Or was I more afraid of what someone like her could do to someone like me?
Will swallowed hard against the unsettling thought and his suddenly dry throat. He rubbed his hands hard against his face and stood up from the shitty salon couch. It doesn’t matter, the end is the same. This can’t happen. She’s no different from the rest of the women—time to get out of the champagne room.
Yet he wasn’t entirely convinced. Those familiar thoughts seemed more foreign to him now. Almost out of place. Shrugging, he cracked his back and shoulders and headed into the kitchen to start up a pot of coffee. In any case, he resolved to stick with it. Will had to create some distance between he and Eva. With any luck, he’d only be here a day or two more, anyway. The cartel was sure to show up soon. He could do his job here, and get the fuck out.
What job is that, again? taunted another dissenting voice within his head. A job no one asked you to do?
He shook the thoughts from his mind, focusing instead on the drip of the coffee machine, watching the way the glass blossomed with steam as it brewed. There was stirring from down the hall as Charlie left his bedroom and made an immediate turn into the bathroom for about thirty seconds, then returned. Will had just poured his first cup when Charlie came into the kitchen, dressed and more bright-eyed than Will expected.
“Morning,” said Charlie as he reached for an empty mug.
Will nodded. “Morning.” His voice came out gruff and dry.
Charlie turned to him with a frown. “Didn’t get much sleep?”
Will tried, but failed, to hide the half-smile that crept to his lips at the question. Instead, he kept his eyes down, hoping he didn’t look as stupid as he felt. “No, I guess not. That couch is a bitch.”
Charlie gave him a nod, as if in agreement, and filled himself a cup of coffee. “I need some breakfast. Eggs?”
“Sure, I’ll take two.” Will only just realized how grouchy his stomach was.
Charlie put his coffee down and said, “I’m going to go see if Eva wants some.” He disappeared for a minute, and when he returned, went straight to the fridge and started pulling out ingredients.
“Are you still okay with what we talked about yesterday?” said Will.
As he cracked eggs into the skillet, Charlie nodded but didn’t look at him. “Yeah. I mean, as okay as I can be, I guess. I’d just rather not shoot anybody, you know?”
I forget that there are people like you in the world. “Ideally, you won’t have to. But with a shotgun at that range, you’ll be the most powerful fucker in the room. So you have to be ready to nuke the place if it comes to that.” Antsy, Will stood up and wandered to the other side of the kitchen, coffee in hand, looking out into the living room.
“That’s really relaxing language you’re using there, really putting me at ease,” said Charlie, turning to give Will a half-smirk.
Will knew the guy was doing his best to deal with all this bravely, and was actually doing a decent job so far. Sometimes, he just didn’t know how to talk to people that didn’t understand how he thought. “You only pull if you have to. If you’re pulling, something’s already gone wrong anyway. This will give us a big upper hand, and a chance to end it on our terms. But I’m not planning on you needing to touch it.”
A sound from down the hallway broke Will’s concentration. He watched until Eva skirted into his view, dressed in her soft white bathrobe, her hair still disheveled. When she saw him she stopped and smiled.
“And do your plans always work?” Charlie flipped one of the eggs in the pan with impressive skill.
Will stared at Eva. He devoured the beautiful vision and felt his lust fire anew. He stared until she disappeared into the bathroom, a dull ache filling the void she left in her wake.
Will didn’t care enough to answer Charlie’s question with a lie.
“No. Not always.”
~ TWELVE ~
Eva only had two thoughts on her mind when she woke that morning: she wanted Will inside of her again, and she wanted to call Laura and tell her what had happened. The bed felt twice as empty now than it had, after sharing its space with Will.
Will. What the hell are you? she wondered, staring at the ceiling. She pulled the soft sheets up around her still-naked body and drifted effortlessly into a daydream version of their passionate sex the night before. She couldn’t believe Will had kneeled in front of her at the bar and eaten her like they were some college kids at a frat party.
And that was to say nothing about letting him bend her over it and fuck her like an animal. Eva had never been touched so expertly, so enthusiastically by a man before. She’d never had a man care about her own pleasure in bed, even though she had plenty of appreciation for sex and enjoyed her own company several nights a week since she found herself single. The men she had been with never seemed to give a shit about anything past the point of getting her into bed, and then it was just lifeless mechanical humping until they spasmed on top of her and fell into an exhausted coma.
Eva had almost resigned herself to believing that most men were just like that, and it was no use to hope for anything better. But now here she was, so satisfied from the night before that she could barely get her legs to listen as she told them to move for the floor. And all of this from some hard-drinking, dangerous man who probably chewed up hotter women than her for breakfast every morning—literally and figuratively.
And yet he’s a man who can quote Coriolanus to me at a whim. Will was certainly an enigma, and she didn’t feel unlucky to be the one unraveling it. She felt like he was some dark rider come to her boring little village in the middle of a storm, trailing adventure and excitement behind him.
But she also knew, deep down, that she couldn’t fall for him. There was just no godly way falling in love with Will Bowers was going to end in anything but pain for her. He was dangerous, and he was in pain.
He’s more than his pain.
Eva tried to shake the heavier thoughts from her head by conjuring instead the sensation of Will’s mouth devouring hers, his lean muscles moving over her, hands on her skin, cock buried inside of her… she bit her lip as she trailed a hand down her own bare breasts and stomach to gently stroke her clit, still swollen from Will’s attention. She moaned at her own touch. He wasn’t even in the room and he still had her body pulsing.
“Do you taste as good as you look?” What a thing to say!
She didn’t even hear Charlie’s footsteps down the hall until he was knocking on her door. Eva jumped with her whole body, and felt her building orgasm disappear into the ether as soon as she opened her eyes with a grumpy growl, yanking her sheets up to cover herself completely. “What is it?”
Charlie nudged the door open and peeked inside. Eva watched his face for signs of suspicion that maybe he’d heard she and Will the night before, but she saw none. “Hey, I’m making eggs. Did you want some?”
“Sure, one. Over easy,” she huffed.
Charlie frowned at her. “You okay?”
She realized she was still breathing a little heavier than she wished. “Yeah, just woke up from an intense dream. That’s all.”
He seemed satisfied. “Will said he might have something safe for you to help with today, if you want.”
Did he now? “I’ll get dressed.”
Charlie disappeared and closed her door, finally allowing her to release a long breath and let her muscles relax, but it was too late to retrieve the sweet haze she had gotten herself into. Pushing herself out of bed, she threw on her bathrobe to grab a quick shower—seeing Will in person was better than just lying in bed dreaming about him, anyway.
She shuffled down the hall past Charlie’s room and to the bathroom, the door of which was closest to the living room. Will wasn’t on the couch, but like he heard her coming, he appeared in the kitchen doorway and looked right at her, hand frozen on the bathroom doorknob.
Eva stopped and smiled when she saw him, his gaze running up her legs to her face, and then back down again as he lifte
d a cup of coffee to his lips. A fresh heat erupted the entire length of her body under that lusting gaze, and she could feel a blush spread across her cheeks. Turning her head to the floor to hide her silly grin, she pushed her way into the bathroom.
When she got out of the shower, Charlie and Will were already down at the bar, so she took her time getting ready and drying her hair. Whatever job they had for her couldn’t be very important, she suspected, so she didn’t rush. Can’t believe they’re even considering letting me out of my tower. She poured herself a cup of coffee, enjoyed the egg Charlie had left her warm on the counter, and used the cordless phone to give Laura a call.
“Hey skank. Are you busy?” She teased as soon as she heard her friend’s voice.
“Oh, on the contrary!” There was tension in Laura’s voice. “I just had some pop singer cancel on me with no notice after I already cleared my calendar to accommodate her stupid ass. What’s up, sweet cheeks?”
Eva sighed, walking to the window to peek out and make sure the men weren’t coming back through the meadow. “I did something bad last night.”
“Why, what—” said Laura, then stopped as realization came over her. “Ohhh, you’re the skank! Eva, you didn’t!”
“I did,” she said with a grin.
“Oh, God, tell me everything. I’m in the worst dry spell.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t tell you anything, because…”
“Shit, was he that good, Eva?” Laura groaned into the phone and shut a door, probably to her small city office. “You ridiculous bitch. You’re so lucky.”
“Laura, you have no idea.” Eva licked her lips and looked around again, like she was secretly afraid someone was watching her. “Remember Richard, the bartender at Andy’s? What we used to fantasize about when we’d sit there watching him work?”
“Oh, God, you mean… on the bar?”
“Mmhmm.”
Laura let out a groan like a grumpy zombie, and there was a soft thump, and then a few seconds of silence. Eva laughed as she listened to Laura grasp for the phone and bring it back to her ear.
“Sorry, I dropped my phone in impotent fury,” said Laura. “Eva, I’m so proud of you, girl. How much better do you feel?”
Eva laughed. “So much.”
“Is all that drama over, then?”
“No, we’re still hunkered down here. I’ll let you know when it’s done. Will says it shouldn’t be much longer, if his instincts are right.”
“Oh, Will,” said Laura in a dreamy, exaggerated way, like she was in a Disney movie. “You better be a little careful, girly. I can hear love in them there hills.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” said Eva, stepping away from the window and toward her coffee. “I just had sex with the guy. I’m still riding the O-train endorphins. I’m not dumb enough to fall in love with some… whatever he is.” Enigma. Yes, what girl in history has ever fallen in love with a mysterious stranger?
“Maybe he’s a sex robot sent from the future to protect you from non-sex robots from the future,” offered Laura with a mouthful of what Eva suspected was a breakfast donut.
“Well, that would be an easier problem to solve than the one I have, wouldn’t it?” she laughed. “I could just reprogram him not to be an asshole. Or to not talk at all.”
Laura sighed. “One day, when the matriarchy finally rises. Seriously, though, technically he is your second fuck since Rick, so just be careful with yourself.”
“He’s third,” confessed Eva. “I went home with a guy a few months back, I just didn’t tell you.”
“Okay, now I’m serious when I call you a skank!”
“So just don’t worry about me!” Eva finished with a giggle. “I get it. Sex good, love bad.”
“No: sex good, love good, love with scary fighter jerk dude bad.”
“Sure.”
“Hey, someone’s at my door, I’ve gotta run. Call me later,” said Laura. She made kissy noises into the phone before she hung up as Eva shook her head laughing.
She may have laughed about it, but Eva took Laura’s warnings seriously. It was half the reason she chose to call her. She couldn’t admit to her best friend that she already felt like she was treading in dangerous territory with Will, and had called to help ground herself in reality before she had to face his soft dark eyes and full lips that glistened invitingly whenever he ran his wet tongue over them…
“Christ, get it together,” she muttered, shaking her head as she retreated to the bedroom to finish getting ready.
She lingered around the house after getting dressed, picking at her book and finishing off the last of the pot of coffee. The morning sunshine lit up the white kitchen in the most perfect, beautiful way that made her reluctant to leave until it had fully passed. Her body and mind finally felt relaxed together for the first time in what seemed like years and she wanted to soak up every second of that feeling. Life with Rick had taught her the value of embracing whatever happy moments arrived, before they passed her by forever.
At least the small ones, she amended honestly. She knew she could still use a push with the big ones, like she admitted to Will the night before. And like Will gave her.
Will. Just like that, she could feel his hands on her, roaming up her chest. Sexiest enigma I’ve ever met.
It was nearly noon by the time she wandered down to the bar to see what was going on and find out more about the job Charlie had referred to earlier. She brought her book with her, like a shield against the swords of boredom she knew were waiting. The forest meadow felt more alive and blazing with color than usual—or maybe it was just her.
As she passed through the back door, she almost ran directly into Will, who was crossing for the kitchen. A surprised noise escaped her throat as she reflexively hopped back.
“Pardon me,” he said, looking down at her with a soft expression, but no smile. He seemed to be searching her face for something.
Eva couldn’t fight her own half-grin. As close as they were, she was almost overwhelmed by the smell of his musk, now familiar and evocative. It drifted through her body as if it were trying to urge the heat in her core to seep out from between her legs to meet it. “Morning.”
“Sleep well?” he asked. She couldn’t detect a hint of teasing or lust in the question.
“Better than I have in months,” she said in a breathy way. She waited for a good response, but Will just nodded and continued on into the kitchen.
Eva watched him for a minute as he put down a towel he was carrying and absently shuffled through some wires and computer scraps he had dumped on the small counter from some dusty box.
When he didn’t speak again, she said, “Charlie mentioned you had a job for me?”
Will looked over to her, expression blank. “Yeah. Sort of.”
“Sort of?” Man, where did you leave your charm this morning, Will?
He nodded for her to follow and led her back across to the alcove that served as Owen’s office. Really, it was just a pantry closet he had stuffed a desk and some metal shelving into, a place he clearly spent little time in, only using it in short spurts to do the necessary bureaucracy that kept his bar running. Will leaned against the doorway and pointed inside.
She made a face when she looked in at the cramped space. “What… you want me to clean it, or something?”
“No,” said Will. He pointed to the set of three tiny, mismatched TV monitors stacked in the far corner. They were the closed-circuit feeds for the security cameras positioned around the bar’s perimeter. “This is a compromise between you staying close and staying safe. You can hang out in here, watch what’s going on…” He pointed again. “Be our lookout.”
Eva turned back to look at the dingy, dim office and felt her heart sink. “How is this better than being confined to the house?”
“I didn’t say it was better,” said Will, folding his arms. “You’re the one who didn’t want to feel trapped over there. I’m offering this compromise.”
She pointe
d incredulously to the tiny office. “This is your offer to help me not feel trapped?”
He shrugged again, nonchalant.
What the hell is the matter here? Heat began to crawl up the bottom of Eva’s face as she realized he was purposely being cold with her. The Will from last night, the soft, intelligent man who had her begging for his touch was nowhere to be found. Laura was right. Eva’s own fears were right. She was just another fuck to him.
She folded her arms in front of her and cleared her throat as that realization washed over her. So much for a happy morning. “Fine. Being the lookout is better than not helping at all. I’d rather not be treated like I’m helpless.”
Retribution: A Motorcycle Club Romance Page 11