Dirty Power

by Ashley Bartlett

  “We can’t,” Ryan said.

  “Yeah, if the cops are still following her, then they’ll recognize us. But you guys are probably unknown entities.”

  “Probably?” Christopher shouted.

  “Yeah, probably.” I shrugged.

  “That isn’t very reassuring,” Breno said.

  “Well, I checked the FBI app for wanted fugitives and you guys weren’t on it,” I said.

  “There’s an app for wanted fugitives?” Christopher was so stupid.

  Ryan started laughing, then started choking on his eggs. “Mmm-hmm. The app where criminals can chart their progress. You know, to see how far ahead of the cops they are.”

  “Yeah.” I was laughing too. “The Feds and CIA and US Marshals and Secret Service. They all link into it. It’s awesome.”

  Christopher and Breno did perfect versions of Reese’s glare. Ryan and I laughed at them.

  “What?” I asked when five minutes went by without a break in the glare.

  “I’m amazed that you two ever made it to adulthood,” Christopher finally said.

  “Yeah, well, our plans work better than yours. So get your asses in gear.” I pointed with my fork.

  They seemed very unimpressed with being ordered around by me. But they went and got ready for a long-ass road trip. Bonus points to me and Ryan.

  *

  Ryan and I slept most of the day. When we woke up, we started exploring our new digs. The house was a massive improvement from that ugly monstrosity in EDH. It was still huge, bigger than the last place. Like way bigger. But it was built before the twentieth century and we thought that was pretty cool. We decided immediately that the second floor was haunted. Not actually. We decided to rig it to make Breno think it was haunted. He seemed gullible enough to fall for that.

  There were two secret passages leading off the kitchen and winding through the back of the house. Probably for servants. So they weren’t exactly secret. But Ryan and I had a habit of reverting to the ten-year-old versions of ourselves whenever possible. We may have played hide-and-seek. In the dark. For an hour.

  There was a shitload of land surrounding the big house. Our nearest neighbor was probably a couple miles off. It was cold as fuck outside, so we layered on every long sleeve shirt and pair of socks we could find, and ran through the orchards. There was a vineyard too, but vineyards smell like ass so we stayed upwind.

  Late in the evening, we opened a few bottles of wine and sat outside staring at the stars. When we couldn’t feel our fingers anymore, we went in. The bottles of wine made us think that sliding across the floors in the main hall was a good idea. Ryan’s socks were more slippery so he ate it first. Cracked his head on a wall. After that, we figured sliding in socks was a bad idea.

  It was well after midnight when we crashed. I hadn’t been out that long when the door to my room opened. Reese. I don’t know how I knew, but I did.

  “You can turn on the light,” I said.

  “You’re awake?” Reese asked.

  “Sort of.” I rolled over as she turned on the light. Fucking blinding.

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. How did it go?”

  “Surprisingly well. Christopher and Breno just went to bed. They’re exhausted.”

  My eyes finally adjusted so I could see her. Her hair clearly hadn’t been washed in a few days. The beanie tucked in her back pocket explained that. She was wearing a pair of my jeans. They were baggy on her. Her face was clean, but there was a light patina of dust on her neck and ears. And the jacket she was wearing looked like it had been lived in for a year.

  She was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

  “Is it weird that I think you’re really hot right now?” I asked.

  “Yes.” She smiled. “I’m going to take a shower.”

  “Can I—”

  “No. I’m washing every inch of myself before I get in bed with you.” Reese stripped off the jacket and kicked off the jeans.

  “I’m really good at washing every inch of you.”

  The smile got bigger and her eyes went gray. “Be patient. And take off your clothes. I’ll be right back.”

  I couldn’t really argue with that.

  Reese wasn’t in the shower very long. I managed to wait until the water was shut off. But then I went into the bathroom. She was bent over slightly to towel dry her hair.

  “You’re staring at my ass aren’t you?” Reese asked.

  “Totally.”

  “Stop it.” She straightened and shot me an unconvincing glare.

  “Make me.” I grinned.

  Reese tossed the damp towel at my head. I ducked and caught the towel. She laughed.

  “Move. I need clothes.” She tried to skirt past me. I grabbed at her, but she got away.

  I chased her back into our room and tackled her onto the bed. She tried to scoot out from under me, but I held her in place.

  “Hey, did you know that you’re naked?” I asked.

  “You’re very observant.”

  “Yeah, I went to college. I’m smart.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Reese laughed. “They taught you that in college?”

  “Yep. I can identify colors too.” I grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.

  “I’m very impressed.” Reese raised her head up to kiss me. “How about counting? Can you count too?”

  “Girl, I can count so high. Like to ten.” I kissed her again. “One, two, three…” I forgot what came after that because Reese started kissing my neck. The slight pull of her teeth and the warmth of her tongue made thinking real hard.

  “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” she asked between kisses and bites. “Can’t go higher than three?”

  “Nope. Don’t care what comes after three.” I captured her mouth and kissed her long enough and hard enough that I was pretty sure she couldn’t make it to four either.

  As we kissed, Reese edged her thigh between my legs. She thrust up against me. Slowly.

  “Fuck, I missed you.”

  “You better.” Her lips trailed up my neck to my ear.

  “I was worried.”

  Reese stopped kissing me so she could pull back and look into my eyes. “About what?

  “You. What if they caught you?”

  She laughed. “That’s fucking hilarious.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I just got this image of you pacing and waiting for me. Please tell me you weren’t doing that.”

  I started laughing too. “No. Ryan and I got drunk and played hide-and-seek.”

  “That’s more like it.”

  Reese twisted her wrists out of my hands and dragged my T-shirt over my head. Or tried. I sat up and pulled the shirt the rest of the way off.

  “You are epically bad at undressing me sometimes.”

  “I’ve never had to before.” She grinned up at me.

  “Huh?”

  “Have you seen me? Women’s clothes usually just fall off around me.”

  “Not anymore.” I traced my hands over her ribcage. She arched and stretched.

  “What do you mean?”

  “If any chicks start stripping, I’ll have to knock ’em out. You’re mine, peanut butter.”

  Reese’s eyes went completely gray. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Damn right.”

  I leaned down and kissed along her ribs, following the trail of my hands. Reese lifted her hips, a quiet plea that I ignored. I wanted to kiss her until I was the only one she remembered. Until all that she knew was me.

  Her fingers traced patterns in my hair, along my ears, over my neck as I kissed her shoulders, her collarbones. When I lowered my mouth to one nipple, then the other, and back again, Reese’s fingers tightened. She gasped when I sucked hard on her nipple. She lifted her hips into me. But I wasn’t going there. Not yet.

  I cupped her ass with one hand. Squeezed it slowly as she arched against me. Reese caught my eyes and smiled. She traced the edge of my jaw with a fingertip. I kisse
d her finger then licked it. She moaned softly and her eyes rolled back. I sucked her finger into my mouth, bit it a little. She pulled me close to kiss me. Just kiss me. Softly, slowly. I was so distracted I almost didn’t notice the way she started thrusting against my leg. Almost. I moved my leg away and grinned.

  “Not yet.”

  “Come on.”

  “Nope.” I moved my lips to her throat. Kissed a line to her bellybutton. Dipped my tongue in and around it. Reese squirmed and tried to scoot higher on the bed. I planted my hand between her breasts and held her still. She fell back, her hips still jerking. The scent of her arousal hit me suddenly. It made my mouth water. So I hooked my arms under her thighs and slid down the bed.

  Reese sighed when I kissed her. I licked the length of her and her breath hitched. I smiled against her cunt.

  “Damn it, you teased me enough.” Reese gripped my hair and tried to push me down. But I was stronger.

  I licked around her clit, lingering in the spots where she was most sensitive. She sobbed my name. When I finally sucked her into my mouth, a rush of wetness coated my chin. Her thighs tightened and she arched off the bed. I sucked her hard, letting her clit roll over my tongue again and again. The sweet tissues in my mouth throbbed as she came. But I didn’t stop sucking her.

  Reese held my head in place so she could keep fucking my mouth. Her hips were in the air, keeping a constant rhythm against the jerk of my tongue.

  “Oh, oh God. Coop.” Her fingers tightened, pulling my hair, as she came again.

  We collapsed to the bed.

  I lay there with my head pillowed on her thigh, not even trying to control my ragged, satisfied breathing. Reese tugged my hair lightly until I moved up next to her. She turned and burrowed her head into my armpit. One lazy hand traced patterns on my stomach. I rubbed the bare expanse of her back as her breathing slowed.

  “Told you I missed you,” I said quietly.

  She smiled and kissed my side. “Yeah, I guess I missed you too.”

  “You better,” I mimicked her.

  “Whatever.”

  “Tired?”

  “Sort of. Tired of being on a train.” She walked her fingers up my stomach. Not like she was trying to start anything. Just playing.

  “So where did you lose them?” I asked.

  “Slovenia.”

  “Where the hell is that?”

  Reese raised her head up to stare at me. “Were you stoned all through high school or just in class?”

  “Umm, mostly just the last two years.”

  She shook her head, grinned, and lay back down. “It’s below Austria. I caught a train in Munich that took me to Ljubljana, which is in Slovenia.” She poked me in the side.

  “Ouch. Fine. I’ll learn some geography.”

  “Good. I got to Ljubljana really early in the morning. They followed me to a very leisurely breakfast. I read the paper, enjoyed my coffee. It totally drove them crazy. The dude looked like he wanted to approach me, but the chick stopped him.”

  “So you decided to lose them?”

  “Well, yeah. They were getting antsy. I figured that we’d fucked with them enough.”

  Smart girl. “How’d you do it?”

  “Walked through the city. Ditched them long enough to steal a car. Drove it back—”

  “Wait. You stole a car?” This was a whole new side of Reese.

  “Uhh, yeah. I hotwired it.”

  “You can hotwire a car?” A really sexy side.

  “Well, yeah. I learned last year. When I was working for my grandfather.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I don’t know actually. I think he thought it would be fun to teach me. Introductory course to a life of crime or something.” She shrugged a little like she was embarrassed.

  “I can’t see Lawrence DiGiovanni teaching you to hotwire a car.”

  “I know. It’s weird, right? He had one of his guys bring in an old car. His whole garage is filled with these identical luxury sedans, all dark and masculine. And a couple sports cars that I’ve never seen him drive. And then there was this beat-up baby blue Toyota pickup. We were both crammed under the dash for about thirty minutes before I got it right. He was super excited.”

  “It was fun?” I guessed.

  “Yeah. I know that’s weird. But it’s one of the few times he actually spent time with me.” She gave another embarrassed shrug.

  “Maybe you could teach me sometime?”

  “Okay. Yeah. I could do that.” She pressed her lips against my skin again. “So anyway. I drove back to the train station. Caught a train to France.”

  “You went back to the same train station?”

  “It’s massive. Almost like there are five train stations all crammed together. Once I was on the train, I changed my outfit and shit. Put on the beanie to cover my hair. Flirted with some boy for the last hour. We left the station together. Then I ditched him and came south. You know the rest.”

  “Babe.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a badass.”

  “I know.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Eighteen Months Later

  I woke up to a half-naked Reese sprawled next to me. One foot was off the bed. The other was playing footsie with me. She had her hand under my ass. Like she’d put it there and fallen back to sleep. It was a common occurrence.

  She was wearing a pair of boxer briefs and nothing else. The boxers were tight on her ass and thighs and looked sexy as hell. She was sexy as hell.

  I leaned over and kissed her cheek. Then her ear, down her neck, and across her shoulders. She murmured in her sleep.

  “Morning, peanut butter.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” And she was out again.

  I climbed out of bed and found a T-shirt. My pj pants were tangled on the floor with our blankets. Also a common occurrence.

  I padded down to the kitchen. There was a carafe of coffee on the counter. I poured myself a mug and wandered out back. Christopher was reading the paper. Breno was on his laptop.

  “Morning,” Christopher called.

  “You guys want more coffee?” I asked.

  “Please.”

  “Sure.”

  I went back in and brought the carafe out with me. Christopher held his mug aloft without taking his eyes off the paper.

  “Thank you.” Breno smiled at me as I filled his cup.

  “Whatever.” I put the coffee on the table between them. Then I snagged the chair opposite Christopher.

  “Reese still asleep?” Christopher asked.

  “Yep. Ryan?”

  “Of course,” Breno said.

  “So today’s the big day?” Christopher asked.

  “Yeah, Ryan said he picked up the—” I stopped talking when the door opened.

  “Is the coffee out here?” Reese asked. An empty mug dangled from her hand.

  “Yeah, sorry.” I nodded at the carafe.

  “Cool.” She sauntered out barefoot. Her hair was all messy and sexy. She’d thrown on a pair of her shorts and one of my hoodies. I was guessing there was nothing under the sweatshirt and I really wanted to find out.

  Christopher pulled out a chunk of the newspaper and handed it to Reese as she sat down.

  “Thanks.” Reese poured some coffee and blew across the top of her mug. Then she opened the paper and proceeded to ignore me for the next thirty minutes.

  “Are you guys about ready for breakfast?” Breno closed his laptop.

  “Mmm-hmm.” Reese was still reading the paper.

  “I’m down. You want help?” I asked.

  “Just go wake up Ryan.”

  I rolled my eyes and followed Breno inside. He set down his computer and the empty coffee carafe.

  “Should I make more coffee?” he asked.

  “Please. Or I’ll never get him out of bed.”

  “Tell him I’m making waffles.” Breno started measuring out more coffee.

  “Got it.” I headed back upstairs.


  Ryan’s room was dark. I pulled open the curtains and he groaned.

  “Why do you hate me?” he asked from beneath a pile of blankets.

  “I don’t hate you. The sun hates you.”

  “Go the fuck away.”

  “Are you talking to me or the sun?” I asked.

  “Please, Coop. Fuck off,” he whined.

  “You don’t have a girl under there, do you?”

  “No. Close the curtains.”

  “Nope. Gotta wake up and shit.”

  “Why? I have absolutely no responsibilities.” The mound of blankets shifted a little and Ryan’s head poked out.

  “Breno told me to wake you up.”

  “There better be coffee.”

  “And waffles,” I said.

  “Fine. I’ll get up. But I don’t like you today.”

  “Sure you do. We’re gonna be family today.”

  “You’re such a fucking tool.” Ryan started giggling. “And she still has to say yes.”

  “Oh, she’ll say yes.”

  “Just because you’re all excited to face the day doesn’t mean I have to be.”

  “Good point. But if you sleep, you will miss waffles.”

  “Damn you and your waffles.”

  “Whatever.” I found a pair of sweats on the floor and tossed them at him. “Your loss.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m getting up.” Ryan sat up and grabbed the sweats. “You excited?”

  “Yes. But I’m trying to be cool.”

  He laughed again. “Let me know how that works out.”

  “Fuck off.”

  “Want to smoke?” Ryan leaned over and opened the drawer on his bedside table. He pulled out his cigarette case and chose a joint.

  “Nah, man. I’m cool. Don’t light the blankets on fire.”

  “Please,” he scoffed.

  “I’ll see you downstairs, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  I went back down to the kitchen. Breno was stirring his waffle batter.

  “Is he awake?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Christ. He’s smoking isn’t he?”

  “Umm…”

  “I told him. If he’s going to smoke, he needs to do it outside.” Breno sighed.

  I didn’t know why he cared. He’d told Ryan not to smoke in the house almost every day since we’d moved in. Ryan hadn’t listened once.