Ember (Constant Flame Duet Book 1)

by Christi Whitson

  “You’re right. I apologize. Of course, I accept. I really only wanted to get Lena’s take on the situation, you know as a friend... since we’d be working together.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about Lena. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear you’re taking advantage of a good opportunity,” Nate replied smoothly, smirking into the phone. If he wasn’t mistaken, there was a good deal more than friendship between his daughter and Owen Langford, but he’d decided not to interfere.

  After ending the call with Nate, Owen went to the repair shop to talk to the owner. Troy Morris was sad to see him go but admitted that he’d known they wouldn’t be able to hold onto him forever. Owen offered to give him two weeks’ notice, but Troy told him not to worry about that unless he actually needed the hours. Since Nate had offered the position starting the following weekend, it seemed that things were working out in Owen’s favor, and they agreed that the shift he worked in the garage that day would be his last.

  Not long after leaving the repair shop, Owen realized with an ever-mounting panic that he had no idea where his wallet was. It wasn’t in his car where he’d expected it to be, and when he returned to his apartment, he turned the place upside down in search of it. It was only after he’d practically demolished his living room that he remembered he’d taken it with him to Nate’s the previous evening. He didn’t recall feeling it in his pocket throughout the evening, however, so he assumed that he must’ve left it in Lena’s car.

  It was after eight by that point, and Owen was fairly certain that she would’ve already made it home from GC, so when he called and reached only her voicemail, he decided to simply run by her place and pick it up. He took a quick shower to rid his body of the grease and grime he’d picked up at work that day and then tried to call her one more time before leaving his apartment. Owen frowned at the now-familiar sound of her outgoing message, deciding to at least text her a warning that he was on his way.

  Hey, I forgot my wallet in your car last night, and I’m sure I’ll need it before Tuesday when I see you next. On my way to your place to pick it up. See you soon. - O

  A short while later, Owen pulled his car to a stop about half a block away from her apartment building, glancing up at her window with a frown. It was dark. Maybe she’s out, he sighed. But then why wouldn’t she answer her phone? It didn’t ring straight through, so it’s definitely on… He sat for a few moments, considering his options. He was in dire need of a trip to the grocery store, and without his wallet, he couldn’t even pick up something from a drive-thru. He had a little cash, but it too was in his wallet. Fuck.

  As Owen fumbled for his phone to try to call her again, a group of people exited Lena’s building and stood on the sidewalk in the beam of his headlights, presumably waiting for a cab. At first glance, he didn’t recognize any of them, only registering that they looked to be about his age and were clearly headed to a club or rave of some sort. After watching them for a moment, however, he recognized the Hispanic man he’d seen Lena talking to earlier that week. The blonde next to him was vaguely familiar too, and he wondered if she might be Tessa Worthington, Mateo’s roommate, according to Lena. Owen studied the other three people in the group, two of whom were female. One had black hair and was rather tall, but the other was a redhead of about Lena’s height…

  What. The. Fuck.

  Owen growled involuntarily as the pieces clicked into place. There was no way he would’ve recognized her had she not been standing next to her neighbors. He wouldn’t have looked twice at her. Because the woman standing roughly thirty feet from his car looked nothing like the Lena he’d come to know. He’d never seen her hair up before, but now it was swept completely off her neck into a high, thick ponytail. The hair that danced like flames across her shoulders looked tangled and teased. Her makeup was heavy and dramatic, and although he couldn’t see the detail from his vantage point, he was certain that she wouldn’t have looked any more like herself if he’d been standing right in front of her.

  While those changes baffled him, what had elicited an almost feral snarl from his chest was her outfit. What the fuck is she wearing?! Despite the chill of the evening, Lena’s black leather jacket was folded over one arm while she dug through her small purse, which left her shirt - if one could even call it that - completely exposed. It looked to be made entirely out of some flesh-toned, sheer material, with nothing more than strategically placed black floral embroidery covering a small portion of her breasts and stomach. She had foregone a bra, and every exquisite curve was on full display. Her skin-tight black pants appeared to be leather as well, but the sides of them were missing, replaced instead by ribbons crisscrossing in a corset pattern.

  Owen was breathing heavily and clenching his jaw so tightly that his teeth began to ache. He reached for the door handle, intent on throwing her over his shoulder and hauling her back inside, but he realized belatedly that she and her friends were now climbing into the taxi that had just arrived.

  Fuck! What now? He felt powerless as the taxi began to pull away, and on instinct, he shifted his car into first and slipped into traffic behind it. There was one vehicle between them, but he was able to keep up as the cab merged onto the interstate. What am I doing? If she finds out I’m following her, she’ll be pissed… Owen warred internally with his protective instincts, as though the clichéd cartoon archetypes of good and evil were perched on his shoulders.

  Turn around and go home. If you piss her off, she’ll be done with you…

  Fuck that! Track her down and remind her who she belongs to!

  She doesn’t belong to you yet, and she never will if you treat her like an errant child…

  Errant child is right! She’s acting like an irresponsible, spoiled brat. Put her over your knee and give her the spanking she deserves!

  He eyed the exit for his neighborhood as he approached it… and passed it.

  I won’t interfere, Owen told himself. I’m just making sure she’s safe…

  Chapter 17

  A hundred things went through Owen’s mind as he followed the taxi that was transporting Lena and her friends. He racked his brain, trying to come up with logical destinations for a group of young people who were under twenty-one. Most of Seattle’s nightclubs required that their patrons be of legal drinking age in order to gain entry. He wished he’d been paying more attention to the mundane conversations of the other students in his Monday morning classes. Where did college students go to dance and behave irresponsibly? It was pretty clear that Lena and her friends hadn’t been dressed for a frat party.

  To Owen’s dismay, his question was answered only minutes later when the cab stopped in front of a brick building with an arched sign over the entrance. From the outside, the club looked almost classy, but the name on the sign, Nox, triggered something in his memory. Declan Yates, the one neighbor with whom he was on friendly terms, had mentioned it once. It was an over-eighteen dance club, and from what Owen could recall of Declan’s description, Lena and her friends would probably fit right in. The club served alcohol to those over twenty-one, but IDs were checked at the door. The hands of anyone not of legal drinking age were stamped accordingly. However, the part of his conversation with Declan that he remembered most vividly was that the employees at Nox were well-known to turn a blind eye to the sale and usage of recreational drugs. In a thousand years, he’d never have expected sweet, responsible Eleanore Gardner to spend her Saturday night in a place like this.

  Lena and the others exited the cab and greeted the bouncer at the door, skipping the line as though they were A-list celebrities. This brought another groan of frustration from his chest; apparently, this was something she did regularly. As Owen circled the block looking for a place to park, he couldn’t help but wonder why it had taken him so long to discover this about her. They’d been dating - well, sleeping together - for more than two months, and he knew they’d spent at least one Saturday night together. Although she’d told him a little about her friends, she had certainly kept the
details to a minimum.

  When at last Owen found a free place to park, he raced back to the club entrance only to realize that, without his wallet, there was no way to get inside. Even if he managed to talk someone in line into covering his admission fee, he didn’t have his ID with him. A fresh wave of frustration burned through his body with a heat he could actually feel, and resisting the urge to scream was almost physically painful. Owen paced the sidewalk for a few minutes, weighing his options.

  He could turn around and go home, confront her tomorrow. Yeah, I’ll bang on her door bright and early when she’s hungover, he thought vindictively. It was probably the simplest option and the most logical. Unfortunately, Owen knew there was no way he’d be able to fall asleep without knowing that Lena was completely safe. Even the thought of walking back to his car seemed impossible, as though that undercurrent of magnetism he always felt around her was actually holding him in place.

  He could try to sneak in somehow… No, that would probably just get me thrown out or arrested.

  There was really nothing for it but to wait. Sooner or later, Lena and her friends would have to leave the club and go home for the evening. If she looks like she’s okay when she comes out, I’ll just go home and figure out a way to talk to her about it another time. Or maybe I should follow the cab back to her apartment to make sure she gets inside safely… Christ, I’ve become a fucking stalker.

  Owen continued to deliberate as he leaned against the outside of the building not far from the entrance. It was a relatively cool evening, but he was just grateful it wasn’t raining. He asked himself what he was doing at least a dozen times, berating himself for being such a masochistic control freak that when the girl he wanted had pushed him away, he’d resorted to stalking her. Owen had no idea what he’d even say to Lena when she came out. He was sure she’d be angry at him if she realized he’d followed her, and there was no way she’d believe that he just happened to be there. If Lena knew him at all, and she did, she’d know immediately that he would never have come voluntarily to a place like this.

  To Owen’s surprise, it only took about two hours for Lena and her friends to emerge from the building. In the golden glow of the streetlight, he could tell instantly that they were intoxicated, Lena included. Fuck. He hesitated, watching her closely as she swayed on her feet and giggled at something one of her friends had said. The one he knew to be Mateo put an arm around her shoulders and tilted his head toward her, lowering his voice but still speaking loudly enough that Owen could hear him.

  “You look pretty faced out. I’d save the other half for tomorrow if I were you.”

  “Too late,” Lena replied with a cheshire grin.

  Owen wasn’t entirely sure what ‘faced out’ meant, but the implication was clear. He was almost shaking with anger as he closed the distance between them in long, determined strides. All of his concerns over whether or not she might be mad at him evaporated, and he couldn’t have cared less what she thought about the fact that he’d followed her. Even in her impaired state, some part of her seemed to sense his presence, and she turned curiously in his direction as he approached.

  “Owen?” she said vaguely, squinting at him. Mateo followed her gaze and backed away from her. “What are you…?”

  “Doing here? I could ask you the same thing.” Disapproval rolled off of him in waves, but the mingled effects of the alcohol and ecstasy made her impervious. She giggled drunkenly at his serious expression. Owen caught hold of her shoulders and forced her to look up at him. “What did you take?” he growled, ignoring the others completely as they stared at him in surprise.

  “I’ll tell you if you ask me reaaaaaaallly nice.”

  “Eleanore, so help me…”

  “Geez, lighten up,” she rolled her eyes, attempting to shrug out of his grasp. “What are you, my father?”

  “No, apparently, I’m the most responsible friend you have right now,” Owen spat, glaring at the others. “Would you like me to tell your father what you’ve been doing?”

  “Like he’d ever believe you,” Lena scoffed. “As far as he’s concerned I’m the picture-perfect daughter. Perfect grades, perfect looks, perfect behavior...” she slurred. Her smile had fallen slightly, however, and he could tell that she wasn’t nearly as confident as she was pretending to be.

  “Well, that sounds like a theory that needs testing. He did happen to call me today, so I have his number now,” he boasted, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. Lena tried to knock it out of his hand, but his sober reflexes were no match for her.

  “No… Please don’t.” Her smile was gone, and she struggled to focus her eyes on his.

  “Why shouldn’t I? He seems to be the only one you listen to.”

  “Please, Owen. What’ll it take?”

  “For me to keep this a secret?”

  Lena nodded, bringing her hands to his chest as she swayed a little. Owen’s grip on her shoulders loosened slightly, and he studied her features in the soft glow of the streetlight. She’d used heavy makeup to change her face so much that it was difficult to see the real Lena beneath, but she gazed up at him with the same fathomless blue eyes he’d gotten lost in so many times. Now that he was close enough to really look at her, he noticed that several small braids angled away from her face and fed into the thick ponytail. It was clear that she’d put quite a bit of effort into changing her appearance. To his relief, her jacket covered the poor excuse for a shirt she was wearing, but he still had the urge to shield her from the view of every male in the vicinity.

  “You have to let me take you home. Now. And I’m staying with you so I know you’re alright.”

  “We’re going there anyway,” she argued, glancing back at her friends, who had remained oddly silent throughout their exchange. “We’re just waiting for the cab.”

  “They can get home however they want, but unless you want me to call Nate this very second, you’re riding with me.”

  Lena rolled her eyes a little in annoyance at his overbearing attitude, but she nodded and turned to mumble a quick goodbye to her friends. Tessa, who had taken her turn staying sober that evening, took a cautious step toward Lena and Owen.

  “We haven’t officially met, but I know who you are,” she addressed Owen. “We always make sure at least one of us is sober when we go out. I can stay with her tonight if you’d like.”

  “That would sound like responsible behavior if the rest of you weren’t drunk or high right now. How is one person supposed to look out for four intoxicated people and make sure no one gets hurt?” The words poured too quickly from his mouth for Lena to keep up, but Tessa had understood him perfectly. Her eyes fell to the pavement, knowing that he was right. “That’s what I thought,” he muttered, guiding Lena away from them in the direction of his car.

  If Lena had been sober, she might’ve resisted being herded away like a disobedient child, but in her present state, it was all she could do to keep from falling off of her ridiculously high heels. The combination of rum and ecstasy had left her with a hazy, happy feeling, and as much as she might have wanted to be irritated with his high-handedness, she just didn’t have it in her.

  “Why do you care so much?” she wondered aloud, tripping along next to him on the sidewalk.

  “You know why. And it’s pretty obvious you need someone to look after you.”

  “And you want the job?”

  “You already know that too.”

  Owen managed to get her into the car and buckled into the passenger seat, and Lena gave him another inebriated smile as he shut the door. It remained fixed on her face for the entire trip back to her apartment, in spite of Owen’s repeated sighs and solicitous glances.

  “I’m not going to puke in your car, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she giggled. “I can hold my liquor just fine.”

  “Maybe so, but that wasn’t all you had, was it?” Her smile stretched wider on her face, and his hands clenched around the steering wheel. “What did you take, Elean
ore?”

  “Good God, it was just ecstasy. Calm down. It just makes you happy and relaxed for a little while. No big deal.”

  “Drugs are a big deal, and so is drinking,” Owen said seriously. “How did you even get them to serve you anyway?” Lena giggled and waved her fake ID playfully. He promptly snatched it out of her hand and shoved it into his pocket.

  “Hey! Give it back!” she whined, trying and failing to sound angry.

  “You’re lucky I don’t throw it out the fucking window!” he shouted.

  She crossed her arms around her torso and turned away from him. It might have been more effective if she’d been able to stop snickering under her breath. Owen took a deep breath and attempted to calm down. She’s safe and unharmed, he reminded himself. Just have to wait it out and take care of her in the meantime. He glanced back at her, feeling slightly less angry.

  “Why would you put yourself at risk like that? What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that I needed to de-stress a little. Take a night off from being Miss Perfect. You should try it sometime. You’re way too uptight.”

  Owen frowned but held his tongue, mentally comparing the woman he’d sat next to at dinner on Friday night to the one sitting next to him now. The drastic change in her appearance wasn’t the only thing that struck him. While Lena may have been in a fairly good mood at the start of the evening on Friday, by the end of it, she’d been tense and distracted. Owen had watched her closely throughout the evening, reading her expressions and body language, and it had been obvious that she hadn’t truly enjoyed any part of it.

  Tonight’s version of Lena was anything but tense. The only time Owen had seen her more relaxed was immediately following an orgasm. She seemed utterly content and completely unaffected by his irritation with her. In spite of the occasional slurring of words, her thoughts seemed to be relatively clear, and Owen hoped that meant that she would be able to avoid serious repercussions for her indulgence.