Underworld Lover (A Guardian Angel Romance #2) by haron Hamilton Page B

rose without thinking of her. Would never forget the way those doe eyes of hers had absorbed him, took all the roughness from him in mere seconds. He loved her innocence, loved the way she busied herself with the arrangement of the shop, like preparing the stage for a grand play. It excited him to know that she was completely oblivious to the dark forces that had focused upon her. He wished there would be some way to make it so that she never did.
    But that kind of thought could earn a good dark angel a true death, made an example for all to see. If he was going to go down, he’d better not make a lesson out of his decline for all the other darks in the Underworld. Peter’s power could be enhanced. It was one thing to be consumed in flames, fighting. Another thing entirely to be crumbled, cowering in defeat. He saw a future where Melanie could witness his death. If it came to that, she would know it was a sacrifice he’d made for her. That would be important. That would be the only acceptable way to be terminated. Then his life would mean something.
    Listen to me. I’m sounding like James, Daniel, and all the rest of them who can’t live without their women. But he knew it wasn’t that he couldn’t live without her. He could do that. Three hundred years as a loveless dark angel with hundreds of sexual partners and liaisons, either human, Guardian or dark, taught him that when one door closed, others were available. Unlike some of his converts and friends, he could live without a primary love of his life. In fact, he doubted whether there would be one solitary female who could keep him satisfied.
    This, this infatuation will pass, as all my other lusts have. Given time. And time is what I have in abundance.
    What upset him was that he was going to have to take a pure and innocent human woman and turn her into Peter’s captive. Though he was used to applying cunning and twisting the truth, he wasn’t excited about getting her to trust him so that he could mistreat her.
    That he had never done.
    Though he considered his experiences in the Underground his personal brand of sexual recreation, he did think turning her into Peter’s sex slave was not right, like there was some kind of moral code in the Underworld.
    And afterwards, where would he go? He was already in Hell. Was there a painful end to his miserable life made all the more painful with the knowledge he’d turned someone he wanted to spare. Couldn’t spare.
    He shrugged off the thoughts as he pulled his jacket close to his neck and came upon Melanie’s street. He leaned against a lamppost, watching the warm yellow light from her upstairs apartment pour down delicately upon him, and then switch off.
    Sleep well my pretty.
    He sniffed the air. No trace of sexual energy, or fear. If there had been a scene between Melanie and Peter and it had been violent, he would still be able to smell the pain, her fear. He resisted the urge to go up to her room and check on her, as if reassuring himself he was fully in control.
    Who am I kidding?
    Melanie lived in an older section of town that had lots of shops, bistros, and trendy apartments created from warehouses. It had formerly been skid row, but now sported a wonderful nightlife. Even the old theater built before the Depression was restored and showed art films, not the triple X ones shown a decade earlier. Before the neighborhood transformation, Josh had found some of his recruits there, wasting away in the stink of alcohol, waiting to die on a park bench or behind a Dumpster somewhere. He took pride in knowing some of these men actually enjoyed their lives in the Underworld. In a strange way, he felt he had saved them. Had done them a favor by ridding them of their human lives of misery and pain.
    The café below Melanie’s apartment was for lease, and a young couple holding hands were looking into the large glass windows between the For Lease signs. He watched their simple show of affection, their touch, holding of