Authors: Dicey Grenor
And
me
and fire didn’t mix.
Nevertheless, with
the way Punch and I had been carrying on, it was very likely I’d get another
shot with Fire.
Undoubtedly.
And the next time
I’d be armed with an extinguisher since I had a hunch there was more to Fire
than I’d originally thought. When Franco had pulled his skin-burn thing on me,
he hadn’t been throwing off smoke.
Which told me Fire was
definitely one to watch out for.
All my anxiety
went away when I saw Aaron’s Jag waiting in the lot.
Curbing my
appetite before I saw him seemed like a good idea since I was too high-strung
at the moment. Couldn’t risk being around him without wanting a bite. Knowing
it was best for us both, I quickly downed half my blood vials then walked towards
his car.
Later
for Punch.
My real interests were elsewhere.
Remi
was all about me. And if last night was any indication of how things were
progressing with Aaron, it wouldn’t be long before he would be all about me
also.
“Hi. How was work?”
he said as I got comfortable in the seat.
Double
yum.
He was looking too good for words...but I couldn’t help trying to
find the right one: beautiful, gorgeous, fine. They all came to mind, neither
doing him justice.
It wasn’t raining
at all tonight, yet Aaron wore his hair slicked back again, this time parted on
the side. He wore a cobalt blue long-sleeved dress shirt that made his eyes
sparkle like diamonds beneath those thick dark brows and long lashes. The way
his shirt tucked into black slacks was an exclamation point to all that was
divine about him, from the chest hair peaking through the top of his shirt to
the nicely-edged beard and mustache…
Remi
was usually clean-shaven which made me wonder if they
fought over facial hair. Did
Remi
win that battle
every Saturday?
“What’s wrong?” he
said.
I shook my head.
“Nothing at all.
Just taking you in.”
I brazenly gave him the once over with appreciative eyes. “I think you may be
the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.” That was saying something because he
didn’t have any supernatural enhancements.
And what do you
know—he
blushed
the color of Heinz ketchup.
Looking away, he
said, “So where are we headed? I can’t remember what happened last night before
I left your place. Don’t even know how I knew to come here tonight.”
“I’m glad you came. You agreed to help me with
a situation.” I gave him an address for his GPS and he started driving, didn’t
even ask what the situation was.
As he drove from
the parking lot, Wham!
played
through the speakers and
I was transported to the land of peace. Ah, yes. “Careless Whisper”…
A
place where Aaron and I were the same species.
A place where we were
lovers and Max was dead.
Really dead.
Oh, no. I was
really digging Aaron.
“I didn’t
wanna
be corny. I mean, I don’t really know what’s appropriate…but
I brought you something. I hope you like it,” he said. “It’s in the backseat. I’m
still not sure I should have gotten it. I’ll understand if you don’t—”
“They’re
beautiful.” I picked up the bouquet of orange roses and sniffed. I’d thought
the scent was car deodorizer. “Thank you.”
I thought back to
the last time someone had given me roses. My ex had been caught cheating and
was trying to get out the doghouse. It had been too little too late.
But this gesture…this
was special.
“You don’t think
it’s too much?” he said.
Aaron was so
thoughtful, so sweet,
so
romantic. I leaned over and
kissed his cheek.
“Not at all.
They’re perfect.”
I felt warmness in
my chest where my heart used to be. It slowly spread down my belly to my…
“Good. I was
serious about needing a friend,” he said. “I don’t want to ruin what we have.”
Scraaaaaaatch
.
What?
Friend?
“No,
Friend
.
They’re perfect,” I said.
He smiled,
satisfied with himself.
Had
completely missed my sarcasm.
I folded my arms
and pouted the whole forty-five minute drive to Katy. He started several
conversations and I let them fall away with one-liners and utter rudeness. My
attitude made no sense. No sense at all, still I couldn’t help feeling
dejected.
Oh, this was bad.
Real bad.
When we got out to
the suburbs, it was dark and foggy and I contemplated bleeding him and leaving
him in the ditch. No one would find his fine ass for days.
But I shook myself
out of my stupor and explained to him what we were going to do here. At first,
he refused. Then I explained
why
we were going to do it and he got
onboard. Good thing, because I’d captivate him into compliance if I had to. I
was trying to avoid that on account of how much I’d tampered with his mind
already.
Best to use that on him only when absolutely
necessary from now on.
So once we went
over the plan, we stopped at a gas station so I could get behind the wheel and
he could crouch down in back. With no license and not
much
driving
history, I was surprised he
trusted me with his ride. He said that’s what insurance was for. Okay then…
When we rode up to
the
iron gate
, he kept quiet. I did the talking and
smiling and hair flipping for the security camera until we were allowed in. It
helped that the owner of the mansion had the
hots
for
me and had told me so many times. Now I had the perfect excuse to show up at
his house at three in the morning, looking good and sounding seductive.
The idiot actually
thought I was coming to fuck him.
I walked up to the
door as he swung it as wide as the shit-eating grin on his conniving face.
“Hey,
Rafe
,” I said to Cindy’s estranged husband. “You
gonna
let me in?”
Chapter 17
He licked his
lips.
“C’mon in, babe.”
I wanted to
gut-punch him right then.
I hated being
called “babe” with a passion. It was just as bad as “gal”, and both were almost
as bad as the racial epithets Agent Monroe liked to throw around. “Baby” was
okay, but only from a lover. “Babe” was totally unacceptable.
At least he’d
given me the welcome I needed.
Couldn’t step in his house
without an invite.
Showing both rows
of my perfectly straight white teeth, I grinned big and fake. I’d need an
Academy Award before the night was through.
“You mind if my
friend joins us?” I said.
He threw his head
back like the sex of his dreams was about to go down. “Oh, yes, babe. Where’s
your friend? Tell her to come on in.”
If he kept calling
me babe, plan A was out the window. I’d jump straight to plan Z, which included
him in a body bag. That was the last resort—one that would end my friendship
with
Cin
and probably secure my spot in hell—but
still a viable option.
I grinned again
and waved at the car for Aaron to come in. Then I stepped inside the grand
foyer, closing the door behind myself, making sure it remained unlocked.
Rafe
really gave me the heebie-jeebies, and I really didn’t
want to be around him at all. But with everyone
Saybree
confirmed was coming after me, I needed to tidy up the loose end with
Cin
. Didn’t need her being desperate and
ratting
me out for money to fight this loser.
Looking around at
the Roman sculptures, crystal chandeliers and marble fountain, I remembered the
last time I was in the mansion awing over these expensive pieces. Cindy had
plastered a smile to her face in honor of her daughter’s birthday, but I could
see right through it. Now
Cin
was living back with
her mother, and
Rafe
was living really well. It wasn’t
fair what he was putting her through. She hadn’t fought him for the house or
one brown penny of her entitlement. She only wanted to keep their daughter and
Rafe’s
spiteful ass was punishing her.
He handed me a
glass of liquid poison and began sipping his own.
“I never thought
you’d come around, Willow.” He shook his head. “But I am
sooo
glad you did.”
Sizing him up, I
knew I may have to expose my nature to Aaron in order to get
Rafe
down. He was a huge dude, Punch huge. No problem. He
was human. I’d skin his
mohawked
head in front of
Aaron if it came to that.
Rafe
came to me, leaning down to nibble my neck. I slipped
from his reach and said through gritted teeth, “Let’s go up to your bedroom.”
“Shouldn’t we wait
for your friend?”
“We can go on up.
Get things started.”
He grinned.
“Whatever you like.”
After hooking his arm so I could loop
mine through it, he led me to the double staircase.
Felt like I was
walking the plank.
“You’re not going
to ask how Cindy’s
doing?
” I said.
“Nope.
Why should I?”
“Maybe because you
were married for eight years and have a daughter together? Or because you’re
suing for sole custody and you know how much that hurts her.”
“Cindy’s the one
who filed for divorce. She brought this on herself.”
“You cheated,
Rafe
. Several times,” I scowled then quickly turned it to a
smile. If I kept this up, I’d blow my cover. “’Course, I know it’s because you’re
so passionate,” I said. He grinned and moved his arm around my waist.
Gag.
“I
just wish you and Cindy could be more amicable now that you’re dissolving your
marriage. Custody battles don’t have to be so brutal.”
When we entered
the master suite,
Rafe
lifted his shirt over his head
without preamble and threw it to the floor. “Are we
gon
’
stand around talking ’bout Cindy all night or are we
gon
’
get down to what you came over for?”
Well, at least I
attempted to reason with him. “Oh, we’re
gon
’ get
down to it.”
He walked up close
and slowly lifted my hand holding the full glass. “You haven’t even sipped your
drink.”
“You look like you
could use another one.
Here.
” I held the drink to his
lips as he drank. Once it was empty he let the glass of ice fall to the floor.
Guess he didn’t care about making a mess since the housekeeper he was last
caught boning would clean it up in the morning.
In the next
heartbeat, he leaned down to my neck and started nibbling again, like that was
his go-to move. Backing up, I put distance between us and successfully kept
myself from ripping out his spleen. “Why don’t you show me what I’m getting?”
He looked
suspicious, like maybe I kept dodging him for a reason. But all it took was a
little wink from me for him to let his arrogance get the best of him. He
dropped the caution and turned flirty, letting a devilish grin take over his
face. Then he undid his belt buckle, stepped out of his pants and stood in his
boxer briefs with his arms out like I should have been impressed. I twirled my
finger around, indicating he should spin and show me the whole package. He did.
Not bad.
Tanned muscles everywhere.
But he wouldn’t
have turned me on even on a famished day. His exterior was nice, but he was
ugly on the inside.
Abruptly, he
grabbed me and palmed my ass two-handedly. Pushing him away, I wondered what
was taking Aaron so long. He was only supposed to wait five minutes then come
on in and follow us upstairs. I certainly hoped he hadn’t chickened out. He was
critical to my plan.
“Lose the drawers,”
I said. “I
wanna
see
everything
I’m getting.”
Rafe
proudly hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his
Calvin Klein’s and pulled them down. They landed on the floor like a nail in a
coffin, dick springing out like a jack-in-the-box.
I turned towards
the door hoping Aaron would walk in.
No luck.
Rafe
was hard…and he was aggressive…and I didn’t want to
hurt the dipshit before I had a chance to get what I’d come for.
“Well?”
Rafe
said impatiently.
How someone as
sweet as
Cinnabuns
got wrapped up with
Rafe
I’d never know.
Fine.
I’d do it the easy way.
I walked up to
Rafe
and locked his eyes on mine. “Go lie on the bed and
wait for me.”
He nodded and
backed up slowly to the bed. Footsteps in the hall told me Aaron was finally on
the way.
About time.
“We’re in here,” I
yelled.
Rafe
was just getting comfortable on the bed when Aaron
walked in.
“Whoa,” Aaron
said, covering his eyes from
Rafe’s
nakedness.
“You still
gonna
be able to do this?” I said.
Aaron nodded,
tossed me his digital camera, and started stripping. “Just so we’re clear—I’m
not touching his cock.”
Guys
fondling each other was
not something I found disgusting.
Not at all.
But we were on the same page about
Rafe
. I didn’t want to touch him either.
“Fair
enough.”