Authors: Shannon McKenna
Nina’s brows twitched together. “Coercion? Really? Wow.
What makes you think so?”
The fact that we got off the damn bus. The fact that we’re eating lunch.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said vaguely. “Just a feeling.”
“A feeling,” she repeated, looking at him very hard, but he offered no further explanations. “Actually, it makes sense,” she said, after a few minutes. “In fact, it’s appropriate. For once, nature knows best.”
“How’s that?” he asked, suspicious.
“Only a principled person can be trusted with a gift like that.”
He coughed, sputtering his coffee. “You figure?”
“Hell, yes! A talent that easily abused? It could be used for every trivial thing a person might want, out of sheer convenience! That power is only safe in the hands of a person who can be trusted absolutely!”
The glow of conviction in her eyes made his stomach sink.
“You think I’m principled? And trustworthy? Really?”
“I know you are.” She had that ring in her voice. People were turning to look. “I know you. I can read you. You would only use a power like that in self-defense, and under the direst of circumstances.”
He didn’t understand this irresistible impulse to confess, but he leaned over the table. “I coerced the waitress into serving us lunch.”
Nina’s jaw dropped. Shock vibrated against his mind like the jangle of an alarm bell. Then came the imperious knock against his vault doors, summoning him to open up, show that it was true.
He did so, docile as a lamb.
She gasped. “Aaro,” she whispered fiercely. “That is
despica-ble!
”
“Yes,” he agreed meekly. “Horrible. Heinous. I know.”
“Never do that again!” she hissed. “To anyone! You hear me?”
“It was just an experiment,” he protested. “I had to see if my hunch was for real, so I—”
“Experiment, my ass! It makes you a monster! Like Rudd!”
“Uh, OK, fine. Never again. Except, uh, in self-defense. And in the direst of circumstances.”
“Don’t you dare throw my words back into my face, you bastard!” she hissed. “You owe that woman! You
wronged
her!”
He squinted. “Huh? Owe her what?”
“An apology, at the very least! But since that’s inadvisable right now, we’ll settle for a big tip. A
massive
tip! You manipulative
bastard!
”
He shrugged. “I don’t have a wallet,” he reminded her. “I’m flat busted, Nina. You’re the one with the cash.”
She dug into her purse, pulling out the manila envelope from Wilder’s car that contained their dwindling cash stash. She pulled out two C-notes, and slapped them on the table. “This is a loan.
You will pay me back, Aaro. Every last cent.”
He stared down at the money on the table. “Nina. The bill is nine dollars and seventy-nine cents,” he said. “That’s a hundred-ninety-dollar-and-twenty-one-cent tip.”
“I’m so glad you pointed that out!” She dug into the purse again, rummaged, and slapped down another ten. “You should make it an even two hundred. She can use it. Her kids need shoes.”
They stared at each other. Her eyes sparkled. There were pink spots in her cheeks. He’d pissed her off so much, it had kicked up her blood pressure. Awesome. That flushed look of righteousness.
The bus driver drained his coffee cup, and stood. “Five minutes, and all aboard!” he bellowed to the restaurant at large, before stumping heavily off to the bathroom again.
“Next time, it will be four hundred,” she warned. “Then eight, and so on. You do the math. Never, ever again! Understand?”
“Whatever,” he muttered. “Let’s get on the bus.”
He followed her out the door. Anger smartened her step. At this point, he judged it impolitic to confess what he’d done to the bus driver. It would fry his synapses to give four hundred dollars to that prick, as well as wiping them out of cash. Lucky she hadn’t caught it herself while peeking. Nina strode on ahead, still seeth -
ing. He admired the angry ass twitches as she flounced up the steps of the bus.
She flopped down in the back, staring stonily out the window, clutching the big black purse to her tits like a shield. Blocking him out.
He sat next to her, staring at the back of her mop of wild, flopping, snarled elf-locks. “Nina,” he said.
No response. It was starting to piss him off. They did not have time for this self-indulgent shit. He’d confessed, he’d apologized, he’d paid a fucking fine. What did she want from him, blood?
“Turn around, Nina,” he said. “Look at me.”
She did not. He grabbed her, hoisted her up onto his lap.
Wrapped his arms around her, effectively immobilizing her.
He stared directly into her blazing, furious, bright eyes.
“Be pissed, if you want,” he said softly. “But don’t push me away. Normal couples can have stupid fights. We don’t have that luxury.”
Raw emotion flashed in her eyes, and for a moment, he was terrified that she was going to cry. But she pulled herself together, brushing at her eyes with the back of clenched fists. “Did you do it to me?” she demanded. “Did you coerce me into anything?”
He didn’t bother playing dumb. His silence was his answer.
Her eyes widened.”You son of a bitch! What did you make me do?”
“Nothing,” he muttered, as the bus lurched into movement.
“Bullshit, nothing! Tell me!”
Aaro caught several pairs of eyes on them. “Tried to coerce you into not coming tonight. But it doesn’t work on you. You’re safe.”
Her eyes slitted. “Let me see.”
He closed his eyes, and let those vault doors creak open. At least the experience wasn’t painful, like when Anabel and Dmitri did it. Nina’s mental touch was delicate, like being brushed by butterfly wings. In fact, it made him hard. Nina felt it, and abruptly withdrew.
“That felt nice,” he said wistfully. “Do it again.”
She sniffed. “I wasn’t trying to titillate you.”
“You saw that it’s true, right? I can’t push you. I tried, I failed.
You’re safe. OK? You still mad?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m mad because you tried. You
dog.
”
He rolled his eyes. “So do I owe you four hundred bucks now?”
“You owe me a hell of a lot more than that!”
He sat there, wondering what to say. “Fine. I’ll pay,” he said rashly. “Stick around, Nina. I’ll just keep on paying. Forever.”
The feel of her body changed. Her mind quested, butterfly wings brushing, trying to figure out what he meant. “Aaro?”
It came together, like a landslide crashing down. The decision had been grinding along, making itself for a long time, almost since he’d met her. Certainly since he’d fucked her. Now the decision was made.
He opened up. He liked having her in there, petting, stroking.
He let her see what he wanted, what he longed for, what he was afraid of. He was too tired, too blasted apart, to even bother being ashamed of what a fucking mess he was in there. It felt good to be known.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that I’m principled and trustworthy,” he said. “I was raised by a mafiya vor. I was taught to steal and kill and do whatever’s expedient. And fuck, yeah, I’ll goose a waitress in a diner to get you a sandwich, after you faint on me. I’d do it again, and pay the four hundred bucks. Cheerfully. Or eight, or sixteen. I’m not hurting for money. The fee’s not an issue for me. You get me?”
“Ah . . . yeah, but—”
“No buts.” He had to get this out, all in one piece. “You see what I am, right? When you look inside? No secrets, right?”
“Yes, but what I meant was—”
“You see that I’m a rude, bad-tempered, suspicious, oversexed butthead? With zero moral values, and a pathologically bad attitude?”
“Ah . . . yeah, but I also see that you’re—”
“I’m all fucked up,” he forged on. “I’m going to piss you off on an hourly basis, if not more. But I love you.” There, he’d said it.
He just sat there, dumbfounded at himself, staring into her big, startled eyes. “I love you,” he said again, more loudly. He liked the way the words made him feel. “I love you. And I want you.”
Tears welled into her eyes. They flashed down over her cheeks.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
The silence that followed was like being boiled alive. As the seconds ticked by, he had to fight not to twitch. “Well?” he ground out.
“That’s not fair,” she said.
“That’s another thing that’s good to know up front. I’m not fair, and I never will be. If I can trick or manipulate you into my evil clutches, I will. Count on it.”
That earned him a wobbly smile. “So I’m in your evil clutches?”
His grip tightened. “Fuck, yeah. You’re not going anywhere, anymore. Not without me.”
He waited, but it was just silence again. “So? Out with it.”
She sucked her trembling lower lip between her teeth, and rested her forehead against his. “I don’t quite know what to say—”
“I could give you some suggestions.”
“Shut up, Aaro,” she scolded. “This is hard to say.”
“Fine,” he growled. “I’m all ears.”
“I guess . . . I’m just enjoying this. All of it. The fighting, the talking. Scolding you. Having you tell me that you love me. It’s all part of the fun fiction that we could actually have a future together.”
That cut into him, deep and cold. “It’s not a fun fiction.”
“Aaro, it’s day three,” she said. “Deal with it. Face it with me, please. Don’t leave me all alone with it.”
“No,” he replied. “I will not allow this to happen. And you’re not alone. I’ll never leave you alone. Never. No matter what.”
He couldn’t say it, but there was no hiding from a telepath.
She read it in his mind. That if the worst happened, he’d be with her to the last, clutching her hand. Glad to follow along behind, right on her heels. But they weren’t going to give up without one hell of a fight.
But he couldn’t say those words. Literally. Could. Not.
Emotions flashed across her face, but she just pried her hand loose and pressed it to his cheek. A light, butterfly touch, like her mind.
“OK,” she said simply.
“We will get through this,” he said thickly. “I want this. Us, I mean. I never have before, but I want it now.” His voice broke.
He hid his face against her neck. “I want years of it. Decades. I want to be together ’til we’re old and creaky and shriveled, with no teeth.”
“OK,” she whispered again.
“What the hell does OK mean? You never had any problems expressing yourself before! Can you imagine being with me?
Forever?”
She wiggled her arms loose, and wrapped them around his neck.
“You bet I can,” she said softly. “Let’s get old and creaky and shriveled together. I am so on board with that.”
The joy that leaped up inside him scared the living crap out of him with its intensity. He had to breathe it down some before he could even speak. “Really?” Bleating for reassurance like a nervous little kid.
She kissed him, his mouth, his cheek, his nose. Little soft, hot points of contact that glowed and sparkled against his skin like stars.
“Really.” She leaned back, and gave him the hairy eyeball.
“But if you ever try to coerce me again, I’ll rip out both your lungs.”
“No, never,” he assured her hastily, and they melted into one of those hugs again, as breathlessly close as they could possibly get with their clothes on. Tears kept slipping out of her eyes, and he would kiss them away, licking the salty drop off his lips.
“Don’t cry,” he begged.
“I’m just so sorry,” she said, her voice choked. “That you got caught in this trap along with me, with Helga’s drug. The last thing I wanted was for you to be hurt. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not,” he said baldly. “I’m glad.”
She blinked at him, looking nonplussed. “Glad?”
“I’m not hurt,” he announced. “That is to say, I was hurting before I met you. I’ve been hurting my whole life, but I’m not hurting now. I’m scared shitless. Greedy for more of the good stuff. But I’m better right now, at this moment, with you, than I’ve ever been. Ever. In my life.”
She smiled through her tears. “Oh, Aaro. That’s so sweet.”
That bugged him, that his raw confession could be construed as romantic babbling. “It’s not sweet,” he insisted. “Just the facts. If you’re heading for a wall, I want to be with you. We’ll hit the wall together.”
She wiped her eyes, sniffling. He offered her the hem of his shirt, which made her laugh, and soon they were twined in that breathless hug again, and laughter and tears became indistin-guishable.
“Me, too,” she admitted. “Better than I’ve ever been. Mortal doom and psycho monsters be damned.”
“Yeah, fuck ’em,” he said, with fierce satisfaction.
They swayed together, in a state of perfect grace, for at least twenty minutes. Nina lifted her head. “How long to Denver?”
He glanced at his phone. “Three hours. Miles called us a car service to get us up to Spruce Ridge. Another hour by car.”
“Do you think we should study the transcript again?”
“No. I think we should spend the time madly tongue-kissing.”
She sucked in her lip to suppress the smile, but the smile won.
He had at that sweet, smiling mouth again until she was breathless.
She dragged in air, at one point. “Is this a clever brainstorming technique to help you think outside the box?”
“Sure,” he agreed. “Brilliant technique. One thing, though. I want you to do that thing you were doing in my head while I kiss you. Touching me, inside. I liked it. Turned me on.”
Her eyes darted toward the other passengers. “We can’t get hot and heavy in a crowded bus in broad daylight, Aaro,” she said sternly.
“Can we get hot and heavy in the privacy of our own minds?”
“Oh, whatever, OK.” She cuddled up, and he didn’t even have to make those vault doors creak open for her now. They were flung wide. Hers, too. It occurred to him that when she was like this, wide open and trusting, he could probably pull off the coercion trick.
He banished the thought. He was not going to fuck up his good thing so soon. Besides. She wanted so badly for him to be this heroic righteous dude who kept his promises. He would try to be that, for her sake. Whatever, man. Whatever, if that was what got her off.