And a new, metal coffee cup.
He took a sip from it, enjoying the taste even though the caffeine didn’t do much more for him than alcohol did. As always, his best and most dependable source of energy was the energy bars. But the taste of the coffee was nice, hot and strong and sharp. Kind of similar to whatever feeling he got when he thought of Brooke in her thin night clothes, touching him. Her kiss that surely hadn’t been more than gratitude, but had turned him inside out with hunger since then.
“Morning, Sunshine,” he said as she walked into the kitchen, and then cursed internally while he took a sip. Where had he heard that? He couldn’t remember. It suited her, though. She looked fresh and bright with her hair up in a bouncy pony-tail like the day they’d met.
She looked at him funny, but nodded and said, “Good morning.”
“Uh-Oh. Not a good morning?”
“Not the best, no.” She reached up into the cabinet for a mug and her shirt road up, revealing the edge of something pink and lacy over the top of her jeans.
He burned his mouth on too big of a gulp of coffee, and set his cup down with a wince as she poured her cup. And then added lots of cream, lots of sugar. He looked into his cup. What would that taste like? Someday he’d try it.
Probing, he asked, “You okay?”
She sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just that whole not sleeping well thing. And I don’t know what I was thinking, calling the insurance company before coffee.” The face she made at that statement almost made him laugh but she looked unhappy, so he held it in.
“That bad, huh?” he asked over the rim of his cup.
She nodded, and took a sip. “They’re trying to short me out of some of the insurance money they owe me for the fire. But I had coverage, and I have a list of everything I lost and the value.” Her face crumpled and she waved a hand. “All my clothes, my furniture, my TV, my computer… ” She looked at him and he could see the distress in her dark eyes. “I need that money to replace my things, get a new place. Get my life back together, after… ” Her hand waved around. “All this.”
“I’m sorry.” And he was. He didn’t know anything about that insurance crap, and he didn’t have many possessions, but he remembered how it had felt to see one of his glass art pieces shattered on the floor, his favorite one. It hadn’t been comfortable. How would he feel if he lost it all, his clothes, his knives, his glass art, all at once? And couldn’t replace it? That was how Brooke felt, on top of being thrown in the middle of a war she didn’t know existed. “Those bastards better pay up,” he growled before taking another sip.
Her head snapped up, and then a smile played over her lips. “Yeah, those bastards better.” He hated to see it fade so quickly. “So how’s things going with the Chaolt, and the bait, and all of that?”
He kept his face blank and shrugged. “No new developments.” It wasn’t a lie, but he felt a pang of guilt when she looked relieved. “But it’s still early,” he said grudgingly. He didn’t want to scare her; he wanted her prepared.
No, nothing new had happened, but they hadn’t left either. The Chaolt stayed right on the fringe of their senses, and he couldn’t figure out what they were waiting for. He and the other soldiers had been careful. Had they noticed them guarding her house? Were they waiting for her to leave for an easier snatch? He couldn’t be sure. They just weren’t acting the way they usually did.
He didn’t like it though, that the unease had returned to her face. And he’d probably pay for it later, but for now he wanted to reassure her. He walked over and propped himself against the counter right next to her, their feet almost touching. “If anything happens I’ll let you know, but I think you can relax for now.”
“That’s good I guess, because that seems to be all there is to do.” Her tone made him glance at her. “It’s driving me crazy, not having anything to do.”
He nodded. Despite her interrupted sleep, she was always full of nervous energy looking for an outlet. The most male part of him had an idea for how she could use all that energy, but he kept his mouth shut until he came up with another suggestion. “Do you want to watch TV? They’re doing X-Files re-runs right now if you’ve never seen it.” As young Warriors preparing for their missions here, they’d spent almost as much time in this world as their own. Television had been great for teaching them how to speak the languages in a way that allowed them to blend in. Plus The X-Files was awesome.
An eyebrow went up. “X-Files? Really?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” The episode “Fire” had started off in a way that made him a little nervous. It was all too familiar, charred bodies found in their beds. That was what you found when a Chaolt got to a weak Fire Erratic. But thankfully they’d taken the episode in a completely different direction after that.
“Sure, why not,” she said shrugging, “I don’t have anything better to do after I get back anyways. I’ll meet you in the living room.”
“After you get back?”
“Yes, I meant to talk to you about this,” she said, and sat her coffee down. “After I talked to the insurance company, my boss called. I need to go into work for a bit. Not being there has left her stuck on a big project, so even though I’m not required to go back yet, I need to go help her out.”
“Brooke…” He sat his cup down again and crossed his arms, the coffee turning into a hot stone in his gut. “Brooke, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to leave. For any reason.”
Brooke stared at Levi while her brain spun. Besides television, the only thing here for her to do was to lust after the soldier keeping her company. And she’d done plenty of that. She’d give her left arm for a latte and a little retail therapy right now. Cross-words, books, maybe some bubble bath, anything that would keep her mind occupied and off Levi. Debbie’s frantic call this morning had been like a Hail Mary.
“Brooke, this is Debbie. How are you doing?” Her voice was gentle with concern.
“Debbie! Hi! I’m… ” Stuck in my rental house with a guy who can control fire? Bait for some mystical bad guys? Going absolutely insane? “… good. How about you?”
If Debbie noticed her long pause, she didn’t address it, launching right into the other reason for her call. “I’m good, real good. Listen, I know you’re still recovering from your ordeal, but I’m in a lurch and I’m hoping you can help.”
“I hope so, what do you need?” At this point she’d deliver papers herself if it got her out of here.
“The bank called. They’re hosting a fundraiser cook-off, and they want a full page, full color ad.” Topaz Ridge Bank & Trust Co. was the paper’s biggest local client. A promo ad like that would bring the paper some nice revenue. “I can’t find their logo. I can’t find the files of their older ads either. I’ve got to build it from scratch somehow. Do you remember the name of the font they use? The color code of their logo?”
Brooke could hear the stress in her words. For Debbie to be frazzled was rare. Yes, Debbie had done almost every job at that paper at one time or another, but building a logo and an ad like this would be too hard for someone without graphic design training.
“Yes, Debbie, I can help. Let me get ready and I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Are you sure? I didn’t mean you had to come back to work early—”
“It’s fine, really,” she insisted, cutting off Debbie’s protest. She didn’t want to sound desperate or anything, but… She closed her eyes, seeing Levi as he had been the night she woke up from her nightmare, her mouth dry and heart pounding. Him, back-lit in her doorway, bare-chested and breathing hard, blades glinting in his hands. That image had been burned into her mind, and her libido. Forever.
… She was desperate. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Brooke.” Debbie’s voice had the tone of someone who’d been granted a last minute pardon.
“No, thank you. See you soon!”
She’d hung up from that call with a deep breath of
relief. Her own pardon had come.
But now he was saying no.
“Levi, I need to go, I need to do this. My boss needs my help.” And she needed out.
“You can’t do that,” he said, apologetic.
“It will just be for a couple of hours—”
“You can’t—”
“I thought I wasn’t being kidnapped,” she said, eyes narrowing on him. “And yet I can’t leave the house at all?”
“It’s for your safety. It’s too dangerous for you to go out alone.”
It didn’t matter that he sounded nice about it. She had to get out of here. “What if you come with me?” she asked, changing tactics. But how was that going to work? This wasn’t ‘bring-your-bodyguard-to-work’ day.
“It’s almost shift change. I can’t leave without a report to Micah.”
“But you can, after?” It would be almost impossible to relax or concentrate with a muscular, tattooed bodyguard always on the very edge of her personal bubble. Especially if it were Levi. But she could make due if she had to.
“No, I’m sorry. It’s not a good idea.” He crossed his arms, biceps bulging in his black t-shirt.
“Why?” she demanded. She almost winced at the bitchiness in her voice, but the feeling of freedom slipping away was making her panicky.
“It’s dangerous.”
“Levi, there hasn’t been anything going on for a week.” She’d been so nervous the first few days, anticipating an attack at any moment. After a week of nothing happening, it was getting harder to believe that there was a reason for all this protection and isolation. Even after witnessing his powers more than once, she didn’t really believe there was anything like that inside her. “And you yourself said there had been no new developments.”
“There hasn’t been… ”
“So why can’t I leave?” She meant if he went with her, but it came out just sounding childish.
Softly, as if he were talking to a child, he said, “It’s safer if we stay here.”
“Are you sure? They haven’t made a single move, haven’t come back for me like you thought they would. Maybe you were wrong. Maybe they gave up!”
“No Brooke, I wasn’t wrong, and I know for a fact that they didn’t give up.”
She looked at him, heart sinking. “What do you mean?”
“They haven’t ever left.”
Her chest tightened at his words.
“I can still sense them, so can the other soldiers. Up here,” Levi said, tapping his skull. “There’s a low level buzz that never goes away. So no, they haven’t made a move. But they haven’t left either.” He glanced towards the window, brows dropping. “We’ve reinforced your house. One or more of us are here around the clock. It seems highly likely that they would take the opportunity of you leaving to make a move.”
“Oh.” That was all she said, all her anger draining away along with her resolve. She wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t put herself, or anyone else, in danger just for some distraction and breathing room, no matter how good those things sounded right now. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. “Okay.” She threw up her hands and paced away, leaning onto the cold granite counter-top and taking deep breaths. She’d have to call Debbie and make an excuse, tell her something came up.
“I’m sorry, Brooke. Maybe there is still something you can do?”
“There’s nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “Maybe try to help her find the files and everything else she needs, over the phone. I’d need a computer to be able to do anything from here, and I can’t get one because the insurance company won’t pay up.” She rubbed her eyes, feeling the burn of troubled nights and restless days. Brooke’s head fell back on her shoulders and she opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. It was clear now that she had to have something to do, some kind of distractions, no matter what.
“Can I ask you a favor, Levi?” The words tasted unfamiliar, slightly bitter. She hated asking for something she could do herself, under normal circumstances. But these weren’t normal circumstances, were they?
He came up behind her, her skin tingling with his nearness even though she was upset. “What do you need?”
What she needed was sleep, and her life back. Why had she ever agreed to this?
In her memory swam Charlie’s indistinct face, his crazy eyes. The wrongness that she felt when he touched her.
Oh yeah.
She sighed, palms on the counter. Looking over her shoulder at him, she asked, “Would you go buy some things for me when Micah gets here? Please?”
“Give me a list. I’ll get anything that you need,” Levi murmured.
“Anything?” She bit her lip and met his eyes. They seemed to spark, and he nodded slowly. Could she ask for what she really wanted, which was a night in his bed, that big, muscled body wrapped around her?
But no. She really didn’t know how he would react, and she wasn’t about to make a move if he was going to reject her. That would make their forced proximity ten times harder for her to handle.
Distractions would have to do.
She took a piece of paper out of her purse and wrote a short list. When she handed him the square note, he looked at it, clueless.
“I’m going insane here, and if you guys aren’t even going to let me leave, I need plenty of stuff to do.” She held out her credit card, the one she’d been living on since the fire, with its rapidly shrinking balance. But damn it, it was worth it. “I expect receipts.”
Their fingertips brushed as he took it from her. "I'll take care of it.”
"Thank you," she gritted and walked away before he could see how much that one small touch affected her.
Levi watched Brooke walk away. His easy mood from earlier had given way to a jumble of anger, frustration, and… something else. What had that look in her eyes been about? Whatever it was, it had just added more fuel to the fire burning inside him, made him hard. Then again, she could accomplish that without being anywhere near him.
Fuck.
Between the constant low-level buzz in his brain, the tension of waiting for the enemy to attack, and Brooke's tempting presence, he was about ready to explode. Figuratively and fucking literally.
And he couldn’t do a damn thing about any of those.
He flicked the curtain and looked out at the street again. At this point, he wished a Chaolt would try to make a move. He'd probably shake his hand before he shanked him.
Levi took a deep breath. At least their earlier conversation hadn’t turned into an argument. He’d been sure when her eyes narrowed that they were going to end up arguing, which would have been bad for his internal temperature. He didn’t want to take anything out on her in anger, and the other way to relieve his frustration was way out of the question. But something had to give. He was spoiling for a fight, and so was Brooke. With no one to take it out on but each other.
It made him feel bad that she couldn’t get out of the house. He understood. Exercise and training, patrols and surveillance, those all made for a busy schedule usually. Being confined to one house with the prettiest woman he’d ever seen… He was going crazy too. But he knew it was worse for her.
He pulled out his phone and dialed the compound. "Get me Micah," he told the Auxiliary who answered the phone. He peeked out the curtain again as he waited for the transfer. "Hey Micah.”
“Hey,” he responded.
“Listen, I need some cash. We still have some from the gems right?" The gems were a rather genius idea on Micah's part, and the sale of small batches of them allowed them to have everything they needed. Micah went up into the mountains and ‘mined’ them out, the way only an Earth Elemental could.
“Yes.”
Trust Micah to never give more information than you asked for. "Awesome. Can you bring five grand when you come for your shift? Is there enough for that?”
“Yes,” Micah responded.
“Okay, good. Brooke needs some stuff. Thanks man.”
“Welcome.”
Chapter Ten
Hours later, Brooke was still tense with frustration when she heard a commotion at the back door. Maybe that was Levi with her purchases? She hoped so, because she’d spent a long, frustrating time on the phone with Debbie trying to help her out. Together they’d found the files Debbie needed, but she’d be working until late tonight to finish.
She came in the room just as he closed the door. On each side of the hallway were piles of boxes, large and small. Way more than there should have been. "What's all this?"
“The stuff you need.”
Her head tilted as she took in the words and pictures on the boxes. "Levi." She spun towards him. "I can't afford all this." Panic made her heart thump. Just the computer alone was more than she had on that card.
He took her credit card out of his wallet and handed it back to her. "Don't worry about it."
"Don't worry about it?" Don't worry about it? "Levi, this is thousands of dollars in equipment. This computer alone had to cost—" She gestured wildly above her head. She knew exactly what it cost, the way a violinist knew the cost of a Stradivarius violin.
"Consider it a gift." He bent down and started stacking boxes to carry them to her room.
She put her hands on her hips, the box of the graphics program clutched in one. "I cannot accept this as a gift. I won't." Gifts were cracker and cheese baskets, bath salts. Maybe a house plant. This was… insanity.
Levi turned away and started opening the desk box. "Then consider it an early payment from your insurance. For your burned down apartment."
“That’s very generous of you, but,” Brooke pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why didn't you just get the things on the list?"
Burn (Elemental Hearts Book 1) Page 10
