Free Underworld Lover (A Guardian Angel Romance #2) by haron Hamilton Page A

powerful man in the universe?”
    He pulled back, searching her eyes, and nodded. He held her hands in his thick, veined fingers, clutching her with firm resolve. She gave him the only words she had inside her.
    “And here I thought you were some powerful dark god or something.”

Chapter 10
     
    Peter watched the human angel walk up the path to her apartment above the vacant storefront. He had been there already, the day before yesterday. He’d laid down on her bed, walked into her shower, and had stood there, smelling and feeling  the remnants of soap, blended with the oils and scents of her body. He’d buried his head in her clothes closet and had pawed through her underwear drawer, squeezing the padded bras that felt so flesh-like.
    He had been truthful when he told her she had tamed the most powerful man in the universe. He felt absolutely tethered to the little blond waif, who had no idea who he was and what he could do to her. Part of him liked it that way. But he knew he would not be able to resist scaring her. It was impossible to keep him from pushing his love interests to the edge so he could save them. He loved saving them. That’s the part he did in secret and in private. His public persona was that he was ruthless. Fear was his constant ally.
    But now, as he watched her walk away, the back of her light tan pants holding up the delicious mounds of her derriere, he thought about what it would feel like to bite her, or perhaps put a tattoo on her ass—a devil, or a raven, something dark. He smiled when the delicious thought came to him. When she was his, he would mark her with a dark inked tattoo containing his favorite word:  Mine . Yes, that would do. It would be almost worth it to have her slip, spend an evening with Josh, just to see the look on his face when he saw those words and knew he’d come in second. Second place, loser’s place. No place.
    Before she was totally out of sight, she turned and waved to him. Was that a little voluntary submission on her part? Was she succumbing to his powers already? He would train her so all he would have to do was think about something and she would be on her knees to perform whatever delicacy he wished. He could hardly wait.

    Melanie sighed with relief, knowing Mr. Maserati was leaving. Hard to miss him with the snarling roar his car made as he backed up and scorched the street like a seventeen-year-old. Men and their toys. No doubt he liked women the same way. Why were they always thinking she couldn’t put two and two together? So funny how fragile men’s egos were: the more the demonstration, the easier to topple the pillar.
    She halfway thought about making up some lame story about what kind of evening her mother would be thinking she was having. She couldn’t wait to make her mother ask the question; get it stuck in her craw.
    Melanie wondered when Peter had joined the firm. Must have been a recent thing, since there had been no mention of him. Not that her parents spent a lot of time or attention on Melanie.
    Tomorrow would be a busy day at the shop. She was starting to put up wedding and summer decorations. Several large boxes had been delivered late this afternoon.
    Melanie thought about the tall gentleman she had covered in roses and her heart flipped. Josh. How different he’d seemed from Peter. How…perfect.
    Maybe tomorrow. There was something there she needed more of.

Chapter 11
     
    Josh was awakened by birds twittering about outside Helena’s house. He sat up, ready to do battle with the feathered creatures that disturbed his slumber. Then he remembered Melanie’s little courtyard sanctuary, covered in houses humans could purchase for a hundred dollars to add to their gardens. He snorted. As if birds needed encouragement to procreate, to twitter, to bounce around and do inane things without a care in the world except to look out for a fast dog or nimble cat.
    Or perhaps a dark angel with a pellet gun.
    No. He wouldn’t kill today. He