by Jules Dixon
I moaned my exhilaration into his mouth and Rahl growled his back.
Perfect response. Authentic ogre.
Slowing the kiss, he dropped his forehead to mine. “And last Saturday night? Who were you singing to then, Sage?”
I placed my chin on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Only you.”
He trembled. I smiled against the skin of his neck. Knowing I could affect him too was a thrill I hadn’t experienced with a man before. Placing a soft kiss on my forehead, Rahl guided me down and my feet touched the ground. My legs decided to work even though I didn’t have a clue why, as there wasn’t one brain cell currently processing anything other than that incredible kiss.
His hand brushed down my back. “Would really like to continue with these activities but that wort needs to boil.”
“Maybe later?”
“Definitely later.” He walked away.
I missed his arms. There I was, safe, and I could forget. By myself I remembered that what I had to offer someone wasn’t possibly what he would need for the long run.
The rest of the brew process lasted two hours. I assisted with cleanup, and Rahl mentioned he would be sure to let everyone know who his brew assistant was on this batch. I informed him I would be the first to taste and with a wink he agreed.
“I should go get ready for my shift.” I picked up my purse. “I’ll see you there?”
“Yeah, I start in about an hour.” He squatted to transfer the used grains into a trash bag.
“Rahl?”
“Yeah?” He paused, standing up from his squatting position.
“I’ll sing tonight only ‘cause you asked me to.”
“Only for me though.”
I smiled. “Right. See you at Two Fine.”
Like a predator ambushing his prey, in three long strides he was body to body with me again. The urgency of his movement halted my breath in my throat. Rahl’s intense face invaded my vision when he pulled me against his firm body. The rest of the world turned grey. Darkening from milk chocolate-brown to panther-black, his eyes transformed. I shivered from watching the sensual alteration. His lips crushed unforgivingly to mine, assaulting my senses and consuming my willpower, but the wild butterflies that zipped through my stomach told me I didn’t hate it.
Actually, I loved it.
He lowered me to my feet and stepped back. “See you later, Sage.”
I panted, struggling to collect myself. He’d twisted my soul to his will. If he wanted me to remember the kiss, he’d accomplished that goal. I’d always wanted passion.
But was that passion? Or something else?
Chapter Seven
Rahl
“Rahl, can I get one wet and two dry bar towels, please?” Sage huffed irritably. “Table sixteen decided to party-foul a pitcher of beer. Oh, and another pitcher of beer, the fuzzy yellow one.”
I handed over the towels, grasping her hand in the process. “Going to be plenty more patience-suckers tonight. Don’t let them get to you.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Thank you.” When she reopened the silvery circles, the neon bar lights danced in them like a kaleidoscope of iridescent colors.
“Anytime. You know what you’re going to sing?” I released her hand and wiped down the bar.
She typed orders into the computer and playfully smirked her shiny pink lips. “Yes.”
“You’re going to make me guess?”
“Maybe.”
“Kumbaya?”
“Are you staging a hippie sit-in?”
I chuckled. “No.”
She picked up a cocktail Jude made and smiled while she backed away to deliver the drink.
Plenty of tables and seats at the bar top remained empty. Jackpot didn’t live up to their band name when it came to clientele or tips. Seemed the metal/80s rock band sound didn’t impress anyone tonight. Their version of Guns ‘N Roses’ “Paradise City” wasn’t anywhere near paradise and made many patrons leave the bar for another one in the city.
I filled pint glasses of an American pale lager when Jude walked to the waitressing station where Sage had been standing most of the night due to the lack of customers. But I wasn’t complaining. Having her that close made my brain remember what had happened earlier in the day. I caught her staring occasionally, but then again, I was doing the same, too.
“So are you ready for your training session on Wednesday?” Jude asked.
Training session?
“Yeah, I’ll be there, if I remember. Work has been crazy.”
“I can send you a reminder text, if that will help?”
“Sure.”
He handed her his phone, and she typed in her number. My blood snaked through my body, leaving slithering imprints of a sensation I wasn’t familiar with on its route to my heart.
“Thanks, Jude. Hey, Vendetti, you figure it out yet?” Sage called out.
“‘Over the Rainbow’?” I pulled a song name to the forefront of my thoughts, forcing my voice to calm while my blood continued the serpentine path.
“I could, but no.”
“Hmmm, ‘Like a Virgin’?”
Jude chuckled while he washed glasses. I glared at his back.
“No. I don’t even think Madonna should have sung that song in the 80s. Pretty sure she wasn’t.”
She headed off with the pints I’d poured.
I stalked to the washing sink. “Hands off of Sage.”
“What?” Jude glanced across the room at her.
My jaw tightened. “I know your type, pretty boy. You think your looks can get any girl, well, hands off of Sage. She’s not interested in you.”
He wiped his hands on a bar towel and turned to me. “You’re right, she’s not. She’s interested in you.”
I stepped back.
“Rahl, come on. You two have been flirting all night. Anyone can see that Sage is into you. And the fact that you’ve smiled more in the last thirty minutes than in the last six months tells me everything I need to know on your side. Besides, Presley moved into my place this morning, so you have nothing to worry about. We’re in love and I want my forever to be her.”
“Shit, you sound whipped.”
Jude laughed. “Yes, I am. Good luck with Sage.”
“Thanks.”
“And thank you for the referral to Presley. She texted Sage, but she didn’t hear back.”
“Okay, I’ll see what’s up.”
Jude continued washing barware and I returned to making drinks. I still didn’t fully trust him, but I didn’t think I needed to worry to the point of reptilian-like blood again.
The band took a break.
About fucking time.
“Hello, Two Fine,” a soothing female voice trilled over the sound system. “Brewmaster, this song is only for you.”
Stepping to see the stage, I smiled again. It seemed the gesture was becoming a habit. The lights dimmed and created a halo over Sage’s head. Didn’t know the name of the song, but it was my new favorite, and I wasn’t the type of guy to like a love song. Wasn’t that I couldn’t, just that I’d never had anyone who made me want to appreciate one.
Sometimes things change. Some for the good. Some for the bad.
The small crowd erupted into louder applause than they had for the entire night. Sage took a bow and they chanted for an encore. I joined in. Our eyes united when she heard my voice across the room, and I grabbed the bar to steady myself. For the first time in my life—after being shot at, after having explosions detonate so close that the hairs on my arms singed, after almost taking a trip down the long tunnel of light—now I was weak-kneed because of a woman I wanted to have all to myself. Never expected this.
She rolled those expressive eyes. “Okay. Okay! One more, but I’ll just point out that I don’t get paid to sing. This one is a new favorite of mine. It’s about finding the right person, and knowing they can be right in front of you all the time.”
I did know this one. It was on my playli
st. “Come Home” by One Republic. Excellent song.
As the song was wrapping up, Sam handed me a list. “Rahl, can you get these bottles from the walk-in?”
The walk-in cooler wasn’t organized. I took a few minutes to alphabetize the cases of beer so the next time I wouldn’t freeze my ballsack off. When I returned to the front, I stocked the cooler and filled a few orders that had backed up.
The band started their last set, inspired by Sage’s performance. Moving to rock ballads, it was a good change. Their lead singer could pull off most of the melodies better than the screaming crap that before made their normal white noise just actual noise.
Grabbing another order ticket, I created a chocolate martini.
“Did you know either of those songs?” asked a comforting female voice.
I scanned to the waitressing station. “The second, yes. But the first was new to me. Liked them both.” Our eyes found their way to meet through the flashing band lights. “Say, you want to come to my place and hang out after we finish up here?”
The color faded from Sage’s normally bronzed skin. “Um, maybe. Let’s see how tired I am. Okay?”
“Sure.”
The last hour dragged. Apparently, the clock was aware I wanted to be alone with Sage, and it was protesting.
After we’d both clocked out and were walking toward the back door, Sage wound her thin fingers in my large ones. Been years since I’d held a girl’s hand, almost eleven years.
I traveled straight from high school to basic training, then directly to advanced training in Georgia to being stationed in Germany and, finally, to Iraq and Afghanistan. There was little time for relationships. I’d had a few women show me attention over the years, but I focused on my career. Women were a short-term distraction. Sometimes they were a pleasurable distraction, but still, we went our own way after we were finished and there was not one I ever wanted to hold hands with.
This feels pretty damn good.
“I’m sorry, Rahl, but I’m really tired. I’m going home.”
“No apology needed. I’m tired, too.”
“Okay, well…” She stared at the ground, kicking a small rock toward me.
Stepping forward, I released her hand and grasped her waist. I backed her against her car and raised her onto the hood of the ailing beast.
I lifted her chin. “Would you like to go out for dinner on Tuesday, Sage?”
Her eyes softened and her arms tangled around my neck. “Yes, I would. About six?”
“I’ll pick you up.”
Winding a hand in her hair, it was time to leave her with a kiss she would remember at least until Tuesday, hopefully longer. The kiss was soft, silky, and slow, instant replay frame-by-frame slow. When her legs wrapped around my backside, I deepened the kiss, my tongue teasing hers like a feather floating through the wind. She issued a passionate, eager whimper that I guaranteed I’d remember until Tuesday.
Maybe for the rest of my life.
My hand on her back teased around and down her ribs, skimming the outside roundness of her gloriously full breast, teasing both of us. My crotch was screaming for more by the time I razored my teeth along her jaw and down her long neck to that soft place where her neck met her shoulder. Her back arched, thrusting her body into me. Her shapely legs tightened against my ass, jerking me forward and engaging our privates against each other through our jeans.
With a surprised gasp, she leaned back. “Wow! That’s … really … big … Rahl.” Her eyes blinked and expanded with each word while a slight shiver rolled through her body.
Although there was apprehension in her voice and on her face, I couldn’t help but find an underlying amusement in the words and actions. It had been a long time since I affected a woman into a “wow” release. A laugh rolled from me. A gut-deep, thrilled laugh—something I didn’t think had happened since I’d been back to the States, maybe for years before that.
Hell, did it feel good.
Sage giggled as I composed myself enough to respond.
“Thanks, Sage. All of me thinks you’re ‘wow’, too.”
She released an innocent laugh that only made me harden to rock solid. Her cheek snuggled into my chest and she purred in happiness. When I wrapped her up in my arms, her body relaxed against me.
After a couple of minutes, she sighed loudly. “I should probably see if this metal monster will start and make my way home.”
Hope it doesn’t and I have to drive you home.
With my hands at her waist, I lifted her off the car. Amazingly, my hands almost encircled her petite midsection.
Swear she weighs less than my rucksack did.
The car started successfully.
I banged the roof with my knuckles. “I hope you make an appointment to get this hunk of junk out of your life.”
“I will. Bye, Rahl.”
“Bye, Sage. See you Tuesday.”
“Can’t wait.”
Good to hear.
I rose early the next morning, made a pot of coffee, filled a travel mug, and headed out to get a significant amount of work done to my new home. When I remembered I needed to run to the hardware store for a new saw blade, I swung the truck around and took the back way out of the neighborhood. Three blocks from the townhome I slowed when I approached a familiar grey sedan. The bumper still had a crunched spot where I’d slid into a guardrail on an icy road. I glanced at the house the car sat in front of and shook my head.
You know where she really is.
“I warned you, Roecker.”
I screamed the truck tires back to the townhouse. Before I hopped out, my adrenaline kicked in. The sensation was eerily familiar. Inside the basement, I pounded on the door to Easton’s bedroom.
“What the hell!” Easton mumbled. “No! Don’t open the door.”
“Laken! I know you’re in there! Easton, open the fucking door!” The plywood door splintered in the center under my hammering fist.
Laken’s voice floated through the door. “Rahl, just a minute.”
Blood gushed through my body at the confirmation of my suspicions. My arms tensed and my breath rooted deeply in my diaphragm to force more oxygen into my blood. I flashed to the same sensation ten months ago, bullets flying through the air and my buddy screaming next to me.
Laken cracked the door in only Easton’s t-shirt. “Rahl, we’ll talk later when you’re calm.”
“That’s not happening.” I shoved my willowy sister out of the way and stalked to the bed where Easton sat. “Stand up, you fucking coward!”
“Rahl, Laken and I—”
“There is no Laken and you, Roecker.” I snarled. “I’m going to make you wish you were dead like I told you I would if you touched one of my sisters.”
Easton stared up at me. The fear on his face was nothing new. I’d seen men slaughtered like pigs in broad daylight. His pitiful face wasn’t anything special or poignant. In fact, it only spurred my rage because unlike my buddies he should’ve seen it coming.
“Rahl, come on, I’m an adult.” Laken pulled on my arm. Her voice turned hysterical. “Don’t touch him!”
Whatever she said next I didn’t hear. I was a machine. Training and experience fed through my veins. I yanked Easton to a standing position and as he was about to dish some diatribe that I wasn’t interested in hearing, I punched him in a quick succession. It was a strange but effective rhythm—face, stomach, face, face, stomach. He held his own for a couple of rounds and even landed a nice right hook to my left eye before I bent him over and kneed him so hard to his gut that the air rushed from his chest, and I heard a rib or two crack. He dropped to the floor like the sack of crap he was.
Laken screamed and yanked at my arms.
I drew my foot back to kick his stomach when Kirby jumped in between us and pushed me back. “Enough, Rahl. Get out!”
“You want a piece, too, Miller?”
“Vendetti, get a hold of yourself!” Kirby got in my face. “Get the fuck out!”
My jaw hardened. I stepped back and turned to Laken. “Go home and don’t come back.”
“Rahl…” Her face streamed with tears.
“No, Lake, I mean it. He’s not good enough for you. Leave and don’t come back.” I leaned forward and raised my voice. “Now!”
Laken jumped, then stilled.
I marched from the room to clean Easton’s blood off my hands in my bathroom. I glanced in the mirror and vacant eyes stared back at me. I butterflied the break above my eye and headed downstairs to go to my new property to work, again.
Laken’s puffy eyes glared at me.
“Laken, I—”
“Just keep it to yourself, Rahl. As much as you don’t want to see it, I’m grown up. I’m not that little girl you used to know. I’m a woman and I can make my own decisions. What I do isn’t any of your business.”
“You’re not going to continue to see him.”
“Yes, I am. I’m finding a place and we’re moving in together.”
“Over my dead body.” The words rumbled from my chest.
“Well, since you’ve proved at least twice that you have nine lives, I’ll take my chances.”
“Okay, then over Easton’s dead body.”
“Touch him and I’ll never talk to you again. I mean it.” Laken stilled and her eyes clouded. “I love you, Rahl, but I love Easton more. If you give me an ultimatum, he will win.” She pushed past me and out the front door.
You love him?
I muttered a string of curse words in a succession so long that I fully expected our mother to appear like a genie and take away my birthday like she’d threatened to do when I was younger and had let the expletives fly indiscriminately.
Kirby met me at the basement door. “I did my best to patch Easton up, but he’ll probably need to get x-rays for his ribs.”
“He’ll be fine. I didn’t break them. If anything they’re cracked and they can’t do anything for that anyway. The pussy can man-up.”
