Kissing Trouble (29 page)

Her question only seemed to agitate him further. His mouth formed a thin, white line. He began to pace, never quite meeting her eye in passing.

“Luis!” she snapped, her own tension blossoming anew.

He stopped and pivoted on his heels to face her. “Something...” He broke off. Tried again. “Something isn’t right.”

Julie’s frown deepened until her face began to hurt. “What?”

He leaned towards her, dropping his voice. “Something’s wrong with Shaun.”

Her heart dropped. “What?”

Luis’ face convulsed with a mixture of aggravation and pain. “Please don’t tell them I said anything.”

“Them?”

If possible, the muscles tightened even further on Luis’s features. “Mason and Shaun.” He took a step towards her. “They have both been so good to me and I...” He broke off and turned away, throwing his arms out wide in frustration. “I’m Judas.”

Julie blinked in surprise at the unexpected volley of thoughts. “Judas?”

He confronted her once more, looking appalled with himself. “I am betraying my friends all because I’m freaking out.” He shoved all ten fingers back through his hair. “I’m a bad person.”

Julie went to him. “You’re not a bad person. It’s been really hard for all of us.”

Luis nodded slowly. “I haven’t been sleeping,” he confessed. “I mean, I do ... I think, but when I wake up, I’m exhausted. I jump at every little noise and ... I can’t even look outside.” He exhaled, a sound between a sob and a laugh. “You must think I’m pathetic.”

Julie shook her head, her heart going out to him. “I don’t. I feel the same.”

He dragged his slouched body to the chair by the door and dropped into it. He planted his elbows on his knees and stuffed his face into his hands.

“You know, I’ve never had friends like Shaun and Mason. I mean,” he raised his head and looked at her. “Shaun’s a bit hard to digest sometimes. He’s mean and sarcastic and a pain in the ass...”

Julie chuckled.

Luis smiled weakly. “But he’s a good guy once you get to know him. He will always have your back in a fight.”

Julie raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t peg you as a fighter, Luis.”

He snorted and dropped his gaze. “I’m not, but that doesn’t stop others from trying to turn me into one.” His expression was solemn now. “Shaun was always there, always standing up for me, and here I am thinking the worst.” He shook his head in disgust. “I just need more sleep I think, or less coffee.”

Julie went to him, rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up, okay? It’s actually normal. We’re all under a great deal of stress being locked up here without any answers. It’s going to be okay.”

He raised his head and peered up into her face. “So you don’t think I’m crazy?”

She shook her head. “Not even a little.”

Relief dropped his shoulders and lifted some of the darkness from his eyes. He got to his feet, towering over her as he reached out and pulled her into his arms. Taken by surprise, Julie stood stiff for a second. Slowly, she raised her arms and patted him lightly on the back.

When he drew back, Julie let her arms drop, expecting him to step away, only he didn’t. He moved closer. Then his mouth was on hers.

Shocked, Julie froze. She stared wide-eyed at the back of Luis’s eyelids as he mashed his mouth over hers, a little wet and a whole lot sloppy. When his hands flattened against her back, pressing her closer, Julie broke free, gasping and shoving him back.

“I’m sorry!” Luis looked horrified at his own actions. “I am so sorry. That wasn’t ... I wasn’t ... shit!”

Raising a trembling hand, Julie wiped him off her mouth. It wasn’t to hurt him, but his heat felt wrong against her skin.

“Julie, I...” He started reaching for her and she jerked back. He dropped his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Before she could respond, he had turned and bolted through the door, narrowly bowling Mason over.

“Whoa!” Mason jumped back just in time. The hand he’d raised to knock dropped to his side. “Where’s the fire?”

Luis didn’t stop. He shoved his way through. A moment later, Julie heard his door slam shut.

Mason stepped into her room, still glancing over his shoulder at his friend’s retreating back. “What did I miss?”

Rubbing Luis’s saliva off the back of her hand onto her shorts, Julie swallowed. She turned away, more to collect herself than anything else.

“Hey.” Mason came up behind her. His hands closed around her arms. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah...” She cleared her throat when it squeaked and tried again more firmly. “Yeah.” She forced herself to face him and keep her features neutral. “Sorry. Hi.” She willed her mouth to curve into a smile. “Did you need something?”

He continued to study her, searching her face with concern in his eyes. His hands remained on her arms, not restraining, but comforting. He rubbed lightly with his palms. It took all her restraint not to lean into him and nuzzle that taut stretch of flesh along the side of his neck. More than that, she wanted to scrub away Luis’s kiss with his.

“Jewels?”

She started to lick her lips, only to think better of it a second later. “I’m okay.”

“What did Luis want?”

It was harder looking him in the eye when answering that one. “To talk. I think being cooped up here is getting to all of us.”

Her response seemed to satisfy him. Some of the tension melted from his shoulders and he pulled her to him. One hand lifted and lightly stroked the side of her face.

“But you’re okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I was about to shower and dress.”

He grinned teasingly. “Need someone to wash your back?”

Despite the resonating shock clamoring in her chest and jittering through her veins, Julie chuckled. “Is that why you’re here?”

“Actually, I came to ask if you wanted to go for a walk with me, get out of this house for a while.”

Dread clenched her stomach muscles all over again. “I don’t...”

“You can’t just sit here waiting for something else to happen, Jewels. We don’t know how long this is going to take.”

She shifted, but his hold tightened on her. “Mason—”

“I’ll be there the whole time,” he promised. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Julie started to shake her head. “It’s not just that,” she whispered. “What if there’s something out there?”

“There isn’t.”

“How do you know that?”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Because I’ve been checking.”

Julie blinked. “What?”

“Every morning after I get up,” he replied. “I do a full circle around the house. There hasn’t been anything else.”

While relief slammed down on her like a two ton truck, Julie squinted at him horrified. “Are you insane? Why would you go out there ... alone? Something could have happened to you and we would never know.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for something else to happen,” he said simply. “It’s my house and it’s my job to protect it, and you. I’m not letting anything else happen to either.”

“But who’s going to protect you?” she shot back.

His grin was lopsided. “I was hoping you would with those really sexy karate moves.”

“It’s kickboxing,” she muttered, feeling her own mouth twitch.

His grin broadened. “So, about that walk?”

It was in the pit of her stomach to say no, a nagging that was slowly gnawing its way up her esophagus. But she chuckled instead and gave him a nod.

“Okay, but I still need a shower first.”

His hands moved over her back and along her arms, guiding her even tighter into the folds of his chest until there was no space between them. His head lowered, dropping his lips inches from her, and Julie stiffened. She jerked back without thinking.

Mason started. “What?”

It killed her not being able to tell him that she felt like she had something contagious on her lips and couldn’t bring herself to let him catch it. At least not until she’d had the chance to wash it off.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth this morning,” she lied.

His brows crinkled in confusion at her lie. “I don’t care—”

“I do,” she lied, yet again. “It’s kind of a pet peeve.”

Still squinting at her like she’d just declared she could fly, Mason shrugged. “Okay, well, I’ll wait for you downstairs then.”

She said nothing as he left, closing the door behind him. Alone once more, she shut her eyes and breathed in the lingering scent Mason left behind. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and hurried into the bathroom for a shower and a heavy lather of toothpaste.

While she had nothing against Luis, and even really liked him, getting her mouth invaded against her permission made her feel ... dirty. The fact that Luis had gone straight for tongue, hadn’t helped. It had been like getting Frenched by an over enthusiastic Labrador.

She dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a black top that fit comfortably under a light jacket; there was no sun in the sky, just an angry wall of clouds that looked about ready to burst. She stowed her cellphone into her pocket, double checked the room for anything she might have missed before heading downstairs.

Mason was leaning against the sitting room doorway, arms folded, watching the basketball game Shaun had put on. Shaun was reclined on the sofa and Luis was a tiny figure stooped in the armchair. He glanced up when Julie stepped into view. His shoulders seemed to migrate even higher around his ears. He looked so pathetic that Julie couldn’t stay angry, even if she had tried. She offered him a slight smile, not too bright. The last thing she needed was for him to get the wrong idea. But enough to assure him she was letting it go. He seemed uncertain, but some of his tension lessened.

“Hey.” Mason turned his body to her. “Ready?”

Julie nodded.

He took her hand. She let him, hoping it was a clear enough sign to Luis that she had already made her choice. Just in case.

“See you guys in a bit,” he told his friends.

Shaun deliberately ignored the statement. Luis nodded ever so slightly, but kept his attention on the worn carpet beneath his feet.

Mason led her out of the house. Julie faltered only marginally when they crossed over the threshold. Her gaze swung over the driveway, searching for lurking shadows and hanging bodies. There were none. The air was miserable, cold and damp, but aside from the threat of a downpour, everything was calm. If Mason noticed her hesitation, he never let on as they started down the stairs.

At the bottom, they headed towards the main road. Their feet clipped on pavement that followed them with the whisper of the wind rustling through the trees.

“So Luis told me what happened,” Mason murmured once they had ventured off the driveway and down the dirt path towards the main road.

Julie’s eyes widened. “He did?”

He nodded. “Luis isn’t very good at ignoring his guilt. It eats at him until he’s sobbing the truth. I guess he really felt bad about what he did.”

Julie grimaced and looked away. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. I just ... it didn’t mean anything and he was already so sorry. Are you angry?”

He was quiet for a moment, letting their footsteps fill in the silence. When he spoke, it was thoughtful and soft.

“I won’t lie, I was pissed at first when he told me. I even considered punching him in the face just to prove a point. But I thought of something.”

“What?” she wondered when he stopped talking.

He cocked his head in her direction. “You don’t need me to fight the little things for you. I’ve seen you kick ass more than once. Even my ass.” He grinned when she laughed. “So I know you could have handled him. Now if he’d been bigger, taller, and if his chin hadn’t wobbled like a little kid ... maybe then...”

She laughed harder. He squeezed her fingers in response.

“I am sorry,” she said. “It honestly didn’t meant anything. I felt ... I feel worse for Luis.”

“Mm.” He released her hand and slid the arm around her shoulders instead, drawing her into his side. He pressed his lips into the side of her head. “Yeah, well, he can just find himself his own girl to kiss. Mine’s off limits.”

A warm tingle worked through her at his words. She hid her goofy grin by resting her head on his shoulder and slipping her own arm around his lower back. They trudged for what felt like miles, immune to everything but the other. They spoke of the four years they’d been apart, of the lives they’d lived until that point. They talked about relationships that had failed and things they expected of the future. The conversation would have been endless had the sky not begun to leak fat drops of rain.

Julie laughed as the clouds burst overhead and drenched them. She tipped her head back on Mason’s shoulder to peer up into his face, a face that was tilted to the heavens. His eyes were closed. He seemed so peaceful standing there, unaffected by the icy downpour.

Rain cascaded over the hard lines of his face to stream down the column of his exposed throat. Julie watched the rivulets of water drench the collar of his shirt, soaking the dark blue material until it was black. Beads of it dropped from his chin, the curve of his jaw, and earlobes, clinging for one quivering second before plummeting. She could have stood there for hours, just watching him. Instead, she acted on impulse, rose up on her tiptoes and skimmed her lips to his Adam’s apple, tasting him in the water.

The spot vibrated with his low hum. She felt it tickling her lips before he lowered his head and his dark eyes met hers from amongst strands of damp, shiny hair that lay plastered to his head and over his brow.

Julie dampened her already wet lips. Mason raised a hand and skimmed the tips of four fingers over the curve of her cheek, sweeping aside plastered strands of hair and rain. They roamed over the bow of her bottom lip, making them part.

“I’ve never kissed anyone in the rain before,” he admitted quietly, barley loud enough to be heard over the downpour.

Julie swallowed. “Me neither.”

Something shimmered dark and primitive behind his eyes. “I want to kiss you.”

“Yes, please.”

His mouth curled into a voracious smile. “Beautiful.”

There was nothing gentle or romantic about the kiss. It was impatient and demanding, robbing her of her breath and senses. She whimpered as the fire built inside her, the one that worked up from the very heart of her abdomen to spread like wildfire through her veins. She could feel it coiling like barbwire about to snap. And all he’d done was kiss her in the rain.