Antidote (Beasts of Prey Book 1)

by LC Lehesaho

  Or maybe more like passed out, but who cares.

  Cobra stares at me, shaking her head slowly like she doesn't believe her eyes. "Oh, my God. I'm not prepared for this."

  "Phew, you've had days to prepare yourself, so gimme a break," I huff at her and pull on my Ray-Bans. Motherfucking hangover. I take a swig from my water bottle while driving, but it tastes like shit. Doesn't surprise me though.

  "You smell horrible," she states, folding her arms across her chest.

  "I stopped throwing up about ten minutes before getting into the car, so go figure."

  "I can drive if you want? There's a big back seat. You can sleep that hangover off." Cobra cocks an eyebrow, her tone now smoother than earlier.

  I watch her naturally tanned skin, how it makes her face glow, and her long pitch-black lashes curving up as she looks at me with a sincere kindness in her big hazel brown eyes. Her pink hair has dark roots already, the same chocolate brown color as her brows. She's pulled it into a messy bun on top of her head, which, combined with an oversized white T-shirt and black leggings, make her look incredibly casual. But to me, she is the most mesmerizing thing I've ever seen.

  I shake my head at her question. "No, I’d rather drive."

  "You still don't trust my driving skills?" Cobra gives me a blank look.

  No, I just don't want to miss a second of the time with you. But I promised myself I wouldn't push her. So, I smirk at her. "I don't want to die today."

  "Asshole," Cobra mutters under her breath, turning forward she lifts her heels to the seat's edge. Her hand goes to the stereo, and she starts to skip songs on my playlist. “Mama Said Knock You Out” by Five Finger Death Punch is her choice, which is a clear fucking statement because she doesn't even listen to the band herself. Of course, she knows every song from my list because it plays all the time in my apartment.

  Going through the list in my head, I pick a perfect song. I make a quick tap on the panel on the steering wheel, changing the song—"All or Nothing” by Theory of a Deadman.

  Cobra spins her head in my direction, narrowing her eyes. I keep my gaze on the road, tapping my fingers against the wheel, and whistle along with the music. When it comes the part you've got all that I need I fucking feel it, and from the corner of my eye, I see her swallow and bite her cheek.

  She fucking feels it too, but being a stubborn donkey, she won't give up her grudge.

  We cross the borders of Shangri-la and the next city too until Cobra opens her mouth again. I am in no hurry to speak, I just love being around her.

  "I'm hungry."

  A smile creeps to my face. "I know, but it won't take long until we're there. Ten minutes, can you manage?"

  "Exactly where is there?" She cocks her head to the side.

  "You'll see."

  Her eyes widen. "Tiger, where are you taking us? I thought we were going to the hotel, and it's like… half an hour away."

  "Just wait, I promise you'll like it."

  Or she might also hate it, but I'm trying to be an optimistic motherfucker. I'm getting a fierce glare from her direction, but she doesn't say anything. Her foot taps nervously, I don't know if it's because she doesn't know where we are going or the fact that she doesn't want to spend time alone with me. I'm starting to think that I need to become religious and pray for God's help to get her forgiveness.

  I take the next exit from the highway, trying to memorize the map in my mind because I don't want to use the navigation system, so our destination stays as a surprise. Cobra gives me suspicious looks from time to time but mostly looks around with curiosity shining from her eyes.

  It doesn’t take long until I know I'm definitely going in the right direction because the scenery starts to change. The road changes from asphalt to gravel and the trees begin to get bigger and bigger on both sides of the road. It's a good thing that we're in the Explorer because it's made for conditions like this.

  "Are you going to bury me here?" Cobra says while eyeing the forest.

  I laugh, but it's actually as sad as it is funny that she honestly says it as a real question. "No, baby, I didn't bring you here for that."

  Then the scenery opens up as the road comes to an end. The giant cliff cuts off the forest, opening the view to the lake over fifteen feet below.

  "Holy mother of fuck, what is this place?" Cobra sighs, fascinated, her face glued to the windshield. That look on her face is everything. My heart is expanding out of my goddamn chest when I look at her.

  "That's Lake Urqus." I get out of the car and wave my hand for her to follow. "C'mon."

  While she gets out, I take the cooler from the back seat and then follow her to the cliff. She looks around, stunned, taking in the breathtaking view. The lake isn't huge, but the cliff surrounds a third of it. At this time of the day, the rays of sunshine glimmer over the surface of the water.

  "This is… beautiful," she gasps, taking a step closer to the edge she peeks down.

  "You like it?" I ask eyes on her, not on the view.

  "Yeah, I love it." She leans even closer to the edge, eyes roaming over the water below. I reach my hand to her, threading my fingers through hers, and Cobra's eyes snap back to me.

  "Just to make sure you don't fall," I tell her, even though touching her makes me want to pull her against me and meld her body to mine.

  Cobra's eyes drop to the cooler in my other hand. There's a slight worry line between her brows, and I know her mind has started finding excuses to get us the fuck out of here.

  "It's not like that. I'm not trying to seduce you or force you to make a decision about us," I say, walking on a thin line of truth and a white lie. I'm not seducing her—I'm showing her what could be. What we could be. "Just hanging out, like we used to do, okay?"

  She lets out a long exhale, relaxing. "Yeah, okay. So, what do you have there? I'm starving. I swear that if you don't have—"

  "Nutella." I cut her off with a smug smirk. "You think I don't know you, baby?"

  Her cheeks blush, and she pulls her hand away from mine, starting to adjust the scrunchie in her hair. The move lifts her shirt up, exposing a sliver of her stomach and pulling it even tighter across her big tits.

  The image of her in my bathroom, naked with her back arched when she came around my fingers flashes into my mind.

  Cobra reads it on my face instantly. The color on her face deepens, which is cute as fuck. She jerks her hands down and crosses her arms over her chest, like she’s shutting herself off from me.

  I rein in my urge to pull her to me and kiss her the way I know she'd give in. I decide to take it slow. Give her time.

  Like I haven't been giving her time for fucking years, but still.

  I fucked-up, I know it. This time, I’m going to learn from my mistakes and be better for her.

  "C'mon, I can hear your stomach growling," I say to her, pulling on a wide smile. I sit down on the rock, stretching my legs in front of me and crossing them at the ankles. Picking up a sandwich wrapped in foil, I glance at Cobra. She stays where she's at, scanning me with a mysterious gleam in her eyes.

  "Well?" I wave the Nutella bread in the air, persuading her to sit down. Within these last weeks, her eyes have gotten harder to read. Tougher.

  Cobra takes a step and another, then gracefully lands next to me, far enough so our legs won't touch when she crosses them in front of her. Without looking at me, she takes the bread and starts to unwrap it.

  I’ve never wanted anything more than I want to wrap my arms around her right now.

  I miss touching her.

  Feeling her close to me.

  Breathing her in and keeping her in my arms.

  There is a fucking hole in my chest because of this distance between us.

  And there is no one else to blame but myself.

  "You know I read a lot when I was a kid?" she says, her beautiful timbre lower than usual, and she keeps her head down, looking at her hands still slowly tearing pieces of the foil.

  I bend my knees
, leaning forward and resting my elbows on them. "Yeah, I know. You still do."

  Cobra nods, scooping Nutella from the bread with her finger she sticks it in her mouth. My skin tingles, and I feel myself growing harder by the second watching her, even though she didn't mean it in any way sexually.

  I ignore my heated body and focus on listening to what she wants to say.

  "Whenever I screwed up in school or training or anything, the stories were a way for me to escape my thoughts. I dreamed of myself in another world." Cobra sighs and lifts her head, looking at the lake. Even from the side, I see her furrowed brows and feel the need to kiss those angsty lines away from her forehead.

  But I stay still, waiting for her to continue.

  "I've always been very good at hiding myself in those worlds. In stories that aren't mine. I'm not Rapunzel or Mulan or not even fucking Wendy. I've never been a heroine, nor a damsel in distress. But I've always had a story of my own. A world and a life of my own." She drops her head down, eyeing the bread again. "It's just always been too scary for me to live it. I read the first chapter and continuing to read it has scared the shit out of me for years."

  I have no fucking clue where this is going or what to say, or does she even expect me to comment? Before I can decide if I should go with ah, okay or hmph she continues.

  "I don't know the genre of my story, and it's terrifying. It's been keeping me away from it 'cause I don't want it to end up being something Del Toro might have written. I don't want it to end up being a horror story." Cobra turns her hazel eyes to me. "But the truth is that I can't keep hiding in other stories while mine is waiting for me. Otherwise, it never ends."

  My heartbeat is thundering in my ears, and I feel the cold shivers raising goose bumps on my skin. Fuck, I can already hear her saying that she's fucking done with me. That she's had enough of my fuck-ups.

  Cobra's eyes are completely unreadable, and it scares me to death.

  "And if it never ends, the lost boys in it won't find their way back home." She swallows, taking a breath. "Tiger, you've always been the one in my story, and you always will be. But I can't skip lines or chapters just because they're hard, okay? They're still there, and they need to be read, no matter how much it hurts. Now I need to read line by line so that I can be with you. Otherwise, we won't root in the story, and we’ll end up hurting each other again."

  I gape at her, heart pounding through my chest. "You mean, you want to be with me? Like a real deal?"

  She scoops the Nutella with her finger again, her eyes on mine when she sticks her finger in her mouth and sucks it clean and nods. "Yes, a real deal. But only if you read it with me line by line. We're not jumping the gun, okay? And you will learn to listen before you act. If you can do that, I promise I won't be nearly as stubborn as I usually am."

  If I've ever been happier, I don't fucking remember the day.

  "Oh, fuck." I place my hand on my chest because it feels like it’s exploding and let myself fall on my back on the rock.

  "What are you doing? What's wrong with you?" Cobra stares at me, stunned.

  I know I look like a brain-damaged idiot with this goddamn grin on my face, but I can't help it. "I'm so fucking relieved I could die. Oh, baby, I love you so much." I reach my hand toward her. "Come here, I need to hold you."

  She snorts. "You wish. I said that we're not gonna jump into this. We're taking this slowly, line by line, remember?"

  "Now the line clearly says to cuddle with the love of your life," I tell her, lifting my other hand to block the sun from my eyes so that I can see her. Fuck, she is hypnotizing.

  And she's really not fucking kidding, she said that she's mine.

  "No, it doesn't. It says that I'm gonna eat all of these Nutella sandwiches and leave you none." Cobra smirks, taking a huge bite. Then she speaks with her mouth full, her voice muffled. "But I love you too."

  39

  Max Navarro's place was empty when we paid a visit to his driveway before going to the hotel. His house was at the town's border without neighbors, luckily, and a guard dog in the yard, not so luckily. It was the main reason why we didn't get out of the car. A huge rottweiler jumped and barked around the car, drool flying all over our windows as if it had rabies or something, but I think it was just excited to chew its way into the car to eat us.

  Tiger hates dogs.

  It took me a moment to talk him out of his plan to shoot it. I don't know why he can't stand dogs, but the hatred toward those animals is profound. He likes cats, though, which I find kind of funny. Sometimes I call him kitty, and he fucking hates it.

  We also have a couple of night clubs on the list where Navarro might be, so after picking up burgers (and fries, milkshakes, nuggets, and soda) from the drive-through, we came to the hotel to get ready for our tour.

  Falcon prepared me well. Because we've been tailed, our pictures have probably been in many hands, and my pink hair… it sticks out in a crowd. So, after showering and transforming myself to blend in, I stare at my reflection. None of the tattoos on my upper body are visible, thanks to the long-sleeved lace dress. The black color brings out my tan nicely, and I kind of like the polo collar, even though they aren't usually my thing. My neck looks stunning, which is a weird thing to say about a neck, but it does. Classy. The dress ends mid-thigh, and that length leaves the skull tattoo on my thigh on display, but luckily it hasn't been exposed other than on the beach.

  I surprise myself by not completely hating the high heels she gave me. They are as high as the heels I wore at Purgatory, so I'm sure I can get through the night even though I'm not a pro at walking in heels.

  I fluff the curls I managed to make by memorizing Elena's instructions and smack my red lips. I look nothing like myself.

  A butterfly army is taking up residence in my stomach, and I need a Zen-moment before leaving the bathroom. Tiger agreed to take it easy, and so far, he's been behaving, restraining himself. Even though it's obviously extremely hard for him, that he is struggling not to be all over me makes me love him even more. Now that I agreed that we'll find a way to be together and come out of the closet without dying in the process, he's so fucking happy that it melts my heart.

  But starting this is also scary as hell, so I've been sweating bullets next to him all day. Which is ridiculous because we've known each other for five years, and not to mention that we've already had sex, but... it feels like I've never even kissed him.

  I'm nervous as fuck.

  Just breathe.

  Breathe.

  "Can we fucking go?" Tiger's vexed voice comes through the door. "I'm bored."

  My heart jumps to my throat as I blink at my reflection. Holy fuck. I clear my throat. "Yeah, I'm coming."

  Just breathe.

  I smooth my dress and take a breath before opening the door.

  Tiger stands behind it, a phone in his hand, eyes on the screen, but in a second, he lifts his gaze. His eyes widen as he takes me in, and I feel the fucking sweat pouring down my neck.

  "Your hair…" His eyes stop to stare at the curls.

  "Falcon thought it would be better to color it for a cover-up. What do you think?" I ask, uncomfortable with the change.

  Tiger rakes his hand over his face, and I see his throat bob as he swallows. "It's… different. It's like… super blonde." My anxiousness clearly shines from my face as he quickly corrects. "You look stunning. It suits you. Seriously."

  I smooth the dress, letting out a sigh. "Huh, thanks."

  I take in Tiger's gray button-up shirt; it's the hipster version, not a dress shirt, and hugs his frame in all the right places. Black jeans with sneakers that are top-notch, and as always, he looks hot. Way too sexy for his own good. The dark hair is boyishly messy at the top, and I remember how it felt in my fingers when he went down on me.

  My lace undies are soaking instantly, and I have to fight to keep a poker face. This is not the time for me to start sending vibes to him.

  I tamp down the heat and stride past him on m
y heels to grab my purse containing the gun and other necessities like a wallet and phone. I pull the strap for my blades from the duffel bag and lift my leg to the chair to wrap it around my right thigh—high enough so it stays hidden.

  While I slide two thin blades in the strap, I see Tiger watching me through narrowed eyes. There's heat in them that I've become very familiar with recently. It makes my heart skip multiple beats and my abdomen tingles with anticipation.

  Only after I've placed the blades where they belong, smoothed my dress, and taken a deep breath do I actually look at him.

  There's a wicked smile playing on his lips, his handsome face oozing some sinister vibes. Tiger has placed his hands in his jeans pockets, and I try not to look at the bulge between them. Goddammit.

  Letting out a sigh, I turn to the door. "Let's go, and please, whatever you're planning to say, don't. Now is really not the time for it, 'cause we need to work."

  For once in his life, he actually obeys and keeps his damn mouth shut. I still feel his eyes on my ass as I walk out, and he stays behind me on purpose even when we walk through the hotel's hallway. It makes me way too aware of myself, so I slow down and place myself at his side. Tiger smirks at me sinfully but doesn't say anything.

  Thank fuck.

  When we get out to the Explorer, and I lift my hand to the passenger side door handle, Tiger's hand reaches past me and opens the door for me. I feel his body right behind mine, nearly touching, and his warm breath in my ear.

  "Let me help." His voice is just a whisper in my ear, but it echoes inside me like thunder, making me shiver. The dark, manly scent of his—cig and leather—sneak right behind the thunder and acts like fucking lighting, striking straight to my core.

  Just with that, not even touching me, Tiger makes my knees weak.