Never Kiss a Bad Boy (21 page)

In the parking lot, I found my resolve and tugged away. I think he frowned, but that was all.

What do I do about this?
How did I even explain what 'this' was? Jacob was digging into my mind, my heart, and carving a space for himself. I'd barely had room for Kite in there, and he had broken through my defenses like a grenade.

Jacob had taken his time, worming bit by bit.

Now, his spikes were flexed and I feared ripping him out would kill me.

This was going to end in someone—maybe all of us—getting hurt. Which was funny, when I mulled it over.

I should have been scared of them murdering me.

I was more terrified of exposing my emotions.

“Jacob,” I said, the instant we were shut inside the car.

He set the bags behind him, glancing at me in mid movement. “Yes?”

“We need to... talk.” Speaking was hard, I struggled to stay a step ahead of my rolling mind. “I think there's been some misunderstanding between us.”

His attention narrowed in. He didn't blink. “In what way?”

“Whatever you're doing, or trying to do with me, it's a mistake.”

Fuck, that smirk he wore had my blood raging. “I don't make mistakes.”

The edges of my eyes hurt from straining. Jacob touched his keys, the doors locking around us like a thunderclap. “Jacob, you and I—if you're trying to make something out of us, it can't happen.”

He barely shifted, but it was as if he'd climbed on top of me. His hands rested in his lap. I imagined his nails on my neck, where he'd closed the necklace earlier.

The memory was vivid.

“I'm wondering why you think that,” he whispered.

Hanging my head, I fought to keep my voice steady. Denying Jacob was taking everything I had. My heart was slicing away, fragment by fragment, as I went through the motions.

I
did
want something to happen between us.

But I couldn't.

So I latched onto the one good reason I could come up with. “Because I don't want you and Kite to fight. He's already made it clear he likes me, Jacob. I refuse to come between you two.”

Jacob chuckled, and I felt like an ass. My mind tumbled with a million paranoid questions.

Had I made a mistake? Did he
not
want to get involved with me?

Was Jacob flirting for fun, never intending to take it further?

Did he now think I was stupid, or full of myself for assuming what I had?

“Marina,” he said seriously. “Let me make this clear. Nothing you could do would ever make us fight. Nothing. Not even the fact you and him had sex.”

He was so factual, so casually blunt. My face was a furnace, getting hotter by the second. “How do you know that?”

Jacob shrugged, smoothing his shirt as he spoke. “Kite told me. And it's fine.”

“It's fine?” I asked lamely. I was too shocked to feel angry at Kite for spilling the truth.

Those long fingers paused, hanging on the rim of his sleeve. “I would have preferred to have had my way with you first, but it doesn't matter.” In the shadows, his eyes were oddly bright. “I'll have my turn.”

My tongue was weighing me down. It would have been easier to talk without it.

He's telling me he's going to fuck me.

“And Kite doesn't have a problem with that?” I blurted out.

“Of course not.”

My whole face was red, my hands aching to hit, to scratch, to show him—both of them—that I wasn't a fucking taxi for everyone to ride.

Did they really not care who slept with me? Was sex such a casual, no-strings thing for these men?

Before I could say a word, he spoke first. “I missed you, Marina.” Lifting his eyes, Jacob was pure, raw emotion. I didn't know what to do with this, he had me stumbling to keep up. “The days I was gone, I thought of you constantly. When I slept, when I woke, you ran circles through my mind.”

My throat felt too small for the wall of air that begged to burst out. “You missed me,” I said, “But you just told me you're willing to give me away to Kite.”

His dark brows lowered. I didn't see his hands move, but I felt them like fresh embers on my cheeks. He had me, he fucking had me.

“Marina.” His voice was shredded. It sent thorns into my lungs, made my breathing ragged with holes. “It's not giving you
away!
I'm telling you, I want you bad enough that I'm willing to share you. To be able to reach you—even this much—is worth any struggle, any consequences.”

He was going to kiss me.

I knew, if I let him, this would be over. I'd forget everything and never say my piece.

He wanted to be with me, even while letting Kite do the same? What was I supposed to do with this information?

He wants you,
a small voice whispered.
Isn't that enough? Who cares if he's fine with passing you back and forth between another man?

I cared. Me.

“Tell me why,” I croaked. My mouth was barren. “Why would you do this, share me with your friend? How can you be so sure it won't tear you two apart?”
And me,
was my unsaid final thought.

Nothing shimmered in his gaze but liquid fury and desire. Jacob was letting down his calculating walls, and I was terrified to see what lay behind them.

“I'll tell you this much, Marina. You should know, it's your right to understand.” He refocused on me, gripping my cheeks harder. “Kite and I have an oath. A bond that goes deeper than our blood. Because of it, to keep us from ever harming each other, we have a strict rule.”

My brain, already a coiled mess, struggled to absorb this.

“The rule,” he went on, “Is that we must share everything.” His smile wasn't sad, but thoughtful. “That includes you, Marina Fidel. If either of us wants you, if we both crave you, then this is our only option.”

When had I last blinked? “Say it plainly, Jacob.”

“It's both of us.” His thumb trailed over my lips. “Or neither of us.”

Frozen in his grip, I trembled with a new burst of desire. My reaction blurred the lines between being offended and being turned on. Kite and Jacob, together? It was perverse and... intoxicating.

No, stop it,
I told myself weakly.
Don't think about it.

Right. I shouldn't think about Kite's hot mouth, or Jacob's skilled hands. Their firm bodies, their warmth and their warring, raging erections that wanted me.

Did I want them?

I didn't—or I shouldn't.

Sitting there with Jacob's palms cupping my jaw, I searched his eyes for any hint that he was lying. That this was just a game.

He was as steady as a winter mountain.

Running would have been logical. Slapping him across the face? Understandable. Anything that let me break free would have made perfect sense.

But I'm not perfect. Or sensible.

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips on Jacob's and shivered. It was a soft kiss, a whisper among all the shrieks in my skull.
You're a fool,
I told myself.

And I knew I was right.

How awful it felt to be right.

His fingertips crept along my flesh, curling against my temples like he wanted to drill into my brain. He was latched on, mouth spreading open to swallow me whole.

Before he could take it beyond a simple kiss—and I could tell he wanted to—I put my hands on his wrists and leaned away. My frantic gasp filled the car. “Wait,” I panted. “I need time to think about all of this.”

There was a dragon living in his eyes. It was starving, eager to eat me up. The energy crackled between us, his power a constant threat. Jacob could have taken me down, conquered me without a whisper of argument.

In a reluctant motion where he lingered on my chin, he let me free. Promptly he choked the steering wheel, like he needed to touch
something
. His chest swelled, a great gulp of oxygen. Our encounter had left him frazzled.

When I darted my eyes down, I spotted the hard shape of his bulging erection.

Dammit.

The sight had my thighs squeezing, heat rippling into my core. I was wet, I could feel it.

His nostrils flared, like he smelled my arousal, then he settled into his seat. “I understand. This is a lot to throw at you at once.”

My laugh was frail. “Yeah. Just a bit.”

Glancing away from me, he started the car. Just like that, the moment was over. “I'll drop you at Kite's,” he said. “We need to leave by seven for the charity ball. Be ready.”

Ready. What a ridiculous word.

Once, I'd thought I was ready for anything.

But not now.

Not anymore.

Kite

––––––––

L
ars Diani.

That was the name of our target.

Jacob had told me everything when he'd returned to the bar. Then, he'd requested we not tell Marina. Not yet. We needed every bargaining chip we had to keep her in our pocket.

He'd printed a mugshot of Lars he'd found online. That was what he'd handed Marina, wanting to confirm he
was
our man.

Of course, he'd given her the zoomed, cropped version of the image. If she had seen the rest of it, she'd have seen his name. It was just too soon for that.

Sipping my whiskey, I flicked through my laptop, scrolling through a number of news articles. The Dianis were a large mafia family. They knew which pockets to butter, which palms to rub. It made a lot of sense, now, why the police had never solved the murder of Marina's family. Without a doubt, the Dianis had bribed them.

Money is great for corrupting people,
I thought cynically.

My door shook, the knob turning. Marina pushed through, her cheeks glowing from the cold. Sitting up, I quickly closed the laptop and beamed at her. “Welcome back! How was shopping?”

She took one look at me, then bit her lip and stared at the floor.

That... was very much not like her.

“It was fine,” she mumbled. Darting her eyes at me, she then studied her hands. “Um, Jacob said to get ready for seven. Can I use the shower?”

I furrowed my brow tightly. “Sure, go ahead.”

Marina scurried around me, vanishing into the hall. Staring after her, I slid deeper into the couch cushions. Why hadn't she been able to look me in the eye?

Something happened.

I'd cut Marina's existence into my head, so I knew exactly where she'd been this evening.

Who she'd been with.

Jacob.

I tapped my knee, kicked my foot, changed positions... and finally just stood up. I needed answers.

Pushing through my front door, I marched to his apartment. There, I rapped my knuckles above the brass knob. Silence.
What the hell is he doing?
Counting the seconds, I tested his door. It was locked, but Marina wasn't the only one with a key.

Sliding mine out, I unlocked the door and leaned inside. “Jacob? You in here?”

“The bathroom,” he shouted.

I found him standing in front of the mirror, face covered in shaving cream. He was shirtless, dress pants held up by a black leather belt.

“Hey,” I said, leaning on the entry way

Without looking at me, he spoke. “Why does everyone think it's okay to come inside if I don't answer?”

I ignored his question. “Marina just got in, and she was acting weird. Did something... happen?”

He scraped a razor down his cheek, focusing on his reflection. “She knows about our agreement to share her.”

Shutting my eyes, I tapped the back of my skull on the wood. “Fuck. You told her.”

Thick foam slapped into the sink, the water erasing it down the drain. “She was going to find out eventually.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. “What else did you tell her?”

This time, he watched me in the mirror. His eyes burned like stones on fire. “I explained that she'd never come between our friendship.”

“She knows about our
blood oath?
” My heart was racing.
Did he tell her about our past? Could he have done that?

“No. Not exactly.” Bending down, he splashed water on his cheeks. “Marina knows we have a bond, and a rule, but she doesn't understand where it comes from.” Wiping himself with a hand-towel, he faced me. “Don't worry, I didn't tell her anything else.”

That made me breathe easier. Our history was a dark weapon... an old wound... and a secret just for us. I planned to keep it that way. “How did she handle it?”

Grinning, Jacob dropped the cloth in a hamper. “You saw her. She's confused.” He slid past me, bare feet quiet as a void.

Stepping aside, I followed him into his bedroom. “What did she say? Is she going to reject us, or go along with the rule?” There was tension in my voice. I couldn't have hid it from him, so I didn't bother to try.

Jacob held up a dress shirt, the rich blue fabric stark against his skin. Slowly, he ran his fingers down the front. “Relax. She's going to give in.”

“How can you know that?”

Narrowing his eyes, Jacob pushed his arms through the sleeves of his shirt. “Do you really think that she'll be able to resist one of us, never mind
both?
” He smirked to himself, clicking the clasps on his wrists shut. “Tonight, we're going on a hunt.”

A hunt. That made Marina the prey. “When you put it that way, I guess she's screwed,” I chuckled. Or she was going to be. My cock was already thickening at the idea of having Marina again.

Jacob shrugged into his ears. “Let's be honest.” Grabbing his tie, he looped it around. “She never really had a chance.”

“Should we talk about the plan for tonight?” I asked. “About Lars, I mean.”

“Keep an eye out for him,” he said, sitting on his bed. “But keep Marina away from him if you
do
see him. I don't want her making any moves without us being in control. It could go badly, otherwise.”

Nodding, I stuck my hands in my jeans. “Weapons?”

He looked up from under his arched brows. “Bring your gun, just to be safe.” Hesitating, he stopped tying his shoes to watch me closely. “If she asks what we're planning, we say we're just there to gather intel on him, to discover his name.” He peeked at the watch he clipped on. “You need to change.”