Free Kassern (Archangels Creed) by Azure Boone, Kenra Daniels Page A

noticed it at the same time she did. "Oh, God!" Bolting toward the stove, he slid a lid over the skillet to cut off the tide of billowing smoke rising from it.
    The horrified look on his face suddenly struck Devyn as hilarious, and she leaned against the counter, laughing her ass off.
    He glanced over at her and rolled his eyes. "What do you find so funny about burnt bacon? Now I get to start all over." He set the pan in the sink and started a new batch of bacon, Devyn watching him with a smile, chewing on her lower lip. Damn she wanted him.  
    All business once more, he flipped another pancake and tended the new bacon before turning to face her, his hip against the counter. She hoped he ' d come back and continue where he left off. "So…if it wasn't so bad, why… why did you and Karly turn to the life you did?" He lowered his head and shook it a little. "No, don't answer that. It's none of my business. I'm just curious about why people do the things they do. " He opened the cabinet and took out plates.
    "No, it's okay." Devyn didn ' t normally care what the fuck people thought, but with Troy, she did. Although it was hard to focus when her lips still tingled from his sweet kiss. As did other parts of her body. "When Karly was sixteen she snuck out and went to a party . I never asked for all the details, but it was apparently a frat party. She snuck back in, and got caught. She'd been gang-raped, brutally. Instead of taking her to the ER and letting her file charges, the parents punished her for sneaking out. It really fucked up her head. She got into hard drugs and bad guys."
    Troy scowled, shaking his head. "They didn't even have her checked for STD's?"
    "No. They punished her for needing an extra pack of pads that month, from bleeding so much after, and took away her TV and game privileges instead. After she was on her own, she got cleaned up for a little bit. Found a decent guy and a good job. I stayed with them for a few weeks after I aged out, before I started college."
    Troy tried to hide his look of amazement by coughing. He compensated by handing her a cup of coffee. " Wanna set the table?"
    Devyn smiled slightly, enjoying the whole cooking together thing. " I ' d love to. " She could get used to doing things like that with him or someone like him. No. Only with Troy.
    He directed her to everything, while he finished up the food and moved hot platters to the table, while Devyn made every attempt to brush up against him. Teasing him was… fun. Yes, that was the word. Fun. Something she'd never before associated directly with sex.
    Devyn took a deep breath, the scrumptious smells catapulting her back to childhood, in the shoebox kitchen of their shabby little apartment. One evening a week, her mother would make breakfast for dinner, since there was never time for a sit - down breakfast as a family.
    Troy interrupted the memory before the tears came, thank God. "Do you think we should try to wake Karly?"
    She considered a moment. Solid food would be good for Karly. But time to talk with someone who didn't want to fuck her or pinch her nipples was such a rare luxury Devyn didn't want to give it up just yet. "She probably won't wake for hours yet. She usually doesn't when she's so deep in the nod."
    Troy pulled out her chair. "We can save her a plate for when she wakes up, then." H e held the chair for her and waited until she sat, then took his own seat across from her. After he prayed, he started passing her platters heaped with food.
    Devyn filled her plate with light pancakes, fluffy scrambled eggs, crisp unburnt bacon, and fresh peaches, thinly sliced. When she had enough to feed her for a month, she started eating , ready to finish their talk . "It surprised you to hear I'd gone to college, didn't it?"
    Troy shook his head with one of those sexy half smiles , filling his fork. " Of course not . You're obviously intelligent."
    The compliment warmed her to the bones and made her want to explain everything to him.