Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(79)

Nero’s phone made a noise.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

It made another noise.

“It sounds angry,” I commented.

“I assure you that a phone is incapable of sounding angry.”

His mouth came down on mine, his kiss ravaging, his hunger consuming. I forgot all about his phone—until it began to ring.

Growling against my mouth, Nero grabbed the offending device roughly from the side table. “What is it?” he demanded gruffly.

“What’s the matter, Colonel? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” Nyx’s amused voice sang out from the other end.

Nero’s face sobered. “My apologies, First Angel.”

“Indeed.” She still sounded amused. “With the situation at Storm Castle resolved, I expected you back in Los Angeles already. Your next assignment is waiting. And I know you’ll like it.”

“Of course.”

“Unless you have something better to do?” she said, mischief in her voice.

I could have sworn she’d put emphasis on the last word.

She knows about us, I mouthed to Nero.

His face was impassive. “I will leave right away.”

Her laughter sang across the phone line like sleigh bells. “You can finish cuddling first, Colonel. Say hi to your Pandora for me.” Then she hung up.

“I told you she knew,” I said as he set his phone down.

When I tried to stand, his arms tightened around me, holding me in place.

“Don’t you have a mission?” I reminded him. “I’d hate to be the reason you got in trouble. Again.”

“You heard the First Angel.” His hand brushed across my forehead, his touch remarkably tender for someone who had me pinned down. “She officially ordered me to finish cuddling first.”

“I wouldn’t call that an order so much as permission,” I laughed.

“Leda, you’ll find that with angels, those two things are often one and the same.”

One of my hands was still free. I traced it down his chest, lower and lower.

He captured it inside of his. “I don’t think we have time for that.”

I arched my eyebrows. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m up for the challenge if you are, Colonel.”

Half an hour later, we were scrambling to find our clothes. My ride back to New York was leaving soon, and I couldn’t find my underwear. Nero pointed up at the lamp hanging over our chair. The tiny piece of lace dangled daintily from one of the metal arms.

“Well, at least you aren’t wearing my panties around your neck,” I said.

His mouth twisted into a sexy smile. “I considered it, but pink really isn’t my color.”

Chuckling, I grabbed my panties from the lamp. Thankfully, they were dry. Nero must have fished them out of the pool last night and hung them up.

“Thank you,” I said, leaning in to give him a quick smile.

“For what?”

“For being so thoughtful.”

He didn’t say anything. When it came to Nero Windstriker, actions really did speak louder than words.

I grabbed his uniform off the ground. “Get dressed, Colonel. If you go out there naked, you will create a stampede. And I don’t want anyone ogling my angel.”



We parted ways at the door to the Tranquility Pools. Nero had a few matters to sort out before he left Storm Castle, and I had to sort out some decent clothes. I had no intention of giving my comrades front row seats to the underside of my skirt as we climbed down the mountain, no matter how much Alec Morrows would have approved.

After a quick change, I left my room in the Sea Tower for the last time and headed back down toward the throne room. Along the way, I caught Nerissa and Soren leaving the same bedroom. When she walked up beside me, I gave her a sly smirk.

“You’re one to talk,” she told me as Soren made a side trip to the armory. “Everyone in the whole castle heard what was going on between you and Colonel Windstriker all last night. And this morning.”

My cheeks burned. Damn supernatural hearing.

“I didn’t say a thing about you and Soren,” I said innocently.

“But you wanted to.”

“Some of us can control ourselves,” I teased her.

She took that as an invitation to gossip. “Speaking of controlling, Major Singh and Harker went to bed together last night. They were obviously venting their frustration.”

I laughed. “Good for Harker.”

“I didn’t think Interrogators were his type. Though they do have all the good toys.” Her eyes lifted in thought, as though she were speaking from personal experience.

I gaped at her.

“I had a fling with an Interrogator once,” she told me.

“Where is Harker?”

Back in prison perhaps. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

We passed Basanti and Colonel Starborn.

“They sure look cuddly,” Nerissa commented in a low whisper.

The word reminded me of what Nyx had said to Nero—and what we’d done after he’d hung up the phone.

Basanti smiled at her angel, then fell into step beside us. Nerissa had barely opened her mouth, when Basanti lifted her finger.

“No gossip.” It was a warning—with implied dire consequences for noncompliance.