Wrath (6 page)

It felt good to be involved in something again.

"It's settled.  We've got our team.  Wrath, go relieve William.  I'll be out in a bit."

"Yes, sir.”  I nodded and then stood, turning and going outside.  I was not sure what had just happened, but I wasn't going to question this shit. 

I needed to do what I was told and keep my head down.  I had always been bad at that.  Before returning home, jumping in with or without orders had just ended me up in KP, but now, I could stand to lose a lot more.

Like my life.

Emma

“Shit, I don't know why in the hell I let that man psyche me out," Kim shook her head as she walked beside me. 

She was talking about our anatomy professor, Dr. Oldham.  He was a rough one, sharp tongued, but handsome.  A lot of the girls took classes by him just to stare, but he didn't give away good grades, as we could both see by the marks on our first sets of homework.

I'd gotten away with an 'A-.' Kim got a 'C'.  She was still stinging from the blow.

"I need to study with you."

"No, you just need to study," I teased.  She was my roommate and I knew first-hand her habits.  She didn't like to study, but she did like to go and party with some of the frat boys at Pitt.  There was nothing wrong with some fun.  Letting it get in the way of what you needed to do, though, that could hurt her.  I hoped everything would turn out all right for her. 

"Whatever, at least I'm not the class pet," she stuck her tongue out at me.  "Here two weeks and already all of the professors love you."

She was a super senior, working through the summer semester to try and graduate by the fall of her sixth year.  I'm guessing they put us together because of our age and our majors.  It worked out.  We became friends pretty quickly, even if she didn't share my work ethic.

“I just study.  And I like the material,” I said.  “Nothing wrong with that.”

But Kim wasn’t listening anymore.  Something had caught her attention off in the distance behind me.

"Damn,” she whistled.  “Man on campus.” 

Our school was an all-girls institution, and known to be a fortress against men.  Once a finishing school and a home for nuns, it was rare to see guys on the campus.  Naturally, that which is scarce is most noticeable.  When a man hung around, the entire campus noticed.

I turned in the direction she was pointing and saw him standing there, leaning against a street lamp.  Wrath.  His bike waited patiently on the curb, looking like a prop in a hot film.

I shivered. 

"Damn, someone caught herself a James Dean.  On steroids.  Those tattoos are a nice touch, too.”  Her lips quirked as her eyes raked over him like he was a pack of meat for her to savor.  “Come to
momma
.” 

Kim made a growling noise, and I rolled my eyes.  She grinned down at me roguishly.  "I'd sell you for a chance on the back of that bike."

"Gee, thanks.  Um, actually, you mind going ahead without me?"  I looked at her and then at him, biting my lip.

Suddenly, I had her undivided attention.  "Wait, is that tall glass of sweet, sweet sex here for you?"  Her eyes were wide.  "Why didn't you
tell
me?"

She sounded so shocked, it was almost insulting.  "There's nothing to tell,” I said, trying to keep my voice friendly.  “He's a friend of my cousin’s."

"Oh right, the stripper."

Kim had her heart in the right place, but she was starting to piss me off.  "No,” I said.  “She’s the owner and proprietor of a strip club.  There is a difference.”  I did not want to be angry with her, so I grinned and nudged her away.  "Get going."

"Fine, but you have to tell me if he is a good kisser.  Every little detail.  I want it.”  She winked at me and waited.  She wasn't going to let me go until I promised.

“Only if you take my books.”  I handed them off to her like they were nothing.  To me, though, they were the most valuable possessions in the world, and of far greater worth than the man standing in front of me.

He’d make a great distraction, but the books wouldn’t ruin my life later.

Kim snatched my books and waved me off.  “Deal.  Now go! Go! I want stories later!”  She walked away, an extra spring in her step.

Yup, we were totally different.

When I headed over to Wrath, I could tell he’d seen us gabbing.  I half expected his eyes to follow Kim as she walked away, but they didn’t.  He just watched me, that gorgeous body relaxed and patient.

"I see you are here.  Without my car," I said.

"Is that all the greeting I get?"

"Okay,” I replied automatically.  “Did you just come to stare at me some more or...” 

That grin made me pause, then I smiled and started over.  "Um, yeah.  Hi."

"Hey."

“How’s it going?”

He shrugged, looking down at his feet for the first time.  "Your car is being fixed, got it in the shop.  It's going to take a few days, but until then, I'll ride you where you need to go."

"Wait, what?” I was confused.  “You said you were going to look it over, not fix it!”

He looked at me as if he didn’t understand.

“I told you.  I don’t have the money for repairs.”  Inwardly cursing, I scowled.  “How much is this going to cost?" I could get something together in the next few weeks if I asked for more time at the club, but it was going to be close.  I wasn't sure how I could do that
and
take care of all my homework.  The sudden stress was annoying. 

"It's taken care of.”  He looked at me, his eyes flashing, as if
I
had insulted
him
.

"What do you mean, it's taken care of?" I was furious.  "I didn’t ask you to work on it.  I said no."

"It’s already been signed over by Kat.  It was on her property.  Hers is one of the names on the title.  She wants the work done.  You don’t like it, take it up with her."

Fuck
.  Back when I had been sixteen, I couldn't get the title put in my name only.  So Kat had cosigned for me as a legal adult.  Since then, I'd forgotten to have her name taken off, but damn.  I couldn't believe her.  That hadn’t been her decision to make.

"So there is nothing I could do, huh?  She just does all this shit without even asking me?  Unreal.”  I was ranting and I knew it, but I didn’t care.

If I tried to question her on it she'd probably yell at me and threaten to pay the next two years of my college.  Most people would say that was a nice ride to have.  They didn’t understand where I’d come from, or why I couldn’t take that offer.

I knew fussing about it wouldn’t make a difference, either.  This was the price of making Kat my legal guardian all those years ago. 

When my mom went into the institution, I fought to make sure she couldn’t take me back.  I struggled with whether I hated her or not, but I knew I’d never trust her again.  She had burned those bridges too many times in my young years.  So I had asked Kat for the only help I would accept: adoption.

The rest I had to prove for myself.

Wrath at least seemed to know to stay out of it.  "Hey, that's between family.  I'm just here to cart you to and from work."

"Thanks,” I muttered grudgingly.  “You do realize you’re two hours early, right? I’m not on shift till five today."

"I know.  I wanted to see if you wanted to grab a bite first.”  Wrath looked me in the eyes, and then added, "My treat."

I didn’t like all this ‘giving’ he was doing, but he flashed that grin of his, the pearly whites of his teeth almost blinding me. 

He is too perfect
, a voice inside me warned, and I knew that was true.  This man really was trouble and we both knew it.

Damn it!  I wanted to go out for something to eat with him, but I had seen too much over the years.  Besides, I was broke.  That fast.

I'd used last night’s tips to pay for two books I desperately needed and put the rest on my dining card.  The dining card kept me from blowing the money on anything other than meals.  What little I had left, I had set aside in a cache that I was building up to make the next tuition payment.  As much as I wanted that date, I needed to make every penny last.

So should I let him pay
?

In the end, what got me to accept the invitation was the fact that I was sick of being careful.  No ifs, ands, or buts about that.  I’d played around a little in early college, but a few of them had turned out to be real ass-hats.  It had set off my old triggers, and I had finally just gotten sick of having to deal with little boy shit.

This wasn’t a boy.  Wrath was a man – his body said that, but he seemed like the army had matured him a bit, too.

My odds seemed good that I would, at least, have a pleasant date.  And if I didn’t?  Fine. 

I eyed those broad arms and patted my purse where my mace lay.  He didn’t seem the type to try and hurt me, but it made me feel better to know that I wouldn’t be on my own without any backup.

Damn, he was huge…

"Fine.  But I don't want to go anywhere upscale."

He scoffed.  "Do I look upscale to you?  No, darlin', we're going to a place on my turf."

He handed me his helmet again. 

I gave him a look.  "If I'm going to be riding around on this contraption with you, you need another helmet.” 

He started to protest, but I cut him off before he could even get a word out.  "I don't care if you are just taking me around for a week.  I don't want to see your brains splattering the pavement.  I'd have nightmares for the rest of my life."

That at least resonated with him because he stopped trying to protest and just nodded.  "Fine, I'll get myself another brain-bucket."

"By tomorrow."

"By tomorrow,” he agreed, all the mirth gone from his voice. 

I was very serious about what I wanted.  I thought better of him for taking me seriously in return.

I climbed on the back of his bike after him, wrapping my arms around his waist like it was second nature. 

One ride.  That was all it had taken.  I might be fooling myself, but it honestly felt like I’d known this man my entire life.  Like I could navigate every plane and angle of that chiseled body with my fingers out of habit – or instinct, anyway. 

Not yet… Not yet
… my body whispered, savoring every touch as he let me get comfortable on the saddlebag.

Smiling into his jacket, I breathed in his scent and let it take me back to last night.  To the twisting turns of the cityscape.  I remembered how he had dropped me off at the top of the hill, watching me walk to my dorm from his perch on this enormous beast of a bike.  It had felt like a dream.

But it had been so very real.

"So where are we going?" I asked as I pressed my body up against his, my breasts tingling and heavy against his back.

"You'll see.”  Wrath turned on the bike and revved it up, peeling out of the dorm parking lot and down the hill.  I wasn't sure where we were going, and I didn't care.  I just wanted to be with him.

That realization hit me like a brick to the chest as I breathed him in, and it scared the hell out of me.

I had seen this mess play out before.  I knew how it ended.  This was exactly the kind of trap I needed to avoid.  The kind of man that I needed to stay far away from.  He was the bad boy, and he was already on the way to stealing my heart.

But now I was getting a glimpse of why women walked into trouble anyhow.  Why we’d risk everything.  This rush, this need, the burning inside me that promised I might regret, but I’d never forget.

I clung to his back and shuddered. 

Please be worth it
, the last of my hope whispered.  And if the moon beamed down upon us, flickering between the clouds as we roared through the city, I’d call it a good omen and make a wish...

***

"Where are we?" I asked as I looked up at the name on the diner. 

"Mary's,” he replied matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything.  Maybe to him, it did. 

The place was nothing fancy, just a squat building hunkered down on the outskirts of Forest Hills.  The 'S' on the lit-up sign had stopped working some time ago.

I'd heard of Forest Hills.  It was a small, working class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, sandwiched between a wealthy suburb and a broken down neighborhood.  It was modest, and Catholic, like most of Pittsburgh.  And not too far away from Kat’s.

"I used to come in here all the time when I first got home,” Wrath said quietly.  “They set me up at a place around the corner.  Halfway house.  Mary fed me no matter how ugly I looked.”  His voice was emotionless as he said it, but I got the feeling he was making a big leap, letting me into a little piece of his world.

When he said, “first got home,” he meant home from wherever he had been when he lost his leg.

I didn't say anything.  I didn't want to ruin the moment we were having or remind him that I didn't know him, didn't know his story.  He had an emotional wall up around him, and I didn't want to cement a new brick to replace the one that had just come down.

"After you," Wrath held the door for me, and as soon as I entered, I could tell why he chose this place. 

It was warm and friendly, but simple.  The back wall was covered in framed photographs of locals, and there was a small but proudly-framed flag hung to honor the troops.  Nothing over the top.  The place was just honest and welcoming.

"Aidan, that you?"  An older woman, probably in her early seventies, asked.  Her permed white hair and her giant glasses made her look more like a sweet grandma than a waitress.