New Title 6 (3 page)

 I
made my escape to Deanna's side.

 Oh my god, was my breathing heavy again? Yes, yes it is. Damn him
and his sinful body.

 “You,”
I pointed my finger at him and glared, “stay over there. This—” I gestured
between the two of us, “can't happen.”

 Deanna
scoffed. Griz laughed.

 “Kitten,
I know you want me; your body doesn't lie. It's only a matter of time before
I'll be in your pants...” He trailed off as Griz's phone rang.

 Griz
flipped it open. “Yo? Yep.” He closed it and looked to Talon. “Business, boss.
Later, ladies.”

 “Bye,
Griz,” I smiled. It wasn't his fault his boss was a chauvinist-ass-hat.

 “See
ya, hot stuff,” Deanna purred, causing Griz to look over his shoulder,
confused. He couldn't understand that Deanna was attracted to older men, and
Griz was definitely older. Deanna and I both sat at twenty-six; my guess, Talon
was mid-to-late thirties, and Griz, with his long, muddy-brown with gray hair,
and hard-aged eyes seemed to be hitting early forties.

 “Kitten,
I have to go. But if you two are having drinks, why don't you come by the
compound later. I'll have a couple with ya.” With that, he grabbed my chin,
kissed me hard and quick, before my knee had the chance to hit his groin, and
left.

 Of
course, I watched his muffin-of-love ass walk away, and I was sure he knew it.

 “Yeah,
you keep fighting that, hun.” Deanna laughed, and walked off into the house.

I
went back inside following Deanna and reheated my Chinese again. I
wondered if I could get sick from reheating it too much and then thought maybe
it'd be for the best. Then I'd die and this whole great...I mean,
bad
dream
would end.

 Who
did he think he was informing people he was 'my man'? Yeah, right! And why
would he want me? He wasn't making sense.

This has been a long time coming.
My ass
it had. I couldn't recall how many times I'd avoided him for that reason alone.
I was not some conquer-and-move-on type of girl, if that's what he thought. And
that's exactly what he'd want. I'd lost count of how many women I'd seen leave
his place in the early hours of the morning. All blonde, I might add.

 Urrh!
I just wanted to scream.

 “You're
thinking too hard. Here, drink this,” Deanna said, and placed a glass of wine
in front of me.

 I
turned a glare on her as she sat across the table from me and continued to roll
her food around her plate.

 My
head turned on its side to study her. She'd never played with her food before.
Usually, she'd have it gone in a second. And she never put on weight. Bitch.

 “Stop
lookin' at me like that. I will not fuck you, no matter how much you beg.”

 I
snorted. God, I loved her. She was the only one who'd kept me somewhat normal
through my two years of hell. If it wasn't for her, I'd still be in that
abusive relationship with Maya's father. She'd helped me escape one night when
he'd passed out after raping and hitting me. That night was the night Maya was
conceived. I was smart enough to have kept my friendship with Deanna, who I'd
met through a library book club, a secret. He wouldn't have known where to
start looking to find me. I haven't seen him in almost six years. So, my guess
was that we were just that good at disappearing a state away to the small town
of Ballarat, where Deanna's other house was.

 He'd
have looked for me, because he didn't like to let go of possessions, and I was
one. I'd hate to think where I would be, what I'd have put Maya through if I
was still there, still with David. Deanna means more to me than she could ever
know. Which was why I was worried about her now.

 “Tell
me what's going on.”

 “Nothin',”
she clipped and took a sip of her wine. And a second later, she drained the
rest of her glass. One problem about Deanna was that she was as stubborn as a
mule. If she wasn't ready to talk about what was obviously on her mind, she
wouldn't. Leaving me to be the stress-head that I was and fret about it.

 “Let's
talk about Talon.” She grinned.

 “Let's
not and have a drink instead,” I said, and then drained my own glass.

 “I'll
drink to that.” She moved from the table to grab the bottle of wine, but turned
back around. “We're gonna need more than this; where's your stash, woman?”

 It
was my turn to grin. She knew me too well. “The bourbon is in the laundry room,
top cupboard.” I needed something on those nights when I was about ready to
hog-tie my brat of a child to her bed. Come on, no one could tell me they'd
never contemplated it.

A
couple of hours later, I was feeling fab-u-lasssss. We were dancing around the
living room to Pink's "Fun House". Nothing was bothering me and I
could see that Deanna was having just as much fun as I was. It was great!

 Then
Deanna dumped her skinny behind on the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned
down the tunes. I was going to complain, but then I realized if I had kept
going, Deanna would've been witness to me peeing my pants.

 “If
you could be any superhero, who would you choose?” I called from the bathroom
down the hall.

 “What
the fuck did you just say?”

 Okay,
so maybe it didn't come out like I thought it had; it could have sounded
something like, “You be suuperaro what you chooose?”

 “Ya
herd me, fanny lips,” I said while washing my hands.

 “I
think it's cut-off time, cocksucker.”

 I
met Deanna in the kitchen where she handed me a glass of water, and I drank
every drop.

 “I'd
be Batgirl.”

 “Hah,
new'd ya herd. Me be...”

 “Wonder
Wanker.”

 I
sprayed my second glass of water all over the floor, choked on my laughter, and
gasped for air.

 Clearing
my throat, a thought popped into my head, so I had to share it. “Oh, oh, I have
one for Talon. Perfect Pecker Man.” We both cracked up. Not that I'd seen his
pecker, but I was sure it would be perfect.

 Two
more glasses of water later, and many more made-up hero names, I still felt a
little foggy; but at least my speech had improved. Well, I thought it had.

 “Man,
I'm so glad I came over here tonight,” Deanna said. Then there was a knock at
the front door.

 “You've
still got time to take it back. Who the heck is that?”

 “Marshmallow
brain, how many times do I have to tell you I can't see through things?” Deanna
teased as she followed me to the front door.

 Deanna
started bouncing from one foot to the other. I asked, “Do you have to pee? Or
are you having one of those spontaneous orgasms you keep telling me about that
I don't believe in?”

 “No,
no. None of that; and it is true, jealous whore, happened a couple of times
anyway. But I just have a thought on who it'd be. Come on, open the fucker; I
need some excitement.”

 I
had a feeling too, but I hoped it wasn't. Me, plus drinks, plus Talon equaled
something that should not be mixed.

 Unlocking
the door and swinging it open, I realized I should have hoped a little harder.
Talon stood there looking spunky in dark jeans, a black tee, and motorcycle
boots. His hair looked wet from a recent shower, and I wondered if I could
blow-dry it for him with my mouth. My traitorous heart leaped, my body tingled,
and...what the frig? How'd my underwear get wet already? Wait, had I peed
myself? I looked down at the floor. Nope, wasn't wet.

 That
meant only one thing. “I need to get laid or break out my Gold Finger on
maximum speed.”

 Deanna
burst out laughing, and Talon seemed smug. I looked at them both confused.
Oh,
hell no
. I did not just say that aloud. See! Drinks, Talon, and me. It was
a no-go!

 “I
could be of some help, kitten. In either way,” he purred.

 Or
was that me purring?

 I
closed my eyes; wait, they were already closed. My head fell forward and I
shook it from side-to-side. I was ready to die.

 Deanna
was going to be of no assistance; she was rolling around on the floor still
laughing, so I asked, “Did you come over for a reason, Talon?”

 “You're
supposed to be at the compound drinking.”

 I
looked up, my head cocked to the side. “What?”

 He
stepped closer. “Drinking. Compound. Now.”

 Straightening
up, I glared and informed him, “No.”

 He
took one step closer again; now he was flush against me. “What?”

 “Did.
I. Stutter?”

 Something
flared in his eyes, while something flared in my womb. Trouble was a-comin'.
Talon bent his upper-body level with my belly, and then he leaned in and I was
flopped over his shoulder.

 “Go,
P.P. Man,” Deanna shouted; she got up from the floor and followed Talon like a
trained horny dog, out the front door, and down the path. Thankfully, she had
enough sense to shut the door behind us.

 “Shut
up, hairy-ball face,” I glared at Deanna. “Talon…Talon put me down, now!” I
ordered while examining his pinch worthy butt.

 We'd
made it to the gate when someone stepped out of the shadows. I was placed on my
feet and Talon pushed me behind him.

 “Who
the fuck are you?” he growled, and then looked over his shoulder. “Don't tell
me you have another admirer.”

 “Um.”

 “Um?
How fuckin' many do you got?”

 “Um.”

 “Jesus
Christ.” His attention went back to the new arrival. “Again, who the fuck are
you?”

 “Zara?”

 I
gasped. I hadn't heard that voice in many years. “Mattie?” I looked over
Talon's shoulder to see my now twenty-year-old brother, Matthew Alexander.

 “Mattie,”
I cried and flung myself at him. He wrapped me up in his arms and held on
tight. Obviously, it wasn't tight enough, because the next thing I knew, I was
pulled away.

 I
glanced up and around to see Talon's fierce glare at my brother. I patted his
hand at my waist. “It's fine; he's my brother.”

 “What's
he doin' here? I haven't seen him before.”

 That
was true. I looked back to my brother, and that was when I really took in what
was in front of me. Instead of the free, fun-loving brother I was used to
seeing in my mind, I saw a dirty, tired, worried, and sad one. How had he found
me? I left my family behind to keep them safe.

 I
stepped back further into Talon's arms. “What's happened?” His face saddened in
a way I didn't think was possible. “No, no. Don't tell me, I can't...no.”

 “They're
dead, Zee.”

 “No!”
If it wasn't for Talon holding me, I would have crumbled to the ground. Deanna
came to my side and grabbed my hand.

 It
couldn't be true. I’d only just finished planning a trip to meet my parents in
Melbourne. They were to meet Maya for the first time. They were excited; I
could see how much through the emails I had sent them.