She struggled awake, disoriented in the darkness. The angel's sweet breath tickled the top of her head. He lay against her, arm draped loosely over her waist.

She was sweltering under the blanket. Her thighs were humid above her stockings. Lorelei loathed sleeping in clothing.

Trying to get comfortable, she snuggled back against the angel. The movement forced the hem of her dress up so that she felt the fabric of his chinos against her bare thighs.

Just like that, he was no longer beside her. Instead, he sat on the far edge of the futon, gently phosphorescent in the darkness. He regarded her as if he'd just figured out that he didn't know what to do with her.

"I just woke up," she complained. "I'm cramped from lying in this one position. Maybe if I could curl up..."

He knelt beside the futon. His hand landed unerringly on her knee. Without tugging on the handcuffs or hurting her, Aza lifted her legs, blanket and all, and helped her to double up.

"Can I ask you another favor?" she wondered.

"You can ask."

"My stockings got all messed up when I wriggled around. They're pinching me."

He spoke light into several of the candles. "Don't move," he ordered.

When she nodded, he folded the blanket back over her thighs. The angel grasped the first crumpled stocking without touching her skin and slipped it down over her foot.

The rubber top of the second stocking had rolled downward, tightening just above her knee. She watched his face as he reached for it. Something avid flickered behind his eyes. Her tongue slipped out to wet her lips.

He plucked the stocking back with the index finger of his right hand.

Lorelei realized how tense her hips had gotten at the thought of his touch. Grinning, she watched him look for a place to put her stockings where they wouldn't contaminate his belongings. He settled for the pocket of his trench coat.

"What are you going to do with me?" she whispered.

"I don't know."

"I'd sleep better if I aroused you a little."

He barked out a short laugh. "I'll bet you would. So I have another condition." He returned to the bed and lay beside her again. Her hopes rose a little. Then he rested a cold steel blade against the warm side of her neck. "Just because we're in bed together, don't get the idea we're friends."

"Deal."    

To be continued...

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