by Bex Dane
She bites her lip and looks down at mine. She's still blurry, but her breath brushes my cheek. She pushes up and plants a tentative, uneven kiss on my lips. I stay still and savor that. She wants me and she's going for it. It's gonna happen now, and nothing can stop us. I grab her ass and pull her up so she's straddling my dick.
An urgent knock at the door stops us both cold.
"Mace! You in there? Open up."
It's Remy. The heat drains from Lola's eyes, and she shuts down. She's off me in a hot second and running for the bathroom. I was so close to having her, and Remy ruined it all with a few bangs on my door.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my dick down. I can't answer the door with a raging boner. "One second."
"Open the door!" He bangs it again.
"Wait a hot fucking second, asshole." What the hell is his problem?
I take my time throwing on a shirt and walking to the door because I know it'll piss him off more.
When I open it, I shoot him a wicked glare. "What is your problem?"
"You bring that girl up here?" He stops and stares at my face. "What happened to your eye?"
"Long story."
He looks over my shoulder into my place. "Is Loralei here? Sutton saw you walking up with a girl."
"If she were here, would it be any of your business?"
"Are you shitting me? That girl is bad news. She's caused this family nothing but grief, and you bring her up here like she's not a pariah?"
Oh no. He's not going there. The lava in the volcano heats up and threatens to erupt. But this is my brother. I have to control it. "Yes, she's here, and she's terrified of exactly this, so chill out."
"I'm not scared." Loralei's timid voice draws both our attention behind us, where she's standing in the doorway to the bathroom.
Remy's nostril's flare. "What're you doing here?"
"I came here to help Mace with his eye, but if you're here, I guess I can leave."
"You're not leaving. She's not leaving." I make it clear in my tone there's no negotiating this.
"She's not staying. Not here." Remy walks inside. I'd have to fight him to stop him, so I let him pass. "She doesn't belong here. No old baggage from our pasts comes up the mountain, Mace. None."
"She's not old baggage from my past. I met her when I was twenty. I'd been living here for seven years already. She's new baggage." I step back and sit on the end of my bed.
"Hey!" Loralei crosses her arms and pops a hip.
"Either way, get her out before she causes more damage." He points to the door.
"She won't cause any damage. In case you forgot, she was kidnapped and held captive on Morganna's island. You rescued her. Where is all that now?"
"She looks fine now." His gaze scans her up and down.
"She lost her memory and just got it back. She could lose her job, and her kidnappers are still after her, so you think you can back the fuck off for fifteen minutes?"
He steps back and stares at her. "I didn't know all that."
"And you didn't take the time to ask either. So I'll repeat myself, and I don't like to do that. Back off."
Sutton steps into the cabin and stands next to Remy as she glares at Lola.
"You too, Sutton?"
"We all don't want her here."
"I'm fine with her here." My mom steps in next with my dad behind her. "If she needs help, we help her. We're not throwing her out on the street no matter what she did to us in the past."
Cutter and Cass walk in behind them, and my tiny cabin is suddenly crowded with Twists.
"What's going on?" my dad asks.
"This is Loralei Valentine. The girl we rescued from the island." Remy's voice is filled with disdain.
Cutter's gaze cuts to her. "And the one who started the fight with Jareth Quicksilver."
"And the one who revealed our location to Mom's relatives in New York," Remy adds.
Loralei steps back and her shoulders curl in. God, I hate that my family is making a huge deal out of this.
"And the one who lost her memory and just got it back and might be able to help you with Giselle." I remind Cutter that in the beginning he wanted Loralei to help him.
"You know where Giselle is?" Cutter asks her.
"No. I just know she was at the island, and she drugged me."
"That's better than nothing." Cutter steps back and throws an arm around Cass. "I say we let her stay if she helps us with Giselle."
"It's not up to you, Cutter or Remy or anybody. She's here with me, and you all need to get out of my cabin."
"What happened to your eye?" Cass asks me. She has a bandage on her arm, but otherwise looks okay after her ordeal on the island.
"Someone threw cocaine into it."
"Oh no."
My mom steps in and touches above my eye. "I should look at it. I might have something to put in there."
"It's fine. It's healing. Just blurry and red. So we need some time alone. Can we all meet later and talk about this when my eye isn't red, and Lola isn't going through the stress of getting her memory back?"
"She got her memory back? Oh, that's great." My mom is the only one who is happy. Everyone else acts cold and disinterested.
"Everyone out. We'll come to dinner tomorrow night." I usher them out the door.
Cass and Cutter nod and leave.
"Call me if you need anything," my mom calls as she walks out with my dad following.
Remy stays behind and keeps staring down Lola.
I have to hold back the urge to shove him out the door. "I don't know what your problem is, brother, but you need to get your eyes off her and back on your own business. She's not a threat right now, and you're crossing a line. Go take it out somewhere else, but she doesn't deserve your bullshit."
Sutton tugs at his arm. "It's all right, Remy. Let's go."
Remy turns his glare to me. "I'm doubting you, Mace. I'm doubting your loyalty to this family. She worth it? That toxic bitch worth turning your back on us?"
Loralei gasps and turns away. She closes the door to the bathroom behind her.
I stand up and get in his face. "Fuck you. Don't talk to her. Don't look at her, and never fucking doubt me."
His eyes flash and his jaw works, but he doesn't respond.
"Get out of my cabin. We'll see you at dinner." He's so lucky my eye is injured right now, or I'd take him down for that.
"Don't bring her to a family dinner." He throws out one last stupid jab.
I smash his shoulder and push him toward the door. "I'll bring whoever the hell I want." That's it. The Volcano is ready to blow, and he needs to run if he wants to live.
Remy stiffens but doesn't raise his fists. He steps back. He knows he's in the wrong, and he's pissing me off. He takes Sutton's hand and stomps out.
In his wake, he leaves an awkward silence between me and a shocked Loralei, who has opened the door to see if the coast is clear.
"Hold me back because I'm about to beat the crap out of my brother."
"No. Don't do that. Calm down, Volcano." She walks to me and touches my forearm.
"Get me out of here. Seriously. Let's go somewhere, so I don't track him down and make him eat his tonsils."
"Oh my God. Okay. Let's go."
On the walk to her car, I'm scanning every inch of the place for Remy. I want to beat his brains in for what he said.
"Where to?"
"Anywhere."
She starts the car and drives out of the lot, saving my brother's life.
Chapter 10 Hot Sauce
Loralei
"Hamburgers, deli food, or Mexican." The small town of Boulder Creek only has three restaurants that I can see.
On the ride here, we didn't talk. He messed with my radio stations, tapped his foot, and stared out the side window. I absolutely understand why they call him Volcano. Hot magma bubbles inside him, and he could spew it out over an entire city at any moment.
"Mexican. It's the only place with booze."
He opens the door for me, the hostess looks up, and her eyes widen before a flirty grin appears on her lips. "Hey, Mace." She rocks side to side trying to get his attention, but he's deep in his mood and just grunts at her. "Why don't you sit over here?"
We follow her to a booth and settle in opposite each other. He picks up the hot sauce bottle, reads the label, and sets it down. He's like a caged animal, and I'm starting to think I should've taken him someplace where he could run wild and kill bunnies instead of cramming him into this tiny booth and forcing him to sit still.
A waitress brings us tortilla chips with salsa and asks what we want to drink.
He dives into the chips before she even stops speaking. "Roca Patron Silver. Bottle and two shot glasses."
When he looks up, the waitress stares a little too long at his eye and her smile fades. "Sure."
He sprinkles salt on the chips and shovels huge scoops of salsa into his mouth.
The waitress returns with a bottle of tequila, a plate of limes, and two shot glasses. He pours two shots and downs his with no preamble. He realizes I haven't moved and finally makes eye contact with me. "Drink."
"No thanks."
"You ordered a whiskey sour last night."
"I'm driving tonight."
He shoves another chip in his mouth. "You need to lose control more often. It's piping hot. Like hot sauce." He picks up the bottle of hot sauce and shakes it. "Muy caliente."
I chuckle at him. "Whatever you say." I'm glad he's cheering up and cracking jokes again.
"I'm telling you. Inner lioness is bored shitless with your control issues and wants to roam free. Drink tequila. Fuck on the hood of her Maserati. Let her have some fun."
"Um." The truth is I have envisioned having sex with Mace in my car many times—not really on the hood—but only in private fantasies. It's never something I'd really do. "I'll send her a memo that Mace thinks she needs to come out and play more often." And tell her to get more creative with my fantasies. Why did I not think of the hood of the car?
The waitress brings our food, and he leans back to allow her to place a steaming plate of fajitas in front of him. She hands me a chicken tostada bowl that smells divine. "Anything else?"
"No. We're fine. Thank you."
The food entrances him. He takes his time assembling a tortilla with steak and peppers, carefully adding drops of hot sauce and sour cream. I have to smile at him. He's full speed ahead on chips and salsa, but when fajitas show up, he's on the slow boat to happy town.
"You ready to talk?" I finally ask him in a low voice.
His eyes scan the restaurant before landing on me. "Getting there."
"This is why I didn't want to go to your family's place. I don't want to come between you guys." I speak quietly because there's ears everywhere in a small town.
He bites into his fajita burrito and chews as he stares down at his plate. "Remy was out of line."
"Not really. I did all those things and more." If he knew what the more was, he wouldn't keep offering me such blanket forgiveness. He'd be furious with me and send me packing.
"I don't give a shit. If I bring you home, I'm vouching for you. He needs to accept it or face my fists."
"I really don't think fighting is going to help." I hate the idea of Remy and Mace fighting over me. They're brothers. They should love each other and not let a girl come between them.
"A good grudge match helps everything." He grins, and I'm caught off guard again by his smile. With his eye red and his mouth full, he looks extra dangerous, and it's sexy in a twisted way.
"It's not necessary for them to accept me. Why force it?"
He looks into my eyes. "We're going after Diablo. I need their help."
"We are not going after Diablo. I'll handle it myself."
"We've already determined this is way too dangerous for you on your own."
"Then I'll get the department involved. I'm not dragging you into this."
He raises his arms to the side, palms up, looking down at himself. "Already dragged, babe."
I see his point. He is in this pretty deep with me. "You mentioned Giselle to Cutter. Is that what this is about?"
"Part of it."
"What's the other part?"
"You." He shoves the last of his first fajita in his mouth and grins.
"Me?"
"I like you. This is fun." He picks up his next tortilla and starts the slow process of preparing another one.
Watching Mace eat is so fascinating, I haven't even touched my food. "You think I'm fun?"
"You could be more fun if you'd lighten up, but yeah, I enjoy your company."
"Wow. I'm shocked." I take a bite of my chicken tostada. The salsa is mildly spicy, and the lettuce is fresh. It's good.
He shrugs. "Me too."
"So what? You're like my partner now?"
"If that's what you wanna call it."
"That won't work."
"It's working so far. And I really want to fuck you."
"Oh my God, Mace. Do you have no filters at all?"
"It's no secret. I like your inner lioness. She likes me. We're gonna get it on and make some noise."
"I'm never going to sleep with you again."
He downs another shot of tequila. "Tomorrow we're going on a hike."
"I don't have time. I need to do tons of research on Diablo. His connections to my dad. I have an idea to hack into his phone."
He shakes his head. "We're going on a hike to Hopper's Ledge."
"Uh. I'm actually afraid of heights, especially places that end in the word ledge."
"Trust. Our problem is you don't trust me, and I don't trust you. We need to work it out in nature. On the ledge." He downs another shot, hissing after he gulps it down his throat.
"So this is how you solve problems? Beat your brother into submission and push me off a ledge?"
"I wouldn't word it that way, but essentially, yes."
"It won't work." I shake my head and take another bite of my food. He's being irrational and random.
"You'll see. My brother will back you up, and I'll be parking my truck in your garage of love in a few days."
My stomach does a little flip at his certainty, and my inner lioness growls and claws at her cage. "Never gonna happen."
We finish up our meal, and he pays after downing two more shots. He doesn't seem drunk but his step is lighter, eyes lazy. He's back to his casual self.
"Night, Mace." The hostess tries one last time to get his attention. He ignores her and grabs my hand. I have to admit it's satisfying in a juvenile way.
At the car, he tugs me over to the front bumper and pulls a quick move that lands me on my back on the hood. He falls forward on top of me and laughs, the trace scent of the tequila warming my nose. "Think of it. How good it would be. Your pants down, legs wrapped behind my back, my dick sliding in and out of your tight pussy." He bends down to give me a sensual spicy tequila kiss.
His deep voice and salacious words light up my body. Unbearable heat and strength press into me as I caress his massive shoulders. My inner lioness begs me to have sex with him right here. No way. I can't do that. I give her a minute to enjoy it. I feel hot where he touches me like a live wire about to ignite, but he's gotten too cocky. He's taken for granted he can push me on top of my car and I'll submit.
I reach down and undo his jeans. His huge dick bursting out the top makes me gasp for air. It's a behemoth of a creature. We could have so much fun with that. But instead, I get my hands around it, grab hard, twist, and pull.
His head flies back and he groans.
"Never forget I'm a cop. I know how to protect myself."
His head comes back down and his grimace transforms into a smile. "You think I didn't like that? Do it agai
n."
I growl and let go. "No. Get off me."
He's still grinning as he backs off and starts buttoning his jeans. He makes a snarling sound like a hungry grizzly bear.
Oh my God. I've met my match with Mace. What am I gonna do with him? I have to admit I'm enjoying his company too. I'm still in awe of his giant cock and how he loved when I roughed him up. I don't know if rock climbing or fighting with Remy will solve any of our problems, but it's going to be an adventure either way.
Chapter 11 Hopper's Ledge
I wake up curled like a pretzel in Mace's arms. It feels good so I don't move for a while. I allow myself a moment to imagine how awesome it would be if Mace was my man and we were in love waking up like this.
Is there any way we could actually do that? He's so different from me, his family hates me, he's hurt me before. There's just too many roadblocks, and yet a secret part of my heart wishes my inner lioness could come out to play permanently and ride along with Mace on his magical mystery world of carefree fun. I'd have to abandon all the promises I made in my dad's memory, and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that yet.
So I wiggle my arm and try to break free. He reflexively squeezes me tighter, and his lips come down to land on my temple as he hums low and deep. Why does he have to be so dreamy? It's almost impossible to resist him like this. Every fiber of my being yearns to turn to him, kiss him, and make love with him. I have to call on years of discipline to force him away.
"I need to work on Diablo. I have a plan to get data from his phone, but it's gonna take a lot of work."
"Surf's up. Let's go."
"Surfing? I thought you wanted to hike to a ledge?"
"After," he mumbles without opening his eyes.
"No. I'm working today." I can't follow along with his whims. This is serious.
His arm squeezes me tighter, and he fully opens his eyes. "Breakfast then hike. Surfing another time."
I sigh and tap at his arm. "You'll have to let me go if we're going to do those things."
He grumbles and lifts his arm, giving me a chance to sneak out of his warm clutches.
I run to the bathroom and wash my face. Today is going to be a challenge. One thing about Mace, he has my mind spinning so fast, I haven't had time to dwell on my returned memories. I'm sure it will hit me at some point, but right now it's all about Mace.