Keeper Under Fire (Graveyard Guardians Book 3)

by Jennifer Malone Wright

  “Only if you do,” Liv responded, turning toward him and sipping her drink.

  His face crinkled in disgust. “So that’s a no then.”

  “That’s a no,” she confirmed. “I don’t sing.”

  “Well, isn’t that what karaoke is for? You know, an excuse for people who can’t sing to get up on stage and pretend like they can.”

  “No, that isn’t what it’s for and aside from that, I said I don’t sing, not that I can’t.”

  Aiden’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh no you don’t. Now you have to go up there and prove that you have some pipes in there.” His fingertip brushed over her chest. She didn’t flinch at the burn that sizzled over her skin from the contact.

  “Don’t touch,” she whispered. Without breaking eye contact, he pulled his hand back, but didn’t apologize. “I am not going to sing, so get that possibility out of your head.”

  “Oh, but you’re so good.” Reese appeared on the other side of the bar.

  Liv tore her gaze away from Aiden’s intense green eyes and turned to her. “Good grief, don’t get it into his head that I might actually get up there.”

  “You’ve done it before.”

  “When I was shit faced and didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”

  Reese shrugged, “Well, I thought you were awfully good for being shit faced.”

  Aiden leaned over the bar, closer to Reese. “Maybe if we convince her to drink more, she’ll do it.”

  “I can hear you and absolutely not, I have to drive.”

  “Fuck it. I’ll sing.” Aiden slapped his hand down on the worn wooden surface of the bar. “I’m not scared.”

  Liv felt her eyes widen. “No one said you were scared. You just don’t seem like the type who wants to get up in front of people and display your vocal skills.”

  “I’m not. I dislike people and dislike crowds of them even more. But, I do happen to like music and I have the voice of an angel.”

  Liv snorted. “Yeah right.”

  “Bartender.” Aiden raised his voice and turned to Reese, who lifted her eyebrows in response. “I need another drink while I choose my song.”

  “Right away,” Reese answered, her voice coated thick with sarcasm.

  “You are seriously going to sing?” Liv asked.

  He shrugged. “Why not? What else is there to do?”

  Liv still didn’t think he was serious, so she swept her arm outward. “Go on then, wow us with your angelic voice.”

  Without another word, the Reaper accepted the fresh drink Reese handed him and then slid off his stool. Liv watched him maneuver around the crowd until he reached the table set up next to the stage.

  “Well …” Reese turned to watch Aiden as well, “He’s nice to look at.”

  Liv nodded, unable to disagree. “That’s pretty much all he has going for him.”

  “Seriously, he can’t be that bad.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “You say that like you do have an idea about that.”

  “Nothing like that. He’s Jack’s friend and I’ve spent some time around him.”

  “Mmm hmmm. Sure.”

  “Seriously, it’s nothing else.”

  “Girl, do you honestly think that no one saw that rig he drives sitting outside your house this morning.”

  Liv’s jaw dropped. “Are you freaking kidding me!”

  “Bartenders honor.” Reese held up the towel in her hand. “Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.”

  “Dammit. Why didn’t I think of this happening?” Liv let her face fall into her hands. “I was serious when I said that nothing was going on between us. He’s Jack’s friend and he has to stay at my house.”

  “Why would he have to stay at your house? The farmhouse has plenty of space.”

  Liv shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Weird. Well, maybe you should take advantage of it while he’s there.”

  “Good lord, Reese.”

  “What?” She turned her gaze toward Aiden, “He’s definitely not bad looking. I don’t see what the problem is.”

  Liv also turned in Aiden’s direction. Reese didn’t know their secrets, to her, Liv was just someone she grew up with and Aiden was a good looking stranger.

  They were both still staring at Aiden as he accepted a microphone, holding it in one hand and his drink in the other. He stepped up onto the stage and cleared his throat into the mic.

  She turned back to face Reese. “He’s actually going to do it.”

  And then, music from a popular rock ballad began to play. Aiden waited until the lyrics began to scroll across the screen and then he began to sing.

  “Ho..,ly shit.” Reese’s jaw fell open. “He really does have the voice of an angel.”

  Liv felt exactly the same way. How in the world could a guy who could be a total asshole have such an amazing voice? The noise level in the bar drastically lowered as the crowd quit talking so they could listen. For most of the song, Aiden closed his eyes, probably because he didn’t like the fact that people were staring at him and he was trying to block it out.

  When the music faded and came to an end, Aiden opened his eyes and the tiny bar erupted into applause. Liv watched as Aiden offered the crowd a small nod and hurried off stage.

  Reese sighed. “That was awesome.”

  “It was,” Liv agreed.

  “Well … if there was any question about taking advantage before, there isn’t now.”

  “Reese!”

  “Just saying, you’d be dumb not to. You’re a grown woman.”

  “And you’re a bad influence.”

  A mischievous smile crept across Reese’s face. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  Aiden appeared next to them. “Yeah, I think I’m ready to go now. I forgot how much I dislike singing in front of people.”

  “All right. I’m ready too.” Liv slipped her purse over her shoulder and stood. “Thanks for the drinks, Reese.”

  “Later guys. Have fun.” Reese waved her towel at them and headed off down the bar to help a group guys who looked like they weren’t old enough to legally drink. “Remember what I said, Liv,” she called over her shoulder, as if it were an afterthought.

  “What was that about?” Aiden asked as they pushed their way through the mass of bodies toward the door.

  “Nothing,” Liv told him. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  Aside from the bar, Summer Hollow was a ghost town. Night had fallen while they were inside, and now Main Street was lit with the greenish yellow glow of the street lamps. Once they had cleared the block of Knights Bar, there were no cars or pedestrians in sight. It wasn’t unusual for the small town to be silent late at night during the week, though it always gave Liv a strange feeling.

  “This place is a fucking nightmare.” Aiden shook his head as he stared at the lack of activity through the windshield. “Aside from Tuesday karaoke, what do you guys do here for fun? Your childhood must have sucked.”

  Liv side eyed him and gripped the wheel tighter. “We had plenty of fun. It’s just different than stuff you do in the city, I guess.” She added the last part since she really didn’t know what kids from the city did for fun except what she saw in movies. “And we could have just stayed at the bar. You were the one who wanted to leave, so stop complaining.”

  She was nearly at the intersection where the school was located and made a spur of the moment decision and turned her van to the left, up toward the school.

  “Where are we going?” Aiden sat up a little straighter in his seat. “Your house is the other way.”

  “I know where my house is. You asked what we did for fun. Well, I’ll show you the kind of stuff we did when I was growing up.”

  A small smile tugged at the corner of Aiden’s lips. “Oh good. We’re going to go drink beer under the bridge and have sex in the woods.”

  “We did that too, but that isn’t what we’re doing tonight.”

  “Well, whatever it is, I’m
in.”

  She rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “Seriously, Aiden. We are constantly in some kind of battle or chasing Reapers away. Our lives are definitely not boring.” She pulled the van up by the curb at the backside of the school where the tennis courts were located.

  “Come on.” She shifted into park and opened the door.

  Aiden hopped out of passenger side and stepped up onto the sidewalk where he stretched. “I suck at tennis,” he told her.

  “Again. That is not what we are doing. Follow me.”

  Liv descended the grassy slope and crossed the lawn past the fenced in tennis courts and then up onto a sidewalk where they were suddenly facing the back of a brick building that was painted white.

  “Take off your clothes.” She pulled her shirt over her head, tossed it on the ground and then toed her shoes off.

  Aiden’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay!” He reached down and unzipped his hoodie, shrugging out of it as quickly as he could.

  Liv couldn’t help but notice his eyes following her fingertips as she tugged at the button on her jeans and then wiggled them down over her hips. “Stop it. We aren’t having sex.” She wished that she didn’t like the fact that his gaze raked over her matching pink bra and panties as if he wanted to tear them right off her body. She stepped out of her jeans and kicked them aside. “Hurry up,” she ordered.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Aiden joked, but then when he slid his jeans down, Liv returned the hungry stare just to show him what it was like.”

  “Eyes up here, Keeper.” He threw her words, from when they had first met at the grocery store, back at her. She shrugged and kept looking at him. He certainly was good looking. Why couldn’t he be less muscular or have plain eyes rather than those wicked awesome green ones? That might make it a little easier to hate him.

  Finally, he was clad in only his black boxer briefs, which Liv couldn’t help but notice, hugged his package nicely. She turned and headed for the thicket of trees behind the building.

  “Where in the hell are you taking me?” Aiden grumbled. “And it’s chilly out here.”

  “Shut up and follow me. You’re acting like a child right now.” Once they were in the trees, she found the piping that ran up the backside of the building and took hold of the one that was cross ways right above her head, bracing her feet on the metal box below it.

  It only took a minute and she had climbed her way up the pipes and was standing on the roof of the structure. “Your turn,” she called down to Aiden.

  He was already halfway up and crawled over the ledge not long after. “Climbing up here nearly naked is not what I’d consider fun, Keeper.”

  She smiled, “No, this is the fun part.” They walked up the sloping roof and she pointed down at the glowing aqua colored waters of the pool below them. “We’re going swimming.”

  Aiden cautiously approached the edge and looked down. “You know there is a few feet between the pool and where the roof ends, right?”

  “Of course I know that.” She nodded. “I used to do this all the time and it’s really only about a foot so it’s not as bad as it looks.” While she did her best to sound brave, she hadn’t jumped off of this roof for years and really didn’t want to do it. But she wasn’t going to let this Reaper bag on her town and her life. She’d show him.

  “You seriously want to do this right now?”

  “Yup.”

  They both stood at the edge, looking down at the peaceful water glowing beneath them. It was lit up, but other than that, there was only one light illuminating the pool area from either side.

  “All right.” Before she could change her mind, she hurried back down to where they had first stepped up onto the roof. Then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. After a quick glance at Aiden, who stood near the other side of the roof looking completely shocked, she sprinted forward.

  She pushed off as she hit the edge of the roof and then she was sailing through the air. Without being able to stop it, a slight scream escaped from within her as she raised her arms into the air and closed her eyes.

  When she hit the water, it was far colder than she’d expected it to be. Her body plunged down into the deep end until her toes touched the bottom. Air bubbles swirled and burst all around her as she pushed her foot onto the smooth floor of the pool and shot upward.

  When her head broke surface, she gulped for air and began to tread water.

  “You okay?” Aiden called down to her.

  “Yeah, I’m fine! Now it’s your turn.” She leaned back and paddled herself over to the far edge of the pool around the six foot section and held onto the edge so that she wouldn’t be in the way. “Come on!” She yelled when he hesitated. “Big strong Reaper like you afraid of a little jump into a pool?”

  He ignored her and turned away, disappearing from the edge of the roof. In less than a minute he appeared again, barreling forward and sailing over the edge. When he hit air, he curled up his legs up and wrapped his arms around his legs, executing a perfect cannon ball. The water splashed up all around him as his body crashed into the deep end of the pool.

  Liv stayed where she was, waiting for him to surface. Soft waves rolled over the length of the pool as the water fought to calm itself again. Aiden’s head finally appeared and he was facing the other way. Quickly, he spun in the water, his eyes searching for her. When their gazes met, he smiled and began to swim toward her. His blond hair was plastered down against his forehead and his muscles rippled as his arms slid through the water, gliding his body her way.

  Why, Liv thought, couldn’t he be anything but a Reaper? Sure, he was slowly redeeming himself, but he had done things that she could never forgive. Like kidnapping her sister.

  “Okay.” He nodded. “That was pretty fun.”

  She smiled. “See, I told you.”

  “But what now? You just jump and then hang here in the pool?”

  “No.” She turned to the side and held onto the edge. “We would usually come in a group, and then we’d all take turns jumping in over and over again.”

  “Wow. You guys really know how to party.”

  “Don’t be an ass.” Liv started to pull herself up out of the water, but she felt strong arms wrap around her and an electric sting ripped across her waist. “Ouch! What are you doing?” She shouted as he pulled her backward into the water with him. She ended up going underneath and sucking in a mouthful of chlorinated water in the process.

  He didn’t let go, but lifted her up so that her head was above the surface again. “Let me go.” She sputtered, shoving at his chest.

  “No way. You don’t get to make me jump off a roof and then just leave.”

  She pushed against his chest and tried to wiggle out of his grasp. His response was to tighten his arms around her waist and pull her closer. “Stop moving around like that,” he whispered in a raspy voice.

  “I will when you let me go.”

  “Just stop. Don’t you feel that?”

  “What? I don’t feel anything.”

  She did stop trying to escape because his eyes were wide and an honest expression of confusion crossed over his face. “Exactly,” he told her.

  She paused to consider his words and realized that this Reaper had his arms wrapped around her, directly on her skin and there was no burn. She’d felt it when he touched her when they were out of the water but now that they were submerged, she couldn’t feel anything. Holding her body still, she let her senses take over and realized that there was a slight vibration that coursed over her skin where his arms made contact. “It … we … how is this possible?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted, finally releasing her. “It must be the water. I felt it when I grabbed you, so it’s not like Jack and Lucy, who don’t feel it at all.”

  “Jack and Lucy are connected somehow. They don’t feel the burn because the universe meant for them to be together. This has to be some kind of fluke.” She tilted her head upward so th
at she could meet his gaze. His eyes had been almost soft, as if he actually had feelings, but then they changed back to that icy, emotionless glare.

  Liv suddenly realized that he did feel, probably more deeply than most and that is what that cold expression was all about. It was part of the wall that he’d built to keep people from hurting him.

  Then again, maybe she was trying to see more than was actually there. She reached up and touched his cheek. Droplets of water slid down over the side of his face and her fingers were wet with the pool water. He jerked his head to the side a little bit at the contact, but she figured that was more from the fact she was doing it than the burn.

  And there was a burn.

  Not as painful as dry skin on skin, but a still burn that coursed through her fingertips and into her hand as she trailed them across Aiden’s cheek.

  “Don’t,” he growled.

  She kicked her feet and moved herself backward a little bit, pulling her hand away from him in the process. “I’m sorry.” She wished they were back in the bickering playful mode they had been in before. Now it was just awkward. She was back against the edge of the pool. “We really should go.”

  Aiden swam toward her and reached out, lightly touching her arm. “No. I’m sorry.” He choked the words out like he’d never said them before. “I’m not used to that is all. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

  Liv offered him a slight nod. “It’s fine. I’m a big girl.”

  “I know you are.” The real Aiden finally appeared as his sarcastic smile returned and he dipped his gaze down to her breasts.

  “Dammit, Aiden!”

  “What?”

  “Stop checking me out.” She splashed him, a little wave of pool water spraying up into his face.

  He moved closer. “I would love to stop checking you out, but it’s not as easy as you might think it is. Especially when you’re wearing next to nothing.” He reached out and ran the tip of his finger beneath the strap of her bra. The sizzle coursed through her as his fingertip trailed downward and then hesitated before continuing onto her breast.

  Her breath caught and she cut off the moan that wanted to escape her lips. What the hell was wrong with her? Why in the world did he turn her on?