Free Alternate Worlds: The Fallen by Kaitlyn O'Connor Page B

thought over what he’d said. “It must be
around there somewhere,” I muttered finally. “Even unconscious, I
doubt they would have considered going far with you. Believe me,
those cowards were a lot more afraid of you than you were of
them.”
    He looked surprised. “I was not afraid. I
was angry. If I had had only a little time to rest and heal, they
could not have taken me. I was angry that I was so weak that I had
been taken so easily.”
    Now that he mentioned it, I recalled pretty
vividly that he had been very, very angry. I’d thought at the time
that it was because of me. Now I wondered if he had been so furious
simply because I was another human who’d come to torment him.
    I sighed. Water under the bridge now, but it
was certainly something to make a mental note of for future
reference—don’t get so wrapped up in what you want that you forget
to consider someone else’s feelings.
    There were a lot of ways ‘what goes around
comes around’ could manifest itself. Gideon had gotten his revenge
for what I’d done in a way I doubted he’d even considered.
    “We’ll have to go back there,” I said
decisively. “You’ll have to go with me because I can’t fly. And
we’ll need to disguise you. I don’t want to take a chance that any
of the cultists will recognize you and try something else.”
    “I am strong now. I would welcome the
opportunity to fight them again.”
    “I’m sure you would, and I can’t say I blame
you. Thing is, though, humans take a dim view of wholesale
slaughter. If you waded in and whacked off a lot of heads, every
cop for miles around and half the federal government would be
looking for you—which might not bother you since you can always
head back across the border. But it could make my life hellish and
I’m just not going to go if you won’t give me your word that you
won’t do anything that’ll land me in jail. I’ve got other plans for
my life.”

Chapter Eight
    He gave in easier than I’d expected, which
made me more than a little suspicious. From what I could see, the
world he hailed from was all about vengeance—taking it and dishing
it out. Considering the circumstances, I would have wanted revenge
myself if they’d done to me what they’d done, and tried to do, to
him so I could relate to the desire for it. I just hoped he could
contain himself until I was out of the picture.
    He seemed to take it as a matter of fact
that as long as he was there any way he might just as well take
care of his needs. On an emotional level, I wasn’t nearly as
enthusiastic as I had been before because I found I couldn’t be as
objective and detached about it. On the other hand, I couldn’t
think of any way to object that wouldn’t give my feelings away.
Besides, I did enjoy it. I figured I might as well make hay
while the sun was shining.
    Having done without for almost a week—half a
week anyway—I discovered I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm anyway
once he got the juices flowing. Since the route of indifference
wasn’t possible, I decided to go the other way and tease him to the
point of rough, quick sex to minimize the temptation to go all
mushy and stupid about it. It worked like a charm, because, I
suppose, he’d done without, too—maybe not—but I didn’t want to
think about that. He was hungry enough to convince me he’d gone
without and that was all that really mattered.
    Since I figured the sooner done the better,
I took some measurements and headed out to the mall the following
morning to find clothes that would help him blend in. The price
tags were a real shock, enough that my practical side kicked
in.
    New clothes were going to be a lot more
noticeable than older clothes. I didn’t want to make him look like
a homeless man either, but Gideon was drop dead gorgeous. Women
were going to notice even if the men didn’t. As much as I wanted to
dress him ‘pretty’, I decided that wasn’t such a great idea and
began searching for stores that