Waiting (19 page)

She had black as night hair with big blue round eyes
-the black fad
ing with every moment that passed
, her nose tiny and cute, and her lips were thin, but red and attracting my gaze like a magnet. Her skin was the same smooth, white that Parker and Francis had, adding to my jealousy.
 
Her breasts were almost completely exposed from a rip in her tight red dress, if you could call it that since i
t hung an inch below her crotch.
Barely
.

My God. I must look like a garbage sack compared to her.

"I'm Sam." She extended her hand out in greeting, and after only a seconds hesitation I took it while smiling back at her. "Francis and Parker are having one of their rude telepathic conversations and are clearly too occupied to introduce us."

Parker set me on my feet with a sheepish grin.

"You're just jealous that you don't have this ability."

With a roll of her eyes she looked back at me.

"We were just sparring, seeing who got back their energy and power the most, before Parker flew up here
." She looked down at her dress
then gawked as if she hadn't noticed the rip before
. "Give me your jacket, Francis!
Look what you did to my dress. No doubt by accident
.
"

He quickly removed his coat and handed it to her, staring at her breasts until she'd covered them up.

Sam started sniffing the air
as if she could smell something, but wasn't quite sure what it was until her eyes popped when she took a deeper sniff in my direction. Why did I have to smell when she looked like
that
?

"Parker, you jerk!
You didn't tell me you were mated." Her eyes lit up as she bound across the few feet between us and wrapped me in a hug. "
Congratulations
! And welcome to the family."

"Um...thanks." I really wasn't sure how I was supposed to act.

"Leave her alone
,
Sam. She just found out about the mate thing about
an hour
ago, and Parker hadn't told her anything about it."

Sam and Francis both looked over
at Parker like he was an idiot
before he rolled his eyes and took my hand.

"Let's head over to my place so we can all get some rest." He turned to face me. "Then I can explain everything to you."

"And when he doesn't do a good job, come ask me. I'll tell you about all the good stuff."

Alright, so I actually like Sam. I didn't th
ink it was going to be possible
but she seemed like a fun person to be around.

"And when she's done with the girly stuff..." Francis chimed in, casting me a wicked grin. "Come see me and I'll tell you the truth."

"Hey!" She slapped his arm playfully before putting him in a headlock too fast for me to follow. "We'll meet you guys there." She lifted them both off the ground, Francis saluting us before they disappeared.

That happened so quick and wasn't awkward like I thought it would've been, but I still found that I couldn't remove my gaze from where she'd been standing.

"Do you want to grab some things? I guess I never really asked you, but will you come to my house tonight?" He took my hand and started walking back down the stairs towa
rd
my apartment.

“I thought you were between houses?”

“I didn’t lie. I’ve mostly been staying in an empty apartment in your building, or at a friend’s when I go out of town. I haven’t been to this house in a few months.”

Every
thing
always adds up. But then again, the truth would, wouldn’t it?

"That's fine. But I do have to go to work
tomorrow
, make up an hour or two." I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes as I tried to hide my blush. "I kind of had a hard time this week and might've missed
a half day…or so
."

"I'll get you to work by noon." He pressed me against him and then we were in my bedroom. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." Kneeling in front of me, his lips twitched until he spoke. "Please forgive me. I'll spend hours, days, years even, doing whatever it takes to get you to forgive me. And
I
do take requests." His eyebrows cocked while insinuating, making me smile.

"I'll remember that."

I grabbed an overnight bag from my closet shelf and stuck my toothbrush and some face
wash into it
, followed by some casual, comfortable clothes to go into work
. Then when he was gone, I grabbed some of my sexier underwear, followed by my ugly night shirt. I seriously needed to upgrade now that someone was actually seeing me in the bedroom. Parker didn't seem to mind though, since he'd kept me naked until work.

I smiled at the memory before joining him in the living room where he stood looking out my window, seeming to be watching the night sky. Such a good watch dog.

"I'm ready." He tu
rned and grabbed the bag from my grasp
, then walked me out the front door and waited for me to lock it. "Is it far from here? Maybe I should've changed."

He looked down at my skimpy sweats and smiled.

"You look beautiful. Besides, if I have my way, you won't be needing clothes at all in about ten minutes."

I smiled and wrapped my arms arou
nd him while he took off toward
his house.

THIRTEEN

Flying was absolutely the best. The view was unbeatable and the company wasn't the worst. Every so often he'd slow down so I could look up at the stars without my eyes watering. He'd stare at me while I stared at the view. What he saw in me I'll never know, but I didn't care that his contorted mind told him to l
ike me.  A
s long as I got to keep him.

He flew us into the next town, then up into the mountains where a log cabin was perched on the edge of a cliff.

I thought it was beautiful, walking into
what I’d describe as a man’s hunting cabin
, only to be dragged over to the
outdated white
fridge where he opened the freezer for a second, then shut it and walked over to the side of a
decaying
cabinet where a number pad appeared.

 
             
After punching in the code
,
the floor started to disappear at my feet, unveiling a flight o
f stairs that he walked me down.  The floor closed
over our heads when we passed
until we reached what looked to be a vault door. He quickly did the combination then closed and locked it once more when we were safely inside. Talk about high security.

The lights were already on since Francis and Sam were here, their laughter carrying down the hallway to greet us.

"I'll show you to our room and then we can join them, if you'd like."

We entered a room facing off the edge of the cliff. I could tell because there were actually windows attached to the rock wall. It was beautiful. He must've blasted
into the rock to form the rooms
since they weren't necessarily even, and left them that way. He had pictures hanging on walls, so there were some decorations, but the stone walls were perfect. They fit him.

There was a circle bed with black silk sheets and no comforter. Two red pillows were placed together, one gold overlapping the two. There was a bathroom near the back of the room and a hole of a closet that was packed full of his clothes. There was no TV and no other pieces of furniture. This really was an escape from the real world.

He set my bag next to his closet then looked at me expectantly.

"What do you think? I know I need to work on my decorating skills, but look out the window. I know you love views and was looking forward to you seeing it when I was putting them in."

I walked up to the wall and placed my hands on the ledge while smiling at him, before t
urning to look out. It was dark
so I couldn't see much but the tops of trees
in the distance
.

"It's beautiful."

"You can't see anything, can you?" He looked disappointed.

"I’
ll be able to in the morning." He took my hand when his earlier words sank in. "When did you put in the window?"

"About five years ago, why?"

Five years ago? He's been planning on bringing me here since then?

I shook my head but smirked, happy to hear his response, but also weary.

"Surprised? You shouldn't be by now. I thought I'd explained what you mean to me, but perhaps you're more of a kinesthetic learner. Want me to show you?"

God yes. Bu
t it could wait a little longer
until after we hung out with his brother and friend more. He invited them over and I wasn't going to be rude and keep him in the bedroom the entire time.

"Let's go hang out fo
r a bit,
but
definitely
,
definitely
, hold that thought."

Parker chuckled while leading me down the brightly lit hallway, passing a few closed doors, the laughter getting louder while the smell of chlorine started getting stronger.

At the very end of th
e hallway it came to a T.  W
e went right and entered the last doorway to find Francis and Sam laughing uncontrollably in the biggest hot tub I'd ever seen
surrounded by high rock walls that had to be at least twenty feet from the top of the tub
. They would've been red in the face from the la
ck of oxygen, if they needed it.  B
ut instead were both hanging onto the side walls,
light
pink
tears rolling down their cheeks, waving their hands at us for dismissal as if we didn't want to know what they were laughing at.

"Can't catch a break with you two
,
can I?" His tone was tired, as if he knew they were laughing at him.

"Ok, o
k. Stop laughing Francis, you're making me laugh." Sam slowly controlled her laughter then looked at me with pity. "Sorry. I couldn't help it." I still had no idea what was so funny. "We were laughing at Parker saying you were a kinesthetic learn
er." She started giggling again before
Francis disappeared under water to hide his face. "He really needs to work on his flirting skills with you, especially if he wants to keep you."

My lips twitche
d. I'd actually liked his words
but I guess it was kind of corny.
And if they’d
heard him say that
then there was no way I wanted to get intimate here, afraid they would hear everything. That certainly wasn't on my list of things to do.

Sa
m slowly stood out of the water
revealing a red bikini and a body to die for, then jumped out and stood next to me, grabbing my hand.

"Come on. Did you bring a swim suit?"

"No." I scrunched up my nose, kind of sad I wouldn't get to join in on the fun with them. "I didn't know I'd need one."

Sam looked over her shoulder at Parker and rolled her eyes.

"Men." I smiled
with her. "I've got some extras;
you can borrow one of mine. We're about the same size."

Before I could object she was pulling me back down the hallway to the other side of
the T into what I could only assume
to be her room.
S
he shut the door then led me to a closet where girl clothes were strewn about. Did she stay here
a lot
?

"I've got the perfect one for you."

She threw clothes around until coming out holding a gold swimsuit that had a tiny halter top with a
thin
line
of fabric
for the stomach
that connected to the barely there bottoms down the torso.

"I... I didn't shave, and that really doesn't look like it'll fit me. I'm fine. You guys can hang out and catch up."

She wasn't letting it go with that.

"Nonsense." She took my hand and led me to the bathroom where she unveiled a brand new razor and towel. The shower was full of women's cosmetics and smelled wonderful. "Do a quick shave then try on the swimsuit. Parker's eyes popping will be your reward. If you're really not comfortable in it then I've got others." She started closing the door on my still surprised face. "I'll wait in here."

It was really hard to dislike someone so nice and happy, though I wanted to really bad. She must keep a room here so she can visit whenever. I highly doubted she brought all this stuff with her when they high tailed it away from whoever took them captive.