My eyes flickered open as the first rays of dawn peered in through the window. I scowled, rubbing my eyes as they adjusted to the light.
"At last, sleeping beauty has decided to grace us with her presence," a voice sounded from the corner of my room and I jumped. I looked over to the fireplace, next to which sat a grey love seat. On which, unironically, sat Grey. Seriously, I'd bet money on the fact that he decorates everything in grey just because of his name.
"Go away, Grey," I groaned, rolling over and pulling a pillow against my face in an attempt to drone out both the sound and the light.
"My house, my rules, sweetheart," I heard his voice get closer, his footsteps creaking on the wooden floorboards. Suddenly, the pillow I held against my face was yanked from my grasp, revealing a smirking Grey standing overhead.
"Only humans can legally own property. You're not human, therefore, this isn't your house and I'm going back to bed," I retorted, scowling at him. A frown appeared on Grey's lips and I rolled my eyes, turning over and away from him.
The next second, I felt strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me up out of bed and flinging me over his shoulder. This was the second time Grey has done this in all of 24 hours. It's like the second I found out he wasn't human he decided he had to go and manhandle me like a ragdoll. That's probably what he thought humans were anyways. Dolls for him to play with whenever he felt like it.
"Grey, put me down, damn it! I'm not your plaything!" I pounded my fists against his back, but he didn't even flinch. I knew I wasn't weak; I had defended myself pretty well against those guys who had tried to assault me, but Grey didn't even flinch at my punches. It was like punching a brick wall.
"I don't have time to deal with your stubbornness. If you don't listen to me, then I'll make you," Grey replied in a rather as-a-matter-of-fact tone. I rolled my eyes in frustration and wiggled in his arms in a last effort to get him to release me, watching my bed disappear as he sauntered down the stairs.
"She's awake?" I heard Riel's voice from behind me as Grey sauntered down the stairs, carrying me like a child.
"More or less," Grey shrugged, his shoulder digging into my ribcage and prompting me to nail my elbow into his shoulder blade. Still nothing. Grey swung me back over his shoulder, setting me down in a barstool that sat next to his breakfast bar. The cool granite felt good underneath my arms, so I rested my head on my arms, my eyes struggling to stay open.
"Grey, you can't manhandle her when she doesn't listen. That's disrespectful," Riel frowned next to me, his brows furrowing in concern at me. He should be concerned. Concerned I'd go all psycho bitch on their asses and run to the police. The police would know what to do with these guys. They were crazy. They kept me hostage. Drugged me so I'd hallucinate and see wings. Does carrying me like a child count as assault?
"She's disrespectful, have you met her?" Grey snapped back, sliding a plate in front of me. The plate was a grey ceramic (shocker), and on it sat a short stack of pancakes, with bananas and strawberries on top. He didn't make this, did he? It was probably poisoned.
"She's also human, and 500 years younger than you. Give her a break. It's easy to be disrespectful to you when you treat her like that. It's not the 18th century anymore, women aren't made to follow your every order," Riel explained, his brows furrowing more as he watched me push the plate aside.
"I know that, dumbass. I was a part of those protests. I just don't like when anyone, regardless of who doesn't do what I tell them to," Grey snarled, shoving the plate back in front of me. "Eat, Greene, or I swear I'll-"
"-you'll what, Grey? Hurt me? Kill me? I dare you. Go ahead. Do it. I obviously can't stop you," I spat angrily, sitting up. Riel recoiled back from me at my sudden outburst, while Grey's eyes simply danced like blue fire.
"-I was going to say, 'shove it down your throat', but you wouldn't let me finish," Grey smirked deviously and Riel smacked his forehead in irritation.
"Guys. It's breakfast. Calm down. It's not a big deal. Jordan, why aren't you eating?" Riel cast a sly glare in Grey's direction, who merely rolled his eyes and ran his hands frustratingly through his raven hair.
"Because I don't know if it's drugged. You already drugged me to think you guys had wings, I don't want to be drugged again," I scowled, pushing the plate away again. Riel sighed, tilting his head to the side with a faint sympathetic smile tainting his lips.
"I'm an Angel, Jordan. The entire description of my job is to help keep humans safe. I couldn't hurt you, even if I wanted to. And I couldn't let him hurt you either, even if I wanted to. It's against the whole purpose of my being," Riel emphasized, gently pushing the plate back to me. I eyed him and the plate with suspicion.
"For hell's sake," Grey cursed and reached forward, grabbing a fork and taking a giant bite of my pancakes. "There, see? They're fine."
I narrowed my eyes at him and grabbed my fork and knife to begin cutting the pancakes. What can I say? I didn't trust either of them. They held me hostage here. Turns out they're not even human. How am I supposed to trust something I don't even begin to understand? I scowled at Grey as I raised a bite of pancakes to my mouth, slowly biting down and chewing. However, as soon as the taste flooded my mouth, I was unable to keep my stoic demeanor.
It tasted like heaven.
I don't know who made these pancakes, but they were easily the best I'd ever had in my life. The pancake itself was slightly sweet as if it were filled with the tiniest bit of vanilla cream, and the bananas and strawberries were as sweet as if they were picked this morning. I couldn't stop the tiny moan that escaped my lips as the flavors danced on my taste buds, much like the fire that had just erupted in Grey's eyes at the little sound. Riel merely chuckled at my satisfaction, but my eyes were glued to Grey's, who now looked at me like he were a predator and I was his prey. I swallowed, tearing my eyes from him to look at Riel, who grinned at me. He had the cutest little dimples in his cheeks when he smiled, and his pale green eyes twinkled like sunlight drifting through the leaves in a forest.
"You're not done, are you?" He asked, laughing a little. I smiled slightly and shook my head, now digging into the pancakes ravenously. I hadn't eaten dinner last night, courtesy of Grey locking me in my room. I was starving. After I had finished, I looked up, only to see Grey and Riel staring at me in awe.
"You eat... so much," Riel chuckled, his eyes drifting from the empty plate to me. I shrugged, licking my lips in satisfaction.
"Fast metabolism. And it was really good," I replied, turning to look at Grey, narrowing my eyes at him. He smirked, leaning across the breakfast bar, getting closer to me.
"Why thank you, mea bellator," he hummed, sliding out the plate from in front of me. I raised an eyebrow at him, only then realizing that it must've been him that had cooked the pancakes.
"I'm kidding, I hated it," I scowled at him, but it was too late. Grey washed off my plate and loaded it into the dishwasher, all the while with a smug smirk on his lips.
"Sure, you did. Just like you hated me yesterday, when my body was against yours, your eyes glued to my lips-" he trailed off, and I felt blood rush to my cheeks. Riel coughed awkwardly beside me and I clenched my jaw in frustration. Of course, he would use that moment of weakness against me.
"Did that actually mean something to you? I had forgotten all about that until you brought it up," I lied, the words feeling like acid on my tongue. Did it physically hurt to lie in front of an angel, or was I imagining this?
Grey sauntered over to the breakfast bar, standing across from me and leaning down on the countertop so he was eye level with me.
"Sweetheart. I heard your heart thudding in your chest, just like it's doing now. You wanna know what raises heart rate? A little something called arousal- and a little something called lying," he smirked deviously, his silvery eyes twinkling.
"Grey, leave her alone, she didn't know you were manipulating her yesterday," Riel huffed, my heart thudding rapidly in my chest.
"And if I wasn't, Riel? Let's just say for argument's sake- that was real. Let's say- for argument's sake- that I wasn't pretending," Grey's eyes never left mine as he spoke, and if it was possible, I could've sworn I heard my heartbeat even faster. His smirk grew on his lips as if he'd heard it, flames dancing in his otherworldly eyes.
"Then that'd be a lie. And you know it. Grey, you get all your souls by seducing them," Riel replied, his normally calming voice now harsh. I was a little surprised that he had been able to speak with such a bristling tone. It was like he'd flipped a switch.
Grey leaned back, the smirk dissipating on his lips as he stared at me, his eyes void of emotion. I scowled at him in response, realizing that what he had confessed as his original plan to get what he wanted from me was still his plan. He was toying with me. And I- blindsided by hatred and a strange version of lust- had fallen for it.
I guess you could say I'm a bit prideful, because after this revelation-
I saw red.
I nearly leaped out of my chair as I lunged at Grey, apparently catching him by surprise as I was able to slam him against the wall behind him.
"Jordan-" I heard Riel caution behind me, but I didn't care. Grey toyed with me, was playing me like a piano and breaking all of the keys. Grey wanted my soul- well I was about to give him a piece of it.
"I. Hate. You." I growled out through gritted teeth.
"No wonder you're a fallen angel," I spat angrily, "heaven's not even in your reach, and hell didn't want you either. Nobody wanted you, and I can see why. How dare you use what little trust I had in you against me. How dare you use that weakness against me. You coward-" I wriggled against his grasp, throwing another swing with my other arm, but he caught that too"- you sick-" I growled in frustration, trying in desperation to break out of his grasp "-monster."
The last word had Grey's eyes flaming with anger. He no longer looked like a mere predator. He looked like a killer. My eyes glared up into his, daring him to do something.
I jumped in surprise when his lips angrily pressed against mine.