Bet on Me (18 page)

The last thing I should have been doing was kissing her back, but my body flicked on to autopilot. I reacted to her touch on instinct, our mouths moving as one when she parted her lips and allowed me into her mouth.

Pulling away gradually, she rested her forehead against mine. Our breaths were laboured, and as I drew even further back to regard her with confusion I murmured, “You haven’t run.”

She smiled at the disbelief I could feel on my face, her thumb tracing my bottom lip.

“I told you. You should have bet on me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Alaya

I honestly had no idea what Cole expected me to run from. Sure he’d done some shitty things under Crowley, but to me it sounded like he did them all to help his brother out. That wasn’t a cruel man in my opinion; it was someone with a big heart. Cole risked his life for his brother and it nearly cost him it.
It still might.

“Seriously, is that it?”

Cole dropped his hands from my waist and the heat instantly vanished at the lack of contact. He stared up at me in confusion and his lips formed a tight line. “Did you miss the part about dealing drugs, street racing, and beating people up who didn’t make payments on time? Oh, and the gambling, identity fraud, and car crash.”

“No, I got all that, but you were doing it for your brother.”

“I still did it all.”

I wanted to face palm my hand. Did he honestly think I would think less of him once I knew what he’d really done? “Your intentions were good.”

“It doesn’t make what I did right.”

“I’m not denying that, but you’re not a bad guy, Cole. Everyone’s done shitty things, yet you tried to change it. You got Crowley locked up for seven years. I don’t know why you think I’d run from you.”

He refused to meet my gaze. No matter how many times I moved into his line of sight he always turned his head to avoid me. “You know not running puts your life in danger, right? Ryder’s not going to stop until he’s got me or I’m dead.”

“I was after an adventure.”

He pushed me back, crawling further on to the bed to separate us even more. Disapproval radiated from him. “Not one that could get you killed, Alaya. That’s stupid and I don’t want to be held responsible when you didn’t need to be involved.”

“I could die doing any of the activities I have planned on this trip. Sky diving, an eighty mile an hour zip wire, bungee jumping, rafting, paragliding … none of those are safe. Hell, I could die crossing the road tomorrow. It doesn’t mean I’m going to sit in my room and play life safe. I told you, I don’t do safe. I want excitement and adventure.”

“This is different than any of those. You don’t want someone hunting you down; to be looking over your shoulder wondering if someone’s watching you. That’s what my life is like and it’s what yours will become if you don’t run from me. You don’t want that.”

He had a point, yet he missed one vital thing, and it struck me harder than a freight train while he was talking. Actually, ever since I saw him in the hotel lobby I knew. I’d tried to convince myself it wasn’t the case and failed. The words I needed to speak next scared me more than his past. “No I don’t want that, but I want you.”

My response seemed to bring him up short; whatever he’d been about to speak dying on his lips. His mouth hung open and he stuttered, “Y-you want … me?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t turn into a dork now. Your bad boy image was the only thing you had going for you.”

He shook his head ruefully and his hand found my waist again. Applying pressure to my back, he pulled me forward and lay back on the bed until I collapsed across his chest. He lifted his free hand to brush away the tendrils of hair stuck to my lip gloss, his finger grazing my skin and lingering as it moved over my neck.

The sensation of his calloused hands running over me made my breath catch in my throat. As they glided over my pulse point I hoped he didn’t notice how strongly my body reacted to him, but when I peered up he didn’t even look like he was in the room with me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, raising my hand to run a finger down the bridge of his nose to smooth the creases I found there.

“Do you remember what you said about personalities?”

“Vaguely,” I replied. In reality I had no recollection of what I said to him because I talked … a lot. Very few things I said stayed in my mind for longer than an hour.

“You said everyone has an innate personality and can’t change who they are.”

Ah, okay
. Now I knew where this was heading. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Do you still believe it? That I haven’t changed?”

“Of course.” His chest deflated beneath me, his arm falling limply from my neck. “You haven’t changed because you didn’t need to. There wasn’t anything bad about your personality to begin with. You joined Crowley to help your brother. You were put in bad situations and I can see that it’s affected you. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.”

“It really doesn’t bother you?”

I pulled myself off of him and sat up. Crossing my legs beneath me, I gazed down at him, my chest cracking open at the fear in his eyes. He tried to hide it, but the slight downturn of his mouth and his avoidance of my gaze gave him away.

“If you’re asking whether I agree with the things you did then no. Do I like the idea of you doing them? Of course not. However, I didn’t know you back then. I can only judge you on who you are now and I like who you are. To be honest, I think I would have liked you back then.” I paused, my lips curving. “But you still need to earn my forgiveness for what happened in France. That I’m not letting go. You acted like a dick.”

He sighed, though it sounded more in relief. “I know. I am sorry.”

“Not going to cut it,” I laughed, shaking my head at him.

“Will another kiss do?”

“Really? You think that highly of yourself, do you?”

He drew himself up on to his elbows. “You were the one who said you liked me.”

“And don’t for one second think I didn’t notice you said nothing back. That’s another strike to your name.”

Dropping back on to the bed, the mattress bounced beneath me and before I knew it his hands circled my waist. Lifting me on top of him, one hand stayed at the small of my back while the other reached up to clasp the back of my neck. Drawing me closer towards him, my nose brushed against his. He gazed up at me, barely concealing his desire.

His lips grazed mine, only a feather-light touch. He relaxed his grip and allowed me to pull back ever so slightly.

“I like you too, Gingernut.”

Forgetting all about the forgiveness he needed to earn—because my heart already had—I closed the gap between us once more. This time my mouth slanted over his with more force, demanding and taking what I wanted. He parted his lips beneath me and moaned into my mouth. His tongue swept into me, tasting and teasing me when he pulled back to draw my bottom lip in between his teeth.

“Now try it without the annoying nickname,” I murmured against him, sure he could feel my smile.

“I like you, Alaya. You make me want to be better … to actually live. I didn’t know what I was missing out on until you entered my life in your bubble of determination and happiness. I can’t go back to the life I had before even if it means facing what I did to protect you. I need you.”

The butterflies in my stomach fluttered at his words, yet I covered all of my emotions except for humour. My heart may have forgiven him, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t going to have a little fun at his expense. “Much better, Hazel.”

I knew the nickname would elicit some kind of reaction. However, I didn’t expect the quick movements of his body. Within a split second, he dislodged me from straddling him and pinned my body beneath him. With a growl, he clasped both of my wrists in one of his hands while he supported himself above me with the other.

“What did I say about the nickname, sweetheart?”

“I’m not scared of you. You have no follow through—” He cut my giggle off by crashing his lips down on mine. Hard and aggressive, he kissed me passionately.

“I think it’s about time I do then,” Cole growled, and the sound sent my stomach into a spiral. When he pulled back and stared down at me with a salacious grin, spikes of nervous excitement shot through me.

What have I gotten myself into this time?

* * *

I lay on my back, staring at the off-white ceiling. The uncontainable grin quirking my lips had me looking like a crazed idiot as I regained my breath and attempted to calm my heart. If Cole kissed me like that every time I called him Hazel then I would seriously use his nickname at every opportunity because damn the guy could kiss. And if that was what he could do with a single kiss, I couldn’t fathom what he could do with other parts of his body … or mine in fact.

“You’re not very good at this punishment thing.” I rolled my head to the side to gaze at where he lay next to me.

“I think I’m incredible. It means I get to kiss you every time you annoy me. I don’t see how it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s not much of a deterrent.”

“Maybe I just want an excuse to kiss you.” He reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His eyes became lighter with the change of topic, his expression more relaxed. He continued to trail his hand over my neck, down my shoulder, and across the sensitive skin on the inside of my arm. My hairs stood on end at his touch and his fingers finally laced with mine.

“You won’t hear any complaints from me.”

“I didn’t think I would.”

I flicked my gaze to the ceiling with feigned exasperation. “Cocky.”

“Confident,” he corrected.

“How do you feel about checking out the markets?” I blurted, knowing if I didn’t change the subject I would end up back in his arms and never leave the room.

“I prefer what we’ve been doing for the last half an hour.”

I drew my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down on it lightly in thought. “Oh well, you owe me. You have a lot of ground to make up and I want to see the markets, so you’d better start kissing my ass if you want my forgiveness.”

“Literally? Because I have no qualms with that.” As if to prove his point he reached around me to cup my ass. When he started to squeeze, I grabbed his hand and placed it safely between the two of us.

“No, not literally you perv,” I muttered unconvincingly around a laugh. Sitting up, I scooted to the edge of the bed and slipped on my boots—they were one of the larger items I packed, but I knew I’d need them. “I want to go to the markets now. They’re the whole reason I came here.”

“I think we should wait for Levi. Ryder can’t see me and I’m not comfortable with him following you around on your own. The markets will still be there tomorrow.”

I pouted, pursing my lips dramatically with sad eyes.

“I’m serious, Gingernut. It’s not safe. It’s a stupid risk to take, especially if we’re caught together.”

“Please?” I stepped back towards him, sliding in between his legs. I hung my arms loosely around his neck and his arms encircled my waist automatically to hold me against him.

“We should wait. We won’t even get out of here without him seeing one of us.”

“I have a plan.”

He regarded me warily.

“What?” I asked innocently.

“The last time you told me you had a plan I ended up standing in a boat while it travelled through rapids, falling out of said boat, and then throwing myself off a rock.”

“And you loved every second so shut up.”

“That’s not the point. It’s different this time. There’s more at risk and I’m not putting you in that situation.”

“You won’t be. I told you I have a plan.”

He groaned, the sound weaker than before. “Let’s hear it then.”

“I take it you bought a new phone if Levi has been in contact with you?”

He nodded, and I retrieved mine from my bag.

“Give me your number. I’ll be lookout and if it’s clear I’ll text you.”

“That’s your plan? It’s seems more like a ploy to get my number.”

I ignored his comment, knowing he was attempting to distract me. “The simple plans are always the best. It’s when you start overcomplicating things the chances of something going wrong increase. Although, if you want to go with plan B, then all right.”

“What’s plan B?”

“Well, first of all you need to get to the lift and pry the doors open. Then we both shimmy down the lift shaft until we get to the basement, and if we survive that we need to make like ninjas and get to the delivery entrance at the back of the hotel. From there we should be safe and can run off to the markets.” I couldn’t hold back the laugh. It rippled from me at the mixture of shock and puzzlement on his face.

“I really need to learn not to ask stupid questions around you. Your mind does not work like a normal person’s.”

“I take it you’re not a fan of plan B?”

“The whole point of the plan is to keep us alive, not kill us quicker. Anyway, why couldn’t we just take the lift down to the basement?”

I slapped him on the shoulder in jest. “Aww, where’s your sense of adventure?”

“You’re crazy.” He nipped at my lip.

“You knew that from day one, I never hid it so you must like it. How about we merge the plans? You take the lift down to the basement and I’ll meet you around the back?”

“I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”

I held out my hand and made a grabby gesture, asking for his phone. When he made no move to hand it over I dipped my hand into his pocket and retrieved it myself. Once I input my number I threw the device back to him and scurried over to the door. “Either I’m going on my own or you’re coming with me. Which is it?”

“Alaya, please wait until Levi gets here.”

I shook my head and placed my hand on the door. “It’ll be fine. Staying or coming?”

“Fine, text me when it’s clear and I’ll make my way out the back.”

“I knew you’d see it my way.” I opened the door and stepped out when a last minute thought came to me. “Oh, and make sure you have your passport on you. You need to carry ID here.”

Cole didn’t appear convinced, yet before he had a chance to voice any kind of protest I opened and shut the door behind me. Making my way down to the lobby, I scoured the area for any signs of Ryder. Thankfully, he wasn’t a hard person to miss. His tall and bulky frame, not to mention the huge, unforgettable scar on his face, gave him away in a crowd and I could see no one fitting his description watching me.