“Cash. One shot one deal.”
“And if you lose?”
“I pay you the same amount of money.”
“What if I want something different?”
“No deal, ‘cause cash is all I’d want from you.”
He dug into his wallet and slapped down a wad of cash. The bartender counted it and looked at her. “Two hundred seventy-three.”
“Deal.”
“Let’s see yours,” her challenger said.
Lera reached into her pants pocket, pulled out some money and handed it to the bartender who counted it and said, “Two hundred seventy-five. I’ll give you the extra two bucks if I can’t drink it.”
People began to crowd, and Lera could feel her discomfort at having strangers behind her racing to the surface. Then, just as suddenly, the feeling disappeared, and a hand settled upon her shoulder.
“What are you doing, mo chroí?” Kori asked, his voice a smooth ripple of sensual awareness upon her skin and yet drenched with possessiveness.
“About to win some money.”
“How much?”
“He only had two hundred seventy-three,” she said. “But I’ve matched it.”
“As will I,” Kori said. Three crisp hundred dollar bills landed near the bartender.
Lera watched as the pot grew bigger. Kori took his hand away but he remained behind her. A glass was placed before her, and the amber liquid slowly filled it to the brim. Lera reached for it, tossed it back, rolled the empty glass along the back edge of her hand, flipped it and slammed it down on the countertop. She licked her lips and said, “Thanks for the money.”
The unwashed man reached for her arm and was stopped short by Kori’s hand. “I don’t like people touching my woman.”
“Yours?” the man asked in a nervous tone.
Silent, Kori tugged Lera’s head back with a firm grip in her hair and slanted his mouth over hers. Lera wasn’t prepared. Not even close. Every synapse within her sparked as his tongue swept possessively through her mouth. His taste embedded into her, and Lera purred, arching into him. She put one hand out and settled it along his side. He growled in his throat in response.
Moisture pooled between her thighs, and the flow increased when he nipped her lower lip as he broke he kiss. Never again would she ever think of his eyes emotionless. They swirled with heat, and she could feel it much like a brand being pressed into her skin.
Lips still touching hers and his eyes holding hers prisoner, Kori uttered, “U bent van mij!”
Yes! I am yours, Kori. Her heart screamed even though she remained silent.
His eyes cooled into the blank look she knew well, and he faced the man who’d tried to touch her. “Like I said...mine.” There was no emotion in his tone. Kori turned back to her, and his gaze softened but was no less possessive. “Let’s play some pool.”
Lera gave him the money and watched him put it in his pocket. Her heart tripled in speed when he placed his hand on the small of her back, the tips of his fingers grazing her ass.
“You okay?” he whispered in her ear as they walked to the back where three pool tables were.
No. I want to feel your lips on mine again. I want to be held in your arms where the rest of the world ceases to exist. “Yes. The bartender gaze me a piece of paper that he says has the place Butch is at on it. Or else we can wait here until after eleven which is when the man will be in here.”
“Okay.” Kori nuzzled her neck, and she gasped at the longing which shot through her. “I am really curious to know where you learned to take a shot like that, mo ghrá.”
“I can’t give away all my secrets, Kori,” she said with a laugh.
He gripped her hips and pressed tightly against her. She could feel his erection digging into her. “That sounds like I won’t like the answer.”
“See, I was thinking you weren’t getting one.” Lera grabbed a pool cue and handed it to him, jumping when he smacked her on the ass. Her body hummed with pleasure mixed with desire, and she had to swallow hard a few times to get herself back under control. Was this what people talked about feeling with someone else? That elusive connection she hadn’t ever experienced before…Kori.
“That’s what you think.”
They played a few games of pool. Lera thought he’d make her leave when the first fight broke out. He didn’t, but she did get to see the intimidating, unwavering look work on others. No one bothered them after that. She didn’t argue when he pulled her down to sit on his leg, his hands around her waist as he watched another group play pool.
“Let’s go track him down, Lera,” he murmured in her ear around seven-thirty.
She’d been thinking that very thing herself. Silent, she pushed to her feet and waited for the feel of his hand on her back before she moved through the throng to the door. At his Humvee, he held the door for her again. Lera shuddered from the light touch of his hand each time he allowed contact between them.
He climbed in the driver’s seat and looked at her. She didn’t want to meet his gaze for fear he’d be able to read her desire for him. But she forced herself to. Almost a mistake when she saw the lingering hunger in his own eyes.
“Address?”
Lera reached into her jacket and handed it to him. Her belly clenched when his fingertips flitted across her skin. Kori opened it and frowned.
“What?”
“This is out in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
Leaning against the door, Lera stared at him. “Have you looked around? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“I don’t like it.”
Lera reached for the paper, only to have him draw it back near the driver’s window. If she wanted it, she’d have to go over him. That immoveable look was on his face. She sighed heavily, not at all in the mood to play games.
“Then, don’t go, Kori. I’ll go.”
He stared at her. Does she really think I’ll let her go alone? Lera’s entire body was tense and he knew she was nearing the end of her control.
“Not an option, mo ghrá. I just meant we needed to be careful.”
Her form relaxed entirely. “Oh. I’m sorry, I’m just…I’m really worried about her. Rissa is such a gentle soul, and I’m fearful what this will do to her.”
Kori leaned across the seat and pressed his lips to hers, no asking, no warning, just did it. He sighed as her lips parted beneath his. With a growl, he slipped his tongue deep into her mouth and swept through, doing his damndest to keep it gentle.
Anáil de mo anam.
Breath of my soul.
And as soon as the words came to him, Kori knew they were true. Lera was the breath of his soul, and he was never letting her go.
She whimpered and pressed closer; her hand touched his arm and shot electricity all the way through him. Lust slammed into him, and his free hand curled into a fist.
“We need to go now, mo anam. Or the next place I’m taking you is back to the hotel room where I’ll show you exactly what you do to me,” he whispered against her mouth.
Her slender body shook. Lera’s eyes were wide as she stared at him, lips full and inviting. His cock swelled when she licked them and nodded. “Right. Rissa.” She slid back and hooked her seatbelt. “I need my bike, Kori.”
His beast pounded so hard he barely heard her. But he did and headed back to the hotel, watching her jump out swiftly and head to her bike. He ogled her as she swung a leg over the Hayabusa, zipped up her jacket, tugged on her gloves, and put on her glasses. Kori shifted when his shaft throbbed as he witnessed the sensual look which passed her face as she started the motor.
“She loves that damn bike. Fuck, I’m so hard I could pound nails. That look on her face should be outlawed.”
Lera turned her head in his direction and grinned. Then, she gestured for him to go. All Kori wanted to do was haul her off that damn bike and drag her up to the hotel room and teach her how it should be between two halves of the same whole. Instead, he shoved his overwhelming need for her
back and pulled out of the parking lot.
He watched her in the rearview mirror as he led them to the address they’d been given. She would drop back then come flying up on his ass, slow down and do it all over again. For the moment, she remained close behind him. Riding with one hand on the handlebar with the other upon her thigh and looking somewhat relaxed. Focusing back on the road, he realized he longed to take her out for a real date. Someplace nice. Lera deserved that and so much more.
Glancing back in the mirror, he frowned when he saw her back on the road, paused at an intersection. Kori braked and looked over his shoulder. Lera stared off to the left, her feet bracing the bike. His heart stuttered when he heard her rev the engine. She wouldn’t.
He breathed a bit easier when she followed him again. But before he could feel better, she whipped around and gunned it. His heart clenched when he watched her take the corner without slowing and vanish from sight. Muttering a round of curses his father would beat him for, Kori squealed his tires as he spun around and headed after her.
‘Lera!’
‘Why am I not surprised to hear you back in my head, Kori?’ Her tone was calm and slightly amused.
‘Where the fuck are you going?’
‘I have to check something out. Let me do this, Kori. Please, go to Butch; don’t let that lead get away.’
‘Get back here to me, Lera.’
‘Kori, please.’
Her tone amplified her desire for his compliance, and he pulled alongside the road and smacked the steering wheel. “Damn it!” ‘You will not put yourself in any undue danger, Valera.’
‘Thank you, Kori. I’ll just look. I’ll meet up with you.’
He didn’t like this, but he was doing his damndest to not demand her compliance. Lera was a hardheaded, strong woman. A survivor, who at the moment was desperately searching for her friend.
‘One more thing—’
‘I’ll be careful, Kori. Promise.’
He smiled over her need to finish his sentences even through his mind. With a deep breath, he turned his Humvee around again and headed off. About thirty minutes later, he pulled up before a rundown shack with rusted cars in the front yard and a few bathtubs as well. There was a nice bike that he parked by.
Two big ugly dogs came up snarling and barking. Kori jumped out of the cab and growled at them, smiling in perverse pleasure when they ran off, tails tucked between their legs. Then, he headed for the door and stepped up cautiously on the porch before knocking.
A brunette with not much on answered the door, a lit cigarette hanging out of her mouth. “Yeah?” she snapped.
“I need to see Butch Caine,” he said as a rank odor poured from the house to cover him.
“Butch!” she hollered. “Some man’s here to see you.”
“Who the fuck is it?”
“I don’t know. Get your fat ass up here and see for yourself.” Her eyes traveled over Kori one more time before she walked away, leaving him alone in the doorway.
Okay, now I know what it feels like to be looked at like a piece of meat.
‘Got yourself an admirer do you, Kori?’ Lera’s arousing voice floated in his mind.
‘Jealous, mo chroí?’
‘No.’
He knew she lied. ‘I thought motorcycle chicks were possessive of their men.’
‘I’m not a motorcycle chick, Kori. And you’re not my man.’
‘We can agree on one of those statements and disagree on the other.’
He felt her snort of amusement. ‘Have you found out about Rissa?’
‘No, he’s on his way to me now. What are you doing?’
‘Looking at a quarry.’
A large, unwashed man walked into view, and Kori stared at him.
“Butch Caine?”
The biker grunted and scratched himself. “Who’s asking?”
“Mine name isn’t important. I want to know what you know about a young woman named Rissa.”
He shot a stream of brown juice onto the porch floor. “Don’t know no Rissa.”
Kori was agitated for being away from Lera so he wasted no time. His wolf at the surface, he snarled at Butch. “Tell me what you know, human.”
The man’s eyes grew wide, and he began to blubber. With an angry snap of his jaw, Kori grabbed him around the neck. He invaded his mind and found the information he needed. The vile things this man had done sickened him. Kori tightened his grip.
‘Kori?’
‘Yes, mo anam?’
‘You can’t kill him.’
‘The hell I can’t.’
‘Kori, they’ll come after me. I was looking for Butch Caine.’
He growled dangerously. Releasing the man, Kori stepped close and glared down at the fat man. “Listen to me, human. I will be watching you. You even think of doing anything close to what you’ve done before, and I will find you. I will find you and peel your skin off layer by layer. Then, I will start to torture you.”
The man’s eyes grew even bigger. “What are you?”
Allowing his wolf to seep through, he peeled his lips back, exposing lengthened canines. “Pray you never find out.”
Kori turned around and headed for his vehicle, just wishing the man would take the opportunity of his exposed back. The thought of making Butch Caine bleed brought a feral smile to fill his features. There was no attempt. Stepping up into his vehicle, Kori looked at the dilapidated house.
“What’d he want?” The woman’s shrill voice reached him.
“Shut up, woman, and get your ass in the house,” Butch said before actually shoving the woman back inside then shutting the door. Kori heard the click of the lock and shook his head.
Like that would stop me if I wanted in.
Kori started the Humvee and ignored the bickering which filtered to his ears. Backing up, he drove away from the house and sighed.
‘Where are you, Lera?’
‘I jaunted off to the Bahamas.’ Her tone smacked with sarcasm. ‘Where do you think I am? And what did you find out?’
‘At the hotel, we’ll discuss it.’
He could feel her sigh.
‘Fine. I’ll be there in a while.’
Not what he wanted to hear. Kori wanted her in his arms, to be able to put his eyes on her and ensure she was fine. ‘Not long, mo ghrá, and—’
‘Be careful. I know, I know.’
A smile curved up his lips. ‘Exactly.’
Her amusement could be felt. He relaxed a bit and headed back to the room. His calm didn’t last, and he paced while waiting for her to return. Anxiety hovered around him like a dark cloud.
“Okay, so I don’t want to be separated from her,” he muttered, flopping back on the bed. He started up at the ceiling and allowed himself a fantasy or two about Lera.
Chapter Four
Lera backed her bike in beside Kori’s Humvee and shut it off. For a moment, she stared at it. I’d like to drive this. I bet it has some awesome power. Then, she transferred her gaze from it to the second floor where the room was. The room she would be sharing with Kori tonight. She couldn’t forget what he had told her in his Humvee. Lord help her, she wanted to experience it with Kori. She knew he would be gentle and amazing. Breathing deeply, she got off the bike and headed up the cement steps, noticing the chips in them. Anything to keep her mind calm. Pushing open the door to the room, she stepped inside.
Kori reclined on the bed, flipping through a magazine. He didn’t get up but his gray eyes stared at her. Lera held out the bag before her.
“Hungry?” she asked.
Heat flared briefly before it was contained. “For something,” he muttered softly, making her wonder if she wasn’t on his menu.
Lera moved to the table and put the bag down before removing her riding gear. “Well, I brought you a burger and fries.” She withdrew two canned drinks and said, “And your choice of drink.”
Her pulse increased when he pushed effortlessly to his feet, left the magazine and prowled toward
her. She fought the urge to lick her lips and ask him for another kiss. Instead, she focused on removing the food from the bag and slid his toward him.
“Thank you, Lera.”
He reached out and, with two fingers beneath her chin, he guided and brought her head up so she could see his eyes. For the first time in her life, Lera wasn’t sure about anything. Kori created such a tempest of emotions within her. So she pasted on a smile and tried to pretend he was just a regular guy. It didn’t work.
Toying with her food, Lera looked at him. “What’d you find out?”
His deep sigh did not reassure her in the slightest. “Do you know of a man named Murdock Denton?”
Her heart nearly stopped at the mention of that name. Lera somehow managed to swallow and strove to stay in control. I have to go. I can’t stay here now, not knowing he’s involved. Gathering the rest of her food, she scooped it up and put it in the bag. She no longer had any appetite. Kori watched her with an unflinching gaze.
“I’ve heard the name,” she hedged, devastation filling her more and more with each passing second.
“Tell me what you know, Valera,” he ordered as if knowing she lied.
“What I heard about him was sick perversions.” Her stomach knotted up at the thought of Rissa within his clutches. I have to get to her.
She pushed to her feet. Kori’s gaze sharpened, and she knew he was well aware of her intent. He said, “Not quite, Lera. I want to know all you do about him.”
She was hesitated, unwilling to share it. As if somehow, if she didn’t speak the words, Rissa may not be exposed to such filth. Lera fought back her revulsion and called on her icy composure. Her mind worked fast; if she left now, she could be to where she knew Murdock would be soon. It was less than twenty-four hours away, if one drove the speed limit, and this was one time when she definitely wouldn’t be. And while she didn’t like with how lying to Kori sat with her, she refused to risk her friend’s safety because he would want to keep her safe. This was her only option. Wasn’t it?
“I did tell you, Kori. I just…I’m having a hard time imagining Rissa with him if the rumors are true.”
Glancing at her watch, she saw it was after eleven. Shaking with tremors she could no longer control, Lera stumbled to the bed and curled up on her side. I’m so sorry, Rissa.
A Love For Lera (Haikon) Page 5
