by Sybil Bartel
“Siren,” I called, wondering about something.
She turned.
“Why didn’t you go to your parents?”
She gripped the railing like she needed it for support. “I made my choice four years ago.”
I waited for more.
“My father gave me an ultimatum—Randy or them. I was eighteen.” She shrugged. “Good night, Talon.”
“Night, darlin’.” I watched her disappear downstairs.
I woke with a start before dawn. The nightmare always left me in a piss-ass mood. But this time it wasn’t Leigh I was trying to save, it was Siren. Fate giving me the finger, the dream ended the same way. Just like I couldn’t catch Leigh to save her, I hadn’t caught Siren. Knowing I wouldn’t fall back asleep, I dressed in running clothes and went through the kitchen. Right before the slider to the deck, I halted.
The lamps on low, the TV on mute, Siren was curled in a ball on the couch under a comforter with every pillow from downstairs propped around her. I silently cursed. Not only had I not heard her come upstairs, but the pillow arsenal looked like a fortress a scared kid would make.
Not trusting myself to stay away from her, I slipped out to the deck and took the steps down to the backyard. Walking out to the beach, I started my run.
An hour later, sweating my ass off, my mood still shit, I climbed my back steps. When I opened the slider door, I saw Siren quickly roll over on the couch and bury her face in the pillows.
Shit. “Mornin’.”
She didn’t answer.
“Coffee?”
Nothing.
Damn it. “Siren.”
Her shoulders shook.
I walked to the foot of the couch. “Look at me,” I demanded.
Slow, like moving hurt her, she gingerly sat up but she didn’t make eye contact. “Coffee’s…fine.” Her voice hitched and her good hand flew to her mouth to try to stop the escaping sob.
“Aw, fuck.” I slid my arms under her, lifted, then sat back down with her in my lap.
The floodgates opened and she let loose. My shirt already soaked with sweat, I pushed her forward, whipped it off then pulled her back into my arms. Her quiet sobs shook her small body as I stroked down the scar on her back. “Let it out, darlin’, I gotcha.”
“I don’t want to cry.” She sobbed.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Been a rough coupla days for you.” I held her to my chest, hating the sound of her tears.
“I never cry.” She cried harder.
“Shh, it’s okay.” The broken, despairing sounds coming from her chest were gutting me. I felt so fucking helpless. “You’re safe now.” I ran my hand down her hair and over her slim shoulder.
She shuddered. “I know.”
But it didn’t sound like she knew. “I’m not gonna let anythin’ happen to you.”
Her arm snaked around my neck, her hand gripped my hair and she brought her face up. Our eyes locked.
She looked at me like I was her only hope. “Talon,” her desperate whisper filled my head as her shaking fingers skimmed across my jaw and my life came full circle.
Sprawled on the same couch where I’d kissed Layna, another untouchable broken woman in my arms, I sat there and watched in slow motion as everything fell to shit.
“I’m not what you want,” I warned.
“Please.”
Fuck fuck fuck. “Siren—”
“I don’t want to be alone right now.”
Motherfucking karmic bullshit. Was this what I got for sleeping with every woman I could get my hands on since my wife died? “You’re not alone.”
“Show me,” she begged.
Fuck.
She leaned forward and I caught her hair, stopping her. “I said I wouldn’t hurt you. I’m doin’ you a favor. You know how this ends.”
“No, I don’t.” Misery laced her every word.
Now she wanted to pretend? Fine, I’d lay it out for her. “You think you can use me? Take what you want because you’re hurtin’ and it feels good right in this moment?” Every word I said made me angrier, at her, at myself. “What are you gonna do when I bring another woman home?” She wanted to use me? Then she’d better know the fucking score.
The swelling around her eye almost gone but the bruise a deeper shade of purple today, she didn’t even flinch at my words. “I’ll pretend I’m not here.”
“Don’t,” I barked. “Don’t pull that bullshit with me.” Goddamn, I was pissed. I had no right, this had been my doing, I got that. I’d taken her in. I’d flirted with her. But for once I wanted a woman who wanted me badly enough to fight for me.
She dropped her head and tried to move off my lap.
Her body soft and warm against mine, her full lips begging to be kissed, my sick self wouldn’t let her go. “Change your mind?”
“I shouldn’t have done that,” she muttered. “I know I look like shit.”
Christ. “You think this has to do with how you look right now?” My fingers threaded through her hair and fisted. Hard as shit, my mouth watering to taste hers, I ground my hips against hers and imagined every second of what it would feel like to sink inside her. “It doesn’t.”
Her breath caught on a small gasp.
I groaned in frustration and abruptly let her go. Lacing my hands behind my head, I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “Go,” I said harshly.
Her hair brushed across my chest. It was all the warning I got. Her lips were on my throat before I could take air into my lungs.
“Siren,” I groaned. My hands snaking up her thighs, I was careful of her stitches. “You better know what the fuck you’re doin’.”
Her soft kisses traced across my neck then she pulled my ear between her teeth. Desire, sharp and painful, shot through my veins and all my blood rushed straight to my dick.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
I grabbed behind her knees and pulled. Her chest hit mine and I slammed my mouth over hers.
Jasmine, soap and the scent of women erased all common sense. She tasted like sweet perfection. I drove my tongue deep and fed off her desperation, letting it mingle with mine into a shit storm. Cupping her ass, thrusting against her heat, I stood. She clung to me like she needed only what I could offer and it turned me the fuck on like nothing else. I walked her into my bedroom and gently laid her on my bed.
Shoving her shirt up to her neck, running my tongue over her flat stomach, I tasted every inch of her perfect little body I’d been fantasizing about. I trailed kisses up to her breasts, pulled one of her tight nipples into my mouth and her back arched off the bed.
Fuck yeah.
I palmed her other breast and bit down on her nipple just hard enough. Swirling my tongue over the sting, I pushed her good leg with my knee, brought my hips down on hers and rocked forward.
“Talon,” she cried out.
My eyes shut and for a single heartbeat, everything about this felt so fucking right. Until her wrist brace scratched down my back.
I pushed up on my elbows. “You’re hurt.”
She caught my face and brought her lips to mine.
God help me, I didn’t stop her.
She kissed me, gentle and sweet. With every stroke of her hesitant tongue, a brand of innocence I’d never felt before washed over me like a drug. My hands threaded through the silk of her hair and for once, I let a woman take the lead.
Soft lips, warm breath, innocent desire…I was lost. She sunk into my mind like the beginning of a memory that had no end.
“I want you inside me,” she whispered.
Fuck. Fuck. I pushed off her and rolled to my back. “Tell you what.” I struggled to make my voice even. “When those stitches come out, you let me know if you still feel the same way.” I knew I was doing the right thing. Goddamn it, I was. She didn’t deserve to be a rotation girl and I didn’t want the mind-fuck being inside her would cause me. Inhaling, I stood. “I’m goin’ to shower.”
“Did I do something wrong?” She pul
led her shirt down.
“No.” Seeing her lips wet from my kiss and her hair splayed across my pillow, I fought for control. “This is me not takin’ advantage of you.” Jesus, she looked beautiful in my bed. What the fuck was wrong with me?
Heat colored her cheeks and she started to get up.
I couldn’t stop myself. I leaned over and braced my hands on either side of her, forcing her to lie back down. “Stay.” I touched my lips to the side of her neck. “Get some sleep. I’m gonna shower and go to the shop. I’ll come back at lunch and we’ll grab some food.”
Her voice went quiet and her tone turned submissive. “Stay here…in your bed?”
I practically growled. “Yes. In my bed.” Where I wanted her to fucking belong. I pushed up and stepped back before I did something I couldn’t walk away from. Pausing at the bathroom door, I turned. “And Siren?”
“Yes?”
“You’re fuckin’ gorgeous.”
I WALKED INTO THE SHOP fifteen minutes before opening.
Kendall was already there. “Where’s the patient?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I headed to my office.
“Weeelll, seeing as she didn’t go home to Daddy last night, I’m assuming she’s all safe and snuggly in Mr. Hero’s bed?”
“You’re fucked-up, you know that?” Already in a piss-ass mood, I didn’t feel like verbally sparring with her. “Don’t you have shit to do?” I leafed through the open orders for custom surfboards on my desk. I was behind as fuck.
“Oh, cranky. Somebody didn’t get any.”
I whipped my head up and glared at her. “Do you know what it feels like when a knife slices through your flesh and sinks into a muscle?”
Her eyes almost went wide. “He stabbed her?”
“I’m only gonna say this once, so listen up. Nic is off-limits. I’ve put up with your bullshit for two years but it fuckin’ stops here. You don’t ask me about her, you don’t speak about her and you sure as shit don’t mention her to Candle or any other biker you hang out with. When you see her, you’re fuckin’ civil. You hear me?”
“I wasn’t—”
I held my hand up. “We’re done, Kendall. We’re not friends. We’re not acquaintances. You wanna work here? Fix your attitude, answer the goddamn phone properly and be fuckin’ nice to customers. You got a problem with that, walk right now.”
“Yes, sir,” she snapped.
I closed my eyes and rubbed a hand over my face. Damn. Not what I wanted to deal with today. I pulled out my wallet and counted my cash. Eight hundred and change. I handed it over. “Gimme the keys.”
Her hands went to her hips. “What the fuck, Talon?”
“You can tell people you quit. I don’t care.”
“I’m not quitting,” she said belligerently.
“Well, you sure as shit ain’t workin’ here with that attitude.”
“What fucking attitude?”
“Jesus Christ, darlin’, do us both a favor and take the cash.”
“Did you just call me darlin’?”
Shit. “Here we go.”
“Darlin’. Darlin’? What. The fuck? You think you can call me that shit? You think I’m one of your fuck bunnies? Do I look like a fucking Talon-the-god groupie? Do I fucking sparkle? I’m a goddamn sparkle bunny now?” she yelled.
“Sparkle bunny?” Now I was yelling. “Are you out of your fuckin’ mind? What the fuck are you talkin’ about?”
“Talon? Is this a bad time?”
Both our heads spun toward my office door.
Kendall pointed at Georgia. “That. Is a sparkle bunny.”
Red sticky lips, fake tits, tight-ass clothes, Georgia’s strawberry-blonde curls bounced as she looked between us.
“Hey, Peaches,” I said wearily.
“I brought you breakfast.” Georgia smiled wide.
Cute as hell but dumb as fuck, I’d made the mistake of sleeping with her twice and hadn’t been able to shake her since. I nicknamed her Peaches for obvious reasons. She baked like a goddess but bored the fuck out of me in bed. I didn’t have the heart to tell her to take a hike. As a result, I got muffins and shit a few times a week. “Thanks, darlin’. Kinda busy right now firin’ Kendall.”
“Oh!” Georgia gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
Kendall snorted. “This is the type of shit you want to hire?”
I looked at Georgia holding a basket of muffins while covering her mouth. Kendall might’ve had a point.
“That’s what I thought.” Kendall pushed past Georgia and snatched the basket from her hand. “I’ll take these.” She waltzed out of my office.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
You okay? Georgia mouthed.
“Terrific.” I ran a hand through my hair.
Georgia tiptoed to the door, peeked out then turned and looked at me. “She’s still here,” she stage-whispered.
No shit. “I know.”
She blinked. Twice.
“I’ve got work to do, darlin’. Thanks for breakfast.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled wide but she didn’t take the hint.
“I’m goin’ in the workshop now,” I explained.
“Okay,” she said cheerfully. “See you later.” She spun to go and her skirt flared out in back, giving me an eyeful.
Damn. “Peaches,” I called.
She looked over her shoulder with an expression I was sure she practiced in the mirror. Lips puckered, ass out, it might’ve worked if I didn’t know her.
“You got a boyfriend?” I asked.
“Tal-lon.” She giggled, blushing.
“Because I’ve got a girlfriend now,” I lied. “You should stop bringin’ me food. I don’t wanna make her jealous.”
Her eyes went wide and her mouth formed a perfect O. “Okay,” she whispered.
I winked, pretending not to notice the hurt in her voice. “Glad you understand. Close the door on your way out?” I picked some papers up off my desk and stared at them.
“Okay.” She might’ve sniffled. “Bye, Talon,” she said sadly.
“Bye.” I purposely didn’t use her name because I’m an asshole like that.
I waited until the door closed then I sunk into my chair. My head in my hands, I fought the urge to go back home.
Two seconds later, the door flew open and Kendall waltzed in. “It’s safe to come out, sparkle bunny left. Besides, your pickup for tanks is here. Come do your macho shit. Lifting SCUBA tanks isn’t in my job description.”
“What tank pickup? I didn’t order new ones.”
Kendall strolled over to my desk and hovered over me while she riffled through pink message slips on my desk until she found the one she wanted. “This one.” She pointed.
Sure enough, an order for a dozen tanks. “Fuck.”
“Uh-huh. What’s that? You forgot to order them? Because you weren’t here?”
“Jesus, Kendall.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “Good thing I ordered them and they came in yesterday. I’m awesome like that. You’re welcome. Let’s go, hero, you got some muscles to flex.” She sauntered out.
Fuck, she knew she had me. I wasn’t always here full-time and if I wanted the shop to stay open, I needed her. Or I needed to hire someone else and frankly, the thought of training a new person sucked worse than putting up with Kendall’s surly ass. I shoved out of my chair and took care of business. Two hours later, I was working on one of my custom surfboard orders when Kendall sauntered into the workshop eating a muffin.
“These are fucking fantastic. Sparkle can bake her ass off.” She licked a finger.
I ran the planer over the board two more times. “I cut her loose.”
“Huh.” Kendall took the last bite then brushed her hands off. “Just as well, my ass was starting to get big.”
I checked the lines of the board. “Fishin’ for compliments now?”
She hopped up on the counter and crossed her legs. “With all the women you fuck, I w
ould’ve thought you’d be more clued in.”
“If I ignore you, will you go away?” I checked my watch. Shit, the day was dragging.
“Got somewhere to be?” she asked knowingly.
“I’m running an errand at lunch. If you wanna get food, go now.” I went back to shaping the surfboard.
“I just ate.”
“Great,” I said absently, wondering what Siren was up to.
“So, how is she?”
I stopped what I was doing and looked pointedly at her. Black shiny hair to her shoulders with blunt bangs, doll face, hourglass figure, always dressed in leather, she was hot but she was also vicious. “What do you want, Kendall?”
“Is she safe?”
How the hell should I know? I was here. “Yes.”
“There’re some things you don’t know—”
I stopped her. “I’m not havin’ this conversation with you.” As much as I entrusted her with shit for the business, I didn’t begin to pretend to know what her motives were. And I didn’t want to hear what she had to say about Nic. Chances were it was tainted by Kendall’s hatred of all things people. Not to mention I wasn’t about to go down that road with her. Siren was off-limits. Kendall didn’t get to talk shit about her, period.
“Don’t you think you should know who Randy is?”
“A loser mechanic who beats his woman?”
The bell over the front door chimed.
“He’s protected, Talon,” she said soberly.
I inclined my head toward the front of the store. “Go take care of the customers. I can handle Carter and any protection Candle might throw his way.”
She shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I glanced at my watch again. Fuck this. I left all my tools out and headed to my office to grab my keys. I stuck my head in the main shop long enough to yell out to Kendall. “Call if you need me.”
Kendall waved me off as she rang up a customer.
I was in the Challenger, weaving in and out of midday traffic, when my phone rang. Glancing at the display, I cursed when I saw my home number. “What’s wrong, Siren?”
“Talon?” she asked tentatively.
“Yeah, darlin’. You okay?”
“I, um, I called the shop and Kendall gave me the number.”
“I should’ve left it with you. You okay?” My heart was pounding in my throat.