The Complete Tempest World Box Set

by Mankin, Michelle

  “Please. Just drive.” She was tense as fuck, staring straight ahead, hands clenched into tight fists on her lap. “Get us away from here.”

  “Alright.” My voice was gruff reflecting my own internal turmoil regarding this whole twisted up scene.

  She let out a shaky breath as soon as I peeled around the corner and headed downhill toward the waterfront on Burrard. I looked at her. She was shivering, soaked to the bone. Droplets of water clung to her lashes as she returned my stare. “Let me out here. Pull over into that empty spot.” She gestured toward the curb.

  “Not gonna happen, Kitten.” But I did pull over, just briefly, so I could shrug out of my jacket and drape it around her shoulders. I liked the way it looked on her. I could have stared at her just like that for hours, but she was still cold. I turned up the heat some more and reached over covering one of her fists with my hand, tapping down the intense hum of desire I was getting used to feeling whenever I touched her. “I’m gonna ask the questions and you’re gonna answer them. We can talk here in the car, but I’d prefer it if we go somewhere else. I have a feeling I’m not gonna like what you tell me, and I don’t want either of us to get hurt if I lose it and wreck my new car. Ok?”

  She nodded once, sagged in her seat and squeezed her eyes shut, but she left her hand underneath mine. I could sense the fight had gone out of her and that made me sad. “I wish…” Her breath seemed to catch and when she restarted her voice was lower. “I wish you would just let it go. Forget what you saw.” She turned to look at me, the regret glistening in her eyes tying my gut up into tighter knots. “It really doesn’t concern you.”

  “Bullshit!”

  She flinched, more at the vehemence in my tone than vulgarity.

  “I know the drill,” I said quieter, but firmly, staring straight ahead as I pulled back into traffic. “I’ve heard all the excuses, because I’ve used ’em all myself.”

  “I don’t understand.” She looked perplexed.

  “My old lady was a crack head. On her good days, she was disinterested in Lace and me, but she didn’t have many of those. Mostly she was jonesing for her next fix and taking out her frustrations on us when she didn’t get it. I built up a tolerance for getting the shit beat out of me, and I also got real good at deflecting like you do when people ask too many questions.”

  “How old were you?” she whispered, staring back at me her eyes swimming in empathy.

  I looked back at the road. The sight of her distress on my behalf, even with all the shit she was dealing with herself, reached a part of me that I thought was long dead. But this was about getting her straight, not me and my issues. “The first time? Two or three probably. Hell, I don’t know. Could’ve been before that. I don’t really remember.”

  “Oh my God! You were a baby! I’m so sorry.” She covered our joined hands with her other one and squeezed.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled voice thick. “It was a long time ago. It’s in the past.” A past I couldn’t escape. I pinned her with a look. “I just told you so you’ll understand why I’m not letting this go. There’s no way in hell that’s gonna happen. So, where do you want to go to talk this out? You name the place, and I’ll drive us there.”

  She sat up straighter, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, the interior of the car silent except for our soft breathing, the patter of rain, and the whir of the windshield wipers. “My mom’s expecting me out in Coquitlam.” She turned pleading eyes on me. “Can we talk after that? I could meet you someplace this afternoon.”

  “Negative. This shit’s been churning in my gut all night. I’m not giving you an opportunity to regroup and brush me off again.” I could tell by the flash of guilt on her face that she’d been planning to do just that. “I’ll take you there myself.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve got two rambunctious little brothers to watch. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

  I didn’t know that. She never talked about her personal life at work, and she hadn’t mentioned anything about her family during the drive out to Whistler either. “How little?”

  “John’s seven, Michael’s five.”

  “They’re a lot younger than you.”

  “Yeah, my dad died when I was really young. They’re from my mom’s second marriage. I’ve had a hand in raising them. I love them wicked bad.”

  I guessed. “So you go out every Saturday to see them?”

  She nodded. “And to give my mom a break with George, my step dad,” she clarified.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Traumatic brain injury.” Her voice turned dull. “His mind and body don’t work right anymore. He’s wheelchair bound. He’s just too much for my mom to handle alone.”

  “I’m sorry.” It was my turn to offer condolences. At the same time, I was starting to understand the sources of the quiet resignation and the steely resolve of the woman beside me.

  “You can still back out. It’s a lot to take in. Even for me, and you, well…”

  “No,” I cut her off. “I think I’d like to meet this family of yours. And we’re gonna talk, Kitten. There’s no going back now.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  April

  Michael squealed my name as he barreled out of the kitchen at Mach speed. His small arms wrapped tightly around my legs as he pressed his face into the denim of my still damp jeans.

  “Hey, little jobber.” My heart melting, I bent over and lifted him, pelting kisses all over his head as he desperately tried to avoid them.

  “Quit it, April. Kisses are for girls.”

  “You might feel differently about that when you’re a little older.” Dizzy chuckled. The deep masculine sound of his amusement heated other parts of me.

  Michael squirmed in my grasp so he could get a peek over my shoulder. “Who’s he?”

  “Michael meet Dizzy Lowell.” I turned with him still in my arms. Dizzy Lowell meet my little brother, Michael.”

  “I’m not little.” Michael sulked. “Put me down.”

  I complied with his demand, and he peered up at Dizzy, his lip between his teeth. “You’re tall,” he concluded after a moment of study. “And you’ve got an earring in your lip just like the new guy in April’s story.”

  “Really? That’s interesting.” Dizzy arched his studded brow.

  “It’s nothing.” I started to change the subject, but Michael spilled.

  “April makes up the best stories. Better than anybody in the whole world.”

  I snorted and scruffed his hair. “I’m glad you think so.” I steered him toward the kitchen. I needed to get him a cookie before he gave away any more of my secrets.

  “You got a sister, too?” Michael interrogated from his perch on the counter, taking a big bite out of the cookie I’d given him.

  “Yep. I sure do. Her name’s Lace.”

  “She tell stories or got a ring in her lip?”

  Dizzy chuckled. “No. But she sings really well and is going to school right now to learn how to make really cool clothes.”

  “I don’t like clothes. Mom gets ’em for my birthday. Toys are better. Is your sister pretty?”

  “Lots of people think so.”

  “Mine is,” Michael said without a pause.

  “No doubt.” Dizzy threw me an intense look that made my toes curl.

  “April, John’s still over at a friend’s house.” My mom clopped into the kitchen in her heels fastening her necklace and stopped cold when she noticed Dizzy.

  Before I had a chance to make introductions, Dizzy took the initiative. “Morning, ma’am. I’m Dizzy Lowell. A friend of April’s.”

  “Brandee Barrie.” My mom took his hand. “You’re Mel’s boyfriend, aren’t you? The musician?”

  “No, I…” He pressed his lips together when he caught my subtle head shake. “Not really her boyfriend. Not officially, anyway.”

  “You’re both soaking wet.” My mom looked back and forth between the two of us.

  “Yeah, Mo
m. It’s really pouring out there.”

  “I don’t want you catching pneumonia. Come with me, April Annelise.” Her voice rang with motherly authority. You need to get out of those wet things and take a hot shower.” She turned to Dizzy. “You too, young man. You can use the other bathroom. You’re a little leaner and taller than my husband, but I bet you can make do with some of his clothes while I put yours in the dryer.”

  Dizzy looked amused as we followed her down the hall. “Bossy runs in the family, huh?” he whispered.

  I glared.

  Dizzy stopped just inside the doorway, suddenly transfixed. Framed by a hospital table littered with prescription bottles on one side and a wheelchair on the other, my stepfather slumped in a recliner, his expression vacant. Dizzy’s cognac colored eyes glistening with sympathy slowly shifted back and forth between the room’s frail tenant and me. I could tell he was shocked. The reality of my stepfather’s condition defined description. I looked away from the understanding I wasn’t prepared to accept from him.

  My mom handed him a pair of George’s sweats and a t-shirt. “Just set your wet things outside in the hall.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Dizzy replied.

  “I’ll throw them in with April’s. They shouldn’t take too long to dry.”

  Dizzy nodded and sauntered off. Michael climbed onto his father’s lap, leaned back and continued to munch his cookie.

  “Do you want to tell me exactly what’s going on here, April Annelise?” My mom hissed, laying into me as soon as Dizzy was out of earshot.

  “What are you talking about?” I scrunched my brows together in mock confusion.

  “Stay here,” she ordered Michael, grabbing my arm, pulling me into the bathroom, and closing the door. “I’m talking about that slice of manaliciouness that you keep staring at like you want to binge on him.” My jaw dropped open. “Mel’s guitarist boyfriend,” she clarified unnecessarily. “Do you mind explaining yourself?”

  My stomach sank. She usually seemed so distracted these days. I’d forgotten how perceptive she could be. And how direct.

  “He’s just a friend, Mom.” I looked her straight in the eye knowing I had to make my fabrication convincing or she’d never let it go. “We ran into each other when I was on my way to the bus. He wanted to talk…about Mel.” I swallowed the lie with a noticeable pause. “He wanted advice. He’s not the type of guy who has relationships.” Back on more truthful ground the words came faster and easier.

  She studied me, eyes searching. I shivered. Her face softened slightly . “Get undressed and get in the shower, honey.” I started to peel off my wet clothes. “We’ll continue this discussion when I get back, after he’s gone.”

  Shit.

  “I’ve let too much slide lately. You and I are way overdue for one of our chats.” She touched my arm softly. I turned around, shirt to my chest, my scarf still covering the physical bruises, but the raw emotion I hadn’t properly hidden was there in plain sight for her to see. “Oh, April. What’s happened? I know something’s wrong.” Her eyes filled. She pulled me into her. I’d never stiffened in my mom’s arms before now. If I let go, I’d completely fall apart.

  Telling her the truth might make me feel better temporarily, but would upset her greatly and wouldn’t change anything anyway. I was going to have enough trouble trying to keep Dizzy out of it. I didn’t need to involve her, too.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Dizzy

  I watched April as she tended to her stepfather. Seeing how loving and patient she was with him, I began to realize how deeply her true beauty really went. It threw my world completely off its axis. I felt as if I were falling, spiraling out of control. Respect. Admiration. Desire. She was forcing me to acknowledge things that I wasn’t at all sure that I was prepared to handle.

  “You love him.” My eyes met hers from the other side of the hospital bed. She’d just finished getting him settled after a bout of agitation that she called one of his ‘episodes’. She tucked the covers around his chin.

  “Yes.” Tears flooded her eyes. She turned her head to hide them from me. So fiercely proud. So incredibly beautiful. “Even though I wasn’t really his, it didn’t seem to matter to him. He took me to gymnastics. He taught me to drive. He bragged about me shamelessly. He…well…” She trailed off.

  “Go on. Please.”

  She turned off the overhead light and switched on a lamp beside the bed bathing the room in a softer glow. “He told me I was special. Not to give it away to just any guy.” Her cheeks turned pink. “He said I should hold out for real love.” She finally looked up, eyes meeting mine. “I thought I’d done that. Only I…Shit. Nevermind.”

  “No. Not nevermind. Talk to me, April. Michael can’t hear us.” Her brother was hypnotized by an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants blaring from the television in the next room. Sadly, I could quote nearly every line.

  She rushed from the room without answering.

  “April,” I called, following her, curling my fingers around her arm, and turning her to face me. Her eyes were wide and sad, her expression forlorn. She stepped backward leaning against the wall and looking up at me in the shadowy hallway.

  “You want me to tell you,” she paused to sigh, “that James is abusive.”

  “I can see that for myself.” My gaze dropped to her neck. “I know what’s under that scarf, Kitten.”

  “It’s not what you think.” Her hands fluttered up as if to cover the bruises that were already well concealed.

  I grabbed them. They were soft and delicate. They made me want her in a way I hadn’t wanted any other woman. At the same time I felt a surge of hatred for the man who would squander such a precious treasure. “It’s exactly what I think.” I let go of her hands and tilted her chin back so I could look into her shining eyes. “I never told you before, but I saw you once, before we met at the Mine.”

  She blinked slowly.

  “At Pretty Tied Up. The bondage club.”

  She paled, her look of confusion morphing into something resembling fear.

  “So don’t try to deceive me. He chokes you. He gets off on that kind of thing…hurting you.”

  She shook her head.

  I moved closer gently framing her face between my hands, her hair silky between my fingers. My dick didn’t know this was serious and not sexual. The rest of my body didn’t get the memo, either. My heart raced, my pulse pounded through my veins. When I had a woman this close, touching her this way, it usually ended up with me turning her around and sealing the deal.

  “No,” she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. “I mean, yes. You’re right. He gets off on it. But it’s consensual.” She sniffed. “I let him.” She closed her eyes, shuttering them from my perusal. A moment later she reopened them. It was amazing, the sudden transformation. An impenetrable shield had gone up. Eyes that had been soft were stony now. I didn’t like it. Even her body seemed to be encased in granite, the attraction that usually zinged between us interrupted. “So you see,” her voice sounded as remote as the rest of her felt. “I don’t need your interference.”

  She turned and slid away from me, and I let her….for the moment. “I’m really sorry about the way you grew up,” she whispered her breathing heavy and ragged as she glanced over her shoulder at me once before continuing on down the hall. “I won’t tell anyone the things you told me. I hope you can respect my privacy as well.” She stopped and I stared at her delicate neck, her squared shoulders. “I’m fine, Dizzy. You need to stay out of it. What happens in my bedroom is my own business. I don’t need to be rescued.”

  • • •

  April

  “What ya doing, jobber?” I asked, my voice overly bright, sitting down next to Michael on the leather couch. I pulled him into my lap and buried my face into his neck, seeking refuge from Dizzy’s perceptive, penetrating gaze.

  I sensed him standing in the doorway. I seemed to be hyperaware of his presence all of the time lately. What he was waiting for I coul
dn’t say. I had just given the best shutdown performance I had in me. Surely, he’d give it a rest now. Leave. I really needed him to go before I caved in. It was too hard to pretend. I wanted him so much. I doubted that I was strong enough to resist him much longer.

  “Tell me the rest of the story.” Michael clicked off the television. “Tell me how Astral gets away from Jamison.”

  The door suddenly flew open before I could refuse. John bounded into the house, face lighting up when he saw me before giving Dizzy an uncertain glance on his way over to me.

  “That’s Dizzy.” Michael answered his brother’s unspoken question. “He’s April’s friend. This is my brother John. You’re just in time for April’s story.” While Dizzy and John sized each other up, Michael rambled on unaware, scooting down the couch to make room for John.

  “Ok.” Eagerness shone on John’s face, but he seemed to be unsure if it was cool to be excited about a children’s story in front of a grown up stranger.

  “I can’t wait to hear this.” Dizzy moved to the matching recliner, took a seat, challenging eyes meeting mine. “Someone catch me up.”

  “Sure.” Surprisingly, John answered him. “There’s a girl names Astral. She ran away from her parents who treated her badly. She met a boy named Daniel, and his best friend Marta, who have magical powers. They took her with them to their secret world.”

  “There are mermaids, warriors, and pirates,” Michael interrupted.

  “Yeah and Daniel teaches her how to fight with a dagger and she meets his friends and everyone tells her how she looks like the missing daughter of the pirate king.”

  “That’s Jamison,” Michael interjected.

  “Astral and Daniel like each other,” John continued. “But Marta gets jealous.” Dizzy’s brows lifted. He looked at me, and I flushed with embarrassment. I don’t think the similarities to my real life were lost on him. “She tells Jamison the location of Daniel’s secret hideout, and Jamison kidnaps Astral.”