Up In Flames

by Alexx Andria

  She shrugged.”I don’t know. He didn’t give me details. Benton doesn’t like to be questioned. I just wanted to get away from him so I agreed to his terms. At first I thought maybe I could just bail but once I had a chance to think it through, I knew I would have to show up as agreed.”

  Frustration laces tone as he said, “What could he possibly have on you that would make you dance to his tune like this?”

  “Pyro, I’d rather not say. Just leave it.”

  She was practically begging him to drop it. Moisture sparkled in her eyes and he didn’t want to admit it but he was swayed by the show of tears. But he still needed more answers. “I’m not going to let you meet him alone. That’s not going to happen so lose that idea right now. If you’re determined to meet him— I’m going with you. Let’s see how tough he is when he’s faced against a man.”

  She shook her head as if that would only make things worse but then she relented, saying, “I don’t know, maybe you’re right. Maybe he’ll back off if he sees that I’m with you.”

  He should’ve been satisfied except his intuition was clanging like a bell. She’d been so adamant that he back off and stay out of her business and now suddenly she’s rolling over? Seemed too easy. “Is there anything else you’re not telling me?” he asked, giving her the opportunity to come clean. “I’m on your side, Angel. Remember that.”

  She blinked rapidly fighting tears and nodded. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m sorry to drag you into this. I really am.”

  The tears were genuine. But he wished he could crack open skull of hers and see what was really going through her head. She was still lying about something. Sensing he was going to ask more questions, Angel jumped from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

  He bit back an expletive and decided to follow Angel into the shower. He wasn’t going to give up the opportunity to run soapy hands all over body. Hell, at the end of the day he was just a man and there was a naked Angel in his shower.

  -8-

  Angel barely made it into the shower and managed to put her face under the spray to wash away the tears when Pyro joined her. The shower, barely big enough for one, was intimate, possibly more so than what they’d done with each other physically.

  “You do that a lot,” he said to her back, causing her to turn in question.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “Run.”

  Oh, that. She skewed her gaze away, lifting her hands to the spray. “Well, that’s how I’ve discovered you stay alive.”

  She felt his hands span her waist and move to her belly. She caught her breath and held it. Would he notice the faint stretch marks from carrying Mila? She’d been lucky in that she hadn’t stretched too much, only because she hadn’t gained enough weight. Mila had been a tiny thing, barely six pounds when she’d been born. The delivery doctor had chastised her for not getting prenatal care, saying she’d been fortunate Mila hadn’t suffered any lasting effects from Angel’s lifestyle. Angel had told the doctor to butt out of her business but privately, Angel had cringed with shame because she hadn’t been able to take care of herself properly. Food was always scarce and working a minimum wage job barely covered the rent on her shitty apartment. Forget about prenatal vitamins, those had cost a fortune. So she’d had to make do with what she could get. The consequence? A baby who’d been underweight and fragile. Angel had barely escaped the hospital before CPS had come charging in to take Mila away from her. But Pyro didn’t seem to notice the faint lines. His gaze, hazed with desire, caught her breath and held it. Of all the men in the world, why Pyro? Why him? His lips traveled the back of her neck and she leaned into his kiss with a troubled frown. Ashley jumped to mind and she winced, wondering if she were going to go to hell for sleeping with her dead sister’s baby daddy. She turned to face Pyro. “Do you ever think of Ashley?” she asked.

  Hearing Ashley’s name doused water on his desire and he let his hands fall away from her body. “I try not to.”

  It was an honest answer but it hurt just the same. “Why not? Didn’t you love her?”

  “Yes. As much as I was able.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked. “She loved you. She was having your baby. Didn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “Of course it meant something,” he said coldly. “But the fact was, Ashley was far more invested in our relationship than I was. I told her from the start that I wasn’t looking for a forever thing. I wasn’t cut out for the picket fence and the minivan. And then she got pregnant. At the time, I thought it was a ploy to hold onto me.”

  Righteous anger swept through Angel on behalf of her sister and she choked down her rage before she ruined all the groundwork she’d put in place thus far. She schooled her expression before saying stiffly, “I guess I shouldn’t ask questions if I’m not prepared for the answer,” reaching for the soap. She wanted to get away from him, away from the hurt that arose when she realized if her sister were alive everything would be so different. But Pyro gently pulled the soap from her hand and began to lather up, surprising her as he shared something else. “You want the bald truth, baby? Well, here it is…I always knew your sister was too good for me. I tried all sorts of ways to get her to move on but she didn’t want to let go. She needed someone who could give her the life she deserved and I was too chicken shit to just cut things off and let the chips fall.” He replaced the soap and then slowly began to rub the soapy lather across her shoulders and breasts. “I did love her, Angel. I just didn’t know how to love her the way she needed.”

  Her breath caught and she fought the well of tears at his admission. He wasn’t supposed to be humbled or vulnerable. Pyro was the unfeeling bastard who’d gotten her sister killed. His hand slipped down between her legs and gently washed the area that he’d punished earlier with each hard thrust and she closed her eyes against the sweet torture of his touch. “You’re not supposed to be kind,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “I can’t take it.”

  “I’m not kind,” he corrected her with a look of open sorrow. “I’m just tired of carrying this burden of guilt. I fucked up, Angel. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Ashley and the baby. That’s my hell. I did what I could to make amends but it was a hollow victory.”

  Her eyes popped open and she was thankful for the water to wash away the evidence of her tears. If only Pyro had shared this information earlier in her life, maybe if he’d made an effort to find her, her life would’ve been so different. But then she wouldn’t have Mila. And her daughter was the saving grace in her life. The shining light in a room filled with darkness. She smiled and rinsed off the soap before lathering up her own hands and going straight to his cock. “I guess we’d both change things if we could, right?” she said, focusing on the way his pupils blew out the minute her soapy hand circled his cock. She stroked him, using the soap as lubricant, content to briefly forget everything while she watched pleasure steal Pyro’s breath with each stroke. He braced himself against the wall, his knees jerking as she stroked him harder and faster. Pyro’s breath quickened and within a few more strokes, he groaned sharply as his cock pulsed and jetted ropes of seed from the head. She gave him a few more squeezes, milking his cock of come, and then smiled and rinsed her hands.

  He shocked her when he pulled her to him and sealed his mouth to hers for a fierce kiss that threatened to send them both sliding to the floor. He pulled away, his dark, wet hair dusting his shoulders and his eyes gleaming with something that made her wish everything was different. “You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever known,” he said. “And I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad.”

  She knew how he felt. “Ditto,” she said simply. The fact was, everything had just gotten a helluva lot more complicated and they both knew it — but that wasn’t going to stop either of them from getting what they wanted.

  Too bad what they wanted…were on separate pages of different books.

  ***

  Washed and dressed, Pyro finally noticed that his apartme
nt wasn’t the same pig pen he’d left behind. He looked to Angel with surprise, asking, “Did you clean up?”

  She shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I was bored. But as a side note, you’re a slob.”

  He grinned, not the least bit offended because there was no denying he’d stopped caring about pretty much anything a long time ago and that included housekeeping of any sort. “Yeah, I guess so. Not used to having sleepovers.”

  Her laughter tickled his insides as she said, “I guess not. But seeing as I can’t really cook and I needed something to occupy my brain, I figured your place could use a little scrubbing — either that or a nuclear bomb. Have you ever scrubbed your toilet?”

  “I think you know the answer to that.”

  “Yes,” she grimaced. “And you really should start. Gross.”

  It was his turn to laugh and it struck him that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed spending time with someone like this. It wasn’t as if idle chit-chat was something he excelled in under the best of circumstances. Her pretty face snagged his attention and quickly turned his thoughts dirty. The things he wanted to do to her…they hadn’t even scratched the surface. Her body was quickly becoming his newest obsession. Just thinking of what she’d done to him in the shower had his motor revving.

  “Care to share what’s running through that brain of yours?” she asked.

  “I think you already know,” he answered, his gaze hot and hungry.

  She ducked her head and smiled shyly. “We can’t spend every hour naked. Your neighbors are going to start thinking I’m a sex slave or something.”

  “Fuck them. Who cares what they think?” He started to reach for her but she danced out of his grasp with a laugh. He groaned. “Come on, baby, I need you.”

  “No, you need a cold shower. Let’s get out of this apartment and go somewhere. I need a change in scenery.”

  The idea had merit. “The rain’s stopped. We could take a drive out of the city. Get some fresh air.”

  “Yeah, that sounds great. Where would we go?”

  “There’s a place my friend Bronx told me about. There’s a lake and it’s quiet. We could throw some food in a backpack and head out. I have an extra helmet and riding gear.”

  She smiled, remembering, “Ashley used to love your Harley.”

  He winked. “Because of the rumble between the thighs, baby.”

  Her cheeks lit up and she laughed, chagrined. “Please don’t make any references of a sexual nature about my sister. I’m swimming in enough guilt as it is for what we’ve done.”

  He sobered and nodded, cursing his slip of the tongue. Way to put your foot in your mouth. “Yeah, good call. I’ll get your gear.”

  They geared up and Angel climbed on behind him, circling her arms around his waist and they took off. It was an hour ride from the city and geared in leathers the ride wasn’t too brisk. Bronx told him that he and Dee had come to this place and subsequently conceived their daughter, Ava Jade, so he considered the lake, special. Pyro liked the idea of taking Angel some place that didn’t hold any bad memories for either of them so he was happy to see that his instinct had been spot on.

  Angel removed her helmet and shook out her hair as she exclaimed at the beauty. “This is gorgeous. Who knew this was just outside the city?”

  The recent rain storm had washed away the dreary skies and replaced it with crisp, clean air as it blew through the trees and danced with the white caps on the lake. Pyro spread out the blanket while Angel unloaded the backpack with their food. It was basic, bologna sandwiches, two beers, and two candy bars but Angel didn’t seem to mind.

  “You like it?”

  “It’s perfect,” she breathed, a sigh of true happiness following. “I needed this. I can’t remember the last time I had the chance to escape the city. Without a car, it’s hard to go far.”

  He remembered those days. Extreme poverty had a way of sticking to you with the experiences left over from your childhood. Pyro had always sworn never to be left to anyone else’s mercy and that included always having enough cash stashed in case he needed to bolt and always having a way to split the scene. Over the years he’d been frugal to the point of miserly so he had more than enough stashed away for a rainy day and his Harley was his only indulgence. “What happened to you after you split?” he asked.

  She quieted for a long moment. “I stayed on a few friends’ couches for a few nights but when the cops started coming around, I knew it wasn’t safe. I didn’t know who to trust and I had nowhere to go so I went to the streets.”

  Hell, that must’ve been rough for a naive 16-year-old who’d just had her whole life ripped apart. “I’m sorry. I tried to find you but I was so consumed with rage that I admittedly didn’t try hard enough.”

  “At first it wasn’t so bad. I found a few people who let me crash at their commune. A month in though and I knew it wasn’t my scene. Not really into sharing, if you know what I mean.”

  Ah, true communal lifestyle. Share and share alike. He wouldn’t do so well with that gig either. “Yeah, me neither. How’d you get hooked up with this Benton douchebag?”

  “Actually…I met him at the community college where I was trying to get my GED. He seemed nice and he was real sweet to me at first.” She ducked her gaze, as if embarrassed by how stupid she’d been to trust a man like him but he didn’t blame her. Good con artists were successful only if they were excellent liars. “I thought he was different from the guys I’d been shacking up with. I didn’t realize until it was too late that he was worse.”

  “We all make mistakes. Trusting the wrong person is always a hard lesson but it happens. You’ll get through this and come out the other side, smarter and I’ll bet you’ll never get snowed by someone like Benton Algiers ever again.”

  “I hope so.”

  The quiet pain in her voice rocked him. He wanted to comfort her, to draw her close and chase away her demons but he wasn’t sure if she would allow him to do that. He didn’t know what the hell was happening between them but it pulsed like a live wire and that was pretty hard to ignore. “How about we eat? These bologna sandwiches aren’t getting any fresher.”

  At that she laughed and wiped away a solitary tear as she agreed. “Good news is, I don’t think bologna goes bad, does it?”

  “With all the preservatives they pump into our food, I’m surprised when anything goes bad.”

  They laughed together and enjoyed the little picnic, listening to the birds twitter and the wind whistle through the trees as well as the occasional splash of a fish breaking the surface and before too long it was time to pack it in.

  He couldn’t remember the last time his heart felt so light. It was a heady feeling and one he didn’t know how to trust but he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

  God only knew what was coming around the corner.

  -9-

  Angel wound her arms around Pyro’s solid body and closed her eyes as he revved the motorcycle and put them back on the road. As much as he tried to hide it, Pyro was a good man and she was a rotten bitch for doing what she planned to do to him. He believed her — he believed that he was helping her out of a bad situation when in fact, she was delivering him into one.

  She was practically feeding him to the wolves.

  Angel squeezed her eyes shut more tightly and wished she could change everything but she didn’t know how to do that without endangering Mila’s life. She’d left out huge chunks of her life after Ashley had died because it seemed unnecessarily cruel to burden him with more guilt. Running on the streets had been dangerous, each night filled with umpteen possibilities for death or worse, because the predators roamed the desolate streets at night, looking for desperate kids to snatch up. One night, after ditching the commune, she’d been desperate for a place to sleep and had gone against her better judgment in accepting the invitation of a group of rangy street kids to bunk down with them. They told her, safety in numbers and even though her intuition had told her they were bad
news, it seemed far worse to sleep alone under a bridge. They’d taken her down to their hideaway, an abandoned shoe factory on the edge of the city where a number of street kids hung out. That’d been one of the worst nights of her life. She’d been gang-raped by no less than five guys that night.

  And she’d gotten pregnant.

  Of course, her first thought had been to end the pregnancy. But she couldn’t do it. Not when she’d been forced to watch as her sister’s unborn child died in her belly. She couldn’t end a life, not when she had a chance to give it life. So she’d briefly found a teen pregnancy shelter and hung out there for a few months but when the rules became stifling she bailed and found her own place with the hopes of finally getting on her feet.

  Best of intentions. Funny thing, they never worked out the way you planned.

  Just when she’d finally started to see the light, Benton entered her life and the rest was fucked up history.

  How could she burden Pyro with that knowledge? He would blame himself even more so than he already did. And yeah, she’d blamed him something fierce for a long time but she couldn’t bring herself to do that any longer. He wasn’t the monster she’d thought he was.

  Which brought her back to the situation presently leering at her like a lunatic clown.

  I’m so sorry, Pyro. I wish there was another way. God, please don’t hate me.

  Mila’s life was on the line. She had to do whatever it took.

  Even if it meant betraying the one man who wanted to help her.

  ***

  “You’re quiet. Everything okay?” Pyro asked when he realized Angel hadn’t said much since returning from the lake. “That bologna not sitting well?”