by Tess Oliver
“Are you going to get him some protection?”
“He declined it. Well, looks like we’re done here.” He glanced in the direction that Dreygon had ridden. “That man is as mad as a rabid dog and twice as dangerous. And slippery as a fucking squid soaked in olive oil.”
“Poetically put and very accurate. My patience is wearing thin with him. I wanted badly just to kill him where he stood.”
“That was pretty obvious to everyone. Don’t let him mess with your head though. Otherwise, you’ll end up in jail and he’ll be on the outside of the bars.”
“Or dead,” I added.
Chapter 19
Angel
Luke had come to pick me up at the small house Cash had rented a few miles away, and it seemed that he wasn’t going to let me out of his sight for the remainder of the night. I was fine with that. He’d told us all about the fake drug shipment, and the conversation with the psychotic old man, who used to play hide and seek with me. Jericho decided to stay behind at Cash’s and we’d thrown the whole safety in numbers thing out the window in favor of a night alone. It was something Luke seemed to want badly, and once we got into his car, I realized I did too.
“The new window looks so shiny,” I said as we pulled into the driveway.
“It seems like I’m going to have to replace all of them so they match.” He got out and looked around as I stepped out of the car. We didn’t hang out in the front yard any longer than we needed to. We walked inside. Luke locked the door and did a quick search of the house with me stuck closely behind his back as if a ghost might pop out at us.
“This is so ridiculous,” I said. “Having to check every corner of the yard and house. What are we going to do?”
Confident that the place was empty and we that were alone, he wrapped his strong arms around me. “Not sure yet. I really just wanted to take him out today, him and his smug grin. But you’re safe, and that’s all that matters. When he rode up and I realized he’d planned the whole damn circus act, I was sure—” He squeezed me tighter. “And then you didn’t answer your phone.”
I pressed my fingers against his mouth. “I’m here now, Reno, safe and sound in your arms, and I’m not going anywhere.” I trailed my fingers down his hard chest. “I say, that since we’re completely alone, we should pretend that Dreygon doesn’t even exist.” I leaned forward and kissed his neck.
“Dreygon, who?” He swallowed as my tongue ran along his throat. “I should probably take a shower.”
“Or we could both get into that massive tub.”
“We could definitely do that.” He took my hand and led me down the hallway to the bathroom. I turned on the water and put in a few scoops of bubble bath. He came up behind me and lifted my shirt up over my head. His mouth pressed against my shoulder as he slid my bra strap down. He fingered my burn scar. His gaze lingered on it for a second and then his hands smoothed over my belly and found the button on my jeans. Rose smelling fragrance filled the air, and steam rose off the bathtub. He turned me around naked in his arms and held me against him. “This is so damn nice,” he said. “I like Jericho and Cash, but being here with you, all alone and having you all to myself, is like fucking heaven.” His hand pressed against my face, and he kissed me.
He lifted his mouth from mine and yanked off his shirt. I couldn’t keep my hands off him while he stripped off his pants. His chest and arms were like smooth stone, hard and strong. I stepped into the bath and giggled as tufts of bubbles floated up like soapy clouds. “I might have overdone the bubble bath.”
He sat behind me and pulled me between his legs. I leaned my back against his chest, and he caressed my wet, naked skin with his slightly calloused fingertips.
“Who needs a Loofah.” I closed my eyes. “When you touch me, Reno, all the crappy stuff just falls away.” I raised my palm with a lump of bubbles and blew on it. The mass blew apart into hundreds of tiny bubbles that appeared iridescent under the light. “Luke?”
“Yeah, Baby?”
“This sounds strange, but I feel like you’ve always been a part of my life— like we’ve always been connected. When I saw you in the desert, so sick and beaten, a little voice in my head whispered ‘there he is’. Does that sound weird?”
“No, I felt the same way.” His deep voice rolled off the tile walls.
I sighed in pleasure as his hands explored every inch of my skin.
“I think this bath needs some soap.” I leaned forward and grabbed the bar off the dish.
As I scooted back, his fingers found my scar again. “You told me you had a birthmark on this shoulder, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Of course, I never saw it. I was a baby when—” I stopped. This highly sensual bath was not the place to discuss my wacky childhood.
“What did Gracie say it looked like?”
“A flower. But my mom thought it looked like a star. You do realize how quickly this is killing the mood, right?”
He pulled his fingers away from the scar. “Sorry, definitely don’t want to kill the mood. Where were we?”
“I was here.” I leaned back against his chest and pulled his hands around me. “In your arms, where I’m supposed to be.”
Chapter 20
Luke
Angel pulled a brush out of the bathroom drawer and used the end of her towel to clear the mirror. “I’ll meet you in the bedroom. If I don’t brush it out tonight, I will live with the regret all day tomorrow.”
I pulled on my jeans. “That’s fine. I’ve got to do a couple things in the office first.” I plodded down the hallway and pushed open the door to my dad’s office. I stood there in the dark for a few seconds and then flicked on the light. Right in the middle of a bubble bath with the most amazing, enticing woman I’d ever met, strands of an idea began twisting into a knot in my head, one of those stubborn knots that was hard to untangle. I walked over to my dad’s cork board with its colorful array of push pins. None of this was possible, the notion that had taken hold in the back of my mind bordered on insane.
Angel hummed to herself, and the sweet sound of it drifted along the empty hallway. “Ouch,” she said. “I should have used conditioner.”
I sucked in a steadying breath and pulled out all the pink pins. The newspaper articles and my dad’s hastily scribbled notes drifted down like leaves falling off a tree. I gathered them up, closed the door slightly and sat at the desk. I shuffled through the pages, mostly just skimming the information. Something in my subconscious warned me not to look too closely or this crazy tangle of an idea would start to unravel into coherent, organized strands. I rubbed my finger over the phrase orange peel. I stared at the two words as if they might jump off the page at me.
Angel popped her face into the office. Her long, wet hair was pulled back in a braid. A smile lit her face, making her look that much more beautiful. There were still times when I had to convince myself she was real. “Are you coming to bed?”
I slid the papers into a hasty pile. “Yep. Hey, did you once tell me your mom used to have a habit of chewing orange peels?”
“Wow, this is really the night of weird questions. Yes, she chewed them all the time. I tried it once but never could find the pleasure in it.” She walked into the room. “What are you up to, Reno?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. No more weird questions, I promise. I’ll be there in just a second. I’m going to let Carson know I’ll be a little late tomorrow. Figure we’ve got the place to ourselves, so I’m not planning on getting much sleep.”
She smiled. “I might go to the kitchen and get a snack then. Sounds like I’m going to needs some energy.” She left the office. I waited until her footsteps reached the front room. I pulled the phone out of my pocket.
“Barringer?”
“Yeah, hey Carson. I need a favor.”
“I can barely hear
you,” he said.
“I’m talking low on purpose. Don’t know why that isn’t obvious. I need you to talk to your friend over at the county office, the one who has access to birth, death and marriage certificates.”
“Holy smokes, you’re already getting married?”
“What? No. I just need you to ask her if she can find a birth certificate for Evangeline Sharpe. She was born in ninety-one.”
“All right. I’ll do it, but it seems like a strange request.”
I stared down at the pile of articles and evidence. “Something tells me things are about to get even stranger.”
Rain Shadow Book 5
She fell silent as she seemed to be absorbing my words. One of her long thin braids fell across her cheek and she pushed it back. Everything about her, even those thin, out of place braids made my heart ache for her. She’d made it home safely, I reminded myself. My heart was just returning to its normal pace. Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears as she faced me again.
“You have a dangerous job. I have to watch you leave every day and wonder if you’ll be all right.” The tears broke free. “Jericho and Cash aren’t going to stick around much longer, and I can’t blame them. I hate being tended to like a helpless little girl.”
“They’re in just as much danger as you, but they’ll have to make their own decisions. We’ll figure something out once they leave.” I stepped up close to her and brushed another errant strand of hair from her face.
“I can’t live like this for much longer, Luke. Just like those two inside, I’ve been stuck in the club life. Now that I’m free, I want to work.” More tears fell. “I want to learn to drive a car.” She sobbed. “I want to take some college classes. I want to be normal.”
I pulled her into my arms and she peered up at me with big teal eyes. “Normal is highly overrated. I want all that for you too, but you’re not free yet, Angel. I’m working on it though. Just promise me you’ll stay safe in the meantime.”
Coming September 24, 2014
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