Page 60 of Grave Beginnings

A smile tugged the edge of his lips again. I was really beginning to adore that tiny smirk. “Then maybe you should hit back?”

“Are you encouraging violence, Mr. Mao?”

“If it keeps you safe, yes. Didn’t you say you had martial arts training or something?”

“Mixed, yes. And self-defense. And unlike most men, I’m not afraid to go for the balls to get away.”

“Good. Then I won’t have to assign hellhounds to keep you safe.” He headed to his desk.

“I’d rather have kisses,” I grouched.

“Careful what you wish for.”

“Then I wish for a sexy man to appear naked in my bedroom every night to fuck me into a deep, orgasmic sleep.”

Angel laughed. “You’re lucky I wasn’t taking a drink when you said that.” He lifted his bottle of water toward me. “Will any sexy man do, or do you have one in particular in mind?”

“Oh man. I’m a huge Stray Kids fan.”

Angel barked out a laugh. “Yeah? So, which one is your bias? Felix?”

I waved away the comment. “He’s too young for me. Chan… totally Chan. He just did this photo shoot with a white fur coat, no shirt, and bedroom eyes… holy fuck.”

“You like your men older?”

“Sadly, Christopher is still younger than me,” I said, thinkingabout Angel’s tattoos and the glimpses I’d had of his divine body. “I like my men more seasoned.”

He lifted a brow at me.

“I wasn’t talking about you.”

“Uh huh. You’ve already said you think I’m sexy.”

“I did not!”

“Mhmm.”

I groaned. “I need to stop talking. What is this magic you have over me that keeps me saying shit that is better off inside my head than spoken?”

“No, go on, tell me more,” Angel said. “Orgasmic bliss was your wish?”

“I could have said I wished to be fucked over the desk, as long as the outcome is the same.”

Angel adjusted in his seat. “Stop, or youwillbe fucked over your desk.”

Now I was hard as a rock. Fuck. Flirting with him might be the death of me. “But you want me to come to dinner tonight. So, it’s like a date, right? A real date, or just something…?” Not pretend, but real time together?

“Yes. A real date.”

I nodded and sipped my bottle of water as I opened my computer to run through the notes. Maybe reading suspect files would put my dick back to sleep. Though the air between us sizzled with a new sort of energy, fragile, yet growing. Hope?

19

Hours of video droned on.Occasionally stealing glances at Angel made the day manageable, though frustrating. I expected to find something, but if my variant extended to seeing weird shit recorded on video, the supernatural knew to avoid cameras. The review of visitors to the store all seemed ordinary; nothing jumping out and no recorded confrontations that might elicit a return with deadly intent later.

The victim had been a therapist with a really long client list, which Angel told me would take time to comb through. Had any of the customers been clients? And why was he murdered in the bookstore? I had endless questions and not enough information yet.

“Do we have any other feed to review?” I asked Ezra. Something had shorted the feed before the incident, but if that was someone in particular entering or a rush of magic, I had no idea.