by Juniper Hart
She didn’t have his money. She couldn’t even afford to eat if her plan to steal from Kai didn’t work out. Besides, it wasn’t even her fault. She had never even tried pot—she didn’t want to feel out of control, even for a second.
“I don’t have it right now,” Coral said with a shaking voice. “But I will!”
Earl stepped forward, and Coral immediately took a step back. She suddenly felt dwarfed. “I’m gonna ask you one more time.”
“We’re all reasonable. Can’t we work this out? I’ll have it within a week!” She hoped they couldn’t hear her voice quivering.
“We saw you with the man inside,” Josh told her. “Tomorrow morning, or we’re coming back for you and next time, we won’t be so forgiving.”
“I need that money!” she argued. “I’m going to be evicted, and I—”
“Evicted or broken,” Earl said. “Boss don’t give a fuck what excuses you have. He wants his money back. You know how to reach me.”
These men were true to their word. She knew their threats weren’t empty—they were promises. Earl and Josh would absolutely hurt her, even kill her, if she didn’t give them what they wanted.
“Fine,” she hissed. “Tomorrow morning.”
Another man walked up behind Josh, his steps echoing throughout the parking lot.
“Tara?” came Kai’s voice. “You okay?”
Earl turned to face Kai. He and Josh were both bigger than him, but Kai didn’t look intimidated. “Get outta here. This ain’t none of your business.”
Kai stared him down. “I think it is.”
Earl walked up to Kai and roughly poked him in the chest with his index finger. “Maybe you didn’t hear me. Get the fuck out of here!”
Kai’s steely blue eyes glared at him. With one deft move, he plucked Earl’s cigarette out of his mouth. After a dramatic pause, he grabbed Earl’s hand and pressed the red-hot part onto Earl’s palm. Kai grinned at Earl while doing it. It was a scare tactic, through and through.
Earl attempted to remove his hand from Kai’s grasp, but was unsuccessful. Finally, Kai let him go.
For a second, Coral thought Earl might punch him or do something worse, but he simply scoffed. Then he nodded to Josh, and both men vanished off into the gloom, leaving Coral and Kai behind.
“You okay?” Kai asked, turning his attention to her. His eyes were surprisingly gentle as he looked her over.
“Yes. Thank you. I love the whole knight in shining armor tactic, but you’ve opened up a floodgate of trouble for yourself,” she replied.
“I’ve never liked knights,” said Kai seriously. “And you don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself. I want to make sure they didn’t hurt you.”
Maybe Coral was wrong about him; he seemed like a good guy. She reconsidered her plan, but Earl and Josh were going to hurt her if she didn’t get their money.
“Where’s your car?” she asked, looking around the parking lot.
“Valet,” he said.
Kai grabbed her hand and walked over to the valet to give the man his ticket. When the valet returned, she had to do a double take. Kai drove a million-dollar car. She wasn’t into cars per se, but it didn’t take a pro to recognize something that valuable. It was the true status symbol. Her jaw dropped looking at it. When she got in, she moved carefully to avoid scratching anything.
I’m going to rob this man and I’m worried about scratching his car?
Something about Kai didn’t add up. Coral hoped she wouldn’t regret what she was about to do.
2
Kai kept his eyes on the road while they drove. “What was all that about earlier?”
Coral tensed, but she quickly regained her composure. “In the parking lot?”
He nodded silently.
“Long story,” she said with a shrug.
Kai glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Interesting,” was all he said.
He didn’t pry, and for that, Coral was grateful.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that he could see through her. But that was ridiculous. He couldn’t know that she was planning to drug him and take his valuables. No way. He might suspect she was up to no good. It didn’t look like he cared all that much about it, though.
Finally, they showed up at his house. “House.” That wasn’t the right word. “Fortress” was more appropriate, but not a medieval fortress. The architecture was modern with strong horizontal lines and glass curtain walls. It was surrounded by a tall concrete wall and large iron gates that welcomed them at the entrance. It wouldn’t be an easy escape for Coral to make.
Play it cool, Coral.
She settled back in her seat and smiled. She’d hit the mother-load. All she had to do was drug this man, steal his valuables, and be on her way.
When Kai entered the code for his gate, Coral watched the reflection in the mirror as he pressed the numbers, and she memorized the combination: 5062. She repeated the number in her head until it was practically engraved inside her—after all, she would need it later.
As Kai drove them through the iron gates, Coral kept an eye out for guards or staff members.
“Do you live here alone?” she asked.
He laid a hand on her thigh and gently stroked it. “Yes.”
She looked over at him and smiled. Coral didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she felt excited by his touch. Goosebumps formed on her skin, but in her mind, she blamed it on the air conditioning in his car. He kept it way too cold.
He grinned. It was the first time that she noticed, but he had very sharp canines, like those of a lion. Weird, but she’d seen weirder. One guy she met had two knobs coming out slightly from his forehead like a demon, which was creepy as hell, but he claimed that he had been born with them, so she let it go. It wasn’t her business to judge.
The inside of Kai’s house was just as extravagant as the outside. Coral inhaled sharply when he escorted her inside. If she had sketched a dream house in her mind, Kai’s house would have been it. Like the outside, the décor was simple with straight lines. The furniture was white, but he had the most magnificent art that added splashes of color. Some of the art depicted beautiful ocean scenes, while other paintings were historical portraits of warriors throughout time. Strangely, the men all bore a certain resemblance to Kai, but Coral could tell that the paintings were much older than him.
“Ancestors?” asked Coral jokingly while motioning to the paintings.
“Yes,” he said.
“Oh! Wow! That’s amazing that you can trace your ancestors back so many years. I definitely see the resemblance.”
“Well,” he added with a smile, “that’s how genetics work, right?”
She couldn’t stop staring at the paintings. They were Kai. She was sure of it. Every portrait shared his same eyes, the same smile, the same chiseled bone structure.
She tugged down her dress to expose more of her cleavage, which seemed to drive every guy nuts. The pill to drug him was in her purse. It wouldn’t hurt him, only knock him out long enough so that Coral could get away with enough valuables to pay her rent, get something to eat, and pay Josh and Earl. She was ready. Now, all she had to do was get him to swallow the pill and she’d be off like a bandit.
As they walked through his home, she caught a glimpse of an old grand piano.
“Do you play?” she asked Kai. He briefly glanced at the instrument.
“A little…”
She sat back and crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you.”
“I do,” he assured her.
Kai looked at her and she wilted for a moment. Yes, there was no doubt: she was interacting with a professional womanizer.
“Prove it.”
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Just put the gun down,” he teased.
He sat down at the piano and set his fingers on the keys. A smile came to his lips and he ran his finger across the piano from the deepest to the highest notes. Coral walked over and stood behin
d him to watch as his fingers took over. They moved quickly across the piano, coaxing forth a beautiful melody. It was fast, peppy, and just a plain thrill to listen to and enjoy. Every note left her wanting, craving more.
She playfully slapped his shoulder. “You said you just knew a little!”
“This is a little,” he replied with a laugh.
“What are you?” she cried. “You’re protective, and obviously strong. I still don’t know how you overpowered Earl. You live in this amazing house, and you have unparalleled musical talent.”
His fingers kept flying as he looked at her. He was splitting his concentration between talking to her and playing, which was impressive.
“I’ve had a while to practice.”
She shook her head. “Teach me?”
He scooted over on the bench to make space for her.
“Please,” he said, taking his fingers off the keys.
She missed the music immediately. It had been so warm and nice, like a hug from an old friend. Once it was gone, she felt cold and empty.
Coral sat next to him and set her purse down. When she was in grade school, she grew close to her music teacher, who had given her free lessons after school. Coral always had a love for playing piano, but had never had the money to buy one or even to afford long-term lessons.
The piano keys were cold, smooth, and oddly familiar, though Kai’s piano was much more opulent than the one that her teacher had used.
Coral let her subconscious take over and she played a little tune. It was shaky. She hadn’t played in years, but she was still rather impressed that she remembered any of it.
“Hey, that’s nice!” Kai encouraged. “You play?”
“A little, but nothing like your definition of it.”
He laughed. It sounded like water running over a bed of rocks in a river. It was a beautiful sound, one that she immediately wanted to hear again.
She mentally stepped back. She was going to rob him and vanish off into the night. She wasn’t allowed to like him. It wasn’t okay. Robbing someone you considered a friend was a thousand times harder and worse than robbing someone you will never see again.
He placed his hands over hers and guided her to a certain spot on the keyboard. His hands were still abnormally warm, but Coral didn’t worry about it. She let herself enjoy the moment. For once, she was actually having a good time with a rich stranger. Too bad she couldn’t just stay there, in his fortress, forever, where Earl and Josh couldn’t find her with their guns and threats. The guilt was overwhelming.
But even more overwhelming was her fear of showing up empty-handed the following morning.
3
Okay,” he said. “You need to move your hands here…”
“Uh-huh,” she breathed.
She wasn’t looking at the keys. She didn’t care much about them. Her eyes were locked firmly on Kai.
Together, fingers interlaced, they played a nice song. It wasn’t terribly difficult, but Coral knew they were both using the piano as an excuse to just touch each other. Coral didn’t want the moment to end. If she wasn’t in such a desperate situation, she’d let down her guard and truly enjoy spending time with Kai.
“You intrigue me, Tara,” Kai finally said.
“Huh? Oh. Thanks.” She had forgotten she had told him her name was Tara. “Why is that?”
“You’re not like other women,” he said. “You’re unique. You have a real future. Normally I don’t get that feeling, but I’ve got it this time.”
“Wow,” she said. “Thanks, though we just met. I don’t know if you can accurately judge how successful I’ll be from that.”
He shrugged. “Fair enough.”
Coral turned to look at him and saw that Kai was starting to lean forward. Her heart started pounding as she felt his breath on her pale skin from her low-cut dress, and before she knew it, Kai brushed her lips with his. Their mouths grazed each other’s, making Coral follow him ever so slightly only to find that he was farther away each time. It was tantalizing and made Coral want him even more.
Enough toying around. She couldn’t stand it anymore and met his lips.
Kai pulled his hands from the piano and wrapped his broad arms around behind her. He stroked her back sensuously, causing a shiver of passion to run through her body from the motion. Kai shrugged off his coat and tossed it on the ground.
His shirt followed suit to show his firm, exposed chest beneath with a Celtic design spiraling across his torso. He looked almost godly. He came in again close, but she gently put her hands to his chest.
“Stop.”
He hesitated and looked down at her hands, like he couldn’t quite register what she was telling him.
“Okay,” he said after a moment, and he pulled back, giving her space.
Coral wasn’t planning to have sex with him, even though that was exactly what she wanted. She needed to stay focused and get him to take the pill before they started something she definitely wanted to finish.
She needed an excuse. “Let’s take it slow,” she suggested.
She hated herself every moment for stopping it, but it only worked if he passed out, and she didn’t see how she could get him to take the pill if it wasn’t now.
“I’ll go at your pace,” Kai said.
She didn’t want him to go slow. She wanted him to rip her clothes off, lay her on the piano, and fuck her.
The pill. He had to take the pill. The tricky part was trying to get him to take it.
“You know what I want?” she asked.
“What?”
“Some wine.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Red or white?”
“Red.”
As he left to retrieve their drinks, she slipped a hand into her purse and pulled out a nasty concoction in the shape of a pill that would do the trick. She had done her research and made the pill herself. She didn’t want the guy to spend hours unconscious. She hated the idea of leaving someone passed out on the floor or bed for longer than necessary. What if something happened? What if he reacted badly to the pill and no medical attention came? She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she ended up hurting him. Also, she didn’t want the guy waking up while she stole from him for the obvious reasons. Finally, she had figured it out—the perfect combination of drugs that wouldn’t have too much of an adverse effect.
She hid the pill in her hand just as Kai returned with two wine glasses.
“I think you’ll like this,” he said as he handed her a glass. “It’s a smooth Merlot with hints of currants and plum.”
The clinked their glasses together.
“Salut,” he said.
“Salut.”
Even his wine choices were amazing.
She quickly had to figure out how to get the pill in his glass.
“Will you play for you me again?” she asked while reaching for his wine glass.
As he sat back down at the piano, she quickly placed the pill in his glass and watched as it dissolved almost instantaneously. She sat down next to him, holding both glasses in her hands.
After listening to him play a short song, he stopped and reached for his wine glass.
They both drank. Coral felt her spirit fall.
Within a few minutes, his speech slowed and a glazed look came over his eyes. She could see the effects of the pill on him when he turned to look at her.
“You drugged me, didn’t you?”
Coral stood up and moved away from him. Who knows what he would do as the drug took him down? It was exceptionally fast-acting.
“I’m so, so sorry, Kai…” She looked down. “But I don’t have a choice.”
“It…” He stumbled off the piano bench, moving sluggishly. He was fighting it. “It didn’t have to be this way.”
“They were going to hurt me,” she pleaded pathetically. She didn’t expect to fall apart, but looking at Kai starting to go down hit her in the gut, hard. “Please understand.”
She caught a glimpse of somethi
ng running along his forearm. She thought it was a bug at first, but it moved too quickly. Abruptly, she realized that she was looking at something seemingly liquid running along his flesh, except that she couldn’t tell exactly what it was. All Coral knew was that she wanted to get away from it.
She scrambled back, and she was so startled that she fell halfway across the grand piano.
Kai dropped to one knee. How was he still awake? He should have been knocked out cold.
They were standing by a large window, and Coral nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of something smashing against the glass: raindrops, huge and heavy.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck nearby. From where Coral stood, it almost looked like the lightning was also inside Kai’s eyes—inside of his aqua blue pupils like a miniature storm—as opposed to just reflecting off the window.
Coral watched from the piano as Kai groaned. No doubt about it—he could feel the sedative, and he was not going down easy. Maybe she’d given him too little? No… she’d checked before she had gone to the club.
“You’re…” he growled. “You’re making a bad decision.”
With that, the sedative finally won over and Kai slumped to the ground. His body was tense for a few seconds before he relaxed. Coral stared with stunned silence at his body.
“What,” she whispered to nobody in particular, “the hell was that?”
As quickly as it started, the storm died off. The raindrops slowed to a stop and the clouds moved away so she could see the sky.
It was done. She’d burned her bridge. Now all she had left was to rob him and get out of there before he woke up.
4
The trick to robbing someone was being quick—at least that is what Coral thought was true. You wanted to be out of the property by the time the owner woke up. Especially with Kai, Coral wanted to get away as quickly as possible. Something was different about this man, and it terrified her.
She had to look for his valuables and she had to do it fast. Luckily, she found items of value in every direction. She retrieved the small sacks from her purse to carry off the goods.
