by Ashlyn Chase
As he picked up the pace, she continued to match his rhythm. A pleasurable sensation grew within her. Before she knew it, the same wonderful feeling she’d had from his fingers returned and seemed to be building…then cresting.
As if letting go of the handle bars and riding a bike down a hill with no hands or feet, she flew, feeling completely free. She screamed in joy as she might on any amusement park ride. She also felt as out of control and helpless as she would on a ride that someone else was operating.
That someone was Ryan, and he seemed to be working hard to keep the ride going. His eyes were closed and beads of sweat popped out on his forehead. At last his mouth fell open and he groaned, shuddering and jerking.
“Good God,” he said on a gasping breath.
Her eyes felt wet. When he opened his and stared at her, his expression quickly became one of concern. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
She grinned and said, “That was incredible. I’ve never been less hurt in my life.”
Chapter 11
“I’m sorry about the feckin’ bird.”
He chuckled and slung an arm over her shoulder as they entered the elevator. “It’s probably a good thing we had to check on him. Otherwise we might have stayed in bed for three days and forgotten to eat.”
She glanced up at him with an impish grin. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
God, this woman surprised him! He’d taken her virginity, and all she’d wanted to do was give it to him again…and again. Before the elevator doors opened, he swooped in for a quick kiss. “From the lobby on, we’re just friends. Coworkers who partied together after the game. Right?”
“Sounds right to me.”
Where had this woman been all his life? Melanie hadn’t crossed his mind for days, but when the unbidden thought intruded, all he felt was, Thanks for leaving me, Mel. If you hadn’t, I’d never be with Chloe now.
“So is McCall coming back soon?”
“Yeah, he was supposed to be back yesterday, but texted and said he had to take care of one thing first, then missed his flight.”
Ryan was amused. Maybe he had a girl in California that needed a little loving before he left. He hoped it was something like that. He almost chuckled as he noticed the change in his mood. Ordinarily he’d have been cursing his name. Now Chloe would have to tell the guys on Group 2 why a bird was in her room and he thought it was kind of funny.
As soon as they hit the street, Ryan removed his arm from Chloe and felt the loss of heat immediately. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep from wrapping his arm around her again and saying “to hell with it” if they got caught.
“So, was this a one-time thing?” he asked.
Her wide eyes betrayed her shock. “I hope not. Is that what you wanted?”
“No!” He gentled his voice. “I mean, no. It isn’t. I just wasn’t sure how you were feeling about it.”
“Oh. I feel fine about it, but I know hotels in the city aren’t cheap. Can we go to your place? I mean, I know you live with your parents, but you said it was in a separate part of the house. How would they feel about—”
“No. We can’t go there.”
She was quiet for a while. How could he explain? You can’t scream in a houseful of first responders? At last, he settled on, “My family would welcome you a little too enthusiastically. My mother would insist you come for Sunday dinners. My brothers would tell everyone and soon the whole city would know. One of us would be transferred before the next shift rotation.”
“Oh! I understand. Neither of us wants that.”
“Absolutely. I’d miss seeing your beautiful face.”
She rewarded him with a beaming smile.
“I guess we can’t go to your place either. Your brother and sister-in-law seem to like me, but they might not if they think I’m killing you.”
She halted, reddened, and put a hand over her mouth.
“Hey.” He stopped and faced her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad to know you had fun.”
“Fun?” Her smile disappeared.
“Now what did I do?”
“You call feeling like I died and went to heaven ‘fun’? Like I left my body and my spirit soared free, fun?”
“Well…yeah. What would you call it?”
She looked away and stayed silent for a few uncomfortable moments.
At last she nodded. “I guess it was fun. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it seemed like more.”
Uh oh…
* * *
Chloe spent the entire morning humming and cleaning her apartment. In the afternoon she went shopping to fill her pathetically empty refrigerator and pantry. She had tried to imagine what a man like Ryan would like to eat, and shopped accordingly. Meat and potatoes she’d guessed. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she could bake a potato and broil a steak.
Now she just needed to call him and invite him to dinner. Yes, she lived in paranormal central, but hopefully she could get him in the door and up to her apartment without him seeing anything “weird.” All the paranormals knew the rules and they kept their identities under wraps while humans were around.
Still, it might be worth mentioning the possibility of “noise” next door and asking the members to ignore it.
Chloe almost skipped across the hall. She breezed into the club and saw very little activity. Drake, the only dragon she knew outside of her Irish clan, was playing pool with Kurt, the bald wizard. Rumor had it that Kurt was completely human, but also completely trustworthy. His wife was a vampire, but not an easygoing one like the couple managing her building.
They looked up from their game.
“Chloe!” Drake exclaimed as he laid down his stick. He strode around the table and gave her a big hug.
“How’s it going, Drake? How are Bliss and that baby of yours?” she asked.
“Ah,” he chuckled. “Nuts, as you’d expect. I snuck off to have a few minutes of peace.” He turned toward his buddy who’d strolled over. “You remember Kurt, don’t you?”
“Of course. What’s new in your world, Kurt?”
“Not a lot, but that’s a good thing.” He grinned. “Life is either calm or calamity for me. Ruxandra is out hunting—or shopping, I’m never sure which.” He laughed.
“Nice. Well, I just came over to ask you a favor and to pass on the message to anyone who may come in after you.”
“Oh. Sure. What is it?” Drake asked.
“Um…” She could feel her cheeks heat as she hesitated. How do I phrase something like this? “I may have a gentleman over later. If there’s a lot of noise…that is to say, if you hear me soundin’ as if I need assistance, well…”
Drake laughed. “I think I know what you’re trying to say.”
“Oh, thank the Goddess!”
Both guys grinned.
“So, you won’t come chargin’ over, tryin’ to break down me door?”
“We’ll mind our own business unless you call for help. How’s that?”
“Mind your business no matter what I say, all right?”
Kurt raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure you’ll be all right? I mean, I don’t know what your gentleman is capable of. Do you?”
“Good question,” Drake added. “What kind of paranormal powers does he have?”
“None. That’s why I don’t need anyone’s help—at all.”
The two guys glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. “He’s a human—with no powers at all?” Kurt asked. “Or is he like me and able to use magic to freeze time, situations…or manipulate people?”
“Human. Please don’t ask me for any other identifying details.” Chloe had to keep Drake out of it. He was a District 3 firefighter and since there were Fierros nearly everywhere in the city, he probably knew one of Ryan’s relatives…or more than one.
“Okay. You know the rule about keeping our paranormal identities hidden,” Drake said. “So I assume you won’t be bringing him over here for a tour of the club.”
“You assume right,” she said.
“What time is he coming over?”
“I don’t know if he is coming over yet. I haven’t invited him.”
“Ah. You waited to scope out the circumstances. Good move,” Kurt said.
Drake picked up his pool cue. “You might want to warn the managers above you. Vampires hear everything.”
“Shite. I hadn’t thought of that.” She sighed. This might be more trouble than it was worth. How could she be sure every resident didn’t have hearing like that? Did she have to make sure everyone in the building knew her business so they wouldn’t interfere?
“Feck. I may not have thought this through enough. Forget what I said, guys. I need to figure out a way to deal with this building’s paranormal residents as well as the club members. Feck, feck, feck.”
Drake chuckled. “I guess you won’t be doing much ‘fecking,’ at least not tonight.”
Before her cheeks became completely red, she turned on her heel and marched across the hall. She heard chuckles behind her, even though she’d closed the door.
Yeah. Not a good idea to meet him here.
* * *
Ryan just wanted to hear her voice. He was on his way to dinner with two of his brothers, so he couldn’t invite her along…yet. Maybe someday they could declare themselves an item and continue working together. Apparently there weren’t any hard-and-fast rules, and each captain could handle it any way they saw fit. He needed to scope out the situation at their firehouse—without setting off any warning bells.
He clicked her number in his contact list and continued walking toward the Prudential Center. For some damn reason, his brothers wanted to have a “nice” dinner at a glassed-in atrium there. He’d be fine with burgers at one of the casual places on Lansdown Street.
She picked up on the third ring.
“How’s it hangin’, Ryan?”
He laughed. “It’s hanging its head. I think it misses you.”
She broke out in giggles.
He wouldn’t have thought she was a giggler, but the sound was about the most delightful thing he’d ever heard.
Ryan must have been sporting a goofy grin. People passing him were staring. “I just wanted to ask how your day was.” And I can’t stop thinking about you.
“It was productive, but not very exciting. I did laundry, shopping, and cleaned my apartment. Please tell me you had a more interesting day than that.”
“About the same.”
“So, where are you?” she asked. “I hear traffic noise.”
“Just walking toward the Pru. I’m supposed to meet my bothers Miguel and Jayce for dinner.”
“Dinner at the Pru, huh? At the Top of the Hub?”
He laughed. “No. They wanted to go a little upscale, but not that fancy. The last time I wore a suit was—I can’t even remember.”
She lowered her voice to a sultry tone. “So, what are you wearing?”
He laughed. “Nothing that would turn you on. Dockers and a sweater. The restaurant is someplace with a glassed-in atrium. They keep it business casual in case people look in, I guess. Can’t bring the place down by dressing too sloppy.”
“That sounds nice.”
He was faced with an awkward silence. Not something that usually happened with her. “Well, I just wanted to ask about your day. I’m almost to the restaurant now.”
“Okay. I’ll let you go—but only because I have to.”
“Talk to you soon.”
“Yeah. Maybe you can take a picture of your dinner and show me later.”
He chuckled. Ah…back to our usual teasing. What a relief.
It was time to end the conversation, but what should he say? If he were talking to Melanie, he’d have to reassure her with “Love you,” and wait for her “Love you too,” but it was way too early for that.
“Well, see ya.”
She hesitated. “Yeah. Later,” she finally said, then hung up.
He spotted Miguel waiting, leaning against a pole. Then he looked closer and saw his sister-in-law. Huh. He didn’t say anything about bringing Sandra.
Oh well. He liked her, but she’d probably have to put up with a lot of shop talk. That’s really all he had in common with Miguel. Jayce, on the other hand, was his buddy.
“Hey,” he said as he approached.
“Hey yourself,” Sandra said.
Miguel got to the point as usual. “Our guests are waiting. Let’s go in.”
“Guests?” He eyed his brother, but there was no more information forthcoming. Maybe he’d invited some friends—or Jayce did. Jayce had a lot of friends.
When he approached the long table, he spotted Jayce with two women. Looks like I’ll have to come up with more than shop talk tonight.
“Why don’t you sit here, across from my friend, Gail,” Sandra said.
Uh-oh. This is looking like a fix-up. He slowly took the seat next to Sandra, across from the grinning redhead. Not. Good. Not that he had anything against redheads. It was just that a certain blonde was ruining him for all other women.
“So, I’ll bet you’re wondering why I called you all here tonight,” Jayce joked.
Ryan raised his brows. “I am.”
Miguel leaned across Sandra so he could make eye contact. “We saw you get socked in the face on the kiss cam. Who was the blonde? Someone you knew, or did you kiss a total stranger?”
Ryan groaned and dropped his head in his hands. Fool. They felt sorry for me. “So I was invited on a group date? Am I being fixed up with…what was your name again? Gail?”
“You answer our question first,” Jayce said.
“Yeah. I know her, but I had no business kissing her. She’s a coworker. And it was only a slap. It’s not like she ‘socked’ me.”
His brothers nodded. “Yeah. I figured you probably deserved it, but the ladies were adamant that you shouldn’t have been slapped, no matter what you did.”
“So, you, Miguel, Sandra, and your date—sorry, I didn’t catch your name…” he said to the beauty next to Jayce.
“Diana.”
A Roman goddess. Figures. “So, were you four at the game?” Ryan asked.
Miguel said, “Yeah. We were.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me there?”
Miguel stared at the menu. “We didn’t want to get involved.”
Ryan barked a laugh and folded his arms. “So, you didn’t get involved by setting me up on a blind date?”
Sandra frowned. “You’re being rude to my friend, Ryan. Behave.”
“And by ‘behave,’ you mean that I should just ignore my policy of not accepting blind dates and ignore the fact that you didn’t respect my wishes.”
She fidgeted, as if uncomfortable in her seat. “Well, no. But you could be civil. Talk to her. Enjoy the evening.”
He gazed across the table. Gail had the most pathetic look of hurt on her face. Before she burst into tears, he had to do something.
He reached across the table and took her hand. “I’m sorry, Gail. I didn’t mean to be rude to you.” I was just upset with these other assholes.
“It’s okay,” she said meekly.
He gave her hand a squeeze before he let go and smiled at her.
Jayce jumped in and talked about the game itself. With the attention off him, Ryan was able to relax a bit. He’d made it pretty clear that he didn’t want or need a blind date. If Gail wanted his number afterward, he’d have to make up some kind of polite excuse not to give it to her.
With a fake smile painted on his face, he spent the next few seconds wracking his brain for what that excuse might be. I have a gross venereal disease
? Oh yeah. That would spread like wild fire. I’m gay? Nope. It might work with strangers, but his brothers knew him too well.
He couldn’t help wishing he could just tell everyone about his relationship with Chloe. In fact, he was wishing so hard, he could have sworn he saw her outside the atrium window.
Oh shit. It is Chloe! Gail may have appeared upset earlier, but she had nothing on the feral look in Chloe’s eyes. Shock turned to murderous rage right before she took off running.
Ryan shot to his feet, threw his napkin on the table and took off after Chloe.
“Ryan!” Sandra exclaimed.
Miguel’s voice called after him, “What the hell?”
He didn’t care what anyone thought at that moment. Anyone but Chloe. Where did she go?
He caught sight of her charging toward Exeter Street, a couple of blocks from the fire station where they both worked, but she was running away from it, thank God.
“Chloe!” He charged after her, dodging both foot traffic and cars on Boylston Street. She turned and caught sight of him, then sped up. Shit. She was the fastest runner in training, and he’d have a helluva time catching up to her. But catch her, I will.
* * *
Chloe had hoped Ryan had a doppelganger or that one of his brothers was an identical twin, but when he called her name, her worst fears came true. A knife twisted in her gut when she spotted him through the glass, and now she felt physically ill.
Just as he rounded the corner of Exeter Street, he called her name again and really sped up. She had to do something drastic.
She dodged down one of the public alleys. She didn’t see anyone, so she ran behind a dumpster and shifted as quickly as she could. She flew to the rooftops and landed just as he charged down the alley yelling her name.
She peeked over the edge of the brownstone she’d landed on and saw him slow down at the next corner. He turned left, then right, and glanced behind him, shading his eyes from the streetlamp, as if peering straight down the alley.
“Damn it!” he swore. The cold air outside turned his breaths into columns of fog.
