by Sonya Clark
Finally the back door of the shelter opened. Kevin stepped outside. He looked like she felt. Ripped open, salt in every wound. A long way down into a private darkness. God, she knew too well what that felt like. She’d been so far down in her own darkness for so long, she wasn’t sure she remembered what daylight was like. Right then she knew only two things: she didn’t want to be a ghost, and she didn’t want to be alone in the dark anymore.
Dani ran to him.
Chapter 21
Kevin folded Dani into his arms, stumbling a bit under the impact of her body with his. She was solid and warm and trembled so hard it scared him. He whispered in her ear, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.” She pulled out of his embrace and took his hand, leading the way to the car.
A block from the shelter, he glanced at her and didn’t like the thousand yard stare and tense, withdrawn body language he saw. “Are you okay?”
It took just long enough for her to answer that he thought she’d either not heard him, or ignored him. “I don’t want to be a ghost.”
“It’s just something people came up with to call you. They had to call you something. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“But it does, doesn’t it? Ghosts aren’t real. And even if they are, there’s no point to them. They might be out in the world, but they’re not living in it.”
What had brought this on? “You’re a long way from pointless, Dani. You help people. That’s what got people talking about you in the first place.”
“Every night I would tell myself I was going to mind my own business. But then I’d hear someone screaming for help, or I’d hear about something going down. And I’d wind up right in the middle of it.”
“You’ve saved people’s lives,” he said. “You saved mine.”
“You say that, and maybe it’s even true. Those guys were pretty intent on hurting you that night. Do you think that it’s enough? I mean, maybe I did save your life. Maybe even the lives of a few more people. But nothing really changes down here in the South Side. In any place like this. There’s always corruption. So much violence, God, so much. People treated like they’re disposable. Women treated like property. None of that ever changes.”
Kevin pulled the car off the street and parked in a dark lot next to a boarded up building. “You’re talking about changing the world. Saving one person may not change the world, but so what? You save one life, you’re not just affecting that one person. There’s all the people who love that person, who will love that person in the future. All the people who will be affected by the loss of that one guy you saved. Family. Friends. You may have saved somebody with a child, Dani. That would mean you did save the world, for that child.”
“I never meant to save anybody. I just wanted out of the lab.” She stared out the car window into the dark.
Kevin unbuckled his seat belt and moved closer to her. “What’s wrong, Dani?”
For nearly a full minute she continued to stare out the window at nothing. He waited patiently, not wanting to push. He placed a hand on her shoulder, just to remind her that she wasn’t alone. Maybe to remind himself, too.
“People call me a ghost. And you know what?” She turned to face him, her eyes bright in the dim light. “I feel like one. Like I’m barely alive. Like I’m not even real.”
He moved closer still and cupped her cheek. “You’re alive.” A gravity that existed just between the two of them opened up and pulled him closer, so close he could taste the scent of her skin in the back of his throat. “Your heart beats and you’re breathing and you’re solid and very, very real.” Eyes half-closed, he traced her jawline with the tip of his nose, breathing her in deep.
“Prove it,” she whispered. “Make me believe it.”
In the space of a heartbeat he thought of all the reasons why he should back off and drive them home. So many reasons, all of them good and none of them convincing. He touched his lips to hers, a soft, barely-there caress. But the touch was a lit match and she exploded like wildfire. She wrapped her arms around him, fingers digging into his scalp and tugging on his hair as she deepened the kiss to something hot and carnal and exactly what he’d wanted since his first good look at her. She plunged her tongue into his mouth, her teeth nipping at his lips. Sharp little curls of pain from his lips and scalp bloomed into lust that roared through his body.
She left her seat and climbed into his lap. One sensation blurred into another. Hands everywhere, his and hers. If she had the presence of mind to hold back her enhanced strength, he couldn’t tell it. He’d have bruises tomorrow, on his arms where she squeezed, his back where her fingers stabbed and raked. His hips, where she ground herself against him. He rose to meet her, seeking her warmth and her strength and even her violence.
He was scared of her, and it turned him on like nothing ever had.
He bit her earlobe, tugging slightly. “I need to know you want this.”
“I do.” She shrugged out of the jacket of his she wore then slid her hands up his chest. “God, do I.”
He gentled her with soft, firm kisses. She responded with a frustrated groan. He gathered her hair in one hand then pulled, hard.
That earned him a gasp of pleasure.
He nipped her bared throat with his teeth then soothed the spot with a kiss. “Tell me to stop and I will.”
She pulled free of his grip and placed her hands on the seat back on either side of his head. “You haven’t even gotten started yet.” Then she did a nasty little bump and grind on his lap that made his entire body throb. He reached between them to fumble with her clothes.
She rose on her knees, hands at the fly of her jeans. “Condom?”
“Console.”
“You take care of that, I’ll take care of these pants.” She returned to her seat and began to remove her boots and jeans. He stared for a moment, not quite believing this was happening. Then he snapped back into the moment and retrieved a condom from the center console.
Her shirt was still on and hung too low and he wanted to touch her all over but couldn’t, because they were in the front seat of his freaking car. He wanted to see her but barely could, because they were parked in a dark lot in a dangerous part of town. He wanted to stretch her out on a bed and take his time learning her body, what she liked, what she needed. Shower her with tenderness and all the sensual pleasure she’d been denied. But he couldn’t because what he needed right then was to have her any way he could get her.
She straddled his lap, hands on either side of his head again. Their eyes met and even in the darkness the intensity of her gaze scorched him. Starting at where her knees met the leather seat, he traced his fingertips up her thighs. Her skin was soft and smooth and she shivered slightly at his touch. He opened his mouth to speak and she shook her head. Then she lowered herself on to him and he forgot what he was going to say.
Enveloped in the wet heat of her, all thoughts of tenderness were wiped out, replaced with a blazing white-hot need that had no words. She rose slightly and he gripped her hips and yanked her back down, eliciting a gasp from both of them. What little control he had left snapped. He bucked up into her, hard and fast and with absolutely no finesse. She met him thrust for rough, bruising thrust.
The grimy yellow headlights of a passing car illuminated her face. Eyes half closed. Lost in sensation. Alive. God, so alive. Beautiful in such a raw, wild way, like a flower blooming in the wrong place. Then it was dark again and the sound of her ragged breathing filled his ears.
He ran his hands up and down her thighs, inside her shirt, everywhere he could reach skin. He stroked her lips, groaning when she bit his thumb. Caressed her cheeks, the column of her throat, the nape of her neck. Wound the silk of her hair around his fingers. She kept her own hands on the back of the seat as she rose and fell and wouldn’t meet his gaze anymore. As if she needed some measure of distance. But that felt like pretense when she whispered his name as her body tensed.
Kevin
slid one hand between their bodies, searching for just the right spot. When he found it she cried out louder, throwing her head back. Her body clenched around him and he shut his eyes against the intense onslaught of his own orgasm. Dani slumped against him, breathing hard. Both of them trembling. He held her, and it wasn’t a gentle embrace. He drew her tight to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He might not have been as strong as she was, with all her enhancements, but he used his own strength now, trying to say things he was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to hear.
I don’t want to let you go.
I don’t want to let you go.
Chapter 22
Hunger finally drove Dani from the guest room. She tiptoed downstairs. Maybe she could grab some food while he was busy with something or other, and they could avoid the inevitable awkwardness. She’d spent most of the night tossing and turning, mentally castigating herself for taking advantage of Kevin. There could be nothing between them, for so many reasons. But in a moment of weakness she’d given in to desire. No, worse than that – need. Wanting something and not taking it, that was easy for her. But needing, no, she didn’t like that. Not one bit. Mostly because she couldn’t afford it. The longer she stayed in Point Sable, the more likely it was that she would be found. She didn’t want him caught in the crossfire of that kind of mess.
Kevin rounded the corner just as she approached the kitchen, causing them to nearly collide. She jumped back, looking everywhere but at him. So much for sneaking a bagel and slipped back upstairs.
“Good morning.” His voice was a caress she didn’t want to like. “Sleep okay?”
It was easy to lie while staring at a spot on the wall. “Yeah, you?”
“No.” He didn’t elaborate.
Damn it. Why the hell did she ask him? She skipped her gaze from the wall to his chest, thankfully covered by a soft green t-shirt, the floor and then a brief glimpse of his face. That was a mistake.
His vivid blue eyes burned with a greater intensity than usual. “Look.”
She threw up a hand. “No.”
“No what?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It was a thing that happened, and it was really great, sure, but there’s no sense in making too much of it.” Did she really say great out loud? It was the truth. Hell yeah, it was the truth, but maybe he didn’t need to know that.
He nodded and lowered his head. “I was going to go with amazing but great works too.” He gave her a sly look under his long lashes, full lips twitching slightly with a repressed smile.
Dani steeled herself against the temptation to cover those luscious lips with her own. “This is not a good idea. I mean, one time was okay, but, you know.” She stopped, because she didn’t know. Didn’t know what she was saying, or doing.
Kevin raised his head and drew in a deep breath. “We’re both adults. I knew the score. If you don’t want it to happen again, I’ll respect your decision.” He stepped to the right as if to pass her, getting oh so close but not touching. “Just know my bedroom door is open for as long as you’re here.” He paused, and the warmth of his body heat threatened her resolve. “Should you decide you do want it to happen again.”
She cast her eyes downward, staring at his hand which hung inches from her side. His fingers twitched and she knew he wanted to touch her. All she had to do was say something, turn her body toward his, make the slightest move that spoke of desire and he would have her against the wall in seconds. She blinked, and an image of him pinning her to the wall filled her vision.
But it brought up a tangle of emotions that she didn’t expect. Desire, yes – after last night, that was a given. Confusion and fear and even a little guilt mixed with it. Quickly the guilt bloomed into something bigger than the rest, bigger than everything else in her head. What right did she have to even a moment’s happiness? Dani moved away, unable to meet his eyes. She balled her hands into fists and made her way to the kitchen.
He didn’t follow.
After a quick breakfast she barely tasted, she returned to her room and dressed. She found her phone and opened it to check the hashtag but the battery had died, so she plugged it in and went in search of another device.
Kevin sat at his desk, reading something on the screen of his laptop. An open notebook sat by his elbow and he dangled a pen from one hand. She watched him for a long moment, unsure of how to approach him after so clearly rejecting him earlier. They were both adults, as he’d said himself. Maybe the best thing to do was just move on.
Besides, she needed a sounding board. “I think I might have really screwed up, showing those Russian girls’ pictures around so much.”
Kevin swiveled his chair around. “How do you figure?”
She shrugged. “Put too much attention on them, maybe. They’re already running scared. If they hear about some woman looking for them, they could just assume I work for the traffickers. Go even deeper underground.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Me neither.” She moved further into the room but didn’t sit. Too restless to be still. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“What do you want to do?”
“You know what I want. Stop the Russian. Help those girls.”
“You may have to make a choice. You don’t know what you’re doing. I don’t either. I’m as new to this whole sidekick thing as you are to the superhero thing.”
Dani threw her hands up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
“We need to look at the whole picture, and you need to decide what’s more important to you.” He rose and headed for the kitchen. “I’m going to make some coffee. Want some?”
“Yeah.” She was no hero, super or otherwise. He had to know that. “What would you choose?”
He answered without hesitating. “Find the girls and get them to safety.” He disappeared into the kitchen.
Her first instinct was to take out a killer. His was to help the people in danger. Sounded to Dani like that made Kevin more the heroic type.
Several minutes later he returned with two cups of coffee. He set his on the desk and picked up the notebook. “Bratva means brotherhood. It’s what Russian organized crime call themselves.”
“Brotherhood.” Dani snorted. “How fucking special.”
“They’re international, they’re into everything illegal you can imagine, they believe in loyalty, and they’re deadly.”
“I don’t suppose you have names and addresses, huh?”
“Nikolay Volodin. He owns a lot of property in Lincoln Heights. Been arrested on various charges but nothing sticks to him. What little I can find online suggests he’s the head of Point Sable’s Bratva.”
Dani sipped her coffee. “Still nothing on the guy I’m looking for?”
“Without a name, I don’t know what else to do other than the image search that already turned up nothing.”
“We need contacts in the South Side. I tried to make one but I screwed it up.” It might be worth it to approach Housecat again.
“I know someone who’s played poker in Lincoln Heights. Maybe he can get me into a game.”
Alarm focused Dani’s restless energy into a near-panic. “No. No, you can’t do that.”
“Sure I can.” Kevin grinned. “I’m a hell of a good poker player and I’ve got plenty of money to throw around.”
“You said it yourself, these people are deadly. You can’t take a risk like that.”
“Why not? Because I don’t have superpowers like you?”
“I don’t have superpowers. I have enhancements. It’s science, not.” She struggled for words. “It’s not mystical woo.”
Kevin placed his cup on the desk and came to stand less than a foot in front of her. “You may be enhanced, but it’s still a risk for you to do this.”
“Yeah, but it’s a bigger one for you. At least I got nothing to lose.” The words sounded pathetic to her ears but it was the truth. She had nothing. Nothing to lose, and maybe nothing to gi
ve. All those experiments to make her stronger, faster, alter her DNA and implant tech in her body and brain, even the training and education the lab had given her, and none of it had helped her figure out how to be a worthwhile person. None of it made up for the worst decision she’d ever made in her short, stupid life.
Dani blew out a breath and met his gaze. “The research you do is great. Giving me a place to stay, helping with a new ID. All of it. It’s way more than you should have done.”
“Dani.”
“No, let me finish. I may not know what I’m doing, but I do know that putting you in the path of Russian mobsters is wrong. Promise me you won’t do that.” She took his hand and squeezed. “Promise.”
Kevin raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, still rough and red from her last fight. “Keep it up and I’m going to start thinking you like me.”
“The food’s good here.” She pulled away, but took her time about it. “Have you checked the hashtag lately?”
“Feel the need to beat somebody up?” He gave her a teasing smile then retrieved his phone from the desk.
“You know how it is. Got an itch, might as well scratch it.”
He looked up from his phone, an unreadable look in his eyes. “Take a look at this.”
Dani hurried to his side and took the phone. He’d enlarged a tweet from a user named djhousecatmd – her new friend in Belmont, Housecat.
Hey #cabrinighost i got a girl wants to see u again. u know where.
Kevin said, “What’s that about?”
She told him about the club in Belmont and its owner.
