Wicked Thing (C.O.A Series Book 2)

by Kim Cormack

  Lexy clicked in to his naughty interpretation and playfully swatted his arm. It wouldn’t matter if they were both aware of the situation or if it was only her that carried the burden of loving him…all alone. Their clan’s Guardian could stifle their love temporarily but he would always return to her. Lexy smiled as she pulled him towards her, they kissed, and both of them succumbed to the intensity of the passionate embrace as his tongue teased hers, and tantalizingly flitted across her bottom lip as his one free hand delved between her legs, stroking the material of her jeans possessively, she softly mewed and quivered with pleasure. Grey grinned as their lips parted, quite proud of the effect he was having on her, he began to trail heated sensual kisses down her neck and nipped at her throat as his hands slipped under her shirt, her breath caught in her chest.

  He gave her a naughty command, “I’m going to need you to take your shirt and bra off.”

  She usually didn’t follow orders but it was in her best interest to follow this one. Lexy bit her lip with anticipation as she slipped her shirt off and tossed it aside. She reached behind her back and undid the trio of tiny clasps, slipped it off of one arm and chucked it into the sand. Grey intently watched her every movement and once her breasts were free of their restraints he didn’t waste any time as he cupped them, skillfully massaging each aching peak between his fingers, until she closed her eyes and practically melted into the blanket beneath her. He took one into his mouth while playing with the other. They were painfully sensitive and throbbing by the time he moved down to her stomach.

  Grey paused and groaned, “Watching you squirm around on the blanket like this might be the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” He kept her jeans on as he kissed her on her hip and then she felt the heat of his breath through the material of her jeans and arched her back with pleasure as he ran his tongue seductively over the rough material between her legs. She was about to lose her mind. He whispered, “Let me take your jeans off.”

  “Only if yours come off too,” she whispered.

  He appeared to be torn for a second as he paused, but got over it and straddled her, grinning as he removed his shirt. She could feel him between her legs as she travelled his tanned defined torso with her fingertips.

  Greydon gazed down as she undid his jeans and with a raspy voice he said, “This could get out of hand.”

  She nodded, certain it would but she’d ceased to care. Lexy watched as he struggled out of his pants. She undid her jeans, and he helped her tug them off. They were both laughing as she yanked him down onto the blanket on top of her. Their lips met as the X-rated portion of their seductive dance underneath the stars began. They brought each other to the heights of ecstasy again and again, and after spending the entire night satisfying each other, while somehow managing to stop short of consummating their love, utterly exhausted, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  When Lexy awoke, her head was resting on Grey’s lap and he was playing with her hair. She smiled and looked up at him. Her heart clenched, for a split second as the fear that he wouldn’t remember the night they’d shared brought her back to a place she’d been far too many times before.

  Her Handler’s eyes crinkled in the corners as he gazed into hers and affectionately affirmed, “I love you…Promise me you’ll always know that even if someday I don’t know it myself.”

  Oh, thank God. She took a deep breath and gave him her reply, “I’ll never love anyone like I love you, I can promise you that…but…”

  He smiled at her and prodded, “But?”

  Lexy maneuvered off of his lap and sprawled out on the blanket, without looking at him she released the words that were teetering precariously on the tip of her tongue, “How long are we going to keep pretending that this part of our relationship can last?”

  “Way to be a party pooper, Lex,” Grey stated, as he stretched out beside her on the blanket and let out an exasperated sigh.

  This was going to hurt like hell and the longer they played this game the more devastating it would be for her, when it happened. She’d just quite effectively ripped the figurative band aid off of that conversation. They had to have it. They couldn’t avoid this topic forever. They were no longer touching and her heart ached. All it had taken was the slightest glimpse of want in his eyes and as always, she’d been incapable of walking away. This time they both had known better but even that had not stopped their inevitable reunion as more. Their fingertips were almost touching and then predictably he took her hand and she felt whole again.

  Grey whispered, “What we’re doing is the wrong thing for you…isn’t it?”

  “For a minute there, I was afraid you weren’t going to remember last night and I’m not afraid of many things, you know me… but what I’m most afraid of is believing in us, being all in with you and having the rug pulled out from under me.”

  “You know I would never intentionally hurt you,” Grey responded as he caressed her fingertips with his.

  “That’s the problem. I’ve always known that but it’s never made a difference because there’s only one way this goes down and even though it kills me to say this, I think you had it right when you said we have to work our way past the love that we feel for each other,” Lexy quietly replied as she tightened her grip on his hand.

  “I know what I promised Frost, but I don’t think I’m capable of doing that. Lexy, I can’t let you go…” Grey answered as he continued to look at the heavens above.

  She knew what she had to do. Lexy pulled him towards her and whispered, “You don’t have to.” She was the one that had to let him go...

  Her stomach cramped and just like that the subject was changed, Lexy scowled as she looked at Grey and he questioned, “What?”

  It happened again and the pain was intense enough to curl her toes. Lexy launched herself to her feet and began to scramble around, collecting each article of her clothing that she’d haphazardly tossed aside. Grey took her lead as he whipped on his clothing.

  Lexy was already sitting in the driver’s seat when he looked up, and she ordered, “Get in!”

  They left the blanket by the side of the road, as they peeled away from their temporary place of solitude and raced back towards the motel. Stupid, stupid, stupid! There was another car kicking up dust travelling on the other side of the road towards them. Now, who would be driving down this road away from the motel before dawn? Lexy just knew it was one of the other clans. She could feel it in her bones, and as they came closer even with the glare of their headlights she was able to focus in on the occupants of the approaching car. There was a large thug of a man that she didn’t recognize and…Tiberius. She knew what this was… “They’ve got Molly. Put on your seatbelt.”

  Grey only had time to say, “Oh…Shit!” As he placed both arms in front of his head and braced himself for the impact.

  Lexy reached over and did up her seatbelt at the last second. She smiled at Tiberius as their eyes met. Lexy pushed the pedal to the floor and drove their beater at full speed directly into the Triad. Her body lurched forward and she violently smoked her face on the steering wheel. There was the sickening sound of crushing metal and shattering glass as occupants of the other vehicle soared through the windshield.

  When her head stopped ringing Lexy glanced over at Grey. He’d slammed his head into the dash but he’d live and if not, she’d fix him when she’d taken back their girl. She casually undid her seatbelt, wiped the blood off of her nose on her wrist and attempted to open the door. The frame was compromised. Lovely… What did she expect? She thought of Molly and her actively healing body fed her a surge of welcome adrenaline. She kicked the door open and it came right off of the hinges and landed on the ground. Her face throbbed with pain as she strolled over and gave Tiberius’s body a soft boot with her foot. She hadn’t needed to do that because the lifeless gaze of his open eyes made his predicament a little bit more than obvious. Well, he was definitely dead. She noticed that the other Triad was struggling; he was trying to crawl away. We
ll, that was just silly. Where in the hell did this asshole think he was going? The Dragon of Ankh casually strolled over to stand beside him, if for no other reason but to mess with his head. He’d managed to wriggle his way off of the dusty cement and into the sand by the side of the road. It was rather entertaining. It now looked like he was trying to dig himself a hole. Brilliant idea! He started to choke and sputter out blood and knowing he was almost dead, she opted to let him start the process of digging his own grave while she went to look for Molly. The rest of the Triad would know that one of them had died. Their brands of clan all worked the same way. This was a good thing because they were going to need a new vehicle, she’d totalled this one. Lexy took a quick peek into the empty backseat and as she wandered over to pop the trunk, a thought crossed her mind. Why hadn’t their symbols gone off? How had they taken the girl without even wounding any of the Ankh? She glanced into the trunk and there was a bound, gagged yet very much alive Molly. Hmmm, maybe they’d drugged everyone in their sleep? That was a very unsportsmanlike thing for them to do. She recalled the drugging of an entire restaurant full of people and smiled. That’s exactly what they’d done.

  A comically disorientated Grey staggered out of the passenger side of their vehicle and announced, “Just in case you were the slightest bit concerned, I’m okay.”

  Lexy grinned at her Handler and continued to work up a plan in her head. There was a shovel in the trunk of the ancient beater they’d taken for a joyride. The thought of her sexy arch rival Tiberius coming to six feet under in the desert made her little black heart jump for joy. She deviously grinned as she hollered, “Grab that shovel and dig a nice deep hole. Let’s severely inconvenience our two Triad friends here. I’ll take care of the next group that comes for them. We’ll need a new ride.” Grey shrugged and disappeared.

  Lexy ungagged the new girl, untied her hands, and looked at her palm. Molly was out cold but still Ankh, obviously nobody had the time to change her before they’d hightailed away from the hotel. She dragged Tiberius’s body to the side of the road and after removing Molly from the truck she heard the sound of another vehicle approaching. Awe, the Triad rescue squad was coming…sucks to be them. Lexy yelled at her Handler through the darkness, “Dig a really big hole, I’ll be bringing you more bodies.”

  She darted around to the rear of their demolished vehicle, punched out both tail lights and ducked down. The element of surprise was always important, especially when you are completely unarmed. Lexy noted that she was healing remarkably fast today as she wiped the excess blood from her knuckles on her shirt. She smiled, knowing that if she took a carload of his men out without a weapon it would make Tiberius’s day. They pulled over and rushed towards the wreckage. Lexy counted only two men. Were they travelling two by two? That was actually quite smart. She waited until one of the men came close to where she was hiding and in a swift well-trained move she choked him out, without making a sound. Lexy stealthily snuck around the side of the vehicle under the cover of darkness and snapped the other Triad’s neck. On second thought, maybe travelling in pairs was not the smartest move, because taking their vehicle had been like taking candy from a baby. She jumped on both of the Triad’s arms, snapping each bone in half and then did the same to each one of their legs. The more work she gave their Healers the more time they’d have before they were followed. If there were more Triad close by, they would have felt her subdue two more of their men and they’d already be on their way. They’d better bury these four and get out of here. She dragged the other two corpses over to the side of the road just as dawn broke and a warm glow lit up her surroundings. Interesting, the other two bodies were already gone. Lexy grinned as she called out to Grey, knowing how super motivated he’d be to bury Tiberius in the desert. She found him standing in front of his latest masterpiece of revenge. Now, the act of revenge was more her style but Grey despised Tiberius with every breath of his being, even more so since he’d found out she’d been messing around with him on the down low. She took a good look in the hole and grinned. The first two bodies were already at the bottom...and butt naked. Oh, this was magnificent. Lexy didn’t feel the slightest twinge of guilt as she stared at Tiberius’s nude form. She was however impressed; he’d obviously been quite excited to see her. That naughty twisted boy. She picked up a handful of sand and tossed it on him. He’d understand that it was all in good fun. His spirit was more than dark enough to appreciate the creativity of the moment.

  They stripped the other two down and tossed them into the hole, quickly taking turns, they buried the four Triad a good six feet under and then Grey shifted the sand around with his foot so you couldn’t even tell that the ground had been disturbed. They’d come to naked and buried alive in the desert. Oh, if only she could be around to see the pissed off expressions on their faces as they dug themselves out. Molly appeared looking no worse for wear just as they were walking away with their arms loaded with the Triad’s clothes. That would be the best part. They’d dig themselves out and have to wander through the desert naked.

  Lexy smiled innocently at the newbie and announced, “Good, you’re up. We should get back to the motel and find the others.”

  As Molly followed them she gave them all of the information she could recall, “They’re not at the motel. I heard them talking about frying the Ankh in a storage container. The kind of hot one chucked me into the trunk and made some kind of crude comment about how easy I’d be to toss around in bed and then he sprayed something in my face. I don’t remember anything after that.”

  Lexy grinned, knowing it was Tiberius, Molly was talking about. She’d never even had the misfortune of meeting any of the other clans. This was her first trip to the rodeo.

  Grey smiled and said, “My face still smarts, I’m driving this time.”

  Lexy didn’t argue, she’d had her fun.

  “So, we’re looking for a storage container in the desert. How hard can that be to find?” he proclaimed as they pulled away from the crash site.

  They drove past the motel and carried on further down the only visible road until they saw a barely noticeable dune buggy trail. Bingo! She didn’t even need to say anything, Grey veered off of the main road and carried on down a side road that led off into a hilly area of desert, using nothing but instinct the three travelled into the barren land and as the temperature rose they discovered the inconvenient lack of air conditioning in the now sweltering heat. They saw the cloud of dust from another vehicle’s tires and headed in that direction.

  Chapter 23

  I Crashed into You

  They drove towards the cloud of rising dust. It was much further away than they’d initially thought it was and by the time they had an actual visual on the storage container, their captive clan had already managed to escape. Lexy grinned. If this had been Tiberius’s plan, it was rather impressive.

  Molly announced, “There are cases of water on the floor in the backseat. Do you want one?”

  Lexy glanced back at her and answered, “Oh, that’s amazing, I’m so thirsty. I’d love one.”

  Their fellow Ankh sprinted towards their vehicle seriously stoked and even more so when they realized they still had Molly.

  Frost leaned into the window of the vehicle and chuckled, “I have to know how this happened.”

  Grey grinned as he gave them an explanation that sounded so much better than the truth. He had her back as always. The real story sounded far too reckless to be repeated.

  Lily of course, looked gorgeous as always, even though she was sweaty and covered in sand. She raked her fingers through her damp midnight hair as she opened the car door and asked, “Where did you find this car and how does it still run?”

  Grey glanced at Lily, passed her a bottle of water and said, “Let’s just say our options were limited. We should get out of here. They’ll be back soon, and I’m sure they’ll be seriously pissed off.”

  Oh, that was the understatement of the year.

  As Frost got into the backseat o
f the sketchy looking vehicle they commandeered from Triad, Lexy glanced back at him and prodded, “How in the hell did they capture all of you?” She passed Frost a bottle of water.

  Frost shrugged, twisted off the lid and replied, “I came too, sweating to death and chained to the wall in the back of that sweltering storage container. I have no bloody idea how it happened.” He chugged the entire bottle of water and then began passing the bottles of water to everyone else.

  Melody piped in, “We all woke up there, except for Kayn.” She passed a bottle of water to Kayn.

  Kayn twisted off the lid and downed the entire bottle and then she started to explain, “I went to sleep early and when I woke up my hands were chained. Kevin was in my room and he used some kind of spray chloroform on me. I came to and I was in the backseat of his car. Stephanie said he left me ungagged because he wanted to talk to me. They were talking and I overheard Stephanie say that they hadn’t found Grey or Lexy. So, I bit a chunk out of my shoulder to signal you guys. Then they brought me to that stiflingly hot storage container and chained me to the wall, with everyone else.”

  That’s weird…their symbols hadn’t been triggered.

  Frost spurned the tale on by saying, “Oh, Don’t stop now. You’re leaving out the best part of the story.”

  Kayn met Frost’s penetrating gaze, glared at him and replied, “What part is that?”

  Frost smirked and teased, “Kevin kissed her before he left.”

  Grey chuckled, “While you were chained to the wall in front of everyone…Kinky.”

  There were important pieces missing from this story. Lexy asked the obvious question, “How’d they chain you to the wall?”

  Kayn said, “I’ll be right back.” Lexy watched as her fellow Dragon ran back towards the storage container and reappeared holding the chains that had been used to restrain the entire group.

  Lexy grinned as she saw what Kayn was holding in her hand. These were used to restrain immortals. They’d been used on her before. Lexy took them off of her and said, “I see what they used. These are pretty fool proof. How did you get out?”