“You know who’s after us, don’tcha, Neece?”
She nodded. “I saw the rune on the altar before Waldgrave destroyed it.”
“And?”
“It was Hella.”
Janelle whistled. “The Queen of the Underworld?” She laughed, until Neecy glared at her. Clearing her throat, “Uh…sorry. So, why use Waldgrave?”
“Her warriors can only be on this plane of existence for a few hours…they’re already dead.”
“Dust to dust?”
“Dust to dust. She needed someone who could focus on us full time.”
“You going to tell the others?”
Neecy shrugged. “Eventually.”
“But you think Hella wants our little Arri?”
“Maybe.” Neecy shrugged. “I really don’t know. I do know Arri’s the weakest of us. The most vulnerable. At least until she’s better trained. But to be honest, I don’t want to risk any of you guys.”
Janelle smirked. “Okay, mom.”
Neecy playfully cuffed Janelle on her shoulder. “Freakin’ smart ass.”
“Would you prefer I was a dumb ass?”
“Some days…yeah.”
Janelle laughed and followed after the team.
With a deep, tired sigh, Neecy unfurled her new, way-‐too-‐big wings and headed home.
The wind was blowing her way, and it took her only ten minutes to make it downtown. She climbed through her window and stumbled into her dark apartment. Somehow she made it to her bathroom in the dark without bumping into anything. She could barely keep her eyes open, so she decided against a shower and just took a quick toilet break. Once done, she stumbled her way in the dark back to her bed, turned, fell back…and hit the floor.
“What the…” Neecy sat up and struggled to see in the dark. She really couldn’t make anything out, so she got to her feet and made it across the room. She hit the light switch and turned to find her apartment damn-‐near empty.
“He…he wouldn’t.” But she knew he would. She went to her closets. They were empty. As was her bathroom and all her bookshelves. Her bike was still there as was the basketball net.
“I’ll kill him,” she screeched as her exhaustion faded away, leaving only raw rage.
She went back the way she came in and launched herself from the small ledge, heading uptown to Yager’s apartment.
Even with the heavy wind against her, she still made it to his apartment in record time. She was too pissed to let something like nature get in her goddamn way.
She flew to the patio. The glass doors leading into the apartment were unlocked and she knew he’d left it unlocked for her. She stormed in only to find the living room deserted.
Growling, she moved through his home, finally tracking his tight ass down in his kitchen. He stood at the counter, his back to her, wearing only a pair of boxers.
He ate an enormous sandwich, read the newspaper, and looked goddamn gorgeous doing it.
Just seeing him sent her heart racing. Had it really only been a day since she’d last seen him? It felt like forever. All she wanted to do was lick his spine from one end to the other.
She shook her head. She was pissed…remember? And she planned to stay that way until he explained what the fuck he thought he was doing with her shit.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. “I was wondering when you’d get here.”
Yager turned around and froze. “Christ, baby, what happened to you?”
“Got thrown in a Dumpster,” she bit out.
“That’s disgusting, Neecy.”
“Look, Yager. You and me, we need to talk.”
“Uh-‐huh.” He walked up to her, but stopped abruptly. “Baby…you’re funky. Let’s get you in the shower.”
“Wait. We need to talk now.”
Yager took her hand, “Okay.” He headed toward his bedroom, dragging her behind him.
“I’m serious, Yager.”
“I know. So talk.”
She growled again. The man was pushing her patience.
“First off, you took all my shit.”
“You make it sound like I gave it to gypsies.”
“I don’t know what you did with it.”
“What do you think I did with it?”
She knew exactly what he did with it. Her clothes were in his closet, lined up right next to his. Her books were in his bookshelves, mixed in with his. And all her tampons and soaps were somewhere in his bathroom cabinets. Bastard.
“Look, Yager, this isn’t fair.”
He stopped in the middle of the bedroom and pulled the wool socks off her arms.
Tossing them aside, he lifted her tank top over her head, forcing her to raise her arms. “How so?”
“We’re talking about major changes in my life. I need time to think. To plan. To strategize. You don’t rush into this sort of thing.”
Her black jeans hit the floor and she desperately tried to ignore the fact that the man she loved now kneeled in front of her to remove her boots and shuck her pants. “All that bullshit takes too long.”
“It’s not bullshit, and that’s not your call.”
“No. It’s probably not. But I have no patience and I was tired of arguing.”
He dropped her dirty clothes in the hamper. Giving her a quick wink, he again grabbed her hand and dragged her into the bathroom. He released her long enough to turn the shower on and adjust the water temperature.
Neecy wrapped her arms around her body. She was freezing. Not surprising.
She was always freezing after hunting in the winter. “I don’t care if you were tired of arguing. And I didn’t want to argue. I wanted to discuss.”
“Yeah, well, I was tired of discussing, too.”
He turned around and frowned at her shivering. He moved up close to her and rubbed her arms.
“Look, all I’m saying is this isn’t an easy thing for me to do. I need time.”
Shit. How did he get her bra and panties off without her even noticing? Goddamn him!
“I’m really not in the mood to give you time.”
“You’re not…” Before she could punch him in the face, he lifted her by the waist and carefully placed her in the shower. By the time she pushed her still-‐too-‐long but now thoroughly wet bangs out of her face, Yager had shucked his boxers and stood behind her.
“This isn’t about whether you want to give me time.”
He put that freakin’ expensive shampoo on her hair and began massaging her head. She almost came from that alone.
“True. But I warned you I wouldn’t play fair, now didn’t I?”
“That’s not the…the…Oh, that feels good,” she sighed.
He gave a little hum in response as he moved close behind her. She could feel his hard cock pressing into the small of her back. His hands felt wonderful on her scalp and the feel of his flesh rubbing hers was making her sopping wet and crazy.
Dammit! This was why she needed some time alone! Because the man could distract her without even trying.
He finished washing her hair and finger-‐combed his expensive conditioner through it. While he left that in, he washed the rest of her. Taking his time, lingering over her “hot spots.”
At this point, she didn’t even bother arguing with him. As it was she could barely speak. Once done rinsing her off, she simply took the soap and began washing him. He closed his eyes and let her do what she wanted, a small smile playing on his lips the entire time. When she was ready to wash his hair, she looked up at him.
“I never thought I’d ever be able to say this to a man who wasn’t in the NBA, but you’re too tall for me to wash your hair.”
She waited for him to bend down a bit so she could make his scalp feel as good as hers, but instead he slowly dropped to his knees in front of her.
Steeling herself at how beautiful this six-‐seven Viking god looked kneeling at her feet, she began washing his hair. As Neecy worked really hard to concentrate on washing his hair from root to ends, she felt Yager’s hands slide up the back of her legs. His big fingers gliding over her wet skin, drawing out those intense feelings she never had with anyone else in her life. As she massaged his scalp, his hands gripped her ass and pulled her closer to him.