DAIR (5 page)

“A flesh wound,” she said quietly, trying and failing to keep her trembling voice calm.
 

“Who shot you?”
 

“I didn’t get a good look at the guy.”
 

That was a frustrating answer, but I moved past it, as something else occurred to me.
 
“That letter . . . did you write that to me before or after this happened?”
 
It seemed like an important piece of the puzzle, my mind racing with all of the possible ramifications.

“Before.”
 

I covered her back, embracing her firmly from behind, my mouth working at her ear as I spoke, “So you knew it was coming?
 
You knew that someone was actively trying to kill you?
 
And instead of coming to me for help, you wrote me a
letter
?”

She took a very deep breath that moved both of our bodies.
 
“Yes.
 
I’m sorry, but this is another thing I can’t explain to you.”
 

“And then you were shot, so now you’re being held here?”
 
Rage filled me as another idea occurred.
 
“Did that blond motherfucker have anything to do with you being shot?”

Her ear moved against my mouth as she shook her head slowly.
 
“No, Dair.
 
Heath has something to do with me being
alive
right now.
 
You know I can’t give you the details, but trust me when I say that he’s as deep in this mess as I am.
 
I was grazed on the shoulder, but he took two bullets for me that time, or it would have been
much
worse.”
 

I didn’t know what to make of that.
 

It was a kick in the teeth to feel indebted to a guy that you hated on sight.
 

“Heath, huh,” was all I said,
 
holding still over her for the longest time as I tried to piece together these rare puzzle pieces I’d been made privy to.
 

Iris started moving against me, working her back against my front in a way that distracted even me at my most focused.
 

I didn’t budge, didn’t encourage her, but it made no difference.
 
I was already right where she wanted me, braced over her, my fists digging into the hard mattress on either side of her.
 

She arched and writhed until she’d found my throbbing cock with her slick entrance.
   

I held perfectly still as she manipulated my hard length inside of her.
 

She worked me with her swinging hips, until I’d not only forgotten where we were at in our conversation, but also my own name.
 

Or I would have, if she didn’t keep calling it out, her voice getting more frantic as she got close to the brink.
 

I was close to the edge myself when she started squeezing me harder and moaning out her release.

With a curse, I reared up, straightening behind her.
 

I grabbed her hips and started slamming my way home roughly.
   

She’d collapsed onto her stomach, and I’d followed her down, still inside of her, when she spoke.
 

“I don’t want to sleep.
 
I don’t want to miss a second of this.
 
I know Heath won’t let you stay long.”

I’d been about a second away from passing out cold, but her words woke me right up.
 

“Fuck Heath,” I growled.
 
“I’m not leaving without you.
 
You’re coming home with me.”
 

CHAPTER FIVE

It was some time later.
 
We’d showered together, then laid back down on the bed, naked, limbs entangled, when I asked, “Why on earth did he bring me here?
 
It makes no sense.
 
He’s clearly bothered by us being together.
 
What is he to you?”
 

“I can’t tell you that.
 
Are you upset that he did?”

“No.
 
Of course not.
 
That’s about the only thing I’m
not
upset about.”

“I’m sorry I can’t give you any answers.
 
I know you don’t understand why.”

“You know what?
 
You telling me that you can’t answer is better than all of the lies.”

She pulled back to look me in the eye, nodding solemnly.
 
“I can understand that.
 
I’ll try my best to level with you from here on out.”
 

“It’s just that easy, huh?”
 

“I don’t know.
 
It’s going to be an adjustment for me.”

“Clearly,” I said wryly.
 
“Why don’t we give you a little practice?
 
How about I try asking you a question, and you actually try giving me an
honest
answer?”

She looked vaguely uncomfortable at the notion, but she replied with, “Okay.
 
I’ll give you one, if it’s something I
can
answer.”
 

The perfect one came to mind instantly.
 
“How old are you?”
 

She grimaced.
 
It was adorable, and alarming.
 
“You won’t be happy when I tell you.”
 

“Happier than I am right now, with you saying a thing like that.
 
Tell me.”
 

She took a very deep breath.
 
“Almost nineteen.”
 

I felt vaguely ill.
 
It was too young, still legal, but way beyond my comfort zone.
 

“What does almost mean?
 
So you’re eighteen?”

“Yes.”
 

“And when is your birthday?”
 

“In around six months.”
 

“That’s not almost.
 
Wait, do I even want to know . . . how old were you when we first . . . ?”

“Eighteen.
 
I knew you were going to ask that.”
 

Why was twenty-four so much more palatable than eighteen?
 

After I must have been sitting quietly for a while, mind reeling, basically beating myself up, she spoke again, sounding troubled.
 
“I knew you’d react like this.
 
That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
 

“Didn’t tell me?
 
Is that what you’re going to call it?
 
You flat out lied about it, even provided proof for the lie.”

She opened her mouth as though to speak, then closed it again, staying silent.
 
She just stared at me while I stewed about how ridiculously, uncomprehendingly
young
she was.
 

“You realize I’m more than twice your age,” I pointed out, finally breaking a long silence.

“Barely.
 
And this is why I lied about it.
 
I knew you’d overreact.
 
You’re already making me rethink this not lying idea.”
   

“Clearly you need more practice at it.
 
Let’s try another one.
 
Am I older than your dad?”
 

“No.
 
You’re quite a bit younger.
 
Does that make you feel any better?”
 

“Not particularly.”
 

“You need to go back with Heath in the morning.”
 
She was blatantly changing the subject.
 

She knew well how to work me, because it worked.
 

“No.
 
I won’t leave you here.
 
Not possible.”
 

“Don’t rile him.” She traced the bruise on my jaw, her eyes troubled.
 
“He’s a very dangerous man.
 
You
have to
go back without me.”

I studied her, wondering if she really didn’t understand me that well.
 
Sometimes it felt like she knew me better than I knew myself, so it was certainly a new (and demoralizing) notion.
 

Even as I had the thought, I caught a glint in her eyes, a flash of genuine worry that righted the world back onto its axis and had me breathing easier.
 

Her understanding me was one of the few things about Iris that I’d always been certain of, and I’d have been crushed if even that were a lie.
 

Her concern told me it was not.
 

“You know I can’t do that,” I told her gently.
 

The concern turned to something akin to panic.
 
“He’s armed, and he has a
terrible
temper, and he
hates
you.
 
Also, he has backup.
 
Lots of it.
 
There’s no way you can take him on.
 
You understand that, don’t you?”

I took a very deep breath.
 
I’d never considered myself to be particularly brave.
 
In fact, I’d never much considered it at all, but I knew that I’d do whatever I needed to, regardless of the risk, to get Iris out of this mess.
 

“Please, Dair, please.
 
I’m begging you here.
 
Please, just do what he says.
 
I’d never be able to live with myself if you got hurt in all of this.”
 

“You and I have different priorities, but I think you know that.
 
I’m much more concerned about
you
not getting hurt.”
 

“There’s nothing you can do about what happens to me.
 
I wish you could see that. But dragging you into it, getting you hurt, that can be prevented.
 
You don’t have to get involved.”
 

That had my hackles rising.
 
“I don’t have to?
 
How about this: I
am
involved.
 
What did you think would happen?
 
You pursued me.
 
You gave yourself to me.
 
You made me care about you, and I can’t stand by while you’re in danger, held captive here for God only knows what reason, and do nothing!”
 

Her jaw was set stubbornly, her eyes growing blank in a way I was beginning to dread.
 

It set me off.
 

“It wasn’t a rhetorical question,” I raged.
 
“Answer me.
 
What did you think would happen?”
 

Her tone was expressionless when she answered, but for once, I felt like she was giving me the truth.
 
“I didn’t mean for it to get this far.
 
For
us
to get this far. I just wanted a bit of you, enough to keep me going, but I never thought it would turn into
this
.
 
Despite all of my better sense, I couldn’t keep away from you once I started.”

I focused on the strangest part of what she’d said, the piece that made no sense to me.
 
“A bit of me?
 
How did you ever even notice me, let alone decide to come after me as aggressively as you did.”
 

She shook her head, the corner of her mouth raising a bit into a wry smile.
 
“You’ll never get it.
 
You don’t see yourself clearly, not at all.
 
I do.
 
You were just too appealing for me to resist, in so many ways.”

“So that’s it, you spotted me at the gym and decided I was just too hot to resist?
 
Does this happen often?”
 

She flushed.
 
“Don’t.
 
Don’t do that.
 
And I didn’t spot you at the gym.
 
Nothing was random about us.
 
I knew you’d be there and I sought you out.”

I blinked rapidly, hating that every answer she gave me that felt like it could be remotely close to the truth only made me feel like I knew less than I
ever
had.
 
“Care to explain any of that?”
   

She opened her mouth (as though she was actually going to answer!) when the loud sound of the bolt being thrown outside made her pause.
 

I barely had time to throw a sheet over the essentials before the door was opening, Heath taking a step inside.
 

He started cursing when he set eyes on us.
 
“What the fuck?
 
I’m closing this door, and when I open it back up, she better be decent, and you better have your pants back on.
 
You have
exactly
three minutes.”
 

He stepped back, slamming the door hard.
 

We obeyed him, because I didn’t particularly want to deal with him without pants on, and I certainly didn’t want him seeing Iris naked.
 

In what I assumed was exactly three minutes later, the door opened again.
 

We were sitting on the edge of the bed, side by side, holding hands.
 

Heath glared.
 
“Dinner time.
 
On your knees, facing the wall, Masters.”
 

I obeyed, tensing when I heard a gun cocking behind me.

I heard Iris gasp and cry out, “Heath, please don’t—”

“I won’t hurt him unless he tries something stupid.” He told her, voice soothing.
 
It changed suddenly, going back to hostile.
 
“Hold still if you enjoy keeping your head on your shoulders, Masters.”
   

A long pause, then, back to his soothing voice, “Just go into the bathroom while we bring the food in.
 
You giving me that look is not helping the situation.”