Good Intentions (38 page)

“Oh my God,” Jocelyn panted in disbelief. “You still want more?” Even as she protested, though, her hand was already tugging weakly on his hip as if to encourage him. “Is that okay?” Alex asked. “Are you sore? Do you want to rest?” “No,” Jocelyn said after a moment, gulping for air. “I mean, I’m sensitive, but you feel so good I don’t want you to stop. I just can’t believe you can keep going.” “I’ve got a very arousing partner,” Alex grinned, leaning in to kiss her lightly on the lips. “So you’re okay? You don’t want to rest?” “I don’t know if I can do anything in return, but yeah, I want more,” she confessed. “I just don’t want to be one of those stuck up girls who just lie there thinkin’ they’re al that, but I’m already worn out.” “That’s alright,” Alex said. He looked down at the dark-skinned beauty spread out beneath him and smiled affectionately. “You are al that.” She beamed with appreciation. Then she learned what it felt like when he was being generous. * “…seduced her like she’s just some common trol op, and now he’s in bed with her doing—!” “I know,” Rachel said, a hungrily appreciative look on her face. She sat with Hannah on her rooftop, doing absolutely nothing to conceal her interest. “I can see him and your girl right now. So fucking hot.”

“You don’t see anything wrong with what’s going on?!” Jocelyn’s guardian angel pressed. He stood on the rooftop’s ledge, glaring down at Rachel in exasperation. “Of course I do,” Rachel nodded, still staring toward the house. “This is nine kinds of fucked up. For one thing, I don’t have a drink or even popcorn.” And I’m not in that bed with him instead of her, she added silently, but that was best kept to herself. “Rachel,” Hannah said in a disapproving voice, “you’re not being very nice to Sidney. He’s a fine guardian angel with an excel ent track record.” “Well Sidney should quit being such a Mary about al this!” Rachel snorted. She looked up at the other guardian. “Seriously, loosen up! I’ve been watching him the whole time. She led him up to that bedroom. And he’s not the first guy she’s been with, is he?” Sidney folded his arms and looked away. Rachel pressed. “Is he? How many guys, Sidney?” “Three,” huffed the angel standing beside her. “Though the only one that she wasn’t in love with before now was that Gabriel boy.” “Hah!” Rachel snapped, then blinked. “Wait, is that the same one who was dating that Taylor girl?” “Gabriel pined away for Jocelyn before dating Taylor,” Sidney frowned. He waved his hand dismissively. “It was brief. I think they were both dazzled by one another’s popularity. Jocelyn indulged him a bit too far, but broke it off. I knew then she could do better, and I know it now.” “Fat chance of that,” Rachel responded dryly. “I wonder if Taylor’s at the party tonight, though?” she mused aloud. Then she saw another guardian angel fly straight out through the exterior wall of the house on the second floor. This one was a tal woman with dark hair, broad shoulders, and icy, accusatory blue eyes directed straight at Rachel. “You!” she barked as she flew across the street. “I need to talk to you about your Alex and that raging, indiscriminate whore of his!”

* “I should really quit smokin’ these,” Trish muttered. Wade pul ed the lighter away from her cigarette as she took a long drag. He was happy to have such pretty company out on the front porch. “Ah wouldn’t have pegged you for a smoker.” “I’m not so much,” shrugged the petite, bespectacled brunette. She wore jeans and a Firefly t-shirt under a simple jacket. “Just social y. I quit once already, but I get out to parties where people smoke and I get the urge. Usually I’m better about fighting it.” “Not tonight, though, huh?” “Nah.” Trish glanced up at him, then out to the street where more people were coming up, and then back again. “I saw you come out here and I figured, ‘Why not?’” “Aw! Y’al came out here just to smoke with me?” Wade smiled. He said it mainly as a joke. “Yeah.” She took a breath of cleaner air. “I like your accent,” she managed to get out. There was enough light from the porch that he could see she was blushing. “Ah’m happy to have your company, but y’know you don’t have to smoke.” “I know,” she nodded, and then quietly blurted out, “I just wanted to have something to do with my mouth and my hands.” Wade blinked. Trish took a long, self-conscious drag of her cigarette and then coughed. “So how’d you get here?” she asked.

“Uh. Went to high school with Sherri. What about you?” “I’m in Sherri’s self-defense class at the UW.” “Oh, you’re a Husky? What’s your major?” “I’m doubling in English Lit and Computer Science. What about you?” Wade blinked again. “That’s a combo. Huh…wel , I kinda just got out of the Army an’ now I’m at North Seattle doin’ the EMT program.” “Why’d you get out?” “Ah, um, got hit in Afghanistan.” Trish’s lips pursed, making Wade wonder if she had already known that. Now that he thought about it, he could’ve sworn she was in the living room earlier. His suspicions rose further when she leaned in and asked, mischievously, “Can I see your scar?” Wade was still trying to work out a witty rejoinder when he realized that the new arrivals were simply standing there watching him at the foot of the front porch. He also realized that they were al very tal . Gabriel wasted no time. “Where’s Alex?” “Oh, hi, Gabriel,” Wade said coolly before taking another drag on his cigarette. He counted four towering basketbal players behind the equally towering speaker. “How y’al doin’?” “I’m here to find Alex and I’m here to talk to Taylor. His stupid Facebook said he was coming and I saw her car down the hill , so I know they’re both here.” Wade didn’t move out from in front of the door. “Wow. That’s some hard-core deductive reasonin’ there. U-dub’s

really raisin’ them academic standards on y’al student athletes, huh?” Gabriel’s eyes flared. Behind him, his teammates began to shuffle and murmur like the good goon squad they clearly were. “You gonna move out of the way?” Wade tossed down his cigarette, then pul ed out a new one and lit it up. “Nope,” he smiled. “Least not ‘til I finish mah cigarette. Hey, Trish? Could y’al do me a huge favor an’ let Alex know that Gabriel’s here lookin’ for him? An’ Taylor, too.” “Uh. I don’t know either of them.” “Aw,” Wade nodded, obviously knowing that already. “Taylor’s a really beautiful brunette girl. She’s a sweetie. Kinda girl ya just wanna take care of, unless you’re a jackass. Alex Carlisle, though? Don’t know him? well , tel ya whut, jus’ go to th’ kitchen an’ let the guy tendin’ bar know what’s up. His name’s Drew. He knows ‘em both.” Quickly understanding the situation, Trish slipped inside. “Yo, why we waitin’ outside here?” complained one of Gabriel’s companions. According to his game jersey, he was Number 14. “No shit,” said another, a tal and lanky blond guy in a Huskies jacket. “Let’s just move him.” “Y’al ’re wellcome t’ move me,” Wade offered helpful y, “but th’ first one tries gets t’ find out why Gabe here hasn’t already made a move. He might know a thing or two ‘bout me that y’al don’t.” *

Rachel’s rooftop had become crowded. Seeing Gabriel and his entourage approach, the blonde angel gave out a loud, clear whistle heard only by her own kind. Along with the five basketbal players were a few guardian angels, who pul ed away from their charges to meet their brethren on Rachel’s rooftop. “Hey, Timothy! What’s up with this shit?” Rachel asked. Her question was as much a friendly taunt as it was genuine curiosity. She was still in good spirits, despite the haranguing from Taylor’s guardian angel, Julia, who still looked on disapprovingly. “Hel o, Rachel,” sighed the one that had walked closest to Gabriel. “This…is my charge being so very dumb. And he has dragged along some of his friends to share in his dumbness.” “Dumbness?” Hannah asked. “It rubs off on you,” Timothy shrugged. “Oh no,” Julia groaned. “Don’t tel me.” Timothy shrugged, dropping his head a bit. “He’s out to visit his righteous anger upon the man who stole his girlfriend.” “Your Gabriel cheated on my Taylor with four different women this year,” Julia scowled. “Six,” Timothy corrected rueful y. “It’s not like I can just tel him that. I’ve tried leaving plenty of signs to guide him from this path, but he’s will fullly blind.” “So what’s he gonna do about it?” Rachel asked. Again, Timothy shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably beat up your Alex.”

Rachel snorted. “Fat chance of that.” “Do you plan to interfere? Your condition gives you a freedom of direct intervention that the rest of us lack,” Hannah said. “Yes,” Julia fumed, “you could, for instance, pul that abyssal trol op off of my Taylor.” “Or you could’ve prevented your charge from soiling my Jocelyn,” sulked Sidney from off to one side. Rachel groaned, her eyes rol ing uncontrol ably. Finally she looked up at Timothy. “I’m not gonna do a damn thing,” she declared. “And I don’t need to. Your boy starts anything, he’l be the one who goes home crying.” Timothy and the angels with him gave a collective snort of skepticism. “Unlikely,” said one of them, a short, dark-haired female. “Gabriel and these others are top-notch athletes. They’re in the best shape they could be in during the prime of their lives. You should be a little more concerned for the safety of your charge.” “What’s your name?” Rachel asked with a curious cock of her head. “Martina,” she said. “So are you and Timothy ready to back up that shit-talkin’ with anything serious?” * For al their frenzied exertion, Alex and Jocelyn did a pretty good job of making themselves look presentable again before sneaking out of Sherri’s bedroom. They heard a couple of bumps and moans from the upstairs bathroom as they passed, and shared a self-conscious giggle. “Wonder who’s inside?” Alex murmured when they went down the

stairs. People saw them coming down, but they hardly knew any of the faces at the base of the steps and really didn’t care. “I need a glass of water so bad,” Jocelyn announced. “Yeah, me, too,” Alex said as they turned the corner to the kitchen. He was abruptly grabbed by the wrist and pul ed in another direction. “Gabriel’s here, outside,” Drew told him. “Lookin’ for you.” “Shit, real y?” Alex blinked. “Yeah. Lookin’ for Taylor, too. She was lookin’ for you earlier, but she went off to talk with your girlfriend. Meantime I guess Gabe just showed up with his posse like two minutes ago an’ he’s beefin’. Wade’s out there stal in’ him.” “Man, I really misjudged this one,” Alex muttered. “Yeah, no shit. How many years I been tel in’ you to quit expectin’ people to act like adults?” * “We should not take this too far,” Lorelei murmured. “No?” Taylor whimpered back. She blinked, then, coming down a bit from their long, hot make-out session. “No,” she affirmed in a soft voice. “I can’t…oh my God. I’ve never done this.” The seductive smile she saw in response left her will power in tatters al over again. “You’re a natural, Taylor,” Lorelei said in a quiet, encouraging voice. She continued to caress Taylor’s head, her neck and her shoulders. She trailed

soft kisses across Taylor’s face and teased her lips with more. “This is so bad,” Taylor thought aloud. “No,” Lorelei shook her head. “It’s fine. This is al fine. What you have to decide is whether or not you want more. More of me…and more of Alex. You can have both, Taylor. Yours for the taking.” Taylor inhaled with a tremor. She had no idea what she could possibly say to that. With each passing heartbeat, she also wondered more and more if she could possibly turn it down. “It’s al up to you,” Lorelei said. “I will not pressure you. Nor would Alex. He cares for you so deeply…but he wants you to be happy more than he desires you. I will always honor that.” Her hands had not come off of Taylor, though, nor had their closeness become any less charged. “I have to think about this,” Taylor admitted finally. “Of course,” came Lorelei’s understanding response. “I have a proposition for you, though. Something to perhaps put your thoughts in context.” finally, she backed up a step, took a deep breath, and let the tension fall away a bit. “And then I must ask of you a slightly awkward and more immediate favor.” * “Well , I don’t actually know him,” Brittany said as much of the party’s populace shifted to the front of the house. “He goes to my school. I mean, I haven’t talked to him before tonight, but I’ve seen him there a lot.” “North Seattle?” Alistair asked. Brittany nodded, but then for the third time tonight she slipped away from him because of something going on with others. Ordinarily he would have seen such a slight as grounds for revenge, but

he had greater concerns in that moment. He had received the sketched images over his phone an hour ago. Alistair hadn’t looked at them immediately after the contraption buzzed. Though younger in mindset and therefore more adaptable than many of his kind, even Alistair didn’t care for the presumptuous urgency of modern communications. Serendipity made itself plain, though, when he got around to checking the message. He knew from the ringtone that it was from among his true society. He didn’t expect it to be from his liege, though. She cal ed for al subjects in the city to locate two curious individuals. The vampire could barely contain his excitement when he viewed the images attached to the message. Alistair had just enough time to casually ask Brittany to show him how to work the camera on his phone before Alex hustled past at the urging of one of his friends. His luck held as he snapped the picture. He garnered an excel ent picture while “toying” with his phone. Alistair knew this would win the good graces of Lady Anastacia for quite some time. Brittany was gone by then, but Alistair hardly cared. He immediately sent off the picture along with Alex’s name and school. He considered only for the briefest of moments that he could relay his location, but then he would have to share the rewards for further discovery with others. Best to display his unhesitating observance of duty with this immediate response, then later fol ow up with a hard-won trove of information. Engaging either target in conversation would perhaps be a touch difficult. Alistair would have to break through either a pack of dazzled girls or a herd of aroused, hopeful young men depending on which one he focused upon. Carlilse, he suspected, would be unreceptive to anything more than a platonic approach, and Alistair’s tools for that were more limited. The woman, though, had endless confidence and seemed entirely uninterested in the other men at the party. She, too, could be tough to seduce. A hand touched his arm. “Excuse me?” a feminine voice asked. Alistair turned to see a young, very pretty brunette looking to him. Her expression was shy but eager. “Yes?” Alistair asked, nodding as if in a subtle bow. “What might I do for such a lovely vision?”