by Karen Kelley
She was wrong.
“Oh, you have doughnuts!” LeAnn hurried to the box and opened it, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. “And they’re chocolate. I really need chocolate.” She brought the box to the table and sat in one of the chairs.
Help yourself, Destiny thought, but she really didn’t mind. She liked LeAnn, even knowing a friendship between them wouldn’t end well.
The doorbell rang. Destiny jumped. Chance? “I’ll be right back.” She hurried to the other room, then opened the door.
“Morning.” Charles’s voice boomed across the apartment.
“It’s too early for company,” she grumbled.
“What’s that, you say? You gotta speak up.”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Did you need something?” Or was he another person who wanted to ruin her morning?
“I’m all out of coffee. I thought maybe—” He stopped mid-sentence and sniffed. “I knew I’d pegged you for a coffee drinker. Black, right?” He didn’t wait for her answer, but headed toward the kitchen.
“Just come on in. In fact, the whole apartment complex can join us for morning coffee.” Destiny didn’t care that sarcasm dripped from her words. But as she started to close the door, Beulah pushed her way inside.
“Was that Charles I saw? What’s he doing in your apartment?” She eyed Destiny as though she thought Charles might be her next love victim.
“Yes, that was Charles, and before him, LeAnn. Would you like coffee and a doughnut, too?”
“Might as well since you kept me up most of the night yelling like a banshee in heat.” She marched toward the kitchen.
“Great, just great.” She started to close the door, but stopped at the last second and peered into the hallway, saw it was empty, then shut the door.
When she joined the others, Charles was pouring Beulah a cup of coffee and she was getting a doughnut out of the box.
“Sit and I’ll tell you all about it.” LeAnn practically squirmed in her seat.
Nervous energy?
“Tell her about what?” Charles asked.
Oh hell, why not. It certainly didn’t look as though they would leave any time soon. Destiny took a seat across from her. LeAnn grabbed a doughnut and shoved half into her mouth.
“Dis iz good,” she mumbled around the doughnut. “Imgonnasingatabar,” she said.
Destiny raised her eyebrows, unable to decipher LeAnn’s new language.
“She’s lost it. Bound to happen the way she zips around like a bee in a field of blooming flowers,” Beulah said before she opened her mouth wide, then apparently thought better of what she was about to do and took a dainty bite of the doughnut instead.
There was something different about Beulah. Destiny studied her for a moment before she realized what had changed. She didn’t have the lip hairs and she’d plucked the mole hair, too. Her hair was done in a different style. Softer, more feminine. She was still dressed like a bag lady, though.
LeAnn laughed, then swallowed. “Sorry. I guess I’m nervous.”
“Ya think?” Destiny asked, returning her attention to LeAnn.
“Spill the beans ’fore you bust, girl,” Charles urged.
LeAnn grabbed Destiny’s hand and squeezed. Destiny’s first instinct was to pull away but she didn’t, and suddenly she kind of liked LeAnn’s touch. She realized that even though she didn’t want it to happen, it had. LeAnn had become her friend.
Destiny mentally scoffed at the idea. They weren’t friends. LeAnn was—what?
She studied the other woman as she began to talk about singing in some bar. LeAnn’s eyes sparkled, and between sentences she laughed as though it was a dream come true. Her shot at breaking into the big time. At least it was one step in the right direction.
“Someone important could walk into the bar on a night I’m singing.” LeAnn hugged her middle. “This could be it.”
“Or not,” Beulah said.
Destiny glared at her. “I’m happy for you,” she told LeAnn and was surprised that she meant it. It would be great if LeAnn had the opportunity to do something with her life. Destiny regretted never having that chance.
“Wow, we can say we knew you when,” Charles said.
“Or not,” Beulah jabbed again.
Charles frowned. “Stop being so negative. Let the girl have her dreams.”
“I’m just pointing out what could happen. Better to know up front, then disappointment doesn’t hurt so much.”
Charles rose to his feet. “Come on, old woman. Leave these girls to their talkin’. We’ll bring the cups by later.” He looked pointedly at Beulah.
She finally stood, eyeing the doughnut box. “I need the chocolate after last night.” She grabbed another doughnut and hurried out of the room.
Charles was right on her heels. “And what exactly did you do last night that you need energy?”
Destiny didn’t hear what Beulah said as the door shut behind them. Two down, one to go, and then blessed peace.
“If I make it big, I mean with my singing, you’ll come with me. Won’t you?”
Destiny couldn’t stop her snort of laughter even if she tried, which she didn’t. She couldn’t help thinking about all the empty promises she’d heard in her lifetime, but she saw something in LeAnn’s eyes that told Destiny the other woman was serious, and Destiny’s laughter died.
“You barely know me,” she told her.
“We’re a lot alike, you and I.” Her expression grew solemn. “I can’t imagine you not going with me.”
LeAnn said that now, but if she ever made it big she would change her mind. She would forget about Destiny. Not that it mattered; Destiny was dead, her life was over, and she had no place among the living. It was a nice thought, though, and she was sure LeAnn meant it.
“I need a refill.” Destiny grabbed her cup and stood, moving to the counter. It was hard for her to accept that LeAnn would actually care for her.
“You’ll come hear me sing, won’t you?”
Destiny stilled, knowing her time left was getting shorter. “When?”
“Tonight. I know it’s a Monday and there probably won’t be anyone there. It would be nice to have someone I know in the audience. The owner did say he knew someone who knew someone and he would try to get them to come to the performance.”
Destiny poured coffee into her cup and carried it back to the table. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
LeAnn breathed a sigh of relief. “Good! I was hoping you’d be there.” She blew across her coffee, then took a drink. After she set her cup back on the table, she reached into the box of doughnuts and took another one out. “I probably should stop eating these or I’ll be bigger than the stage.”
“Chocolate is good for the soul,” Destiny told her and took one out for herself.
“Now that would make a good country song.”
“Instead of drowning yourself in whiskey, you could write the female version of drowning your sorrows in a box of chocolate.”
LeAnn giggled. “I like that.” Just as quickly, LeAnn sobered. “Are you going to tell me about him?”
Destiny didn’t have to ask what him she referred to. “I met him in a bar.” She took a drink of her coffee.
“That’s it?”
What was she supposed to say? That she was only trying to steal his soul? What would LeAnn think about her then? Instead, Destiny shrugged. “It’s a new relationship.”
“New or not, the guy really likes you.”
Destiny was about to take a bite of her doughnut, but paused. “Do you think so?”
“I know so.” LeAnn happened to glance at the clock, then choked down the rest of her doughnut. “Crap, I’ve gotta run. I’m due at work in ten minutes.”
She jumped up, downed a big swallow of coffee, but before LeAnn ran out she gave Destiny a quick hug. In the blink of an eye the other girl was gone. Destiny leaned back in her chair, smiling. Okay, so she liked LeAnn. What was the big deal?
She heard
a noise in the other room and shook her head. LeAnn would forget her head if it wasn’t tied on. Destiny came to her feet and strolled to the other room.
“What did you forget?”
Her smile disappeared when she spotted the man lounging on the sofa as he thumbed through one of the magazines she’d purchased.
“Vetis,” she whispered, barely able to say his name.
Vetis looked up. His dark eyes moved slowly over her as he came to his feet. He had the build of a god, the sexy good looks of a man who knew how to please a woman, and the deadly charm of the Devil himself—except he wasn’t a devil.
No, Vetis was a demon.
One of the most powerful.
One she never wanted to cross.
Chapter 15
Chance galloped across the land on his horse. The crisp morning air felt good. He could just as easily close his eyes and be at his destination, but sometimes it was the ride that made life more enjoyable.
Besides, he needed to clear his head. And there was something about feeling the wind rushing past that always gave him a thrill. No cares, no worries. It was just him and the horse.
Except no matter how fast he went this time, he couldn’t outrun his demons. Damn, he broke his own rule and made love to Destiny.
He waited for the guilt, the anger at his weakness to emerge, but it didn’t. The only thing that came to mind was how good it felt to pull her naked body against his, to plunge deep inside her hot body.
He groaned as his dick grew hard. He shifted on the saddle but it didn’t ease his discomfort. Chance wanted to make love to her again.
Ah hell, he had to get his thoughts in order and plan what he would do next. Instead of giving in to temptation and returning to Destiny, he tugged on the reins and stopped his mount beside the barn. He wasn’t ready to go inside and face the others just yet. At least not until he cleared Destiny from his mind. Instead, he strode around the corner toward the pool, but when he got there, her face still filled his thoughts, her body begged him to return and make love to her.
Please help me, he silently prayed as he began to strip out of his clothes, letting them fall to the pebbled surface in a heap. There was only one cure for getting Destiny off his mind so he could think straight.
He dove into the water.
When he surfaced Chance was gasping, his body one large goose bump. Damn, he didn’t expect the water to be that freakin’ cold! Shit! Fuck! What the hell was he thinking? But that was the problem, he wasn’t thinking at all. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he thought about anything other than making love to Destiny.
“What would possess a grown man to jump into frigid water?” Dillon asked, unable to keep the humor out of his voice.
Was nothing going right in his life? Chance’s whole body shook like a grass skirt on a hula dancer. He turned and faced Dillon. “I f-f-fucked her,” he said, trying to keep from shivering and having no luck.
One of Dillon’s eyebrows shot up. “And what, now you’re doing penance by freezing off your cock?”
“No, j-j-just trying not to think about f-f-fucking her again.”
“Is it working?”
“N-n-n-nooo.”
Laughter burst from Dillon as he scooped up Chance’s clothes. “Then get out of there before you don’t have anything left to fuck her with.”
“G-g-g-good idea.” He moved to the side, placed the palms of his hands on the side, and boosted himself out of the water, splashing water everywhere as he did.
Dillon dodged the droplets. “Hey, careful, that water’s freezing.”
“You d-d-don’t have to tel-l-l-l me.”
Dillon was still staring at Chance as he jerked on his clothes. Maybe his dick had frozen off and Dillon didn’t want to be the one who gave him the bad news. Chance was too afraid to look. Finally, he had to know what the hell he was looking at. “What?” he growled.
Dillon shook his head. “Nothing. I was only thinking you look kind of like a big Smurf.”
“Funny.” Great. Dillon, with his usual matter-of-fact attitude, was pointing out the obvious. “If I get pneumonia, then you’ll worry.”
“Nah, we can’t die. Well, at least not from doing something stupid like swimming in water which is well below freezing. If I were you, I would’ve turned the temperature up. You know Hunter likes the pool cold in the summer.”
“I don’t care what you would’ve done.” Chance stomped back toward the rec room doors. “And keep this to yourself.” If the others got wind of what he’d done, Chance would never live it down. Jumping into the freezing water just showed Chance exactly how much Destiny was screwing with his head.
“Of course I won’t say a word,” Dillon promised. “Why would you even think I would? We’re practically brothers. I’m deeply hurt you would even imagine that I would.”
Chance wasn’t sure if he believed Dillon or not. The guy had been laughing at him a moment ago. He didn’t have much choice, so he decided he wanted to stay on Dillon’s good side. “I’m sorry. It’s just that they would never let me live it down.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once inside, Chance went straight to his room, then stripped out of his clothes. He moved under the spray of a hot shower and finally started to thaw.
Jumping into the water was really dumb and it didn’t solve his problem. He still wanted Destiny as much as he did before almost freezing his dick off.
What the hell was he going to do?
He planted his palms on the shower tiles and lowered his head, letting the water pour over him until the chill finally left, but then thoughts of Destiny returned.
She was going to be the death of him. He snapped the water off and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a warm towel off the heated rack.
He needed a plan. He had to try to convince Destiny there was another path than the one she chose. Surely he could manage that.
He glanced at the clock. It was still early morning. He’d grab something to eat then figure out what he was going to do. He only needed time to sort through everything.
The house was quiet as he went down the stairs. Where were the others? Chance didn’t wonder long as he made his way toward the kitchen. The clanking of pans sounded like thunder during a bad storm. Being alone was out of the question. Not that he really felt like being by himself.
Hunter was scrambling eggs and Ryder was putting canned biscuits into the oven. No one would ever accuse them of being good cooks. And Dillon? He glanced up from placing sliced bacon in a skillet. Dillon’s expression immediately went bland.
Chance’s eyes narrowed. Dillon looked innocent. Too innocent. Chance didn’t buy any of it for a second.
“You told them,” he accused Dillon.
Dillon’s eyes widened. “Told them what?”
Chance’s gaze narrowed. Maybe he was wrong. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “I’m starved,” he said to change the subject.
“It’ll be ready in a jiffy,” Hunter said. “The biscuits were nearly frozen so they might take a bit to thaw.”
“The OJ is nice and cold. Pour you a glass?” Ryder asked. “Unless you’d like something warmer.”
Chance glared at Dillon.
“I didn’t say a word,” Dillon promised, then cast evil glances toward the other two men.
“And after we eat, we can all go for a swim. I hear the water is rejuvenating.” Hunter snorted.
“Crap, I told you two not to say anything.” Dillon slapped the skillet on the stove, then turned the burner on high.
Ryder grinned. “What did you expect us to do?” He met Chance’s gaze. “I told you having sex with your assignment wouldn’t be the end all. Now you’ll be able to convince Destiny that demons only lie. Just tell her there’s a better life waiting for her.”
All three looked his way, waiting for a response. Chance pulled out a chair and sat with a deep sigh, finally giving in. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
“Of course we’re right,” Hunter
said as he turned the burner off then carried the skillet of eggs to the table. He tossed a towel down then set the skillet on top.
There was a distinct odor coming from the skillet, and it wasn’t tempting Chance to scoop some out on the plate Hunter shoved in front of him. Dillon turned off his burner, but at least placed the bacon on a chipped blue plate rather than leaving the strips in the skillet. He carried it to the table after opening a window to let the smoke out.
Chance took one look at the greasy, burnt bacon and decided he would skip the eggs and bacon. Biscuits would be plenty. He wasn’t that hungry anyway.
Ryder opened the oven and grabbed a potholder. He juggled the pan before turning the biscuits onto a plate and brought them to the table. But when he pulled one biscuit away from the others, a glob of dough stretched all the way to his plate before breaking in two and snapping back.
“Maybe I should’ve left them in a little longer,” Ryder mumbled. “They’re brown on top, though.”
“I told you two that everything you fix is always undercooked,” Hunter groused.
Dillon snorted as he spooned up some eggs then dropped the burnt mess back in the skillet. “Do you think you might overcook things a little?”
Hunter’s eyebrows veed. “It’s healthier. Kills all the germs.”
“And taste,” Chance, Ryder, and Dillon grumbled in unison.
“Tell me what you really think.” Hunter glared at them.
Before a battle broke out about who cooked worse than the other, Chance spoke up. “I think Mama Paula’s.”
Hunter’s fuse snuffed out and his expression turned dreamy. “Mama Paula is definitely an angel when it comes to cooking.”
Ryder and Dillon nodded in agreement.
Anyone would think they would have learned to cook over the centuries, but none of them ever took the time to open a cookbook. Why should they when there were plenty of places to eat? But it didn’t mean they gave up trying. Hunter said it relaxed him. How anyone could ever feel relaxed after burning food Chance would never understand. He, on the other hand, didn’t even try.