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If it wasn’t obvious by his tone that he’d had a fair amount to drink, I’d have guessed it by the bottle in his hand. Valen’s duties to Apollo meant he had two speeds; sober as a (decent) judge, or ‘drink enough to maybe forget the horrors of my life this time’. The only in between occurred while he was in the process of drinking more than his weight in alcohol. And, the proficiency he had in downing booze, that process was fairly short-lived.
“Let me guess. While God’s fucking his way through as many Magdalens as possible, you have the unfortunate task of making sure I don’t have any fun?” I asked him.
“I wouldn’t call it unfortunate,” he said lazily.
“No. Any chance to obey your God,” I said sarcastically.
“There are worse powers to obey,” he answered smoothly.
Despite the fact that I could tell from his words exactly how bad those worse powers were and enough of the nature of what they expected from him, I wasn’t in the mood for empathising. Besides, Valen didn’t want empathy. For him, it was just fact. Just life.
“What a hardship for you,” I muttered.
“Aw, you only say that because it’s not your job to keep an eye on that arse in those jeans.” His voice was condescending, but I saw through it now.
“Ah,” I said, like I’d discovered his big secret. “That’s not what’s hard. Is it, Valen?”
“You want to watch yourself, Miss Vanguard,” he growled.
“Tell me, Valk, if I was to go and throw myself at...” I searched the area for a decent candidate. “Arnie Brickworth over there... Would you beobligedto kill him?”
He took a step towards me, his chest brushing my arm. “I wouldn’t call it obligation.”
I looked at him sideways. “What would you call it?”
“I don’t answer to you, princess.” His voice was low, a warning.
“You will,” I promised him. “So, you might as well start practising.”
His hand went to my waist, and he pushed ever so gently as he stepped towards me again. I was forced to take a step back and his front came up hard against mine. His palm seared against my skin, despite the layers of clothes between us.
I had never cared less about a potential audience. Even with Apollo among them. I wanted Valen to press me up against the nearest tree and show me exactly how powerful the right hand of God was.
“I will not tell you a third time, Miss Vanguard,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I will not watch myself, Valen,” I practically purred. “But it seems...you will.”
I laid a hand on his shoulder and pushed. He let me slip out and away from him, but I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away.
I went straight for Arnie. The closest guy who, when drunk, would be too excitable to let a silly little thing like the Saint Benedict’s hierarchy get in the way of me directly flirting with him.
“Hey, Arnie,” I said as I got to him, pressing my body to his. I kept one eye on Valen across the fire and saw the fury on his face. I smiled.
“Harlow,” Arnie said with a wide smile as his hand went to my hip. “Uh, hey.”
“Listen... What do you say to you...me...somewhere quieter?” I asked him, reaching my lips up most indecently to his ear.
The boys with him were in various states of panicked and encouraging. This was, after all, Harlow Vanguard. Most wanted. Least touchable. But then, people always wanted whatever they couldn’t have. It had nothing to do with me at all.
Arnie’s eyes slid from my face. Gone was the smile like he’d won a lottery. In its place was fear.
He took a very deliberate step away from me, but it still wasn’t enough. I turned in time to see Valen throw his bottle down to the ground, where it shattered, and start to roll up his sleeves. For a moment, I was mesmerised by the ink winding its way up his right arm and disappearing under his sleeve. Then that arm swung at Arnie, and I stopped daydreaming.
His fist collided with Arnie’s temple and Arnie went down like a sack of bricks.
I didn’t have time to check whether Arnie was okay because Valen grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the clearing. Once we were far enough away that no one was going to find us by accident, he pushed me roughly and my back hit a tree trunk. He crowded my space.
I was very aware of the strength and power Valen commanded. He seemed to hum with barely restrained anger and violence. The air around us shivered with it, and it turned me on.
