Cataclysm (5 page)

Men. They could be such Neanderthals sometimes.

Besides, she wasn’t supporting him. The house had been paid off before she even inherited it. All that was left were the utility bills and property taxes that she would’ve had to pay whether he was there or not. He bought and paid for all his own personal needs and also helped with the groceries, which he paid for with a pretty hefty savings account of his own from when he had worked the streets. Still, Dominic always worried it wouldn’t be enough, especially since he was still paying Colton’s way through school.

She didn’t mind the fact that he wanted to work. She knew he wasn’t the sort of man who could just sit around the house all day doing nothing. It wasn’t insecurity that made her come up with more and more projects to keep him there. She just wanted to be near him. It was a selfish need, but if he was with her, she didn’t have to worry about whether or not psycho-bitch Sinclair had come up with some half-brained idea to try to get to him again.

Plus, she really sort of liked the whole sex-on-demand perk.

“So this kid’s cheeks are all billowed out, and his face is so green and scaly that he could’ve easily doubled as the Lizard Man.” Colton was regaling the guys with another one of his
Tales from Yale
stories. It must have been a good one, too, because he was just barely able to get the words out, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. It was a stark contrast to the tired look in his eyes. “He looks like he’s going to barf at any second, and then the professor sticks his hands in the dead guy’s stomach, and he’s tugging and pulling,” he said, making the motions with his hands. “And then out pops the intestines.”

“Ah, man!” Talon howled in disgust. “That’s just nasty.”

“Sounds just like when my girl is trying to unleash the fury that is my dick from my pants. Right, Livi?” Tyson boasted, smiling up at her. His teeth looked ultra white against his dark tan, and the sun reflected off of his blond hair making it look almost white.

Olivia rolled her eyes. “You wish.”

Kerrigan took a seat next to Dominic on the lounge chair, and he put his arm around her so she could snuggle into his chest. Sydney perched herself in Talon’s lap, giving Gabe the last seat available which was next to Colton.

“So, anyway,” Colton continued, still laughing. “The kid’s eyes start fluttering and rolling to the back of his head, and this chick... she’s all like
‘It looks like bloody sausage links’
... and as it turns out, dude had just eaten that very same thing for breakfast that morning, so he starts spewing all over the place.” Colton gestured wildly, creating an invisible picture to match his words. Dominic and the twins were laughing so hard their faces were red.

“Vomit goes flying in the chick’s face, all over the front of her clothes... and she starts freaking out, screaming and crying and shit. All of a sudden, she stops, looks at the kid like she’s willing him to die, and then hauls off and socks him right in the kisser. Knocked... dude... out... cold.”

“Served him right,” Sydney mumbled in her dry, monotone voice while the rest of their group erupted in laughter.

When all the laughing died down, Colton exhaled loudly and eyed the near-empty beer in his hand while he drummed his fingers against his knee. “I’m going stir-crazy. I need a night out.”

Kerrigan felt Dominic stiffen next to her, his body whipping into protective mode. “Not gonna happen, little brother.”

“Aw, come on, Dom!” Colton half-whined in frustration. He sat up and put his elbows on his knees. “You can’t expect me to stay locked away here for the rest of my life.”

“Not the rest of your life, Colt. Just until we can figure shit out and make sure you’re safe.”

“Safe...” Colton looked down toward the ground, his tone a stark indicator he wasn’t convinced there really was any danger. “You say people are out to get me, but I’ve yet to see any proof of that, so excuse me if I’m a little skeptical.”

Dominic started to rebut, but was cut off. “Even if there is some evil plan to invade my body, or whatever, I’m not as weak as you pretend I am. You still see me as your baby brother, but I’m more than capable of defending myself.”

“Against black magic!?” Dominic’s voice exploded through the silence of their peaceful surrounding, his anger mixed with frustration. Everyone sank back at the same time in a collective effort to melt into the background.

Noticing their behavior, Dominic closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. When he opened them again, she could see the conviction in his expression. “You know, sometimes I think you’re just too damn smart for your own good. I’m not saying you’re weak, but the ramifications of even one little slip... it’s beyond your understanding.”

“So I’m a prisoner? Is that what you’re saying? I have to stay holed up here, just waiting for something to happen? Because if that’s the case, I might as well
be
dead.”

He had a point. Kerrigan could see both sides of the argument, and although she didn’t feel it was her place to intervene in their little family squabble, she wanted to offer a compromise.

“Dominic?” She put her hand on his arm to garner his attention, and he turned toward her, the intensity in his eyes fading when he took in her gentle gaze. “He’s right. We can’t let them dictate our lives. We have to live, or what’s the point?”

“Querida...”

“What harm can come to him, or any of us for that matter, as long as we’re all together? There’s strength in numbers. We’ll all go. Right, guys?”

There was an enthusiastic mixture of affirmatives, all seeming to have relaxed a bit after Dominic’s explosive eruption.

“Besides, we have an ace up our sleeves, remember?” She gave them an almost smug smile. Her eyes briefly lit up with her gift and then faded back to their normal color. Well, normal for her anyway.

It was enough to weaken his resolve. A dirty trick, but it was enough all the same.

Kerrigan could talk him into anything. He had no defense when it came to her. He would give her anything she wanted, and he knew she would do the same in return—as long as he was being reasonable. His protective nature made him far from reasonable where she and Colton were concerned, but regardless, he conceded.

“Okay,” he said with a simple nod. “But one sign of Sinclair or any of her coven members—”

“And we’ll leave,” Kerrigan finished for him.

Tyson clapped his giant paws together once and then rubbed them together eagerly. “Hot damn! A night of booze and screws at the Dunes! When do we leave?”

The Dunes Cracker House was one of the oldest buildings along A1A—a small, rustic tavern right on the beach. During the day, it was a cozy spot to grab a steak, but at night it was a place for co-eds and beach bunnies to get their drink on. In fact, the main reason Tyson wanted to go there was because they served free alcoholic beverages from ten thirty to eleven. What he failed to mention was that the free alcohol being served wasn’t exactly top shelf.

Olivia elbowed Kerrigan and drew her attention to the way the little floozy behind the bar kept eyeing their men. Kerrigan wasn’t worried. She knew Dominic only had eyes for her, which was evident when she turned toward him and found he was doing a little ogling of his own—of her, not the hussy with the tramp stamp. Colton and the twins weren’t as immune to the unabashed attention, but it was obvious that any flirting they did in return was only to ensure their little plastic cups were bottomless with the free stuff. Those cups weren’t only bottomless, but overflowing.

Yes, even men were guilty of using their dashing good looks, flashy smiles, and a little southern charm to get what they wanted. They were all over that shit. It didn’t matter that the stuff was nasty as hell. It was free, and that’s all the excuse the guys needed to chug as much of it as they could in the half-hour they had left.

Since Dominic never let anyone behind the wheel of the Barracuda except for Kerrigan, and she had been feeling a little queasy off and on throughout the day, she opted not to partake of the spirits. Gabe abstained as well because the barely legal bartender had no clue what the hell a bubbletini was, and he wasn’t about to compromise. Instead, he went out to Sydney’s Lady Bug and mixed his own drink. The girls went with him because they had an unwritten rule that no one was to be out and about on their own. Besides, after the half-hour of free drinks, they would be off to the next joint.

As it turned out, thirty minutes was plenty of time for four rather sizable young men to get really good and wasted. The alcohol might have been cheap and a little hard to swallow, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t potent.

“Ladies! How
you
doin’?” Talon’s very bad impersonation of Joey Tribbiani’s catchphrase was drunkenly slurred as he and the guys swayed out of the bar and made their way toward them.

Apparently, one could guzzle quite a bit of rot gut in a short period of time. No doubt, the scantily clad girl behind the bar had shown them preferential treatment and catered to them more than the other patrons.

Dominic went straight to Kerrigan, pinning her soft, pliable body against the Barracuda with his hard frame. He nuzzled her ear, his cold breath heating up her insides even as the material of her shirt stretched tight over her breasts. “When I stepped out of that door and saw you standing next to my baby, all I could think about was spreading you out naked on the hood and fucking you senseless. And I will... soon.”

She could feel the hardness of his arousal pressed to her stomach as he slipped a hand under the hem of her skirt and palmed her ass. Even though the others were far away and couldn’t see what he was doing or hear what he was saying, she still felt naked, vulnerable. Any other time, any other place, she would have insisted he show her exactly what he was thinking, but not with an audience.

She removed his hand from her ass. When he went to put it back, she linked her fingers with his to stop him. “It’s really not fair for you to put images like that in my head when we’re in a public place. And might I remind you that we’re also surrounded by our closest friends.”

Dominic chuckled low and pulled away from her. “You wear a minuscule scrap of fabric hiding what I covet most, and you’re lecturing
me
on what’s fair? Admit it, Querida, you want it.”

Kerrigan gave him a sheepish grin, knowing his hand on her ass had given away the fact she wore a thong underneath her skirt. She loved to tease him just as much as he teased her. That little tidbit of knowledge would drive him crazy all night. It would make for one hell of a make-out session the following morning.

She slipped her hand into the front pocket of his snug jeans, and he tensed as she purposely grazed his hard-on and then fished deeper, pulling out the keys to his car. “Cock tease,” he said with a lopsided grin.

“Why, Dominic Grayson... I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She pushed on his chest, forcing him to take a reluctant step backward so she could walk around to the driver’s side.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into him. Her squeak of surprise was cut off abruptly when her mouth was covered by his in a hard kiss. “You’re going to pay for that later,” he warned before letting her go. She giggled and walked to the driver’s side of the car.

“Where are we going now?” Olivia situated herself behind the wheel of Tyson’s Mustang as he pawed at her with his big arm draped over her shoulders. Jesus, he really needed to learn how to hold his liquor.

“Panama Hattie’s!” Talon yelled from the passenger seat of Sydney’s car. Colton and Gabe were in the back seat and did a little party whoop like they had been there before. They hadn’t.

Dominic abruptly leaned over Kerrigan until he could see them through the driver’s side window. “No!”

“Why not? It’s just down the street, and we’ve got
less than an hour until midnight
.” Sydney stressed the last part, reminding him of the need to get him back before he went phantom.

Dominic sat back in his seat with a huff. “Fine. Panama Hattie’s it is.”

All three engines roared to life, the occupants of two of the vehicles in their caravan louder than the combined sound of all three motors. They backed out of the parking lot, heading north on A1A.

ZZ Top’s
Tush
blared through the custom stereo, and Kerrigan turned it down so she could be heard. “Why don’t you want to go to Panama Hattie’s?”