I crawl to the path and stick my head out from the grass to see what’s happening. Blaze is giving me a ‘what the fuck’ kind of look, but I ignore him. There’s no wind and besides, the hissing of the grass isn’t uniform like it would be if the wind was causing it.
Then I see them.
Black shapes, darker than the night, and therefore clearly visible. A whole sea of them, at least fifty. Ours? Theirs?
They all look the same. They’re all dressed the same. And in my experience, that can mean only one thing. Cops.
I pull out my phone and call Rook.
“We got company back here,” I whisper. “It might be cops. What do we do?”
I can hear Rook catch his breath. “Stay put. Wait for orders.”
I relay the message to Blaze, he passes it along to the guys behind him and I do the same on my side of the road. The hand gestures we use to communicate with each other on jobs are elaborate and practically a language of their own. It took me ages to learn the signs, and I’m still not sure I know them all.
My heart’s thumping hard and blood’s whooshing through my veins. The hissing of the grass it’s so loud it sounds like a herd of elephants is approaching.
Abort. Don’t be seen.
I relay the message and start crawling backward into deeper grass. I’m fairly confident any sound we’re making as we retreat is masked by the approaching cops. But I still don’t dare take a full breath until we’re in the nearly full darkness by the corner of the wall.
I stand up, confident none of those approaching can see me in the complete darkness. At least, I can no longer see them. I hope Blaze and the brothers on his side of the part reached safety too.
Then a strong gust of wind plasters my hair back against my scalp a split second before the sky explodes like the sun rose straight up from the ground yards from where I’m standing.
I hear nothing as I hit the ground again, my heart thumping in my throat and my vision seared away by the brightness of the explosion.
What the fuck happened?
Are Rook’s orders still standing?
I call him, but the ringing in my ears is louder than the ringing of the dial tone. So I text instead, asking what the orders are now. And spent a heart-thumping eternity during which screams and yells start breaking through the bells in my ears.
The dark shapes have reacted to the blast by going down too, and they’re now starting to stand up slowly, most of them staying crouched and looking around like a group of hens with no leader.
The screen of my phone finally lights up. Abort. Don’t return to HQ yet. I’ll contact you.
I forward the text to Blaze, tell the brothers with me, then take off at a run into the darkness, away from the path that’s now covered with cops and away from the walls. Seriously, this fucking place and me have some strange symbiotic energy going on. Three times I’ve been here with a task, and three times I’ve been exactly where I needed to be to prevent something no one foresaw. Except I doubt anyone foresaw any of what happened tonight, especially not that fucking explosion. I hope all my brothers are all right. I hope they all get out all right.
But I’m not exactly upset this job got so spectacularly railroaded.
I’ve been ordered away from HQ, so there’s only one place for me to go. The Lucky Star Motel and Brenda. I just hope my bike’s where I left it because otherwise, it’ll be one hell of a walk.
10
Brenda
In my dream, someone was calling my name softly, gently, like a heavenly creature whispering. But it was accompanied by loud tapping on the glass and that woke me before I could answer the call, before I could find out what wonders lay in store for the rest of that sweet, soft dream calling to me.
A man is standing by the window, a darker shape against the faintly lit parking lot, and now my heart is racing, and my breathing is fast and frenzied. Instead of a sweet dream, I woke up into a nightmare.
“It’s me, Colt,” the man says. “Open the door.”
I’m still breathing hard as I climb over the bed to do as he asks, getting so hopelessly tangled in the bedsheets I almost slam into the door head first in my haste to open it. I’m in a hurry to escape the nightmare that was just a couple of seconds ago and enter the living dream. The one I thought was gone from me forever.
Cold night air envelops me whole, from my overheated face to my bare feet. It’s only then that I realize I didn’t wear anything to bed. The fire in his eyes is blazing, engulfing all of me, eating at the night’s coldness, chasing it away, and that’s my second clue. He’s grinning like all his dreams about this reunion and more just came true.
But on the wings of that realization comes the knowledge that if I give myself to him now, he’ll be gone again tomorrow morning. It’s a tried and tested knowledge on my part. More like a fact. And this time, he’ll be gone for good.
“Come in,” I say in my best off-putting voice, which somehow still sounds seductive and inviting. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but him wanting me this obviously, this completely, is so real, so pure, so different from the way any other guy in my life ever wanted me, that I want the same thing. With everything I am. Damn tomorrow. Right now is all there is, all that matters.
I step backward so he can enter, and he does, slamming the door shut without taking his eyes off me.
“Did you miss me this much?” he asks cockily as he advances.
I’m frozen to the spot by the lust and desire in his eyes, both so pure and burning hot, both just for me. A part of me is certain he’s never looked at any other woman like this, while another part is screaming at me to stop being such an idiot. It’s just lust.
“I thought you weren’t coming back, actually,” I say.
“What? And miss out on this?” His gaze takes in all of me, somehow growing even more blazing hot than it already was.
He’s earned it and I deserve it. Deserve to feel good. Deserve to bathe in the fires of passion his eyes promise, even if it’s just for one night. It’s been so long since I was treated well, since I’ve done exactly what I wanted and only what felt good.
“Come and take it then,” I say, turning up the heat up and up.
He wastes no time before closing the rest of the distance between us and pulling me into a kiss, one hand at the back of my neck, the other on the small of my back, but quickly traveling down to my ass as our lips meet and our tongues find each other in a shower of sparks so bright and so sweet I couldn’t have dreamed them any better. It’s like Christmas and Fourth of July come early, and my birthday and every other day when feeling good and having fun is the priority.
His lips travel down my neck, tickling and pinching, sending hard and strong flashes of desire all through my body, and especially my clit. I’ve been without a man for so long, my whole body is shaking in anticipation, in need. When his lips find my nipple, I moan so loud it’s almost a scream.
He grins up at me and does it again, before straightening up and guiding me to the bed. The tangled up sheets are still warm from my body’s heat and they’re about to get even hotter.
He takes off his jacket, letting it slide down his back and fall with a thud to the floor. His boots follow. And as much as I want to help him rip his clothes off, so I can have him inside me, I lean back on my elbows to enjoy the show. He shakes his head and grins like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. And gives me the show I’m expecting.