Delta_Ricochet

by Cristin Harber

  Adelia studied the tablecloth, uncertain she could pick out good-mannered men versus the bad ones. So many looked alike. There were no telltale signs of how someone would behave. She didn’t see that side of him, but she never saw that side of anyone. It was just their expectation so often that they could get whatever they wanted from her, and that was never the case. Ever.

  “Wherever your head went...” Colin shook his. “That’s an ugly place.”

  She jumped from her thoughts. “I didn’t mean to.”

  Colin pushed from his chair, stealing the remnants of warmth he’d placed around her without her awareness. He held out his hand. “Let’s dance.” His outstretched hand didn’t waver. “Would you like to dance?”

  The slow music meant they would be close, and the intention behind his invitation waited for her. Warmth melted from her shoulders and down her spine as her nervous grin blossomed. “Okay.”

  The music played. Each note floated, softly circling Adelia and Colin, squeezing them closer.

  “You’re fine like this?” His lips teased against her forehead as the space between them came and went like a tide lapping in to the beach.

  She nodded, tilting her head to feel the brush of his lips dance across her temple. “Very.”

  “Same,” he finally said. “Very.”

  The warm air hugged her bare shoulders, and the twinkling strands of lights that crisscrossed overhead transformed the dim light to an angelic glow. They were surrounded by friends. Colin had one hand around her back. The other cupped her hand that still held their puzzle pieces. Adelia rested her cheek on his wide chest. Thick arms enveloped her, and their weight brought a safety she hadn’t expected as he hummed with the song, the deep vibrations singing to her soul.

  The refrain shifted as Colin swayed his hips and tight-muscled body against her feminine curves. She wouldn’t have believed it possible to melt from a melody’s tune or the tempting touch of man, but this slow dance had become nothing more than an excuse to embrace and wordlessly wonder. Her heartbeat spoke volumes while her mind went dizzy enjoying the temptation.

  Adelia rolled her head to his sternum, drinking in the intoxicating warmth and masculine scent, and nuzzled against his dress shirt. The expensive fabric was cool on her skin. His hold should bother her. Constraints always did, and dancing with arms tight around her was much like a swaying hug. Long ago, she’d decided that alpha males didn’t know what a hug was or how to do it. They pulled too tight, or maybe that was their point: a simple act of dominance in everyday life. They’d done nothing for her except provide an urge for her to elbow away.

  Except right now.

  She wanted to melt closer, mold to his body, revel and explore. Colin was no less strong, or likely, stronger, than anyone who’d come close before.

  The song changed again, and this time, the beat quickened, but he kept them as they were, as if he could read her mind. Adelia shifted her gaze to catch his blue eyes. “It’d be cliché to ask what you’re thinking?”

  He chuckled quietly. “Wasn’t thinking much.”

  “Just existing?”

  He nodded. “Good description.”

  Adelia bit her lip. Maybe on a day like today, she shouldn’t have brought up the idea of existence. Or maybe, she should and ask about his father instead of trying to figure out why she knew she couldn’t unlock her arms from his unless he required her to do so.

  “What just changed in your tone?” he asked.

  “Oh, I…” She chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Thought maybe my wording could’ve been more thoughtful.”

  “Ah.” He gave her a quick squeeze. “I’m glad you’re out here with me, but not because I’m trying to distract myself with a beautiful woman.”

  Oh. That hadn’t been on her mind either. She was so gung-ho to protect herself from pushy alpha males that she was naively aware of what most might assume when it came to a male-female dynamic. But it all boiled down to sex with most everyone anyway. “That’s good.”

  But was it? Adelia had no idea. Seven and Victoria were the ones she would bounce guy talk off of, and that rarely occurred, given that she hadn’t been up front with them. Avoiding awkward conversations was as good of an idea as avoiding Tex’s wrath when he didn’t approve of men.

  Colin’s hand skimmed her bicep, eliciting more goosebumps. “Want to sit down?”

  “No.”

  He eased her away from him and held their hands up, motioning her to spin slowly before he pulled her close again. “Then what?”

  “This.”

  The boyish smile from earlier made another appearance.

  “Why have I never seen that before?”

  “What?”

  “That smile.”

  “I smile.”

  “Not like that,” she pointed out, mesmerized by its lulling sweetness. “I like it, and it’s different.”

  “Then it’s yours.” The corners of his eyes crinkled the faintest bit when his eyes narrowed as if he wanted to memorize the next few seconds.

  Her pulse quickened. “Have you ever felt like your sense of gravity just shifted, but… you can finally take a breath you didn’t know you were holding?”

  He stopped dancing and stared. “Yeah.”

  Anxious butterflies stormed in her stomach. She couldn’t shield herself from his intense focus, and an alarmed blush rushed up her neck. This flirtation seemed good, special even, and not driven by the lewdness and gossip that drove her to avoid. She wanted him to touch and tease her, to kiss her in the most stirring of ways she’d ever imagined, and that was terrifying… Intimidating at the very least.

  Adelia broke their hold, hoping to catch Victoria in her peripheral vision, but saw no one to use as an excuse. “I need to get some air.”

  “Adelia?” His concern registered above the wedding din, but it thundered in her ears with low gravel and heavy vibration. “Adelia.” Colin grasped her hand, holding the puzzle piece firmly between their palms. “Did I offend you?”

  Did he offend me? She nearly snort-laughed at the irony. “God, no!”

  His cut jaw ticked but his feet didn’t move an inch, and why she expected him to grab and shake her, she had no idea. Tex would kill him or would die trying. Colin had never once acted in the way she suddenly braced for.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I think,” she whispered, “I’m having a sudden moment where I realize that my expectation of men has been totally screwed up.”

  His eyebrow inched higher. “You know a couple high quality guys in my opinion. Ryder. Jax—”

  “They don’t count.” Her mind whirled as she tried to place why they were different, how Tex had tried to assert a system to choose her partners to protect her, and how she, to safeguard herself, had stonewalled the male species under the general guise of disinterest.

  She buried her face in her hands and willed her mind to pull it together until she could save a nervous breakdown for a secluded location.

  “What’s the matter,” he asked in a hushed whisper, still not stepping a foot closer.

  That space he gave her… She noted it, appreciated it. Hell, Adelia needed it until she didn’t, and with more strength than she expected, she pried her palms from her cheeks. “It’s just.” Her fingers trembled, and she hid them in the fabric of her skirt, not courageous enough to glance around to see if anyone had noticed how she’d nearly brought herself to tears. “For me, tonight has been intense and beautiful. Special. And very different. I’m not used to you—or anyone—acting like that.”

  An endearing smile turned the corners of his lips. “I like to think I’m one of a kind.”

  She’d laughed, not expecting any humor.

  “I’ve enjoyed everything about tonight.” He extended his hand as he had at the table, patiently waiting. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The good humor died at his suggestion to leave, and slivers of ice cooled her blood even further. Disappointment did too. He wanted to leave? She w
as wrong about him. Everything revolved around sex. Colin was just like all the others.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The reception hall blurred around Adelia. The twinkle lights that were so romantic ten minutes ago were nothing more than a headache’s worth of white lights with tails chasing her as she rushed off the dance floor like a thunderstorm rolling for the exit doors.

  Outside the community center, there would be fresh air, warm air with a cool breeze and not this choking, love sick-balminess that made her gasp. Panic and tears blurred her vision, and her fists balled, manicured nails digging into her flesh as she refused to let nightmares of Brazil surface on Seven’s special night.

  She bumped into a waiter, and the man grabbed her wrist as she lost balance. Adelia barely heard his unneeded apologies. The collision had been her fault, but the touch—the grab—she ground her teeth together to force away the memories of when her hands were bound, when she was hung like a pig awaiting slaughter.

  Another hand wrapped around her chest. She was off her high heels as the room spun. A hard grip held her jaw and hauled her away…

  “Adelia.”

  Tears begged for mercy, so that she would free them, but the answer was always no. She didn’t cry. Wouldn’t cry.

  “Adelia.”

  The harsh hands on her jaw weren’t actually harsh, and her head jostled enough, the rhythmic ripple of fingers massaging one after the other, that she realized the hand didn’t hurt at all. She hazarded a peek—Colin. Her heart jumped the same time embarrassment flashed through her. “Oh, no.”

  “There you go. Take it easy.”

  “I just needed to get some air,” she whispered.

  He chuckled silently. “You are something else; you know that?”

  Adelia was finally able to take a deep breath and steady herself. “It’s my nature I guess.”

  “Your brother’s stubborn,” he joked. “I suppose you come by it naturally.”

  Her hands trembled. Even her ankles didn’t feel strong in her shoes. “He’s more asshole than stubborn. But I love him.”

  “You said it.” Amusement made Colin’s eyes prettier. “But you’re no asshole.”

  She bit her lip, not wanting to smile. His faux-serious inflection was hard to resist. “Well, thanks.” There was nowhere close to relax, and Adelia was now officially worn out. “I’m okay. Really. I’m going to head out. Thanks for a really, really amazing night.”

  He pushed his lips together. “Earlier.”

  She stopped mid-pivot and glanced over her shoulder.

  “I didn’t mean that the way you took it.” Colin handed Adelia her purse, and she hadn’t realized she didn’t have it with her. The only thing in her hand was their puzzle pieces.

  Maybe she needed to go hide in the ladies’ room and relax—but how else did he mean it? She silently took her purse, facing him directly, and he took the liberty of keeping her hand in his. She should want him to let go. Shouldn’t she?

  He put their puzzle pieces in his pocket and threaded their fingers to make their palms kiss. “Since that came out wrong.”

  Adelia tightened her hand on his, unnerved that he could make her so calm when she’d just panicked.

  “I’m going to reword what I said.”

  “Okay.”

  “Let’s go on an adventure.”

  “An adventure?” Her hopes jumped now that Colin didn’t sound like he was propositioning her. “What kind?”

  “Would it be an adventure if I told you?”

  Adelia squared her bare shoulders as if that might hide how jittery she’d been. “If you don’t tell me, it sounds more like a surprise.”

  His chiseled jaw flexed as he sized her up. “I still think you’re the adventurous type.”

  “Well, I am,” she offered defiantly.

  He grinned. “But I have one condition.”

  Flirting didn’t mean he wanted sex. Adelia needed to believe that, but restlessness twitched in her back, and the urge to run whispered memories of her past experiences with men—though that wasn’t how Colin or his Delta teammates behaved. “One condition?” Did he hear the tremble in her voice?

  “What’s that?”

  “You have to trust me—even if you’re scared of heights.”

  She laughed, more at herself than him. “That’s two things.”

  “What? Nah.” He ran his hands over her biceps, tugging her close.

  “One and a half.” Her nerves thawed, and it wasn’t that boyish smile that hitched on one side or his hard body that held her like she could break that urged her to cuddle into the protective cavern of his hug. “I feel like I’d always be up for an adventure with you.”

  He kissed the top of her head like they had a special, silent language they’d honed over the course of decades. She couldn’t explain how his lingering lips made her shiver or why her eyelids drifted closed like she might be high when he breathed her in. “We need…”

  And she knew that whatever he said next wouldn’t send her into a tailspin, even if he wanted to leave with her, he wasn’t on a mission for sex. Her senses were alive, and she wondered what his kiss might taste like. How his lips might feel… What would the rough touch of the pads of his fingers feel like sliding over her skin?

  She hadn’t wanted a man like Colin. She simply hadn’t wanted much of anything.

  Sex was a commodity. Mayhem used it, and even at the times that she thought that she might burst from need, there weren’t many interesting options. Hot? Maybe… But options that made her feel something other than a hormonal reaction? Nope. She could take care of herself if she didn’t feel like wasting her time. There was nothing worse than a drunk guy trying to finger her to orgasm for the sole purpose of getting a blow job. “What do we need?”

  He eased away, searching the reception hall. “A couple of table cloths.”

  “We do?” She grinned. “What else? Maybe a few plates?”

  Colin winked. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He locked his elbow with hers, and they made their way to the back corner of the room.

  “I don’t see a pile of table cloths.” There was nothing but a service station lined up for the catering staff to drop off glasses and grab refills.

  Colin lifted a carafe of coffee. “Do you take cream or sugar in your coffee?”

  “Um, both…”

  “Should’ve guessed.” With the coffee carafe in hand, they headed toward a half-empty kids’ table where munchkins devoured wedding cake.

  “Don’t mind us,” he said, and then lifted two untouched coffee cups, handing them to her. He stuffed one with sugar packets and the other with creamer. “Don’t spill.”

  Her eyebrows arched. “Okay.”

  The table of kids giggled as she made an over-the-top confused face for him, playing it up. He lifted the floral centerpiece to take with them and cocked his head to the side, giving the children a wave with the flowers.

  “Where are we going?” Adelia concentrated on her creamer-filled cup and followed him out of the reception hall to the hallway.

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be an adventure.”

  That sounded like it should be on a fortune cookie, but she pocketed that bit of fast -food wisdom for a rainy day and decided to remind him that their sense of adventure might operate at varying levels. “You jump out of helicopters for a living.”

  “Who told you that?” he joked.

  “I might consider balancing a clattering creamer in a coffee cup while wearing high heels after an evening of wine an adventure.”

  He stopped and turned around, and she stopped abruptly, realizing she’d been staring at the cup. “That sounds like a challenge during our adventure.” He put the coffee carafe on the floor and tested the handle of an unlabeled door. It opened easily, and he stepped into a dark room, returning a moment later with an arm full of linens. “Tablecloths.”

  “I can see that.”

  “We’re about to have your second challenge.”

  �
�We are?” Her forehead pinched, and as she shifted, the creamer clinked in the coffee cup.

  “Ready?”

  “Sure, why not?” She hadn’t spilled so far.

  “Want me to hold anything?”

  “Absolutely not.” Adelia squared her shoulders.

  Colin snickered and picked up the coffee pot and flowers to go with the arm full of tablecloths. “What’s a nice word for stubborn? You’re a little determined at times, aren’t you?”

  “I can be stubborn. Fair warning.”

  “At least she’s honest,” he mumbled loud enough that Adelia could hear, and they both laughed while they walked down the hall, passing two people who gave them odd looks but said nothing.

  The hallway ended at a T. There were two turns for the restrooms and another wing of the community center, and they broke toward the bathrooms.

  “Pit stop?” Adelia asked.

  “Not quite.” They stood next to the water fountains, vending machines, and a ladder. “Your second challenge.”

  “Is where…?” She looked around for a secret door as if Delta guys could make cool things appear out of nowhere.

  He put everything down except the linens. “Let me double check that this will work.” He stepped to a ladder next to the water fountain, climbed up, and unlatched the ceiling panel. “So far, so good.”

  “Um…”

  Then Colin disappeared.

  Adelia glanced over her shoulder as though they were going to get in trouble—ironic since so many people would say she grew up in a life of crime. Mayhem sold weapons. Technically, she was a human trafficker. But, oh no, she couldn’t climb onto the roof at the community center. There had to be a rule against that posted somewhere.

  “Colin,” she whispered with sudden butterflies bouncing in her veins. “Hey! Colin?”

  Suddenly, his feet were visible, and her quick pulse slowed. If her hands weren’t full, she’d have slapped one over her mouth for how ridiculous her relief felt. Colin slid down. “Let’s go, beautiful.”