Wrath (7 page)

"Aidan?" I mouthed, my lips twitching with delight as I looked him over. 

I hadn’t known his real name.  It fit him, just like ‘Wrath’ did, but this was the gentler side of him, the part that offered to buy me dinner and fix my car.  The part that might take all the time in the world to do all the right things. 

He looked right back at me, his face expressionless.  I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, and he said nothing.  At least, not to me. 

Instead, he turned to the older woman.

"Mary," he smiled at her.  "How've you been?"

A broad grin split her lips, bright as if he was her favorite little boy.  "I have to get damn cataract surgery!” she announced.  “Can you believe it? Joe won't let me use the car, or nothin'.”  She swiped her hand around the air as if she was throwing the whole idea out.  "What am I doin' standin' here gabbin' at yinz for? Let's get you a seat."

I followed her through one small dining area and into a low-lit room. 

"Your usual, hon?” she asked, then nodded to me.  “And who is this lady, here?"  She looked me over, head to toe.  "Brought us a pretty one, huh? Not bad, kid.  Not bad."

I blushed, and tried not to let the way she talked about me as if I was a thing bother me too much.  Normally I'd be upset, but she was a sweet woman and she meant well.

Wrath included me into the conversation in a way old Mary understood.  "This is Emma.  She's a bit of a firecracker, don't let her fool you."

That got me a raised brow.  "Oh?  I like a strong woman.  I am one myself.”  She gave me another look over and addressed me a little differently – woman to woman.  “This is my diner.  Ran it since the war, never did give it back to my husband when he came home from Vietnam.”  She smiled and ushered the two of us into our seats.  "I highly recommend the cod, but I recommend everything here.  It's what I eat.  All my meals, I eat here.” 

She grinned at us.

"So.”  This to Aidan.  “Steak and fries, a strawberry milkshake, and a burger?" She shook her head.  "You are going to kill yourself, kid."

"Only live once.”  He grinned at me.

"And you?"

"I'll have your cod sandwich, with a side salad please?"

"Now that's a girl.  She listens.  You might wanna do the same.”  She bopped him on the head with her menus and then walked off.

I leaned over the second she was gone and gleefully asked, "Is she your grandmother or something?"  She was a nebby and I thought she was great.

"Nah, just a lady in the neighborhood.  Looked out for me when I was a kid.”  He shrugged. 

My head was already doing a happy dance, backwards and forwards.  "So, Aidan, huh? I like that.  Aidan.  I think I choose it over Wrath.”  I settled in as if that decided it.

He just rolled his eyes.

"Why here?" I asked.

"I wanted to take you out, and this is one of the only places I like.”  He leaned in.  "You got a problem with that?"  That freaking grin.  It was so damn irresistible, even when I knew he was baiting me.

"Nope.  Do you?" I asked, countering him, "Or did you just want to stare at me from a new vantage point?"

He chuckled.  "You really like to give a guy a hard time, huh?  Even when he rescues you?"

I snorted and my grin was broad and a bit hard around the edges as I replied, "
Especially
when he rescues me.  I owe you, by the way, for that.  Gas money or something."

"I'd rather just feel your body against mine on the back of my ride.  I consider that payment enough."

Hoooooly shit
.

I didn’t ‘blush.’ I turned red all the way down to my hips on that one.  The man was blunt, that was for sure.  My hint of a smile got him going, though.

“Ah, so she does like me after all.”  He grinned.  “I think I can work with that.  But I promise you, by the time you come around, it won’t just be your cheeks that get hot.”

Well, who was I to tell him he’d already scored on that one?  He wanted to run his mouth like that, let him find out for himself!

The corner of his lips quirked wickedly, creasing just right as he looked me over, those eyes wandering up and down my body. 

It took a lot for me to recollect my composure, but I managed.  “You can try.” 

Mary brought our food and made a few jokes before returning back to her friends on the other side of the diner.  We could hear them in the background, gabbing until another customer came in.  Meanwhile, we were all but forgotten about.

“How long have you been with Fire and Steel?” I asked, trying to make conversation.

“Not long.”

He answered things so matter-of-factly, as if everything was as simple as a straight answer.  When he was like this, I didn’t know what to make of him.

“Why do you work at a strip club?” he asked without tact. 

I was surprised that the question made me uncomfortable. 

I swallowed, searching for words, and decided to try for simple.  “It’s a job.”  Two could play at that game.

“You like it?”

“It’s a job,” I repeated.  Whether or not I liked it was beside the point.

“So why not work somewhere else?”

That question annoyed me a little.  “Because nowhere else pays as good for bartending, and because my cousin needed some extra help.  Besides, beats getting up on that pole.”

He chuckled.  “I don’t intimidate you at all, do I?”

“Not a bit.”  I raised my eyebrow.  He made me feel other things, though.  Things that no woman should be feeling in the middle of a diner filled with geriatrics. 

“Wanna take a ride?  I could show you the city the way it ought to be seen.”  He kept his voice even, but the way he said that let me know he meant something else entirely, but there was no way I was going to let him win that discussion. 

I was sorely tempted, but I had class in the morning.  And there was no way that my tuition payment was going to pay itself.  And I might be a sucker for the ride, but I wasn’t about to throw everything away.  Not like my mother had…

“I think I am going to have to pass.  I need to head to work.”

Oh, did I want to hold on tight to his body and let him take me for a ride.  But old memories were sobering me, reminding me to be careful.  So careful… The future was such an easy thing to burn.

“Well then, at least we can take the long way, huh?”  He threw down his napkin and enough to pay the bill, not even bothering to wait for the check. 

“Mary,” he called, and gave her a wave, obviously trying to leave quickly.  But the old lady rushed over before we could get out of there and demanded a hug of him.

It was so surreal to see those huge arms hugging a little old lady as though she was a fragile china doll.  He was so careful with her.

She turned to me and smiled.  “This boy is a good one.  You better not let him get away.  A war hero, you know.”  She nodded, but when I turned to look at him any trace of a smile was gone.

His face was completely withdrawn except for the faint tension of old wounds remembered.

I knew that tension well.  I felt it anytime anyone brought up my past.

“Thank you for having us.”  I said as I shook her hand, covering the moment while he recovered himself.

She pulled me into a hug.  “You take care of our boy,” she demanded.  “He needs it.”

I staggered back.  I wanted to protest, wanted to say we were just friends, but I knew that what she was asking was too important.  She was saying that he might be tough as nails on the outside, but he was too vulnerable for his own good.  And he had no idea.  If nothing else, he needed a friend.

I just nodded, keeping the realization to myself.  I couldn’t wound his pride like that, so I just said, “Hope to be back soon!” and let him lead me out of the diner.

When we came upon the monstrous bike, he caught my hand and drew me between his body and the seat.  He was so close…

“You ever ridden through the countryside at night?” he asked.

“No,” I answered.

“Maybe we’ll do that sometime.” Whatever dark thoughts had been passing through his head were now gone, replaced by a boyish grin.  I let it wipe away all my troubles too, and I shook my head.

“Sure you don’t want to skip work? Hang out?”

“You keep trying to convince me, but I really do have to get back,” I said, my voice much gentler now – a rain check rather than a rejection.

“Okay.  But tonight I want to take you the long way.”

I nodded, glad for the excuse to spend more time with him. 

That was my first mistake.

Emma

He was there waiting for me when I got out of work.  I was sweaty and exhausted, and not even prepared to deal with going home.  It was a shock to see him then, standing in the parking lot, staring at me with those intense grey eyes of his.

My heart skipped a beat, and my stomach fluttered as I walked towards him. 

Walk
, I told myself,
do not run
.  I wanted to sprint across the parking lot and leap onto that ridiculous bike like a giddy fool, ask him to drive and drive and never look back.  Instead, I focused on walking straight.  My legs had gotten a little weaker when I saw him.

He must’ve guessed that because before I even got there he hopped back on his bike and revved the engine, holding out a hand to help me on.

“Hold on, darlin’.”  He handed me a helmet and put another over his head.

So he did listen to me when I asked him to get one.

I beamed, my smile bright as sunlight on chrome.  He must’ve gone right out and got it.  This tickled me pink.  It seemed that under all that bad boy appeal there was still a little bit of a sweet man.  I won’t lie: something about the combination of attentive and dangerous at once turned me on. 

I put on the helmet and slung myself over the bike like a pro, holding on tight to his body while he sped off down the highway.  My thighs fit around his body like I had been born to sit behind him.  The warmth that spread through me was intoxicating.

He didn’t bother going towards my dorm - no, he took off in the opposite direction, heading off towards Route 50, down south of the city. 

I should’ve been concerned, but I wasn’t.  Not at all.  I just wanted to feel him pressed up against my body.  And as we ran parallel to the Monongahela River, speeding into the water-cooled wind, that is exactly what I did.

I savored every second.

I don’t know how long we road in the dark, his lone headlight guiding the way, but the last thing I wanted to do when we reached our destination was talk.  It was incredible, a true high, holding back all that desire – and feeling so certain he was playing the same game.

What would happen when the dam broke?  What would we do?

I bit my wind-dried lips and held on tight. 

The night was beautiful and frightening, but in the best sort of way.  We whipped around the curves alongside the river.  I held on as tight as I could each time the bike tilted, enjoying the pressure of gravity and speed.  There was something magical about it all, as if nothing bad could happen to us so long as his hands were on the handles and my arms were around his chest.  It was as if we were invincible.

He pulled into a little parking lot off along the river.  It existed so that boaters and kayakers could enter the water, but it was well-kept and absolutely gorgeous under the night sky. 

I climbed off the bike in a daze, in awe of it all.

The gravel and sand were lit by the moon and licked with so many shadows.  The air was quiet enough for the soft rush of the water to fill our ears like satin, while the crickets chimed and clicked in percussion.

I couldn’t have said if Wrath understood the beauty of it, but I was in love with the moment. 

“Thought you might need a little time to unwind before I took you back to the dorm,” he murmured in my ear, pulling the helmet off my head.

My hair had to be a mess, but I didn’t care.  I turned into him and shivered as I looked into his moonlit eyes, tasting the warmth of his breath on my tongue and thrilling in the way I could suck the cool air from his lips as I leaned in. 

We hovered there, caught in a moment, until I made a choice.  I ran my lips lightly – so lightly – across his cheek in a kiss that caused
him
to shudder.  A playful, wicked little grin danced across my lips, as my finger pressed to his lips, sealing them.

I fought down a groan as he let me pull away.

When I whispered to him, it was like a spell between us, so fragile, so easy to break. 

“
It’s beautiful
.” 

I gazed out over the expanse and then looked back at him, my nose brushing his cheek.  He was standing there, looking down at me, oblivious to the damned river.  That was when it hit me.  This wasn’t a game to him.  We could play all I liked, but I could see the honesty in his eyes.  He was looking at me like I was all he wanted to see.

That truth shook me to my core, tingling through my limbs like electricity.

When he took over, I couldn’t help but obey.

“Come here.”  He pulled me into him, his hands pressing my body to his in all the right ways.

I’d wanted this, been waiting for it.  But somehow I wasn’t prepared for the sheer heat of him, the way he filled my vision so thoroughly.  The way those hands knew exactly where to hold. 

I looked up into his eyes, my body shaking as his mouth came down onto mine, wetting my ride-parched lips.

If I had wanted to protest it was too late.  If I had wanted to escape from him, my body would never follow.  He had already taken me.  My words were gone, stolen by his touch.  My body had given in, swallowed by the heat of him. 

The firm press of his chest, the length of that rippled waist. 

Oh my god, that waist
. 

As my hand skittered along the muscles of his torso, I groaned and buried the fingers of the other hand into his hair, drawing him closer. My tongue tangled with his, savoring the taste of mint and man.

I lost myself in Aidan – Aidan, not Wrath - because that was who he was to me in that moment. His hand gripped my shoulders, palms running down my back, teasing my shirt up to expose my hot skin to the cool night air. When he held my waist, flesh to flesh, I groaned into his mouth and ground against him. 

He owned me – every breath, every sigh that came from my body as I returned his feverish touch.  My hands dancing under his shirt, clasping every striation of muscle.  Tugging his shirt up and over his head, grappling with his belt while he untangled me from my own clothing.

There was no time to look.  No time to analyze or understand.  Only the feel of him in the dark, his burning touch and my own desire dancing together in a wild dance that stole my breath.

I couldn’t breathe if I wasn’t touching him. I couldn’t stand another second without him against me.

I hadn’t allowed myself to feel this in years, and there was no way in the world I was going to control myself now. 

The games were done.  The dam was broken.  It crashed through me, a torrential wave bursting free.  Aidan was the one to deliver the final blow and let it all come tumbling loose. 

His body sliding in and out of mine released cries of pleasure I had forgotten I could utter.  His hot mouth on my shoulder, along my throat, upon my own had me grasping his hips hungrily. 

My hands unbalanced him, and I was suddenly aware of his prosthetic.  I didn’t care.  I pushed him over onto his back and climbed atop him, bending over him slowly and licking his lower lip. 

He reached up and took me by the hair, firm and steady, holding me to him, sealing our kiss, telling me right where he wanted me.  When he released me to breathe, I drew myself up and slid back onto his cock, looking down at him and grinning. 

I felt like a mischievous, glorious goddess.

I shivered deliciously as the dampness of the grass I had been lying in chilled against my flushed skin.  Then I started moving my hips again, my body swallowing his, tight to his thickness, wet to his length.

When I came the first time, it took me by surprise and I cried out in disappointment and pleasure – disappointment that it might all end now and pleasure as he caught what was happening and threw the full force of his strength into me again and again, driving me over the crest and letting me ride it long and steady.

When my body relaxed, he rolled me over onto my back, kissing me as he finished, going slow and firm while my body sang on the leftover high.  When I groaned again, tilting my hips so he could rub it just right, he let me, and when my wet body rose to meet his, still hungry, he sped up and got his own. 

When it was over, he fell beside me, both of us breathing hard and shivering.

My chest heaved while I struggling for air, my body shaking as he held me close.

When we had finally caught our breath, he laughed softly.

“Damn, if I would’ve known you could do that, I would’ve taken you home with me the first night I saw you.”

“I would’ve walked from there back to campus and you know it.”  I grinned, utterly unrepentant.

“Yeah.  I do.”  He tucked a strand of my hair behind my head.  “So the view was worth the drive?” he whispered.

I turned towards him to look him over.  To my amazement, he looked at me with a gaze as steady as my own, those eyes lively in the dim light. “Definitely,” I whispered back.

“Good.”  He cleared his throat, grinning ruefully.  ”Because we are a ways from home.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You probably have classes in the morning.”

At this point we were just talking to remind ourselves we could.  It was true though.  I did have classes.  All the same, if he had asked me to his place just then, I would’ve said yes.  Anything for another one of those kisses.  Anything for more of that body. 

I think he knew what I wanted, but instead of giving me my desires, he smiled and said, “Hop on the bike.”

Damn
.  The game was on again.

If I smiled like a cat with the cream, who could have blamed me?