by Ginna Moran
A smile curves his lips, turning him even more handsome, his sharp expression softening. “You’re stubborn. I like that. Feisty. Strong-willed. Determined.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Why? Because I won’t let you win these games you’re playing with me? I know what’s going on here. I know exactly your type, Rowan. Tough-guy, always gets his way, power-hungry—”
Rowan shuts me up with another kiss, groaning as our lips meet. My skin tingles in anticipation, his kiss shocking me like he broke through an invisible cloud of static. He snakes his hand around my ass and pulls my pelvis to his, his hard cock sliding against me.
“You know nothing about me,” he says, pulling away. His hazel eyes search mine for a moment. “But I’d like to change that. This was all...” He swallows, letting his voice trail off.
What the hell? He looks like he has a dozen thoughts on his mind and also like he doesn’t want to share a single one of them. I don’t know what changed, but he feels different, softer toward me, almost relieved. It’s the weirdest thing.
“All what?” I ask, deciding to pry when he’s not quick to give me a clue as to what is going on.
“Unexpected.” Rowan puts space between us but doesn’t let go of me, keeping his hand locked to the small of my back. “Unbelievable.”
I furrow my brows, his words making no sense to me. “I don’t understand you, you know. What are we even doing? Why are you even doing this? Is this part of getting into my head in an attempt to break me? Torture me? What? You’re obviously willing to risk your job, so whatever this is can’t be good. I’m not dumb.”
He blinks a few times, his mouth tightening as he continues to stare at me. “It’s not like that, Nova. I’m not playing any game with you.”
“Bullshit!” The shower and his closeness suddenly feel like they’re suffocating me. I swivel on my feet and reach out, trying to push open the glass door to let cool air in. But Rowan doesn’t let me go. He holds me close, my heart pounding against him, my emotions turning wild. “You think I killed your friend. You want revenge.”
“I don’t,” he says quietly, reaching up to touch my cheek.
“Yeah-fucking-right,” I snap, pressing my hand into his chest to push him back. “If that were the case, you’d believe me when I say I don’t belong here. I’m innocent.”
“I know.” The words come out so softly that I’m not sure if I imagined them. Rowan touches my chin, tipping my head up to look at him. “The last place you belong is here.”
Confusion washes over me, and I search his eyes, trying to determine whether or not he’s lying to me. This could all be a part of his twisted game, giving me an ounce of hope only to steal it away.
“If you were guilty, I’d have felt it,” he adds softly. “And after feeling you in my dragon form...”
What the hell? I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “What is that supposed to mean? Why didn’t you say something to the judge if you knew I wasn’t a murderer? Why drag me through this bullshit if you knew I was innocent? What the fuck, Rowan? Fuck. Fuck!”
I squeeze my eyes shut with my anger and bat my hands against his chest. I can’t believe the words I’m hearing. He made me believe that he thought I was guilty all along, and now he’s admitting he knew I was innocent. What a bastard.
“Nova, please. You have to understand. I didn’t know for certain until now.” Rowan traces his thumb across my cheek, pushing my wet hair behind my ear. The warmth he had brought to me now dissipates despite the hot water still steaming around us.
“You’re not making any sense,” I say, trying not to savor his touch. “I don’t understand any of this.”
I try to reach around him to turn the water off, but he grabs my hand and links his fingers through mine. Without saying a word, he studies me for a moment, his hazel eyes flickering with indecipherable emotions. His chest bumps against mine with every breath he inhales, the intensity of this moment threatening to send me into a hurricane of confusion.
“You really don’t know about Magaelorum.” It’s more of a statement rather than a question. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he might feel a bit sad. His smolder diminishes the longer we stay together, just opening up for the first time. “Or what you are. You don’t know anything.”
I shake my head. “I’m human. I’m from Earth. I was just an aerial performer. Rhett approached my boss after one of our shows and freaked me out. He said he had been looking for me, but I don’t know why. He was stalking me and promised to follow me around until I let him speak his mind, but he never got the chance.”
Silence falls between us as Rowan thinks over my words. I shift on my feet, still holding his hand. It takes me squeezing his fingers to get him to pull himself from his thoughts. I find myself tracing my finger over his pec with my free hand like my body can’t understand that I shouldn’t be so close.
“Because he knew,” Rowan finally says. He grumbles with the words as he lets them sink in. “He had to have.”
“Knew what?” I blink my eyes to clear the drops of water from the shower off my lashes.
Without answering, Rowan swivels on his feet and shuts off the water. He drags me from the shower and grabs a towel from the rack, draping it over my shoulders. I stand in surprise as he starts to dry me off, swiping the towel across my body like he’s afraid the fluffy fabric might accidentally hurt me. Or maybe he’s afraid he might.
“Get dressed,” he says, pointing to my dirty jumpsuit.
I frown, hating the idea of putting it back on.
“I promise I’ll bring you clean clothes. You’ll get another shower. I just—I have to get you back to your cell and talk to my brothers.” Rowan slings the towel around his hips and disappears from the bathroom. He returns with a way-too-big T-shirt and what I’m nearly certain are a pair of his boxers and holds them out to me. “This will help. Now please, get dressed.”
The fact that he says please doesn’t go unnoticed by me. If it was yesterday, he would’ve demanded it. But now? Something has changed. I don’t know what, but I think it’s something important. It’s more than the fact that we kissed and fooled around in his shower.
Rowan disappears, leaving me alone in the bathroom. I consider arguing a bit more, but the clothing he brought for me feels so soft and inviting compared to the roughness of the jumpsuit. After slipping the T-shirt over my head and then the boxers up my legs, I take a minute to comb my fingers through my messy hair the best I can. I spot a hickey at the base of my neck, peeking from the drooping collar of the T-shirt. I graze my fingers over it, the memory sending lust shooting between my legs again.
“I couldn’t help myself,” Rowan says from the doorway. “I saw one of my brothers already left a mark on the back of your neck.”
Heat burns up my chest and into my cheeks. It was Maddox, and not even that long ago. With the thought, I can’t help grimacing at myself. Did I really mess around with two guys in the same day? That’s a first for me. Star would laugh her ass off and tell me to get it. She was even more free-spirited and confident than me. And now I miss her.
My lack or response and frown makes Rowan clear his throat. “You don’t have to say anything,” he adds. “I’m not bothered if you’re worried.”
I bob my head and release a breath like he was right about my thought, even though he wasn’t. But I’ll accept it because I wasn’t planning on getting into anything with him right now.
Rowan scoops up my jumpsuit and shakes it out, sending dirt pelting to the floor. He holds it in front of him and bends slightly, silently asking me to get dressed. I use his shoulders and step into the jumpsuit, not even getting the chance to button it up before Rowan snaps it in place. His jaw twitches as he meets my gaze again.
“Can I kiss you once more?” he asks, touching my cheek. “I know I don’t deserve your affection, especially now, but...please?”
My head nods before my mind can process, and Rowan bends down and brushes his lips to mine, softly and sweetly,
and nothing like our first kiss. I still crave for him to do it again when he eases himself away. I enjoy the closeness of his body far more than I realized, especially after seeing this side of him.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he whispers, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “I know you feel it.”
I frown. He just had to go and ruin it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why do you keep insisting such a thing? I can’t be yours. You can’t own me.”
The corner of his lips quirk up. “You will understand soon. Now, come on. I have to get you back to your cell.”
His words send a blip of fear through me. Rowan locks his fingers tighter through mine, not letting me pull away. But fuck that. He just told me he knows I’m innocent. My cell is the last place he should take me.
“No,” I say, finally breaking from his hold. “You’re going to take me to the judge. You’re going to tell him—”
Rowan lifts me off my feet, cutting off my demand. “I’m sorry I have to do this, Nova, but no. I have to take you back to your cell.”
“You don’t.”
“But I do.”
Chapter 9
The Dreki Brothers
“CO DREKI!” I yell for the tenth time. “I need to speak with you!”
I stare at the mirror that gives a view of the empty hallway, waiting for Rowan, or even Kash or Maddox for that matter, to show up. It feels like I’ve been trapped in here forever. It’s been so long that I think I slept for a bit. Smacking my hand to the bars once more, I turn around and slump onto my cot. I yank the collar of Rowan’s shirt from my jumpsuit and bring it to my nose. It still smells like him—cinnamon, sugar, and something fresher like the wind blowing during a storm.
The buzzer to my cell goes off, startling me. I hop back to my feet and push the T-shirt back into my jumpsuit. Loud footsteps thud against the concrete hallway, but I remain in my spot as the bars to my cell slide open. Anticipation courses through me the closer the person comes. I never thought I’d be excited for the return of one of the Drekis.
A strange scent wafts into my cell a second before an unfamiliar guard appears in front of the doorway. I take an automatic step back, darting my gaze to the floor. I’ve never seen this man, and something inside me panics, stealing the badass I’ve managed to summon to face the Drekis.
“Hands up, inmate,” the guard says, pulling a chain from his belt. “You have a visitor.”
A visitor? What? Who? Shit.
“If you’re good for me, I’ll give you some free time in the prison yard,” he adds.
“That sounds like punishment,” I mutter under my breath instead of berating him with all my questions.
If the CO heard me, he ignores me. I don’t test my luck and raise my hands for him to secure the restraints on. They glow green with electricity, reminding me of the restraints Maddox put on me when I arrived in this stupid world. I grind my teeth and brace for the pain that comes with any sudden movement, but luckily, nothing happens. Something’s different.
I want so badly to ask the new CO what’s up, but he shoves his hand between my shoulder blades and pushes me from the cell to walk in front of him. Keeping my gaze on the floor, I stroll down the long hallway and try my best to ignore a few grunts and catcalls from the asshole inmates still in their cells.
The guard palms my back again, getting me to pick up speed when I slow down. We enter the main area of the cellblock with the tables, but none of them are occupied at this time. A few more inmates shout for the CO’s attention, but he ignores them while he guides me toward an unfamiliar door that leads...outside.
I shiver at the gust of air that blows my hair off my neck. Sunshine stings my eyes, and I squint, really missing my favorite pair of sunglasses I left on the table in Galaxy’s RV. Not like such a luxury is allowed here but still. Who knew I would miss something so small and simple.
“The visitation room isn’t in the main building?” I say, finally getting the nerve to ask.
“No.”
I was hoping for a better, more detailed answer but no such luck. I doubt he’d give me one anyway. He’s steeled toward me, neither acting like an ass nor nice. He’s just neutral, I guess. Whether that’s good or bad, I have no idea.
“I didn’t think I would get any visitors, considering I’ve never been to Magaelorum before this bullshit.” I know I shouldn’t continue to make conversation, but it’s the only thing stopping my heart from trying to burst from my chest as we walk farther and farther away from the main building and to the outskirts of the prison yard.
“Don’t know. Don’t care. The warden approved Mr. Infinity’s visitation. I expect you to be a good little girl and mind your manners. He’s up for a High Council position within the next century.” The guard comes up beside me as we near a building. “He could easily persuade the right people to end your life sentence.” The way he says it doesn’t sound like an early release but a change from life in prison to a death sentence.
I shiver at the thought and peer around. Electricity zings across the top of high walls, threatening to shock anyone who attempts to escape. I slow down until the CO whacks my back with his arm. He pushes me toward a single level building surrounded by a chain-link fence. If another CO in the same uniform didn’t stand at a gate, I might panic more than I already am. Something about this supposed visitation center doesn’t feel right. Why the hell does the name Mr. Infinity sound familiar?
Ice slides through me, cooling my blood. Everything has been so hectic and insane that I forgot Rhett’s warning a minute before he died. He mentioned the name Lazlo Infinity. He blamed him for the massacre at the bar.
And now the fucker is here to see me.
I halt in my tracks and back up a few feet. The guard behind the gate hesitates without opening it. He stares at me, studying me from my wide eyes to my fingers wringing together. With a nod of his head, he gets the CO who brought me here to turn towards me.
I extend my arms in front of me protectively. If only the damn restraints didn’t trigger at my movement and send pain blasting through me. My legs give out, and I drop to my knees with a screech. The edges of my vision shadow from the burst of pain lingering in every cell on my body.
“What’s the matter, Inmate D64901?” the guard at the gate asks.
I groan and turn over on my side without getting up. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to see any visitors. It had to have been a mistake.”
“The warden doesn’t allow for mistakes,” he responds, opening the gate. “Get her ass up CO Lowe.”
CO Lowe finally acts on the gatekeeper’s command and drags me to my feet. He grips my shoulder so hard that I wince in pain. His strength is crazy, his fingers feeling as if they could easily break my bones. If that happens, I won’t be able to perform for who knows how long. I could lose my position...fuck. I’ve already lost that. I’ve lost everything. This whole time I’ve been blaming Rhett—a dead man—but now I have someone alive and within my reach to blame. This could be exactly what I need to prove my innocence, except I’m freaking out. I can’t help it. Whoever Lazlo Infinity is, he’s a psycho. He has monsters working for him that hurt people. He should be the one in here. Not me.
I wish I had Star or even Galaxy here to give me a pep-talk. If I can face three damn intimidating dragon beast men, I sure as hell can face anyone. The thought is enough to get me to get my act together.
Straightening my shoulders, I raise my chin up, meeting the gatekeeper’s gaze. He arches a brow, probably thinking I’m on the brink of losing my mind with my split second shift in my attitude and demeanor. It’s a talent, I guess, my ability to take on a role and give my damn best performance. There have been many close calls with Galaxy and reacting negatively could ruin a whole performance. He trained me that I better damn-well smile and be confident even if I was about to splatter on the ground. For that, I’m thankful. Damn it, I miss him. I miss Star, Mars, and Orion. I miss being a sky dancer and traveling everywhere and an
ywhere. I miss the people and the RV that I called home.
“Arms up, inmate,” CO Lowe says, not giving me much of a chance to dwell on everything this fucker waiting for me ruined.
I raise my arms for him and wait until he unlocks my restraints that flicker out the second they drop free. Rubbing my wrists, I stare at the small, dimly lit room before me. CO Lowe guides me past the guard at the gate and inside, where the door closes behind us.
CO Lowe nudges me toward a blank wall. “Hands against the wall and spread your legs.”
I frown but do as he says, closing my eyes as he pats my jumpsuit down like he suspects I’m hiding a ton of weapons. At least he doesn’t ask me to strip.
“All right. You’re good. Go on in. I’ll knock when you have five minutes left of visitation.” CO Lowe motions at the only other door in the room apart from the exit leading to the prison yard.
Fear prickles in my heart, and my chest clenches. “You’re not coming with me?”
He remains expressionless. “The warden approved Mr. Infinity’s request for privacy. I’ll monitor you from out here, so don’t try anything regrettable.”
It’s laughable that he thinks I’m the one who might do something insane when it’s the asshole in the visitation room who is definitely here for something surely evil if he was involved with the monster men trying to kidnap women from the bar.
Instead of saying as much, I suppress my nerves with a deep breath. I can only pray that if this Infinity douche tries something, CO Lowe will intervene. Fuck, I hope that’s the case. As I push the door open, I silently beg the universe for one of the Drekis to come and take this CO’s place. At least they don’t want me dead. Maddox thinks he’ll get answers from me. Kash—I don’t even know about him. And Rowan? Hell.
A man claps his hands together, cutting into my train of thought. The door slams closed behind me, and I whip my attention around at what appears to be the only entrance and exit into the room. A long mirror sits inlaid into the wall, and I imagine CO Lowe taking his place behind it to watch us.