Drip Drop Teardrop, a Novella (8 page)

Avery tried not to shiver
at Brennus’ approving regard as they got ready to leave. He wore a
black cashmere jumper that moulded to his well-defined body. With
all the delicious things she was starting to notice about him, the
scar was beginning to fade into the background. She wasn’t sure if
she even saw it now.

They ended up
at a club downtown she had never gone to before. It was a lot
smaller than
4.0
and it was in a basement, but the DJ had good taste in music.
At first she felt awkward walking into the club with Brennus.
People stared and Brennus had to hold her hand and infuse that calm
over her so she wouldn’t hyperventilate. Inside, the staring
continued, following Brennus as he left Avery at the edge of the
dance floor to get drinks. He was back in record time and she shook
her head in bemusement as her gaze took in the crowds around the
bar.
I’m not even going to
ask
, she thought as she sipped her JD and
coke. As they watched the people on the throbbing dance floor, the
music teasing Avery, twitching its fingers on her hips and urging
her towards the main floor, she wondered if Brennus even enjoyed
this kind of dancing. Sure, he liked holding her close and swaying
to the lilt of good old Paul Weller… but R&B, hip
hop…?

When she finished her
drink, Brennus took her glass and dumped it on a nearby table with
his own. Then he was taking her hand and leading her into the
throng of figures. His strong arms caught around her waist, nudging
up the silk of her shirt so his fingers brushed her bare skin. She
sucked in her breath as goosebumps exploded in ripples across her
flesh. Her heart raced harder, faster as he drew her into the heat
of his body. She had her answer.

Brennus knew how to
dance.

The music was like a
drug. She forgot who she was. Who he was. That he scared people.
That people were staring. Instead she slid her arms up across his
chest to lock around his neck, enjoying the way his eyes flared
with heat. It was enthralling to have someone with his power in her
control.

Seconds later Avery
wished she had never dared that arrogant thought.

As his hips caught hers,
their bodies sliding across one another, she realised he wasn’t in
her control.

His head dipped and he
brushed a tentative kiss across her lips.

She was in
his.

Avery groaned and tugged
him back, pressing her lips harder against his gorgeous mouth,
widening her own invitingly. He took the invitation with a
dangerous growl that shocked her, his kiss deep, his tongue dancing
with hers in the most carnal make-out session she’d ever had. As
she felt the press of him, felt his excitement against her hip,
Avery curled into him, her fingernails clawing into his skin as if
afraid he wasn’t real. She deepened the kiss. It was wet. Hard.
Aggressive. So not her. Yet she’d never felt more like herself. His
hand slid down her back, stroking the sensitive dimples on her
lower back, his other sliding up, his thumb stroking the underside
of her breast. Her needy whimper purred against his mouth and
Brennus broke the kiss abruptly. They both stared wide-eyed at one
another, struggling to draw breath. Avery’s whole body was on fire
and she knew by the heat in his dark eyes, Brennus’ was feeling
that burn.

Oh my God, she stumbled
back a little. What the hell was she doing?!

“
I um… I’m
going to get a drink,” she muttered, knowing somehow he could hear
her.

He nodded tightly, his
gaze unwavering. “I’ll have a beer. I’ll be back in a
minute.”

Brennus brushed past her,
blurring through the crowds.

Avery exhaled, pressing a
hand to her chest where her heart beat a rapid tattoo. “I’m
officially losing it,” she whispered and made her way towards the
bar.

For some
reason Avery seemed to have whatever magic Brennus had, and people
groaned in irritation as the bartender ignored everyone to take her
order. She was back on the dance floor in minutes. But there was
still no Brennus. She sipped her drink, suddenly feeling awkward to
be alone. She’d never felt that way before.
Only 48 hours in this guy’s company and he’s stripping you of
your independence.
She shook her head in
determination.
Stay strong, Ave, stay
strong.
She licked her lips. She could
still taste him. Avery winced at her own weakness.

As she
waited, a good-looking guy a few inches shorter than Brennus
sauntered up to her, all arrogant smile and cocky twinkle in the
eye. She studied him as he approached. His hair was an in-between
colour. Not dark brown, not light brown. Not dark enough, she
mused.
And his eyes
, she thought, as he stopped in front of her. They were blue.
She liked dark eyes. Black as jet.

“
Hey
sweetheart.” The guy knocked his glass against hers in greeting.
“What’s a gorgeous girl like you doing standing here all
alone?”

The guy turned out to be
pretty hard to shake. He went from casual flirty to obnoxious in
knot to sixty seconds. His hand brushed familiarly down her cheek
and she jerked back, telling him politely to back off. He didn’t.
Instead he urged her to dance with him. She said no. He wrapped an
arm around her waist, laughing, and cajoling her onto the dance
floor. She dug in her heels and told him if he didn’t remove his
hand she’d remove his testicles.

He blanched and backed
off, muttering under his breath about the trials of frigid high
school girls.

Avery shook her head at
his departure and turned a little. Her breath caught. Brennus just
stood there a few metres away, watching her. He gave her a slight
smile and headed over to her. She decided he had a sexy walk.
Confident, even though he had to be aware people were staring at
his scar, pointing and judging, making him ‘other’.

“
You OK?” He
asked, taking his beer from her and placing a proprietary hand on
her hip. She tried to mind. But it was too exhausting.

“
You
saw?”

“
The jerk?
Yeah.”

Avery frowned. If Josh
had been there, there would have been blood and drama and
hyperventilation. “He was an asshole.”

Brennus shrugged and
smiled at her. “I knew you could handle it.”

Delicious warmth spread
across her chest and she answered his smile with a wide grin. He
made her feel eight feet tall. “Yeah?”

“
Of course. I
would have stepped in if you needed me, but I knew you
didn’t.”

“
Josh doesn’t
think I can handle anything.”

“
Well, Josh
isn’t a two thousand year old Ankou who fought you for your life
and lost.”

At that she burst out
laughing. Real, happy laughter. The first in many
months.

She hated to admit it,
but she was kind of starting to like this guy. “Thank
you.”

Brennus grinned back and
took her hand, leading her back onto the dance floor. By the look
in his eyes, she knew he was going to kiss her again.

And she was going to let
him.

The Song You
Sing Today

Wasn’t Always
in Your Head

Avery was
thankful that Brennus was sleeping elsewhere. He seemed to render
her willpower non-existent. That’s why, the next morning, after
lying in bed replaying the night before over and over in her head,
flushing hot with how intimate it got, Avery began to pull away. At
breakfast she answered his questions in monosyllabic tones, one
word responses. When they took a walk in the estate in the woods,
she pretended to hate the fresh crisp air and stunning
surroundings. When he reached to brush her hair off her face and
press a kiss to her lips, she jerked away from him like she’d been
stung and made her way into the sitting room. Despite the fact her
heart was racing a mile a minute and her lips tingled as if he
really had kissed her, Avery flopped down on the sofa with an air
of indifference and clicked on the flat screen. She only got
through the first minute of a
Friends
re-run before the television
screen blinked, the screen going black. Drawing on all her
determination, she craned her neck around to see Brennus holding
the remote and glaring down at her.

“
What?” she
snapped.

His eyes narrowed to
dangerous slits and then he was sitting down on the opposite sofa,
his elbows braced on his knees as he leaned towards her.

“
What’s going
on?”

She shrugged.

“
Avery… why
are you pulling away? Is it because of last night?”

“
I’m not
pulling away,” she huffed. “Maybe I’m just not a very nice
person.”

When he rolled his eyes
at her, Avery had to hold back a smile. It was such a
un-Brennus-like expression it was comical on him. “Right,” he
replied sarcastically. “Or maybe you’re just writing this off
before it’s even begun.”

Anger rippled through her
at the suggestion. “Writing this off? I have the chance to save
Aunt Caroline’s life… you think I’m writing this off?”

At her retort Brennus’
expression darkened, a sad rejection entering his eyes before he
thought to curb it. A twinge of pain originating from her chest
drew into a battle with her mind. She had to stop feeling bad every
time she hurt his feelings!

“
This can’t
just be about saving Aunt Caroline, Avery. It won’t work. It has to
be about you and me too.”

Avery shook her head.
“Brennus, Caroline is everything to me. If I do this, then it’s
because of her.”

“
You would
trade your life for hers in a sense then?” He frowned. “Why? Why is
she everything?”

It seemed like such a
silly question. But then she took a moment to remember that Brennus
had only ever had people in his life that had betrayed and hurt
him. When he had traded his life… in the end it had been for the
wrong person.

She leaned
back more comfortably into the sofa and smiled at the thought of
her aunt. “Because… she gave up a free and easy life to raise a
pre-pubescent child. She taught me to be a person with good values
and principles. She’s never cared what anyone else thinks about her
and she’s never judged me because I
do
care. She’s always pointed me in
the right direction. She helped me make decisions that have made my
life better. In school she was on the school newspaper and she said
it was really fun, so I joined the school newspaper and I
met
Sarah
. Aunt
Caroline played volleyball, so she taught me, and I tried out for
the team and I played for the last three years in school and met
some really great people. She had such an amazing time at NYU doing
journalism that I knew I would too, and I did, the little time I
was there.” It was true. She wouldn’t know how to be without
Caroline. All the biggest decisions in her life had been shaped by
her. Suddenly her chest felt tight with panic.

“
What about
your parents?”

Avery frowned at the
abruptness of the question and the question itself. “What about my
parents?”

He shrugged slightly.
“Well, what was your relationship with them like?”

The vice on her chest
tightened. “I don’t know. I was a kid.”

“
You were
ten. You must remember them.”

Her skin felt too tight.
She scratched the nape of her neck and looked into the fireplace,
escaping the penetrating darkness of Brennus’ gaze. She got the
creepy feeling he knew her thoughts before she did. “I don’t know.
They were great. They loved me… I don’t know.” She shrugged again
and her eyes prickled with frustrated tears. Angry tears.
Self-directed angry tears. “I guess I was kind of a
brat.”

“
Brat,
how?”

Avery laughed hollowly.
“They did a lot of things for me. Mostly because I would throw a
fit otherwise.”

The corner of Brennus’
mouth quirked up. “Sounds like every kid on the planet.”

She shook her
head. “Not every kid. I mean… I
really
pushed them.” She snorted
thinking back. “When I was six we were in the department store and
I saw this gorgeous doll house, big enough for me to fit in. It
must have cost a fortune because when I said I wanted it, my mom,
who spoiled me rotten, said maybe for Christmas. So I got inside
the doll house and wouldn’t come out. The manager came over, other
customers were looking. Ugh. My mom was so embarrassed she bought
the house. I think I played in it twice.” She shook her head, that
deep buried guilt starting to burrow its way out. “When I was
eight, I watched
Something to Talk
About
with my mom and decided I needed a
pony. I gave my parents the silent treatment for an entire month.”
She raised her eyebrows ignoring his smirk. “Do you have any idea
how difficult that is for a little girl? A month of no talking. My
parents were going out of their minds, arguing with one another, my
dad telling my mom to give in, my mom telling him they had to have
some boundaries. God, I remember it like it was yesterday. Anyway…
they eventually signed me up for riding lessons and the first time
they put me on the horse I screamed and cried, terrified of the
damn thing. My mom was pretty smug about that to my
dad.”