Dirty Power (12 page)

Ryan rented a car at the airport in Faro. I smiled and pretended it was charming when he insisted that it be a luxury car. I even managed to look smitten when he demanded a stick shift. Apparently, his masculinity required it.

We dropped the façade once we got to the car. It was late. Almost midnight. The garage was empty. We both climbed in the backseat. I stripped off everything I was wearing. Ryan got down to his boxers. Which was a problem when we realized that our bags were in the trunk. I pulled on the coat Ryan had been wearing and pouted until he put his pants and loafers back on and got our clothes out of the trunk. I was naked, he had underwear, it just seemed logical that he had to step up.

It was three in the morning when we passed through Seville. Ryan had gotten lost, so that was an hour out the window. I took over driving. We hit the coast about four in the morning. Which meant Breno and Christopher were really surprised to find us pounding on the door at five a.m.

“Why the hell are you here so early? I thought you were going to call when you were ready,” Christopher said.

“Is everything all right?” Breno asked.

“You guys know it’s a little weird to answer the door together, right?” It was a little homoerotic too because they were both only wearing their underwear. Small underwear. I didn’t tell them that ’cause I figured Christopher had dibs.

“Totally.” Ryan muscled past them with our bags.

“What’s going on?” Christopher asked.

“Reese and I had company in Corsica. They followed us all the fuck over Europe. We ditched them in Germany,” I said.

“What?” Christopher.

“Where is Reese?” Breno.

“Are you sure you weren’t followed here?” Christopher.

“Who was following you?” Breno.

“Whoa. Dudes. Ease off with the questions,” Ryan said.

“Yeah. Is there any food? I’m starving,” I said.

“And could you guys put some pants on?” Ryan asked.

They stared in response.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Ryan and I weren’t followed. Reese led them on a merry chase through central Europe to get them off our tail. She should have lost them by now. And they seemed like cops. Definitely not mob enforcement types.”

“Now can we have breakfast?” Ryan asked.

They didn’t let it go so easily. But at least they put on pants before quizzing us. Which was good because Christopher made omelets while we outlined the details. Cooking in your underwear has got to be dangerous.

“So what you’re saying is that twenty-four hours from now, Reese will be hitchhiking on a main road in northeastern Spain?” Christopher asked.

“Alone,” Breno said.

“Well, yeah.” Ryan shrugged and took a bite of omelet.

“Why did that seem like a good idea to you?” Breno asked.

“We didn’t say it was ideal.” It was too late to change the plan. So I didn’t see what they were getting all worked up about.

“And you want us to drive up there and pick her up?” Christopher asked.

“We can’t,” Ryan said.

“Yeah, if the cops are still following her, then they’ll recognize us. But you guys are probably unknown entities.”

“Probably?” Christopher shouted.

“Yeah, probably.” I shrugged.

“That isn’t very reassuring,” Breno said.

“Well, I checked the FBI app for wanted fugitives and you guys weren’t on it,” I said.

“There’s an app for wanted fugitives?” Christopher was so stupid.

Ryan started laughing, then started choking on his eggs. “Mmm-hmm. The app where criminals can chart their progress. You know, to see how far ahead of the cops they are.”

“Yeah.” I was laughing too. “The Feds and CIA and US Marshals and Secret Service. They all link into it. It’s awesome.”

Christopher and Breno did perfect versions of Reese’s glare. Ryan and I laughed at them.

“What?” I asked when five minutes went by without a break in the glare.

“I’m amazed that you two ever made it to adulthood,” Christopher finally said.

“Yeah, well, our plans work better than yours. So get your asses in gear.” I pointed with my fork.

They seemed very unimpressed with being ordered around by me. But they went and got ready for a long-ass road trip. Bonus points to me and Ryan.

*

Ryan and I slept most of the day. When we woke up, we started exploring our new digs. The house was a massive improvement from that ugly monstrosity in EDH. It was still huge, bigger than the last place. Like way bigger. But it was built before the twentieth century and we thought that was pretty cool. We decided immediately that the second floor was haunted. Not actually. We decided to rig it to make Breno think it was haunted. He seemed gullible enough to fall for that.

There were two secret passages leading off the kitchen and winding through the back of the house. Probably for servants. So they weren’t exactly secret. But Ryan and I had a habit of reverting to the ten-year-old versions of ourselves whenever possible. We may have played hide-and-seek. In the dark. For an hour.

There was a shitload of land surrounding the big house. Our nearest neighbor was probably a couple miles off. It was cold as fuck outside, so we layered on every long sleeve shirt and pair of socks we could find, and ran through the orchards. There was a vineyard too, but vineyards smell like ass so we stayed upwind.

Late in the evening, we opened a few bottles of wine and sat outside staring at the stars. When we couldn’t feel our fingers anymore, we went in. The bottles of wine made us think that sliding across the floors in the main hall was a good idea. Ryan’s socks were more slippery so he ate it first. Cracked his head on a wall. After that, we figured sliding in socks was a bad idea.

It was well after midnight when we crashed. I hadn’t been out that long when the door to my room opened. Reese. I don’t know how I knew, but I did.

“You can turn on the light,” I said.

“You’re awake?” Reese asked.

“Sort of.” I rolled over as she turned on the light. Fucking blinding.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. How did it go?”

“Surprisingly well. Christopher and Breno just went to bed. They’re exhausted.”

My eyes finally adjusted so I could see her. Her hair clearly hadn’t been washed in a few days. The beanie tucked in her back pocket explained that. She was wearing a pair of my jeans. They were baggy on her. Her face was clean, but there was a light patina of dust on her neck and ears. And the jacket she was wearing looked like it had been lived in for a year.

She was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

“Is it weird that I think you’re really hot right now?” I asked.

“Yes.” She smiled. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Can I—”

“No. I’m washing every inch of myself before I get in bed with you.” Reese stripped off the jacket and kicked off the jeans.

“I’m really good at washing every inch of you.”

The smile got bigger and her eyes went gray. “Be patient. And take off your clothes. I’ll be right back.”

I couldn’t really argue with that.

Reese wasn’t in the shower very long. I managed to wait until the water was shut off. But then I went into the bathroom. She was bent over slightly to towel dry her hair.

“You’re staring at my ass aren’t you?” Reese asked.

“Totally.”

“Stop it.” She straightened and shot me an unconvincing glare.

“Make me.” I grinned.

Reese tossed the damp towel at my head. I ducked and caught the towel. She laughed.

“Move. I need clothes.” She tried to skirt past me. I grabbed at her, but she got away.

I chased her back into our room and tackled her onto the bed. She tried to scoot out from under me, but I held her in place.

“Hey, did you know that you’re naked?” I asked.

“You’re very observant.”

“Yeah, I went to college. I’m smart.”

“Oh, yeah?” Reese laughed. “They taught you that in college?”

“Yep. I can identify colors too.” I grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.

“I’m very impressed.” Reese raised her head up to kiss me. “How about counting? Can you count too?”

“Girl, I can count so high. Like to ten.” I kissed her again. “One, two, three…” I forgot what came after that because Reese started kissing my neck. The slight pull of her teeth and the warmth of her tongue made thinking real hard.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” she asked between kisses and bites. “Can’t go higher than three?”

“Nope. Don’t care what comes after three.” I captured her mouth and kissed her long enough and hard enough that I was pretty sure she couldn’t make it to four either.

As we kissed, Reese edged her thigh between my legs. She thrust up against me. Slowly.

“Fuck, I missed you.”

“You better.” Her lips trailed up my neck to my ear.

“I was worried.”

Reese stopped kissing me so she could pull back and look into my eyes. “About what?

“You. What if they caught you?”

She laughed. “That’s fucking hilarious.”

“Why?”

“Because I just got this image of you pacing and waiting for me. Please tell me you weren’t doing that.”

I started laughing too. “No. Ryan and I got drunk and played hide-and-seek.”

“That’s more like it.”

Reese twisted her wrists out of my hands and dragged my T-shirt over my head. Or tried. I sat up and pulled the shirt the rest of the way off.

“You are epically bad at undressing me sometimes.”

“I’ve never had to before.” She grinned up at me.

“Huh?”

“Have you seen me? Women’s clothes usually just fall off around me.”

“Not anymore.” I traced my hands over her ribcage. She arched and stretched.

“What do you mean?”

“If any chicks start stripping, I’ll have to knock ’em out. You’re mine, peanut butter.”

Reese’s eyes went completely gray. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Damn right.”

I leaned down and kissed along her ribs, following the trail of my hands. Reese lifted her hips, a quiet plea that I ignored. I wanted to kiss her until I was the only one she remembered. Until all that she knew was me.

Her fingers traced patterns in my hair, along my ears, over my neck as I kissed her shoulders, her collarbones. When I lowered my mouth to one nipple, then the other, and back again, Reese’s fingers tightened. She gasped when I sucked hard on her nipple. She lifted her hips into me. But I wasn’t going there. Not yet.

I cupped her ass with one hand. Squeezed it slowly as she arched against me. Reese caught my eyes and smiled. She traced the edge of my jaw with a fingertip. I kissed her finger then licked it. She moaned softly and her eyes rolled back. I sucked her finger into my mouth, bit it a little. She pulled me close to kiss me. Just kiss me. Softly, slowly. I was so distracted I almost didn’t notice the way she started thrusting against my leg. Almost. I moved my leg away and grinned.

“Not yet.”

“Come on.”

“Nope.” I moved my lips to her throat. Kissed a line to her bellybutton. Dipped my tongue in and around it. Reese squirmed and tried to scoot higher on the bed. I planted my hand between her breasts and held her still. She fell back, her hips still jerking. The scent of her arousal hit me suddenly. It made my mouth water. So I hooked my arms under her thighs and slid down the bed.

Reese sighed when I kissed her. I licked the length of her and her breath hitched. I smiled against her cunt.

“Damn it, you teased me enough.” Reese gripped my hair and tried to push me down. But I was stronger.

I licked around her clit, lingering in the spots where she was most sensitive. She sobbed my name. When I finally sucked her into my mouth, a rush of wetness coated my chin. Her thighs tightened and she arched off the bed. I sucked her hard, letting her clit roll over my tongue again and again. The sweet tissues in my mouth throbbed as she came. But I didn’t stop sucking her.

Reese held my head in place so she could keep fucking my mouth. Her hips were in the air, keeping a constant rhythm against the jerk of my tongue.

“Oh, oh God. Coop.” Her fingers tightened, pulling my hair, as she came again.

We collapsed to the bed.

I lay there with my head pillowed on her thigh, not even trying to control my ragged, satisfied breathing. Reese tugged my hair lightly until I moved up next to her. She turned and burrowed her head into my armpit. One lazy hand traced patterns on my stomach. I rubbed the bare expanse of her back as her breathing slowed.

“Told you I missed you,” I said quietly.

She smiled and kissed my side. “Yeah, I guess I missed you too.”

“You better,” I mimicked her.

“Whatever.”

“Tired?”

“Sort of. Tired of being on a train.” She walked her fingers up my stomach. Not like she was trying to start anything. Just playing.

“So where did you lose them?” I asked.

“Slovenia.”

“Where the hell is that?”

Reese raised her head up to stare at me. “Were you stoned all through high school or just in class?”

“Umm, mostly just the last two years.”

She shook her head, grinned, and lay back down. “It’s below Austria. I caught a train in Munich that took me to Ljubljana, which is in Slovenia.” She poked me in the side.

“Ouch. Fine. I’ll learn some geography.”

“Good. I got to Ljubljana really early in the morning. They followed me to a very leisurely breakfast. I read the paper, enjoyed my coffee. It totally drove them crazy. The dude looked like he wanted to approach me, but the chick stopped him.”

“So you decided to lose them?”

“Well, yeah. They were getting antsy. I figured that we’d fucked with them enough.”

Smart girl. “How’d you do it?”

“Walked through the city. Ditched them long enough to steal a car. Drove it back—”

“Wait. You stole a car?” This was a whole new side of Reese.

“Uhh, yeah. I hotwired it.”

“You can hotwire a car?” A really sexy side.

“Well, yeah. I learned last year. When I was working for my grandfather.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I don’t know actually. I think he thought it would be fun to teach me. Introductory course to a life of crime or something.” She shrugged a little like she was embarrassed.