“We’re advancing, as always,” he demurred, fixing her with an acidic stare. “How’s Lenora doing?”
“Better since she’s away from you, bastard.” Danica’s light tone didn’t drop for a heartbeat, but the menace crept into her voice nonetheless. Liz pursed her lips together to hide her grin as Larsen blinked, affronted by the woman’s lack of social pirouetting.
“Good to hear.” His voice came off pinched as he zoned his attention on Liz. She gazed back coolly. With a shark like him, she couldn’t let him see how much the man set her nerves on edge. “How did my brother end up procuring a hunter to his side? If you’re willing to betray your own, there are better opportunities than traveling with unaligned fae. If you were looking for employ, I could offer to pay you more than most of your kind would see in a lifetime.”
She’d been waiting for him to try and spring some ploy. Based on the sadistic relationship Kieran and his brother had, it was only a matter of time before Larsen tried to take his ‘toy.’
“Oh honey, you don’t know the slightest thing about me.” Liz smirked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “It’s cute you think I’d go scurrying once you flash some cash, but I’m not interested. If you haven’t taken note, your company’s not in high demand right here.” The words spilled out of her mouth before she helped it, but as Danica’s smile widened and Larsen’s gaze darkened, satisfaction welled in her chest.
“Claimed or not, you’re the enemy, sweetheart,” he responded in an acid tone. “You’ll only ever bring him trouble.” Without another word, Larsen turned in his Gucci loafers and strode toward the open doors.
Liz’s heart pumped fast. Even though she kept a confident smile on her face, the sinking in her chest arrived with the realization she’d painted a big bullseye on her forehead for whatever cronies he would send after them. And unlike the rest of the boys, she didn’t have fast healing abilities or acid-resistant skin. All she had was a Beretta, a mile wide stubborn streak, and a mean mouth.
“I like you, girlie.” Danica’s chocolate eyes gleamed as she clapped her hands together.
Liz controlled the worry flushing through her. The brief conversation with Larsen revealed one thing: Danica had told the truth about her sister. “If you’re looking to take the asshole down a peg, I want in.”
“We’re drawing straws at this point.” Liz shrugged, pressing her palms on the bench. “The boys are playing this gig so we can try and find out why the hell Lars has taken an interest in Kieran now.”
“I can hazard a guess at the cause of the stir-up, just not why he’s honing in on his brother,” Danica baited as her plum lips curled into a mischievous grin. Liz tilted her head to the side, careful not to ask. Even though the woman appeared trustworthy, as the one human in the swimming pool, she needed to keep her wits about her. “The Blackmore family’s taken a social dive as of late. His father got involved in a failed plot against one of the Seelie leaders, so they’re on the shit list.”
“That sort of thing common?” Liz raised a brow.
Danica shrugged. “Our kind have long lives and get bored easily. You do the math.”
“Fair enough.” Liz smoothed her voluminous skirts, watching the sheen of the fabric ripple in the soft light of the atrium. The acoustics from Discord’s Desire’s show filtered in from a few rooms over, and Kieran’s silken voice carried with the breeze. Of course, upon glance in past the glass doors, a horned fae pinned a nymph against a wall with their lips locked, and a satyr engaged in the bump and grind with two eager participants. She squeezed her thighs together at the mere memory of the other night and how close she and Kieran came to diving off that ledge.
“Will you be in San Fran for a bit?” Danica asked, rising from the bench before she shimmied to smooth out her lengthy dress.
“Yeah, we’re playing a couple of shows in the area this week.” Liz followed suit and hopped up from her seat, not comfortable hanging out here by her lonesome after the way Larsen stormed off. The song finished with a crescendo, and Kieran’s shout into the microphone echoed to where they stood.
“Thank you, folks, we are Discord’s Desire!” It was the phrase they always used to sound off the end of their set. Which meant she better get her ass in there so Kieran didn’t storm through the place on a murderous rampage to find where she’d disappeared to.
“Here,” Danica said, slipping a business card into her hand. “If you want to swap dirt in a more private place, then you and the boys can come hit me up. I might even have some intel on all this hunter business. Don’t think I didn’t notice the thirsty look crossing your face at the mention.”
Liz nodded, not glancing to the card as she slipped it into her bodice. Without pausing for a heartbeat, the two of them strolled toward the glass doors, heading for the now crowded entertainment room. She lifted her chin as she returned to the lascivious environment, the stench of sex thickening the air, remainders of their performance. Her stomach flip-flopped once she walked into the room. Even though the boys had exited the stage, she knew what would come the moment she stepped to the back.
She and Kieran headed for a collision, but time or fate would tell if she awaited a sweat-slicked back alley entanglement or an inevitable implosion.
Chapter Twelve
The walk to the RV was agonizing.
The second he stepped offstage, Kieran beelined for the crowd, searching for where Liz had wandered off to. She appeared almost as soon as he dove into the crowd, but instead of talking to him, she brushed by on her way to the back with the others, her glacial gaze piercing him through. He quickened his pace to walk in line with her, but she just murmured ‘Once we’re out of here.’
Jett hung back to spend more time socializing while Renn and Trevor gave one glance in Liz’s direction and decided to find somewhere to slam a few pints in town. Which left him alone with Liz at last as they returned to the RV. He dreaded and craved this conversation, which based on the arctic way she regarded him could go horribly wrong. However, given time to simmer, his own defenses were riding in on horseback, and he didn’t believe he made the wrong call on the situation.
“Where did you dart off to?” He shattered the silence between them, curiosity getting the better of him. The air froze in response. His temper stirred in the interim, because when it came to her, he’d fight for a resolution. “Fine. Be pissed off. I did what was necessary given the situation. Maybe I should’ve conferred with you, but we didn’t have the time for a discussion on the floor of the shitty ass party, and I made a gut call. I’d do it again, too.” His gaze heated as they reached the RV, and both of them came to a halt.
Liz met his eyes, her hands on her hips. “Do you think I’m so fucking weak?” Her voice came out low with restrained anger waiting in the wings. “I get you’re impulsive. I get you made a gut decision, but this one doesn’t just affect you. It’s about me. You can’t have a hold over me for the rest of my life. What if I leave? What if I fall for a guy on the road and end up retiring my constant travels to build a life with him?” Those words sliced into Kieran with an intensity that twisted and burned.
“Then we’ll go our separate ways. I didn’t make the call because I’m binding you to my side from here to forever, babe. I claimed you because I will always care about you, come what may.” Even though his insides seared and he struggled to see a future without her in his life, he’d hold by his promise. He didn’t want a world without Liz O’Brien in it.
She opened her mouth as if she were about to argue but closed it again. Her brows furrowed together as she processed his words, and pensiveness settled over her. Even standing in front of him with her fists balled, her lips pressed all serious-like, and ruffled in a flowing dress that made her skin glow, she looked radiant. The tension stretched between them to the point he could burst.
Liz let out a sigh and uncurled her fists.
“You’re an idiot,” she said, shaking her head. The pressure deflated from the room, and relief saturated h
is chest. A weary smile played on her lips, one he latched onto. He’d believed she might cut him out for good then and there.
“Not arguing in the slightest.” He leaned against the RV and lit a cigarette. The smoke unfurled as the sweet hit of nicotine flooded him. Tonight stirred up too many turbulent emotions between encountering Misandra and Larsen and then the goddamned tension between him and Liz.
“Look, I get your brother is a psychotic freak.” Liz sidled next to him and pressed against the RV. “He approached me while you were onstage.”
Kieran’s insides plummeted. Not again. Not this nightmare parade all over again. Any time he’d come close to happiness, his brother found a way to intervene. And who wouldn’t go for Larsen? The man was loaded, high up on the Court food chain, and the slick sort of handsome women lost their shit over. Just once he wished he’d be the one chosen in the end.
“What did he offer you?” Kieran’s tone grew bitter. “Money? Protection? A one night stand you’d never forget?”
Liz’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think I gave his proposal a moment’s consideration? Fuck you.”
He let out a cloud of smoke with another exhale to keep from responding at once. Already he’d jumped to incorrect conclusions. His stomach tightened. “Sorry,” he bit out. “To say it’s happened before would put it mildly.”
“You’re never going to escape the past if you’ve entrenched yourself in it,” she muttered before stealing the cigarette from his fingers and sucking in deep. A vicious trail of smoke bloomed from her mouth a moment later. She exhaled before passing it back. “I get it—this is the back and forth you and your brother have had from the beginning of time. But why not break the trend? If the Court and his standing is the most important thing to him, then steal your power back.”
“You think I haven’t tried?” Kieran tapped ash onto the concrete. “He’s got enough resources and connections to keep him a step ahead. Most times I’d ride out the wave until he got distracted.”
Liz’s mouth curved in a sharp smile, her eyes hard. “Yeah well. See if he’s got so many connections while your father’s disgraced.”
His head snapped up so fast he near gave himself whiplash. “Where did you hear that?” Kieran wouldn’t have been on the news chain since he’d been cut out of the family. Smug satisfaction welled inside him that the man who valued his status and position more than his own flesh and blood would fall. The entire Blackmore family consisted of self-serving vipers with Court addictions on power trips the size of Mars.
Liz shrugged, opening the door to the RV. “Hey, I wasn’t wasting my time at the ball. We went for a reason.” He followed her up the steps and shut the door behind him, curiosity pulsing through his veins like a second heartbeat. She hustled toward the back of the bus, pausing to kick her heels to the far corner of the RV, and then she tested her zipper. Her fingers snagged it, but she lost the grip a second later.
“Need help?” Kieran offered, his gaze lingering on the creamy slip of skin exposed by the low backline.
She gave him the side-eye. “That’s not an invitation to strip me.”
“Who me? I’m a perfect gentleman,” Kieran responding with mock indignation as he slunk up beside her. This close, her clean citrus scent lingered, and when he grabbed the zipper of her dress, his knuckles brushed against her warm, yielding skin. The temptation to taste surged through him so strong and fast his erection near popped the fly of his jeans. He took his time unzipping her dress, watching the way her breath hitched as his knuckles trailed down her back.
And with her, the attraction was all real, unlike with the humans and fae who reacted to his incubus abilities. Every gasp, the taut muscles of her neck, and how her chest swelled belonged to Liz. Her neck lay a whisper away, and it took all of his control to not lean down and press his lips against the slope. Before he gave in to temptation, she whirled around, clutching the front of her dress against her breasts.
“Thanks,” she murmured, a breathy quality to her voice that shot straight through to his painful erection. Winter’s breath, he’d have to spend some quality time in the shower after this. She took two steps toward her bed in the back but paused. One of her straps slipped down her shoulder as she spun around to face him again.
“Kieran,” the words barely left her before he closed the gap between them.
No more hesitation. No more waiting.
He dipped down, claiming her mouth. The air between them grew syrup thick, and her sweet taste flooded his mouth, a delicious, ripe nectar. Sparks ignited when their lips touched as he let the electric waves roll through him. If the sight of her sinful body made him hard before, it was nothing compared to having those lush lips on his. He wanted more. His hands grabbed her waist as she deepened the kiss between them. When she opened her mouth for him, he plunged his tongue inside, caressing hers. Her hands latched onto his shoulders with a possessiveness that ratcheted his need.
Kieran had his fair share of kisses in the past to the point where they all blended together over time in an endless blurred parade. Several stuck out in his mind, like the beauty of a pristine summer night, but once his lips crashed against hers, he knew this would be one for the books. If he thought one taste would be enough, he was damned wrong. The woman demanded his attention like an addiction, and as he met her mouth again and again he couldn’t get enough.
She grazed his lower lip with a nibble, a continual tease. She would deepen her kiss a heartbeat later to playfully tug away again in a moment. He had enough of patience, and each time she led him around, he’d devour her anew.
Her nails dug into his shoulders, sending a thrill through him that left aftershocks and testing his restraint. Renewed energy flooded through him, sending him diving back for more. The low moan slipping from her throat rocked him to the core. Her other sleeve slipped down her shoulder, and his fingers latched onto the sleek fabric, ready to dash it to the floor.
Drunk on lust, he traced her lower lip with the tip of his tongue before diving in again. Her thighs pressed against his with a demand he would gladly acquiesce to.
A clash sounded from the door of the RV.
Adrenaline pierced through the haze as the warning bells went off in his head. In the same moment, Liz surged away from him on the alert. Kieran whipped around to face the intruder, his shoulders tensing and his hand groping for the knife at the table.
“Well, wasn’t that a waste,” Jett called as he creaked up the stairs. By the time Jett headed toward them, Liz had vanished. Kieran stood there, his heartbeat racing and heat pumping through his body. His second-in-command strained the seams of his jeans. In the matter of seconds, all the fire igniting between them vanished with the interruption, and agitation flooded through in the wake. Letting out a hiss, he reached into his pocket for another cigarette and lit it on instinct.
“Come on, man, do you want Renn up our asses all night?” Jett complained as he reached past him to yank the window open.
Kieran sucked in a drag as if his life depended on it, resisting the urge to deck his siren brother for terrible timing. His body hummed like a guitar string begging to be plucked, but based on the way Liz hurtled to the back, it didn’t look like those desires were getting fulfilled any time soon. The irritation tapping at his veins soured his mood at once.
“Well, I wouldn’t be getting much intel anyway with Larsen getting in my way half the night,” Kieran muttered between drags.
“Jessa says hi, by the way. She’s got it bad for you, bro.” Jett popped into the booth. Based on the eye scan Jett gave him, Kieran’s state of pissed off broadcasted clear, but Jett ignored it anyway.
“Like I give a fuck.” Kieran ashed in the glass cup lying around much to Jett’s apparent disdain.
A slight rustle drew his attention coming from the back of the RV. Liz emerged in a long olive tank top and tight shorts he wanted to rip off the second she entered the room.
“Lizzie, maybe you can soften Ky’s mood. He’d make a kitten cry
with one look from his surly mug.” Jett joked, clasping his hands behind his head as he leaned into the booth.
As fast as Kieran’s lust departed, it returned the moment their eyes met. He shifted, trying to keep his hormones on lockdown as she wrapped those long legs around a chair, bracing herself on the back. She would’ve been twined around him if they hadn’t been interrupted.
Funny first for him, because he never used to care about privacy with any of the other women he’d dragged into his bed. The guys had caught him nailing former conquests against the side of the RV, backstage, or even in the bathroom at a bar with no shame. Whether due to Liz’s elusiveness or because he’d felt mighty possessive as of late, he didn’t want what emerged between them to be shared around the RV. He wanted something unique, for him alone.
Her gaze snared his, and her lips curved in a feline grin that got his heart marching in double time.
Ever able to keep her cool, she responded to Jett. “Maybe he just needs to let off some steam.” Even though her tone didn’t hint it at all, the wicked ways her eyes gleamed set his libido on fire. He sure as hell could think of a few ways to blow off steam, all of which involved her in his bed.
“Want to hit a bar? It’s not too late,” Jett offered, tapping his fingers along the surface of the hardwood table in front of him.
Liz shook her head as she settled into the chair. “I’ve got some discussing to do with both of you.” She flipped a business card between her fingers, too fast for him to catch the words.
Kieran quirked a brow. They’d gotten so caught up in the moment he’d forgotten their discussion from before and the information about his family she’d been about to disclose. He settled into the booth, wishing his erection would vanish.
“Either of you ever met a leannan sidhe named Danica before?” she asked, squeezing her bare thighs against the sides of the chair.
Kieran fought to pay attention to what she said, distracted by the way her body moved. He’d been an idiot to think one taste might be enough.
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