Kismet

by Beth D. Carter

  And then Hyde is there, and he cradles me in his arms. He wipes my face free of tears. “Stop it. You’ll make yourself sick.”

  “Get out!”

  “When you stop crying. There wasn’t anything you could have done.”

  “But why not? She was so little, Hyde. And we only had another day until she would’ve been safe.”

  “I don’t know, Evie.”

  He holds me until my tears run out, until there is nothing left inside. I will never understand why Isabel died, but I have to believe her death happened for a reason. It’s the only solace I know, this power of mine.

  As I take a deep, calming breath, it suddenly dawns on me that I am naked. And that Hyde is very aroused. My blood heats, my nerves sing, and cream floods my center.

  “Let me go,” I mutter.

  “No.”

  I struggle, but it’s halfhearted at best. “There’s no time for this.”

  “No time for what? For me to comfort you? For you to break down? I get it, Evie. She was a little girl you couldn’t save. But honey, you can’t save everyone.”

  He caresses my cheek, and before I quite know what I’m doing, he lifts my face up and kisses me lightly on the mouth. It’s sweet, if not overwhelming, like Kris’s kiss, but it touches the ache inside my soul. When he breaks the kiss and leans back, I keep my eyes shut because then I can pretend it’s Kris holding me, being tender and loving and gentle.

  And then he kisses me again, harder, parting my lips, and his tongue takes possession of mine. I felt so lost and alone only moments before that the heat pouring through me makes me feel so alive. I grab it. I grab on to Hyde as I push aside the voice of reason that reminds me that perhaps I’m not all that stable enough right now to be making this decision.

  I just want to be warm again.

  One of his hands sweeps around my waist, and the other buries in my hair to bring my mouth up to meet his. His body is big, hard, with all the right angles to fit mine, and he uses that to his advantage, pulling me in tightly. I mold myself into him and wrap my arms around his neck.

  It doesn’t take him long to start exploring me. The hand at my waist comes around to trail up my flat belly and find my aching nipple. At first Hyde massages my breast, kneading it and learning the texture. His thumb and finger bring my nipple to a turgid peak, causing me to lean into it, desperate for more. Juice immediately gushes from my pussy, signaling my need for his cock to slide in and ease the fire that’s erupted in my body.

  But I suppose he has another agenda before he fucks me silly. He abruptly pulls back from his kiss and pushes me down. I lie on my back and watch as he almost flings himself down on top of me, settling between the juncture of my legs. Oh. My. God.

  The short bristle of his beard pricks against the soft skin of my thighs, causing me to buck. His breath tickles my pubic hair. My fingers dig into the rug beneath me. The first touch of his kiss against my pussy lips causes my stomach to clench and fire to dance over my skin. He sucks one pussy lip into his mouth, nibbles, then takes the other before licking the inner folds like a cat lapping at a bowl of cream. My hips start undulating, seeking more. As nice as the foreplay is, I need him to go deeper.

  His fingers ease my pussy lips open, and his tongue darts out to tease, tonguing my clit before sliding in. I almost arch off the floor. Spasms rack me, and I’m not sure how much of this I can stand. On one hand, it’s the most erotic, the most unbelievably intense feeling I’ve ever had. On the other, I’m nervous about these feelings. I mean, I don’t mind succumbing to an orgasm, but this tugging sensation all the way up my groin, into my stomach, and straight up into my brain is frightening. It begs me to let go of everything, to willingly go over that precipice and free-fall.

  His tongue delves inside me, then pulls out just a little to nibbles on my clit. Back and forth he arouses me to a fever pitch. It feels amazing. I want to come, but I don’t want this feeling to fade, this riding the wave of intensity. I cram a knuckle into my mouth so I don’t scream out my pleasure.

  And then it’s out of my hands. Hyde takes his hands and cradles my ass, lifting me into his mouth so he can feast. And my hips being airborne while his mouth and teeth and tongue deliver magic is just too much. I try to pull back, I reach out a hand to lift his head, but he refuses my request. And then the wave crashes over me, drowning me, and I’m sucked in without even realizing it.

  My inner walls contract over and over as the orgasm sweeps through me. And still Hyde does not let up. He braces me with his arms as I buck against his mouth, two fingers suddenly filling me up next to his tongue, and the sensation causes the tide to crest again. Another orgasm floods me, and I have to grind my hand in my mouth so my cries of pleasure don’t reach a crescendo.

  Hyde pulls back abruptly, and I whimper at the sudden loss of my tormentor. My eyes slit open, and I see him holding his cock, stroking it. I want it. I want it so bad I actually ache.

  I reach for him, and just like that he’s on me, pushing my thighs wide open and entering me without any other preamble. I arch in pure ecstasy, lust heavy in the blood that pumps through my veins. I reach around to grab his ass as he starts to slide in and out. Slowly at first, savoring the unbelievable thrill, and then gaining speed as the sensitive nerve endings start taking over both our bodies.

  I feel another orgasm sliding over me without warning. As my pussy contracts and the flush of release spreads over my skin, Hyde moans above me. He still jackhammers, though I can start to feel him become more uncoordinated as his own pleasure starts to take flight. I try to recover my breathing even as tingles race up and down my spine.

  “Evie.” His forehead drops onto mine. The moistness of his breath slides over my skin. “Evie, Evie.” He repeats my name like a mantra.

  He reaches between our fused bodies, touching my clit, sky rocketing me. Immediately I light up, my body going up in flames. I orgasm so hard I see stars.

  Hyde pumps once, twice, and then pulls out of my body as he loses himself to his pleasure. He smashes his lips on mine as he moans, and I absorb the sound in my mouth. There is a hot, wet stickiness on my stomach as he falls onto me.

  We lie like that for a time, until both our heartbeats calm down and our skin acclimates to the underground temperature again. Then he pushes off and lies down beside me.

  Without the heat of the moment, Kris’s face floats into my mind, reminding me that I’ve just fucked his friend. His partner. Guilt practically steals my breath as hate sweeps through me. Hate for Hyde, hate for the circumstances, but mostly self-hate. I cheated. I am a cheater.

  And then a horrible thought storms in. Am I my mother’s daughter after all?

  Bile turns my gut.

  “We probably shouldn’t have done that,” he whispers.

  “No, we shouldn’t have.” I get up, disgusted with myself, to start cleaning the residue of sex off my body.

  “Evie?”

  “Shut up, Hyde.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Really? You’re asking me what wrong? Are you dense?”

  “Kris,” he reasons. “He’s my partner, and he slept with you first.”

  “Oh my God, you’ve made me sound like a slut,” I grouse.

  “Evie—”

  “Did you have sex with me because Kris had sex with me?”

  He doesn’t answer, which of course, is the answer. Hyde has suddenly morphed into someone I don’t know. And I’ve turned into someone I don’t like.

  I dress quickly. Tears threaten to come to the surface, but I blink them back because I have no one to blame for this situation except myself. I feel like I’m swimming in glue, trying to figure out how to play a game I don’t even know the rules of. Kris in his coldness and Hyde in his selfish deception; I thought I knew these men. I used my visions as a beacon of light, and I blindly followed, but truthfully what do I know of relationships, personal or other?

  I watched my mother for years making the mistake of thinking she understood
men. A kind word or a small gift had been enough to turn Misty Mae Rhoton’s head, have her believing there was gold at the end of a rainbow. I would always scoff, and my heart would break, but I always believed I was different than her. I had a gift, didn’t I? I could see the future.

  But I’ve never seen mine. Maybe there’s a reason for that. And maybe I’m more like my mother than I thought. I shiver in fear. That’s a side of my personality I don’t want to analyze too deeply, especially not now.

  Hyde sits up and runs a hand down his face. “Listen, obviously I’m fucking this up. I’m really tired. Why don’t we get some sleep and hopefully we can figure everything out later.”

  “Fine,” I say, but I move to the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Out.”

  “Evie—”

  “Guards are posted?” I change the subject. Hyde studies me, and after a moment I can see he lets go of what we just shared.

  “Shalana has her people taking shifts guarding where the bomb blew.” His tone is brisk, no-nonsense.

  “Then I’ll help keep watch. I can’t sleep anyway.”

  “Evie.”

  I pause, my back toward him.

  “When this is all over, will you be heading out again?”

  Really? That’s what he asks me? I don’t answer, but then I don’t think he really wants one. Yes, it does seem quite unbelievable that in all the time I’ve been tracking them, we end up together in a fuck-all situation.

  Kris pops into my mind, big and bold and brooding. I can’t keep a little worm of guilt wiggling its way insidiously into my heart, bringing uncertainty with it. This is something I simply have neither the time nor the inclination to deal with right now. I turn from Hyde and exit the small room. I have no desire to sleep next to him.

  Chapter Ten

  Shalana is surprised to see me. She’s on duty with her men, fully automated weapons at the ready. I step up next to her. She gives me wry smile.

  “Can’t sleep?”

  “No,” I reply. “The bomb has me on edge.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Listen, Shalana. I know you blame us for bringing them down on—”

  “No shit?” Her sarcasm is heavy.

  “I’m sorry. Really. I’m sorry your way of life is over.”

  She pinches the bridge of her nose with a thumb and forefinger. “I was stupid to imagine we could go on like this forever. That El Toro’s men wouldn’t find us. I suppose we were a ticking time bomb. Besides, how can I stay mad at you when you saved my life?”

  She smiles at me again, only this time it reaches her eyes. She reaches out her hand, and I take it, squeezing it to affirm our new truce. I sigh and start to release the anger of Isabel’s death. The good of the many and all that.

  “Doesn’t it seem odd that they gave up only after one detonation?” I ask her.

  “They were either testing how much rubble actually stands between us and them or trying to scare us to escape in a panic.”

  “And how much rubble does stand between us and them?”

  “A whole skyscraper is on top of us, which is why I’m pretty sure it was a scare tactic. Hyde feels the same way.”

  “What about other vulnerable points? There’re a lot of little shafts going out from here.”

  “I had all my men explore them, as well as the underground water pipes. It’s all collapsed.”

  “Then the only access is the main vault door. It’s pretty sturdy,” I observe.

  “But not unsinkable.”

  True. The military has several weapons that could make mincemeat out of that door. I shiver, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

  “If you want to get some rest, I’ll take over the watch.” I can see Shalana hesitate. But I can also see the exhaustion in her dark eyes. “Go on. I can see you need some sleep.”

  “All right,” she agrees. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  I sit in the room with the bank vault door along with many others, listening to the mindless chatter among the people. My tryst with Hyde has left me edgy, restless. Anger simmers just under the surface, at myself for giving in to the temptation of Hyde’s raw masculinity and at Hyde for letting me succumb.

  I quickly comb my hair with my fingers and then braid it back. I recheck my weapons: two guns, my throwing knives, and extra ammunition. I almost feel naked with so little in my arsenal.

  Sometime later, a woman comes and relieves me of sentry duty. There aren’t that many people around. Probably still sleeping. But I do see Hyde talking with Shalana. With one look at him, all I want to do is run. I don’t want to have to face him. But I can’t bury my head. There are people to save. And death is clawing at the door. So I walk toward them.

  “Morning,” Shalana greets me in her husky voice. Tension has tightened her features, giving her a pinched, unhappy look.

  I nod in greeting before turning my gaze on Hyde. I brace myself to act indifferent around him. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m going topside,” he says. There’s a hard edge in his eyes. “I’ve got to direct a safe path for these people to get to the rendezvous point.”

  “Then I’m going with you.”

  “I was hoping you would stay with Shalana and organize everyone for the trip to MacArthur Park.”

  I cock an eyebrow. “I don’t know where MacArthur Park is located.”

  “Shalana knows where it’s at,” he shoots back.

  “I would assume she does. She’s from here.”

  Hyde grabs my upper arm and escorts me past Shalana’s curious gaze and into a private area near the main entrance. I jerk my arm out of his hand and turn to frown up at him. Something is off. There’s a closed look on his face.

  “I want you to stay with Shalana,” he tells me. “She’ll need a hand if those topside warriors are still trying to fish us out.”

  “She has fully automatic assault rifles,” I point out with the barest hint of sarcasm. “I think she can do without my two GLOCKs.”

  “But not enough people who know how to use them.”

  This time I can’t even hold back a shred of it. “It’s pretty self-explanatory, Hyde. Just point at the bad guys and pull the trigger.”

  “Do I have to give you an order, Evie?”

  My jaw drops. “Excuse me? I’m not in the military!”

  “No, but this is a military operation and therefore falls under my jurisdiction since I’m the highest-ranking officer around. You will adhere to my orders,” he said in a tone squeezed out between tightly clenched jaws.

  “I can help you.”

  “I don’t want you to help me. Kris is my partner.”

  And there it is. How much more simply can it be laid out to me?

  “Meaning thanks for the sex, but you and he have it covered.”

  He doesn’t even flinch at my accusation.

  “Meaning,” he stresses, “you are a civilian, and I want you on a lift out of here.”

  “You want me to leave LA,” I clarify. “To leave Kris.” I’m not going to make it easy for him to kick me out of Kris’s life.

  “I’m fairly certain Kris would want you to leave as well.”

  “We’re not talking about what Kris wants. We’re talking about what you want.”

  “I’ve already stated what I want.”

  “You want me gone.”

  He hesitates for a fraction of a second. “I want you on a lift and out of LA.”

  I lick my lips, trying to reorganize my brain. I’m hearing what he’s saying, but I’m not listening very well. I don’t want to listen. “Hyde, your life is in danger—”

  “Enough! This isn’t a game, Evie!”

  “I know that! Why do you think I don’t know that? It’s why I’m here, Hyde, for you and Kris!”

  “Kris and I take care of each other.”

  “You need me!”

  “I only need Kris!” he finally yells. “And Kris only needs me! Did you really think a piece of ass could come b
etween us? He’s my partner. We live and die together.”

  The air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. And suddenly, I get it.

  “You’re jealous,” I say, stunned. “Of me.”

  He doesn’t acknowledge my statement. “Listen, go with Shalana. The people Kris and I find are processed through Wyoming. I assume you’re in the system already, so for fuck’s sake, just go there, and we’ll sort all this out later.”

  I don’t know what I would have said or done next, because all of a sudden the world explodes. Literally. There is the loudest boom I’ve ever had the misfortune to hear. Everything turns mute as dirt and debris, worse than yesterday, detonates around us in a cascade of hellfire and brimstone.

  It is only as I try to move that I realize I’ve been blown backward. I am lying on my back with my arms stretched out. People are screaming, and I hear what I think is gunfire, but my mind seems to be swimming through cotton. I shake my head to clear it out, but that only makes things worse. Wetness oozes down my neck, and when I reach up to touch it, blood comes away on my fingers. I trace the source of the bleeding and discover it’s coming from my ear. Shit. No wonder I’m woozy and can’t hear a damn thing.

  I roll to my undamaged side and ease up with my forearms. Through the haziness of my mental faculties, I see people rushing around, the tribal tattoos adorning their flesh designating them gang members from topside. I blink. How the hell did they get in here?

  I turn my head as everything rages over me, and in my field of vision near the entrance tunnel, I can see the bank door blown clear across the room. I’m trying to comprehend this, because the only way they could have gotten through such a massively impenetrable door is by something equally massive in firepower.

  My GLOCKs are still attached in their holsters, and I reach for them. Once the cool metal is in my hands, I feel more stable, so I force myself to my knees, ignoring the pain in my left ear and the fucking headache that’s attached itself to the perforated eardrum.

  I close my eyes and just let my body relax. I need to rest for a moment, to let my body catch up. I tune everything out. I take big, deep breaths, in and out, relaxing my mind and pushing the pain far away. I haven’t had too much experience with busted eardrums, but I’m hoping it’s not too bad and will heal on its own. There isn’t a lot of time for assessing each bump and bruise, so I do the best I can by focusing. And when I think I’ve gotten a hold on the disorientation, I push to my feet and open my eyes.