Wicked Thing (C.O.A Series Book 2)

by Kim Cormack

  She nodded at him, grateful for the warning and said, “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

  Frost grinned as he closed the door without saying anything else.

  Tiberius gave her a roguish smile and teased, “I feel like the other man. Handlers can be such a pain in the ass. I’ll sneak away up these stairs. If he sees me in this condition, it’s going to cause you a shit load of drama.” He began to scale the stairs, stopped halfway and added, “You know I’m not done with you right?”

  She smiled back at him. Tiberius grinned, turned around and dashed up the rest of the stairs. Lexy watched him until he disappeared from sight and then did her best to straighten herself up without a mirror just in case Grey was already there. She felt her neck and wiped away the blood with her black top. He’d bit her so hard that she’d bled. Lexy covered her mouth with one hand, she was both shocked and impressed with herself at the same time. There was probably lipstick all over her face and her underwear were uncomfortably damp. For good reason…He knew how to mix pleasure with pain and take a healer to the brink of euphoria. They hadn’t actually gone all of the way but she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to walk in these heels after that. Her darkly twisted nemesis had blown her damn mind with that experience.

  Lexy took a deep breath, removed her heels and composed herself as she walked back into the pub. He wasn’t there yet. She made her way through the now packed pub and darted into the washroom, smiling as she looked at her flushed face and rosy cheeks in the mirror. She’d done a half decent job of tidying herself up outside without a mirror. There was still a smudge of blood on her neck. Lexy wet down a piece of paper towel and wiped it off. She washed her hands. The thought of what he’d just done to her made her legs tremble. Pull yourself together. She put on a fresh coat of lipstick and decided it’d be best if she went commando. Lexy slipped into a stall removed the evidence of her tryst and tossed them into the trash. It felt like she was cheating. Lexy turned around, leaned against the sink and calmed herself down. She was only cheating on herself. Grey had no idea that their relationship had ever gone further than just friends. Lexy turned around, looked into the mirror and affirmed, “You’re moving on and this is what you need to do for yourself.” She took another deep breath and left the bathroom. He wasn’t at the table yet. This was good she’d just be sitting here with Frost when he arrived. She sat down in the chair directly across from Frost. He pointed at the full drink in front of her and it wasn’t beer. She knit her brow, picked it up and smelled it. It was whisky.

  Frost grinned and teased, “I thought you might be in the mood for a stiff one.”

  She smirked, raised her glass into the air in a mock salute and sparred, “That’s right, get it all out of your system before Grey gets back.”

  “Well, you were gone for longer than sixty seconds. So, maybe it was worth it.” He chuckled and took a drink from his glass.

  Lexy grinned and sighed, “Anything else? I’m sure you can do better than that.”

  He casually stated, “I bet there were cameras out there.”

  That one hit its mark. She glanced up at him and casually sparred, “Well, if someone posts anything about any of us the Aries Group will make it disappear…won’t they?” Now, she was going to have to go and check for cameras. “I didn’t have sex with him.” That was the truth…sort of. I guess it would depend on your definition of the word. Frost was managing to keep a straight face. That was good.

  He assured her, “You never have to explain yourself to me, Lexy. If anyone understands your situation with Grey, it’s me.”

  Her Handler strolled through the door and waved at them with monumentally perfect timing as Frost chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about it. He’s not going to be worrying about how he’s making you feel while he’s bedding some random girl.”

  This was true.

  Grey slid into the seat next to her and questioned, “Where is everybody? I thought this place would be packed.” A chesty waitress with a low cut top came and took his drink order and he watched her stroll away from their table, while not so inconspicuously leering at her behind. He mouthed the words, “She’s adorable.”

  Her guilt instantly evaporated. She shook her head and took a swig from her glass of whisky.

  Grey chuckled, “Whisky Lexy…Really? Are we having one of those go hard or go home nights?”

  Frost choked on his last gulp of whisky and was forced to cover his mouth so he didn’t spit it all over that table.

  That was funny. Lexy pressed her lips together to stop herself from joining in but watching Frost’s attempt to reign in his laughter forced her to look away from him as she started to laugh. She quickly regained control over her innuendo induced case of the giggles and pulled herself together. She turned around and far too casually responded, “Yes, I guess it is.”

  Frost was practically tearing up as Grey said, “Alright, either I’m totally missing something here or you two are already bombed.”

  Frost lifted his glass into the air and saved the day by saying, “Guilty as charged.”

  Their scantily clad waitress appeared with Grey’s beer and a bottle of what they were drinking. She offered them another and the two of them agreed.

  Grey piped in, “Let me down this beer and I’ll have what they’re having. In ten minutes I won’t be able to understand what they’re talking about if I’m the only sober one.” She started to walk away and he accidentally spilled his full beer. She rushed to get a dry cloth for the spill and leaned across the table to clean it up as Grey apologized profusely. Oh, he’d totally spilled that on purpose. Lexy took a good look at her flirtatious Handler and smiled. You can always trust people to be exactly who they are.

  Before the pretty waitress left the table Grey playfully enquired, “Can I ask you for one more thing?”

  She paused smiled at him and replied, “Yes?”

  He seductively asked, “Do you have a pen I can borrow for a second? I promise, I won’t walk away with it.”

  The pretty and impressively busty waitress smiled back at him and said, “Sure, I’ll be right back.”

  Oh, Lexy had seen him pull this one at least a dozen times. She took another giant gulp of her whisky. To hell with savoring it, she just needed her mind to be numb.

  The waitress returned with the pen and handed it to Grey. He asked her to wait for one second and she could have it right back. Lexy watched him jot down his number on a coaster along with an impressively ballsy little note, ‘I’m in town for a few days, text me if you want to hook up.’ He passed her the coaster along with the pen and gave her a charming smile as she shook her head, grinned and walked away.

  They’d been sitting there for all of ten minutes when Grey’s phone vibrated. He grinned, took it out of his pocket as he read the text. He shot their room key across the table and announced, “Don’t bother to wait up, Lex.” Grey stood up and waved as he wandered up to the bar, told them his drinks were on Frost’s tab and strolled out of the pub.

  That stung less than it usually did because she’d found her own distraction that evening. She’d honestly thought there was no way Tiberius could top the depravity of that moment they’d shared during half time at the Summit, but now she knew what he was capable of. She tingled every time she thought about it. She glanced up at Frost. He probably thought she was upset about Grey. Lexy stared into her now empty glass and brought the conversation back to something a little more comfortable as she questioned, “How in the hell does that pick up line always work?”

  Frost placed his glass on the table and complained, “I just want to know why everyone thinks I’m worse than he is?”

  “He’s usually quite stealth about it. I guess he figured it was all good, because it was only the two of us in here,” Lexy responded.

  “I bet it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out which room Tiberius is in?” Frost teased as he signalled the new waitress over to order another drink.

  He didn’t really want her to go anywher
e. She knew what he was doing. He was distracting himself too. Lexy ordered another one for herself and said, “I think I’ll stick around for a while, if you don’t mind?”

  Frost smiled at her and replied, “Not at all.”

  This was where it was quite handy to be a Dragon. She was quite content to sit in silence and not discuss the mushy things like love and loss. Lexy understood he didn’t really want to talk about it. Frost just needed somebody to be there and truth be told, so did she. If she drank enough maybe, she wouldn’t spend the whole night obsessing over what she’d just done with Tiberius. The new waitress placed their drinks on the table. Lexy grabbed hers, clutched it in both hands and looked at Frost. Was she supposed to say something to make him feel better? Sometimes she still missed these social cues.

  He laughed and responded to her thoughts, “I appreciate the sentiment but what are you supposed to say? Gee Frost, I sure hope Kevin finds the balls to brutally murder Kayn in the Testing. I hope she doesn’t find out you set it all up and hate your guts forever.”

  Lexy grinned as she pointed out her messed up circumstances, “Well, you could just have a laugh over my situation. I slept with my Handler and then he forgot about it as always so, I tried to make myself feel better by messing around with your diabolically evil brother. Then, I was forced to cut the undeniably hot situation short because Grey was coming and as you well know the whole subject of Tiberius is like poking a bear with a stick. He drives my option away, then stays all of half an hour and takes off with one of our waitresses.”

  Frost started to giggle as he recalled, “I almost peed myself when he said go hard or go home.”

  Lexy raised her glass in mock salute from one messed up situation to another and suggested, “After this one, we should try to get some sleep and try to forget this whole month ever happened.”

  Frost impishly grinned as he took another drink and then said, “Now, that sounds like a plan.”

  After about five more drinks and another hour or two of Frost losing his filter and professing his love for Kayn about eighty times in a row Lexy finally convinced him to leave. Frost attempted to stand as she realized he’d passed his ability to walk, long ago. Lexy questioned, “Did you come straight here after we arrived?”

  He slurred, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.”

  “You just sat across the room from your brother and gave him dirty looks all day, didn’t you?” Lexy teased. She steadied him and they attempted to make their way out of the bar together. She was far to inebriated to help him. They were probably going to wake up in a gutter somewhere.

  He incoherently mumbled, “Thank you, Sexy Lexy. You are a wonderful person. I like your hair.”

  Oh, lovely. I guess if she had to get stuck with a drunk nick name, he could have come up with something a hell of a lot worse than, Sexy Lexy. She replied, “You’re welcome, Frost. You have nice hair too.” As Lexy struggled to get him up the stairs she questioned, “What’s your room number?”

  He playfully pinched her side and murmured, “I don’t know. What is it?”

  Shit…Lexy checked his jacket pockets and he had nothing but his cell phone, and wallet. She sighed, “Well, I guess you’re coming to my room.”

  His head bopped up and he questioned, “Really?”

  Now, that was funny. Lexy laughed as she struggled to keep him moving and clarified, “As my friend you goof.”

  She leaned him up against the door, as she unlocked it, and then led him inside. Lexy walked him over to the bed and he passed out cold the second his head hit the pillow. She stumbled into the bathroom and drank a bunch of water because she wasn’t a complete idiot and wobbled her way back over to the bed. Lexy had to yard the covers out from underneath of Frost’s body because he was dead to the world, and not being able to move around while she slept drove her nuts. She tucked him in and slid under the covers beside him. Something poked her in the stomach. It was her heels. She’d tucked them into her jeans. Lexy tossed them across the room and dropped into a deep thoughtless sleep.

  Chapter 7

  Awkward Awakenings

  Lexy, stirred to the comforting sensation of being cuddled. She hadn’t opened her eyes as she smiled lethargically and snuggled up against the person she automatically assumed was Grey. What time was it? She opened her eyes and they focused in on the arm draped around her. It had black hair on it. Oh Shit. What had she done? She was afraid to move because she didn’t want to awaken her bedmate. Lexy was drawing a blank on the night before. Well, most of it. The naughty events that took place in the stairwell sprung to mind. Holy Shit! Had she slept with Tiberius? Oh, crap! Grey would be looking for her. He’d probably be freaking out by now. She had to get her shit together and think. Lexy looked around the room and it appeared to be the room that she’d been sharing with Grey. Maybe, the rooms all looked the same? She tried to shimmy her way out from under what she thought was Tiberius’s arm and he hugged her tighter. Shit, she was just going to have to talk to him. Lexy winced, cleared her throat and said, “We should wake up before Grey catches us.”

  Frost’s voice mumbled her name and told her to go back to sleep.

  What in the hell? How was she with Frost? She struggled her way out of his arms just as he clicked in to where he was and leapt away from her. They stared at each other with alarmed expressions on their faces.

  He looked around and stammered, “Did we? Are you in my room or am I in yours?”

  Lexy pressed her lips together, exhaled and said, “I have no idea, for both.” He still had his shirt on. She looked down at her chest and felt her jeans under the covers and gave a sigh of relief. Oh, thank God. She pointed at him and ordered, “Look under the covers. Are you still wearing your pants?”

  He did, exhaled deeply and replied, “Yes, I’m wearing pants. We must have just passed out here together.”

  That made sense because they both absolutely reeked of whisky.

  Frost got out of bed and wandered to the bathroom and announced, “This is your room. My stuff isn’t in here.”

  She heard the water from the shower turn on and her drinking partner from the night before had the fastest shower ever. In a couple of minutes, he wandered out with a towel around his waist and asked, “Where’s Grey? I’m starving. We should go out for breakfast.”

  Lexy was still sitting there trying to chill herself out. How had they ended up in the same bed? Where in the hell was Grey? She replied, “You’re going to have to give me a minute to regain my faculties. When I saw the black hair on your arms I had a moment there.”

  Frost strolled towards the bed, and chuckled as he leapt back onto the bed beside her and teased, “You thought you were waking up next to Tiberius didn’t you?”

  “Until you spoke. Yes, I did,” she replied while chuckling quietly to herself. Oh, the relief. She covered her forehead with both of her hands, sighed and said, “That scared the shit out of me.”

  He grinned and laughed, “Now, what does that tell you? Glad I could provide you with a dry run for how you’d feel the morning after doing that.”

  Doing that…Lexy hopped out of bed and replied, “Yes, it doesn’t seem like the greatest idea anymore. I’ll be right back.” She escaped into the bathroom, closed the door behind her and just stood there for a second staring at the painting in front of her on the wall. It was of two wolves standing side by side in the backdrop of a snow covered mountain. She recalled the day she met Grey. He’d been taken by Triad and she saved him from what he’d referred to as a fate worse than death. She’d spoken to Tiberius for the first time that day in the forest while she was still a Wild Thing and when she thought about what she did to him it made her smile. She hadn’t been in the frame of mind to even notice he was flirting with her. He’d held onto that moment for all of these years and she’d barely given it a second thought. Lexy drew her eyes away from the painting of the pair of wolves that had caused her thoughts to drift back to Tiberius and stepped into the shower. She quickly soaped hersel
f down and rinsed off. Then towel dried her hair, and chose to leave it damp. After doing the fastest make up job she’d ever done she carefully applied her favorite crimson red lipstick and stared at her reflection. She was probably going to opt out of following through with that little tryst with Tiberius after her reaction that morning but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to look gorgeous the next time they bumped into each other. The chances of that would be pretty damn high over the next couple of days.

  Frost bellowed, “I used some of your toothpaste. Don’t worry I didn’t touch your toothbrush.”

  Someone knocked on the door and Lexy hurried in the bathroom. She leaned out and said, “Can you get that? It’s probably Grey.”

  Frost leapt up and got the door.

  She heard Grey’s voice say, “You guys, it smells absolutely disgusting in here.”

  “We’re going for breakfast,” she called. “I’ll just be a second.” Lexy paused before opening the bathroom door, and hoped Frost had the sense to quickly put his clothes back on. She opened the door and walked out to the sight of Grey opening the windows and cursing about the scent of the whisky.

  Grey passed Frost some hotel room keys and said, “Are these yours?”

  Frost shook his head and said, “Well, at least we know how I ended up sleeping here now.”

  Her Handler knit his brow and repeated what his friend had just said, “You slept here?”

  Lexy sparred, “Where did you end up?”

  Grey smiled and changed the subject, “How long did you guys stay there after I left?”

  She shrugged and replied, “I honestly have no idea. All I know is we woke up in bed together, fully clothed.”

  Grey ruffled up her hair and said, “Don’t worry, Honey. I know that would never happen. Frost would never do that to me.”

  Frost’s eyes widened and he steered the conversation back and enquired, “Where were you again?”

  He grinned and responded, “A gentleman never tells.”