Passion Ignited (11 page)

“I don’t deny it.” She shrugged. “I already
told you that I did it to help improve his mood.”

Although, Raider had been a first for her;
she’d only ever taken human lovers before. Never had she allowed a
supe anywhere near the parts he’d ravished. Had she known that the
sex was that good, she’d have done it long ago.

“Well then, you did a shitty job of it. You
should have seen the glares he was giving you earlier.”

“I did fine. He’s just surly.” Nitro had, in
fact, caught Raider’s murderous glares as they’d all gotten the
down-low on the battle Draven and Ally had fought.

They neared the club as a small noise caught
her attention. Stopping mid-step, she turned and faced a darkened
alley. Hearing the sound again, she pulled two blades from their
sheaths. “Perfect timing,” she said, then she ran straight into the
shadows.

And froze.

She stared at the tall dark figure leaning
against the brick building. He loomed over a small woman, moaning
against her as she returned her moans of pleasure. The female was
gripping him hard around the shoulders as if she’d die if she ever
parted with him.

Nitro knew the feeling.

She recognized the male instantly by the slope
of his shoulders and the broadness of his back. The slurping sound
he made and the moans that escaped him made her sick to her
stomach. She couldn’t hold back her hiss as her anger
spiked.

Raider straightened and whispered to the
female. Faster than Nitro could see, he whirled around and faced
her with a feral snarl. He stood just in front of the woman,
blocking her from her view. Crouching in a fighting stance, his
eyes glowed as he pulled his lips back from his bloody fangs and
growled.

Nitro glared right back at him and hissed. It
took him a few more seconds before he recognized who she was and he
straightened up again.

“Oh, Nitro. Sorry,” he said as licked the
blood from his lips.

“Don’t!” she snapped.

Ash just stood there, his eyes darting back
and forth between the two. Clearly he wasn’t sure what the hell was
going to happen if she lost her ever-loving mind, and her brother
knew her well enough to see when that could potentially
happen.

“Don’t what?” Raider snapped back.

“Don’t you fucking apologize to me. Like I
really give a shit.”

He laughed then, an evil laugh she’d never
expected from a man like him. “Oh, but you do. Don’t you,
doll?”

She started to see red as she stared him down.
“Fuck you, Raider.”

He laughed at her again. “I’m sure you’d like
that. Of course, the only way you could get me before was by tying
me down.”

She felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder
milliseconds before she was ready to charge him. “We’re going
inside.” Ash spun her around, and she willingly went with him. She
hadn’t felt such anger in so long.

Her brother had been talking, but she’d been
so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard him. She shook her
head. “What?”

“Get him back. That vamp likes you a lot more
than the bastard is leading on. Show him you don’t need
him.”

Nitro blinked, taking in her brother’s advice.
This had been another first. Never had they talked strategy on
dating
. Weapons, fighting, trajectory for amazing
explosions, sure. Never dating.

“You think I don’t know how to get a man?” She
nearly laughed at the idea. She’d had plenty of men, could get them
with a crook of her finger. Or, hell, just by walking past them.
Never had she had a shortage to help her pass her time.

Ash laughed as he steered her into the door,
bypassing the line as Lex, a friend of the Guardians, allowed them
entrance to the club. Both Nitro and her brother inclined their
heads at the Aussie before passing through the door.

“I didn’t say
that
. You’ve never had a
problem with
getting
men. But you’ve never liked one enough
to
keep
him.”

She gawked at him. “And why the hell do you
think I want to keep
him
?”

The answering look he gave her showed just how
perceptive her brother truly was. Ash knew the truth of it, a truth
she couldn’t even admit to herself.

****

Nitro had spent hours on the dance floor,
moving her body to the music, grinding against any man who’d
happened across her.

And she’d enjoyed every minute of it. Not
because of the dancing, but because Raider had watched every move
she’d made since she’d stepped into the crowd. She’d put a good
show on for him. Kissing, groping, nothing was off limits as she
made her way through the sea of men.

Nitro had known Raider had been watching her
all night. The anger pouring off of him as she writhed on the dance
floor was palpable. Even some of the guys she’d danced with had
caught his gaze, paled, and then scampered off as quickly as they
could. But she didn’t care. Another man would replace them just as
fast. The college guy with her now had lasted through four songs,
and he hadn’t noticed the icy chill directed at them. Either he was
too stupid, or honestly didn’t give a rat’s ass, because he’d
gotten closer and closer to Nitro with each passing song. As she
danced sensuously with him, Raider stood from the booth and stalked
toward her. Even in her periphery, she could see the crowd separate
before him. Putting on an extra good show, Nitro let the guy run
his hands down her body as she arched into him.

Raider’s hand clutched her shoulder as he
whirled her around. “That’s enough,” he growled.

“Oh, I don’t think so. Really, I’m just
getting started.”

“You’re making a fool out of all of
us.”

She was taken aback by his comment. “Who am I
making a fool of, exactly?”

“The Guardians. You don’t realize who all is
watching. They know you’re here with us, and they’re watching you.
Are you really that desperate for attention?”

Nitro’s eyes widened and she stepped back as
if he’d slapped her. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never
snapped at her as much as he was tonight. She didn’t know what the
hell was… “Oh, no, no, no. You aren’t taking what happened last
night out on me. I don’t give a shit if you regret telling me what
happened. About opening up your bleeding heart. As far as I’m
concerned, you can go fuck yourself.” She walked off, leaving
Raider and college-boy in the middle of the dance floor.

“Bring me drinks. And lots of them,” Nitro
demanded as she passed a waitress. The woman looked like she was
going to ask what she drinks she wanted, but thought better of it
as she saw her expression.

She reached one of the booths that the
Guardians inhabited. Grabbing drinks off the table she started
slamming them back as she had the other night.

“Oh no you don’t,” Ash said, sliding into the
booth.

“Oh yes. I do.”

“Excuse me, miss, the gentleman from the other
night asked me to bring you more of these,” the waitress
said.

“Thanks.” Nitro took the specialty drinks from
the waitress and drank. She’d never had alcohol that could affect
her as strongly or as quickly as Rapture could. Gulping down the
last of them, she started to scoot from the booth, shoving Ash out
of her way.

“More dancing?” he asked dryly.

“No. I’m going to say ‘thanks’ to the guy who
keeps buying me drinks. He might be of interest, he might
not.”

Sparing a quick glare at Raider, who was
sitting at the other booth, she walked away. Stumbling past booths
and tables, she made her way to the darkened table in the corner.
As soon as she reached it, she slid into the booth and looked at
the guy. Or what she could see of him anyway. He remained in the
shadows, only betraying his size. He was a shorter man, though he
had large shoulders, and she could tell he was dressed nicely,
wearing a jacket and tie.

“Evening, Miss Jezzebelle,” he said. He leaned
forward into the light. “Or should I say ‘Nitro’?”

She stared at him, momentarily shocked at the
name he’d called her. Once she got past that, she recognized his
face. “Ekhart.”

“Lost the accent, have you? Or have you just
been away so long that you’ve lost you who are?”

She shrugged. “I am what I am. Not that you
should concern yourself with me. Really, Ekhart, you were nothing
more to me than a job.”

He slammed his fist onto the table and her
eyes landed on his hand. Last she’d seen it, there had been a
prized ring there. Of course, that had been before she’d cut the
finger clean off. “Good for you,” she said mockingly. “It grew
back.”

“Of course it grew back, you worthless bitch,”
he growled.

Nitro could actually see the tick working
below his eye. As if she angered him on so many levels he didn’t
know where to start. And did she give a shit? Fuck. No. “What
exactly are you here for?” she asked, leaning back in the booth.
That was only one question that had popped into her mind; the other
had been: “How in the hell are you alive?”

She’d thought he was human.

He leaned forward again, resting his elbows on
the table and lacing his fingers together. “You were quite the
actress that night. Showing everyone what a lovely woman you were.
Truthfully, it was something to be proud of. I think your mother
and father especially would have been proud of you that night. But,
I’ve had you fooled all along.”

Nitro forced her mind past the mention of her
parents. Had he known them? “How so?”

“You came to me that night every bit the lady
your parents raised you to be. But I never really believed you were
some royal out visiting your cousin. I’d been shocked at first, to
see you there, but my curiosity got the better of me, you
see.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “I
don’t.”

A small laugh bubbled from his chest and he
took a drink. “Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize my own
creation?”

Chapter Ten

“Grandpa, he’s getting colder,” Kyle said as
he crawled from Bob’s box. They’d ended up finding a spot big
enough for their new friend to crash so that he and his grandfather
had room in their own place.

“How could he be
colder
?” Grandpa
asked. “If that boy doesn’t warm up soon, we’ll need to get him to
the clinic.”

Kyle nodded. “I tried to get him out into the
sun, but he won’t wake up enough to.” He folded his arms, his brows
lowering. “And he’s too big for me to move.”

“He could be going into shock. He took quite a
beating, and if he’s never been out on the street before, it could
just be too much for him to handle.”

Kyle sat just outside Bob’s box and pulled his
knees to his chest. He’d grown to like the new guy in the short
hours they’d actually spoken. Although he couldn’t remember
anything, Bob seemed to recall basics, just nothing personal that
would help them figure out who he was or where he came from. Kyle
felt safer having Bob around; he stayed up all night while he and
his grandfather slept, and once they woke up, he headed to bed for
the day. Grandpa decided he likely worked the nightshift wherever
he worked at since that seemed to be his normal
schedule.

“I hope he’s okay.”

“Me too,” Grandpa said. “Me too.”

Kyle heard a sound just as the box shook. He
poked his head inside as Bob started to emerge. “Morning,” he
beamed.

Bob looked up into the sky, noticing the
darkness that surrounded them. “Evening,” he corrected. “Did I miss
anything?”

“Not really,” Kyle replied. “Ally didn’t show
up again to hand out food and supplies. It’s the second week in a
row that she didn’t show.”

Kyle had already filled Bob in on Ally. She
was in her early twenties, and he’d had a crush on her since the
first time he’d seen her. He knew that her mother used to come with
her, but for some reason he’d drawn a blank when he tried to
remember her name or what she looked like. Ally had given Kyle and
his grandfather all the supplies they currently owned. She had even
given Kyle his backpack. When she’d handed it over, she hadn’t told
him that it was filled with anything, and by the time Kyle had
gotten around to looking in it, she’d been long gone. She’d given
him an iPod filled with music, along with fruit roll ups, and some
Dr. Pepper. It had been the single nicest thing anyone had ever
done for him since he’d started living on the street.

Days that Ally visited the needy were better
than most for homeless people. She handed out bottled water, fruit,
protein bars, sandwiches, and pretty much anything else they
needed. Kyle’s favorite was when she brought soup that her mom made
from time to time. Ally’s mom made the best chowder he’d ever
tasted. That was practically the only thing he
could
remember about her.

“How many times has she missed bringing food
around?” Bob asked.

“She hasn’t missed one week in the two years
that we’ve known her,” Grandpa replied.