her heart that this wasn’t the drink talking.

He pulled back, breathing hard, and his eyes searched hers. The fire in them matched the inferno burning within her. Did she look so hungry too? She wanted to devour him.

“Annelie...” He started and looked as though he was going to kiss her again, but then he stepped back. “I am sorry. If I have offended—”

“No.”

His eyes darted to hers.

She fought to voice what was in her heart. She wanted him too. She had wanted that kiss more than anything. She was on the brink of saying it but other words came out instead.

“We should get you home.”

He looked disappointed again and nodded. Annelie walked to her car, cursing herself, feeling Lukas trailing behind her. She was aching all over to feel his hands and lips on her again. Why couldn’t she have just said what she had wanted to? Lukas, it was fine that you kissed me because I want to do that to you and a lot more besides. It was so easy to say it in her head.

She walked around the car and glanced at him. His eyes were on her again, drifting over her body, bringing the fire back in their wake. She burned for him. She burned so much that she felt as though she was going to die if he didn’t touch her and kiss her again, if he didn’t quench the flames as only he could.

If she had said what she had wanted to, would he be kissing her again now? Would that divine body be against hers and his hands be on her, skimming over her in the way she was craving, bringing her to life with passion and need?

Annelie yanked the car door open and got in. Lukas slid into the passenger seat beside her and she started the engine, put the car into gear and drove. He was quiet, only speaking to give her directions across London to where he lived. When they reached it, she pulled the car to a halt in a space outside and stared at the building. It was a beautiful pale four-storey Georgian townhouse.

“You live here?” She couldn’t quite bring herself to believe it. She had never figured Lukas for a moneyed type. He had never once looked as though he had more than a few hundred pounds to his name.

Lukas nodded and got out of the car, not waiting for her. Had she put him in a bad mood? Her eyes followed him. He was walking in a straight line, not wavering at all, and seemed sober now. If he kissed her again, she wouldn’t be able to resist him. She wouldn’t have a reason to.

Annelie stepped out, locked her car, and hurried across the quiet road to him. He waited on the golden-lit porch of the building, in front of the black door, his gaze on her again. She stopped at the bottom of the steps, waiting for him to say something. All he had to do was invite her in. If he invited her in, she would take it as a sign that she hadn’t messed anything up and that he still wanted her.

His eyes held hers for what felt like hours and then he spoke.

“I just want to be clear about one thing. I did not kiss you because of the drink.” He glanced away and then met her gaze again. “There is a reason I like to sit at the bar and talk to you, Annelie. There is a reason I kissed you.”

He looked as though he had wanted to say more but she didn’t give him a chance. She ran up the steps, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He stumbled backwards into the door and wrapped his arms around her waist, his tongue delving into her mouth and duelling with hers. This was Heaven. She couldn’t hold in her moan.

Lukas fumbled with the door behind him and they fell into the bright entrance hall, still locked in each other’s arms, their mouths fused in a kiss that drove Annelie crazy with hunger. She moaned again and kissed him harder, pouring out her passion and need into it until it became choppy and rough, a clashing of lips and teeth. Lukas’s groan sent a wave of heat scorching through her and she gasped into his mouth when he grabbed her backside. She hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and he hit the wall with her, pinning her there, his body hard against hers and making her tremble with the images of them that flashed through her mind. She wanted all of them to happen right now, this instant, wanted to live out every hot dream she’d had about Lukas.

“Which floor?” She managed between kisses, too hungry for him to break contact for more than a second.

“Third.” There was a laugh to his voice that brought out her smile. He kissed her again and turned with her, heading for the stairs. Was he serious? He couldn’t carry her all the way to the third floor while kissing her.

Lukas seemed intent on proving her wrong. He held on to her, his hands grasping her backside, his body shifting between her hips in the most delicious way, and kissed along her jaw as he took the steps two at a time.