by Nikki Wild
It was dry, barren, and rock solid.
It was the way I used to be.
“It might really be that simple, yeah?” I wondered aloud. “Just like that.”
“Just like that,” Darren nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll echo everything Sam said, but in particular… you know we both love you. You’re welcome in our home as long as you’d like, anytime you’d like. But most importantly… this isn’t where you need to be.”
I stared him straight in the eyes, seated across from me.
“You need to be back there, where you belong. With her.” He stopped to swig back the last of his beer. “This must be scary for you, though. Actually caring about a girl for once. I get why you’d want to run away from this.”
“I don’t run,” I told him through gritted teeth.
“You ran halfway across the country to come here,” Sam shrugged halfheartedly. “What’s the difference? Plane just got you here faster.”
Holy fuck, she has a point.
“You’re seeing reason,” Darren chuckled as he set his empty bottle back down. “I think you know what you need to do now.”
I stood up, with the clearest head I’d had all freaking week.
“I do,” I told him.
The two of them stood up with me.
“Good,” he grinned, extending his hand. “Put ‘er here, and go get her.”
I laughed at the gesture, pulling him into a heavy embrace. As we separated, Sam drew close, and we hugged as well.
“You’ll do great,” she smiled. “We both believe in you, Dalton. Just remember: don’t be a stranger. You can come back out here without some sort of existential crisis, you know.”
“I can’t thank you both enough,” I told them.
“You can stay here the night if you need to,” Darren told me, glancing at his wife just to be sure.
“No need,” I told him. “I’m calling the rental place and the airlines on the way, dropping the car off, and putting myself square on the next plane back home.”
“Just like that, huh?” Sam asked.
“Just like that.”
That’s exactly what I did.
I seriously lucked out with a plane headed back home, although the protocols of the rental lot – and the security line at the airport itself – almost made me miss the flight.
But a few hours later, I was stepping off of the plane, climbing back onto my motorcycle, and roaring down the Interstate towards her apartment.
While I stopped to pump gas, I happened to flip Facebook open. Flicking through my feed absentmindedly, I noticed a status update that she’d posted a few minutes beforehand.
“Refreshing end to a long day. Bon appetite!”
Clara apparently had geo-location turned on for her updates, so I conveniently learned that she was at some swanky Italian restaurant in town.
She must be having dinner with Natalie, I reasoned to myself while I disengaged the pump and hit the road. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too far from my location – I could probably make it in about ten minutes.
Thank you, intrusive Facebook, I sighed. I liked to leave that setting off, but it was easy to forget it was there once you’d checked in somewhere once.
A few red lights and a missed turn later, and I was parking my motorcycle. I kicked down the stand, pulled the helmet off, and strolled in the direction of the front door.
It was only as I pushed the doors open that I realized she might be having dinner with our parents instead… which wouldn’t exactly be great for a public declaration of love.
Well… I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I began scanning the tables from the foyer as the hostess drew my gaze towards her podium.
“How many?” She asked sultrily.
“Looking for someone. Won’t be long.”
She nodded, her eyes blatantly drawn to my broad build and biker threads, but a quick glance from me cut her attention elsewhere.
Can’t see her from here, I thought to myself as I stepped around the side and began scanning the restaurant. A pit began to form in my stomach. What if I’d missed her? What if she’d left before I could get here?
That’s when I finally spotted her.
Clara was sitting at a booth, but it wasn’t Natalie with her. Nor was it our parents.
It was that ex-boyfriend of hers.
I took a step forward to confront them.
But then I paused, because she was laughing, and the guy was holding her hand across the table. He lifted it to kiss her knuckles, and she quieted her laughter but didn’t pull back.
Anger exploded inside my core.
My entire world ruptured around me.
I couldn’t just stand here and gawk openly at them. Guests at other tables were starting to stare at me, and it was only a matter of time before one of them looked my way.
Fine. Keep him.
With a heavy heart, I resigned myself to my fate, turned on the heel of my boot, and strolled back out into the crushing heaviness of the night.
Nineteen
For one conflicting moment, I thought I saw Dalton across the restaurant in biker gear. But Jeremy was making me laugh at some stupid impression he was doing, and when I looked again the biker guy was gone.
Probably someone else, I thought to myself. Besides… how the hell would he know I was here?
Jeremy hadn’t been as monstrous as I remembered. In fact, this had been the most fun I’d had all week… although I was already thinking that this last-minute dinner date was a pale substitution for the real thing.
The real thing?
I shook my head.
No. I’ve got to move on… for both of our sakes.
“…Don’t you think?”
I blinked a few times. “I’m sorry, what was that? What don’t I think?”
A resigned smile crossed his face. “Yeah, that’s what I figured.”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve been distracted all night, Clara. Fading in and out of our conversation. I mean, I’ve been enjoying myself a lot, but I’m getting the feeling that you’re not really here with me…”
“What? No, of course I am!” I smiled, chuckling in a little too high a pitch. “I’m sorry, I just thought I saw someone for a moment. Here I am.”
I felt a slight brush of warmth as he took my hand again, although the feeling passed quickly. What’s getting into me? I know I shouldn’t really get into anything else, especially not with THIS guy of all people… do I really just want a rebound fuck?
That didn’t feel right.
I’d been half-heartedly flirting with him off and on all through dinner, building up towards something, but I was starting to think that maybe this had been a big mistake. Jeremy was clearly far more into this than I was. He could say what he wanted, but I knew him, and I knew how silver-tongued he could be… maybe it wasn’t right to lead him along…
“You’re fading out again,” he muttered, shaking his head. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, leaning back and running his fingers through his hair. He was objectively attractive, but I just didn’t have the energy for this... or to fight his dominating nature, if it came down to that.
“Look, do you want to just go back home? We don’t have to do this,” he told me. I sensed bitterness entering his voice. “I was being honest when I told you earlier that I was just trying to get your mind off things… but if you’re not going to put in any effort…”
“No, that’s not it at all…” I replied hastily, feeling bad. I knew he was doing it on purpose, spinning my apathy as a guilt-trip, but that didn’t change a thing about falling for the trap. “Wait, we don’t have to do what?”
“Fuck,” he shrugged. “I thought that’s what we were doing after this – just a harmless, meaningless little fuck. I mean, isn’t that what you wanted – a rebound fuck to get your mind off of that guy? Something to clear your head…”
I was almost indignant, but the sexy little smirk that crossed
his lips, and the way his eyes seemed to twinkle, undermined my firm opposition to the idea.
Particularly when I started to remember just how talented he was in bed – nothing like Dalton, but he could still make me cum almost on command…
My mind drifted back to the conversation we’d had over the phone. Did we even TALK about having sex? It was hard to remember, although it must have only been an hour or two before. Ever since the moment I thought Dalton walked in, nothing else had really mattered.
“Yeah, didn’t think so,” he growled. With a flick of his fingers, he summoned over our nearby server, requesting the check.
“No, wait,” I cut in.
The way his eyes flickered to me, and that subtly triumphant smile on his face, told me that he was just trying to push my buttons. This was such a bad idea… I needed to get as far away from this guy as I could, because he could effortlessly manipulate me…
But my words betrayed me instead.
“Maybe that’s what we both need…”
Was it? But this feels so wrong…
I wanted something to help me forget Dalton, something to just get me through one more miserable night… even if that meant dealing with the Devil himself.
Staring Jeremy in the eyes, I felt something breaking inside me. Was I resigning myself to this? I was in so much pain…
No, I finally admitted to myself.
I can’t do this. Even if Dalton and I aren’t together… even if we can NEVER be together… I can’t let this happen.
“I’m sorry,” I told him.
Jeremy’s eyes flashed with irritation.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, ‘I’m sorry,’” I repeated.
He chuckled nervously, his eyes darkly watching me from behind those wicked frames. Jeremy was clearly surprised… and I recalled then that he was a man who hated surprises.
“Sorry for what? Answer carefully…”
I dropped my napkin against my plate. “I can’t do this. I can’t spend the night with you… I have to get away from here. From you.”
“Clara, that’s behind us,” he insisted darkly.
“No, it’s really not,” I told him. “This was stupid. How could I possibly go out to dinner with you? You’re a complete monster. We were happy together, and you destroyed that. I’ve met someone else, someone who makes me happy. Even if I can’t be with him, he would still never hurt me the way that you did.”
Jeremy leaned forward, a downright villainous flash in his eyes. Although I knew I had the moral high ground, I trembled with fear at what he might do now…
“Well, Clara, where the fuck is he now, hmm?”
“Right here,” a familiar voice rang out.
We both turned, and I gasped in shock. There was Dalton, standing tall in his leather and watching us carefully. Statuesque and menacing, my stepbrother stood just a few feet away – glaring with every ounce of overwhelming power that his body could muster.
“Dalton… I…”
“Oh, this ought to be good…” Jeremy hissed.
Before either of us could say another word, Dalton was at my side. Kneeling and taking my other hand into his, he stared up into my eyes. His fury was fading away into something else, something that intimidated me just as much when it came from him.
Compassion.
“Clara, I don’t care about what stands in our way. I don’t give a rat’s arse about the reasons why this is wrong. This entire week, I’ve tried to ignore the truth and respect your wishes, but I realize now that you… complete me. You make me better. You make me more. I can’t stand the idea of not having you at my side… and I know you feel the same way.”
“Dalton…”
“Come with me,” he told me. “Leave this all behind and join me.”
I swallowed down my anxiety and surprise. “But we’ve been over this. Our parents, your traveling, my school…”
“I’m sorry, I have to cut in a second,” Jeremy laughed. “Did you just say your parents? Like, collective parents? Are you two related?”
Dalton flared an insidious glare his way, but I drew his attention back to me.
“It’s complicated,” I murmured.
Jeremy chuckled. “You think I’m the fucked up one? What an interesting turn of events… I would have never guessed that your date was your darling brother…”
“I know you want this to work,” Dalton told me, ignoring him. “This last week has been tearing me apart inside… and it’s done the same to you. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I just don’t know, Dalton…”
Jeremy laughed even harder. “Oh, this is seriously happening? I thought this was just some sort of a twisted joke, but you actually want to fuck your brother. That’s a new one.” He flashed me an evil grin. “Not sure I’m into incestuous chicks, but hey, if you want to keep things relative, I can always make you call me Daddy when I’m pumping you full of my cock…”
“Alright, asshole,” Dalton glowered, standing up. With a quick movement, he grabbed Jeremy by the throat and tugged him out of the booth.
“Dalton, wait!” I cried out.
Jeremy’s eyes bugged out with anger. He grabbed hold of his steak knife, and I saw exactly where this was going.
“Look out!”
Dalton’s eyes instantly tracked my gaze, and he thrust Jeremy forward into the ground as he swiped with the knife. Luckily, he only managed to catch air with the arc of the sharp edge, and tumbled backwards into a heap.
“Oh, you are going to regret that,” Jeremy laughed wickedly as he climbed up from the ground. He wielded the knife in front of himself defensively, preparing to leap forward with a jab if anyone made a move. “What can I say, Clara? Can’t fuck your brother if he’s in the hospital with a gut wound, huh?”
“Jeremy, stop it!” Dalton hissed. “There’s no reason for this! Just calm down and put down the knife before someone gets hurt!”
“Put down the weapon,” one of our patrons repeated, in a surprisingly commanding voice. It was a thicker, tall man in a turtleneck sweater and a buzzed haircut. I spotted a holstered gun at his waist.
“Everybody relax,” Jeremy hissed, twitching the knife at Dalton. “Everybody except you. YOU are leaving here with a fresh stab wound, thanks to completely fucking up my night. I was going to fuck this girl ragged, and I almost had her when you dragged your sorry ass in.”
“It’s over, Jeremy,” Dalton told him. “Put down the knife. People are calling the cops.”
“No need,” the patron muttered, unfastening his gun. “I’ve got this under control.”
Jeremy snapped, whipping towards him with the knife. “No! Fuck you! Fuck all of you!”
The stranger ducked, but he still took a neat gash to the back of his hand. With a heavy groan, he reflexively punched Jeremy in the face with his free fist, sending my ex-boyfriend clattering backwards against an empty booth. The resounding sound of a click with his thumb told us all that the safety was removed, and he was prepared to shoot.
“Drop the knife, son, before you make this any worse for yourself.”
Jeremy hissed, collecting his senses, but let the knife clatter to the ground. “Alright, fine, tough guy. Who the fuck are you, anyway?”
The patron whipped out his wallet with his bleeding hand, unfolding it to reveal a nice, shiny badge. “Off-duty officer. Now you’ve fucked up. I don’t know what kind of scene you were causing a second ago, and frankly, I don’t want to know…”
He glanced over at Dalton and me.
“He’s my stepbrother. We’re not related,” I quickly interjected.
“…Right.” The officer turned back. “But it’s a serious crime to attack an officer of the law. Hands up where I can see them, NOW…”
After the scene was over and the officer had taken some notes from both of us, he patted me on the shoulder with his freshly bandaged hand.
“That guy shouldn’t be bothering either of you anymore,” he reassured me. “What
the hell were you thinking, going into public with someone as controlling and deranged as that?”
“I…wasn’t thinking,” I conceded. “I wasn’t in a great place when he contacted me this afternoon, and I should have known better… I’m so sorry that this happened.”
The officer looked saddened. He quickly dug out his business card and handed it to me. “Listen. I don’t think this guy will be a problem, but if you run into a situation like this again… call me. My older sister had a controlling boyfriend like this. It didn’t end well… and that convinced me to become a cop in the first place.”
He turned to Dalton. “And you… help this one keep her head straight, won’t you? You handled yourself well with a knife in your face. The only people I know who don’t flinch like that are ex-military.”
“Marines,” he shrugged.
The officer gave him a subtle nod. “Good man. Honor to be in your company. Anyway… you two have a good night. I have a shit-ton of paperwork to file now…”
With that, he left. We quickly paid out the tab and left the restaurant, eager to get away from that mess as soon as possible.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Dalton asked, the moment that we were back outside. “You might recall that neither of us live terribly far from here.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, Jeremy drove… do you have your other helmet?”
“Of course,” he smiled.
“Then yeah,” I nodded. “Let’s ditch this place.”
He smiled softly, leading me towards his motorcycle. “Going back to your place?”
“Nah,” I grinned. “Yours.”
And so we did.
Thirty minutes later, fueled by the heat of the evening, we stumbled into his rental house. I say stumbled, because Dalton’s mouth was already pressed against mine, our lips instantly locking.
Dalton fumbled with the door locks, almost as an afterthought, while we furiously kissed. We barely made it into the house before our passions overwhelmed us. I could already feel his powerful hands – the hands of a marine – clamped firmly around my thighs, dragging upwards.
His impossible weapon yearned against the denim of his jeans, aching for my touch. It pressed into my leg, radiating extraordinary heat.
