Free Up in a Blaze by Alice Brown Page A

the bruised and damaged one. His fingers itched to get ahold of the son-of-a-bitch who had done this to her every time he glanced over her way.
    So to try to keep his mind off things, he spent the night researching spells. There was a lot of information out on the web, but not a lot that looked to be accurate. He also put out a few subtle feelers for a vampire who knew anything about spells, going through their own ranger database to do so.
    Cassandra woke, momentarily disoriented, until she remembered where she was. She opened her eyes to discover that she had moved sometime while she slept, and was currently curled up tight against Donte. He was sitting on the bed, looking relaxed, with his arm draped around her.
    “Good morning, sunshine.” She glared at him with a frown. Freakin’ great, she was stuck with a morning person, something she absolutely was not! She closed her eyes, praying for a giant cup of coffee to appear in the place of Donte. Reopening her eyes, she sighed. No such luck. Then she remembered Betty stating the day before that Donte rarely cooked at home.
    “Any chance there’s a coffee pot and coffee in your kitchen?” she grumbled.
    A quick glance gave her the answer. At least it managed to knock that stupid smile off his face. No one should be smiling first thing in the morning, especially when one had to wake up to no coffee in the house! Who the hell didn’t drink coffee?
    “No, sorry. But I will rectify that situation and have some for tomorrow morning, okay?”
    She glanced at him over her shoulder as she scooted back to her side of the bed. “Sorry for the bitchiness, but this gal has to have her coffee in the morning or I’m a total witch.”
    His chuckle had her glaring at him again. “Babe, in my line of work, I’ve seen just about everything.” He stopped and winked at her before continuing, “Do your worst, angel, it’s not going to bother me.”
    Didn’t that just sound like a challenge? Then she tried sitting up and really got cranky as her ribs throbbed in protest. “Ow, shit that hurts!” Logically, she knew no matter what, just waking up, when her body hadn’t been active for several hours, and with no pain medication in her system, those first few moves were going to hurt like a bitch. Still didn’t make it any easier though.
    Donte had moved to her side of the bed and helped her get to a sitting position on the side of the bed. “Stay right here, angel, and catch your breath. I’ll be right back.”
    He walked out of the room, but returned just a quick minute later, the shopping bags Betty had dropped off the afternoon before in his hands. “Do you want me to put these in the bathroom for you?”
    “Yes please. I need to take a shower this morning before we go to your work.”
    He looked back at her and frowned. “Are you going to be able to handle it? Are you in too much pain?”
    His concern over her well-being touched her heart. She hadn’t had anyone care about her other than Betty and her son, little Timmy, for a long, long time.
    “I should be okay. Once I get a little food in me, I’ll take some more medicine which will help.”
    “Okay, how about I help you to the bathroom, then once you are finished we’ll grab some breakfast on the way into the office. Does that work for you?”
    She nodded and grasped hold of his arm to help pull her to a standing position. Once she started moving around, she knew it would get easier, and she hoped the hot water of a shower would help too.
    *****
    Donte used the time Cassie was in the shower to call his buddy, Nathaniel, for some much needed advice as to how to handle a coffee addicted human female. He knew Nathaniel’s wife, Susan, had been addicted to the stuff before she got pregnant.
    “Dude, your top priority today is to go out and buy the most expensive coffee machine you can find. Make certain you buy everything that is supposed to go with it, including the right kind of coffee. Your best bet would be to