I rushed over and threw the lock. I’d get fired for sure if Edge broke the bathroom door open on my first day because of me. I backed away when he came inside and locked it behind him.
“I’m sorry.”
I raised my head. That was the last thing I expected him to say.
“I overreacted, and I wish I could explain why.”
I looked into his eyes. “I wish you could too.”
“You said this will end, and I don’t want it to. I know how fucked up that sounds. I want this thing with Possum to go away. I want you exonerated as soon as possible. What I don’t want is for you to think the minute that happens, I’ll want you to leave.”
I was dumbfounded. “Edge…”
He took two steps toward me. “What, Rebel?”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“I think I already covered that when I told you not to play dumb with me.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I agree. Now get back to what you were going to say.”
“I’m in your custody.”
“That’s merely a formality. You’re here because I want you to be.”
I couldn’t look at him when I said what I was about to say, so I turned my back. “You are way out of my league.”
I didn’t hear him walk closer, but his arm was suddenly around my waist, spinning me around to face him. “That’s bullshit.”
I tried to move away, but this time, his grasp on me was firm. “Until everything went down with Possum, you didn’t know I existed.”
“How is that relevant?”
“If I weren’t out of your league, you would’ve noticed me.”
His eyes softened, which made my urge to bolt stronger.
“Don’t you dare feel sorry for me.” More than self-pity, I hated it from anyone else. “You don’t know a thing about me and vice versa.”
He moved his hand to the back of my neck and leaned closer. “I want to know you.” Before I could respond, he kissed me. And, of course, my traitorous body fell right into line.
Edge rested his forehead against mine. “What do you say we vacate the lavatory in case someone else needs it?”
As much as I was all for getting out of here, I didn’t want to face the kitchen staff. Tee-Tee especially. “I feel like such an idiot.”
Edge shook his head. “Don’t talk about yourself like that. I don’t like it.”
This time when I pulled away, he let me. “You’re kind of weird, Edge. You know that?” I walked out, hoping he wouldn’t grab me and tell me he didn’t like it when I said bad things about him either.
Instead of a bunch of people staring at me, the kitchen was empty. It looked like it had been cleaned up too.
“It was a good first day,” said Tee-Tee, coming around the corner. “Don’t forget, we start at five tomorrow morning.”
“You said four.”
“I wanted to see if you were serious.” She turned off the lights and walked out.
Before my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I felt Edge’s arm around my waist.
“Let’s go.”
“How can you see where you’re going?”
“I have night vision.”
“You do?”
“Hell, no.”
Tee-Tee, or someone else, turned a light on near the front door, making it possible for us to see our way out.
With every step I took toward the truck, I felt more tired. Was it only yesterday that I got out of jail? It seemed more like a week.
“As soon as we’re back at the house, I’ll draw you a bath,” Edge said as I climbed in the passenger seat, too exhausted to argue.
14
Edge
By the time I came out of the lavatory, Rebel was fast asleep on my bed. She hadn’t even removed her boots. As much as I didn’t want to wake her, I knew she couldn’t be comfortable. As gently as I could, I loosened the laces and slid each boot off her feet. Next, I eased off her socks.
She rolled to her side but didn’t wake, so I lay down behind her and wrapped my arm around her waist. Feeling her next to me was enough for now. Even my cock played along by not wanting to be a part of the action that wouldn’t be taking place tonight.
When my phone vibrated, I grabbed it from my pocket, certain Rebel would wake up, but she didn’t. I rolled off the bed and crept out of the room. By then, Grinder had hung up, but I rang him straight back.
“Heard I missed a good dessert tonight.”
“That bloody well better not be why you rang.”
He laughed. “I wanted you to know that Casper and Kick are on their way.”
“I hope they know to come in dark. Wait a minute. Did you say Kick? What happened to Ink?”
“Unavailable.”
“Who the hell is Kick?”
“Someone Rile has been trying to recruit.”
“From where?”
“My guess is the agency.”
I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t like the fact that Rile had made a change without consulting me first. It was something I intended to address when we met later. “Have you ever run an op with him?”
“Negative.”
“Where’s Ink anyway?” I asked.
“Somewhere in South America. By the way, doesn’t that house have any draperies?”
“Where are you?”
“Next door.”
“Why do I need window coverings?”
“Because I don’t want to look out my window and see you starkers. Wouldn’t mind seeing Rebel, though.”
“Sod off,” I said before ending the call. I didn’t give a shit who saw me naked, but I drew the line at who saw her. As far as I was concerned, no one would but me.
“Edge?” I heard her sweet voice say.
“I’m here,” I answered, walking back to the bedroom.
“I must have fallen asleep. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re exhausted.”
“But you were filling the bathtub.”
I put my arm around her neck, drew her close to me, and kissed the side of her face. “It’s likely cold by now.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated.
I lifted her into my arms and carried her back to the bed I wished I could share with her. Soon I would, but not tonight. I set her on her feet and pulled back the bedclothes. “In, you go.”
“I should change.”
“Right.” How had it slipped my mind she was still wearing the clothes she’d been in all day? Probably because I didn’t dare imagine her without them. “I’ll step out.”
I was almost to the bedroom door when I felt her hand on my shoulder. “Edge, did I do something wrong?”
I turned around and scrubbed my face with my hand. “Of course you didn’t. I’m trying to be a…God, it sounds so bloody ridiculous, but I’m trying to be a gentleman.”
“Why?”
The earnestness of her question made me smile. “Because I thought that’s what I should do. You had a long day, sweetness, and an early morning tomorrow.”
“Even if you don’t want to, you know, do anything, would you mind lying next to me?”
“I would like nothing more.” Should I tell her that I’d already done so?
“It felt so good to have you next to me earlier.”
I was certain my cheeks flushed like hers often did. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I knew you were there.”
Rebel smiled in that way that nearly sent me off my trolley. I wanted this woman more than any other, yet I was the one hesitating. She stood close enough to touch, so I did. I cupped her cheek with my palm and stared into her eyes. “Would you like me to warm the bath?”
“Maybe a shower would be better. I might fall asleep in the tub.”
I nodded, took her hand, and led her back to the bed. “Take off the rest of your clothes while I get things ready.”
“Wait,” she said when I tried to release her hand. “Will you join me?”
I couldn’t explain how conflicted I felt, even to myself. I wanted to fuck her enough to throw her onto the bed, rip her clothes from her body, and thrust my raging cock into her wetness. Yet, I didn’t. Or was it that I couldn’t? For maybe the first time in my life, my brain was doing the thinking rather than any other part of my anatomy.
Rebel would give her body to me willingly. She had, in fact. But I wanted more. I wanted to be the man who put her first. She was dead-on-her-feet tired, and tomorrow she’d have to be back at the dining hall before dawn.
“Never mind.” She tried to pull away, but this time, I held her hand more tightly.
“I want you, little Rebel. Make no mistake about that. But if we do this tonight, I won’t want to let you sleep. I’ll want your body in every way I imagined taking it. I’ll wring you out and then take even more, because I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’ll never get enough of you.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I brought my lips to hers. “Let me take care of you another way, sweetness.”
Of everything I said, or didn’t say, those words appeared to affect her more than any other. Her eyes filled with tears, and she tried to turn away, but I wasn’t having it. I didn’t only want her body, I wanted her words, her feelings, I wanted it all—I wanted her soul.
I held her face with my hand and forced her to look into my eyes. “Tell me why that made you cry.”
“It’s been a long time…”
“Go on. Tell me.”
“This is hard.”
“Do it anyway.”
“It’s been a long time since anyone has taken care of me.” When she leaned forward and buried her face in my shoulder, I let her. I could feel the wetness of her tears.
“Then, let me.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I’ll show you.” Even though we were standing next to it, I picked her up like I had a few minutes ago and set her on the bed. I removed her clothes as gently as I had taken off her boots and socks when she was sleeping. “Wait here,” I said, grabbing the throw from the end of the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders.
Rather than start the shower, I refilled the bath. If she fell asleep, like she predicted she might, I’d be there to hold her. I took off my clothes, wrapped a towel around my waist, and went back into the bedroom.
This time she hadn’t fallen asleep; she was far too emotional to let herself. I understood that. Before I did anything else, I had to reassure her but in a way that also let her know that tonight wouldn’t be about fucking.
I kissed her forehead, eyelids, and lips before I picked her up again and carried her to the bath.
“I can walk. I’m not that tired.”
“I want to feel you in my arms.” I rested her on the edge, checked the water, and helped her in.
“You’re something, Edge. It’s a wonder that there aren’t women lined up at the gate, begging for more after treatment like this.” She didn’t look at me when she said it, which only reinforced the idea that she was putting up walls to keep me at a distance where she felt comfortable. My guess was that she used sex in the same way. Sex, she could control. Emotion, she couldn’t.
Without responding, I eased into the water and sat behind her. In the same way I had earlier, I poured body wash into my hand and rubbed it into her shoulders. Within seconds, her head fell forward as she allowed herself to enjoy letting me ease her tired muscles.
I continued washing every part of her body, but chastely. There were times I sensed she was about to say something, perhaps like the quip she had earlier, but each time, I shushed her.
When I finished, I lifted her limp body from the water, dried her with a warm towel, and carried her to the bed, thankful that she didn’t protest with every step.
“I’ll be right back,” I told her, pulling the bedclothes over her naked body.
After drying myself, I got into bed behind her and pulled her as close to me as I could get her.
“What you said earlier, Rebel, about my treating other women the way I’m treating you tonight: I haven’t. Not ever.”
“Edge…”
“It’s the truth. One thing I’ll never do is lie to you.”
15
Rebel
I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t. Deep down, I knew Edge was too good to be true, or maybe it was that I knew in my heart that he was too good for me. Guys like him wanted me in their bed…until they didn’t, and by that time, I was long gone anyway.
Maybe that’s why he was holding off. In fact, it was the only thing that made sense. He knew as well as I did that once he “wrung me out,” he actually would have had enough of me. And then what?
After I’d told him I had nothing, it must have dawned on him that what he’d signed up for was way beyond what he initially thought.
When he took his arm from around my waist, I expected him to ease out of the bed and tiptoe out of the room. Instead, he brought it to my shoulder.
“The bath was supposed to relax you, Rebel. You’re getting more tense by the second.”
“I’m fine,” I mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
When he moved my hair over my shoulder, I could feel his warm breath against my neck.
“Let me ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
“Was your grandfather a good man?”
I took a deep breath, hoping my voice wouldn’t betray the emotion that came along with that question. “The best.”
“Then you know they do exist.”
I didn’t remember falling asleep, but what felt like five minutes later, Edge was rubbing my shoulder and telling me it was time to get up.
“What time is it?” I groaned.
“Half past three.”
“I don’t have to be there until five.”
“Consider this your half-hour warning, then. Go back to sleep, sweetness.”
When he kissed my cheek and snuggled me against him, I could feel his hardness nestled against the cheeks of my bottom. Given the things he’d said last night, I stopped myself from suggesting we could fill the time with something other than sleep.
I was done being rejected by him. If Edge wanted to have sex with me, he would have to say so. More than say so, he’d have to be the one to act on it. For fun, I wiggled my butt; I had no intention of making it easy for him, though.
“Be careful, little Rebel.”
“Or what?”
“I warned you before that there are consequences to bad behavior.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be sleeping with your body plastered against mine.”
Much to my disappointment, he smoothed my hair and murmured for me to go back to sleep.
When four fifteen rolled around, I was still wide awake. I slipped out of the other side of the bed, grabbed the clothes I’d planned to wear today, and tiptoed into the hallway to use the other bathroom. I don’t know why I thought it would be quieter than the one in the master; I blamed my still-sleepy brain.
From there, I went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. While I sat and waited for it to brew, it dawned on me that I’d have to wake Edge to take me to the dining hall. Once I had a few sips of hot coffee, it also dawned on me that he’d said we’d do something about Susan yesterday, and we didn’t.
I did remember him saying she probably had a dead battery. Likely, he didn’t want to spend the money to buy a new one. I could understand that. Later today, I’d try to figure out how to ask Tee-Tee if I would be getting paid or if I’d been given the job at the dining hall in order to earn my keep.
I put my face in my hands. I hated being so dependent on another person. While I hadn’t made a lot of money at the bar or the diner, what I made was mine. I’d used it to rent an apartment. It was crappy, but like the money, it was mine. When I removed my hands to take another drink of coffee, Edge was standing right in front of me.
“Jesus,” I screeched. “You scared the crap out of me.”
&nbs
p; “Sorry. I’m used to moving about quietly.”
“Why? Do you get some kind of perverse pleasure out of startling people?”
He smiled. “It has more to do with what I do for a living, and I can assure you, there’s no pleasure in it, perverse or otherwise.”
“Why do you do it?”
He walked over to the coffeemaker, poured a cup, and took a sip. “God, woman, even your coffee is amazing.”
I smiled. “Thanks, but you didn’t answer my question.”
“You and Grinder would get on well.” He shook his head. “Forget I said that.”
I drummed my fingers on the counter.
“Right. Well, I do it because there are a lot of evil people in the world.”
“And you see it as your duty to rid the world of them?”
“Something like that.”
“Sorry you had to get up so early.”
“Early?” he asked, looking at his cell phone.
Like with my car, it annoyed the piss out of me that I didn’t have one. I rested my chin on my hand. This was my life now, and I better damn well get used to it. The idea that I’d ever make money again, let alone enough to fix my car or pay for a phone, was laughable.
“I’d give a hundred pounds to know what you’re thinking.”
“If you mean that, I’ll tell you.” I shook my head. “Just kidding.”
I swear I barely blinked and he was standing right in front of me again. He reached out and grasped the back of my neck. “Tell me.”
“I was kidding. God.”
“If that’s true, tell me.”
Now he was pissing me off. “I need to go to work. If that’s what it is.”
“What does that mean?”
“No one mentioned an hourly rate. I assumed that maybe I was working off my debt.”
Edge took a step back. “What debt?”
I waved my arm. “Staying here.” I lifted my cup of coffee. “Food.” I set the cup back down. “Let’s see, what else? Oh, yeah, one hundred thousand dollars bail?”
“Let’s go.”
Evidently, I struck a nerve. I jumped off the barstool, followed him out to the garage, and stopped dead in my tracks.
Edged (The Invincibles Book 2) Page 8