Reaper's Dark Kiss Read Online Free Page B

pretty good.”
    “This is crazy,” Sky said, and suddenly all her fear was back. “An abandoned subway station in Manhattan in the middle of the night.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I barely know you.”
    “I’ll e-mail my diary.” Julian only got a hint of the smile he’d hoped for. He added, “But you have to promise you’ll keep it off the record.”
    Sky turned to him, deadly serious for a long moment, and Julian thought he’d gone too far. But all she said was, “It feels safe here with you.”
    He scented the fear behind her words. His beast growled. “You’ll always be safe with me,” he said before he could stop himself.
    Narrow shafts of silvery light fell from the roof. The sounds of traffic and trains rumbling past were a far-off murmur. Julian took a risk he shouldn’t have. Slowly, he reached out and trailed his fingers down Sky’s back.
    “Don’t,” she said with a little shiver. “I’m ticklish.”
    Julian wanted to know where else she was ticklish but knew this wasn’t the right time to ask. Instead he obeyed the ancient instinctive part of himself. He undid his zipper.
    Sky whirled around to face him. “What are you doing?”
    She blushed beautifully. Julian laughed and undid the zipper on the other sleeve of his coat. “Getting comfortable,” he said.
    Sky slapped at his hand and jabbed a finger at him. “You owe me a dozen questions for that.”
    Hands up in a peace offering, Julian said, “Don’t beat me up, and I’ll make it two dozen.”
    She scowled at him before she broke into a laugh. Somehow Julian’s beast had known Sky had to be startled out of her fear. He’d thought she would be angry, but she was more relaxed than she’d been all night. They talked about everything from their best picks for takeout in Chinatown to best place to avoid tourists. Every time Julian so much as hinted at talking about what happened in the diner before Sky’s phone call, she changed the subject.
    When a reaper couldn’t win, he waited. Julian let Sky lead the conversation, and they talked easily. He came to know Sky, came to know her rhythms, her laughter, her quiet moments of remembering. He was in a slow mating dance, drawing her deeper into his life with every passing moment. It was good until she shifted ground without warning.
    “Doesn’t your family mind you doing dangerous work?”
    “We’re all warriors,” Julian said, then realized he’d let too much of the truth slip.
    “I think you’d make a good warrior,” she said, looking at him. “You don’t seem like you’re afraid of anything.”
    As though she’d said something she hadn’t meant to, Sky suddenly turned away. A secret scent of desire came from her. At that moment, Julian would have given up his wings all over again just to hold her, feel her against him.
    “Are those wings?” Sky was pointing up. “I’ve never seen angels like that.”
    “It’s an old story,” Julian said, resisting the urge to run his fingers through her hair. “A kind of myth.”
    Looking up, Sky leaned back, tilting her head. It made her hair brush against Julian’s face. He inhaled her scent of rainwater and roses at dawn.
    “They look like they’re falling,” Sky said, tilting her head one way then the other. “Are those ivory hilts on the swords?”
    To Julian’s eyes, the light coming through the holes in the mosaic was changing. Dawn was coming. “I’d tell you, but you’re past your two dozen questions,” he said, sitting up.
    “And you didn’t answer anything about the Fang Killer.” She cleared her throat, swallowing back the fear he’d seen earlier. “Guess I forgot to ask.”
    “Guess you were too spooked by whatever happened before I got to the diner.” The flash of fear that came and went in Sky’s eyes made Julian’s beast snarl, but he didn’t press for an answer. “Come on.” He stood and held out a hand. “I didn’t mean to keep you out most of the night.” A shameful lie.