Wicked Lucidity

by Wicked Lucidity [lit]

  I thought of my mother and the outfit she put me in. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Guess I should be bummed that I didn’t get my mothers affinity for the dental floss look. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not ashamed of myself but it’s kind of scary to think there was someone with an even more open outlook on life than me.”

  Owen laughed. “Your mother was something else, Karri. She was amazing.”

  “Yeah, she was. My dad was a lucky guy.”

  Owen laughed hard. “Now, what about shirts?”

  “Don’t worry about the shirts. They go so far already, beyond that if they rip they rip. I’m guessing any man other than D would rather walk around with no shirt instead of missing his pants.”

  Owen cleared his throat. “What about the belts. Can we please skip them?”

  “Hey, dipshit, if we’re going out of our way to make sure they can do partial shifts and stay dressed why not make sure they can stay armed? Right--do it. If their weapons are thrust from them when they do a partial what’s to say the enemy won’t be there to pick it up? We’re also in the middle of a populated town. There are children here. It’s easy to lose count of how many you’ve picked up at the end of the day. I personally wouldn’t be able to live with myself if an accident happened, Owen.”

  Amber pulled three beers out and went to hand one to Riston. He lifted his hand to signal no but I’d already snatched the beer out of her hand and put it back. Going to the cabinet, I pulled out one of the sixteen-ounce plastic cups I seemed to buy tons of and went to the freezer. I pulled the tray out and Riston took it from me. He twisted it hard and ice went flying everywhere. I moved the cup fast, catching the cubes in mid-air. Not one hit the floor.

  “Karri?” Amber asked, sounding shocked.

  “Yeah? Hey, can you dump half of these in the ice cube bin? He drinks like a gallon every time he takes a sip and complains if the cup is full of nothing but ice. Oh, there’s lemonade in the fridge. It’s the only thing diet I have besides soda until I can beg you to go grocery shopping for me. Those places scare me. If it’s not frozen, I don’t know what to do with it. Plus, old men have heart attacks there so I avoid them now.”

  “Karri, Riston doesn’t drink lemonade.” She gave me an odd look. “He told me he didn’t like it once.”

  “Amber, I’ve had your lemonade. You put enough sugar in it to rot someone’s teeth. Remember how I had a sip and slept for the afternoon?”

  She nodded. “Sure do, Sweets.”

  “He’ll do the same thing. He was being polite. He likes lemonade.”

  “I think I’ve got everything,” Owen said, sounding pleased. “What about you? I heard you took twelve to the chest last week.”

  I tipped my head to the side. “Aww, Owen, you’ve been keeping tabs on my health. No, sorry to disappoint you but I did not take twelve to the chest. I took eight to the torso, one to my left hip and one only grazed my inner thigh. That reminds me, send a couple of those vests you make me that hide under those tank tops. I love the corset ones too. Also toss a full one in.”

  “Karri, your men have picked more bullets out of you in the last month than all of them combined. I’m sending more than that.”

  I snickered. “Owen, it’s not that bad. I’ve been a little bit worried about these guys stationed here so my head hasn’t been in the game. That’s all. And on a good, normal month I go through eight vests so I don’t think fourteen is too bad.”

  “Fourteen?” Riston asked.

  I nodded but didn’t look back at him. “Owen, send what you want but I can’t wear them if I’m standing there pretending to play on the bad guys team. See, they think they’re uber cool and invincible. While that plays to our favor, it sucks shit when I have to stand on that side and hope I’m not caught in the crossfire again. Branson is still having issues about that.”

  “Branson shot you?” Riston asked, his voice low, scarily so.

  I put my hand up in a dismissive manner and listened to Owen.

  “I don’t know how you do it, Karri. Most of us can’t hold onto that rage for more than a few seconds without our dark side over running us.” Owen sighed.

  I smiled. “I’m used to it. But the lines are starting to blur a bit. Thankfully, I’ve pissed enough of you off to know you’ll put one between my eyes when the time comes.” I laughed. “Anyway, please listen to me this time. My breasts are not a C and not D. I’m a C and three-quarters, Owen. I’m either swimming or trying to breathe with the other jackets you send. I’d appreciate being able to move normally.”

  “Karri-Lynn.”

  “Oh, I got a Karri-Lynn. We back to being friends?” I asked, chuckling. “I do so love it when you call me by what the bad guys think my name is--Lynn. Always let’s me know when I’m being a bitch.”

  Owen groaned. “You’re the scariest friend I have. But, you should know that you aren’t the monster you think you’re becoming. Far from it.”

  “Thanks for trying to cheer me up on that front but I’ve heard what they call me now. The sad thing is, they’re right. Sorry I threatened D.” I put my head down and rubbed my neck. “Speaking of D. Send him away this afternoon. When I first called you for all of this, a few weeks back, I knew what a big order it was so I put in a few calls to show you that I do appreciate the risks you take for me.”

  I lifted the beer on the counter and put it back. I grabbed a bottle of water instead. “Owen, let the group of people that will show up on your doorstep today in. They’re human, don’t eat them. They’ll give you a selection of engagement and wedding rings to choose from, locations for the ceremony and reception options. Look them over. Narrow the list to make easier on Maxine. I picked the honeymoon location already. You’ll be taking your bride to Scotland to finally meet the rest of your family. D will be following on a separate flight several days later and will not be staying at the castle I rented for you and Maxine.”

  “Huh?”

  “I bumped into Maxine a couple of weeks ago. She’s expecting but doesn’t know it yet. I sensed it immediately. Do the right thing and make it look like you asked her to marry you without knowing about the baby. Trust me. She’ll be swept off her feet. I didn’t put a spending limit on it to show trust. Handling what I need for these men and keeping these men safe is that important to me, Owen. I can’t thank you enough for helping with that.”

  He was quiet. For a moment I thought he hung up.

  “Owen?”

  “I’m going to be a daddy?”

  Laughing, I tipped my head back and sighed. “Yep. That means you’re going to be a father. I should point this out. I don’t make idle threats. I think we understand each other now. So, if you hang on the line for a bit, you can share your good news with my friend Amber who doesn’t believe in anything paranormal. And I’m not sure if her friend Riston will want to talk to you as well. Somehow, I think he might already be a believer.”

  Owen gasped. “Riston?”

  “Is there an echo? Yes, Riston? Why?”

  He snickered. “Umm, uhh, Karri-Lynn, what’s he look like? Riston just sounds like an interesting name.”

  I glanced at Riston who was now leaning against the countertop holding his plate with his legs crossed, looking at me with a sexy smile on his face. “I don’t know. He’s about six-five, has a rather large ... aww, hell, he’s got the body of a god. Dark hair, cut close, super blue eyes and lush, full lips. If I had to guess his weight I’d say about two-thirty?”

  Riston tipped his head slightly, licked his lower lip seductively and nodded. He lifted his leg slightly and wiggled his foot. “I’m a thirteen in case you’re wondering.”

  “Owen, did ya get a visual?”

  He laughed hard. “Oh, I got a visual all right. Good luck, Karri. I think you’re going to get so much more than you bargained for out of this.”

  “Thanks, I think,” I said, handing the phone to Amber who actually squealed.

  I grabbed my plate and water. “I have no kitchen table yet. Any sugge
stions?”

  He stared at me for a moment, seeming to be soaking me in. A slow, lazy smile came over his face. “I’m fine wherever. We can sit out back if you want.”

  “I’d like that.” I glanced down at his plate and froze. My mouth dropped as I set my lunch down and tried to take his plate from him. “Ohmygods, I just realized what I did. I’m so sorry. Tell me what you like and I’ll make it for you. I wasn’t thinking. I just....”

  “Kars, its okay. This is exactly what I would have made myself.” The warm look he gave me made me relax.

  I narrowed my gaze on him. “Your father’s name isn’t RJ is it?”

  Slowly, he shook his head no. “Why do ask?”

  “No reason.” I didn’t tell him that he reminded me so much of RJ that it was getting harder and harder to keep them separated in my mind.

  Chapter Five

  I stared down at the contents of the box and shook my head. When I’d seen the bed frame in a magazine I thought it would be like any other one, four little pieces. No. This one was anything but that. I’d been thinking of putting the thing together since I arrived but had yet to do it.

  “Want some help?”

  I jumped and spun around fast. Riston leaned on the doorframe and smiled. “I thought you were still downstairs with Amber.”

  “I was,” he said, shrugging. “I think she’s going to be on the phone a while. It’s been several hours and counting. D got on to talk with her.”

  I moaned. “Great, she will have heard every lame pick-up line out there when she’s done talking to him.”

  “She’s actually lecturing him on treating women like queens, not objects.”

  Laughing, I shook my head and glanced at the bed again. “What happened to simple bed frames?”

  “Can’t you zap it together or something?” he asked, amusement running through his voice.

  “If you want me to, I can. But I’ll offer you this piece of information. You’ll most likely think it’s a cop-out but I don’t have an anchor so the more I use or rely on magik the more I open myself to the darkness I carry. Trust me when I say that after a year in hell I have a hell of dark side in me. This wouldn’t cost me much but I still would rather try to do it by hand. I used a lot of power today. More than I should. But I’m talking out of my ass because you have not idea what I’m talking about. Right, forgot about having Branson erase your memory ... umm, okay.” I counted slowly in my head, ready for his skepticism. It didn’t come. “Aren’t you going to say ‘likely excuse’ or something like that?”

  He shifted slightly, watching me closely as he shook his head. “No. I do want to know about the anchor thing. Why don’t you have one?”

  “You mean, why don’t I have him?”

  He crossed his arms. “Okay, it’s a him. So, why isn’t the guy with you?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure he’s even still alive. I mean, the last time I saw him I was six so a lot can happen between then and now.” I glanced downwards not wanting to show any emotion. “He has to be dead, right? They tell me that a true mate would have come for me by now. I highly doubt he’s my true anything. I mean, it’s ludicrous to think I was made for only one person. I’m me. Not some man’s possession.” I knew that I sounded like I was trying to convince myself because I was. The idea that my mate, the man my father told me would protect me with his life, never came for me. He didn’t care.

  “Wait, your mate is your anchor?” he asked, standing straight.

  I nodded as I drew in a deep breath. “I should have guessed that you’d at least have a little bit exposure to supernaturals.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because Paula had the gift of magik and so does Hilary.” I put my hand up blocking the protest I saw coming. “I know she did. Hilary used her power on me to try to figure out what happened to my parents and found more than she bargained for. You can scream at me now, hit me and call me crazy. I’m fine with that.”

  “Do men hit you a lot?” he asked, moving towards me as a dark shadow moved over his face.

  I nodded and dropped down to start putting the bed frame together. Picking up the instructions, I once again tried to decipher them. “Right now, you’d never guess the physics thing was true. I can’t concentrate much anymore. It’s a side effect of things I’d rather not discuss. Anyhow, I think I need some sort of middle piece.”

  “I think,” Riston said, sitting down next to me. If he moved, even a little, he’d be touching me. “You should tell me more about the anchor deal.”

  I reached for the screwdriver. “I can’t. I don’t know anymore. I just know that I need one. I guess it’s someone who doesn’t have to work at keeping my darkness in line or controlling my magik when I can’t. But yes, in my case, my anchor would also be my mate or as the rest of the world calls them, my spouse. I highly doubt I even have one of those. Why everyone keeps telling me I do and that he’s who they say he is, is a mystery to me.”

  Riston took the screwdriver from me, pushed the directions away and began fiddling with the bed. “Why don’t you think you have one?”

  I held two portions of iron together for him as he fastened them. “Because my parents used to tell me that it was someone close to them, their best friend.”

  “And?”

  I sighed. “Mom would tell me stories about how mates are drawn to be together and although they may care for someone else, be with someone else, they don’t ever have a perfect thing until it’s their mate that fills the roll. She then apologized to me because she didn’t think I’d be able to love anyone but the one I was made for. Something about my case being special. She also said she was afraid that went for him as well. So, I’m thinking if a guy knew he couldn’t love anyone else, he wouldn’t have handed me to strangers no matter how much he blamed me for my father’s death.”

  “Karri.” He ran his hand over mine.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not holding out any hope that this man will ever be in my life. I’m ten years past when he should have shown up so he’s either dead or hates me. Either way, I’m not on his to do list.” Laughing, I moved close to Riston to help with the next portion. “I always got so mad when my mother would say that I was made for my mate. It was insulting to think I wasn’t just me--someone special just because. One day, I took her a list. She asked what it was for. When I told her it was my list to give the gods so they could make a mate that was just mine, exactly how I wanted him, she laughed so hard she cried. My dad stopped home while he was working and thought something was wrong.”

  My arm brushed Riston’s as I helped hold the bed frame. I did my best to ignore the heat that flared through it. It was difficult, especially when I already knew how good it felt to kiss him. “Dad went nuts, rushing to her, pulling me into him. He checked me for injuries and kept trying to get mom to tell him why she was crying. That only made her laugh harder. Dad’s friend, RJ, came in and thought something was wrong too. Mom gave him the list. He read it. Looked at her. Read it again. Looked at dad and then laughed too. He was a jerk.”

  Riston coughed and kept going on the bed. “A jerk, huh? Because he laughed at your list?”

  “Yes, at the time I was five. I put a lot of time into that thing. I decided that I wanted someone as tall as my daddy, with big muscles so he could pick heavy things up that I couldn’t, dark hair, blue eyes and he had to be smart because I wanted him to teach me lots of things. It’s silly, I know but it’s what I decided I wanted. I know it had to be horrible looking. I was little, had just learned to read and write and couldn’t spell worth a damn but still. It was me being honest and I really wanted mom to give it to the gods or God if that’s what you believe. Instead, she let that ass put it in his pocket and keep it. He had the nerve to pat my head and thank me. What was that about? I bit his hand. I should have bit hard enough to draw even more blood. Maybe that would have taught him.”

  “I take it you didn’t care for this guy very much.”

  I leaned forward more,
my breast rested on his upper thigh as I reached and held the frame. My breath caught and I had to let out a slow breath to stop the raging need that filled me. Riston stiffened and I knew he was doing his best to ignore that as well. “You know, you remind me of him.”

  He let out a soft laugh. “Gee, after the ‘ass’ comment I feel so honored.”

  I laughed. “For as much as he got on my nerves, I still liked it when he was around. Dad laughed and carried on like a big kid with my mom whenever RJ was close. They were happy and not so worried about me. When he wasn’t there, I had to stay close to one of them all the time. Something about a threat and it involved me. I don’t know. They didn’t tell me about it, he did. He didn’t go into detail. He only said that bad men had bad things that made my mom and dad want to keep me extra safe.” I snorted. “I can’t believe I let that fly as all the answer I needed. My only defense was that I’d just turned six and used to trust the man completely.”

  “Used to?” Riston asked, stiffening a bit. “What changed that?”

  “An evangelist and a woman who was so far removed from my mother’s family that there was no way she should have counted as a relative.”

  “What happened?”

  Leaning back, I stared at the frame. “Okay, want me to help with the other side? If you say yes, I may not let you leave here anytime soon.”

  Riston crawled over the put together portion and moved to the other side. “So, if you’re thinking of keeping me could you let me know for sure if me reminding you of someone from your past is helping me out?”

  “Helping you out with what?” I asked. The second I glanced up and saw the sexy, hungry look on his face I laughed. “Ahh, with that.”