JINXED: (Karma Series, Book Two) (14 page)

Chapter 22

Point your arrows somewhere else.

My steps immediately slowed once I spotted Fate leaning beside my condo door. I could still leave as he hadn’t…

Nope, he had seen me.

Whatever he was here for, it was probably something I wasn’t going to like. I wasn’t in the mood but that wouldn’t faze him.

My keys jingled as I yanked them out of my purse and slid one into the lock. He followed me in.

He didn’t say anything. No hello, or how are things. He toyed with the manual I was working with and then moved on, taking in the rest of the place. He was looking for clues, and I was letting him. Unfortunately for both of us, he wouldn’t find anything, and I was too scared to leave him any more unless I got desperate again.

I kicked off my shoes and walked into the kitchen, noticing the container on the counter. At least he’d brought iced tea with him. Good thing, because I was out.

He followed me into the kitchen as I took a glass out of the cabinet and offered him one. I sort of had to, since he had brought it. He nodded.

He took his tea and chugged most of it down in one gulp. He nodded toward me. I’d never had such a tense glass of iced tea in my life.

“What’s with the outfit?”

I smoothed the dress down, tugging on the hem. “It’s Luck’s. Santa’s elf led me out through their kitchen and there was a mishap with the flour.”

“It looks good on you.” His eyes slowly moved up my legs.

I drank the iced tea in my glass so as not to have to respond. 

He needed to stop staring at me like he was ready to eat me. What the hell was wrong with him, today? He was too smart to get caught by Cupid, but he was acting awfully interested. The worst part about that was the more interested he looked, the more my body seemed to respond. Forget
him
, what the hell was wrong with
me
?

My breathing became more erratic. I tugged my hair loose of its ponytail and pulled it over my shoulders, trying to hide just how excited certain parts of my body were becoming. It backfired because he took it as a different type of sign and closed the gap between us.

One hand reached and threaded through my hair as I tilted my face upward. I felt his other palm land on my hip but it didn’t stay there long. Slowly, it slid down and then wrapped around until it cupped my ass and pulled me upward into contact with his hips, where I could feel just how much he wanted me.

His eyes never left my face, surely seeing how every point of contact affected me. There was something so intensely sensual as he watched, waiting for me to acknowledge the need between us.

He looked at me as if I were the only thing that existed. It was frightening in its intensity, and yet I couldn’t move away.

I was sinking and quick.

“What are we doing?” My voice was breathy with anticipation of what was to come, even as I feared the ramifications. Hadn’t I just convinced myself how bad it was to do this with him? And yet here I was, first sexual overture in weeks and I was putty.

His mouth quirked up as if to say,
don’t pretend you aren’t with me every step
.

The smirk was gone again and his hand in my hair tightened, tugging me closer to him.

If I let this go any further, I’d never be able to stop it. His mouth was a mere inch from mine when I acknowledged to myself that not only did I want this, I needed it.

I was drowning and this felt like a lifeline. It didn’t matter if it was an emotional Band-Aid, simply masking the injury. This was the only thing in my existence right now that didn’t cause pain. At least not yet, anyway. Tomorrow, or next week, would be a different issue.

My lips parted and it was all the welcome he needed. His mouth covered mine and then it became a frenzied battle for dominance as both of us tried to take what we needed from the other.

I quickly became the aggressor as I pressed him back against the fridge, pulling his head down to mine. He reached down, grabbing a thigh in each hand and hoisted my legs around his hips.

Our lips never broke contact as he started walking into the other room. When he would’ve pulled away, I held his head to me, fearing any break would let reality sneak back in. He somehow sensed my desperation and instead of pulling back, he deepened the kiss.

We only made it a few steps into the other room before we were on the floor. He pulled my breast above the low neckline as I reached down and unbuttoned his pants. My hands reached lower and urged him into me.

I threw my head back on a moan as he entered me. His mouth moved to the peak of one breast as his teeth nipped and then licked the hardened nub. My legs wrapped around his hips, urging him deeper within me.

Nothing mattered right now. All I cared about was how my body felt alive wherever he touched me. My hand gripped his head as his mouth bit my lobe. I wanted to climb inside of him, and if I couldn’t do that, I wanted him pressed inside of me as deep as he could.

Waves of pleasure started to wash over me and I felt him thrust. Arched over me, his weight partially on his forearms, his hands gripped my head as his eyes—almost wild, now—stared into my own, and then his mouth covered mine. There was something different this time, though. I felt it in his stare and I felt it in the almost claiming of my mouth.

The pressure of his lips increased and when I would’ve turned my head he held me there. His hips picked up their pace. It went from too much to not enough. The last little bit of hesitance, which had been buried within me, died, and I found myself clinging to him as I cried out.

He collapsed next to me on the floor of the living room, both of us still dressed. The reality I’d avoided was coming back quickly now, as the air cooled my skin. What the hell had we just done?

“What happened to your leg?” he asked.

They weren’t exactly the post-coital words most women long for. I looked down and saw the bruise. It looked like the shape of a boot, and I quickly tugged my dress down.

“I was moving the TV and dropped it.” I sat up, self-conscious now, and adjusted the top of the dress, the air becoming chilly.

He sat up as well, leaning on his one arm and eyeing me suspiciously. “Take off your dress.” His voice wasn’t husky; it was determined and it scared me, not because of what he’d do but what he’d see.

His eyes squinted and his gaze dropped to my torso before rising.

“No.” I got to my feet, looking to put some physical distance between us, just in case he wasn’t willing to let the subject drop. “I don’t strip on command.”

“Either take the dress off or I’ll do it for you.” He got to his feet as well. Somehow he seemed larger now that he was possibly going to try and rip my clothes off.

“We’re done. I think it’s time you left.”
Don’t let him unnerve you. Stay in control.
If I showed panic, he’d smell it. If he saw the bruises…I couldn’t even think about that. I knew what they looked like. What I looked like.

We stared at each other, only a few feet between us, as I waited to see how far he’d push the issue. My eyes darted around, trying to figure out a plan if he did.

Then something changed in his expression. “Why wasn’t that iced tea in the fridge?”

“What?” I looked at the half empty bottle sitting on the counter. “If you wanted it in the fridge, why didn’t you put it there when you brought it?”

He adjusted his clothing while he was mumbling curses under his breath, ripped the iced tea off the counter and left the condo, slamming the door as he went.

I didn’t care. I was too stunned about what had just happened. How many times had I told myself I wasn’t going to do that ever again, and a couple of steamy looks from him and I’m all in?

I fell on the couch with a loud sigh and covered my brow with my arm. A feather gently landed on my nose as I lay there. Opening my eyes, I held it up, thinking it had broken loose from one of my down pillows and made the journey from the bedroom to the living room via Smoke.

It wasn’t that small though, and it had the strangest iridescent quality to it. Where had I seen this shimmer before? It was right at the edge of my brain but didn’t want to break loose.

And then the memory slammed into me.

Cupid! I’d seen feathers like this flying all over his office. He’d been here. That hadn’t been Fate’s iced tea.

The ramifications ran through my head. He’d caught on way before me and hadn’t been happy about it. He must have realized something was wrong, because he couldn’t understand why he was so attracted to me. It’s not like he’d come on to me once since that night, months ago. Every detail that came to mind just compounded my embarrassment.

This was why you didn’t drink things when the tamper seal was broken. I jumped to my feet and dug my work phone out of my purse. Scrolling down my contact list, I knew he was here somewhere.

I scrolled down and hit send.

“What did you do?” I said, the second he answered.

“That was fairly quick, no?” Cupid said. “I feel as though you two are seriously wasting my gifts with these slam bams.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I just told him, darling. It’s my job.” Cupid’s voice, in comparison to mine, was the epitome of calm. “And I’m exceptionally good at it.”

“I didn’t want to have sex with him!” Perhaps I shouldn’t have even admitted it happened, but my embarrassment was quickly morphing into other emotions.

“Oh please, sure you did. I didn’t get to this pay scale because I sucked at seeing the signs.”

“I really wish you hadn’t. I thought…” My words trailed off, not wanting to say the rest.

“That he wanted you, too? He does, you idiot.”

He called to someone in the room to go fetch him a latte as his words sank in. Fate had wanted to have sex with me without Cupid’s interventions?

I needed to keep this in perspective. Even if he did, it was a far cry from “I love you,” and “I can’t live without you.” Still, it was better than having him ask me what time my flight out was.

It couldn’t matter either way, right now, as the other phone started vibrating in my purse. Not with the current status of my life. “I gotta go.”

“Toodles.”

It was Luke.

“Yes?”

“If you’re finished over there, it’s time for work.”

My hand clenched on the phone. I’d already wondered if they’d know. Would it have been too much for him to have kept his mouth shut and given me the illusion of privacy? I wrapped an arm around myself, as I replayed what they might have seen.

“I’m assuming you’re ready now?”

“Just tell me what you want.”

Chapter 23

Leave a message at the beep.

The last two days had been hell. Even if Fate had been looking for me, he never would’ve found me. I’d had two jobs for Malokin and a legitimate one for the office.

Just when I’d thought I’d have a break, I received another call from Luke. I’d been lucky though. They’d all been “save” jobs.

I was starting to wonder if Malokin threw me softball jobs to keep me off balance. As if he dragged me to the very line where I was about to snap and then eased me back.

It was a type of mental warfare I could imagine Malokin playing with me. Keep me off balance until I didn’t know which direction was up anymore. And I was sure it was Malokin. Luke was too stupid to play these games. He was more of a “hit them hard and obvious” type.

In the wee hours of this morning, I’d had to save a junkie, who was holding up a convenience store, from getting shot. He’d been one of the worst humans I’d seen in a while, and it made me wonder what Malokin was up to. Why was I saving these people? Now, I also had the additional knowledge that any of these saves might be a Lock and cause further turmoil at the office.

It was one of the things that drove me to come to the office today. I needed to know what I was dealing with, and see if I’d caused another uproar. But instead of going in, I sat in the parking lot, my fingers running across the leather-bound manual.

Harold had told me to stop working on it, but I couldn’t. When everything else seemed chaotic, this gave me some sort of control. I’d flip through the pages and make notes. Even when my life had no semblance of order, inside this cover, everything was how it was supposed to be. Somehow, working on this had become my mental salvation. 

Sanity; I’d looked up the definition of it the other day. According to Webster’s Dictionary, it was the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner. Such a thing didn’t exist in the realm we operated within. At best, the office was in short supply.

I placed the book on the seat and reached for the glove compartment. The door was holding on by one hinge when I opened it and the Advil bottle fell with a hollow sound. Popping the lid, there was single pill stuck to the side. At least it was an extra strength. A couple of bangs against my palm set the pill free and I swallowed it dry.

A quick check in the mirror showed the makeup job over the side of my face wasn’t the best. Nothing a quick rearrangement of my hair part couldn’t fix. I’d just have to remember not to push it behind my ears, as I liked to do, and try and stay on everyone’s left side. That store clerk had certainly had one mean right hook.

My old Honda’s door creaked and I gave her a pat on the hood after I shut it. “I feel you, old girl, all too well. It feels like we’re both hitting the end of the line.”

Step by step, I walked toward the building, trying to concentrate on not limping. I’d hurt the already sore knee during a different job last night, when I’d jumped a fence as the police pursued me. They’d been under the misconception I’d just knocked off a jewelry store. In truth, I’d just helped the burglar escape.

I walked into the office suite, and I noticed the receptionist watching me from behind a copy of Stars Magazine. Her narrowed eyes followed my steps. They were starting to catch on that something was off with me. It was in their eyes, when they thought I wasn’t looking.

“Are you walking funny?” she said, just as I’d made it to the interior door.

“Nope. Not at all,” I said, hoping she’d take the hint and drop the subject. Maybe I shouldn’t have risked coming in today, but I had to know if any of my last jobs were a Lock. I wasn’t going to make it too much longer, at this rate. I needed to figure out what Malokin was up to, because if I didn’t…

Try as I might, I couldn’t see a way out of this mess. Kitty could be anywhere. I was no closer to finding her than the day she disappeared.

And Paddy. Where was he? His absence made how much I’d relied upon him being there to catch me brutally obvious. I was jumping without a net, these days.

The receptionist dropped the magazine onto the desk, dropping the subterfuge of not watching me with it. “Yeah, you are.”

“It’s these shoes. They aren’t that comfortable.” I was wearing sneakers.

She forced her mouth into a smile, but it didn’t wipe the doubt from her eyes. I smiled back and hoped I did a better job of faking it than her.

I pulled open the interior office door to the back, never noticing the full weight of it until now. My knee felt like it was going to tell my shin it wanted to go its own way. I focused on walking as normally as I could, while maintaining a face that showed anything but pain. Even annoyance would do.

I took a quick inventory of its occupants. Luck wasn’t in, which was a good thing. She read me better than most and almost as well as Fate.

“Hey, guys,” I greeted, as I made my way past Crow who was talking to Jockey. I waved to Bernie as he watered a potted four-leaf clover on his desk and went to sit over at my table by the window.

Gripping the chair, it helped support my weight as I sat down. I whipped a book out of my purse and pretended everything was good in my world. As if I wasn’t fighting the force of the Universe on a daily basis and barely escaping.

The arrival of Buddy, Bobby and Billy, the Jinxes, was heralded by the skidding sound of skateboards. They knocked into the table I was sitting at, pushing its leg into a collision course with my knee. I grimaced before I could stop myself and then forced my teeth to unclench.

“Chickie, you don’t look so good,” Bobby said, and Billy and Buddy didn’t hesitate to back up his opinion.

“I’m fine. And a gentleman should never criticize a woman’s appearance,” I replied, hoping to shut down this line of questioning.

It had the opposite effect on the three of them. They looked at each other and made mocking faces before breaking into a fit of laughter. Yeah, I wasn’t operating on all cylinders today.

“Chickie, that’s the funniest shit we’ve heard in a decade!”

The Jinxes were laughing so hard I didn’t notice when Fate walked in. I was clued in to his arrival as soon as I saw the Jinxes start to lean on the table, wall, windowsill or whatever else they could place their little hands on.

He was heading in our direction. I could feel the way his eyes bored into my skin as he neared. Every inch of my body seemed to become more alive, as if it had some sort of intrinsic awareness of him on a cellular level, or whatever it was that my body was now comprised of. Or maybe it was a heightened sensitivity after our last romp.

“Hey, what’s up?” Buddy addressed him, leaning on the table with his ankles crossed, trying to play it cool.

Fate looked over, as if he hadn’t noticed them until they spoke. He nodded, and then turned his full attention back to me.

“Need to talk.” His tone meant business, but I wasn’t sure which business it was. Did he want to talk about our
moment
the other day, to put it nicely, or was this about the job he’d shown up at a few nights prior? I could still see that woman choking in my mind.

Either way, it meant getting up. That would, in turn, lead to him noticing my limp. Fate saw everything; I’d never be able to hide it from him if I couldn’t even make it past the receptionist.

“Right this second?” I motioned to the boys, as if I didn’t want to leave their company. I knew it was a stretch.

“Now.” He didn’t scream the word; he didn’t have to. And yet somehow the whole office heard him say it anyway. Maybe it was because they had an ear in our direction every time we were together. Fate and I were the hottest piece of gossip currently circulating through the building.

The Jinxes looked at Fate, then me, then each other, and quickly decided the other side of the room looked more appealing. Couldn’t blame them. He wasn’t happy, and a pissed off Fate was a scary Fate. Not that I was particularly worried. Fate wasn’t threatening Kitty’s life, or kicking me in the gut, so he wasn’t listed as a top threat in my book. No one got that honor these days until they’d nailed me in the head with a metal-reinforced boot toe.

I remained in my chair and looked out the window. His presence hovering over me was palpable. He wasn’t going to leave. I couldn’t hide the limp and after that last knock to my knee, I wasn’t completely sure I could even stand, yet.

Waiting him out wasn’t going to work. “Why don’t you sit?” I motioned to the empty seat next to me.

“No. Not here.” He grabbed my chair and pulled it out for me, banging my knee against the table leg again. An instant burst of pain exploded, causing me to catch my breath. I was impressed I hadn’t screamed or made a noise, but my cover was completely blown.

His brow furrowed and his eyes squinted accusingly. The vein pulsed in his neck and his body seemed stiffer than it had been even a minute ago. That was impressive. If he got any tenser, he might turn to stone.

“Do you need me to carry you?” The words were said softly but with a definite edge. He looked so angry I wasn’t sure if he was mad or trying to help.

“No.” The last thing I wanted was to be carried out of there.

I turned in my seat and tried to get a read on him. An idiot would’ve known he was pissed but beyond that I got nothing. Why was he the only person in my life I had so much trouble reading?

He started to lean down and I realized that I was out of time.

“Don’t you dare,” I said, trying to delay whatever action he was preparing to take. Looked like my stall quota had been all used up. If I’d had any delusions of him cutting me any slack because of what had happened between us, I was quickly realizing how wrong I’d been. He seemed even worse.

He moved closer and grabbed me under one arm. But not hard, and I realized he
was
actually trying to be helpful with his previous offer when he tried to assist me in getting up.

“Stop,” I hissed under my breath, not caring what his intentions were, at this point, everyone was staring at us, and he was drawing attention to the fact I was wounded.

He gave me space as I pretended everything was fine. I stood, waiting to see if my knee would hold my weight. His jaw was clenched and he wasn’t leaning while he waited. When Fate didn’t lean, it was bad. The less horizontal he was, the worse it was. A happy Fate was at full tilt.

I went to grab my things, but he did it for me. He threw me a look that said “don’t you dare argue.” I shrugged it off, like it wasn’t a big deal, and made my way outside, now with an obvious limp, him maintaining less than a foot distance behind me.

Once we got into the hallway, he pushed open the door to the stairwell that was right near our office entrance. Stairs? I was wrong about him again. He
was
trying to aggravate me.

I wasn’t going to argue or say I couldn’t, so I limped through the door he held open. The second it closed he shoved me against the wall.

“What are you doing?” His stare sent a chill through me, the flecks of green looking almost gold and ablaze. Last time I’d looked at his eyes, I would’ve sworn they were darker. I tried not to shrink away, not that I could. He had a hand on each shoulder, pinning me to the wall.

“What the hell is your problem?” My voice was a few notches above normal but not quite a scream.

He moved in even further, until my breasts were pressed against the front of his shirt. “When did you hurt your knee?”

“I was running and tripped on a rock.” It was so lame I was embarrassed at my lack of creativity.

“You don’t run.” I could feel his breath fan my cheek as he spoke.

I rolled my eyes. “That must’ve been why I hurt it. It was right after I saw you last. Too bad you ran out of there so quick. You might have been able to warn me.” My cheeks grew hot at what I’d just revealed but hadn’t meant to. I hadn’t even admitted it to myself how bad it had felt when he’d just up and left.

I got it, though. It was Cupid again, or at most a base sexual desire. At least it had been for him. In all honesty, I didn’t know what it was for me.

He his head bent down slightly and he lowered his voice. “I didn’t mean to run out like that. I just had to—”

“Call Cupid? Yes. I know.” I didn’t need any fake excuses. I had enough lies in my life without adding his to the heap. It was what it was. He wouldn’t have done it without Cupid, and I probably would’ve. He didn’t need to know that part, though.

“Then you know it was the iced tea.” He sounded slightly relieved, and it hurt me more than the throbbing knee or the bruised ribs.

It hadn’t been a question, but I answered it anyway. “Yes. It wasn’t a big deal. Let’s not make it into one.” I tried to shrug his hands off my shoulders. “If that’s all you wanted, I need to get going.”

He didn’t budge. “Where?”

For someone who was so relieved to be let off the hook, I couldn’t shake his grip loose. If anything, his hands on my shoulders were even tighter. I wasn’t in the mood to put up with him. I’d given him an easy out; he needed to take it.

“I thought we just established that the other day wasn’t a big deal, so why don’t you back off?” I’d had trouble maintaining eye contact before from embarrassment, but that was quickly fading as my anger rose. My back was against the wall—literally and figuratively—and I was ready to fight my way out.