Nights Embrace (Others of Seattle) (14 page)

“She doesn’t write about our kind,” Trevor
noted as he stared after her. She hadn’t turned back, hadn’t stopped, and he couldn’t help wondering if she was pissed at him.

“Hey, I didn’t believe in all this shit either,” Sorcha answered. “I’m fine with it. She will be. She may freak out a tad, but I have a feeling she’ll do better than some of us.”
She gave Trevor a sharp look.

Trevor’s eyes slid closed as he let out a breath.
“I need to catch up with her.”

Sorcha nudged his shoulder.
“We’ve got your back, Trevor. Whatever happens, she’ll come around.”

“Yeah,” he muttered
before jogging to catch up with Roxy.

* * * *

Lost in a sea of emotions, Roxy hurried to the trail that went down to the falls. She figured Trevor would catch up. Hopefully Sorcha and Joey would hang back for a bit.

Roxy
felt a little foolish. She knew better than to expect him to be glued to her side.

Besides, that would likely get old really fast. Maybe. Wouldn
’t it?

Roxy had just started
down the steep trail when she was pulled to a stop. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Trevor spun her toward him. “Are you okay?” he asked in alarm.

“You startled me,” she said lamely, dropping her eyes.

He nudged her chin up until he had her attention. There was a sadness there. “You aren’t mad?” he asked softly.

She took a deep breath before shaking her head.
“No. It was a gut reaction. I was hurt, but it was dumb. You have a life outside of me. Hell, you barely know me. So it was a stupid notion. Your trip merely took me by surprise.”

“It wasn’t stupid. I wi
sh I could forget the world, and be with you without interruption.”

“Yeah, but
life doesn’t work that way.”

A smile lifted one corner of his lips. He pressed his forehead to hers. “It feels natural to be with you. Like we were meant to be. I’m going to ha
te every minute I have to be away from you.”

A soft laugh escaped her lips.
“You say that now, but I’m sure you’ll forget all about me an hour after you get where ever you’re going.”

“Nope, not going to happen, Roxy. You’re a part of me, always will be. And get that doubtful look off your face. I know it seems fast, but I know what I feel, and I feel it for you.” His
sincerity never wavered.

She
set the hurt aside and kissed him. Needing his taste, his touch. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tight against his hard body, his tongue dancing against hers and she was lost to him.

A slap to her ass brought her back, her head whipped around to find Joey laughing at them.
“Seriously, you two need a room.”

Trevor growled low, baring his teeth which made Roxy giggle. It was so ridiculous she couldn
’t even be upset by it.

“You were the jackass who kidnapped us,” she
pertly told Joey, before pulling Trevor down the path.

“I was doing you a favor, Roxy,” Joey called with a chuckle. “You don’t want to tangle with the likes of Boyd and Dina. They make Jeffr
ey Dahmer look tame.”

Her eyes popped wide as she stopped to turn
back to Joey. She found Sorcha nodding her agreement, like it was the unfortunate truth.

Roxy
blinked. “You do realize Dahmer was a cannibal and a necrophiliac among other things, right?”

“You haven’t met the rest of their
pack.” Trevor’s implied meaning sent a trill of fear through her.

“Wait, what?” she
searched each of their faces for some hint at humor.

He took her hand.
“Trust me, that story is better left in the past at this point. One day, when it’s not gorgeous out and we’re not on our way to a lovely waterfall, I will explain it all.”

For now, she
let it slide. Later, she planned on getting answers. She started walking again, pulling Trevor along as the momentum of the downhill trek made her feet move faster. Before she knew it, she was running, until she stumbled, and Trevor scooped her up like she weighed nothing.

“Careful,
A Chroí
. Don’t want to see you hurt,” he cautioned against her hair as he set her down.

“All right
.” She struggled to get a hold of herself because her attraction was completely overwhelming. Usually the big protective alpha types turned her off. Maybe because it didn’t feel sincere from anyone but her brother, until Trevor.

“How much further until we get there?”
he asked as they started across the fenced-in bridge near the power plant.

“Not
far.” She grinned and kept going. Joey and Sorcha had fallen behind, probably taking their time. The walk down was nice, but the falls themselves were what drew her in.

The
y made the rest of the trip in silence. When they got there, she climbed over the railing before Trevor could argue.

As she started scrambling down the small cliff
to the ground, he burst out with, “Roxy, what are you doing? It says not to go further.”

She looked up at him and rolled her eyes.
“Come on, Trevor. Live a little. It used to be easier to get down there, but I’m not letting a little climb stop me.”

Sighing, Trevor
boosted himself on top of the railing. He dropped down, landing in a crouch with a raised brow as she made it to the bottom. “We’ll play it your way then, but you best be careful, love.”

She took his hand and pu
lled him along as she made her way across the rocky ground. She climbed onto one of the large boulders and then hopped to the next, before taking a seat on the edge. Roxy pulled her shoes and socks off, and rolled up her jeans. Then she dipped her feet in the water.

Trevor sat down beside her with a doubtful look.
“How is it?”

“Cold, but still feels good,” she
answered, happily wiggling her toes.

He grinned and followed suit before taking her hand. He looked to her.
“You still up for practice with us tonight?”

“Mmhmm, I can’t wait to hear the way we sound together.”

“It’s your voice, there is no way it will sound anything less than amazing.”

She half-laughed.
“I’d rather listen to you than me.”

Trevor was lost in Roxy
’s beauty as she stared up at the waterfall. The scenery was a lovely sight, but it didn’t compare to the woman sitting beside him. There was so much he needed to say, and none of it seemed right.

She finally turned to him, her dazzling eyes peering into his soul.
“Trevor, why do they want to hurt you?”

Resigned, h
e let out a deep breath. “Promise to listen to all of it first, and I’ll tell you. It’s horrible though, and I fully expect you to hate me.”

She smiled softly.
“Have a little faith in me. I doubt you have it in you to do something so heinous I can’t forgive you.”

“Back in Ireland, when my sister was still with me, the head of their clan brutally raped
her and left her for dead. It was too late by the time I found her.”

Tears filled his eyes, but he didn
’t fight them back. There was a mix of horror, shock and rage on her face, and it wasn’t directed at him.

“You killed him, right?”

He nodded. “I would have if he hadn’t fallen off the cliff. I wanted to make him pay. I beat the holy living hell out of him and before I could finish him, he fell to his death.”

“Good. I’m only sorry you didn’t strike the final blow,” she answered automatically.

A heavy tear fell as he stared at her. “You’re not appalled by my rage? You don’t think I’m a murderer?”

“A murderer? No. Maybe a court would see it that way, but you sought revenge for a horrible crime committed against your sister. If someone did that to my brother, I know I’d want blood and I would go after it.”

“Oh, Roxy. If they managed to do that to your brother, they would do far worse to you, love.”

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try. I couldn’t stand by and
do nothing.” She lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. “I know, probably stupid. I can’t help it. That would push me beyond any rational thought.”

“Listen to me, Roxy,” he told her, taking her face in his hands. “No matter what Dina and Boyd do, stay away from them, especially if I’m not with you. What they would do to you if they got their hands on you…” he closed his eyes and shook his head. “I couldn’t live if you were taken from me. I wouldn’t survive it.”

“Shh,” she whispered and leaned in to kiss him. “Don’t. I’m not stupid. I’m not looking for a fight, but if they touch you, or hurt Mikey, all bets are off. I’d lose it.”

He took a shaky breath and nodded. If he had any say, they would never be near enough to
threaten her. It was the only option he had.

“Roxy, would you stay at my condo tomorrow night? I would feel a thousand times better if I knew you would be in my bed when I come home the next morning.”

“Really? You want me to hide out at your place?” she laughed softly, chewing on her bottom lip, obviously giving it serious thought.

He pointed out,
“You seem to need a break from Jordan. He wouldn’t know where to look for you at my place, and then you wouldn’t have to sneak out the fire escape. No one would know where you were.”

She nodded in agreement.
“All right. I can do that. I’ll need my laptop and a few things.”

“
I’ll take you back to your place before bringing you home today?” He gave her a wicked grin. “And I know how I’ll make up for tomorrow then.”

“Silly man, you don’t have to make up for anything. I told you, it was a simple wave of stupidity. I know I can’t keep you all to myself
all the time.”

He pouted, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.
“I would love to keep you to myself every second of the day if I could.”

She shifted on the rock and threw one leg over his lap. Her voice was low and
sultry. “Trevor, you can have me whenever you want me. I’m not going anywhere.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as he closed his mouth over hers. He could taste her savory magic as she moved against him, causing him to groan. If she wasn
’t careful, he was going to strip her down and have her right there on the boulder in front of all the tourists up above.

“Ahem,” Joey cleared his throat. “You guys forget you’re in public?” He chuckled.

“Please, we’re not half as bad as you,” Trevor pointed out, remembering a few key times he had to stop Sorcha and Joey from public sex.

Sorcha giggled.
“Trevor does have a point, Joey. However, Roxy, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry for actual food,” she waggled her brows. “There will be time for what you want, later.”

Roxy blushed as she climbed out of Trevor
’s lap to put her socks and boots back on. Trevor did the same.

Joey reached into the water and splashed at her.

Before Trevor could retaliate, Roxy leaned over and soaked Joey.

Trevor jumped to his feet,
threw her over his shoulder and ran back to the overlook faster than he should have. At least he avoided letting Joey dump her in the icy water, which he had been moving to do.

He was up
the rocky cliff face, and over the rail in no time, setting her on her feet.

She stepped back with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open. Then she laughed.
“Were you a track star in another life? Maybe a monkey? Jesus, that was fast.”

He tossed a look back at Joey
. “Nope. I was trying to keep you out of the water.”

She looked past him and waved
down at Joey and Sorcha who were making their way at a slower pace. “Come on, let’s get a head start up the hill.”

Sorcha called out.
“Hey, how about the lodge for lunch?”

“Sounds good,” Roxy answered and then turned to pull
Trevor back up the trail.

* * * *

Jordan sat in the wheelchair. His body still ached, but he was a hell of a lot better than they first assessed. The nurse wheeled him out to Doug’s car, parked in front of Swedish.

Last night he was a fucking mess.
Those weird fucked up dreams seemed to be speeding his recovery. Stupid as that sounded, he believed it.

Mike stood out front and watched as Jordan pushed himself to his feet.
“Hey, Mike. You look pissed.”

Mike
’s chest heaved as his eyes narrowed. He moved to open the back door to the car, not bothering to answer.

Jordan knew what that meant. He was about to get his ass handed to him. Did he deserve it? Most likely.

He sucked it up and climbed into the car. The door was slammed shut as soon as he got his legs in. Jordan sighed as he buckled himself in.

Doug gave him a
dark look and shook his head. “High? You were fucking high after everything you did to get off that shit?”

“
Fuck. I can’t stand not having Roxy. And now she’s with that fucking douchebag.”

Mike flipped around in his seat with a deadly glare on his face.
“Listen to me, asshole. You had your chance with my sister. Too many of them. You fucked up. Not her. This new guy? I can honestly say he cares about her and her needs. Not his. He walked her to the hospital, after midnight, so she could check on your sorry ass. He hated every second of it, but never once complained because he respects her and her wishes. When did you ever care about what she needed?”

Jordan closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath.
“I know. I fucked up. No excuse is good enough. Things get blurred and my need is so great, I tried to fill it with the wrong shit.”

“Yeah, well you don’t need Roxy. Or more accurate
ly, Roxy doesn’t need you,” Mike warned. “So I’m going to lay out how things will go from now on. You will not say a single word against Trevor, Roxy, or her choices. Got it? Not a single word or I cut all ties.”

At a loss for words, he nodded.
After seeing the agony he caused the one woman he loved, Jordan knew he needed to let Roxy go. Demon chick had already explained that, and even though he still had no clue what the fuck the dream was about, he knew he needed to trust it.

“All right. Y
ou got it,” he finally conceded.

“Look at me, Jordan,” Mike barked.

Jordan opened his eyes and met Mike’s nearly glowing gaze.

Mike continued,
“Do you understand?”

“Yes. I get it. I’m too late, and she found someone to make her happy.” He felt a tear fall down his face. “Hurts like a bitch, but I get it.”

Doug’s mouth fell open as he stared. “You’re admitting defeat? Without me knocking your ass out?”

“
I’ve tried for years, and nothing has ever worked. She’s never once looked at me the way she looks at him. I’ve never had my priorities straight, and even if I could fix it, I’d just fuck it up again. I’d rather her be happy.”

“Shit.
” Mikey’s eyes rounded in genuine surprise. “That’s the first mature thing I think I’ve ever heard you say.”

“I didn’t say it would be easy. Fuck, I know it won’t, but I need to let her go. For her, for me, for everyone.” Jordan pushed a hand through his hair and felt the stitches in the side of his face pull. He winced, more at the ache in his heart, than the sting on his brow. “I get it.”

“Good. One more thing. Tell me you won’t be pulling that shit with the coke again.”

“I’m done with that too. I’m inspired to write again. I think I’ll use Roxy’s outlet, instead of my old ones.”

“Good,” Mike turned back in his seat and nodded at Doug who pulled away from the loop.

* * * *

Roxy still couldn’t believe they’d all devoured some variation of rare… damn near raw… steak. She pushed her empty plate aside last, and all she’d had was a blackened salmon Caesar salad. She felt a little out of place as she looked around and saw the way Joey and Sorcha watched her, like they were waiting for something.

Trevor squeezed her thigh, pulling her closer as he bent to whisper in her ear
, “Don’t worry. They expect everyone to pig out like them.”

Her lips
lifted into a crooked smile. “Sorry. I don’t tend to wolf my food down. I like to enjoy it.”

Sorcha snickered, but Joey
’s brows drew together, making him look altogether too serious.

“What?” Roxy asked with a sigh.

Sorcha looked to Trevor, then back to her, and shrugged. “You two really are adorable together. Can’t keep your eyes off each other, or stop touching in some way. Plus, you’re like part of the family already.”

Roxy rolled her eyes.
“Don’t tell me I’m like the little sister you never had.”

“Kind of,” Joey teased. “Trevor needed a woman to round out the clan. You fit perfectly.”

Roxy lay her head against Trevor’s shoulder, and he wound his arm around her.

Trevor
murmured to her, “We do fit perfectly.”

Heat rose in her face
, and down low, as she remembered exactly how well they meshed. “We do,” she answered.

The waitress came by and Joey handed her a card before anyone else could offer.

Sorcha bounced in her seat. “So, you’re going to practice tonight?”

“Yes, yes I am,” Roxy
confirmed.

“I can’t wait to hear you.” Sorcha shot Trevor a warning look. “I am staying to listen. I don’t want any argument on it.”

“I already know we’re going to sound amazing together,” he answered.

Joey gave Roxy a long look.
“You sure you can learn it that fast?”

“Oh, I am,” she answered. She’d been going over what she remembered in her head for most of lunch. “Worried you don’t know you
r part?”

Joey blinked, then laughed.
“Oh, I’ll nail it. I always do.”

“Hmm, I suppose we’ll see,” Roxy grinned.

Sorcha snorted. “She’s got you pegged, babes.”

He narrowed his eyes before standing.
“We should get back before we’re late.” Joey started for the door.

Sorcha shrugged but followed.

Trevor stood and took Roxy’s hand. “Come on. Let’s show them how to sing.”

“Let’s,” Roxy answered as she stood. She
was pulled against Trevor’s hard body.

“I can’t wait to hear you sing our song.” He sucked her earlobe into his hot mouth and all she could think about was those lips
would feel sucking at her clit.

She pushed him back and dragged him toward the doors.
“Don’t start now,” she cautioned with heat in her voice. “I’ve been craving you all day and it doesn’t look like I get to have you anytime soon.”

“Oh, but I promise t
o have you fully satisfied within minutes of getting you home, and I have no intention of stopping there,” he warned in his sexy purring accent.