“Hey,” she said, her voice soft. “What happened? Something huge, obviously, but—”
“Not yet,” I croaked out. “I need to get out of here.”
“Kira, no!” one of the men shouted.
My eyes shut tight at that, the words scoring my nerves.
“We need to talk through this, love. I know you’re scared but—”
“It’s OK, Ki,” Jen said, patting my back, “I’ll get you out.”
“Kira!”
“Look, everyone’s gonna calm the fuck down.” Marlow’s voice cut across everything, creating a welcome moment of peace. “Kira is overwhelmed by what went on last night and just needs some girl time to get her head straight, right?”
I pulled away slowly, not wanting to look at them, but I forced my eyes up and my body to turn to face them.
If I thought the light hurt my eyes, they hurt them more. My whole hand spasmed with the need to shoot them right now, with all that half naked, bed headed intensity. I was their entire focus, even Lucas, which had me stepping back. And I was hurting them. I could see the drawn faces, the shuttered eyes, as if they were flinching back from me just as much as I was flinching back from them. And why wouldn’t we be? What the fuck had we just gone through?
Don’t think about that now, deal with what’s in front of you.
“Marlow’s right. And thanks for speaking up for me just then. I needed that, just as I need to get my head straight. I’m not walking away from anything or making decisions, but I need to process. That…the lightning…the lightning man…”
They all flinched at that, none more than Lucas. Interesting. Disturbing.
“I’m in a whole new country, I’ve seen nothing but backstage and a hotel since I got here. I need…out.”
“We can take you out and show you—” Jake said, starting forward, his eyes shining.
“I’d like that, later.”
“I’m sending two of the roadies with you,” Liam said, his voice flat.
“I’ll have the sentinels with me,” Jen said bristling. “You can’t say that she won’t be safe.”
“If you knew what was hovering around, looking for a piece of her, you wouldn’t say that,” Liam replied. “And anyway, those sentinels have been in Rutherglen employ for many years. Take them, Kira, please.” That word seemed to have to fight its way out of his mouth. “It’ll make me feel better. Just put them by the front door and feed them. They’ll stay out of your way.”
The arguing, the negotiating—it was all starting again, and I couldn’t bear it.
“Yes, to everything that gets me out of here,” I said between gritted teeth.
“C’mon, Ki,” Jen said gently, but Marlow came forward, handing me something. I frowned for a moment, but then felt the softest, most buttery leather I’d ever felt between my fingers. I opened the bundle up and saw it was a gorgeous leather jacket.
“It’s tailored for you. Should fit perfectly,” he said with an encouraging smile. It got wider, relaxing as I shrugged it on. He twitched my wet hair, so it lay just right, then pulled out a tube of lip gloss, pausing for a second to check I was OK with it before applying it with a couple of practised swipes. “There, gorgeous.”
He went to move away, join the rest of the guys who watched every movement with hot eyes, but I grabbed him around the waist before he did so.
“You need to blot it, remember?” I said.
“No, you don’t—”
I cut his words off, my slick lips landing on his. It was a soft kiss goodbye, but when I pulled back, I felt that same pleased feeling to see him marked by something of mine. I wiped a tiny bit of gloss that had smeared past his lip line and then turned to leave.
“Man,” Vervain said as we emerged outside the bus, the cool air feeling good on my skin. “That’s a whole lotta testosterone in there. I haven’t seen that much sausage in the same place since the last staff BBQ.”
12
“I thought we’d try an honest to goodness American diner,” Jen said carefully as we drove away from where the buses were parked. Apparently, most of the crew had gone ahead the day we got off the plane to get the stage rigged in time, but now we were following their timetable, arriving well in advance of the show.
“Sounds awesome.”
“Ki—”
“Tell me about you, about what’s been going on,” I interrupted. I felt her looking at me so I turned towards her. “I’m gonna talk, I promise, but once we get started on my shit, it’s gonna suck all the air out of the room. So catch me up.”
We were installed in a booth now. We’d talked about their bus, but everyone carefully avoided talking about Rhiannon. I looked around when we arrived, open-mouthed. I’d always thought the vinyl seats and pastel teal walls combined with black and white chequerboard decor was a movie thing, but apparently not.
“I’ll be right with you,” a woman in a red dress and a starched white apron said from behind the till. “Sit wherever you like.”
“When you see these menus, you’ll be damn glad we don’t gain weight like humans do,” Jen said, passing me one. I opened it to see manna from heaven described in a tight black font. I closed my mouth, not wanting the drool to stream forth.
“So what do you recommend?” I said, dizzied for choice.
That was apparently the right thing to say as the two of them peppered me with suggestions, and in the end, didn’t even need my input as they came to a final decision without me, which left me free to look around.
I was in the United States. I glanced out the window and saw a whole other culture bustling around me, people driving on the wrong side of the road, signs for franchises I’d never heard of clamouring for my attention, but my eyes were dragged back to the booth in front of us. I saw a familiar head of sandy brown hair, turned away and facing Paulie, who was giving his order enthusiastically to the waitress. I forced my eyes back to the table and away from Mark. I had so many blokes on the go, I had no idea what I was doing. Mooning after someone who was patently not interested in me anymore was a waste of time.
“Allow me, miss.” Mark had been all politeness when I approached the back door of the town car we were going to use. He opened it and stood stiffly to one side but I made him wait. It was purely perverse, hurting me and maybe him, but I couldn’t just do as he obviously wanted and get in the car. I stood there, listening to Jen chattering away to Vervain, distracted for the moment and raked my eyes along that big, strong form.
Looks like he’s ready to bend you over his knee and call you Sassenach, Marlow had said with a grin.
“Do you still feel the pain?” I asked, the uncomfortable pause growing longer and longer.
“Miss?”
“You said you experienced some kind of agony, watching me with my friends, wanting to reach out.”
I placed my hand on the door edge, so close to his I could feel the warmth radiating from his skin.
“I don’t get to—”
“I’m not going to ask you to break your vow or become my sex slave. I’ll leave you alone if you answer me this. Do you still feel that pain you described so bloody eloquently?”