Shiv studied him, unfazed. “Yea...I’m pretty sure that’s not an old saying.”
“No?” He gave her a wry eyebrow.
“And what is it about you she couldn’t stomach?”
“She’s in love with a dead man.”
“Ouch.” Shiv said with a cringe. “You over her?”
Triaten shuffled the three darts in his hand, the heavy metal of each clinking in rhythm. He shook his head with a bitter half-smile. “Nowhere near over.”
“That sucks — how long has it been? Few weeks?”
“Couple months.”
Shiv stood up next to Triaten, taking the clinking darts from his hand. “Is she gone for good?”
“Gone from me, for good.”
“Were you together for a long time?” she asked as she moved over to the scuffed oche paint mark on the wood floor.
Triaten winced. He couldn’t very well tell Shiv he’d known and loved Charlotte for more than a hundred years, and only recently discovered what that love really meant to him. He shrugged off her question and worked on changing the subject. “Doesn’t matter. How about you? I’m guessing you’re in the same boat, love?”
“Mine was married.” She raised her arm and threw the dart with gusto. Anger gusto.
“You over him?”
Shiv took a step back from the line and her eyes drifted not to him, but to the ceiling. Triaten could see the slightest tears welling above her lower lashes. She took a steadying sigh, then looked at him. “Over him, just not the destruction he caused on the way out.”
Triaten thought it an odd description of the end of a relationship, but didn’t press her. Something always got destroyed when people parted ways.
“He was an asshole, then?”
She grimaced. “An artist asshole, at that.” With a shrug, she regained her composure. She stepped back to the line and threw the last two darts in quick procession. She was not good at all, and only getting worse. The last two darts were buried into the wood paneling alongside the dartboard.
Shiv chuckled at the rogue darts and looked over at Triaten, mirth on her lips. “Remind me to remind you never to pick me as a partner in darts.”
Triaten laughed. “I don’t think I’ll need reminding on that front. Back to the bar?”
Shiv looked around the dark room. It had cleared out, with a few stragglers at tables and several sitting at the bar. She walked back over to Triaten and grabbed her drink. Her body lined up with his, and she looked up him. “Or we could get out of here.” Her eyes were serious — serious and suddenly, very enticing.
There was no mistaking what Shiv was suggesting, but Triaten wasn’t going there. At least not easily. She still was, after all, Skye’s sister. He stalled. “Out of here?”
Shiv smiled, smooth and bewitching. “Yes, out of here. Because honestly, you or Joe are the most likely suspects at this point.”
The humor hit Triaten, and the side of his face cocked up in a tease. “Me or Joe, huh? Why us?”
Shiv’s eyes trailed over Triaten’s shoulder to Joe, who stood, cleaning glasses behind the bar. “Well Joe, because he’s a good-looking bartender, and bartenders tend to be pretty good at casual sex. Which is exactly what I’m looking for.”
She looked back up at Triaten, and with a step, closed the remaining distance between them. “And you, because, well, you are a damn fine-looking man, and I’m guessing you know exactly what to do to a woman in bed.”
Triaten laughed, unrestrained. It was impossible not to appreciate the straightforwardness that oozed out of Shiv. “You are a cheeky one, love. And no. I haven’t had too many complaints. One or two, here and there, but everyone has off days.”
“And how is today feeling for you? On or off?”
Triaten gave the question actual consideration. “I was off. But I’m feeling a whole lot more on right about now.”
The smile that carved into Shiv’s face was pure lust. “So who’s it going to be? You or Joe?”
Triaten took the drink out of Shiv’s hand and set it on the table. He moved in on her, his face inches from hers as his fingers started at her shoulder, then ran down her arm. His fingers grasped hers. “Let’s get out of here. I’m driving.”
Halfway up the mountain to the ranch, the Styx’s, Come Sail Away with Me, blasted out of the jeep’s speakers, and in no time, Shiv went into full-blown air-drumming motion. Even in the dark glow of the dashboard, Triaten could see her eyes were closed, as she sang at the top of her very-bad signing voice. She swiftly moved into air-keyboarding with head rocking out to the interlude.
When her eyes cracked open, she laughed when she saw him watching her instead of the road, but it didn’t stop her. With head cracking, it was air-guitar time that she wasn’t going to miss.
God, she was lusty. Triaten thought. And Skye’s sister — don’t be stupid. But the argument in his head went nowhere. Skye’s sister or not, she wanted him, no strings, and he was sick of sulking. He didn’t realize until tonight how much he missed laughing and just having a good time. Without thought. Without drama. Just easy.
The song wound down, and Triaten smiled. “Had I known that was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let you touch the iPod.”
Shiv’s hand hit the last chord, and with theatrical swoop, her left hand landed on Triaten’s neck, fingers curling up into his dark hair. “I can tell you’re jealous of my mad air guitar skills.”
He chuckled as he shifted his hands on the steering wheel. “I’m not sure jealous is the right word for it, but okay.”
She shifted a leg under her for higher vantage in the seat as she twisted fully toward Triaten. “I gotta say, sweet tunes always turn me on.” Her right hand went to his knee, and slid up his thigh, caressing the hard line of muscle underneath his jeans.
Triaten’s foot on the gas pedal jerked when she hit his crotch. His gaze shifted off the road to look at her. Her chin almost brushed his shoulder, and her green eyes were devilish behind her thick lashes. Triaten shifted on his seat. “We’re only halfway there.”
“So pull over. Now.”
“You really can’t wait?”
Shiv leaned away, but didn’t take her hands off him. Instead her right hand started to circle the increasing bulge in his jeans. “Wow, I’ve never had to work so hard to convince a guy to stop and screw me.”
The driveway into Triaten’s house came into headlight view at that moment, and Triaten floored the accelerator. He took the turn fast, and started to wind the jeep through the wooded drive.
But Shiv was having no more of it, and she unbuckled her seat belt. Before Triaten could move his foot to the brake, Shiv had slid a leg over his lap and wedged herself between him and the steering wheel.
Her breasts, full and straining under her v-neck were right at eye level, and Triaten’s right hand stumbled to throw the jeep in park. They jerked to a stop.
“Really? The house is two minutes away.”
She smiled down at him. “Really.” Both of her hands curled onto his shoulders, pressing into the hard muscles. “The mood hits, the mood hits. I know I can be demanding. You think you can handle it?”
With one hand, Triaten reached up and buried his hand into Shiv’s hair, pulling her head down to his. His tongue plunged into her mouth, just as demanding, leaving no doubt as to whether or not he could handle her. His other hand was busy moving the seat back.
The seat stopped, and Triaten pulled back from Shiv.
She looked down at him, lips red and plump, and her hands along his neck, “What?”
“It’s just the last time I jumped into sex, I ruined my life.”
“So you need a moment?”
Triaten shrugged.
Shiv moved a hand to the headrest behind Triaten’s head. She tapped her fingers a few times. Impatient, her eyes locked into his. “Okay, pause over.” She left no room to argue, and her lips went back on his. It only took a second for her to draw him back into the moment.
Shiv wasted
no time in beginning a slow, circular gyration on Triaten’s lap. He used the moment and slipped his hands under her shirt, then slowly shifted it up and off her body.
Shirt off, she smiled. “Oh no, not just me. You’re getting yours off too.” Her hands tore at his blue shirt. “I have been wondering what’s under there all night.”
Triaten managed to get his shirt past his head.
“Shit, really?” Shiv’s voice was in awe.
Triaten looked down at his chest, perplexed. He looked back up her. “Say again?”
“Where the hell did you get all this muscle?” Her hands ran along his chest, sliding past his nipples, down along the carved belly. They went up and down several times, taking in all the skin. Triaten got harder and harder with each pass of her soft hands.
“I mean, I knew you were fit under there, but come on, Triaten. Jackpot — this is frickin’ nice.”
Laughter rumbled in his chest as he buried his lips on her breasts, freeing the pulsating skin from her bra. She leaned back as far as the steering wheel allowed, arching against his warm tongue. Her hands slid down his back, pulling him hard into her body. Hips still spiraling, her breathing grew ragged with unstoppable moans.
Triaten pulled back from her body, looking at her beauty in the sliver of moonlight making it through the trees. He instantly regretted his mouth leaving her body, for in that moment he heard the dreaded word.
“Wait.”
Triaten tightened and held his breath, staring up into Shiv’s eyes. “What, love?”
“Before we do this. I have to make sure — it doesn’t mean a thing?” The words were breathless.
Triaten exhaled relief. “For me, no. You?”
The wicked smile reappeared. “No, not a thing.” Her hands went down to his jeans, unbuttoning and freeing Triaten. “Good. Let’s get you in me. Now.”
Shiv contorted and somehow made losing pants in the cramped jeep look graceful. Within seconds, she was back to straddling Triaten.
His fingers slipped up and down her long, naked back, as her hands clasped around his neck and she wedged her legs into place. Triaten didn’t let her fuss, and easily lifted her at the waist, then slid her down onto him, her hotness hungrily enveloping him.
“Oh, hell yea,” she whispered, and began thrusting, fingers digging into his shoulders for leverage.
Triaten wedged his feet for stability, answering each of her thrusts with hard voracity. Every plunge, she controlled him, until he met it and pushed her back to her limit. Forceful. Harsh. Both of them pushing the other to the limit.
Demanding release, Shiv gyrated faster and faster as Triaten plunged deep into her, straining. Pitching, the thundering wave descended down her body until she pinnacled, tightening around him, and sending Triaten into his own shuddered release.
Spasms pulsating, she leaned back from Triaten, still entangled, and propped herself on the steering wheel, gasping for breath, eyes closed. Triaten’s right hand spread flat on her chest, still riding the waves, while his left hand wouldn’t free her backside, still pushing her solidly onto him as aftershocks reverberated through his body into her.
The solid fog on the glass blocked the moonlight, but Triaten could still see the sheen on Shiv’s skin, pooling and rolling down her chest as the heaving slowed. He loved watching a woman in the aftershocks.
When Shiv finally opened her eyes to Triaten, they crinkled in happy shock. “Holy hell. You really do know what to do to woman’s body.”
Triaten couldn’t help a self-satisfied smirk. “So it turns out I was ‘on’?”
“So ‘on,’ I’d happily take you on an ‘off’ day.” She wiped her forehead and then hit the button to roll down the window. Evergreens swayed in the cool night breeze surrounding them, sending the scent of pine into the jeep.
“Okay, first, I need air.” Shiv closed her eyes again and leaned out the window, breathing deeply and gasping for as much oxygen as could fit into her lungs. On her exhale, she opened her eyes to look at Triaten. The green in them flickered — they were as ravenous as they had been when they first parked. “And then, do you think you can do that again?”
“Give me five minutes.”
“I give you three.”
~~~
Morning sunlight filtered in through the pines around the jeep, doing nothing to break the exhausted sleep Triaten and Shiv were weighed down by.
The slightest jerk of the naked leg on his lap eventually awoke Triaten, and he cautiously opened his eyes to the day, only to find himself tangled, naked with Shiv in the backseat of the jeep. They had never made it to the house last night.
Eyes blinking hard, Triaten rubbed his forehead. When he finally focused on Shiv’s face, he could see her start to blink, her head half-covered with his shirt. Goosebumps were all over body.
She stared at the roof of the jeep for a moment, before her eyes turned to Triaten. Laughter immediately erupted from her. “How the hell did we sleep like that?”
She sat up and began untangling her limbs from the ridiculous braid of their legs, a satisfied smile on her face.
Triaten scratched the back of his head, mind still groggy. “Yea, awkward, but the best sleep I’ve had in ages.”
“Really? Well, you’re welcome, then. Turns out I was ‘on’ last night too, huh?”
Triaten couldn’t help but laugh at the boast as he leaned forward and fished out his underwear and jeans from the front passenger seat. “Yes, yes you were.”
He passed Shiv her various articles of clothing, and then opened his door to step outside and pull his pants on. He stretched, shirtless, letting the cold morning air wake up his pores.
Shiv screeched and lunged at the open door. “Freezing!” She slammed it shut.
Triaten just shook his head and got into the driver’s seat. “Back to the ranch?” He knew he didn’t even have coffee at his place, much less anything for breakfast. It was nice having a chef at the ranch. Stewart would have a full breakfast buffet ready for all the guests.
“Yes, a hot shower is exactly what I need right now. Damn mountain air.” Still in the back, she pulled her shirt over her head. “When did it get so bitter cold? It was nice the other day.”
“It’s fall. It gets cold at night at this elevation.” Triaten turned and looked past Shiv out the back window, sending the jeep in reverse down the drive to the main road.
They went up the mountain, Triaten giving Shiv a lesson in higher altitude weather patterns along the way. She didn’t really listen, but did give the courtesy, “uh-huhs” when appropriate. After crawling into the front, she huddled close to one of the heating vents, clearly more interested in warming her hands, than in any conversation.
As they pulled into the circular drive at the front of the ranch, they slowed and stopped behind a large black suv with tinted windows — parked, but idling, right by the front door. Just as Triaten put on the brakes, a man in a crisp navy suit stepped from the front door, flanked by two men in black suits.
Shiv’s mouth dropped. “Holy shit, is that the Secretary of State walking out of the ranch?”
Triaten looked over at the man just as he stepped from the ranch’s front steps. Without a look around, he and the bodyguards got in the suv and took off.
“Ah, hell...it is.” Triaten hit the steering wheel with his palm. “That’s not good. Not good at all.”
Shiv’s mouth still hung open. “What’s the Secretary of State doing here?”
Triaten shot her a no-questions look. “Discrete — remember? I have to get in there.”
Triaten exited the jeep. Halfway to the ranch’s front door, he turned and stepped back, opening the passenger door. He leaned over her. “Just go in through the kitchen and take your shower, okay?”
Shiv instantly took offense. “The kitchen? So I’m the whore that can’t go through the front door?”
Confusion blanketed Triaten’s face before the understanding hit. “No — not in the slightest. I just don’t want you mes
sed in with whatever snake pit I’m walking into.”
“Oh. Sorry. That was a bit much, huh?”
Triaten gave her a quick smile. “A bit.”
He turned and walked into the ranch. Horace was waiting for him in the study. He didn’t turn to Triaten, instead, looked out the front window, arms crossed against his chest. Triaten closed the door of the study behind him as he walked into the room.
“Father.”
“Negotiations elevated in a poor way and broke down last night.” Horace’s eyes didn’t leave the window as he spoke.
Out of the corner of the window, Triaten could see Shiv walking around the side of the ranch, directly in sight-line of Horace. So much for discreetness.
“What happened?” Triaten asked.
“The usual. An implosion of the negotiations. One snide comment, and it escalated out of proportion. DeLisio left for the airfield. Luckily, the Secretary was in town, and we got him to intercede. He convinced DeLisio — threatened, to be more precise — and got him back here, if not yet in the same room as Shafar.”
“So negotiations are back on?”
“In theory, but ten steps back.” Horace finally turned from the window, eyes narrowed at Triaten. “Where the hell were you? We’ve been working on this for weeks, and you decide to disappear? Neutrality was what was needed last night. It’s your job to supply it. It’s why we put them here to begin with.”
“All was peaceful when I left for town to give you and the elders the report last night. And then I was at Joe’s. Why didn’t someone get me?”
“Joe’s was closed, and you were nowhere to be found.”
Triaten didn’t answer. His jaw tightened, but he bit his tongue. He was screwed on that account.
“Who was that woman outside? And don’t tell me you’re abolishing your duties for some human tryst. You being involved with a human is not acceptable.” Coming from Horace, it was a scolding, not a question.
“No worries on that front. Just using her for sex, father. You taught me that well.”
“You’re walking a fine line, Triaten, and you’ve already cashed in all your good will with the Aiden and Skye debacle.”
Triple Infinity Page 5
