Exquisite Danger (14 page)

“And you are...?”

Her smirk turned mean. “They call me Cyclone. Smoke knows me real well…we’re special friends. I always come visit with him when he’s here. Every. Time. And he comes up here a lot. Who the fuck are you?”

“His girlfriend.”

“Sure you are, honey. You’re his little submissive bitch just like the rest of them. They all think they’re special wearin’ his collar, but they’re nothing more than his fuck toys.”

I would
not
kill her. I really wouldn’t.

It was a struggle not to rise and take the bait, but my jealousy was burning, and I narrowed my eyes, still struggling to maintain my calm. “And what does that have to do with you stinking up the hallway with your dollar store perfume?”

Okay, sort of calm.

“Oh sweetheart”—she hissed the word—“you better get used to the smell of our perfume because Smoke’s gonna be covered in it and in the smell of my pussy. When you kiss him you’re gonna taste my come in his mouth.”

I was so shocked, so angered at the mental image she shoved at me that I stood there, silent and assessing how quickly I could snap her neck even as I tried to ignore the pain radiating through my chest.

If I killed her, there would be a mess I didn’t want to clean up.

Still, I was tempted.

This bitch knew she’d scored a direct hit because her smirk widened. “Better get used to it ’cause you’ll never be able to satisfy him. I don’t know if Smoke clued you in, but he’s gonna fuck who he wants when he wants, and as his girl, you don’t have shit to say about it. Now, we left work early to get here, and I’m done fuckin’ waitin’ so move your big ass. If you’re nice I may allow you to suck the taste of my pussy off his cock when I’m done fuckin’ him.”

She tried to push her way past me, obviously thinking I would just step back and let her say that shit to my face.

How very wrong she was.

Territorial instinct overwhelmed me, and the thought of having her in my space, however temporary, was unacceptable. My training kicked in, and in one swift move, I had her slammed up against the wall, her tits cushioning her. I jerked on her arm, applying pressure in a most painful manner. She squealed and thrashed beneath me before I yanked up again not quite dislocating her shoulder. This time her cry of pain was real.

Her high voice drilled through my head. “What the fuck are you doing you stupid bitch? Let me go!”

The first thing that came to mind was one of Sarah’s favorite sayings right before she got in a fight. “I’m gonna beat you like your daddy should’ve until you learn some fucking manners.”

Slut #1 and Slut #2 looked at the chick I had pressed against the wall—it’s all in the leverage—then back at me.

Slut #2 gasped. “Holy fuck, it’s Sarah!”

It made me proud to hear the fear in her voice as she said that. “Try again, bitch. I’m Swan, her twin sister.”

“Yeah,” Slut #1 added in a high-pitched voice. “Sarah has bigger tits.”

Beneath me, Slut #3, Cyclone, was making whining, whimpering noises while still calling me such filthy names that, on some level, I was impressed. Next time I saw Sarah I’d have some new phrases to insult her with. I pushed against Cyclone and whispered into her ear while gagging on her super sweet perfume, “Let
me
clue
you
in on something. You do
not
want to fuck with me. Ever. And fucking with me over my old man is sure suicide.”

“He made you his old lady?” Slut #1 gasped with obvious hurt in her voice.

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter. What you should be concerned about is how much I love him and how I will destroy anyone who tries to take what’s mine.” Unable to help it, I found myself growling out one of Smoke’s favorite phrases. Damn, I was just borrowing badass sayings left and right tonight. Next thing you know, I’d be quoting Chuck Norris.

I could almost hear Smoke purring the words into my ear when I snarled, “Got me?”

“G-got you,” Cyclone stuttered out.

I shoved her away and turned to head back into my room when Cyclone tried to hit me. Too bad for her I grew up with a sister who would try to sneak up and sucker-punch me on a regular basis. I have to admit that I had fun stalking Sarah in return then sweeping her feet out from under her before she even knew I was there. We sparred, a lot, and all that practice taught me the signs the slut was about to throw a punch.

My reaction was pure muscle memory as I smacked her hand away with my forearm. She gave a sharp scream as I yelled at her to never try to touch me again, that I’d cunt punch her, rip her eyes out, shove them down her throat, and a bunch of other crazy shit stuff I’d heard my dad say when he was on a tear. Sluts #1 and #2 fled as heavy boots thundered down the hall, drawing closer. Cyclone tried to flee as well, but I booted her on her ass then smirked.

“Uh uh, you’re staying here.” If this woman was the one who was the rat, I wanted Hulk to get a good look at her.

Moments later, Smoke came around the corner and took in the woman cowering at my feet as she held her hand, then swore loud in his scary, deadly tone. Oh, shit, this was bad. When his gaze cut to me, anger snapped in his eyes, sending a shiver of apprehension down my spine. I knew he’d never hurt me, but fucking hell, he was pissed. It screamed from every line in his tense body and his powerful, irate gaze.

When he was sure he had my complete attention, he ground out in a low, scary voice, “What in the ever lovin’ fuck is going on here?”

The first words that came out of my mouth did not help the situation.

At all.

“Did you fuck her?”

“Did I what?”

Without looking away I pointed at the skank on the ground. “Did. You. Fuck. Her?”

Hulk gaped at me while I squared off with Smoke, my fists clenched at my side.

“Jesus Christ, I do not have time for this shit.” He grabbed me by the bicep and pulled me away from Hulk, who was now crouched over Cyclone and was checking her wrist that I may or may not have broken while she sobbed pitifully.

I jerked my arm away, unable to get the thought of Smoke having sex with her out of my mind. “Oh, I’m sorry to inconvenience you. See, your trash turned up at my door, and I had to deal with it while you and your boys were having your secret Pow Wow.”

His jaw twitched and I thought he was going to explode, but he managed to control himself. “Get in the fucking room.”

“What?”

“Get in our goddamn room, shut and lock the fucking door, and for the love of Christ, just do what I say for once. I don’t have time to clean up your messes right now.”

“My mess?
My
mess?” The last word came out in a screech.

“Enough!” I wasn’t used to Smoke yelling at me and I froze. “Shit, just get in our damn room. And this time, don’t be fuckin’ stupid and open the door for strangers. Christ, woman, help me keep you alive.”

At that moment I became aware that there were now around a dozen people in the hall watching us with interest, including a crying Cyclone. Stung at being chastised like a child in front of all these people, and hurt that he’d called me stupid, I flipped Smoke the bird while Hulk looked on with an unreadable expression in his frosty green eyes. My breathing abruptly hitched and with a burning nose I went into the room like I’d been told and slammed the door behind me, hopefully in time to cut off the scream of rage that escaped me.

What a complete and total fucking asshole.

A knock came from the door, interrupting my totally melodramatic self-pity fest. I shouted, “Fuck off!”

The knocking came again.

“Leave me the fuck alone. First person who comes in here is gonna lose a kneecap.”

I knew it wasn’t Smoke. He’d have barged right in, but I was not in the mood to listen to anyone’s bullshit at the moment.

A moment later I heard a man’s muffled voice. “Swan, it’s Hulk. He didn’t mean what he said, he was just pissed and worried.”

“Hulk, I could really use some alone time. Please.” I shouted and bit back my anger so I wouldn’t yell hurtful shit at him.

“Swan, just give him a chance to explain. He may dig himself deeper into trouble with you, but you have to give the man a chance to learn from his mistakes.”

At that point, I was totally over listening to anyone telling me what to do, especially when they were sounding rational. I was overwhelmed by everything, and a sick dread began to fill me. This was one of the things I hated about being me, my inability to handle too much at once. When I was a kid and things got too intense, I’d always flee to the wilderness, hiking and clearing my mind. That wasn’t an option here, but claustrophobia was sinking its claws into me. I had some issues with feeling trapped after my dad buried me in a coffin when I was fifteen. That’ll give you issues, trust me. My therapist almost cried when I’d told her about it, and that memory wasn’t helping me center myself, either.

I had to get out, but there was no way I would make it out that door. No doubt there was someone out there
now
, but I wondered where everyone had been when the three wicked bitches were banging on it. My palms ached as I dug my nails into my skin, needing the pain to help clear my head.

I stood quickly and scanned the room for the best escape route. There were bars on the windows, but they had a safety latch so the person inside could open them and escape in case of fire. I grabbed the notepad and pen out of the drawer and wrote down in big, bold letters for Smoke that I was fine and to leave me alone, then threw it on the bed. If Smoke thought he was going to come back in here and yell at me he had another think coming. My mind was fragile at the moment, easily wounded. I needed to shore up my emotional defenses and let myself zone out, or have a good crying fit.

Moving swiftly, not sure how much time I had, I went to the bathroom to get a towel and slung it around my neck, then went back and opened the window. The iron bars unlatched easily, and I took a quick look around outside. The side of the building we were on faced the dense forest, and I couldn’t see much beyond the dim arc of a sodium light two stories below me. When I looked up, I could see a brick overhang that would make it easy to get up on the roof.

Thanking good genetics for my height and my love of rock climbing for my strength, I swiftly stood on the windowsill and hauled myself up, trying my best to not mess up my clothes. I took a glance around and saw the door for the roof access. I dangled over the edge and used my foot to close the iron bars. As soon as that was done I cursed the fact that I was wearing a white shirt that stood out like a beacon. My paranoia kicked in and I wrapped the deep burgundy towel around me, making me blend in a little more. I knew I’d be found eventually, but for right now, I just wanted to be alone and wallow in my misery.

Movement at the edge of the forest caught my eye and I scooted back, crouching down and watching the spot where I thought I saw something bigger than an animal moving. Staying as still as possible, I waited for any further movement, but whatever it was had either gone into the forest or was staying still and watching me. My spidey senses weren’t tingling, so after a few minutes, I shifted back to my perch on the edge of the roof and wiped away a stray tear. Distant voices and the occasional growl of a bike engine came from the front side of the building.

Damn, this really sucked.

I sat up on the roof and watched the moon inch across the sky, my mind blessedly numb. The past few hours kept trying to intrude, but I refused to think about it. Even the briefest hint of how pissed off Smoke had been sent me into a downward spiral until I was sobbing into my towel. Sometimes a good pity party can get rid of a lot of stress, and if I didn’t blow off some steam, I was gonna crack. The air had chilled, and I pulled the towel tightly around me. I was considering going back for the comforter, when a man’s voice yelled, “Swan?”

A second later another male voice roared, “Where is she?”

Uh-oh, Smoke was back.

I had to fight the urge to yell that I was up here, but I didn’t. Fuck him. He’d called me stupid, didn’t even give me time to explain, just freaked out on me. I know I messed up but he had no right to hurt me like that. I wanted him to suffer a little bit for that epic bullshit. For fuck’s sake, it was his past nasty ass booty call who started it. He had no room to try and take the high road.

In fact, he could kiss my round ass.

Below me Smoke was in a full on panic, shouting my name then yelling at whoever else was in there with him. They found my note on my bed and the rest of the men subdued a bit, but Smoke continued to rant and rave. I probably would have continued to hide up here if I hadn’t heard the desperation behind his anger, the fear. The time I spent zoning out had relaxed me enough that I had let go of some of my anger. Enough that I felt a pang of guilt at how worried he sounded.

Stupid, fucking, soft-hearted me couldn’t stand the sound of his distress so I yelled out, “I’m up here.”

There was silence, then Smoke said in a rough, loud voice, “Swan?”

I sighed, wishing I’d never said anything. “I’m on the roof.”

“What the fuck?” an unfamiliar man laughed out. “On the roof? I take it back. That beautiful pussy is way too high maintenance for me. You and Beach have my prayers.”

The thud of something being hit reached me, even on the roof, as a man grunted. Then Smoke said in a low, really cold voice, “Do not disrespect my woman. Ever. That means you don’t refer to her pussy, ever. That is my pussy. I own it, all of it, and you will respect my old lady if you want to continue to live without some not-so-pretty scars. Hear me?”

“Yeah…yeah I hear you. Shit, you hit like a fucking wrecking ball. Wife’s gonna be pissed you gave me a bruise.”

“Donkey, get the fuck out. Go tell Khan we found her.”

I sat down on the edge near the window and dangled my feet. When I heard the bars open, I glanced down and into Smoke’s worried face. Our eyes locked and he sagged against the frame and stared at me. “Swan? What the fuck are you doing up there? How did you even get up there?”

“I climbed.” My voice hitched as I muttered, “Leave me alone. I’m fine, just go away.”