by A. P. Jensen
She felt a hand close around her arm. She turned and bashed the suit with the beer bottle, which shattered on his skull. He staggered back and when another lunged for her, she raised her gun and shot him in the shoulder in the exact same place she’d been hit in the parking lot of her apartment complex. As he tumbled back, she saw Lo getting choked by one of the suits. Even while Raven hefted a full champagne bottle, Cain grabbed the suit’s neck and with a vicious twist, the man went down like a ton of bricks.
“Okay?” Cain said to Lo.
Lo rubbed his neck and grimaced. “God, I think I’m going to have bruises. I’m freaking going to have to wear turtlenecks for a week! Shit.”
“You gonna deal with this?” Cain asked. “There’s more of them outside.”
Lo waved a hand. “Yeah. I’ll deal with the cops.”
Cain put an arm around her waist, took the gun from her hand to tuck back in his blazer and followed the rest of the crowd to the exit. Cain didn’t bother with the elevators since they were packed with scared guests. He pushed Raven into the emergency exit stairs and shut the door behind them. He checked the stairs above and listened for a few minutes before he relaxed.
“You think there’s more Battalion men?” she asked.
“I know there is. There’s always back up.”
Raven took off her stilettos, resigned. She started up the steps and thanked housekeeping once again for keeping her in shape. When her neighborhood was safe enough, she liked to jog. It cleared her head and settled her body, which was always restless. She felt ten times better than she had even a day ago and didn’t know whether that was due to loafing around for almost two days or the two margaritas.
“Thanks for the drink,” Raven said as they started climbing.
“No problem. Nice shot.”
“Thanks.”
They walked in silence for a while before he spoke.
“How did you know they were going to make a move?”
“I don’t know. Instinct, I guess.”
“Or power. It’s shocking that you drank those margaritas and still managed to pinpoint them.”
“I always get an itch when there’s assholes around.”
“Which is probably why you’re still alive today.”
“Yup.”
“It’s nice watching your ass bounce from down here.”
Raven didn’t miss a step but she blushed which was fine since he couldn’t see.
“Just so I don’t feel like a slut, please tell me you’re not married or have a girlfriend.”
“Getting serious, are we?”
She stopped on a landing and turned to him. “If I had a boyfriend, would you have kissed me in the club?”
“Yeah.”
“You would?” She was startled and a bit put off by his answer.
Cain leaned into her. “You want me. That rules the other guy out.”
She put a hand on his chest and pushed. Nothing happened. She backed up on a step so she looked down at him and sneered. “I want a lot of men.”
“No. You don’t.”
His answer was so calm and definite that she gaped at him.
“You don’t think I could get another guy?” she demanded, offended and angry now.
“You could but I don’t think you want one. You said yourself, you don’t have any friends so why would you have a man?”
“Arrogant ass,” Raven muttered and started up the stairs with a vengeance.
His chuckle echoed in the stairwell. She took the stairs two at a time with her stilettos dangling from a clenched fist. At the thirtieth floor she gave up and shoved open the exit door and strode to the elevator. Her legs were on fire and she had a stitch in her side. Sweat poured over her and she tugged down her dress which was bunched around her waist. Cain said nothing but he slowed her by putting an arm around her. She was too damn tired to put her stilettos on. The elevator doors opened, revealing a guy wearing a business suit and he smirked at them. Raven could hear what he thought they’d been doing. Before she could catch her breath to say something, Cain pushed her into the corner of the elevator. She leaned against the wall, still panting. The elevator stopped for the stranger on the fiftieth floor and he shot Cain a very male look as he exited. When the doors closed again, she shoved Cain away from her and jabbed her stiletto at him.
“Men are idiots,” Raven muttered.
Cain grinned and kept her behind him when they walked out of the elevator on their floor. When they entered the penthouse, she went straight up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. She peeled the dress off and jumped into the shower and washed off the makeup and the feel of Cain’s hands and lips on her. She tried to focus on the main problem, which was the fact that the Battalion tracked them into the club but her mind wouldn’t focus on that.
She dressed in pajamas and set the alarm on the nightstand for six thirty in the morning. She had to work tomorrow and it was a good thing. She wasn’t in the mood to stay in the penthouse and have Cain cook for her and watch movies as if tonight hadn’t happened. She didn’t see Cain as her captor but right now she felt like a stupid damsel coming down with a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. Did Cain think she was easy because she didn’t have people? Screw him.
“We need to talk about tonight.”
She picked up the heavy ceramic coaster on the nightstand and hurled it as she whirled. Cain ducked and the coaster hit the closet and shattered. Cain didn’t look perturbed by her greeting.
“I told you, no walking through walls!” she yelled.
“I made sure you were dressed first,” he said reasonably.
She stalked over and jabbed him hard in the chest with a shaking finger. “I don’t care if I’m dressed. If the door’s closed, you knock like a normal human being.”
“I’m not normal.”
“Congratulations! I freaking have rights and if I want to sit in my room by myself then I’ll do so without you barging in.”
“About tonight, the Battalion probably knows we’re staying in the hotel now.”
“I figured that out myself, genius.”
“I don’t think you should go to work tomorrow.”
“That’s nice.”
“You want me to call in for you?”
“I’m not calling in. I told you, I need the money and I’m better now.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is your point? I’m going to work and nothing you say is gonna change that. Good night.”
Irritation flickered over his features and he crossed his arms. “I’m supposed to protect you-”
“I can take care of myself.”
His eyes touched on her shoulder. “Really?”
Her right fist flew and he jerked his head back. She swept out with her leg and he was already in motion, sliding away and leaping forward to pick her up and toss her on the bed. She thrust out with her palm and clipped him on the chin. She heard the snap of his teeth and his curse was heartfelt. The mix of frustration, fear, excitement and what tequila she hadn’t sweated out crackled in her veins.
She stood on the bed and when he sprang at her, eyes gleaming, she kicked him square in the chest. He staggered back and when she jumped off the bed, he nabbed her and shoved her face first into the wall, arms clamped behind her. She stomped on his bare foot with her own and he cursed into her hair. She rammed her butt into his groin with enough force to make him wheeze and she knew she struck gold. She tried to twist her arms but he didn’t release her. He turned her around and bent her over the bed, arms still behind her. She turned her face to the side so she could breathe and tried to kick him but the position she was in left her defenseless. He lay over her, harsh breathing feathering over her face as he laid his cheek against her hair.
“You’re fucking good,” Cain groaned.
She smiled, despite her pinned status.
“Think you’re the only one that knows how to fight,” she hissed.
“I’m glad to
hear it, but being a good fighter isn’t going to help you if he outweighs you by two hundred pounds and has a gun.”
“Which is why I need my own gun.”
“No.”
She bucked her ass and he groaned again. She stiffened when she felt his erection. He moved against her, seeking, and she put as much oomph into bouncing her knee so her foot smacked his ass. He laughed and thrust against her.
“Damn, you make me hot.”
“I noticed,” she said sarcastically.
In a move so fast she barely registered it, Cain flipped her, spread her legs so he was between them and pinned her hands above her head. Her shirt rode up, exposing her stomach and she saw his eyes fix on her navel. She sucked in a breath and grit her teeth. He was careful not to be within head butting range, she saw irritably. His eyes moved up to her face and he thrust between her thighs and she went rigid.
“Your eyes say you want this,” he murmured.
“And what does my hand say?” she asked and managed to stick the middle finger.
Cain laughed and shook his head. “Shit. I guess women were coming to me too easily before.”
“I guess so, macho man. Get off me.”
Cain looked at her lips, which she bared in a snarl.
“I bite,” she warned.
“I bet,” he sighed
With obvious reluctance, he released her and backed away. She sat on the bed and yanked her shirt down and folded her arms across her chest. She figured the ache in her body was a natural reaction- Cain was hot and he’d been there for her for the past couple of days while she was wounded. He was protecting her and leading her through a minefield of weird information and power she wasn’t sure she wanted to accept. Her life before Thanksgiving had been lonely, simple and what she wanted. Yanked into this world with super powers, Cain and the Battalion was a huge mistake that would be solved once both sides realized they had the wrong girl. She sensed bad guys, but didn’t everybody? She had moves but it was just street smarts, not a super power. Cain was the one person that remembered her, which made him unique since no one cared about her existence except for the Battalions who were determined to… capture or kill her?
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to work tomorrow,” Cain said, resuming their argument.
“I can’t keep calling in. I’m going to get fired.”
“I told you, the money doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter to you! But once you find out that I don’t have a super power, I’m still going to need a job and the Council will send you on another crazy job.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You think this is a joke?”
“I think you and the freaking Battalion have the wrong girl.”
He shook his head. “Whatever. I don’t want you going to work. The Battalion knows you work here. They won’t come into the penthouse if they know I’m with you, but the moment you’re on your own, they’ll get you.”
She raised her brows. “You’re that good?”
He bared his teeth, ran his eyes over her and didn’t answer.
“I’m still going to work. Get out of my room and if you walk in again without knocking, I’m going to break something valuable on your body.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
When Raven pushed her cart down the hallway on the fifty-ninth floor, she found Cain waiting for her. He leaned against the wall and followed her with moody eyes as she walked into her first room of the day. Luckily, the guests were long gone but they left a mess for Raven that made her snap on gloves before she touched a thing. Cain stepped in and surveyed the room with his lip curled.
“I have the freaking pen and cell phone,” she said and for the first time in her life was embarrassed by her job.
“I don’t like this.”
“You’re watching too much Lost. You’re paranoid.”
“Damn, Raven, do you realize you’re risking your life for a damn cleaning job?” Cain’s voice was scathing.
“Do you realize how hard it is to get a good job in the real world? Just because your grandpa had a “vision” and thinks I can change the tide of humanity doesn’t mean I’m going to quit my job and take money from you. Get real,” she said sarcastically. “I can’t blow fire or make the world bend with my thoughts so why don’t you have a chat with the Battalion and tell them the most interesting thing I can do is take a dumpy room like this and magically make it sparkly clean?”
Cain was edgy to the point where it made her feel like she was going to get jumped at any moment. His forbidding expression made her want to do what he wanted because she’d never seen him like this. That unruffled demeanor was gone, replaced by a guy who looked like he was capable of ripping anyone limb from limb. He’d been on her ass from the moment she went to the kitchen this morning for a cup of coffee, listing all the reasons she should stay in the penthouse. She knew he wanted to lock her in the room and tie her to the bed, but it would cross the line between protector and captor. They both knew she’d fight to escape if he went that far.
It didn’t help that Lo walked into the penthouse again in the middle of their argument. He ambled into the kitchen, moaning and snatched Raven’s coffee from her and took a large gulp before he handed it back. He looked as if he spent the morning over a toilet bowl.
“I spent all night making people look the other way and forget the dead Battalion’s as the Council cleanup crew bagged the bastards. What the hell happened to you?” Lo asked Cain with bleary eyes.
“Raven’s my priority. I got her out of there. We shouldn’t have gone in the first place,” Cain snapped.
Lo looked Raven over, brows raised as he took in her housekeeping uniform. “Who’s this? You doing something undercover?”
Raven rolled her eyes but Cain slowly straightened.
“Raven came with me last night. You met her three times yesterday,” Cain said slowly.
Lo stared at him. “When did I meet her?”
“She threw knives at you,” Cain snapped.
Lo’s eyes widened and he took several cautious steps back from Raven. “She did? Why? What did I do?”
“You really don’t remember her?” Cain asked, his voice so husky it was barely audible.
Lo rubbed tired eyes. “Nope. I do remember being this close,” he held his thumb and pointer finger a hairbreadth apart, “to convincing a babe in a gold dress to come up to my room but that went out the window when all hell broke loose in the club. ”
Cain eyed his cousin as if he was contemplating beating him to a pulp. Raven put a hand on his chest and felt his body quiver and she wondered what came over him. Lo didn’t notice as he mourned the loss of getting laid. With a sad wave, he left the penthouse, leaving a long, tense silence behind him.
Raven dug her nails into Cain’s chest but he didn’t look at her. He was staring at the space where Lo had been and the look on his face scared her.
“Cain?” she said quietly.
He focused on her and his eyes were dangerous. “You are not going to work.”
Cain had been in a shitty mood ever since and the way his fury filled the air was suffocating. Raven wasn’t used to someone hovering over her and she didn’t like it. She snapped her towel in his direction to get his broody attention.
“The Battalion doesn’t fool around,” Cain barked.
“Neither do I. Get out of here. I can’t clean with you hovering.”
“You fucking call me if someone even looks at you wrong. You got me?”
“Yes, master.”
He gave her one last bad-tempered look before he stalked out of the room. She blew out a breath when he was gone, taking his ego with him. Jesus. All her life she wondered what it would be like to have someone’s undivided attention and now that she had it, she wished it would just go away. Cain was complicated, the Battalion was complicated and she liked things clear and simple. Her orderly, boring life was in shambles. She turned to the messy room and pushed everything else out of her m
ind. The labor felt good and exorcised her worries. There may be magic in the world, but a toilet was still a toilet and that was all that mattered to her. Some things were the same no matter what.
Cain popped in at least three times and each time he patrolled the room and hallway before leaving with pissed off eyes. She didn’t speak to him and he didn’t try to convince her to leave her job. Her last room asked her to come back at four and since Cain requested her again, she was almost done for the day. She took the service elevator up to the sixtieth floor. The gunshot wound was almost a distant memory although it protested when she pushed herself too hard. Her hands were nicely healed and she was almost up to her normal pace. Almost. She was out of breath when she walked into the penthouse where Cain paced. She guzzled down a bottle of water, made herself a sandwich and turned on the TV. Cain sat on the couch across from her but he wasn’t watching the TV- she could feel his eyes boring holes into her.
“If you need sex that badly, this is Vegas. You can order something while I’m cleaning my last room,” she said.
He didn’t reply and she finally turned her head to look at him. His hands were laced together and he was stock-still, eyes fixed on her as if he hadn’t seen her before.
“What’s your problem?” she demanded.
“What happened with Lo this morning, that’s normal for you?” he asked, body rigid.
“Yeah. I told you, most people can’t remember me. I think it’s my personality.”
He looked confused. “Your personality?”
She fidgeted. “Well, yeah. I’m not very sociable and-.”
His snort stopped her. “Raven, your personality is memorable, believe me. That’s not it.”
She glared at him. “I’ve always known that there’s something wrong with me. I was found in a bag in a park when I was a day old. An old man walking his dog found me. None of my foster parents or siblings gave two shits about me.” She shrugged. “I look out for myself. It works for me.”