Python's Embrace (Bitten Point Book 3) (9 page)

BOOK: Python's Embrace (Bitten Point Book 3)
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“Are you saying you’re just going to give up?” Wes blew the question out as casually as the rings of smoke.

A snort escaped Constantine. “Like fuck. I can’t. There’s still at least one more lizard creature out there, murdering folks. We still don’t know for sure dogman is dead.” He shook his head. “I can’t stop. Not until I know we’ve taken care of all the people, or things, involved. I need to keep Aria and my family safe.”

Wes paused, hand suspended in air, the glow of his cigarette jutting from between his fingers. “Keep Aria safe? I thought that was the girl Cynthia said was missing.”

“I found her. More like she found me. Anyhow, I’m kind of keeping an eye on her on account she lost her memory and she can’t remember if anyone is out to get her.”

A dark brow kept rising until Wes finally said, “Have you been sniffing swamp gases? Or has the group been keeping shit from me? No one told me she’d been found.”

“Things were kind of hectic, and Aria was really adamant I not tell anyone about her.”

“Too late now.”

Very true, so Constantine laid the whole thing out for Wes, except for the kiss. That he kept private.

At the end of it, Wes lit yet another cigarette.

This time, Constantine felt a need to say something. “Are you trying to make yourself into smoked gator meat?”

Acrid smoke blew into his face. “We’ll all die someday. Some of us sooner than others.”

“Whatever, dude. Anyway, I should head back to Daryl’s and grab Aria and Princess.”

“You staying at your place?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking of getting a room in town. The house is pretty isolated, and while Princess is pretty tough, she is small.”

“What of the woman?”

“She’s pretty tough and small, too, but she knows how to hold her own.” And for the things she couldn’t handle, he’d be there to help.

“Don’t tell me she’s got you whipped already?”

“Nothing wrong with a guy getting serious about a girl.”

“Until that girl leaves you because you’re not good enough. Women are trouble. It’s best to steer clear.”

Constantine had to wonder as he drove away just who had crushed Wes’s emotions to the point he sounded so bitter. The only girl he’d ever really seen the guy serious about was Melanie, but it had been years and years since their breakup. Hell, they’d both been kids in high school still.

As Constantine drove, he broke a few laws regarding speed and texting while driving. Yet, it was worth it, given the enthusiastic way with which Aria flung herself out the door, Princess at her heels, waving a hand over her head while Cynthia yelled from the door, “If those toes go anywhere near his ears, I’ll expect details.”

As Constantine came around the front of the truck, his heart rate accelerated. Enjoyment at seeing her inflated him with warmth. It didn’t help that she smiled as if pleased to see him.

Ours. We should hug her and squeeze her.

Or he could take the cowardly route, drop to one knee, open his arms wide, and exclaim, “Where’s Daddy’s sweet baby girl?”

Mock him and die.

The babbled words were totally worth the sight of his dog careening at him with her lopsided gait, tongue lolling as she emitted happy yips.

“You hate the name angel, yet you don’t think that display is emasculating?” Aria couldn’t hide her sarcastic lilt.

“Nothing wrong with a man’s love for his dog. Jealous?”

He peeked at her as he scooped his dog into his arms.

She might have spat, “No.” But this close to her, he could hear the patter of her heart, a rapid thump. Even odder, he could swear he felt her disappointment.

Perhaps he had sniffed swamp gases because, in the next second, he stood and pressed his lips against hers, a fleeting kiss before pulling away, and with a grin, he said, “How’s my fluffy-wuffy little swan?”

Instead of taking offense, she stepped into him and, reaching on tiptoe, nipped the tip of his chin, and growled, “Hungry.”

Unfortunately, she meant for food. Real food.

And where could a guy take his gal late at night with his little dog where they served great food and didn’t ask questions?

The Itty Bitty, of course.

Chapter 15

N
othing like taking
a girl who barely needed a bra to a strip joint, with giant, bouncy boobs all over the place. It made Aria feel somewhat inadequate in the chest area. She took her irritation out on Constantine.

“I can’t believe you brought me here.” Seriously, he didn’t seem like the type who went to the nudie bar.

“I know how it looks,” he muttered, his fingers laced through hers as he weaved her between the tables. “But trust me when I say the food here is excellent, the discretion top-notch, and besides, Renny works here, so I get a discount.”

Was the food the only thing he got a discount on?

Shoving the irrational jealousy away, she tried to keep an open mind. After all, Aria knew stripping could provide a decent income.

How do I know that?

Shit, don’t tell me I’m a stripper?

She really wished she could remember what her job entailed before coming to Bitten Point on her supposed road trip. Thinking about her past, though, resulted in a shushing sound, as if her own mind forced her to forget.

“Let’s grab this booth at the back.” Constantine gestured to the U-shaped seating area, which, to his credit, sat farthest from the stage.

Before Aria slid in, she couldn’t help but ask, “I am not going to stick to it, am I?” Nothing worse that getting glued to a foreign piece of furniture by unidentifiable globs. She refused to even entertain the thought of what those globs could be in a strip joint.

“This place is cleaner than most bars, actually. Much like snakes, exotic dancers and their places of work get a bad rap.”

His words definitely put Aria in her place and also reminded her that she wasn’t one to stick her nose in the air. She wasn’t any better than anyone in here. From the bits and pieces she recalled, she’d done things she shouldn’t take pride in. Funny how some of those same things people disapproved of were acts she still remembered with fondness.

“What are you ordering? I’m starved.”

He cocked a brow at her. “I don’t think they serve three chicken wings and seven and a half fries.”

“Ha. Ha. What a funny guy. See if I share any of my leftovers with you now.”

“Ah, come one. You gotta let me have them. You can’t let good food go to waste.” Then the big, dumb idiot batted his lashes and grinned.

He looked so bloody stupid and absolutely gorgeous at the same time. “You’re whacked.”

“Only with you. Most of my friends think I’m kind of dry with the humor.”

“Or they don’t understand it. That happens to me a lot.”

Reaching out, he snagged her hand. “This is going to sound dorky, but I’ll blame it on hunger. I kind of like you”—his lips stretched—“bluebird.”

“I’m wearing pink. And I like you, too.” In what was the most awkward conversation ever. Since when did a guy hold her hand and try to look in her eyes as he claimed affection? Or was there another reason why he was acting so sappy?

“Are you stoned?”

He frowned. “No, why.”

“Because this is weird, angel. Guys don’t profess emotions in a strip joint.”

Turning his head from side to side, Constantine surveyed the room. “What’s location got to do with it?”

Aria couldn’t help but giggle. Sincerity rang in his words. He truly didn’t grasp the oddity. But she let it pass. Until he said, “So, I feel I should tell you right up front that, if we do take things further, I can’t promise anything more than a casual thing. We snakes don’t have a good track record with sticking around.”

“So you’re asking me out and breaking up with me all at once? How does that work?”

“I wasn’t breaking up with you. And, I, um, didn’t realize we were dating.”

“Just because I might have been a slut in my other life doesn’t mean I am going to be in this one. So if we’re going to be making out on a regular basis, then I should at least be your girlfriend.” Because then she wouldn’t be a whore. She’d just be doing what she had to in order to keep her man happy.

He blinked. “That was confusing, but from what I think I understood, you’re my girlfriend.”

“Well, I thought I was, but then you broke up with me by saying snakes leave.”

“We do. At least my dad did. It’s something genetic about our kind. So even though I kind of really like you, it could be that some switch in my head turns off at one point and I’ll just pack my things and go.”

“Go where?”

Again, he regarded her for an instant. “What do you mean go where? Somewhere. I don’t know exactly. Just that it might happen.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you going to leave me?” As she asked, a woman dressed in black yoga shorts that hugged her every contour with a tight T-shirt and a large tray arrived at their table.

“Hey, Renny,” Constantine said, relinquishing his grip on her hand.

“If it isn’t my favorite brother-in-law,” she teased as she placed some plates in front of them. Several plates. “I ordered your favorites with a little extra for your lady friend.” A curious gaze turned her way, and the woman waited.

“Shit. Sorry. Aria, this is Renny, Caleb’s wife. This is Aria,” he told the other woman, who, done serving them food and drink, tucked the tray under her arm.

Brown eyes perused her. “So you’re the girl that they were looking for. Glad they found you. I know when the lizard man took Luke, I was scared out of my mind for him.”

“I don’t know what took me.” As Aria blinked, she faded out into a new scene.

Through woozy eyes, she could see a ceiling. White plaster with a few hairline cracks and one stain. Whose ceiling did she admire?

A turn of her head showed a wallpapered wall, the pattern faded.

A blink, and when she reopened her eyes, she noted legs. Strangely shaped legs in dire need of a shave. More like a lawnmower, given how thick the hair grew.

What the fuck? She turned her head and peeked upwards. She noted the towering shape of a dog on two legs. A fucking humanoid dog. It glanced down at her, but it didn’t loll its tongue in a happy greeting.

The muzzle drew back over black gums, revealing pointed canines. A low, rumbling growl came from it. Ominous. Deadly.

Fly away.

She flung herself to the side, in an attempt to get on her hands and knees. She needed to move away from the weird monster.

She didn’t go more than a few inches before a hooked foot sent her tumbling, and she only barely missed smacking her face off the floor. Before she could recover, she noted she was face to shoe, as in leather loafer.

“And where do you think you’re going?” a voice asked.

“Help me.” The words emerged weak, trembling, just like her body.

“Help, oh I plan to. You scared her, Harold, with that hairy mug of yours. Or is it your breath? Perhaps you should stop snubbing your nose at the milk bones I offer.”

It took her slow mind a moment to grasp the man in the leather shoes spoke to the dog creature.

A rumbling sound filled the air. It held menace, and it drew a shiver of fear. It cut off abruptly with a sharp yelp.

“Tsk. Tsk. Bad doggie.”

The acrid stench of burning hair revived her a bit more, but while her mind woke, her body remained sluggish.

“Would you open the fireplace already? We need to get the girl out of here before your mother notices she’s gone. I had the devil of a time trying to get the sleeping agent in the cocoa. Last thing I need is for us to be caught. Although, if your mother does stick her nose in our affairs, then you know what will happen.”

Grrrr.

Aria pushed to her knees, but wavered, the drugs still coursing through her system, her every movement weighted and laborious.

“Grab the girl.”

The hairy thing called Harold hoisted Aria by the armpits, none too gently either.

“Lemme go,” she slurred.

“Not today. Today you get to help us make history. Or you’ll die.”

Snap
.

The fingers clicked in front of her eyes, and Constantine’s worried voice said, “Aria, earth to Aria, come in, Aria.”

“Sorry. I kind of wandered there.”

“What did you remember?” he asked.

“Them taking me into some kind of secret tunnel through a fireplace.”

“Who did? Who took you? Do you remember?”

She did, but did she want to admit what she recalled? It seemed so farfetched now.

“There was a shifter and a man.”

Constantine leaned on the table, and even Renny crouched down to get in closer. “Do you remember their names?”

“Harold and…” Her brow wrinkled. “I never heard another name.”

“Was Harold by any chance a dogman?”

She gaped at him. “Yes. How did you know?”

“He’s the same one we talked about before.”

“You didn’t give him a name.”

“Because I have a hard time equating a name like Harold to whatever that thing is.”

She shuddered. “There is something very unnatural about him.”

“What about the other man?” Renny prodded. “Can you remember any details about him?”

“He’s an ass.”

A snort blew past Renny’s lip. “That describes too many men.”

“Tall, but really gangly.”

“Smell?”

Aria’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t know. I was so fuzzy at the time on account of the stuff they laced my cocoa with.”

“Any other details?”

“Reddish blond. He wasn’t dark-haired. But not much else. I mostly saw his shoes.” Finely cut, buttery looking, hand-stitched shoes. She’d recognize them again if she saw them.

Hunger took over at that point. Renny left to take care of other clients, and they dug in, Constantine having three bites for every one of hers. But she savored those bites, closing her eyes in delight at the crisp crunch of the home-style fries and the tang of the lemon pepper on the wings, sweetened by a light lemon sauce. Then there were the corn tortillas with a cheese and spinach dip. She ate a whopping eight of those.

Constantine ate the rest—well, almost all the rest. He did sneak tidbits to Princess, who sat beside him in the booth.

“If I keep eating like this, I’m gonna be too heavy to fly,” she said with a pat to her belly. She froze. “Holy shit. I said I could fly.”

“Now you sound like Peter Pan. You always could fly. It’s just that your subconscious is revealing these tidbits a little at a time.”

“I prefer that to the in-living-color movies.” Those took her out of the moment and proved jarring, but not as jarring as the floorshow.

A shrill scream erupted from across the room. In a flash, Constantine slid from the booth and stood before her, scanning the room.

Another scream, louder this time as a girl dressed in a plaid skirt and tied-off white blouse came running from the curtains at the back of the stage. She wasn’t alone in making an appearance on the runway.

The fabric, hanging as a red velvet shield, came tearing down. A grand entrance for Harold, the dogman from her most recent recollection.

Holy shit, he is real.

And when his baleful glare turned her way, she swallowed hard because she knew to the depth of her being,
He’s coming for me.

BOOK: Python's Embrace (Bitten Point Book 3)
6.12Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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