Slick as Ides (33 page)

Maybe a pink, fizzy, fruity, girlie drink might help. At least my crotch won’t be involved with that.

Chapter 20

Vapor

“Why am I in Aspen with your pansy-ass?” I ask Westin, rubbing at my temples.

I just threw his bag at him, and I’m still breathing hard. The prick deserved it, since he won’t tell me what’s going on.

“Take it easy, you’re still getting over what happened to you,” he says, eyes wide and backing away from me.

“What happened to me then? Are you gonna finally fucking tell me?” I push my bangs off my sweaty forehead.

“I can’t. Not yet. It’s orders.” He puts his palms in front of his chest. “But you’re safe, so stop freaking out.”

I don’t remember drinking, but I sure as shit feel hungover. My energy’s sapped today, and I can’t seem to stop flying into a rage.

Where the hell is she? Why am I here?

Questions pound in my head along with the pressure from exerting myself as I threw shit at
his
head moments ago.

“Tell me something—
anything
.” My throat aches as I try to calm my breathing down.

“I brought you here—I already told you, Dena’s gonna meet you, and I’ll leave as soon as she arrives. Then you two can make clown-hacker babies or whatever it is you plan to do with her now that you’ve gone all good-guy and don’t steal shit anymore.” He smiles.

“Whatever,” I say. He’s shitting me. Gotta be.

His phone vibrates and he answers it. “Hiya.”

I roll my eyes and sip my coffee. My hand shakes as I wrap my hands around the mug.

“No way! You sold his fucking bike? He’s gonna kill you. Maybe you should take the scenic route to give him some time to cool down.”

I spit my coffee out. I’m in his face and rip the phone out of his hand. “You did
what
?”

“I can explain,” she says, her voice all sexy and silky as fuck.

I turn away from Westin, and I’m pacing right away. I’m half hard already just off her voice.

“And I’ve got a surprise for you to hopefully cushion the blow,” she says, voice shaky.

“Explain why you’re there, and I’m here. Why aren’t you with me?” I almost yell.

“Calm down, baby. I can explain everything. Sit down, grab something to drink, and I’ll tell you what’s going on, since I’m sure Westin’s already fucked it up.”

I head out to the deck for some privacy so Westin won’t listen to my conversation, but the fucker follows me out with my coffee in his hands. He places it on the table and then takes up a spot far from me, against the deck railing.

“He has royally fucked it up like you wouldn’t believe. I hate being here with him. He likes the cold at night and in the early morning, and he won’t fucking turn the heat on. Every time I put it on, he turns it off. The dude’s a polar bear in disguise.” I nod even though she can’t see it.

“Drink your coffee,” she says. “It’ll warm you up.”

“Coffee? How’d you . . . ?” My head whips around from side to side. We’re out on the back patio of a secluded rental cabin.

“Yeah, your coffee, and why are you barefoot out here? Animals piss all over these decks. The germs!”

I chuckle. “What else am I already doing that’s pissing you off and turning you on?”

“Well, you do look rather edible in those black jeans, but then that’s not fair. You know I’m partial to that color.” I can hear the smirk in her voice.

“Oh, you nasty girl, you always know just what to say.” I chuckle, lean back into the chair and take a drink. “I’d touch myself, but no telling what Westin might do. See how fucked up this situation is? You’re away from me and taunting me. Not nice.”

Where is she? If she sees me, does that mean I can possibly find her if I look hard enough? Or does she have some kind of hidden camera on me as usual.

That woman’s very voyeuristic.

“What if I say I’m trying very
hard
to be nice? I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but I have to tell you this—your father’s dying.”

“Wh-what?” I choke on my drink, spraying it once more.

“Well, he’s hurt pretty badly. He’s in the hospital,” she says, voice faint and sympathetic. “I’m so sorry, Nick . . . And I had to sell your bike so he couldn’t find us, but I didn’t know my dad would do what he did so quickly . . .” She sniffs hard. Jesus, is she crying?

“Where. Are. You? I need to see you right now,” I say, gripping the edge of the table in front of me. “Please fucking tell me you’re nearby, or I swear to God I’ll—”

Cliiiick.

The phone line goes dead, and when I turn around, the door opens. She steps out, looking sad and disheveled.

Westin goes inside, leaving us alone.

“I’m sorry. Do you hate me?” Tears stream down her cheeks.

“God, no!” I say, launching myself at her. “I mean, I’m shocked this happened to him, but still . . . I’m just glad to have you here with me.”

I tackle her to the ground. She winds her body around me and shakes as she sobs.

Before long, I’m crying, too. “Tell me what happened.”

“I broke into your dad’s computer, and I found out that your father and mine had a long standing feud. They were jealous of each other, and it seems they had rival criminal rings going on. They were both thieves and trying to make a name for themselves. They were both into technology as well, so when I showed some aptitude for inventing crazy stuff, my dad pushed me really hard, and then when he tried to claim them as his own, and I got in the way, well, he felt he had no choice but to steal my shit and sell them as his own. What he didn’t know was your father’s people were buying my ideas and giving them to your father.”

I rub my left temple and then hug her so tight, my ribs ache. But then, it feels like Westin was kicking the shit out of me while I was unconscious.

“Were they keeping us apart because of their issues with each other?” I ask.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s not entirely clear, but my dad certainly does not like you.” She shivers for a moment.

“Fuck, you’re out here in this stupid chilly morning air with just a hoodie on, and your hands are ice cold.” I grip her hands between mine and blow some heated breaths onto them.

She smiles. “Thanks.”

“Welcome. Anything to make you all nice and toasty warm.” I kiss her fingertips and give her that look. The one that says, I want to have my lips in other places—other places that may not be cold, but I don’t give a fuck what temperature they are.

“My head hurts. Will you kiss that, too?”

I chuckle and kiss the top of her head. “I could tell when I went and visited him he hated me. He got all weird when I said my first name. Makes sense now.”

“Your dad was less than pleased when he made me pay him a visit as well. It was so odd. He forced me to go there, but yet it was obvious he couldn’t stand being anywhere near me. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just did whatever he said.”

“Well, it’s a good thing my mom isn’t in the picture,” I say. “She’d have messed his shit up. She was always really sweet, and never put up with his crazy mood-swings. It’s one of the things I remember well about her.”

“What happened to your mother? You probably told me before in high school, but I’m sorry, I can’t remember what you said.” She kisses the underside of my jaw and then caresses it.

“She died in a car accident when I was really little.” I stare in her mesmerizing, shocking electric blue eyes. God, I love how expressive they are when she’s looking back at me this way.

She blinks twice, her face drops and my stomach knots a little.

“Mine, too,” she says, voice soft. “And then my dad had this girlfriend he was crazy about for a few years, and she suddenly disappeared. I never knew what happened to her.” She scans her eyes over my chest, then back to my face like she can’t believe I’m touching her again and we’re finally together. “I know I didn’t ever share this shit with you back in high school. I didn’t tell anyone about my mom. I didn’t want them pitying me. I’m sorry I didn’t confide in you like I should’ve.”

“It’s fine. I could tell it was a sensitive topic for you.” I run my hands through her hair. “Wait, you said he had a girlfriend for a while he was really into? No shit? Mine did, too. What did she look like?” I gaze at her beautiful face and kiss her softly.

“She had shoulder-length auburn hair, green eyes, and . . .” she trails off, her eyes going wide. “What was his girlfriend’s name? Do you remember?”

“Libby,” I answer.

“Libby
Hodgekins
?” She swallows hard. “Fuck! How’s this possible?”

“Did you know her well?” I ask, sitting up straighter, my heart pounding.

“Yeah, she was great and came around all the time. I loved her to death.”

“Christ!” I squirm in my spot.

“Oh. My. God!” we both manage to say in unison.

“She wasn’t . . .” Her eyes go wide. “Do you think she was pregnant and left because she didn’t know who the father was, or something?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I bet they told her to choose, and knowing my dad, he chased her down.”

Her brows all but fuse together. “Why do you think she’d choose my dad over yours? My dad was just a security guard, and he didn’t make much money. Well . . .” she pauses “. . .
legitimate
money. I have no idea how much money he was truly stockpiling behind the scenes, since I was too young at that point to really monitor all his financial activities when he started up his electronics business to market my stuff. I managed to keep tabs on both our money once I got into high school but she wasn’t around anymore at that point. One of the people that worked for him actually showed me how to do that. It’s how I found out Dad was stealing from me.”

“God, he’s the biggest sleaze ever, the way he treated you.” My jaw flexes. “She wouldn’t have chosen my dad though. He has a horrendous temper, and he’s a nasty pervert.” I stick out my tongue like I bit into something foul.

“Into ropes?” she teases, running her fingers across my jaw. “And licking his woman’s crack?”

“Fuck no! He’s not that creative. He’s into threesomes and orgies and shit. I heard about the parties he went to when he’d send me to Nana’s for the weekend. That’s when I started looking for girls that were nice—innocent and pure. And that’s how I eventually found and fell in love with you.” I kiss her eyelids, and she makes this soft, pleasurable sound that travels directly to my dick. “Can we stop talking about them now?”

“We can, but I wasn’t done. My dad’s in the hospital, too. They both got run off the highway.”

“Shit. Did they crash into each other?” I shift her to straddling me, then I cup her cheeks and stare into her beautiful soulful eyes again.

“No. It happened at separate times and on separate freeways. I think they had another enemy I’m unaware of,” she says, eyes soft and empathetic.

I smile. “I don’t care anymore. They got what they deserved.”

“I thought you had a decent relationship with your dad. You defended him in court against me,” she reminds me.

I chuckle. “I did that for
you
. I did it to see if you loved me or not. If you had turned me in then I would’ve known it was over. But you didn’t.”

I give her a light kiss, but as soon as my mouth leave hers I realize it’s not enough and drag my tongue across her lips. She tastes so fucking good—need more.

I pull at the hem of her shirt and then drag it over her head.

She blushes right away.

“Holy shit. Pink.” I gawk at her breasts. “Goddamn.” My mouth waters. “
Lace
.”

“Yeah. For you.” She blushes darker. “I wanted to be more feminine for you.”

“Hell yeah, it’s for me. I love it! No other fucker’s gonna see this.” I run my hands over her cups. The lace feels incredible on my palms. I groan, and my belly heats.

She smiles at me and then pulls my shirt free.

Her palms, now a little warmer, settle on my chest and she bites her lip at me. “You didn’t wear something pink for
me
?”

“That’s for chain gang inmates in Arizona, and I didn’t get thrown in jail yet.” I laugh.

She smirks. “Thank God for that.”

“So, you didn’t turn me in at court. You could’ve made sure they transferred me to the desert and put pink underwear on me. Why didn’t you do it? Do you love me?” I dip my head down to get a better look in her eyes.

“You’re right. It wasn’t because I was afraid of what Paco might do to you behind bars. I didn’t turn you in because I
do
love you. More than you can possible know.” She places her palm over my heart.

“Fuck.” My eyes slide up in my head and I moan, “Say that again.”

“I love you, Nick . . . Vapor . . . man I’ll fuck every day until I die, and I will eat you, tied in ropes, and I will fuck you in the shower, and I will suck on you until—”