“Maybe I’d have lots of mean little babies that would kick your ass.” Now I was getting crazy and I watched as Caden’s knuckles became white against the steering wheel, and I hoped he didn’t break our ride home.
“Do we really need to do this?” He stared me down in the rear view mirror.
“Do what?”
“Act like we’re five?”
“You started.”
“What? By saying that I’m entitled to some privacy?”
“No. You did it by insinuating I would ever join with them.” I turned my gaze away from his eyes boring into me through the mirror.
I stared out the window for the rest of the ride. We drove back in silence.
By time we got back to the bar, Mike was starting to come out of it a little and was moaning. Caden hoisted him up and carried him into the bar. I followed him into the elevator as he punched Mike’s floor into the elevator panel.
I’d never been to Mike’s level before and was completely taken aback by his place. The entire floor was wide open with just a bamboo privacy screen in the corner. The walls covered in painted murals from top to bottom. A huge impressionist painting of ocean waves and another of what I would describe as a bronze sunset.
“Did Mike do these? They’re stunning.” I was in awe.
“Yes.” He said with such an attitude it was hard to ignore. I guess he was bent out of shape from our fight.
Caden was laying Mike down in his bed when Joey showed up.
“You did get him! I knew I sensed him.” Joey ran to his side checking him out for himself.
“He’s fine. Just drugged. He’ll probably come out of it completely in the next hour or so.” Caden said reassuringly to Joey.
I walked over, and sat on the bed next to Mike, and felt his head.
“I’m going to go tell the guys.” Joey said as he ran out excitedly.
Caden moved to follow, looking back at me.
“He’s not going to be awake for a while.”
“I’ll wait.” And I turned my head back to Mike. I could feel his angry stare burning into my back, but I refused to look at him. I had no desire to talk to him right now or to go sit in the same apartment with him if he wasn’t even going to be civil. I had my own gripes.
I heard the doors close, and I went and got a wet towel that I ran over Mike’s forehead. He looked a bit thinner than when I had last seen him at the diner and his cheeks, usually glowing in good health, were ashen now. I ran my hand through his hair, and he moaned.
I whispered his name, and I saw his eyelids slightly crack open.
“You’re home.” I said to him.
He smiled weakly up at me, and I finally relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever. He was here, and he was going to be okay.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to get you hurt!” I said as I could feel tears starting to run down my cheeks.
“I’m fine.” He tried to sit up and groaned slightly, then actually laughed about it. “Or I will be.”
I laughed with him. I was just so happy to have him back.
“Ugh, I smell. Don’t get too close to me.”
“You smell better than apple pie to me.”
“I don’t know what bakery you go to but it’s time for a change.” We laughed again, and my heart felt like it was lifting higher by the minute. My friend was alive and back.
“Can you get me a t-shirt out of the top drawer over there?” He point to a bureau against the wall.
“Sure.” I opened it and grabbed the first one I saw. I headed back over to him as he was struggling to lift his soiled shirt over his head. “Here, let me help you.” I stood in front of him and helped pull his shirt up and off. I was going to help him put the other one on, but I was distracted by the bruises on his ribs. I sat down next to him and started to well up with tears again.
“Lex, they’ll be gone by tomorrow. You’re acting like a crazy chick now.” He smiled again at me. “I’m serious. They won’t be there tomorrow. I’ll let you check to prove it.”
I nodded okay but couldn’t help grazing my fingers over the injuries.
“Whoops! You guys need some privacy?” It was Joey voice and I realized this probably looked a great deal more intimate than it was. I was sitting very close to Mike on his bed, with his shirt off, touching his torso. My cheeks flamed red from embarrassment as Mike told him I had just been helping him change.
I turned to look at Joey and saw Caden right behind him. He looked even more put out than before if that was possible. I would have sworn he was jealous, which is odd considering he wasn’t interested in me. Perhaps he was naturally territorial. He walked in past Joey and stopped right at the bedside, looming over Mike and myself.
“So what happened?” Caden asked Mike.
“It was pretty boring, really.” He said and shrugged his shoulders, like no big deal. “They shot me up with this shit that knocked me out. Then when I woke up, we were in a warehouse. I was expecting all sorts of interrogations on what we had going on, but all they really asked about was what Lex was. I told them I had no clue what she was then they just kicked the shit out of me and knocked me out again. That was pretty much the daily routine.”
I felt even worse after hearing this. I’d gotten him tortured. It didn’t matter how casual he acted about it. The guilt weighed me down. How could I ever make this up to him?
“Why does it matter so much to them what I am?”
“It’s all about power. They think you can increase theirs. They’ve always been more of a nuisance, but as they’ve managed to increase their numbers it’s gotten progressively worse. If they find a way to breed without diminishing their powers, they’ll have the manpower to take over not just our area, but the city as a whole. Who knows where they’d stop.” Mike explained.
“Are you going to be up for recon tomorrow Mike?” Caden asked him. He was completely ignoring me, and the fact that I would definitely want to go, not to mention the deal we had.
“Absolutely. Wouldn’t miss it,” he smiled. He looked like he was completely alert now, with all traces of the drug erased.
“Yeah, I’ll be ready too.” I chimed in, reminding him not so subtly about our arrangement. I wasn’t staying behind anymore. This was as much my fight as theirs, maybe more so.
“You’re not going.” He said without even looking at me.
“Oh yes, I am,” I said. Mike threw me a look and made an eye gesture toward Caden that silently asked what was going on with us.
“No.” Caden replied.
I widened my eyes back at Mike, and shrugged slightly, to silently respond that I wasn’t even sure myself.
He responded back with a silent keep me out of this mess look, which I quickly motioned a thanks a lot.
I turned and watched as Caden left the room, ending the conversation, obviously not caring that I wasn’t through with him.
I waited about ten minutes, just long enough to make Mike some chicken noodle soup, before I tracked Caden down. I was ready to completely explode and force a confrontation.
I handed Mike his soup, and he said goodbye wishing me luck, knowing that I was on my way to go start World War Three with Caden.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Caden was in his room sitting at his large wooden desk when I found him. Storming in, I slammed the door so that there was no way he could deny my presence and marched up to where he sat.
“What is your problem? We had an agreement.” I stood there, hands on my hips, waiting for his reply.
“I’m busy.” He spoke quietly, not even looking up from where he sat.
I stared at his large shoulders, facing away from me, and rage starting boiling over.
“What is your problem?”
He sat there ignoring me, flipping through his papers. I could see the pulsing vein in his neck and he seemed to be breathing heavier than normal. I knew he was boiling angry and warning bells were ringing in my head that perhaps I should give him space, but
if there is one thing in life that makes me lose it, it is getting the silent treatment. So instead of leaving, I reached over his shoulder and ripped the papers he was looking at from his grip and threw them across the room.
“Can you talk to me now?” I was never a yeller, until now. I didn’t know why he struck right to the heart of me but everything to do with him left me raw. I was acting like an irrational nut, but I couldn’t seem to stop my inner psycho from showing its ugly face.
“You need to leave.” His voice was soft, deadly so. Goosebumps ran up my arms as my brain screamed it was time for flight, but the rest of me was still looking for a fight.
“Not until I get some answers.”
In one quick lightning fast movement, he was now standing and I was sitting on his desk with him in between my knees.
“Why were you touching him?” he demanded. He was in every inch of my space, staring me down with his intense eyes boring into me.
“Mike?” I asked. I was shocked at the jealous rage he seemed to be exhibiting.
“Why were you touching him?”
“I was looking at his injuries. That’s all.” Shock made me gape at him.
His mouth covered mine and he was all over me. His hand was in my hair pulling my head back as he devoured me. His hips ground into mine, as his other hand gripped me from behind and pressed me close to him. My senses were overloaded with raw intensity. I guess he had learned a thing or two being alive this long, because his every touch was exactly what my body wanted. His mouth was nipping at my neck while his hips pressed the hard length of him against me while whispering what he wanted to do to me, how he was going to take me over and over. I gripped his shoulders looking for some stability in this erotic onslaught and I knew I was done. The attraction I had had for him before had been just the barest hint of the connection we actually had. I’d never felt this overwhelmed by a man in my life. I could barely keep a thought in my head. I was ready to surrender completely to whatever he wanted, when the sound of Alex calling his name from the living room dragged us harshly back to reality.
He stepped back, looking at me with raging heat in his eyes. He reached forward and pulled my shirt together over my black lace push up bra. I didn’t have any buttons left, so it just fell open again. I self-consciously held it back together. The buttons were scattered on the floor.
He left me to go head off Alex in the hallway, and it felt like a bucket of cold water had just been thrown on me. He walked away, and I took the moment to get myself together. I realized quickly it was going to take more than a few minutes. I felt like I’d just come out of a tornado. I was completely thrown off my axis by the intensity. I couldn’t even believe how explosive it had been. It rattled me to my core.
I stood on shaky legs and realized my jeans had gotten unzipped as well. Jeez, I hadn’t even notice when that had happened. We would have been full blown in the act in another couple of minutes if Alex hadn’t shown up.
I walked over and listened by his door, and then peeked around the corner. It sounded like they were off in the kitchen, so I scooted across the hall into my room quickly. I’d try to reclaim my buttons later, after I had a fully functioning shirt on and an empty apartment. I threw on a snug soft chocolate brown v-neck cashmere sweater that worked wonders on my curves. I wasn’t putting it on for him, I just liked it because it was really warm. Then I headed down into the kitchen area where I could hear Alex and Caden talking.
“He looks pretty good,” Alex said. I knew they were probably talking about Mike.
“Yeah, he says he’s good for tonight,” said Caden.
“So it’s going to be you, Mike and me?” Alex asked.
“And Lex.” Caden turned and looked at me.
I was slightly surprised that he had included me. I didn’t know where we stood anymore. I wasn’t the only one either. Alex seemed taken aback as well, but didn’t remark. Just said he would see us later and left to go visit with Mike.
“We’re going to their chateau. Are you sure you want to go?” His look said he thought I wasn’t.
I was on the verge of letting the memories scare me into staying huddled up here but somehow, when I found my voice, I said I was going. I didn’t know why I was going. I didn’t want to. A big part of me was just too embarrassed to say I still felt traumatized over that night. I didn’t want to explain how deeply it had bothered me. For some unexplainable reason, I felt it would be easier to go then to explain.
“Lex,” Caden said in soft husky voice.
I turned to look up at Caden now just inches away from me. “About what happened, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You didn’t force me.”
“I know. That’s not what I meant. It’s not a good idea for us to go there.”
“Oh, yeah, it wasn’t a big deal. We were both just fired up,” I lied. Not about being fired up, just that it was no big deal. My knees were still weak from it, and I was clinging to the last shred of pride I had. He was paying my bills. I lived in his home. I couldn’t seem to take a step out the door without him having to come and save me. And now, to add insult to injury, I had just been about to give him the only thing I did have left and he declined. I didn’t know why I was being rejected but I wasn’t going to ask. That would mean I cared.
“I’ve got to go take a shower.” I stood up to leave and he looked like he wanted to say something else but couldn’t find the words. I didn’t give him the time to think of them.
“Be ready in two hours.” Caden, finally finding something to say, yelled at my retreating back.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I walked into the bar room wearing what I thought was my cutest reconnaissance outfit of black boots, snug black leggings, and snug v-neck sweater with a push up bra underneath. My hair was loose and flowing, and my makeup was perfect. It was just enough to make me glow but not enough for him to realize I tried. This was always my fallback position in trying times. Look as pretty as possible and pretend I didn’t care. Might be a bit shallow and desperate, but it was all I had left.
“Lex, you look a little too good for crawling around in the bushes.” Mike said.
I was so happy to see him up and about, looking like his old self. I jumped on him and gave him a huge hug not giving Caden’s feelings a second thought. He said he didn’t want me. Why should I worry about how he felt? “I’m so glad you are better.”
“When you guys are done, we’ve got work to do,” Caden said glaring our way.
I wasn’t sure if he was annoyed at me for hugging Mike or annoyed because he wanted to get going. Mike was all smiles though and didn’t move to put me down that quickly. If I had to guess, I would have thought Mike might have been provoking Caden.
“I’ll be outside.” Caden left slamming the door as he went.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked, looking to Mike for the answer, which was a good thing because I didn’t want to explain.
“I think Caden has a thing for Lex.” He replied grinning ear to ear. Alex starting laughing and then Mike joined as he was putting me on my feet.
“I don’t think he does you guys, and if he did, what would be so funny about that anyway?” I stood staring at the two of them while they shared their own private joke.
Mike finally looked down at me as the laughter winded down. “We aren’t laughing at you Lex. It’s because it’s Caden. Caden who avoids all relationships, at all costs, is now living under the same roof with a woman he wants. Let’s see how well this works out for him.” He reached over and patted Alex on the back and they looked like they would start laughing again any second.
“We’ve been pushing him for years to get into something more substantial. Thought it would be good for him.” Alex chimed in.
“But all of you guys are single except for Dave?” I asked. I found it curious that this gang of bachelors would be pushing for one of their own to get into a committed relationship.
“We’ve all been in long term relationships at so
me point in the last century, except for him. It’s hard to date humans because of the differences, but there are other options.”
“Like what?” I didn’t like him having other options I realized.
“I’ve dated female vampires, some fairys, a couple of female werewolves, but I try to stay clear of them. They’re really hairy.” Alex said grimacing.
“What about that chick Lenora? She was really pretty for a werewolf and didn’t seem hairy at all.”
“Yeah, Mike, because she was getting laser treatments, but it kept coming back. Every time I saw her too far in between appointments it got pretty rough. It was too hard to time the dates right.”
As distracted as I was about the hairy werewolf Alex had dated, my mind was reeling. Not only was I partly demon, but there was everything under the sun running around out there.
“How come nobody knows about all of this?”
“About what?” Mike asked completely oblivious to what I meant.
“Vampires, and demons, and all that?”
“It’s not like we broadcast it,” Alex explained.
“Plus, every time a regular human tries to break a story everybody says they are crazy. Doctors put them on non hallucinogenic drugs, and they get convinced that they had a psychotic break,” Mike added.
“It’s getting trickier with all the cell phones now. Only a matter of time before one gets out. Then the shit will really hit the fan. Right Mike?”
“Total mayhem!”
Mike and Alex started laughing again. I wasn’t sure why that was so funny, but before I could figure it out, it was cut short by Caden yelling from the door, asking if we planned on joining him anytime soon.
When I walked outside, I saw three bikes lined up. I was wondering who I’d be riding with when Caden took my arm and brought me over to his side and handed me a helmet. I was the only one that wore one. I toyed with the idea of completely snubbing him, and hopping on the back of Mike’s or Alex’s bike, but I didn’t want to start a fight between the guys. I couldn’t understand why he even wanted me to ride with him anyway.
Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) Page 17