Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (30 page)

The man is dazed for a second.  He doesn’t even put any
effort into it and still the man nearly passes out.  “Tell me what girl
you’re looking for.  I’ll give you five seconds.  Four. 
Three.  Two…”

“Aliah Brooklin!” he shouts, as the sound of scurried
footsteps sounds behind him.

Harley drops the useless shell of a man to the ground and
spins around to find the big guy coming at him with a knife.  His reflexes
aren’t fast enough, and the man takes a slice out of his face.  Blood
spills instantly downs his flesh, but he’s already thrown two fists.  They
connect with the big man’s midsection and he folds in half, crumbling back to
the ground.  The knife clanks on the sidewalk, falling a few feet away
from his hand.

Harley rushes to grab it, but no one is going for the knife but
him.  The wily sidekick has already made a run for it.  When Harley
leans over to retrieve the knife, he can see the splattered blood pooling on
the ground.  He grabs at his face, only then realizing that it’s his blood
decorating the parking lot.

The gash is bigger than he’d realized.  He has already
lost some blood from his nose, but he has been so concerned with getting
information that he doesn’t notice exactly how much, until he finds the
evidence on the pavement.  He gets a little lightheaded but grabs at his
injury and heads for his bike anyway.

I have to get to Aliah.

As he reaches his motorcycle, he drops to his knees, barely
able to maintain consciousness.  He hears screaming behind him, but it’s
no one he recognizes.  His body decides for him that he has to lay down
and take a nap.  When his eyes blink open, there are flashing lights and
an ambulance attendant is hovering over him.  He’s still outside, because
he can feel the cool night air rushing over his skin.

He’s bandaged up and he notices the moment when they enter
the hospital, because it’s bright.  So bright.  It feels like he’s
entered a tunnel of white light with a collection of men and woman dressed in
white chattering over top of him.  He’s ready to take another nap now.

Then he hears a familiar scream.

“Nooo!” she cries out.

Aliah appears over him, and slides a cold hand over his good
cheek.  “Oh my God.  Harley.  What have you gotten yourself
into?”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but you’re not allowed in here,” says a
woman dressed in blue.

“Like fuck, I’m not,” Aliah announces, with a scowl.

He wants to smile, but realizes he can’t.  His face
feels frozen and his eyes are so heavy he can’t open them.  He wants to
tell the staff to let her stay, but his lips won’t move.  The harder he
tries, the worse he feels.  He starts to panic, as the reality of the
situation sinks in.

Alarms on the machines he’s hooked to start beeping off the
charts.  “You have to leave,” the doctor shouts.  “Now.”

“He’s flat lining,” a nurse shouts.

“I’m not going anywhere.  Now shut the fuck up and save
him,” Aliah screams.

Another nurse is already connecting him to yet another
machine, while the other rubs two pads together.  “Clear!” she shouts.

They all back off and the pads latch onto him.  The jolt
stimulates his body, lifting it from the table, and the machine bleeps for a
second, but he flat lines a breath later.

“You have to save him,” Aliah cries hysterically.

“Get her out of here,” the doctor shouts irately.

A male nurse appears behind her and tears her from the room,
escorting her to the waiting room.  Aliah’s so shaky, she can barely stay
on her feet let alone fight to stay there.

Harley knows she’s missing from the room when her crying
voice leaves him, but he doesn’t want her to go.  He tries to keep a clear
head, but he swears his mind is playing tricks on him when Aliah suddenly
returns to him.

“Here I am, Harley.  I’m here,” she says, standing at
the end of the white tunnel.

He shakes his head, not believing it for one second. 
She looks so beautiful, dressed in a fitted dress of white that slices up her
leg exposing an extremely tall shoe.  “Come, David.  Come and play
with me.”

David?

Aliah has never called him David.  She despises his
name.  That can’t possibly be her.  She’s alive and well. 
Unless…

No.  It’s not Aliah.

“I’m not going with you,” he states, even though she’s
exactly what he needs right now.

The image of Aliah darkens.  Her hair.  Her
eyes.  “Come with me,” she demands, in a demonic voice.  Her hair
snakes around her head by some invisible force and light behind her fades to
black.  It still looks like his Aliah, a beautiful depiction of her, but
her eyes flicker like globes of fiery coal and she sounds like death.  “I
need you, David.  Come.”

He wants to laugh, but he can’t.  “Like hell,
lady.  I have too much to live for.  I’ll catch you later.”

He closes his eyes and relaxes, remembering Aliah the way he
wants to.  She’s on the blanket beneath him.  Her hair is splayed out
over her head, tangling in the dandelions.  She’s smiling and so is he.

“I’m here,” she says.  “Come back to me, Harley.”

He’s confused.  He is right here with her.

Why would she say that?

“Come back to me, Harley,” she repeats.

He now realizes she’s crying again.  He can hear it in
her voice.  He tries to open his eyes, but he can’t, and it feels like
he’s stuck in some underwater paradise between fantasy and reality.  With
a deep gasp for air, his eyes shoot open.

“He’s awake!” Aliah screams.  And he means
screams.  If he weren’t half deaf from too many years of loud music, then
he is now.

She kisses him silly.  “Oh, Harley.”  Kiss. 
“I thought…”  Kiss.  “I would never…”  Kiss.  “See you
again.”  Kiss.

He wishes she would never stop kissing him.

She closes her eyes and angles her head.  She steals
another long kiss that he doesn’t want to end.

“Aliah,” he croaks.

She freezes in place to hear him speak, with her hands
cupping the unbandaged portion of his head and face.

“I can’t breathe.”

Her eyes bulge from their sockets.  “Do you need a
nurse?”

“No.”  He smiles.  “I need you to quit stealing my
breath.”

She retrieves her hands and smiles, but a tear still sneaks
out.  He likes this side of her.  It shows that she cares.  She
presses her head to his chest and teases a finger over him.

“Harley Gates, you bastard.  Promise to never scare me
like that again.”

“I wish I could.”

She looks up at him and scowls, but it’s half-hearted. 
“You’re lucky you woke up before your daughter got here.  It’s a horrible
thing to find you here like that.”

He looks down at himself and sees he’s wearing a blue night
gown about ten sizes too small.  He makes to sit up and his monitors all
start to go wild.

Aliah presses a hand against his chest.  “Just
rest.  For me?”

He takes another breath and relaxes his muscles.  “For
you.”

It’s not long before Harley’s back on track.  One of the
goons were caught, thanks to Harley’s heavy hands, and the guy had given the
name of his accomplice to the police.  The only missing link is their
employer, whom they claim they’ve never met in person.  He’s convinced
it’s Brandee Hawkins.

Jillian finally admits to him that Brandee is an old friend,
but she claims it was mere coincidence that they ran into each other at the
mall that night.  Harley hasn’t been able to find any proof to the
contrary and the fact that Jillian looked horrified when she learned about
Harley’s attack, seemed to tie up her end of the story.  Aliah’s not so
quick to accept Jillian’s
story
.

Aliah can see that Harley’s growing tired of this
investigation and she knows just the fix for his problem.  No matter how
long a day or how hard a night, Aliah can fix it.  After helping Hannah
with the dishes, Aliah asks her if it’s okay to steal her dad away for the
evening.

With Hannah’s blessing, Aliah swoops into Harley’s home
office and grabs him by the shirt.  “Let’s go.  You’re coming with
me.”

“Where are you taking me?”  Harley’s smirking now.

But when Aliah waggles her eyebrows, suddenly he’s the one
with the sense of urgency.  He tugs her the rest of the way to her car,
tucks her into the passenger seat and slams the car into reverse.  He has
them racing out of town like they have somewhere important to be.

When Harley’s not watching, Aliah slips her hand into
his.  He smiles over at her.

“How did you know?” she asks, lifting his hand to her
mouth.  She drags her bottom lip over his knuckle, then sucks on it.

Harley groans and swerves off the side of the road, deciding
that they’ve driven long enough.  “Men just know these things.”  He
slides the car into park and unlatches his seat belt.  Then he leans over
to kiss her.

She backs away and smiles, with the memory of how he’s urged
her to trust him with her life and with her kisses.

His hand reaches out for her face and he smoothes a thumb
over her cheek before swooping in again.  She doesn’t stop him this time
and he wastes no time sharing how hot just the idea of making love to her in
her car has made him.  The constant press of his lips and lick of his
tongue has her sweltering within seconds.  His hands grow more daring, as
his tongue discovers her mouth.

Harley stops for a breath and steals her gaze. 
“Backseat.  Now,” he orders.

The deep baritone sound has her body humming, as she wiggles
into the backseat.  Harley slaps her ass and escapes from the car, since
his body is much too large to maneuver around the interior of it.  When the
door closes behind him, his lips crash into hers.  She can feel the hard
lines of his muscles raping her clothed body.  It has her tugging at his
shirt, as he divests her of her clothes.

He flings away everything but her skirt.  “Not the
skirt.”  He hangs onto it, to make sure she doesn’t tear it off in a fit
of excitement.  He toys with the short frilly thing.  “You look so
God damn sexy tonight.  Do you have any idea how bad I need this right
now?”

He slides a hand up her leg, until her skirt is flipped up
and she is completely exposed to him.  “How bad I need you?” he adds.

Their eyes meet for a moment of intense connection. 
She’s unsure what it’s supposed to mean, but it’s exhilarating and makes her
smile.  She’s never felt anything so real in all her life… except for
that.  He sinks into her with a slow flex of his pelvis.

“Yes.  That’s what I’m talking about.”

He sinks into her again.

“Mmm, Harley,” she moans, sensation spilling from her body.

Before long, he’s pounding her into the backseat and she
squealing with an orgasm that has her losing sight of reality.  The way he
slides into her repeatedly has her moaning out loud, like she’s in heat and
she’s trying to attract a troop of male foxes.  It only encourages him to
lunge faster and pump harder.

She ignores the headlights passing by and enjoys the heated
kiss matched with Harley’s strong hands touching her body.  The faster he
pumps, the closer he gets and she’s squeezing around him finding a fast second release.

Suddenly she notices a silhouette in the window, but she
can’t make out who it is through the fogged glass.  It’s especially
difficult with Harley bouncing her around erratically on the seat.  The
window is a little more than a crack open, so it’s not like their visitor can’t
hear them loud and clear.

How long have they had a spectator?

She makes to laugh, but then the person taps on the window
with something hard and heavy.  Surely that person can see Harley’s ass
bobbing up and down.

Really?

Harley growls.  “Just a minute.”

Aliah breaks out laughing, as he finds his release and grips
onto her with a furious grunt.

She slaps his ass and he lifts up so he can pull her skirt
down.  He yanks on his underwear and turns around to face the authorities.

Phew!  It’s only Spencer.

Aliah crawls across the seat and eases the window down
a  little farther, clutching at her breasts.  The provocative display
is unintended, but both men seem to be enjoying the view.

“Can I help you, officer?” she inquires.

“Why do I keep running into you?  I don’t even do road
stops, except I keep finding you breaking the law.  You have to know this
is illegal.  You work in law and he’s a P.I. for Pete’s sake.”

“It’s all good, Spence.  We were just leaving.”

“Not just yet.”  He finishes scribbling on his pad of
paper, as Harley readjusts his shirt and climbs into the front seat.  He
turns on her car and puts his window down, allowing some fresh air to flood the
cabin.

Spencer slaps him with a ticket.

“You have got to be kidding me.”  Harley is smirking
though.