Roll the Dice (8 page)

Shocked, but playing it lightly, she answered. “You propositioning?”

“Just stating a fact. You’re hot. How come there’s no man in your life?”

“I suppose you could also be labelled hot to a certain needy type. So
where’s your little woman?”

He pulled back so their eyes could meet. “I dumped her when my
priorities became focused on only one thing.”

“Dumped?” Aurora made it sound like ‘who’re you kidding’?

“Okay, so as a gentleman, I broke it off with her. Couldn’t afford any
distractions.”

“And she won’t wait?”

“Hope not.” The final sound in his voice left no doubt that in the big
scheme of things the woman didn’t really matter.

“Her loss.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished for knife
cleaver to cut off her tongue.

He pulled her in close and nuzzled his cheek against hers. Wrenching
herself from his arms, she began to walk toward the table only to have him pick
her off her feet, swing her around and start dancing again with her barely able
to move. She wriggled, and when he let her slide down his body, every sensuous
cell inside her screamed “fin-A-lly!”

He picked up the beat and they moved along, his impudent grin and
twinkling blues daring her to share in the thrill of a partner made in heaven.

How could she resist? When the music turned to a different beat,
everyone separated. Bodies moved sinuously—freestyle dirty dancing. With her
eyes closed, and her arms raised, she allowed the music to seep into her soul.
Grinding her hips, her pliable slenderness swayed to the pounding rhythm.

She loved the freedom dancing allowed. All her tightened restraints
loosened, as the sexy tempo took over.

Words that irked made it through the haze—sick, sad words that caught
her attention.

“Bitch, you’re with me. Don’t be looking at him.”

“I didn’t Doug, honest. Ow! You’re hurting me…”

The big oaf’s hand squeezed the back of the girl’s neck. Before she knew
she would, Aurora had his hand twisted backwards in a grip that would be sure
to break the bone if he tried to move. Bent over, head almost on his knees, she
spoke towards his ear.
 
“Hey lover, keep
your hands to yourself. This pretty little thing bruises easily. We know that
don’t we by the fading marks on her arms.”

Others in the area slowed down to watch but the lighting had been dimmed
over the dance floor and so the majority of folks moved to give room and just
went on dancing. Regrettably, the alteration had taken place close to the table
where the jerk’s pals were sitting. Three stood up and stepped forward to see what
was happening.

Kai moved in front of them, his arms out by his side. “A little
misunderstanding fellas, nothing more. My date’s got a short fuse when she sees
a dude picking on a girl half his size.”

The biggest loser pushed his way closer to Kai—basically right into his
face. “Yeah, but it’s his girl so…”

Kai had him in a headlock in seconds, moving so fast that Aurora had a
hard time releasing her victim and whipping Kai’s gun from the waistband of his
shorts as he spun around, but she did. And she pointed it toward the others who
were itching to get into the action. Mysteriously, her badge also appeared.

“Uh-uh! Back off. Collect your stuff now and get the hell out of here.
And be glad we’re not arresting you for disturbing the peace.”

“Couldn’t you tell he was a cop?” The shortest of the three aimed his
words toward the hillbilly favouring his thumb. He got shoved in reply.

It broke Aurora’s heart when the young girl she’d tried to protect
gathered her purse and left with her man. His arm tight around her neck, proof
that he still ruled. She threw a ‘what’s-a-girl-to-do’ look over her shoulder
that Aurora took as her way of apologizing.

Once they’d exited, Kai pushed his opponent towards the door and stood
next to Aurora, feet apart and arms crossed. Knowing he could have taken the
gun, she appreciated his courtesy in letting her handle the situation.

Once Cory appeared on the scene, flashing his badge the rest of the
bunch cleared the table quickly.

“The steaks are getting cold you two.”

Aurora gave Kai back his gun.
 
Cory took her arm and led her back to their table. “I can’t let you out
of my sight without you getting into trouble, Aurora. When will you learn to
mind your own business?”

“When all the assholes in the world drop dead.”

“She faked it.” Kai’s remark had Aurora’s back up instantly.

“Come on. She’s pregnant. Someone in her condition can get a backache
just like that.” She snapped her fingers and dared him to argue. The band had
taken a break and the background music didn’t force them to yell.

“That’s true. If it wasn’t for the wink she gave you while she let Cory
help her out, I might have gone along thinking her innocent.” His clean-cut
fingernails picked away at the label on the beer bottle he’d been nursing for
the last hour. Then he glanced up and his laughing blues and grinning lips
caught her gaze. “But we both saw her.”

As much as she argued with Kai, she’d seen the sneaky glances that
Debbie had shared with her husband during the early part of the evening. When
she began wincing and arching her back, Aurora had fallen for her friend’s
tactics and truly believed there was a problem. Until the telling wink!

Then she’d surmised exactly what Kai had—that her old partner was
setting them up. The fact that Cory had called a taxi to take them home in
order to leave Kai the car seemed totally out of character. And the fast exit
they’d made which now left her and Kai alone at the restaurant was so suspect
as to be laughable.
 
Talk about set-ups.
They'd just been royally ‘had’.

“Well at least we know Deb liked you.” Aurora sipped her latest beer.
She’d imbibed more than normally, but then she’d danced a lot and needed to
cool down. Her long hair stuck to her neck and she gathered it all towards the
back and quickly twisted it into a tail and wound it up to sit on the top of
her head in a clip.

The silence from her partner made her look up and she found his hot gaze
staring at her arched body. The light green filmy blouse clung to her sweaty
skin and she wished she’d have chosen something less revealing, less feminine.

“Time to leave. It’s almost closing time anyway and we have a full day
tomorrow.” She gathered up her purse and pulled a twenty from her wallet to
leave as a tip for the waitress.

“It’s taken care of.” Kai pushed the money back towards her, his tone
serious, a warning ringing through. “He’d paid the tab a while back.

She stopped and stared him down. “I worked in a place like this to earn
money for college. I put up with drunken idiots, cleaned up their messes and
whenever some thoughtful customer left me an extra bit of tip, trust me, it
made the night a little more bearable. So don’t question me when I choose to
thank a waitress.” Huffy and dismissive, she stood belligerent and ready to
argue.

He didn’t say anything, just picked up his cardboard coaster and there,
folded in half, was a twenty-dollar bill. He smiled at her, and for the first
time since she met the man, without her usual defences in place, she smiled
back. Then he stepped up, placed his warm hand on her back, and gently guided
her in front of him towards the exit.

Other than her giving directions, they didn’t speak on the way back to
her place.
 
Continuous music played on
the radio and the lighter amount of traffic made the drive enjoyable. Once they
pulled up in front of her apartment, discomfort set in. She didn’t know whether
to ask him in for a nightcap or better yet a coffee, or just get out of the
blasted car.
 
Leave him with a thanks
and see -you tomorrow.

Even though he was her partner, they’d only been together on the job a
few days and hadn’t the time to build up a routine or get accustomed to the
other’s ways. Blasted hell she hated these kinds of moments. Being at a
disadvantage had never sat well with her, at anytime, and her anger at the uncomfortable
feeling rang through in her words.

“Look, I don’t have any problem with you coming in for a coffee, but
you’ll have to make it fast cause it’s late.”

“How can a guy say no to such an invitation? You always this friendly?”
Kai turned towards her; his left arm hugged the steering wheel and the other
hand rested on the gearshift.

“No. Guess you bring out the best in me.” She opened the door and turned
back to look over her shoulder as if to say…you coming?

“How can a guy turn down such—”

“Yeah, yeah. You said that already.”

As soon as her apartment door closed behind them, Aurora knew that it
had been a big mistake to bring him into her home. From now on she’d picture
him here, his big frame sucking up all the space making her feel tiny and
needy. Something she’d hated feeling all her life.

Except that in some strange sense, it worked in a magical way with this
man. Dancing with him had broken down barriers. Being held in his arms had felt
familiar, achingly necessary. She knew if he made a move, she’d be lost and
loving every minute of the sensation.

Not being a woman who’d normally let herself dream, she hadn’t been able
to overcome the hunger he created when he’d appeared in her thoughts. Already,
his lips had found their way into her fantasies and the things he’d done with
them had left her climaxing and wanting more. So being alone with him, feeling
the needs she felt, ranked as a really stupid move.

He needed to leave.

Now!

“I get he distinct feeling you want me to leave.”

“No! Whatever gave you that idea?” Probably the fact that she’d moved to
open the door again and then had stopped, her back facing him, time passing.

Gently, he turned her to face him. “Honey, I’m a good detective. When a
woman doesn’t let a guy move from her front hall, it could be a sign.”

“I’m sorry. Look, I think too much…”

His arms lifted her and his searching lips shut off all the working
parts in her brain, leaving only her emotional cells working. And they told her
that no one had ever kissed her with such honesty or made her feel that if her
heart did stop, she'd die having experienced the ultimate. Her insides were
twisting into a big puddle of mush and her heart floated on that soft liquid
mass.

He teased her throat with nips and licks while his harsh breathing
resonated in her sensitive ear.
 
Arms,
sweeping her body close, held her in such a way that for some strange reason
she felt cherished. As if he cared about her, Aurora, and not just the fact
that she was a convenient woman willing to scratch an itch.

With her back against the wall, he captured her hands in his and held
them away from her body. While his knee worked its way between hers, he brushed
his torso against her aching breasts. Hardness between his legs made its way
home to meet with her softness. The two body parts grinding away at each other,
aching to meet unclothed and unleashed.

“You’re a witch. You know that. I don’t want…” Kai’s groan made the
words all that more inflammatory.

“Me either. I have a job…”Aurora sobbed.

“There’s no room in my life…” The man positively begged.

“We can’t…” She pushed him away.

He grabbed her back and kissed her again—his tongue sweeping the insides
of her welcoming mouth and sucking the breath from her soul.

His hands gentled her heaving chest while he fondled her breasts. Then
he leaned down and kissed them through the silky material of her blouse, hot
and wet, his mouth worked magically so that the heat starting there ignited the
drenched folds of her aching body below.

All the while, she massaged his back and shoulders and eventually held
his head in her clutching hands, held him against her writhing body.

“Good Lord, Kai! Don’t ever stop.” She moaned the words and then heard
her own voice as it resonated. But she didn’t care. She meant them.”

The phone ringing finally broke through her haze. She yanked away from
him using every bit of strength she had left in her kitten-weak body.
“Someone’s calli… Late, must be emergen… The phone. ”

Closing her blouse, she stumbled into the kitchen, and after three
tries, lifted the receiver all the way to her ear.

“Debbie’s in labour and wants her coach. Aurora, you hear me?”

Yanking the receiver away, she held it a foot out. “Yes, Cory. Next door
heard you. I’ll meet you at the hospital.” She dropped the handle back into its
holder, and then staring unseeingly at the floor, she stood still for a minute,
her knuckles fisted. Kai’s footsteps on her hardwood let her know that he
approached. She didn’t move. Instead she waited to see what he was going to do.

The hands he used to massage her shoulders soothed her troubled spirit
and calmed her nerves. Her life had run amok and her first instinct was to go
into the bathroom, rip everything off the walls and shriek until all the raging
emotions inside emptied out. How the hell had she let life get so crazy?