Broken & Burned (10 page)

I closed the back door behind me and locked it and went for a shower and Dray’s bed in that order. Reaver had left Dray’s keys on the dining table by my laptop. I’d seen them when I’d come in. As I was stripping to get into the bath, I heard a motorcycle start outside. I showered and crawled nude between Dray’s sheets, breathing in deeply. I sighed in exasperation and frustration with Jerry. I hoped this would be it with him, a last hurdle. I closed my eyes and felt my cheeks burn with the memory of the way Dray had kissed me on the dance floor.

He’d as good as promised more to come on the phone and I felt my body tremble with an unspoken but resolute
‘yes please!’
and I sighed. I needed to make sure Jerry hadn’t given me anything before I took a single step in that direction. With as much as my mind was turning it would be a long time before sleep came.

Dray…

Spending the weekend in jail sucked balls. What sucked even more was being stuck in jail for the whole weekend with nothing but thoughts of Everett on my mind. I sure as fuck hoped that ass-bag hadn’t given her anything because if he did, I was pretty much going to kill him.

God Everett… She was different. She
knew
. She didn’t go through life with a pair of blinders on. She’d grown up at the knees of killers, hell, even her dad may have been one. I stared at the underside of the bunk I’d been assigned and dared to hope. I mean, I have never been kissed like that.
Never
… and I wanted more. She’d agreed, before my lips touched hers that it didn’t have to mean anything but as soon as I’d tasted her I’d tasted the lie just as surely. As much as I hated liars, I couldn’t blame her for it when I’d been lying to myself just as hard.

There was something about Everett Moran that I’d been missing. I craved having a girl like that in my life. She was sweet and flexible but she had an inner core of steel in there somewhere. I could see it in her eyes. She looked at you and you just knew her eyes cut right through all the bullshit. Ashton was like that, but she was softer than Everett and that made Everett so much more attractive to me.

It was Tuesday and I was waiting to be released. My club had posted my modest bail and I had a court date according to my lawyer. We were going to try and plea bargain it down so I wouldn’t have a record for assault. We had a pretty good chance if I paid restitution, stayed out of trouble and volunteered to do some community service. The circumstances helped. My lawyer said that Everett agreed to enter in a sworn statement on my behalf. I was going to kiss her again just for that, but first I needed to get out of here.

“Draven Trujillo?” I looked up.

“Yeah that’s me.” I said and got up.

“Bond’s been posted, come with me.” The correctional officer held open the door for me and I went for it.

“Thanks man.” I said as I passed him.

“No problem, right this way and we’ll get you processed out.” Home, shower, Everett in that order.

Around two hours later I had two accomplished and I was resolutely heading for the third. I pulled up to a stop at a light and put my feet down walking myself and the bike up to the line. I could see her coffee stand up the block, Sadie parked nearby. I figured I’d be clever and I pulled up to the window. A blonde with way too much cleavage leaned out.

“What can I get you honey?” She asked and I looked passed her. Everett was at the coffee machine chatting at a customer through the window opposite the one I was at. I smiled when I caught sight of her tight jean clad ass and I thrust my chin in her direction.

“I’m here for her.” I said and the blonde looked over her shoulder. She scowled at me.

“She’s not on the menu.” She said flatly and I laughed.

“She is for me.” I revved my engine and I made it loud. Everett startled and whirled around. She quickly handed the coffee off to her customer on the other side and dove for the window. The blonde side stepped and Everett leaned her entire upper body out and grabbed my face, she planted one on me and I laughed, kissing her back.

“Miss me?” I asked and my heart glowed at the expressive way her eyes lit up.

“Hell yes!” she said, “Haven’t been able to get you off my mind.” She bounded backwards through the window said something to the blonde and motioned for me to pull around. I parked over by Sadie and shut off the bike. A minute later she came jogging across the parking lot. She had an hour left on her shift.

“My boss would kill me if he saw this.” She said and hugged herself

“Don’t get caught or in trouble on my account.” I told her.

“No I wanted to tell you, our results are in at the clinic.” She was smiling.

“They tell you?” I asked, she was nodding and her smile got bigger.

“I’m clean.” She did a little dance right there in her sneakers and it was the cutest damned thing I’d ever seen. I left my phone back at the house charging.

“We’ll go get mine when you’re off.” I said. She nodded and I jerked my chin in the direction of the coffee shack.

“Go on get.” I said and she smiled and dashed back across the parking lot. I sat on my bike and people watched. It was crisp but not too cold, overcast but not raining. Soon enough she was off work and coming back my way. She had a sexy damned walk. I realized.

“Follow me to the house and then we’ll drive out to get our papers.” I told her and she nodded.

I fired up the bike and waited for her to start up Sadie. What I hadn’t said was that I had every intention of taking my time with her. Treating her right. I didn’t want a quick fuck out of her I wanted to go slow and easy and I wanted her right god damned now. I knew how important having these results in hand was to her and I wanted her to know that I was clean too. I hadn’t taken the test with that intent but now I was glad I had. I didn’t want her to ever have to worry about me. I pulled Matilda into the garage and locked her up tight and safe inside.

“I don’t have class today, only on Monday and Wednesday.” She said and I felt myself smile. I got into Sadie’s driver’s seat, Everett settling into the passenger side. I backed out of the drive fluidly and headed for the clinic.

“Was it bad?” she asked quietly, midway there.

“No.” I told her and I covered her hand with mine. She gripped my fingers and searched my face, nodding.

“Couldn’t stop thinking about you either.” I confessed.

“What did you think about?” she asked.

“I like you Em. I do casual sex but for some reason I don’t want to be that with you. I want it to mean something.” I put it out there and she nodded, her steel blue eyes calculating.

“Who was she?” she asked and I blinked. Wait what?

“What?” I asked.

“You keep telling me you’re nobody’s rebound, someone hurt you. Who was she?” she asked. Crap. I gave myself away.

“Veronica. She and I hooked up when I was a club prospect back around when I was eighteen. I thought it was love, turns out it was for me but I was just a way for her to get over the guy that dumped her.” I tightened my hand on the wheel and she nodded slowly.

“I don’t want you to be a rebound.” She said softly.

“But?” I asked, sensing one coming.

“I’ve never done this before, but at the same time… You, me… I have
never
felt anything like what I felt on that dance floor. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m afraid.” I turned onto Twentieth and stopped behind some traffic and thought about it.
But she was afraid…

“Tell you what.” I said gently.

“What?” she asked and she looked confused, hurt, worried, and scared all rolled into one stricken expression.

“Let’s get these results. I’m going to take you out to dinner and let’s let things fall into place, go with what’s comfortable. Minute by minute, day by day, we’ll play it by ear and see where we’re at every step of the way.” I didn’t want this to be complicated. I just wanted a shot at her,
with
her.

She thought about it and I waited, holding my breath. Finally she smiled and it was sweet and beautiful and her lips parted and she said what I wanted so desperately to hear.

“Okay, sounds good… except.” I smiled and turned into the clinic’s lot.

“Except?”

“I’d rather stay in and cook.” She bit her bottom lip and waited.

“Good deal. Probably better for us anyways.” I said. She smiled and I felt pretty damned good about it.

We went in together and collected our results from the front desk. This was not the most awesome way to start anything but at the same time it sort of was, at least we would know, could be sure. No secrets no surprises. I liked that. It kept things simple.

I opened my results and as expected they were negative. She was looking over hers and she closed her eyes. Tears coated her lashes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked and felt a fission of anxiety. She handed me the paper and took mine from me. Her results were all negative. I frowned. Why was she crying? She looked over mine and broke into a sob and reached for me. I pulled her against me and she cried against my shoulder. “What’s wrong!?” I repeated a little more urgently, unsure of what was going on, on if I could fix it.

“I’m just so relieved.” She sobbed and I got it. I really understood just how bad she had been freaking out about this inside.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay.” I said, “I’ve got you now.” I let her cry it out, helpless to do anything else. I wanted to knock out more of his teeth, chipping one hadn’t been enough. I held her to me and breathed in her delicate lilac scent. She finally settled down and sniffed wiping at her eyes. I pulled a bandana out of my back pocket and handed it to her. She mopped up and I looked her over. She was even pretty when she cried, I realized.

“Better?” I murmured. She nodded. I steered her to the passenger side of the car and put her in it. I got in the other side and started Sadie up.

“Where to next?” she asked.

“Home. You got makeup running down your face.” I said. She looked into the side mirror and sighed.

“Thanks for that.” She said and I smiled.

“You’re welcome.” I said and took her home.

Once inside the house I was hyperaware that it was just me and her, alone. I forced myself to sit on the couch and I let her go into my room. I resisted the urge to follow her but barely. I wanted her spread beneath me in my bed something so fierce it was turning into a deep ache inside of me. She disappeared into the bathroom and I heard the shower start and the curtain ride across the rails. I went from the couch to the kitchen but stopped when I saw the warm glow of light from the bathroom’s open door way.

She did not just leave that door open.
I thought to myself but she had and I was going to take it for the invitation that it was. I took a halting step towards the sliver of light spilling out into the hall and stopped. I closed my eyes and counted to ten.

No. I wasn’t. She wasn’t in a good place, too much emotional rollercoaster and having me get into that shower would just kill it before anything really had a chance to get started. I really didn’t want to be anyone’s rebound. I
wouldn’t
be her rebound. Something about her was different, again, she saw through all the bullshit, those steel blue eyes of hers cutting right through it. The thing that got me was that she was no shrinking violet around the ugly stuff. She saw it, processed it and either went with it or she didn’t, so far she’d gone with it and either that made her crazy or showed an intestinal fortitude that most
guys
lacked.

I admired her, not to put too fine a point on it, and I wanted to know more about her. A quick fuck in my shower wasn’t going to net me that, if anything it would snag me just the opposite with a girl like her. So as much as I would have liked to have taken her silent invitation, I went into my room instead and changed into some comfortable flannel pajama pants. I sat on the end of the bed and mulled things over a little bit too long, I hadn’t heard the shower shut off and suddenly she was there, just materialized in front of me wrapped from armpit to knees in one of my oversized midnight blue bath sheets. I looked up and met those steely eyes of hers and her somber expression dead on.

“Why didn’t you join me?” she asked softly.

“I wanted to.” I told her, and let her read the truth in my eyes, “But it wouldn’t have gotten either one of us anyplace good.” I stood up which forced her to take a step back. I tipped her chin with my finger and smoothed the pad of my thumb over the silky skin of her jaw. Her chest stilled and I was acutely aware that we were only inches from my bed, the towel easily displaced with a flick of my wrist.

Oh how I wanted to take away that damned towel. I could tell she wanted me to, by the look in her eyes, the stillness of her breath… I bent, closing the gap between us and kissed her softly. I closed my eyes and breathed her in, she smelled so damned
good
, warm and clean and it took everything I had in me to keep the contact we had to a chaste kiss. Her lips parted underneath mine and I damn near came undone. I pulled back reluctantly when what I really wanted to do was kiss her with a savage intensity, turn her and fling her onto the mattress, pressing her back into the covers with my body over hers but I resisted and it cost me to do it.

I left her standing stunned and wanting in the middle of my bedroom, as I strode out into the kitchen, fisting my hands in my hair. I stood there and shook for a minute and tried to put the lid back on my lust which was screaming through every single one of my veins and arteries, burning me up from the inside out. I opened up the fridge and grabbed the first beer I laid eyes on, twisting off the cap and taking a long pull.

“I think I understand why you stopped, and while I’m glad that you did, in my head, my hormones think I may need another shower. A cold one this time.” She said from the archway leading back to the bathroom and bedrooms.

“Want a beer?” I asked holding mine out to her. She pushed off the wall, her steel blue eyes never leaving mine and plucked the beer from my hand, wrapping her lips around where mine had just been and
the way she did it
… I shuddered.
Why was that the hottest fucking thing I had ever seen in my life?
She swallowed slowly, deliberately and I couldn’t tell if my blood was running hot or cold anymore. What I did know was my cock was stiff to the point of pain. She knew it too. Her lips quirking up on one side she said,

“Go sit down. I’ll make dinner.” I nodded slowly and wondered when the hell I’d been upstaged. I pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. I could watch her prance around my kitchen in what passed for her PJ’s every night of the week and twice on Sunday. She went to the fridge and brought out another beer and held it up with a questioning look. I smiled.

“Stop being such a tease and bring me my damn beer!” I joked and she laughed. She twisted off the top and held it out to me and some of the sexual tension eased off a little bit. I took the bottle from her hand careful not to brush fingers and found myself wondering if she were as wet as I was hard. She made a great show of bending over and rifling through the refrigerator giving me an exceptional view of those long sinful dancer’s legs of hers.