by Peiri Ann
Kyle turned back to me. “Easy?”
I nodded. But it wasn’t. He was stroking me, kneading me against my pearl in slow and quick circles, moving from my top to my pulsing bottom. I wished we weren’t in this damn restaurant because of how badly I wanted to come out of these pants, how badly I wanted to ask for more, how tempted I was to shove his hand down my pants so he could enter and stroke from my inside.
But it felt so good, just the way he was doing it. It could’ve been because we were out in public, the possibility of someone watching, or that his eyes were piercing through mine—and damn, his eyes were amazing. The green in them would darken a bit when he sped up and lighten when he slowed. I could read in his eyes what he wanted to do to me and I held in my moan as I imagined him doing it.
I grabbed the edge of the table and pressed against the back of the booth’s seat, trying not to grind against his hand. Or throw my head back and moan out loud, or close my eyes and get completely lost in this pleasure. But I wanted to. I really, really wanted to.
“Oh my God, Kyle. Stop,” I sighed.
“Cum for me, Spirit.”
“Kyle.” I tried not to moan as he quickened.
His free hand grabbed my neck and broke our eye contact, pulling me close to whisper in my ear. I thought he was going to whisper, but he kissed my neck, sending an exotic feeling through me. I shuddered, losing grip of myself. My breaths became heavy as he sucked and licked my neck. I tried to hold it in, keeping myself from flowing over, but it’s like he knew just how to tease me. He knew how fast and how slow to go to match with his kisses against me. He knew the exact pressure points of my neck to press his tongue against or kiss that would send me into a fit of shivers.
I groaned, biting my lip, and gripping the table so tight my knuckles went white. I sighed, failing to keep the little control I had.
He kissed my earlobe and said, “Do it, Val.”
Moaning, I did it. I did it so hard the entire restaurant witnessed me.
Kyle leaned back and stared. “Damn… I did not expect you to do that. Not that hard.”
I hid my face, trying to find oxygen, lose my embarrassment, and feel my legs.
“Come on, Spirit. We better get outta here.” Easy for him to say—I couldn’t feel my damn legs.
I had to be spontaneous with Spirit. Because she knew me so well I needed to keep her guessing. Shit, she kept me guessing. I also wanted to take away this insecurity she had. There was no way I could force her to believe that I’d be there for her. I wasn’t even sure I would. Anything could happen that could change a person’s feelings for you. And I couldn’t guarantee that Valerie Harper would stick with me. But I was going to put forth the effort.
I would make it fun for the both of us.
“Janet,” I called, walking into the house.
“She left; she went with Anna to check on Mom. It’s just me,” Nixon said from the living room.
“You should have gone with them.”
Spirit closed the door behind us.
Nixon stood. “Let me get your keys and I will.”
“Absolutely not. Walk.”
His face pinched with anger. “Why?”
Val cut in saying, “Kyle, I’ll let you talk with your brother. I’m going to go search for my bag.”
I smiled, watching Val walk to our room. She didn’t know it yet, but I wasn’t going to let her stay in a hotel when there was a perfectly good bed and breakfast at Kylemada.
…Agh. That was so weak…
“Kyle, let me get your keys.”
I lowered my voice, keeping my calm. “Nixon, the only relation I want to have with you is being your partner on this assignment. I don’t fuck with you, and I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
“If that’s the way you feel, I have four million dollars sitting in this house right now. I can walk out of this door a very rich man and not give a damn about if you fuck with me or not.”
I wasn’t aware of my arm moving until my fist slammed into Nixon’s face. He grunted and hit the floor. I shook out my fist, hoping I didn’t break a knuckle with it hurting like hell. I’d had enough of Nixon’s bullshit, threats, and what seemed like his enthusiasm to kill Spirit and me. It was just a matter of time before I’d hit him.
“Kyle, what’d you do?”
“Nothing.” I looked from Nixon’s unconscious body to Val, standing in the hallway. She’d changed. She found her bag… “Help me get him on a couch so we can talk about you snooping through my stuff.”
Val helped me lift and lug Nixon onto the longer couch. I’d hear his mouth when he woke up about his new shiner over his left eye, and more about him wanting to kill me. But if it came down to it, Nixon was all bark. He couldn’t kill me. He could kill Val, but he couldn’t kill me. At least I hoped not because I couldn’t kill him.
“Sleep?” I asked Val, looking at my hand. Nothing was broken and the pain was lessening.
“No. Movie, popcorn, water, and then you take me to the hotel.”
I rolled my eyes. “Movie, whiskey, Twizzlers, and then we pass out in my bedroom.”
She rolled her eyes. “Movie by myself at the hotel.”
I nodded, giving in. “Movie, popcorn, water… then we’ll talk about the hotel.”
She shrugged. “I’ll pick the movie. You get me a glass of water, come back, and sit on the couch with Nixon.”
I ignored her, leaving the living room for the kitchen. She’d lost it.
My phone chirped, alerting me to a text.
Grimmer: Cohen has sent out another for you. It seems they used Valerie Harper’s location to find out where you are.
Me: Where I live?
Grimmer: No, the area.
Me: Shit… Is there something else?
Grimmer: You’re fucking Valerie Harper?
Why does everyone think I’m having sex with Val? I wasn’t doing anything different from what I’d do for anyone else. Then again, I didn’t up and have sex with anyone I’d help either.
Me: …
Grimmer: Then I suppose you’d want to know info about her too?
Me: Duh.
Grimmer: She’s on Cohen’s list. They sent for a two bird with one stone. Her name is scattered over four benefactors’ lists. And she may want to cut that tracking device out of her neck.
Me: WHAT! Her NECK?
Grimmer: Hahaha No, I’m just playing. But only about the neck. She has a tracking device in her arm. Cut it out ASAP.
“Spirit, come here!” I said urgently, grabbing a knife from the drawer.
She rushed in and looked me over, gaze settling on the knife in my hand. “I knew it!” she shouted, running to the back.
I chased after her. “Spirit, wait. You’ve got—”
“No. I should have known it was too good to be true.”
I made it to my room after her. She grabbed the gun I hid behind the shelf by the door. Tight in her hand, she cocked it back, aimed it at me, and brought her finger to the trigger. “What the fuck, Spirit? You’re going to shoot me… with my own gun?”
“You’re trying to kill me,” she accused.
My head jerked back, slighted by her accusation. “What are you talking about? No I am not.”
The gun stayed aimed directly at my head. She held it so tightly, her hands went red. Her eyes were narrowed and daring, stabbing me through my chest. “Kyle,” she said in warning.
“Spirit. Why would I just be waiting around to kill you? If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so long ago. Put my gun down.”
“Put the knife down,” she countered.
I threw the knife on the floor at her feet.
She glanced down at it for a sliver of a second before her eyes shot back to me. “What are you up to?” she questioned suspiciously.
Disheartened, I said, “Nothing.” I turned my back to her, heading back to the living room. This trust aspect of friendship she lacked was irritating. I sat on my loveseat and thought abo
ut my next move. I wanted to kick her out. She’d pissed me off, standing there, ready to send a bullet through my skull. My bullet!
She still had the tracker in her, and it needed to come out. But after that, I wasn’t sure she could be trusted since she couldn’t trust me. Was I wrong to be mad she pulled a gun on me? She would just blatantly assume I was going to hurt her after I said I wouldn’t over and over again.
No, I wasn’t wrong, she was. “Come on, Spirit. Let me take you to the hotel. Don’t forget your bag.”
She came around the corner with her bag in hand.
I grabbed my keys from the bar and left.
“For the last half mile, there has been a red car following us.”
“Humph.”
“Kyle, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Which hotel did you want me to take you to?”
“Doesn’t matter. Long as they’re clean and don’t charge me a thousand dollars a night.”
“Okay.”
“For real.” She looked out the back window. “This car is following you.”
I shrugged. “It’s probably someone that’s trying to kill you. They may have tracked you down by that tracker in your arm.”
She grunted, slamming her fist into the door.
“Hey, Spirit! Don’t take your anger out on Bob. He doesn’t like that shit.”
“Why didn’t you mention the tracker before? I thought you were helping me.”
“Drop the damn sarcasm. I would have, but you pulled a gun on me and I changed my mind about helping. Hotel’s coming up in seven blocks. Jump out and make a run for it.”
“Kyle, you’re being a major jerk right now.”
“Am I, Spirit? Am I being a major jerk?”
She rubbed her eyes. “Kyle, it’s fine.”
“I know. Two more blocks.”
“I am going to punch you in the chest if you keep going on like this.”
“One block—humph!” I grunted, trying to keep my eyes on the road. She hit me hard as shit.
“I said stop.”
I rubbed my chest, breathing through the pain. “Spirit, I hate to hit women, but you’re working on your second slap from me.” I checked the rearview mirrors and I was being followed. Whoever they were had actually been following us five minutes after I left the neighborhood.
“Shut up, Kyle. I can’t believe you.”
“Me! Well, I’ll be damned. I tell you I’m going to help you…” I passed the hotel, intending to circle the block. “Tell you I’m going to help you get out of this. I pass up two million dollars, take on this suicide assignment with Nixon to keep him from killing you, open my damn door to you, drive you around, keep you from getting killed the other day. I also showed you that I actually care about you. And you can’t believe me, all because now I’ve decided to say ‘fuck it’, and you, as a result of you pulling out a gun on me, ready to kill me. After I’ve gone over this with you a hundred times. No, Valerie Harper, I can’t believe you. I’m going to circle this block one more time and if you want to go to this hotel, I suggest you jump the hell out because I’m not about to put my life on the line for you anymore. And if I stop this truck so you can get out, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing, putting my life on the line for a woman who doesn’t give a shit about me or my life. A woman who just assumes because I’m holding a damn knife I’m going to use it on her instead of—oh, I don’t know, asking what the hell I’m doing standing in the kitchen with a knife. Didn’t you wonder why the hell I would call you to me to kill you? Why the hell wouldn’t I have come to you?”
“Kyle.” She cut me off. And good thing she did because I was about to go so far into the way I felt she’d betrayed me I would have pissed myself off.
“Fuck it, Spirit. Get the fuck out of my truck.” I had circled the block three times, getting my feelings off my chest. She was still sitting there and her bag was still sitting in the backseat, the seatbelt was also still around her.
“Kyle, stop! I’m sorry. Of course I didn’t think that. Let’s get these people off your ass so I can get out of your hair. And you’re not dropping me off at this hotel. Go a couple hours out.”
Go a couple hours out. She must be out of her mind. But I was with her about getting this car off my ass. “In the glove box is a gun and there’s another under your seat.” I grabbed one from beside my seat.
“As soon as this is over, we’re going to talk about this three sixty mood swing you just had. You are such an ass. I’ve never seen this side of you, and I do not like it.”
“I give people what they give me. You fuck me over, you’re bound to get it back.”
She slid her seat all the way back and let down the window. “Kyle, I didn’t fuck you over.” She turned around so her knees were on the seat and her back was against the dashboard. “I was instinctive.”
“Shut up, Spirit. Instinctive. I said you could trust me.” She stuck her head out the window. “And you better not fuck up my truck.”
Dropping back in, she sassed, “I will not get a scratch on your darling truck. You better not harm any innocent bystanders. We both know you’re good for that.”
“Spirit, after I’ve taught you honesty, I’m going to teach you how to listen because you’ve missed me telling you to shut up a few times.”
Her hand whipped toward me and I blocked it. “You shut up.”
“Very mature, Spirit. Very mature.”
She stuck the top half of her body out the window and started shooting at the car behind me. I drove to where there would be less pedestrians and traffic just to try to keep this as unreckless as possible.
Spirit was missing every damn shot.
“Spirit. What the hell is wrong? How trained an assassin are you? Aim at the wheels since you can’t hit the damn windshield.”
She came back in the window. “If you keep going, I’m going to shoot you,” she threatened.
And I took her as more serious than she was. “I know…”
She changed the clip of the gun.
“Here, take the wheel. I’ll handle it. They probably think they have the wrong girl. That’s why they aren’t shooting back.” No sooner than the words left my mouth, my back window shattered.
“Guess they heard you lack their skills too,” she muttered, insulted.
“Oh no, they did not shoot out my back window! Didn’t I tell you not to let anything happen to my truck? Take the wheel and you better hope I don’t get shot.”
She grabbed the wheel and I gripped my gun as I pushed the button to roll down the window. My driver’s side rearview mirror broke and a bullet hole looked back at me through the steel. I stuck my head out of the window, and quickly pulled it back in when more bullets came flying past me. The side of my truck was taking shot after shot.
“This is some bullshit,” I ranted as I pushed the button to let back the moon roof. “The shit I do for these women and the way they repay me. Now my ace gotta get messed up too. Bob, I’m sorry. I’ll never put a woman over you ever again. Spirit, trade seats so I can put an end to this.” I rose out of the moon roof and fired at the windshield of the red sedan. Multiple bullet holes appeared on the driver’s side and the car spun out of control. It flipped four times before settling on its roof.
I dropped back down in the truck. “Pull over.”
The truck swerved, halted, and I jumped out. I was mad. I didn’t even want to look at my truck, I knew it was bad. Except for the leaking from the car and the passenger’s groaning, the area was quiet. I didn’t care about my surroundings. I never care. I reached in and tried to yank the passenger out of the car. The dumb ass was smart enough to leave on his seatbelt, keeping me from ripping him out and whooping his ass in the middle of this street. That made me madder.
“Tell me who sent you or you’re getting a bullet in your skull.” I couldn’t get a good look at his face.
“Shultz,” he groaned.
I got down on my hands and knees to look into the window. With the bloo
d smeared all over his face, and his shirt covering most of it, I couldn’t recognize him.
The sound of police sirens was growing in the distance and a fire had begun at the hood of the car. “What?” I asked, curious to know how he knows me.
“Denis Reynolds has sent the worst after that girl. If you’re caught with her, you’re dead too.”
I reached in and pulled his shirt from his face. His voice was sounding a bit familiar, but I wasn’t sure. “Clark?”
“Yeah. You’re going to help me out of here?”
I looked around to see if I could see any police lights and couldn’t. By fire escalating, there was no telling if or when the car would blow. “Can you reach your seatbelt?” I couldn’t leave him out here like this. Clark had risked his life a few times for me. Saving him was only right.
“Kyle! We have to go!” Val called to me from the truck.
I was still upset with her. “Hold up.” I reached into the car, trying to grab Clark’s shoulders. “Come on, man. Hurry before the car blows.”
“I think my leg is broken. I can’t move it. But my seatbelt’s off. Pull me out of here.”
I pulled and he wasn’t coming. “Come on, Clark. You need to wiggle or something.”
“Kyle, the police are coming. We need to get out of here. We both are dead if we get locked up tonight.” Spirit was right. The worst place you could end up while on any list was in jail. And based on what Clark said, I might have fucked myself by hanging with Val.
“If you’re not going to help, shut up!” I yelled at her, getting frustrated. Clark wasn’t budging and I was watching the trail from the leaking gas slowly flow past me toward the front of the car where the fire alighted. “Shit, Clark, you gotta help me. This shit is about to get bad. Please come on.”
“I’m trying.”
“Wiggle, hurry.”
“Ahh!” he hollered as his body started moving. I pulled him as he squirmed, dragging him out of the car. “Thanks, man…”
“Val! Come help me get him in the truck.”
She ran to us, grabbing his legs.
“We need to hurry, the car is about to blow up.”
“Okay, go!”