“I want you.”
Rachel’s eyes flashed at that, and she gasped just a little, but held it short. “Um,” she stammered, “you said that you, ah, wanted to talk to me about something?”
Is she blushing? Alex thought in amazement. He didn’t think anything he said was flirtatious. It wasn’t a pick-up line. This conversation rushed from him not knowing how to handle her disgust to the both of them now gripped with sudden shyness.
“Two things. First: those guys who abducted you. I know they’re dead, but do you know if you’re at risk of that happening again? Are there others? Lorelei didn’t talk much about it. She just kind of warned me that I might have to face that sort of danger again.”
“She’s not wrong about that,” Rachel conceded. “But no, I don’t know about those men. This was as much a shock to me as it was to her. I have asked the Hosts. They didn’t have much to tell me. It’s not like guys who’d do something like that have guardians.”
“So angels just go missing and nobody goes looking for them?”
She responded with a troubled look before she spoke. “I’m learning to see my peers in something of a new light through all of this,” she confessed, carefully choosing each word. “It may simply be that my faith is being tested. I don’t know. At any rate, it’s pretty tough to get answers out of men who’ve already gone straight to Hell. I may have been a bit hasty in destroying them and that chapel.”
“I don’t think anyone could blame you after all that. Still, I think it would be good to look for answers to this if I even knew where to start.”
“You have to be careful, Alex. The smartest thing you could do is keep a low profile. Other guys in your position might not think twice before…before playing rashly with their apparent fortunes.”
“That brings up the other thing,” Alex said. “I’m not sure how I can ask this. I’m not…I’m not a pig who doesn’t respect women or something…”
Rachel squeezed his hand and gave a little smile. “It’s okay. You can trust me. You’ll have me watching you a lot from now on. Creepy, I know,” she jested.
“All the time?”
“No, not all the time. Not when you’re with…her. And I imagine that might be much of the time. But not constantly, regardless. I’ll eventually be given other mortals to watch over. Like I said, it’s not like a guardian watches only one person. I will be watching frequently enough that I should know what goes on in your life.”
“…and I’ll get to see you in person again, right?”
She smiled, again somewhat shyly. “Yes. Sometimes.”
“I would like that.”
“You wanted ask me something awkward and potentially explosive,” she observed.
He blinked. “I’m. Wow. Uh, I’m…apparently becoming irresistible to every woman I find attractive.” Rachel snorted out a laugh, and covered her mouth with her hand as Alex continued sheepishly but quickly so as to get it all out. “Lorelei keeps telling me I can and should sleep with whoever I want to and I can’t stop thinking about sex anymore. So obviously I’m seriously tempted as long as I’m not hurting anybody but even so I keep thinking I should know better and I don’t want to wind up in Hell. And I don’t want to make you mad,” he added without even thinking about it.
Rachel snorted again, and then laughed openly at him. “You worry a lot, don’t you?”
“I’m serious! I think I might go insane.”
“Who says you’re not already insane?” the blonde giggled. “You’re having conversations and sexual congress with beings not of this world.”
“Okay, don’t fuck with me like that, am I going nuts?”
“No,” she giggled more. “No, you’re not crazy.” Eventually, Rachel composed herself. “You haven’t done anything wrong so far.”
“You totally blew up at me not ten minutes ago!”
“That’s…that’s different,” she said, waving a dismissive hand. “I’m not thrilled you’re fooling around with that hussy, but I…understand?” Alex waited while she searched for words. “I don’t think you’re going to hurt anyone. You have good instincts, and you’re not irresistible. You’ve got the succubus herp, and that shit doesn’t wash off, but it doesn’t override anyone’s brain or anything. You’ll just need to learn to manage it. You’ve established your boundaries with her, right?”
“I think so. I keep thinking so. Maybe I need to be a little more explicit.”
Rachel nodded emphatically. “You’re in charge, Alex. For real. I know you want to be nice, but even diminished and bound as she is, she could be dangerous. It might seem creepy to you, but even at your worst you’re way fucking better than the previous bosses, and she knows it. Things are going to be this way for a long, long time, so don’t let her run you around. If you think something’s wrong, it probably is.”
“You can’t just give me an actual no-go list? I’ve already gotten the impression from all this that I can’t exactly take the Bible or religious figures literally.”
Her mouth opened, then promptly closed. “I cannot speak on that.”
“Of course not,” Alex nodded with a shrug.
The angel’s eyes turned apologetic, and she squeezed his hand again. “I’m not mad if you’re getting laid, Alex,” she said. “Not if it’s a little or a lot. I imagine I sounded jealous before, but it’s not that. I figured at first that you’d probably hit that, but then yesterday I saw you hadn’t and I guess I got the wrong impression. I can’t blame you for being human. I want you to be happy, and if that sloppy wench can give you a good time, then I say bang away on that.” Alex’s eyes went wide, but she just smirked. “Seriously, you haven’t betrayed anyone. I was upset because I think you’re more than she deserves. If you start going down the wrong path, I’ll know sooner or later, and you and I don’t have the usual guardian angel relationship. I’ll show up and tell you.”
“You’ll come kick me in the balls?”
“I can’t hurt you.”
“What if I tell you to?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge if we ever get to it, but I think I can trust you.”
They shared a long, quiet look at one another. “I’d really like to see more of you, Rachel,” Alex said.
She merely shrugged. “Time will tell. But you have other classes to get to.”
Alex nodded, and stood. Before he left, he asked, “Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”
“I just wanted to see you,” Rachel smiled. She stepped close to kiss his cheek. “Be happy. Be good.”
* * *
Lorelei had plans for Alex when he came home. She’d been left with plenty of time to plot and scheme. All day long she felt small trickles of his desires-nothing informative, just the sensations-which kept her spirits up. His desires surged late in the morning, leaving her curious as to whom he’d run into.
She spent her day investigating the home and his interests. She found more that she could work with, more fun to be had. Lorelei felt encouraged. Her disturbing feelings of devotion had, for the moment, lessened. She chalked them up to the novelty of their circumstances.
He returned later than his schedule had indicated. Lorelei found it odd to be concerned over that. The succubus felt his rising desires long before he came home, knowing from experience that this specific desire was for her. She grinned and allowed herself to enjoy it. Was I actually worried for his safety? The succubus thought it odd, but banished the concern.
When she heard his motorcycle pull up to the garage outside, her spirits soared more than she had expected. Excitement rose within her. He at least accepted her nature now, and some of the wonders she had to offer. That would help her continue to gain some measure of control within their relationship.
Seduction and unrestrained pleasure on her mind, Lorelei took up a spot on her knees facing the door and waited. He’ll never expect this, she thought deliciously.