When Angels Fall Read Free Page A

his nose . “ Y ou are missing a certain scent. ” What she lacked, she certainly made up for in other ways. She had a sensual mouth that begged to be fucked.
    Her shoulders stiffened at his words , and her gaze zeroed in on his face. A line creased her brow, made her look… c ute. She picked apart the subtext of his words, and he waited for her to make the connection between father and son. Not many knew about the secret world of the two-natured.
    “ I ’ m not… ” she trailed off, looked at James who watched their exchange in rapt, unhappy silence.
    Peter leaned forward again, slower this time, and was idiotically pleased when she didn ’ t back away. He tipped his head toward hers and deliberately let their shoulders brush again . Conspiratorially, he whispered, “ Two-natured? It ’ s okay. I know. ”
    Two glasses of whiskey slammed to the bar, hard enough for a few drops to land on his hand. Peter raised his eyes , glared at James. He scraped his glass across the bar, sat back.
    “ I ’ m ready whenever you are, old man, ” Peter said.
    Eva glanced between them, noticed the tension and looked like she was going to do her best to defuse it. Stepping between two fighting cats was never a smart move.
    “ You ’ re new here, ” she interrupted. “ Are you in town for the funeral ? ”
    She had no idea who he was.
    “ Hell if I know why I ’ m here , ” he murmured, took a drink. “ I hardly knew Greg . ”
    At the mention of his father ’ s name, her eyes water ed . The tip of her nose reddened as if she were about to cry. Damn . He didn ’ t deal well with leaking women. The unbecoming blotches on the forehead gave him hives.
    She sniffled back the tears and earned yet another notch in her favor. “ How come I didn ’ t see you at the church? ”
    Damn. He needed an excuse to dislike her, more than circumstance.
    He looked away, contemplated his liquor in order to suppress the guilt. After a minute, his sights lifted from the amber liquid to meet the curious expression in her eyes.
    “ You didn ’ t see me because I never went inside. I decided to get drunk instead. ”
    “ Oh, ” she said softly.
    He motioned toward her glass. “ Liquor dulls the pain and from the looks of you, you could use some numbing. Drink it. ”
    Eva pushed an errant curl behind her ear, sent a new wave of scent his way that went straight to his cock. He was going to need a lot more booze.
    “ Jame s, ” he called, downed his whiskey as if it were water. He sucked in a breath, hissed through the heat. “ Leave the bottle. ”
    His uncle ignored him, stared at Eva as if trying to warn her off a potential sex offender. As if just sitting next to him would infect her with something awful. James had no idea what kind of a man Peter was, and the reaction pissed him off. A fierce, low growl erupted from his chest.
    He wouldn ’ t apologize for his lack of control, not in front of James. Testosterone did funny things to self-restraint, even stranger things to his libido. Reining in the anger, he said to Eva, only a hint of the rumbling in his chest remaining, “ Let ’ s grab a table in the back. You can catch me up with what Greg spent the last years of his life doing. Or, you can just sit and watch me drink. I don ’ t care. We don ’ t have to talk. ”
    They could do other things that didn ’ t involve talking, but for now, he ’ d keep those thoughts to himself.
    She met his gaze, the indecision clear in her bloodshot eyes. The scent of her apprehension filled the space between them. He hadn ’ t slept in days, had eaten only enough to take the edge off. Who could blame him if his grin was forced, or if his tone was just a little hostile? Never looking away from Eva, he addressed the older man . “ James, tell her she ’ s safe with me . ”
    Silence. What a nice, ringing endorsement.
    Eva broke the hold of his gaze, looked at James, a man she probably considered her uncle. Her mouth softened when she looked