Cosmic Sex (2 page)

Kia frowned.

And she chewed something that made a smacking noise.

The woman’s gaze ran over Kia. “Honey, you’re in the wrong place.”

Kia tested her new words. “I gotta see Fred.”

The woman thumbed over her shoulder. “He’s inside. Last I saw, he was cleaning off the counter. I never would’ve thought he was your type.” She shrugged as she moved past Kia.

Not her type? Kia wondered what her type was.

Chapter 2

Nick Scericino sat in a back corner of the small, smoke-filled bar, baseball cap pulled low on his forehead and his elbows resting on the table. His back was to the wall as he hunkered over, nursing a longneck that he’d had in front of him for the last hour. It had already grown warm. Not that it mattered. He was on duty, the beer only a prop so he wouldn’t look conspicuous.

He tensed as familiar warning signals sounded in his head.

Something was about to happen. Not the drug deal. This was different. A gut feeling that didn’t have anything to do with the bust.

Slowly, his gaze scanned the room. Had someone slipped inside? He quickly discounted that idea. The way he’d positioned himself, he had a good view of the front and back entrances. He had a suspicion whatever was about to go down wouldn’t be good.

The door opened, letting in a blast of cold air. His gaze swung in that direction.

Then she came into the bar.

Windswept coal black hair that hung past her shoulders, skin warmed to a deep golden tan, as if she spent a lot of time in the sun. Her black top molded to her delicious curves, inviting a man to look. Black pants fit her like a second skin, inviting a man to touch. A black cape reached almost to her boot-clad feet, warning him to stay the hell away.

She scanned the smoky room. Her gaze stopped and held his for the briefest amount of time before moving on.

She had the deepest blue eyes he’d ever seen. Or maybe they were black. She was too far away to know for sure. Either way, he’d been sucker punched by the burning heat from that one look.

Sweet.

And definitely trouble.

Why the hell was she here, in one of the roughest bars on the outskirts of Dallas? She didn’t look like the usual biker bitches that trolled the bar for drugs or a cheap thrill with some badass gang member.

He let his gaze slide over her. No, she didn’t look like her taste would run to cheap thrills or drugs, but then, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been fooled. It just didn’t happen very often.

She glided over to the bar. He couldn’t hear what she said to the bartender over the noise of a heavy metal song playing on the jukebox. Apparently, one of the bikers did because he sidled up to her, running his hand over her shoulder and squeezing her arm.

The heat from her eyes changed to a cold stare. The biker should’ve been frozen to the spot, but he didn’t seem to be taking the hint the lady wanted to be left alone.

Nick raised his bottle to his lips, concealing what he was about to say. “We have a problem.”

“No, we don’t, Nick,” came the voice of his partner into the earpiece Nick wore.

“You saw her?” He took a drink of the lukewarm beer.

“I couldn’t miss her, but it doesn’t matter. We’re here for a drug bust. As soon as the mark comes in and makes his buy, we take him down. It’s the only way we’re going to get any info on the Russian mafia. We’re not here to get you laid.”

Yeah, yeah, he knew the drill. Get someone on the inside to talk—a stoolie. Sometimes they would do anything to stay out of prison. Hell, they’d rat out their own brother if it kept them out of the pen.

That’s why they were staking out the bar. Doobie makes the buy and they have him. The street had it that he was on good terms with the Russians.

Except he hadn’t shown. Nick glanced at his watch—after midnight. And he probably wouldn’t. Had someone tipped him off? Hell, they were probably wasting their time.

He glanced up. There was still the girl. Man, she was a looker.

“We are talking about the same woman, aren’t we?” he asked.

“Leave it alone, Nick,” Sam warned.

“Do I have a choice? Some biker is hitting on her, and I don’t think she’s going to take much more of his pawing.”

“Nick, think about it first. You’re already in hot water because of Elizabeth.”

“That wasn’t my fault. How the hell could I have known she was the mayor’s niece? Besides, the last time I checked, twenty-eight was legal.”

“For Christ’s sake, you talked her into stripping at a nightclub.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering. Man, Elizabeth had been so hot that night. Gone was the tight bun that held her pale blond hair in place, gone were the heavy glasses and restrictive clothing.

Sweet.

He sighed and reined in his wayward thoughts. “It wasn’t a big deal. She kept her thong on. What she did lose were all those stuffy restrictions her family had weighted her down with.”

“You’ll never learn.”

The lady in black shook off the biker’s arm, but he grabbed her again.

Sam had once told Nick that he didn’t have to look for trouble, it found him.

Maybe he was right.

“I can’t let this slide. What the hell good are we if we don’t protect everyone? Don’t worry. I won’t screw up the bust. Not that I think it’ll be going down tonight.”

Sam muttered something that sounded vaguely like a curse, but Nick blocked his words as he stood and made his way to the bar. All wasn’t lost if he could convince the biker he’d be better off leaving the lady alone.

Nick drew close. “Hey, buddy, I don’t think she cares for your attention. Maybe you should just back away. Give her a little breathing space.”

The biker turned around to face Nick, looked him over, then grinned. Half his teeth were missing and the few that were left had already turned yellow. He was an ugly cuss: long, dirty hair, sporting a single earring, and the foulest body odor Nick had ever had the misfortune to come across, and in his line of work, he’d come across a lot of reeking bodies. Hell, even the ones that had been dead a week smelled better than this creep.

“And what if I don’t want to? What’cha going to do about it?” the creep asked.

The biker had taken his measure and found him lacking. Damn, now his feelings were hurt. Nick straightened to his full height of six-two, but the biker was still taller, still bigger.

Nick was a firm believer in the bigger they were, the harder they fell. What he had a problem with was getting the bigger ones to the point where they’d fall.

“If we’re going to battle it out, then let’s take it outside.” All he had to do was get the big bruiser away from the bar, then maybe they could get him cuffed and out of the way.

“Battle?” The lady straightened.

Now she decides to open her mouth? He wanted to mention that it might not be the best time.

“I can fight my own battles,” she continued. “I’m a warrior, trained to fight.”

He’d figured there had to be something wrong with a woman who looked this good. Now he knew. She was crazy. Damn, she was going to get them both killed. She was going to...

“I’d like to battle you, baby.” The biker rubbed his crotch.

“Then we shall battle.” She slammed the heel of her hand up and into his nose, then shook her hand with a pained expression on her face. “Ow.” Her frown deepened as she examined it.

The biker grunted and grabbed his face as blood poured out of his nose.

“That hurt!” She glared at the biker as if he’d been the one to ram his face into the heel of her hand.

She brought her knee up, landing it with a resounding thud right square in the man’s groin. Nick grimaced when the biker groaned and doubled over, then crumpled in a heap on the scarred wooden floor and held his crotch a hell of a lot differently than he had a moment ago.

Man, that had to have hurt. The lady had good moves; he’d give her that. Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

“Piss off? I don’t know this.” Excitement glittered in her eyes. “That was very exhilarating.”

Damn, he could lose himself in her eyes. He forced himself to concentrate. “Who the hell are you?”

Before she had a chance to answer, chaos erupted. Someone threw a chair across the room, and two women started exchanging blows at the back of the bar.

A biker came toward them. “Hey, that was my friend you just took out.”

Nick’s fist connected with the biker’s face. Blood spurted from his nose. He grunted, stumbled back a few steps and tripped over a chair, then landed with a splat on his ass.

“We’ll battle some more?” the lady asked.

She bounced on her toes, ready to duke it out with anyone who came near. He didn’t have any desire to get his head bashed in and there were three more bikers making their way toward them and looking like that was exactly what they had on their minds.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he yelled as he grabbed her arm. For a moment, she only looked at him. “Sometimes retreat is the best defense.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

But that didn’t stop the look of disappointment crossing her face. He’d seen a lot of men who got an adrenaline rush when it came to fighting, but this was the first woman. Hell, he loved a good fight as well as the next man, but she... she...

Damn, she reminds me of myself.

Now, that was a scary thought.

Something crashed to the floor. He didn’t look to see what, but instead tugged on her arm. “Come on!”

They hurried toward the front door, ducking and dodging like they were in the middle of a war zone, and right now that was exactly what it felt like. The captain was going to kill him for screwing this one up.

Sam was rushing toward the bar as they were running out. “This way,” he called.

Sam didn’t wait to see if Nick followed. That was pretty much a gimme. They’d been partners for seven years and knew what the other would do.

They jumped into the nondescript deep green, battle-weary Chevy they were using for the sting. Sam started it and peeled away, spraying loose gravel everywhere as a couple of the bikers ran out of the bar.

Sam didn’t talk. Just wove in and out of back streets until he was positive they weren’t being followed. He only took his attention off his driving once, and that was to cast a dark glare in Nick’s direction. A look Nick had seen more times than he wanted to count.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Sam finally asked. His jaw had begun to twitch.

Sam’s dark expression wasn’t good. Nick had seen the twitch before, too. The twitch meant Sam was barely controlling his anger, and that didn’t happen often.

“You’re on probation,” Sam continued before Nick could say anything. “We’ll be lucky if the captain doesn’t suspend us both.”

“It was my call, not yours.”

“Then why the hell do I catch as much flack as you? Why the hell is my ass always on the line the same as yours? Just answer me that.”

Nick couldn’t. Damn, he didn’t mean to screw up. Shit just happened. What was he supposed to do? Let the woman fend for herself? That wasn’t going to happen no matter who came down on him.

Sam stopped at a red light, took a deep breath, then turned to the woman who sat between them quietly listening to their discussion.

Sam’s mouth turned down. “You shouldn’t have been in that bar. It’s bad news.” He glanced at the light, then back at her. “Where’s your place?”

“I don’t have a place.”

Sam and Nick exchanged questioning glances.

“You don’t live here?” Nick asked.

“I’m searching for my cousin, Mala.”

“Does she live here?” Sam asked.

“On a ranch.”

“Does it have a name?”

“The man who brought me here said the ranch was called Southfork. You can take me there.”

“Uh,” Nick began, then looked at Sam. Sam let off the brake and drove under the light before he looked at Nick. Sam’s expression told him the lady was Nick’s problem, not his.

A lot of help he was.

“I think the guy who brought you this far might’ve misunderstood. Do you have any money? We could drop you off at a motel maybe?”

She looked at him. God, she had the most beautiful eyes, and his first assumption had been correct. They were a deep blue.

His brain quit functioning. He couldn’t think, couldn’t say a word as he lost himself in those fathomless orbs. He’d never been this fascinated by a woman. What was it about her that reeled him in like a starving fish?

“What’s money?” she asked in a voice that was soft and sultry. Her words caressed him, sliding down his body, promising more than just a touch.

Sam’s laughter filled the car’s interior, bringing him out of his daze. He glared at his soon-to-be ex-friend, then softened his look when he met the lady’s confused expression.

Okay, so she didn’t know what money was. Big deal. She was probably from another country.

“Where are you from?”

“I’m from Nerak,” she said with pride.

Sounded foreign. “Is that in Russia?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know this Russia you speak about. I’m from Nerak. I must find Mala.”

Nick caught the full force of those magnificent eyes once more when a streetlight illuminated the car’s interior.

“You’ll help me?” she beseeched.

“Yeah, I’ll help.” His mouth had gone so dry he could barely get the words out.

She looked down at her hands, then back up at him as if she remembered something she was supposed to say.