by T. A. Grey
Under the first two shelves were more interesting books. These were historical books on knights, medieval weaponry, jousting, and the Knight’s Code of Conduct. Just how old was Brayden? Had he been a knight once upon a time? The thought of Brayden wearing heavy armor carrying a heavy sword fitted so well she knew it had to be possible.
She was about to go rifle through his desk, albeit with a little guilt, when a woman’s soft voice brought her head careening around. She followed the sound of womanly singing until it got louder and turned the corner into the dining room. With its white oblong table and elegant, high-backed white chairs, she found an older woman cleaning one of the tall windows with a pole-like object with a sponge at the end. It looked professional, like something building cleaners used.
“Hello,” Vanessa said.
The woman jumped then spun around, eyes scared. They calmed in an instant, but she raised a hand over her heart. “Lord, you scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone else was here.” Anyone else but Brayden, that is.
The other woman laughed a little. She had long hair pulled into a bun at the back of her head and a kind, round face. “Sorry, ’bout that. Brayden mentioned you were here, but I honestly forgot when I came in today. I’m Gail, the housekeeper,” she said coming forward and thrusting out a sturdy, strong looking hand.
Vanessa took it and smiled. “Vanessa. Nice to meet you. Do you happen to know where he is?”
Gail shrugged a big shoulder. She had the kind of body that said she’d done a lot of manual work in her days, and there’d been a lot of them. “Probably still in his room. It’s Friday, which means it’s food time for him. So, are you all right, honey? What’s brought you here? I’ve never seen Brayden with a woman before.” Gail gave her a pointed look that just begged to hear all the juicy gossip.
Vanessa fidgeted. “Well, he’s helping me with some business.” She left it at that. No way did she want to delve into her marital problems.
“Ah, well it’s nice to see another face around the house. It’s always so quiet here. Gets pretty boring.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Plus, Brayden could use a little spice in his life. The man never does anything exciting. I think you might just be what he needs to liven up a bit.” She winked, then went back to cleaning the window.
Vanessa stood rooted in place for a minute before the sound of heavy footsteps sounded at the stairs. She moved into the hallway and started to smile Brayden, but the smile halted then faded at the harsh look on his face. His eyes were screwed tight, his cheeks pinched, and his lips flat.
“What’s wrong?”
Ignoring her, he passed by, said a quick hello to Gail, then grabbed her hand and tugged her into his office. He closed the door behind him and suddenly she remembered being alone with him in her room, and that hot kiss. Don’t think about, Vanessa. It’s only going to get you into trouble.
He stood a few feet away from her, that harsh frown on his face. Unease skittered through her like snakes.
She rubbed a hand across the back of her neck. “What is it?”
His mouth twitched, and not in a laughing way, then he looked away from her then back again. “I called Joseph.”
Her response came instantly and without thought. “You did what!” she yelled.
He seemed to harden, his body stiffening, eyes looking stern. “I called him. I told you I would.”
Breathing became hard. She knew her chest was rising and falling hard, but couldn’t seem to get enough air.
“Shit,” he cursed. Then he pushed her into a chair and shoved her head between her legs. “Breathe even and slow now. Come on, Vanessa.”
Oh, God, she couldn’t. Each breath of air felt way too short for what she needed. She couldn’t breathe slowly; she could only suck in air fast then blow it right back out. His big hand spanned her shoulders, rubbing in circles again and again.
“Take it easy, now. I’m going to protect you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
In and out, she sucked in air, squeezing her eyes shut as sweat beaded her forehead. His deep voice was so soothing though, and the hand on her back moved slowly around and around. She repeated what he said as a mantra in her head until finally, she breathed in a deep breath that actually felt like it reached all of her lungs, then let it out on a long whoosh of air. She felt much better, back to herself, and very angry.
Sitting back, she swiped his hand away from her. His jaw clenched and rocked to the side, but fuck him. What did he have to be mad about? She stood and got in his face, or the best she could, considering he had several inches on her.
“Why the fuck did you do that? And without telling me? Without my damn permission?”
He crossed his arms across his big chest. “I had to, Vanessa. I had to see where he was at on this.”
She threw up her hands. “So much for trusting me. So, tell me, did he agree to a divorce since you asked him about it? Did he agree to sign the papers and fax them so kindly to the Justicars Headquarters for me?” She crossed her own arms, but that didn’t make her feel better, so she squeezed her arms with her hands until little throbs of pain reared up.
“No; no, he didn’t,” he said softly.
She laughed the sound bordering on hysterical. “Oh, great. Now he knows where I am. Isn’t that just dandy. You know, this is all my fault. I never should have trusted you. I never should have even come here.” God, she felt like crying and hitting something and screaming all at the same time.
But she did none of those things. Instead, she calmly turned and strode to the door. Her hand curled around the handle just as a much bigger hand flattened against the door. She stared at the wood door, her jaw tight. “Let go.”
“Look at me, Vanessa.”
She studied the deep lines of the wood where veins were darker than the rest.
“God dammit, just turn around!”
Fine, she did. He stared at her, then wordlessly mouthed something, running an agitated hand through his hair. “I had to and I can still help you. I can still protect you.”
“Oh, really?” she asked, sarcasm locked on heavy. “How do you plan to do that? Really, I want to know.”
He lifted his hand as if he was about to say something, then dropped it with a slight shake to his head. “I’m going to contact your father and try that route.”
She clapped her hands together. “Brilliant! And when he tells you he won’t void the contract that’s now doubled the size of his land?”
He ground his jaw to the side. “Then I’ll think of something else.”
She chuffed and wished her heart didn’t feel like it was breaking. It did though. It was one thing knowing she’d never be able to get a divorce from Joseph and another entirely to see the Justicar Brayden, a man much smarter than herself, especially in the way of the law, tell her he’d ‘think of something else.’ Yeah, right.
“I think we’re done here,” she said, her voice hollow.
“Vanessa...”
She turned and paused with her hand on the door. She laughed suddenly, the sound low and raw. “You know, I thought I was pissed with your reaction after we kissed, but this—this is so much worse.” She turned the door handle and left, happy he didn’t call after her. At least, she wished that made her happy.
Chapter 7
Vanessa tiptoed downstairs, no easy feat in high heels. The house rested with a quiet that you’d expect in a house where no one lived here. Not a TV was on, not a radio, and no murmurs of conversation could he heard, and it wasn’t even late. Which was great for her.
She went to the wooden side table near the front door and picked up Brayden’s black leather wallet. Weird, it was such a normal thing for a man to leave his wallet by the door, but it still seemed odd to her. Maybe because the way Brayden acted wasn’t so normal, at least to her. Yet, she was beginning to learn many things about him weren’t as she’d thought. Such as, that like any normal person, he kept his keys and his wal
let on the side table by the front door, and that he could be very kind if he wanted to be.
She smirked and opened the wallet then peered over her shoulder quickly to make sure no striking gray eyes stared her down. All clear, she rifled through and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. Normally she might feel guilty about something like this, but not now; not after that fight with him this morning. God, it hurt so bad to know he’d gone behind her back like that. She didn’t even want to think about it, because every time she did, she pictured her fist connecting with his jaw. That was a half-truth. She really didn’t want to think about it because every time she did, her chest squeezed like a force pushed at it and her eyes got all wet. Fuck that and fuck him. She didn’t need him.
After she’d stormed away, Vanessa had quickly realized that she didn’t have as much time as she’d originally thought to carry out her dreams. Not with Joseph now having some idea where she was. So first thing, she went through her mental list of wants. First, she wanted to go clubbing. She’d love more than anything to have a group of girlfriends to go with her, to laugh and drink with while dancing their asses off, but she had none of that. So instead, she’d put on the sexy little black dress she’d bought with a pair of black heels and dabbed on some mascara and lip gloss. She’d scrunched up her hair so it looked wild and sexy like bed-head. The soft rustling fabric of the dress clung just so against her bare skin, and she had a lot of it. A stringy thong was all she wore under the dress and the low-cut front certainly didn’t leave room for a bra, not that she really needed one with her barely-there breasts.
Second, she wanted to have awesome, jaw-dropping, scream-from-the-top-of-your lungs sex with a hot man. If luck sided with her tonight, she might be able to cross out number one and number two at once. Three, she wanted to enroll in college. And four—this goal she’d really thought long and hard on—she wanted to taunt Brayden. She glanced at his driver’s license and smirked. Make that Brayden Erickson. She wanted him to drool after her, to get so hot for her that he’d do anything to touch her, then she'd turn him down. She’d take his ‘Get off me, Vanessa’ and shove an ‘Oh, no thanks, Brayden’ right in his face after he panted for her. It was a petty goal, but one she looked forward to. It’s the least she could do with the fact that he’d telephoned her ‘mate’ without asking her. Not that she would have agreed to it anyway.
A sound reached her ears and she tensed, her breath freezing in her lungs so she could use all her senses to listen. The sound was of a footstep on the wood floor, the slight compression of wood from having weight pressed upon it. Wide-eyed, her gaze darted to the top of the stairs and she stayed frozen. If he came out of his bedroom and looked down over the stairwell, he wouldn’t see her. Another groan from the floor came and she tiptoed into the dining room on the right, flattening against the wall closest to the stairs so he wouldn’t see her. She stayed that way, her heart beating frantically hard, so hard she had trouble hearing over it. She breathed in quietly through her nose until her heartbeat settled, then she heard a door open and close upstairs. The breath she’d been holding blew out in a whoosh.
She kept her eyes trained on top of the stairs as she strained on the edge of her toes to the front door. God, she hadn’t felt this kind of excitement in a long time—that she might get caught. And get caught by the gorgeous Brayden. Her body grew hot at the thought, but she sighed with disappointment. It wouldn’t be worth the trouble. The man didn’t have a passionate bone in his body. Okay maybe a little one—she’d been on the other side of his kiss, if only for a moment. It had made her feel weak, breathless, and hot all at the same time. She wanted more of that; and tonight, she was going to get it. Just not from Brayden Erickson.
She flipped the deadlock and winced as the metal mechanism sounded like a mini-explosion in the deathly quiet house. The lock of the door handle proved much softer, nearly silent as she turned it. Before she left the house, she sent one last look up the stairs, somehow wanting, hoping, and hating for him to be standing there ready to stop her and be the one she’d escape into a world of pleasure with. No one stood up there though, only the shadows moving from the moon casting off the trees outback and splaying through the window.
She turned and quietly closed the door. The blue car was parked next to his SUV in the garage port. She ran across the yard, a goofy grin on her face as her pulse pounded with fear and excitement. Upon closer inspection, she realized this wasn’t any car. It was a Mercedes-Benz. It looked sharp, sleek, and more than a little badass.
Her eyes flicked up to the windows of the house, but no face loomed so she unlocked the car door, got in, took a deep breath, then started the car. The inside of the car was way too nice. Leather seats, a touch screen GPS system; all the gadgets on the dashboard were black and shiny and even the wheel looked fancy with its two-toned colors. Black at the top and bottom and the same cream color on the sides to match the leather seats.
She didn’t have time to sit and ogle the car so she moved fast, backing up, then shoving the car into drive and pulling away from the house. It was no use going slow. If he heard anything, he might have heard the roar of the engine starting, which the confines of the detached garage seemed to amplify all too well.
She peeled off across his circular driveway, rolling down her windows so the cool air whipped her hair across her shoulders and neck like a teasing caress. Then she flicked on the radio, choosing a station playing pumping hard beats and cranked the baby up. She headed to the club and howled out the window into the night.
She headed into downtown feeling alive, beautiful, and confidant, like she could rule the world; nothing could stop her. The cool breeze chilled her cheeks; the techno pounding beats of the song blaring blocked out everything else around her until was just her and her grin. She pulled into the parking lot across from the club she’d eyed when she’d first gotten into town, haggard and looking for a job. She’d seen it and knew she had to try it at least once.
She took a parking ticket from the little meter box and the bar blocking her lifted swiftly. Ten dollar parking, per hour, cash only, read the sign. Ouch; but, oh well. Tonight would be worth the dip into her little bit of money.
She parked, grabbed the small purse she’d bought at the mall and zipped across the street to Vision Nightclub. A line of glammed up gals and guys waited outside between red movie theater partitions. Vanessa had her first wave of doubt as she eyed that line. The line meant she wasn’t getting in. The line didn’t move, which also meant the club was probably full and most likely, only a handful more people might get in before closing.
Still, she crossed to the sidewalk and headed down toward the entrance. People glanced her way, some girls giving her dirty looks as if to say ‘if we can’t get in, you can’t either!’ They were probably right, too. She kept her chin held high and walked up to two tall, broad-chested men who looked like they spent a lot of time in the gym.
She put on her best smile. “What’s it take to dance in this place?”
The bouncer didn’t look fazed by her smile. “Fifty dollar cover fee and a wait in line.”
“Damn,” she muttered.
The bouncer next to him elbowed his buddy. “Let her in.”
Bouncer number one looked at number two in disbelief. “Why the hell should I?”
Bouncer number two winked at her. “Beautiful women are always welcome in the club.”
She didn’t want to blush, but it happened anyway. “We got a line of hot babes, Carl,” replied bouncer one.
“None without a fake tan and a shit-ton of makeup. Just let her in.”
After some grumbling, bouncer one lifted the hook on the velvety red rope and she passed through, giving bouncer two a bright smile as he held the door open with her.
“Have a good time, babe.”
“Will do,” she promised and winked back.
As she made her way into the club, she realized she was closer to reaching goal number two pretty quickly. Though the bouncer wasn’t hot so m
uch as attractive, and he certainly didn’t get her hormones pumping like Brayden did. Oh, well, she sighed and squeezed her way into the club. The pulsing music, the dark atmosphere with sweeping and blinking blue, pink, and red lights instantly enthralled her. The club had a rectangular dance floor packed full with bodies, people throwing up their hands and cheering on a DJ who worked the turntable on a small stage up above.
Smiling, she took it all in. There was another floor above her and people crowded against the railing, dancing in place and swinging their hands in the air to the pulsing, hip-shaking rhythm of the music. Vanessa waded her way through the pile of bodies down a short flight of stairs to a bar. She didn’t mind waiting for the bartender to see her because she moved in place to the music, grinning like a fool. Finally, the bartender spotted her and she ordered a hurricane. She’d never tried one before but she heard it had lots of alcohol in it and she planned to get shit-faced tonight. One couldn’t go clubbing and not loosen up a bit, right? She paid cash for the drink and sipped her sweet and very strong tasting hurricane as she made her way back upstairs to the main dance floor.
A DJ with a deep, sexy voice spoke into the mic and the crowd went wild before he did some fancy whirling sounding thing on his turntable and rolled them into another hip-thrusting rhythm. Oh God, it felt so good she just wanted to scream. She finished her drink way faster than she knew she should considering she never drank, deposited it on a small table with other empty drinks, then squirmed her way in between the bodies, and lost herself in the rhythm of the music.
Eyes closed, she swung her hips, dipped her knees, raised her hands and found a sort of freedom in her heart she’d never experienced before. She felt so alive. Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, and panic rushed through her making her breath catch, but one look over her shoulder found a good-looking human with gelled up black hair wearing too much cologne. She didn’t care; she danced with him. He swayed with her, spun her out the best he could in the tight space, then twirled her back into his arms where they writhed together, chest to chest, thigh to thigh.