Flamingo Fugitive (Supernatural Bounty Hunters 5) (11 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Francine planned it all out in her head.  Okay, so she’d rock up to his house, persuade him to drop the charges and then she was home free.

Hmmm, at least she hoped it was going to be that easy.  Her flamingo was optimistic, but a part of her doubted it would be quite as straightforward.

Michael didn’t exactly seem well disposed towards her the last time she saw him.  But then he had an award sticking out of his shoulder.  And what else could she do?  She couldn’t go to jail – orange would wipe her out, and she was hardly a tough shifter, she’d be someone’s bitch within seconds of arriving.

She sighed. 
Courage, birdy, courage
.  She had to do this.

Maybe she could give Michael money – except she didn’t have any.  Maybe she could owe him money.  No, she’d be indentured to him until the day she died.  The likelihood of her ever earning any serious money was slim.  Besides, he was already pretty rich.

She was quite concerned that he might actually want sex.  That thought made her bird flutter, worriedly.  Her not wanting to get down and dirty was the reason she was in this mess in the first place.  Could she bring herself actually to do it to get out of the mess?  That wasn’t a question she wanted answering – she was too afraid of what the answer might be.

The blaring reggae from Curtis’ apartment drifted through the wall, shaking her window frame.  She banged on the wall.  “Come on Curtis!”  The music was turned down, and she yelled thank you.

Francine pulled on a pair of jeans, a black sweater and a pair of sneakers.  She brushed her hair but didn’t bother with make up.  She didn’t want to appear too attractive, lest he try and maul her on the spot again.  And without make up… ugh, yeah, not great. 
Perfect
.

She heard a low rumbling voice out in the hallway and a tingle shot down her spine.  Hmmm.  A twinge of arousal bloomed and she wondered at it.  Since her night with Stone she had been horny – hornier than she ever thought possible.  She’d tried to satisfy her own needs but found herself to be a poor substitute when compared to the huge rhino.

She’d considered going out and dragging home some unsuspecting, random male who she could squint at and pretend it was Stone.  But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.  Nobody else could compare.  She’d have to get over him one day, but one day was a long way away.

Oh well, time to do this.

Francine pulled her front door open and then gasped as she found Stone standing across the corridor.

Had she wished so hard he became real?  No, that was something soppy her flamingo would say. 
He was actually there!

“Stone!” she was too excited to see him, too pleased to see him to be really angry at him.  She should have told him to push off.  She wanted to tell him to take her quickly.  Instead, she said, “Hi.”

He closed his eyes, breathed in and then let out a shuddering breath.  “Feathers,” he crooned.  “You’ve no idea how…”  He seemed to blush, and she smiled at him.

He took a step towards her, crowding her with his bulk.  Against her flamingo’s wishes, she raised a hand.  “No, we can’t do this.”  It sucked being responsible.

“Do what?” he drawled, leaning over her, muscles quivering and eyes twinkling.

“You were going to kiss me,” she gulped.

He grinned, and her legs almost gave out.  “I wasn’t.”

“Oh,” she sighed, disappointedly.  “Well, good.  I don’t kiss men who have fiancées.”

“I was going to ask you if you would let me kiss you.  And since I don’t have a fiancée I guess you’ll let me.”

“But…”

The words were lost as his mouth descended on hers.  She made a few desultory efforts at struggling, but only because she thought she ought to, not because she actually wanted him to stop what he was doing.  If he stopped too early, she might drag him back in for more.  When she was breathless, her legs were jelly-like, and her senses completely scattered – and only then, did he draw back from the kiss.

Francine tried to collect her wits.  She wasn’t sure she’d ever get all of them back.  “What was that?”

A throaty laugh escaped his lips.  “If you don’t know, I wasn’t doing it right.”

“Your fiancée…” she started, trying against the wishes of her animal and every single instinct she had, to be a good girl.

“Is actually a crazy woman I slept with once, she is not my fiancée.”

Yes, she wanted to believe that
.  “But she told me…”

“And I’m telling you she isn’t.  Don’t tell me you believe her over me.”  For a second he actually looked hurt but it soon morphed into a sexy grin.  He rubbed his hands up and down her back.  “God, you look beautiful, feathers.”

She
felt
like a woman drowning.  “But she was wearing an engagement ring.”

Stone huffed and nuzzled her neck.  “Not one I gave her.”

“It looked like the one from your grandma’s picture.”

“What?” he pulled back, and his face screwed up as he thought about that.

By this point, they had garnered an audience, Curtis and his stoner friends were watching their exchange, and it had to be said, enjoying themselves.  As also by this point, Stone’s hand was roaming over her butt.  She didn’t exactly mind it being there, but she wasn’t exactly keen on an audience.  Which was strange; usually she wanted nothing more than an audience.  She could care less about who saw any romantic exchanges with her previous boyfriends, but this was different.  Maybe because she wasn’t actually acting with Stone.  She was just herself for once.

He gripped her tightly.  “That bitch!” he howled

Curtis looked a little alarmed, but Francine shook her head at him.  She didn’t know how she knew it, but Stone wouldn’t hurt her.  She felt more comfortable in his arms than anywhere else in the world.

“She must have found the ring in my stuff,” he muttered, darkly.  “My grandma gave me that on her death bed.”

“Why was she going through your stuff?”

Stone blew out a breath.  “It’s a long story…”

“Well… maybe you can tell it to me.”  She looked up at him through her eyelashes and smiled, sweetly.

“Yeah,” he agreed, absently before snapping to attention.  “You’re not pissed.”

“Not if you’re not engaged.”  Her flamingo spun in the air for joy.

“I’m not,” he said, quickly.

“Then I’m not pissed.  What brings you by here?”

“You.”  He grinned, smugly and her bird sighed with the force of a hurricane.

“Took you long enough,” she teased.

“You didn’t make it easy.  Oh, and you left something behind at my apartment.”  He pulled out one of her feathers and tickled her on the nose.

Their audience laughed, and surprisingly Stone ignored them, he didn’t seem to care.

Francine rubbed her hands up and down his chest.  Oh, she’d actually missed this.  “Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but there actually is something I need to do first.  Maybe we could get together later?”

A pained look passed over his face, and Francine had a bad sense of foreboding.  “Why not now?” he asked.

“I need to sort something out.”  She didn’t really want to get into the details of the whole attempted murder business.  At least, not yet.

“I can’t let you leave.”

She pressed her body against his growing erection, and he growled lustily.  “I’ll make it up to you later,” she whispered, and made kissing motions with her mouth.

Stone grimaced.  “I can’t let you go.  I’m afraid there’s something
I
need to do first.”

“Oh?” 
It probably wasn’t what she was hoping for
.

“Yeah, I need to take you back to jail.”

“Say what now?”  Every part of her stilled; her bird cocked her head to one side.  He did
not
just say that.

He didn’t look happy about it either.  “You skipped out on your bail, and I need to take you back to jail.”

“You’re joking, surely?”

“I told you I was a bounty hunter.”

“But, but… you’re not serious?!”

“Feathers…”  He looked pretty darn serious.

Francine pushed away from him.  It was like trying to push a particularly belligerent mountain.  Reluctantly, given her struggling, he let go of her.  She could tell he was trying not to laugh at how cute she looked as she folded her arms and puckered her lips into a scowl.

“I can’t believe you,” she squawked.

“You missed your court date,” he explained, reasonably.

“So you thought you’d get me into bed before you threw me in prison?”

“No!  Well, maybe – but only because I wasn’t sure how long it would take to sort out your court case, and I’ve missed you.”  He tried to look chagrined, but he wasn’t successful.  Too much lust flittered over his face.

“You pig!” she snapped slapping his arm.  She rubbed her hand.  That hurt her far more than it hurt him.

He reached out for her throbbing hand, but she jerked away.  He sighed and folded his arms.  “I’m doing you a favor.”

“A favor?!” she choked.  Her animal was now back to whimpering again.  The thrill of their reunion had quickly soured.

“You’re lucky
I
came after you, some bounty hunters can be downright ruthless.”

“Oh, would they try and seduce me, too?” she asked, tartly.

Stone’s eyes flashed, and his muscles rippled.  “No one’s allowed to seduce you but me.”

“Tcha!  I can’t believe you.”  She ignored the fact that her silly bird was delighted by his last sentence.

“Look,” he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.  “You missed your court date; it’s not a big deal.”

Francine flicked her eyes to Curtis and his friends.  Their audience had somehow managed to find popcorn, but she was too riled up to stop and move the argument elsewhere.

“Not a big deal,” she hissed.  “I could go to prison for years.”

“We’ll worry about that later.”

“I may not have a later!  I need to get my situation sorted out, and I can’t do it from a jail cell.”  What part of this was he not getting?  It was okay for him; he wasn’t facing years of his life breaking rocks. 
Did they do that anymore?

“Look we’ll figure something out,” he said in a wheedling voice.  She was very tempted to give in.  “I’ll take you back to the cops, and then we’ll think of a plan.  The longer you’re out of custody, the worse it will be.  Plus, if we don’t bring you in, my boss will be out for your bail.  And while he’s too tired to care at this moment in time, eventually he’ll catch up on sleep and then he’ll raise merry hell.”

“But…”  He wasn’t going to give in; she could see it in his face, which was friendly enough but hinted at a stubbornness that would give a mule a run for its money.  She needed to change tactics.  “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Sorry, feathers, but if need be, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you back to the cops.”

She could see where he was coming from… well, she could sort of see where he was coming from.  But she needed to speak to Michael, and she couldn’t do if he had his way.  He was going to be pissed, but she had to get rid of Stone.  She’d make it up to him later, depending on her mood.  Oh, who was she kidding? 
She definitely would make it up to him later
.

“Fine,” she hissed, affecting the snootiest, most annoyed voice she could muster.  “At least let me go to the bathroom first.  The thought of peeing in front of other women leaves me cold.”

He winced.  “Feathers, maybe I can talk to a friend on the force.  His name’s Detective Leeman.”

“Wyatt?” she threw out the name nonchalantly.  “I already know him.  He’s a fan, very complimentary on my
talents
.”

He looked like he was about to boil over.  “What?!”

She took the opportunity to disappear into her apartment, slamming the door in his face and running into the bathroom.  She turned the water on and opened the bathroom window before ducking into the shower.

It was the trick she used when her landlord wanted the rent.  She never actually went down the fire escape – that thing would collapse the moment you put a toe on it.  No, she just needed for him to think she was escaping that way, then she could nip out the back way.  Her flamingo wasn’t happy, but even she saw the need for deception.

He knocked on the door, and she held her breath.

“Feathers, c’mon honey.  Feathers?  Feathers?”  He crashed through the door; she heard the thud of his feet and then he swore before running away.

Francine counted to ten then exited the shower.  She found him waiting next to her front door.  He was leaning against it, arms folded and a faint smile on his lips.

She squeaked in frustration, and he shook his head.  “Feathers, I’d know your scent anywhere.  No way would I fall for that.  You were in the shower the whole time.”

She opened her mouth to protest, and he cut her off by throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her down to his car.  She wailed and pounded on his back all the way.