Twisted Mind (Chequered Flag #2) (21 page)

“He’s welcome to you. He sounds as crazy as you, but he must be worse if he’s buying your bullshit without getting you tested.”

“What does that make you then? You bought into it for a hell of a lot longer.”

“It makes me a lot of things: furious, bitter, fucked up. You don’t want to see what it
really
makes me though, Elora, because it will end with you being locked up and denied access to your child.”

Her face paled a fraction, the shock doing nothing to override the pulsating anger in my bloodstream.

“Now get out.”

She strode from the room with her head held high and her purse clutched beneath her arm. She sent me a final glare over her shoulder. “Have fun with your little
girlfriend
while you can, Dustin.”

I shut the door on her. When the lock clicked into place I collapsed back against the panel and a choked sob escaped my throat.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

Tazia

“He didn’t?” I threw my head back and laughed, wiping away the tear which had escaped my eye at the tenth utterly ridiculous but completely hilarious story Raine told me about Dustin. Although I knew his magic tricks were bad, I had no idea of the scale. “He really wound up in jail and threatened with charges of indecent exposure?”

Raine nodded, not even bothering to stifle her grin anymore. “Granted, it helped that Aston Hattersey was the boyfriend, though it would have never happened had he either worn underwear, or given up on magic.”

My laughter died on my lips. “Shouldn’t he have been back by now? I thought he only went to get a drink.”

I scanned the room and couldn’t see him anywhere.

Raine withdrew her phone from her clutch and glanced at the clock. “He’s probably off talking business or something. Teo gets pulled away all the time at these things and it’s only going to get worse now he’s World Champion. Everyone wants a piece of the drivers and considering they announced Dustin’s contract today, he’s probably getting more attention than he’s used to.”

Normally, it wouldn’t bother me and I’d have assumed the same as Raine. However, his comments from earlier ate away at me. Wouldn’t he have told me if he was leaving?

“I think I’ll go and look for him.”

“I wouldn’t worry, Tazia. He’ll find his way back.”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand. He saw Elora earlier and crashed out of his race because she messed with his head again. He’s barely been holding it together all night.”

Raine sobered immediately, her body stiffening as she scanned the room with more purpose. She must’ve not found him either because her gaze flicked to mine. “Walk with me over to Teo. He might know what’s going on.”

I didn’t know what was wrong with Raine, but I’d picked up enough in our short time together to know no one ever left her alone. I went with her without question.

“I haven’t seen him since I left you guys,” Teo said when we asked about Dustin. I caught sight of one of the men who had been in Dustin’s flat a few months ago.

“I’ll look for him, you guys enjoy your evening. I’ll let you know if I do find him.”

Raine rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be stupid, Tazia. He’s family, we’re not going to leave you searching on your own,” Teo said.

“But you two just got engaged. Don’t you want to celebrate?”

“We have all night for that.” Teo grinned and Raine socked him.

“Come on, Teo will talk to Tony and we’ll check with some of the others.” Raine took my arm and marched me over to the crowd I’d been eyeing earlier where Raffele was chatting with some girl.

“Hey, Rafe,” Raine said. He turned away from the woman he’d been charming.

“Raine! You’re more beautiful every time I see you.” He stooped down to kiss both of her cheeks then focused on me. “Tazia, right?”

I nodded, politely resisting the urge to pounce on him and demand answers.

“Where’s Dustin? I didn’t think he’d leave your side. I wouldn’t if you were mine.”

Well, that answered our question. “We were going to ask you the same thing. He’s disappeared.”

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen him.”

Raine was already pulling me away. “I’ll catch up with you later, Rafe. If you see Dustin—”

“I’ll let you know.”

He refocused on the blonde next to him and Raine paused to find her next target.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I squeaked.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, Tazia.”

I spun, recognising Cale immediately. The accent would have been enough to give him away had I not.

“I heard you were looking for Dustin. He left the room with a redhead about forty minutes ago.”

I shared a knowing glance with Raine. Only one redhead would leave with Dustin.

“Thanks, Cale.”

He gave a curt nod and melted back into the crowd.

“I’m going to check our room. You tell Teo and I’ll text you if I find him.” I took off for the exit without waiting for Raine.

I already had my key card out when I reached our room. The light flashed green as I held the card in the slot and I opened the door.

What greeted me forced me to take a few steps back with a gasp.

Dustin sat on the floor, surrounded by what appeared to be at least two decks of cards spread out in a semi-circle. He had a pile left in his hand and was placing each card down individually, lining them up in order of size inside their sets.

He glanced up when I shut the door behind me. I expected to find that wild look I’d seen whenever he had his cards out, or at least some kind of pain. However, except for the tight set of his jaw his expression remained unreadable.

“Hey,” I said, dropping my bag next to the TV. “Are you okay? Cale said he saw you with Elora.”

Dustin stared back to the cards. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He began lining them up again, organising the deck in his hand. His movements became mechanical as he performed the same gesture over and over. Each card had a specific place and got laid out with precision.

I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Taz. Not right now.”

I bit down on my lip, debating whether to drop the issue. He obviously wasn’t okay, but the atmosphere felt volatile. Pushing him would only make him explode.

“What do you want to do then?”

He paused, his arm outstretched to place down another card. He retracted it slowly.

“I want you.” His eyes bore into mine with a fierce intensity. The moss green swirling in them made it impossible to break the hold he had over me. “I want to have fun with you.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Dustin slid his hand over the floor, sweeping up the card in a line. His lips quirked when he began shuffling them. “Strip poker.”

I swallowed hard.

The last thing I expected when I came down here was to end up in a card game. I assumed there’d be anger and crying.

Dustin must have caught my hesitation because he said, “I need you, Taz. I want to forget and you make me forget. Whenever I’m with you there’s only good, so take away the bad…please.”

“You have more clothes on than me, that’s not fair.”

Dustin placed the cards on the floor and within a second he ripped his shirt over his head.

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Better?”

I crawled over to him, adding a sway to my hips. His eyes followed my every move and the desire in them had confidence swelling within me. I couldn’t believe I was doing it, but one look at Dustin’s expression had me wanting to. If he wanted to forget, I’d try my hardest to make his wish come true.

I straddled his outstretched legs and linked my arms behind his neck. Running my fingers up into his hair, I gazed at him with a sultry smile. “Wouldn’t you rather skip the card game?”

I ground myself against him, feeling him starting to harden beneath me.

Dustin swallowed hard and his eyes darkened even further. Reaching down, he slid his hands over my back until they settled on my ass.

I moved my mouth to his ear and nipped at the sensitive spot below it. “Take what you want, Dustin.”

I trailed my lips down his neck to his bare shoulder. Biting gently, I heard his shaky exhale.

“Do you want to play with me, Dust?” I rolled my hips, the friction of his trousers against my panties causing a whimper to escape my lips. “Or do you still want to play with your cards?”

Dustin hauled us both off the floor, sweeping me up into his arms. He threw me on the bed, not bothering to be gentle. Frantically, he removed the rest of his clothes, kicking off his jeans when they became stuck around his foot. He gazed at me with a predatory look and kneeled on the bed, silently stalking up the length of my body, his hands working under my dress. Pushing the material up, he followed the trail with his nose, skimming my skin.

My lips parted at the electrical current humming through me from his touch, the anticipation of what he was going to do to me too much.

Dustin pulled the dress off over my head and threw the garment to the floor. Surprise flickered in his eyes briefly at my lack of bra then was quickly replaced by hunger and pure need. His hand closed over my breast, rolling my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. I arched into him and his mouth quickly covered the sensitive peak.

Dustin ran his hand down my body and dipped into my panties. When his fingers slid over my wet folds, I trembled.

My gasp brought Dustin’s attention back to my face. Still stroking me, he stared down at me through heavy-lidded eyes which gleamed with desire.

“I don’t want to hold back, Taz.” His voice was hoarse, a gravelly rumble that only intensified my longing for him.

Keeping track of a conversation while his fingers brought me ever closer wasn’t easy. “Th-then don’t.”

“I won’t be gentle.” Dustin nipped on my bottom lip, biting a little harder than normal to emphasise his point. The sting only had me bucking my hips against his hand, my muscles clenching around his fingers to try and push myself over the edge.

“I don’t want you to be.”

That was all he needed. With a primal growl, Dustin crushed his mouth to mine.

* * *

We lay on our backs, breathing heavily. Dustin had taken me hard and fast. There was no love making involved. What he had done to me could only be described as fucking. He’d fucked me hard and made me come until I could barely remember my name.

I turned my head to look at him. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his gaze fixed firmly on the ceiling. I reached out to take his hand and brought it up to kiss it. The instant my lips touched his skin he smiled at me with contentment.

Dustin lifted his arm and I shuffled to curl up against him. I ran my finger over his lean body, focusing on the smattering of hair on his chest.

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

I chuckled. “You did a lot of things, although hurting me was never one of them.”

I snuggled back up against him. I desperately wanted to ask what had happened, but I allowed the silence to linger. He needed time to think, at least I presumed he did.

“Elora never had an abortion.”

I froze against him. “She’s still pregnant?”

Dustin lifted us to the top of the bed and pulled the covers out from underneath us so we could slide in. He drew me right back under his arm, his fingers circling my hip.

“Oh yeah. She’s showing and everything. The last person on the planet who needs more crazy hormones running through her body is that woman.”

“So…you’re going to be a dad?”

It wasn’t a deal breaker, even if the thought stung. He’d always have a connection to her and things were definitely going to be an adjustment. Dustin would no longer be solely mine, which was how it should be, but I couldn’t stop my scowl. Whenever I thought about the future, Dustin had kids with me. The fact he’d have one with another woman, although it didn’t make me love him any less, stirred my jealousy.

“She cheated on me. The baby isn’t mine.”

I bolted upright in shock. “Wait, she told you she had an abortion of a child who wasn’t even
yours
?”

And I had thought Elora couldn’t sink any lower or become any more twisted. I would have been lying, however, if I denied a certain amount of relief calmed my pulse.

Dustin flicked his eyes to me and nodded.

“Shit, Dustin. I-I—”

“You don’t have to say anything.” He reached for me and tucked me back underneath his arm. “Just lie with me.”

“But—”

He squeezed me. “I’ll be okay, Taz. I’m angry as fuck right now. She made me grieve a child who never even existed, yet this should be easier to deal with.”

“Did she say why?”

Dustin kissed the side of my head. “It’s not important. What’s important is I’m finally free of her. I have you, a Formula One contract, and my heart will finally be able to heal now.”

Grief wasn’t an emotion that could be switched off, even in Dustin’s case. For months his baby had been real to him and now he had to come to terms with the fact it never existed. I wanted to tell him that, but stopped myself. Having learned from experience, I knew Dustin would deal with it in his own way and in his own time.

Dustin rolled over so we were face-to-face. He lay on his arm, staring at me in awe. Tracing my nose with his finger, he then moved onto my lips. When he reached my eyes I closed them. He swept over my eyelashes, his touch soft and gentle.

Drawing me to him, Dustin barely grazed my lips with his. Mine curved at the touch and I hummed happily.