Fiery Nights (13 page)

Reluctantly, I pulled away from her heavenly lips and wiped
away what remained of her tears.

“As much as I want you right now, we should slow it down. We
hurt each other. Everything’s happened so fast with us, it was bound to burn up
in flames. I want to take it slow. Do it right. Are you okay with that?

Her eyes hooded, she looked up at me. “Yes.”

“Good. I’m sorry I hurt you, Maya. If I learned anything
from it, it’s that I never want to let you go. I never want to hurt you again.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you too.”

“I’m going to call you a taxi, before I take you upstairs
and do what my body is aching to do. But will you meet me later tonight?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t even know why I came here
tonight.”

“Yes you do.”

Her blue eyes focused on mine. “You’re right. I do.”

“Vamps. We won’t start with any of the old lab shenanigans.
But how about we start again slowly with a drink? Maybe a dance.”

She looked away as if trying to stifle a smile threatening
to cross her face. When she looked back at me, the twinkle in her eye made me
guess what she was thinking.

“I’m not promising anything.”

However, the naughty little expression set up high
expectations in my mind.

Maya

The emotional roller coaster left me unaware if I was coming
or going these days. Had I ever gone through the whirlwind of emotions that I’d
experienced lately? From exhilaration to despair and back to cautious optimism.
I don’t even remember such wild mood swings when I was an angst-ridden teenager
trying to figure out why I was so different from everyone else.

What I did know is that I was looking forward to meeting
Tristan tonight, more than I ever thought I’d feel for another man.

I put on a sexy, tight, black number. Funny how many of
these dresses I had in my closet. This one was long-sleeved and fitted from the
tops of the shoulders down to around the knees, where it flared out down to my
ankles. Very feminine. Yet very sexy. It showed off my curves in a flattering
manner.

I took a cab to the waterfront area and walked down the
alley between the warehouses, smiling to myself as I thought about the
promising night ahead. Why did I ever think this alley was creepy? It led
directly to my happiness.

We were starting up again. Starting it right, going slow.

In my anticipation of seeing Tristan again, I was early for
once. Super early. But maybe having a drink and dancing would help me relax a
little bit. Decompress to get rid of some of the negative energy I’d had
festering inside me when I thought we were through.

Just don’t do what you did last time.

After chatting with Byron for a few, I went to the bar.
Maddie and Roderick, the couple I’d met before my breakup with Tristan, were
sitting at the bar watching the crowd.

“Hi!” I said, unable to contain my excitement at meeting
Tristan.

“Maya, what a pleasant surprise,” Maddie said. “How have you
been?”

“Oh. You know. Things are crazy as usual,” I said with a
wave of my hand. “You?”

“Fine, thanks.” She looked at me for a second or two before
continuing. “We were hoping to hear from you.”

“Sorry. Like I said, things have been pretty hectic. But I
think they will be getting back to normal.”

“Glad to hear it,” Roderick said. “Can we get you a drink?”

“Sure.”

“Tempting Fate, isn’t it?” Maya asked.

“You remembered.”

“Yes, I’m drinking one now. You were right, it’s really
good.”

After Roderick handed me my drink, Maddie asked, “Are you
meeting your boyfriend?”

I nodded while I sipped the decadent drink through the
straw, so quickly I almost had brain freeze. “Yes. But I’m really early. He
probably won’t be here for a while.”

“Hang with us,” Roderick said.

“We don’t bite,” Maddie added. “Unless you want us to.”

Once again, my body was giving me mixed signals in response
to her obvious advances. Not knowing what to say, I smiled.

“You and your guy are such an attractive couple. We’d love
to have you at one of our parties,” Maddie said.

“Um, maybe. One day.”

“Maybe you should come and check out our place, where we
host parties. You know, see if you and your boyfriend want to come by one day.”

“Yeah, well, I’m meeting him here later so tonight’s
probably not good.”

“What time?”

“An hour and a half.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We have plenty of time. We live close by.
We can walk there. Let’s go check it out. And we’ll come right back here. Just
think of the little surprise you could give your boyfriend. What guy wouldn’t
get excited about a suggestion like that!”

Roderick rubbed Maddie’s shoulders and then nuzzled her
neck. “Every guy I know would be thrilled if his girlfriend was open
to—options.”

Options, eh? Hmm. The last time I went home with someone, I
had meaningless sex that threatened to ruin my relationship with Tristan
forever. But this time, this encounter might lead to something spicy Tristan
and I could do together. It might be something good for our relationship, right?
Maybe they were right. Maybe I could present him with a sexy little surprise.

But we said we’d take things slow. Suggesting a couples
party didn’t seem all that slow.

But it would be kind of a kinky surprise. Spice things up,
perhaps. I didn’t know how Tristan would react about partying with another
couple—or multiple couples—but why not find out more and offer up the option?

Head, head, I needed to stop thinking about it and get
out of my own head! Stop thinking about the possibilities and just find out
about them, butthead!

“Yeah, okay. Why not?”

On the way out, I left word with Byron. “If Tristan is
looking for me, tell him I’ll be right back.”

Byron gave the couple I was leaving with a quick once-over.
“Okay, see ya soon, Maya.”

Tristan

When I came upstairs, I was surprised to see Maya there
already. She was talking to a couple at the bar. I walked over to say hello,
but they got up and walked toward the exit.

Where was she going? And who was she with?

My imagination started to get the best of the situation.

She changed her mind. You hurt her too much. She made new
friends and is going someplace with them.

Jilting you.

She’s just playing with you, you fool. Look how quickly
she slept with someone else. She probably just agreed to come here tonight so you’d
stop bugging her.

Shit, I ruined everything, didn’t I?

Not really knowing what I was doing, I walked down the
stairwell to go back to my lab. But instead, I exited through a door
downstairs. I followed around to the front of the building, staying close to
the shadows. I could hear the women’s heels on the pavement before I could see
them. They were chatting about something, but I couldn’t make it out. The guy
walked quietly with him.

I scanned the couple. A curvy, dark-haired woman and a slim
man with a pointy Van Dyke.

Did Maya know them? Or had she just met them?

I followed them through the alley. I stayed close enough so
I wouldn’t lose them, but far enough back that I still couldn’t make out what
they were saying.

One part of me was hell-bent on finding out what Maya was
doing. If she had decided not to try again, she could have at least let me
know.

But then why was she at Vamps to begin with? We weren’t
supposed to meet for another hour or two. Why would she come early and then
leave?

Another part of me was disgusted with myself.

You do realize that what you’re doing is stalking her?
Like an obsessed boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend. Or whatever the hell you are to
her right now. Why don’t you leave her alone? If she wants to get on with her
own life—a life without you—you ought to let her do it.

If that’s the case, why won’t she just let me know? I
can’t let her leave, walk out of my life, without knowing.

They walked away from the warehouse district and the water
to a residential neighborhood. They turned onto a street that appeared to be a
cul-de-sac. It was harder to cloak myself as we moved into this area. I tried
to stick behind trees large enough to conceal my presence, hoping that the
shadows from the night would help. And hoping no neighbors peered out their
windows to see some suspicious man creeping behind trees on their street.

The three of them walked into a white colonial with black
shutters at the far end of the cul-de-sac.

Okay. Now what? What am I going to do now? Just sit out here
and wait?

Wait for what?

I couldn’t really sit out on this quiet little road all
night without arousing some suspicion. So I stuck to the main road that the
cul-de-sac led off from. Walking up and down this road wouldn’t strike anyone
as odd as much as if I paced around the cul-de-sac. Plus, if they came out, I
should be able to see them when they emerged onto the main road.

If they came back out tonight.

You know, Tristan, you are really going too far. This is
some serious, twisted shit. Following her? You should just go back to the club.
If Maya wants to see you, she knows where to find you.

I decided to ignore the voice nagging me and instead focused
on pacing the road, hoping to look like a pleasant chap out for a little stroll
this evening.

Maya

Although the exterior of this house on this peaceful
cul-de-sac looked welcoming, the second I stepped inside, I had second
thoughts. Did I really just go home with a couple of strangers? Aren’t I a
firefighter who should have a little more common sense than this? What the hell
was wrong with me lately—I definitely wasn’t thinking straight.

Oh yes—lust. Or, I don’t know—more than that, I
guess—whatever I had with Tristan. A relationship. Maybe even love?

No, I couldn’t think like that. He already broke my heart
and I hurt him. I couldn’t think of the big L word.

“Make yourself at home, Maya.”

I sat down on an oversized beige sofa. I looked around the
living room. The colors were neutral, probably eggshell or some other poor
excuse of a wall color that I hated. What was so wrong with putting some color
into your world? It’s a living room, so live in it.

Maddie sat across from me and crossed her tanned legs. She
noticed me glancing at them and took that as an invitation to appraise me from
head to toe.

More questions swarmed around in my head. Would I be
expected to fool around with Maddie? Or Roderick? Or both? Did I want to? Or
maybe we’d just be fooling around with our partners with the excitement of
being watched. That might be hot. That might be okay in my book. I didn’t know
if I was ready to share Tristan yet. And he probably wasn’t ready to share me.
But, how would I know how he’d react?

“I’ll get us all some drinks,” Roderick said.

“So how long have you and your boyfriend been together?”
Maddie asked. “What’s his name?”

“Tristan,” I said. “Not too long. Once we got together, it
just sort of got pretty intense pretty quickly.”

She smiled. “Maybe you realized you were right for each
other.”

I thought about that. I did think that originally. But then
again, I didn’t think he’d ever hurt me. Dump me even. Or I’d hurt him. “I
don’t know. Maybe.”

Roderick returned with some drinks in martini glasses. “For
two beautiful women,” he said as he handed a glass to each of us. “How about a
toast?”

“To the start of a new friendship,” Maddie said.

Friends with benefits was what they meant, I’m sure.
“Cheers.”

We clinked glasses and took a sip. Ugh, whatever was in the
glass was hard liquor and it tasted like ass. Okay, maybe not to people who
drank it, but I’d grown used to the girly drinks at Vamps, which were sweet and
fruity. Hard liquor was definitely not my thing.

“Something wrong?” Maddie asked.

Forcing the horrid expression off my face so as not to
appear rude, I said, “I’m fine. But could you excuse me for a moment to use
your bathroom?”

“Of course,” Maddie said. “Right down the hall. First door
on the right.”

Once in the bathroom, I emptied the drink down the sink and
refilled it with water. They’d never know. And I wouldn’t have to force down
that awful crap.

I checked my appearance and refreshed my lipstick. Then I
returned to the living room. We sat down and chit-chatted for a while. We
talked about Vamps, the music and so on. How it was the only club in the area
that they really liked. We told each other about our day jobs. They were both
in sales and marketing, but for different companies. They told me how long
they’d been married and lived in the area. I evaded as many questions as I
could about how long Tristan and I had been together, because truthfully it was
just a speck compared to their eight years together. And then we got into the
nitty-gritty of what really went on.

“So basically, Maya, we’re just a normal couple with day
jobs who enjoy the company of other couples. Sometimes we’ll just have another
couple over. Say for instance, like you and Tristan. Sometimes we’ll have four
or five at a party.”

“And what
really
happens at these parties?” I forced
the image of a wild gangbang out of my head.

“Well, we might have a couple of drinks, like we’re doing
now,” Roderick said.

“And then we’ll go into another room. If anyone wants to
play, we play,” Maddie finished.

I was pretty sure they meant sexually, but didn’t want to
come right out and ask. I mean, how would I know what went on at parties like
this? I’d certainly never been to one. I didn’t know if I’d like it, but I had
to admit, I was a little curious.

“Could you show me the room?” I asked.

“Of course,” Maddie said. “Come this way.”

“Looks as if you finished a drink,” Roderick said. “Let’s
get you a refill.”

“No. I’m good, thanks.”

“You sure?” He squinted as he looked at me.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I followed Maddie down the hall and checked her out from
behind. She was definitely attractive with her straight dark hair and shapely
figure. If I was going to bat for the other team as they’d say, she’d
definitely be a contender.

Roderick, well, I don’t know about that. His Van Dyke
accentuated his pointy face. He was attractive but I found him creepy. He was
one of those guys who had that scary kind of attractiveness. Was it his quiet
nature? No, Tristan was also quite reserved when I wasn’t drawing him into an
argument. I was drawn to Tristan’s reserved side. It attracted me and made me
want to reach out, take care of him.

But Roderick and his black eyes. So different from Tristan’s
dark ones. The way Roderick looked at me didn’t sit right. The first time I met
them, I felt it subconsciously and chose to focus on Maddie instead. She was
far more exuberant. In fact, I still focused more on her. Roderick, though, I
don’t know what made his look so unsettling. Was it coldness in his eyes? Or
was it lust? If the latter, I didn’t think I wanted to be any part of his
shenanigans.