Dead Ink (Karma #4)

by Donna Augustine

  “Give. Me. The. Keys.”

  “Keith’s not the only problem these days.” As he said it, he scanned the streets, looking for the gangs that had popped up everywhere. Charleston was among one of the safer areas. They’d instituted a private police force that was patrolling the area. Well, the wealthier area anyway. And no one, not even the crazies, would approach this house if they had even an inkling of who resided inside. Larissa’s family were witches way back even before the Salem days. He’d learned all his black arts from them.

  “Lars, are you coming in or not?” Larissa whined from the door as Faith shot him accusing looks.

  The car was in Larissa’s driveway. There was no way the perimeter of this house wouldn’t be warded. He cracked. He couldn’t deal with two pissed off females both giving him dirty looks at the same time. Guys were so much easier. If they pissed him off, he just punched them.

  He dug out the keys and walked Faith over to the driver side of the car.

  “Any sign of trouble, lay on the horn. I’ll come right out.” He leaned past her to the glove compartment and pulled out a gun. He took off the safety and laid it in her lap. “After you hit the horn, shoot anyone that comes near you in the eye.”

  “I don’t know how to use this,” she said.

  “Aim and squeeze.”

  “Fine,” she said, with a snippy tone.

  She’d gotten her way. Why was she still pissed? He shut his car door and headed to the house with a growl wanting to release from his chest.

  Chapter 24

  Seriously? An hour? How much longer was he going to leave her sitting there? Faith’s toes were tingling from being in the same position, and although she had said she wasn’t going to step a foot in that house, after she saw the sour face on that girl, she’d had it. She would deem to step a foot on the porch long enough to ring the doorbell and get the hell out of there.

  She stepped out of the car and didn’t have a chance to close the door before something slammed into the back of her head. She’d never seen them coming.

  She was dazed but still alert as she fell to her knees and gripped the gun Lars had given her. She rolled over quickly and swung the gun up at the two men. They’d just been about to grab her when they saw the gun pointed up at them.

  She recognized them both from that first night Malokin’s men had escorted her to meet him and Keith. One of the guys that had sat in back with her, and the other had driven.

  “Back off or I will blow your brains out.” She was surprised at how calm she sounded. Maybe it was the knock to the head. She was too dazed to panic.

  “Which one of us? You can’t get us both,” the larger of the two said.

  “Shut up,” the driver said to the other guy before turning to Faith. “He’s going to get you. If you think about it, things will go much better for you if you just come willingly, because this is going to happen. Do you really want every person from your past ripped apart?”

  “He already killed the only person left I loved. You can tell Keith to fuck off. That’s what you can take back with you.”

  The other guy made a sudden movement toward her and she didn’t hesitate for a second. She aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. She thought she hit closer to his cheek but blood and brains still exploded as the body collapsed on her and pinned her to the ground.

  She shoved at the body holding her down while trying to hold back her breakfast.

  When the body was suddenly flung off of her she jerked the gun, still clenched in her hand toward her second attacker.

  “Do you not know how to work a horn?” Lars’ voice was near a scream as he leaned over her.

  “Where is he?” Her eyes went immediately past him, looking for the driver who got away.

  “Who?” Lars said, grabbing Faith’s hand and yanking her to her feet.

  “The other guy.”

  “There was only one guy when I came out and he was lying on top of you. What happened?”

  “I got out of the car and was attacked by two of Malokin’s men here, trying to collect me for Keith.”

  He turned and looked around the area, without a person in sight, and let out a string of curses. “Why did you get out of the car?”

  “Why did you leave me sitting in it for an hour?”

  “You’re the one that wouldn’t come in!”

  She saw his eyes scan her body and she looked down. She was covered in bits of flesh and blood.

  His eyes shot to the house he’d just left, the door closed.

  “Absolutely not.”

  He let out a loud sigh but then motioned her to the side of the house.

  “I’m not going in there where you just banged your girlfriend.”

  “The side! I want you to go to the fucking side of the house!”

  She held her chin up but said, “Okay, I can do that.” She walked over, not sure what the point was.

  “And I didn’t bang anyone. She didn’t have as much ink as I needed ready. I didn’t want to leave you out here to begin with. Do you really think I’d stay in there for an hour if I didn’t have to?” With an efficient yank, his shirt was over his head and he was holding it out to her.

  “What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked, a little calmer.

  “You won’t go in and borrow something of hers. Are you going to wear that the whole ride home?”

  She looked down again and decided he had a point.

  He walked a couple of feet away where he turned on a spigot for a hose. “Here.”

  He laid his shirt she hadn’t taken on a bush nearby and walked a little ways back to the car, giving her privacy to clean up. She washed up in the freezing water while she had a strange feeling the girl inside was watching her. She wanted to stop and give her the finger but refrained, deciding getting out of here quicker was preferable to a catfight.

  She turned off the water and threw his shirt on. She was surrounded by his smell, felt the warmth of his body lingering on it when she’d put it on, and it made her feel safer somehow.

  The second she got close to him he started walking back to the car. He stepped over the body that was in his way, as if it were a puddle he was avoiding, opened the door and got behind the wheel.

  She walked to the passenger side and opened the door but didn’t get in.

  “What about the body?”

  “It’ll disappear on its own,” he said not looking at her and starting the car.

  “Then why did I change?”

  “Because it wasn’t going to come off your clothes.” He looked her way now. “Get in.”

  “Why are you so mad? I’m the one that just got attacked,” she said, as she got in the other side of the car. Fight or not, she wasn’t being left behind at this place. “Why is it every time something bad happens to me, you’re the one that gets all pissed off?”

  “I don’t know,” he snapped.

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “It’s all you’re getting.”

  She looked at him, not knowing how to deal with him. He didn’t trust her, checked her phone and disregarded her countless times. But then he’d given her a job, when she knew he’d never had a shop manager before—ever. Made her breakfast in the morning and talked to her about the trivial things and acted like they were important because she thought they were.

  And then there was the way he looked at her. She’d never had someone look at her the way he did, and it made her feel like she was something special. He looked at her like he thought she could do anything, and he made her feel like maybe it was true.

  He gave with one hand and took away with the other. He’d protect her from others and yet insult her himself. Even when those guys had attacked her by the car, she hadn’t panicked because she’d known he was close by.

  He was a constant contradiction. And she wanted him. She was starting to believe that he might want her too.

  “Why do they all run from you? Why were you the top threat?”

 
“Because of who I used to be.”

  “Which was?” He was looking straight ahead as they drove home and she waited to hear the rest of it. She knew there was something he wasn’t telling her.

  “A guide of sorts, but with only one destination. Death.”

  “So, you were like the grim reaper or something?”

  “Exactly like the grim reaper. Does that freak you out?”

  It should, shouldn’t it? And yet, as she sat there beside him in the small confines of the car, nothing in her feelings had changed. She felt just as safe as she had a few minutes ago, before he’d said anything about being the grim reaper.

  It was crazy but the only time she really did feel safe was when she was with him, and that was the most minor of the feelings he produced. For someone who had died not long ago, she felt more alive with him than ever. And when he looked at her, she wasn’t her anymore. She was someone infinitely better.

  “No. It doesn’t.”

  He didn’t say anything else, and neither did she. But she felt it—the thing that was growing between them had grown a little stronger.

  Chapter 25

  They walked up to his apartment, still silent after his admission and her acceptance. She walked over to the kitchen and he followed slowly. She grabbed a water out of the fridge and held it up to him, thinking maybe he was looking for the same thing.

  He shook his head and she cracked off the top, drinking that one instead of reaching for another. He didn’t budge, just stood staring at her. She turned to toss the lid, but could still feel his eyes on her and knew he’d moved in closer before she turned around.

  She took a nervous gulp of water and then he took the bottle from her hands and placed it on the counter.

  “So, maybe we should just squash this for once and all.” His hand reached out and his fingers hooked into the waist of her jeans. He slowly towed her forward while she was still trying to digest what was happening.

  “What are you doing?” Faith asked, her breath hitching along with her heartbeat. The closer she got to him, the quicker they both went.

  “You need me to spell it out for you?” He didn’t stop tugging her forward until their thighs were touching. His other hand came to join the first at the front of her jeans and she felt the button release. When his fingers moved to the zipper, her hands flew to his, stalling him.

  “Is this a good idea?” She swallowed, wondering why she was having such a hard time keeping her breathing even.

  “It’s a great idea.” His conviction was clear in his voice. His eyes only broke contact with hers to look briefly at her lips. He didn’t have to even touch her; that look alone was enough to do her in.

  His one hand lifted from where it was covered by hers to curve around the back of her neck, the other one also came around her but moved lower, cupping her ass and urging her up onto her tiptoes until his lips were grazing hers.

  Faith knew if she did this, there’d be no turning back. It was true that sometimes she didn’t always like him, but she found she always craved him. She couldn’t look at him without wondering what being with him would feel like.

  His lips feathered over hers with the slightest nip at her lower lip, retreated, and then repeated the action, as if to draw her into the kiss she was still trying to resist.

  He leaned forward, his lips grazing her ear before he spoke. “I know you want this too. I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

  “And what about tomorrow?”

  “Fuck tomorrow. We could all be dead. Lots of people count on a tomorrow that never comes. If you want something, you need to take it today.”

  His mouth came back to hers and his tongue darted into her mouth again, trying to cajole her own into joining. He felt so good against her and she could feel his arousal as his arm snaked around her back, arching her into him.

  If she didn’t pull away soon, there would be no choice left to make, as she was slowly being overwhelmed by his scent, the feel of his hands on her and the taste of him. His arms tightened around her until she felt almost weightless on her toes. His lips moved along her neck and she heard the soft sigh of pleasure escape her lips and realized there was no choice for her to make. She’d already made it the day she’d met him.

  She knew it was stupid. Her life was already so messy; this was the very last thing she needed to add to it. And yet her hands slowly moved up his body, because right now she felt like she needed this more than anything else. The more her life spun out of control, the more she found herself clinging to him as if he was the last anchor, or the only one she cared to have.

  As if he sensed her acquiescence, his kiss deepened and his hold tightened, forcing her body to arch closer into his.

  He walked forward, moving her along with him, as his lips never broke contact with hers. She felt her calves hit the back of the bed. They fell upon it together but she feared when it came to her heart, she was falling alone. But this wasn’t the time for regrets. She had him in this moment, every ounce of his attention and desire focused on her, and she’d keep it as long as she could.

  His legs moved in between hers as his erection pressed into the heart of her, and she arched upward, needing more. His hands were on her jeans as he moved back, yanking them off along with her panties.

  He stood before her, shedding his own clothes and staring at her the whole time. Everywhere she looked, he was male perfection, from his thick muscled arms to his ridged stomach to the large erection that jutted forward.

  “Take off your shirt and bra,” he said, his eyes not moving from her, his voice husky.

  She did as he asked while he watched her, and his erection seemed to grow even larger. He came down on one knee on the bed and with his hands on her waist, shifted her to the center of it.

  As he kneeled beside her, tan skin over muscled abdomen and black inked tattoos curving this way and that, she realized that no man would ever live up to him and she hadn’t even slept with him yet.

  He leaned over her, his fingers following the line of her collarbone before trailing farther down to the mound of her breast and cupping it, his thumb flicking over the tightened bud.

  His mouth moved to her breast, licking and nipping at it while his hand reached in between her thighs, his fingers slipping inside. His mouth moved lower until his tongue flicked over her clitoris before sucking on it softly, all the while his fingers keeping pace.

  She cried out as he played her body like someone who’d had plenty of practice, bringing her to the peak but not setting her free.

  When he moved upward, she reached for him, wanting to bring him to the same fevered pitch as she, but he covered her body instead.

  “It’s too late for that. I want to feel my cock inside of you.”

  He moved over her and she felt his erection pressing into her. He was so large he was stretching her as he went, and her body still couldn’t get enough.

  Her fingers clawed into him, trying to drive him in faster and closer, but he moved at his own pace until he was fully inside her. He hooked her leg over his arm, as if wanting to plant himself as deeply in her as possible, and then he started the most beautiful rhythm. So slowly at first, it was almost an unbearable tease, and then faster, as if he needed it just as much as she did. It didn’t take much before her body was clenching around him as she rode wave after wave of pleasure and heard him groaning above her.

  He rolled off her and they both lay there on their backs, still sweaty. She’d never felt so tranquil in her life, a small smile on her lips as she turned her head towards him, then lifted her fingers to trail over his chest.

  She looked at his profile, where he was staring up at the ceiling and the force of her smile dwindled a bit.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, fine,” he said without looking at her. “You want a water or something?”

  There was a strange formality to the question. As if some switch had been flipped and they’d gone from the comfort of twilight to a blaring ha
rsh desert sun. “No. Thanks.”

  “I’m going to take a shower.” She watched as he got up and went into the bathroom and tried to figure out where all the heat of a minute ago had gone, because he’d become cold as ice.

  She’d been afraid she’d regret this. But she thought she’d at least have until dawn before the feelings came hammering down upon her.

  ***

  Lars blasted the radio in the bathroom so Faith couldn’t hear his curses. Good advice, Cutty. Just fuck her. He couldn’t lay it all on his shoulders, though. He’d thought the same thing. Fuck her and get it out of your system. He’d known as soon as he’d finished that it was worse. Much worse.

  This was supposed to be a one and done. Less than a minute had passed before he had wanted to get inside of her again. He’d barely managed to keep his dick soft before he made it out of the room. He wasn’t letting some chick, even if she was like him, make him go all soft and domestic.

  He should never have had her move in here. Now she had nowhere else to go. What if he never got her out again? He wasn’t cut out for a relationship. She needed to understand that. He stood under the steaming hot water, deciding he was going to stay in there until she’d probably have fallen asleep.

  He crept out into his own apartment like he was doing the walk of shame. She was lying still on the bed. Her eyes were closed but she was awake. He headed toward the couch. If she asked in the morning, he’d tell her he hadn’t wanted to wake her up. She’d know he was lying but it was better than the truth—that he was afraid to go near her again because he might spend the next ten hours banging her and then how fucked would both their heads be?

  Chapter 26

  When Faith woke, there was a note on the pillow next to her.

  Had to start early. Call me if you want me to walk you downstairs.

  Lars

  If you want, not I’d like to. He slept with her last night and this is the first morning she woke to an empty apartment without the smells of cooking. She guessed he didn’t think it was necessary anymore?