by C. L. Parker
“The soul isn’t really a body part, Colt. It’s more a philosophical assumption: your heart, your conscience... everything that makes you... well, you, in the nonphysical sense.”
Colton considered his counterargument and found it hard not to find the logic in his statement. “You have a point, bro,” he finally said. “Touché.” He clinked the neck of his beer bottle with Dominic’s before they each took another drink.
The younger sibling sat his bottle back on the table and twisted it around in a circle while the older slumped in his chair and picked at his label, not knowing what else to say.
“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
Dominic nodded and looked down at the table. He thought about the declarations he and Kerrigan had just shared the night before. All the secrets had finally been revealed, and there would be no more between them. He trusted her with his life. “Yeah, I really am.”
“Wow.” Colton sat back in his chair. “Dominic Michael Grayson... in love. I never thought I’d see the day when you’d settle down with just one woman.”
Dominic furrowed his brow. “Kerrigan isn’t just any woman. She’s... she’s special, man.” He looked up at his brother, the conviction in his eyes unquestionable. “I’d die for her.”
“Sounds like you nearly did.”
“Hope I’m not interrupting important male bonding time.” Kerrigan stepped into the kitchen with Millie on her heels. Dominic’s face lit up as he watched her walk over to where he sat. When she leaned over to give him a chaste peck on the cheek, he grabbed her and pulled her into his lap, dipping her back for a proper kiss.
She squealed and squirmed in his arms. “Dominic, you’re being rude to our guest,” she mumbled against his relentless lips.
He gave a disgruntled huff before sitting her upright. “Fine, but Colton’s not a guest. He’s family, and he’d better get used to the PDA because I plan on having a lot more of it.”
Kerrigan giggled and wrapped her arm around his shoulders as she casually ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “So,” she sighed and turned her attention to said family member. “You probably think we’re all crazy, huh?”
“If I say no will you promise not to zap me?”
“Mmm... handsome and witty.” Gabe shuffled into the kitchen and took the chair beside Colton. “I think you and I just might get to be really great friends.”
“As long as that’s all you are,” Dominic muttered, earning an elbow from Kerrigan.
“Ow! I was just kidding.” He laughed and rubbed at the spot. “So, this is how it’s going to be, huh? I tell you I love you, and the abuse begins?”
“Oh, gag,” Gabe said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. He angled himself toward Colton in an attempt to ignore the happy couple, crossing his legs effeminately and leaning into the table with his chin perched in his palm. He was still feeling the effects of the seven or so bubbletinis he had consumed. “You do know they’re going to be insufferable with all their googly-eyed bullshit, right? I say we put ourselves out of our misery now and drop them in the Everglades for gator bait. What do you think, hot stuff?”
Colton chuckled, looked at Dominic and Kerrigan, and then back at Gabe. “I think I like where your mind is going.”
“Oh, honey.” Gabe sighed and then ran one dainty finger along Colton’s forearm, ogling him suggestively. “You have no idea the places my twisted little mind can take you.”
Dominic interrupted the conversation when he stood abruptly, forcing Kerrigan to her feet. “Ooookay... I think it’s time for bed. Colton, you’re taking Kerrigan’s room.” He aimed a pointed glare at Gabe before continuing. “And I’m finding a bolt lock for the door.”
Gabe’s jaw dropped open, and he placed a hand to his chest, feigning insult.
“Dominic!” Kerrigan playfully chastised him, but she knew if that lock wasn’t in place, her best friend would surely find some way to sneak in that room to “accidentally” cop a feel of their guest in his sleep.
Dominic ushered Colton out of the kitchen. Gabe waved his fingers and called after him, “Nighty-nighty, scrumptious! Have sweet, sweet dreams... of what you could have had.”
Dominic was brought back to the present. Kerrigan was right. Then again, she usually was. He needed to tell his brother about what he had become. Secrets had come between him and the woman he loved, and he had almost lost her because of them. He was resolved not to let the same thing happen with his brother.
With a heavy sigh of resignation, he looked over at her to tell her he intended to come clean, but she was already fast asleep. Usually she sat up with him, but he knew she had been exhausted over the last few weeks. It was probably residual weakness from all the Light she exerted when she rescued him for the second time. It didn’t help that they had been going at it like a couple of hormonal teenagers since their declarations of love, either.
He swept his spectral hand over her cheek and smiled when she snuggled deeper into her pillow. He would let her sleep. She needed the rest. In a way, he envied her. He didn’t dare try to sleep in his ghost form, afraid he might not wake up. To pass the time, he picked up the acoustic guitar Availia had given him when he moved in and climbed out onto the balcony to play a lonely song that would only fall on deaf ears.
Kerrigan and Gabe made their way down the steps that led from the porch to the backyard, along with their friends and neighbors, Olivia and Sydney. Kerrigan couldn’t help but smile as masculine laughter floated up to greet her. She immediately sought out Dominic among the males situated in a semicircle before her. It was no real chore. She always knew where he was.
Kicked back in the chaise lounge like he didn’t have a care in the world, he looked like a rock god. His signature button-fly jeans were perfectly worn and cut like they were specifically tailored for his form. The vintage rock T-shirt—the choice of the day being Pink Floyd—outlined his muscular physique exquisitely. His black Doc Martens had seen better days, but that was the way he liked them. Dominic wasn’t one for high fashion, but he was all man. His physical attributes could rival those of highly paid male models any day of the week.
And he was hers. All hers.
Long, thick lashes framed his captivating eyes as they crinkled up with laughter. All of his perfect, white teeth showed through his wide grin. Her heart did a little flip-flop at the untainted vision. There was a gentle relaxation of his shoulders, a lazy curve to his spine, and a smoothness of skin devoid of frown lines and the wrinkled brow that seemed to be constantly etched in worry. It felt good to see him so carefree. Of course, it was kind of hard to be wound up in present company.
Tyson and Talon were identical twins, each having blond hair, grey eyes, and beautifully tanned skinned—the typical surfer sort. But there were differences that made it easy to tell them apart. While Talon was tall and slender, Tyson was beefier and had a huge goofy side. Each of them bore one dimple in opposite cheeks. It just so happened that they dated Kerrigan’s neighbors and childhood friends, Sydney and Olivia.
The twins had been hanging out with Dominic and Colton while Sydney and Olivia ran errands with her and Gabe. The guys had been doing more repairs to her grandmother’s old house, and it was in much better shape than it had been when she first arrived. The disrepair of the house was one of the many excuses she used to keep Dominic there instead of out looking for a job.
He was stubborn over the whole employment issue. Kerrigan had plenty of inheritance money for them both to live off of, but he said it made him feel like less of a man, that he should be the one supporting her, not the other way around.
Men. They could be such Neanderthals sometimes.
Besides, she wasn’t supporting him. The house had been paid off before she even inherited it. All that was left were the utility bills and property taxes that she would’ve had to pay whether he was there or not. He bought and paid for all his own personal needs and also helped with the groceries, which he paid for with a pretty hefty saving
s account of his own from when he had worked the streets. Still, Dominic always worried it wouldn’t be enough, especially since he was still paying Colton’s way through school.
She didn’t mind the fact that he wanted to work. She knew he wasn’t the sort of man who could just sit around the house all day doing nothing. It wasn’t insecurity that made her come up with more and more projects to keep him there. She just wanted to be near him. It was a selfish need, but if he was with her, she didn’t have to worry about whether or not psycho-bitch Sinclair had come up with some half-brained idea to try to get to him again.
Plus, she really sort of liked the whole sex-on-demand perk.
“So this kid’s cheeks are all billowed out, and his face is so green and scaly that he could’ve easily doubled as the Lizard Man.” Colton was regaling the guys with another one of his Tales from Yale stories. It must have been a good one, too, because he was just barely able to get the words out, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. It was a stark contrast to the tired look in his eyes. “He looks like he’s going to barf at any second, and then the professor sticks his hands in the dead guy’s stomach, and he’s tugging and pulling,” he said, making the motions with his hands. “And then out pops the intestines.”
“Ah, man!” Talon howled in disgust. “That’s just nasty.”
“Sounds just like when my girl is trying to unleash the fury that is my dick from my pants. Right, Livi?” Tyson boasted, smiling up at her. His teeth looked ultra white against his dark tan, and the sun reflected off of his blond hair making it look almost white.
Olivia rolled her eyes. “You wish.”
Kerrigan took a seat next to Dominic on the lounge chair, and he put his arm around her so she could snuggle into his chest. Sydney perched herself in Talon’s lap, giving Gabe the last seat available which was next to Colton.
“So, anyway,” Colton continued, still laughing. “The kid’s eyes start fluttering and rolling to the back of his head, and this chick... she’s all like ‘It looks like bloody sausage links’... and as it turns out, dude had just eaten that very same thing for breakfast that morning, so he starts spewing all over the place.” Colton gestured wildly, creating an invisible picture to match his words. Dominic and the twins were laughing so hard their faces were red.
“Vomit goes flying in the chick’s face, all over the front of her clothes... and she starts freaking out, screaming and crying and shit. All of a sudden, she stops, looks at the kid like she’s willing him to die, and then hauls off and socks him right in the kisser. Knocked... dude... out... cold.”
“Served him right,” Sydney mumbled in her dry, monotone voice while the rest of their group erupted in laughter.
When all the laughing died down, Colton exhaled loudly and eyed the near-empty beer in his hand while he drummed his fingers against his knee. “I’m going stir-crazy. I need a night out.”
Kerrigan felt Dominic stiffen next to her, his body whipping into protective mode. “Not gonna happen, little brother.”
“Aw, come on, Dom!” Colton half-whined in frustration. He sat up and put his elbows on his knees. “You can’t expect me to stay locked away here for the rest of my life.”
“Not the rest of your life, Colt. Just until we can figure shit out and make sure you’re safe.”
“Safe...” Colton looked down toward the ground, his tone a stark indicator he wasn’t convinced there really was any danger. “You say people are out to get me, but I’ve yet to see any proof of that, so excuse me if I’m a little skeptical.”
Dominic started to rebut, but was cut off. “Even if there is some evil plan to invade my body, or whatever, I’m not as weak as you pretend I am. You still see me as your baby brother, but I’m more than capable of defending myself.”
“Against black magic!?” Dominic’s voice exploded through the silence of their peaceful surrounding, his anger mixed with frustration. Everyone sank back at the same time in a collective effort to melt into the background.
Noticing their behavior, Dominic closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. When he opened them again, she could see the conviction in his expression. “You know, sometimes I think you’re just too damn smart for your own good. I’m not saying you’re weak, but the ramifications of even one little slip... it’s beyond your understanding.”
“So I’m a prisoner? Is that what you’re saying? I have to stay holed up here, just waiting for something to happen? Because if that’s the case, I might as well be dead.”
He had a point. Kerrigan could see both sides of the argument, and although she didn’t feel it was her place to intervene in their little family squabble, she wanted to offer a compromise.
“Dominic?” She put her hand on his arm to garner his attention, and he turned toward her, the intensity in his eyes fading when he took in her gentle gaze. “He’s right. We can’t let them dictate our lives. We have to live, or what’s the point?”
“Querida...”
“What harm can come to him, or any of us for that matter, as long as we’re all together? There’s strength in numbers. We’ll all go. Right, guys?”
There was an enthusiastic mixture of affirmatives, all seeming to have relaxed a bit after Dominic’s explosive eruption.
“Besides, we have an ace up our sleeves, remember?” She gave them an almost smug smile. Her eyes briefly lit up with her gift and then faded back to their normal color. Well, normal for her anyway.
It was enough to weaken his resolve. A dirty trick, but it was enough all the same.
Kerrigan could talk him into anything. He had no defense when it came to her. He would give her anything she wanted, and he knew she would do the same in return—as long as he was being reasonable. His protective nature made him far from reasonable where she and Colton were concerned, but regardless, he conceded.
“Okay,” he said with a simple nod. “But one sign of Sinclair or any of her coven members—”
“And we’ll leave,” Kerrigan finished for him.
Tyson clapped his giant paws together once and then rubbed them together eagerly. “Hot damn! A night of booze and screws at the Dunes! When do we leave?”
The Dunes Cracker House was one of the oldest buildings along A1A—a small, rustic tavern right on the beach. During the day, it was a cozy spot to grab a steak, but at night it was a place for co-eds and beach bunnies to get their drink on. In fact, the main reason Tyson wanted to go there was because they served free alcoholic beverages from ten thirty to eleven. What he failed to mention was that the free alcohol being served wasn’t exactly top shelf.
Olivia elbowed Kerrigan and drew her attention to the way the little floozy behind the bar kept eyeing their men. Kerrigan wasn’t worried. She knew Dominic only had eyes for her, which was evident when she turned toward him and found he was doing a little ogling of his own—of her, not the hussy with the tramp stamp. Colton and the twins weren’t as immune to the unabashed attention, but it was obvious that any flirting they did in return was only to ensure their little plastic cups were bottomless with the free stuff. Those cups weren’t only bottomless, but overflowing.
Yes, even men were guilty of using their dashing good looks, flashy smiles, and a little southern charm to get what they wanted. They were all over that shit. It didn’t matter that the stuff was nasty as hell. It was free, and that’s all the excuse the guys needed to chug as much of it as they could in the half-hour they had left.
Since Dominic never let anyone behind the wheel of the Barracuda except for Kerrigan, and she had been feeling a little queasy off and on throughout the day, she opted not to partake of the spirits. Gabe abstained as well because the barely legal bartender had no clue what the hell a bubbletini was, and he wasn’t about to compromise. Instead, he went out to Sydney’s Lady Bug and mixed his own drink. The girls went with him because they had an unwritten rule that no one was to be out and about on their own. Besides, after the half-hour of free drinks, they would be off to the next joint
.
As it turned out, thirty minutes was plenty of time for four rather sizable young men to get really good and wasted. The alcohol might have been cheap and a little hard to swallow, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t potent.
“Ladies! How you doin’?” Talon’s very bad impersonation of Joey Tribbiani’s catchphrase was drunkenly slurred as he and the guys swayed out of the bar and made their way toward them.
Apparently, one could guzzle quite a bit of rot gut in a short period of time. No doubt, the scantily clad girl behind the bar had shown them preferential treatment and catered to them more than the other patrons.
Dominic went straight to Kerrigan, pinning her soft, pliable body against the Barracuda with his hard frame. He nuzzled her ear, his cold breath heating up her insides even as the material of her shirt stretched tight over her breasts. “When I stepped out of that door and saw you standing next to my baby, all I could think about was spreading you out naked on the hood and fucking you senseless. And I will... soon.”
She could feel the hardness of his arousal pressed to her stomach as he slipped a hand under the hem of her skirt and palmed her ass. Even though the others were far away and couldn’t see what he was doing or hear what he was saying, she still felt naked, vulnerable. Any other time, any other place, she would have insisted he show her exactly what he was thinking, but not with an audience.
She removed his hand from her ass. When he went to put it back, she linked her fingers with his to stop him. “It’s really not fair for you to put images like that in my head when we’re in a public place. And might I remind you that we’re also surrounded by our closest friends.”