I frowned. “Can you tell me exactly what’s on the agenda tonight? I don’t feel like being arrested for breaking and entering.”
He laughed. “So now is a bad time to tell you I have two balaclavas in the back seat and a sledge hammer?”
I took a step back, unsure if he was joking. Perhaps he was a caring dog superhero by day and a masked robber vigilante by night?
Oh, that just ruins everything.
He held up his hands, laughing at my expense. “Relax, Veves, it’s not illegal.”
I froze. “What did you just call me?
He paused. “Shit, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“Say what?”
“In my mind, I call you Vet Vesper. But it’s a bit of a mouthful, so I’ve shortened it to Veves.” He looked away. “It’s stupid, I know. Don’t worry, I won’t use it. I know how women are about pet names.”
“That’s true, about words like Baby and Doll Face—they’re too generic. But I kind of like Veves.”
He brightened. “Okay, great. I might use it occasionally when you least expect it.” Stepping back from my doorway, he bowed like a gentleman. “Well, now you’re assured I have no criminal intentions, are you ready to go?”
Grabbing my credit card and shoving it into my back pocket (screw carrying a heavy purse tonight), I nodded. “Yep, let’s get this date over with.”
“Oh, you wound me.”
I smirked. “If you think that hurts, you don’t know me very well. I have unlimited access to scalpels and needles. So be careful what you say.”
He backed away with a chuckle. “We’ve escalated to threats already? Christ, you move fast. Lucky for you, I love a woman with claws.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
---------------------
Ryder
“YOU’VE PLAYED THIS BEFORE, RIGHT?”
Vesper shook her head for the billionth time.
I had to admit, I’d had great fun laughing at her expense. Since the moment we arrived, she’d been uncomfortable. Then again, she had told me to think outside the box and take her on a random/fun date.
I chuckled. “I take it this is random enough for you?”
She scowled. “I don’t know why you’re doing this.”
“Because you told me to.”
“I didn’t mean literally take me to the most ridiculous place you can think of.” She hoisted her gun and rearranged her laser bulls-eye on the armed and ready to play vest. “I mean laser strike, really? What are we? School children?”
“You mean to tell me some boy already beat me and took you here when you were in school?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. I mean this is so juvenile.”
“Well, you banned dinner and romantic walks along the river, so…this is what you get.”
“All ready to go?” The attendant asked as I spun my weapon with cocky flair just to prove to Vesper that this might be a gimmick and purely stupid but I wouldn’t just sit and let her win.
When I played, I played.
The competitiveness of being the youngest brother meant I tried to outdo my sibling at every turn. Damn Rupert and his bloody arsenal of skills.
(And yes, you heard that right. Ryder and Rupert. My parents weren’t kind to us).
Rest in peace, Mum and Dad.
“How long does the game last?” Vesper asked timidly. “What if we want to just sit and watch?”
The pimply faced high-school student earning minimum wage scowled. “You come to play, not observe at Tag Team Target.”
“Why is it called Tag Team Target?” She tilted her chin. “I don’t see anyone else here but us.”
The kid rolled his eyes as if he couldn’t believe he was dealing with this. “Because you’re normally assigned to a group.”
Vesper looked around the empty entrance where racks of guns, bulls-eye vests, and black overalls hung on the available space. “Then where is everyone?”
Don’t do it, kid.
He did it anyway.
He ratted me out.
Pointing in my direction, he said, “He bought an hour for just the two of you.”
Vesper turned to face me. “You did?”
I smirked, trying to play it off as not a big deal. “Hey, I didn’t want to have to compete with pubescent horny teenagers rubbing you up in the dark.” I winked. “That’s my job.”
The attendant cleared his throat, moving toward the large door spray painted with ‘Enter If You Dare.’
“Have a good time. First to be shot twenty times loses. If you don’t manage to shoot your opponent that many times in the sixty minutes, the person with the lowest shots on their tally wins.” He gave a half-hearted grin—no doubt wanting to text his latest girlfriend and forget about working for a living. “Have a rockin’ time.” He swung open the door, holding it wide as we smiled and headed inside.
“You’re lucky I didn’t ask for the zombie special.” I nudged Vesper’s shoulder with mine as we made our way into a pitch black maze.
She stiffened. “What zombies? You didn't say anything about zombies.”
“That’s ‘cause there isn’t any.” My eyes strained in the gloom. “At least, I don’t think so.”
Her teeth flashed white. “Once this is over, don’t call me again.”
I might’ve been worried if her tone didn’t border apprehensive but excited, too. The things I planned on doing to her in the dark ran through my mind. Unlike her, I’d studied an illegal map of this place on Google. It was an old aircraft hangar that’d been completely shut up with nooks and crannies, overhead stairs, bridges, and forts dotted around in the blackness.
The key was to get to the centre of the maze with the least amount of laser kills on your bulls-eye. I planned on shooting a lot tonight—including my other weapon.
Vesper opened her mouth to berate me again but the overhead speakers crackled to life. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Tag Team Target. The aim of the game is to stay alive. Shoot your enemies but not those on your team and listen for the buzz when you score. Get to the centre and steal the trophy for extra points before the hour is up. And now, for the extra element to make this awesome game even harder.”
Vesper and I waited for the generic final instruction but heavy rock n’ roll fell through the speakers instead. The music disorientated us as we blinked in shock then dry ice smoke and strobe lights kicked in, turning a simple back box into a flashing torture chamber.
“Holy shit. Shouldn’t they have asked if one of us had a heart condition before turning this into an acid trip?” I bellowed over the music.
Vesper didn’t reply. Her attention was on the ceiling as the announcer cut through the crash of a drum set and yelled, “Three, two, one…go!”
I stood there, being the gentleman and waiting for her to take off running. I’d give her a head start. I would even let her shoot me first.
But that wasn’t what happened.
Not at all.
The damn veterinarian who hid her tears when told abuse of animals and had nerves of steel when sewing up a partially severed leg turned squarely to me, smiled, raised her gun, and fired.
My target made a death wheezing whine while hers made a victory trumpet. Blowing me a kiss, she said, “Whoops, one to me.” Turning on her heel, she sprinted away, yelling, “Oh, and I just stole your balls. Pussy!” Her laughter was a pure aphrodisiac.
Fuck, this was a bad idea.
If I caught her—when I caught her—I didn’t know how my self-control would be.
I had no idea what just happened.
Did that seriously just play out? Did the overly cautious, totally stuck up business owner just school me?
I’d been in trouble the moment I set eyes on her.
Now I was fucking smitten.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
---------------------
Vesper
WHAT THE HELL AM I doing?
I’d never been so carefree and idiotic. I felt lik
It was a sensory overload but not the reason my heart galloped in my chest.
It was because of him.
He’d refused to tell me where he was taking me. At the time, it had pissed me off but now, I was glad. There was no way I would’ve agreed to this stupidity but my God it was liberating.
I hadn’t been this silly in decades. I hadn’t been silly period. Being an only child meant I was more adult than kid from the moment I could speak. My mum was strict and tolerated perfection while my dad was under her thumb and never spoke otherwise.
Ryder was a cyclone in my quaint carefully rowed field. He’d just decimated my neat little cabbage patch, but I didn’t care in the slightest.
“I’m gonna find you, Ves!” His voice shouted over the boom of a guitar.
A manic giggle fell from my lips as I careened around a wedge wall and slammed to a stop in front of a metal staircase. Without thinking, I took the steps two at a time, able to see the floor between the open weaved metal construction.
The moment I was on the bridge, I charged back the way I’d come, looking below, seeking my prey.
He thought he could win?
No way.
Not going to happen.
It took a few moments, but I found him prowling like a cheetah around a corner, his gun high like a marine in a real war, his face splattered with pink and green laser beams from the crazy light show above.
Crouching down, I put my gun through the slats of the metal bridge and fired at the red bulls-eye on his spine.
Immediately, my vest trumpeted and his wheezed.
“Ah, shit. What the hell?!” He spun around, looking down the alleyway he’d stalked down.
When he couldn’t see me, I slapped a hand over my mouth to hold my giggles.
But then, he looked up.
We made eye contact.
My heart stopped.
Oh, no.
“Ah, there you are, my little Vet.”
I squeaked and darted to my right, running along the bridge—not knowing if it was a dead end or freedom.
“I’m going to catch you!” Ryder’s shouts merged with a cymbal crash and tambourine jingle. “And when I do, I’m going to take something I’ve wanted to take for months!”
I slammed to a stop. What the crap did that mean?
Was I safe here with him? He could do bad things to me and no one would know. No one would hear me scream.
For God’s sake, he took you home and bought you soup. If he was a secret psychopath, I think he would’ve chosen that particular moment to molest you.
Then again, I had been sick and gross. Perhaps he hadn’t wanted a transference of germs.
My mind raced, demented with the noise and lights.
Then the bridge juddered beneath my toes and I knew—just knew—he’d found the staircase and was only a few seconds behind me.
I flew.
My feet clanged on the metal as I headed left at a fork and darted down another set of stairs to vanish into a small tepee that smelled faintly of marihuana and had a glow-in-the-dark painting in the shape of Professor Einstein.
I huddled in the dark, waiting for him to either shoot me or appear in the entrance where I’d shoot him.
He did neither.
Arms wrapped around me from behind.
I screamed.
His lips landed on my ear. “It’s me.”
I froze as his gun clattered to the floor and he spun me around. Breathing hard, he yanked away my weapon and tossed it with his. “Gotcha.”
I trembled.
I didn’t know why he hadn’t shot me. This wasn’t part of the game. But I couldn’t speak as he walked me backward and backward, faster and faster until my spine slammed against Einstein's nose and grabbed my wrists, yanking them above my head.
I groaned as his lower half pressed against mine, welding his hard cock against my legs, driving his thigh against my clit. “Tell me now if this is a problem and I’ll stop.”
I shivered as his nose grazed my cheek. His teeth nipped at my jaw. “I thought I could go slow with you. I thought I could wait until after the game, take you for a nice meal—even though you told me not to—and then kiss you sweetly when I dropped you off home.”
His voice changed to a deep rasp. “But that was before you shot me. Twice. That was before you ran away from me and activated cave man urges I didn’t know I had.”
His breath scorched my skin as he pressed a kiss on my throat. “So, Vesper. What’s it gonna be? Can I kiss you?” He rocked his hips, pressing me harder against the wall.
I didn’t have control over my body anymore. All I felt was heat and pulsating deep in my core that matched the mayhem music around us.
“Can I taste you before I go out of my fucking mind?” His growl made me drenched.
Who was this man? He’d successfully hidden this sexuality beneath cute pickup lines, impatient quips, and caring stares of a man who rescued dogs as a hobby. I’d seen hints of an opinionated asshole at the beginning when he was surly and expected his commands to be obeyed.
But I would never have guessed being with him would be like this.
Like every dream come true.
“I need an answer, Ves,” he grunted, his teeth teasing my ear lobe. “Can I? Jesus, tell me I can kiss you.”
Vocabulary wasn’t something I could achieve in my current condition.
So a nod would have to do.
The moment my chin tilted up then down, it was over.
Not just the game but also my life as I knew it.
“Thank Christ for that.” His lips fastened on mine—hot and heavy and wet.
His fingers lashed tighter around my wrists, holding me firm as he forced my head to crash against Einstein's nose and accept a nasty, feral, hot-as-hell kiss.
This wasn’t a first kiss.
This was something explosive. This was dangerous, and it brought things out of me I didn’t know existed.
Instead of yielding to him and playing the meek, sensible girl I’d been all my life, I fought back. My mouth opened wide as his tongue teased my lips, giving him full entry with no refusal.
His groan ricocheted into my chest as he pressed his entire body against mine. His thigh rocked, giving my clit delicious friction as his erection dug harder and hotter into my hipbone.
Having him lose himself in this dark, maniacal world allowed me to do the same. I shed my skin of Vesper Fairfax—co-owner and perfect student—and became a sexual minx instead.
I tugged where he held my wrists, forcing him to give me slack.
His fingers unlocked as his grip skated down my body to join with his other hand which cupped my face. He held my cheeks prisoner as my own hands snarled over his body, digging into the ridges of his spine, crushing him closer, then dropping to knead his ass.
I didn’t let embarrassment or questions fill my head.
I just let myself live.
I let myself feel.
And if that meant we were nothing more than dry-humping, sexually frustrated strangers kissing like horny teenagers, then I was fine with that.
I cried out as his hands dropped from my cheeks to fasten on my breasts. The black lace bra I wore beneath my top felt like barbwire around my sensitive flesh as my body begged for him to strip me, bite me, take me.
My brain turned off.
My hands shot between us. I cupped his balls with one hand and caressed his hard length with the other.
“Holy fuck.” He thrust into my hands. “What the hell are you doing to me?”
He kissed me harder, yanking my straight hair as if I deserved a lesson for shocking him and touching what he told me I was allowed to touch.
And then, he was gone.
His heat was ripped away, his mouth, his passion.
I stood there gasping like a stupid out-of-water puffer fish as he paced in the small space, yanking his hands over his face and into his hair. His cock strained against his jeans, visible as the strobe lights continued to disorientate us.
“What the hell was that?” he asked, his face white but eyes so black with lust they clenched my stomach and made me ten times wetter. “Who the hell are you?”
I swallowed, rubbing my bruised and sore lips from his assault, revelling in the sensual pain. “You just said hell three times.”
He slammed to stop. “What?”
“Nothing.” I copied him and fluffed my hair, trying to repair the damage.
“That’s all you have to say after a kiss like that?” He planted himself in front of me. “Is that normal for you?”
The rock n’ roll music didn’t let up. This was not a conversation for this place. However, I couldn’t deny I’d never been kissed like that. “No, that wasn’t normal.”
“That’s it?” His forehead furrowed. “All you have to say?”
I splayed my hands. “I don’t know what you want me to say?”
“How about ‘wow’ or ‘holy shit?’ I need to know you felt what I just did. I’m going out of my goddamn mind.” He paced again. “If you felt the same, I don’t understand how you can be so calm. I feel like you’ve destroyed me. And if you can do that with one kiss…what the fuck is going to happen when we sleep together?”
“I’m not calm.”
I’m freaking the freak out.
It was our first kiss and yet things had happened on a crazy deep level.
“I think—let’s get out of here, okay?” I was sick of yelling. If he wanted to talk about this, we could, but not in this thumping tomb.
Ryder pinched the bridge of his nose. “Part of me wants to take you right here, to climb inside you and see just how good it is between us. The other part of me wants to shoot you twice just to even the score, but most of me wants to go somewhere private and finish what we just started.”
My breathing picked up as my body melted even more.
It was me who approached him this time.
I placed my hand over his heart—the rhythm matched mine. “In that case. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
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