Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (95 page)

Chapter Five

Instead of running him down like she really, really wanted to, she stopped the car a mere inch from his legs. She missed him falling forward onto her hood, and the heavy sigh of relief that he expelled. He really thought she was going to do it. No, she missed it all because she had laid her head on the steering wheel and started crying harder, harder than he’d ever heard a woman cry before. He hated a woman’s tears.

It wasn’t until Duncan came out to the car to check on her that Kyle raise his head. He was surprised to see her upset, her crying hurting him for some reason, hurt him deep in his chest. He was the one she’d run down for Christ’s sake, what the fuck did she have to be upset about.

“Come now Miss, you must come into the house and let us have a look at these wounds. Let go of the driving devise please, there’s a good girl.”

Kyle came to lend a hand. He had just reached for her when she turned on him, all claws and teeth. He might have been impressed if he wasn’t afraid of hurting her.

“You fucking stupid jackass! Do you have a death warrant? You dumb fucking jackass–”

“You’ve called me that several times now. You might want to broaden your vocabulary. Or maybe stop calling me names altogether.”

He didn’t know what possessed him to antagonize her. She was just too beautiful not to, the way her eyes darkened and sparkled. It was everything he could do not to just make her mad to watch them.

“You…why I should…I am going to…shit, I’m gonna pass out.”

And she started to crumble toward the hard driveway. Had Kyle not been as close as he was, she would have a few more bruises to add to the array she already had. Instead he grabbed her up into his arms and held her slight body to his larger one as he carried her into the house just behind Duncan.

~~~

“Oh my god, look at her! So help me god if you did this to her I will gladly take your head from your shoulders.” 

The tiny woman at the end of the bed blazed with anger. The other woman, she smelled of Aaron, simply looked at him. He knew that he was being assessed. 

Kyle had the good sense to not say a word, he knew women enough to know that the less one said when they were mad, the less likely they were to take more of your hide off. He did look over to Aaron and sent a mental message.

“I didn’t do this, you know that don’t you?”

“I’m not even going to justify that with an answer. You know me better than to think I would. Sam has had issues with men who would do such a thing to women and not think anything about it. I will have a talk with her.”

“I didn’t realize she was this hurt. But damn she can fight. She had no problems taking me on without a thought to how much bigger I am than her.”

He could feel the laughter bubbling up from within, but when the little spitfire Sam had turned to glare at him again he quickly turned it into a cough. He thought there was no reason to get himself hurt in the process.

“Someone beat the snot out of her. I would say as late as yesterday. These on her wrist, they are from much earlier though. Probably today I’d say. She has a large contusion on her head, blunt force, her jaw is badly bruised and you can see the amount of bruising on her face.” Thomas Reilly the vampire doctor and had stepped into the room just as Kyle had brought Maddy in.

“I am responsible for her wrists.” He would admit to that much. He hated that he’d hurt her, but he didn’t mean to do it. He’d let his overactive suspicious mind get the better of him. “She and I had a little accident on the way in here and I did the ones marking her wrist. I’m sorry about that.”

“No he’s not. I should have just left him bleeding in the street and drove over his ass, maybe even backed up a couple of times too.”

Everyone looked at the girl as she spoke. She was beautiful despite the bruises. And the glare in her eye made him burst out laughing. She was ballsy, he’d give her that.

“It’s just as well, I suppose. You would probably have gotten lost on the reverse trip anyway. How are you feeling?”

Kyle wasn’t happy with the feeling she was bringing out in him, one minute he wanted to strangle her, the next, and this was really weird he wanted to take care of her. He
hated
needy women.

She sat up, or at least she attempted to. Dr. Reilly was pushing her back down before she was all the way up. She smacked his hand away and pushed him off the bedside and onto the floor and tried again. Thomas Reilly was the doctor around the realm. Aaron had explained to Kyle and he looked ready to go toe to toe with Maddy himself.

“You try to get up one more time before Thomas says its okay, I’ll lie on top of you to keep you there. Understand? You look like someone who has been beat up. What the hell happened to you?”

Kyle was pushing her back down as he spoke. If looks could kill, he was pretty sure he’d have been cut in two by her. He simply grinned at her. Apparently she thought to intimidate him with it, when all it did was make him laugh. And she smelled good. Something he hadn’t smelled in centuries, what was that…

“You try that again you sorry excuse for a human being and I will make your children’s children regret it. You understand that? How your wife puts up with you is beyond anything. She should be canonized.”

Maddy lay back down again. Kyle found himself to be slightly disappointed. He’d thought of lying on top of her sounded damned good. But he couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. He wasn’t human and he would probably be around for his children’s children, so he’d know firsthand if they regretted her actions or not.

“Kyle, why don’t you and Aaron go down stairs and let the Maddy rest?” Sara wasn’t fooling anyone. Her lips were twisting into a grin no matter how hard she tried to stop it. Yes sir, this one had fire and Kyle was having a great time.

“Maddy is going home. And I swear to you I’m at the end of my tether in regards to you and your bossy attitude. If you so much as take one step toward me, I will not be responsible for what happens.”

She had gotten to a sitting position before Kyle had started toward her again and her statement stopped him cold. Without any assistance from anyone, though she should have taken it, she made it to the bathroom. They all could hear her speaking to herself, their hearing beyond human hearing. Then there was the fact that she didn’t seem to care if they heard or not. It was her mimicking Kyle that got Sara finally, loud cackling laughter burst from her so quickly it startled them all.

“’If you get up I’ll lie on top of you’. Not bloody likely you arrogant macho pig headed jerk. As if I need their permission to go home. I’ve been driving myself for a long time. I’ll thank you very much. Of course, I get lost everywhere I go, so I guess that makes me have more practice. Yeah that’s it! I really need to find a nice man and settle down. Yeah right! Like I’d let that happen. Men suck!”

Maddy opened the door to find Kyle standing against the door jamb waiting for her. She moved over to the chair without giving him any indication she’d even seen him and went about putting her shoes back on, which had blood on them too. Brushing away a tear she stood up and walked toward the door he was currently blocking.

“Move.”

“I’m taking you home.” Kyle was trying not to laugh at her but at the same time show her he was the man and she should bow down to his superior knowledge. Y
eah
, he thought,
I’m arrogant.

“Move out of my way.” Maddy said each work like a vow. A vow that said, you either do it or face the consequences. He really wanted to see what she’d do if he pushed her.

“Are you listening to me? I said I’m taking you home. You’re in no shape to drive and as long as it would probably take you to get there, I could drop you off and be back before you’d get there. Now shut up and get your things and we’ll leave now.” There, now she would understand he meant business.

When he moved she walked past him without a single word. Moving down the staircase, she paused long enough to look around the beautiful room spread out below her. When she noticed him looking at her she put her nose in the air and moved down again. Instead of going toward the front door where he assumed she was headed, she moved to the right. He thought it was the kitchen. It was the kitchen and Mr. Duncan was there as well, looking up when they entered the room. 

“I would like you to call the police for me. I’m being harassed by this man. He has accused me of running him over–”

“You did run me over!” Now she had gone too far he thought.

“Well of course I did. Can you just see it Mr. Duncan? I drove up on the sidewalk. I ran him down, and then I dragged his oversized body out into the street just in time for it to bleed all over the place. Can you just see that, me dragging your big friggin body around? I think not. Mr. Duncan, would you please make that call for me?” Her voice was low and cool, belying the steely intent. 

Kyle growled at her. She just turned to look at him with a perfectly shaped raised eyebrow. He’d finally had enough. He took her hand and dragged her out of the kitchen and into the large dining area. When he saw Aaron start to ask him something, he raised his hand to stop him and continued pulling Maddy along behind him. Suddenly she stopped. When he turned to…well that thought didn’t finish as she took that opportunity to punch him in the nose. He jerked back, but didn’t lessen his hold on her hand.

“
Stop
! Stop right this minute, or so help me I will hit you again. I am not some…some puppy that you can drag to and fro. From the moment you stepped—and I swear you’d better not say a single word, stepped in front of me you have done nothing but torment me, boss me around and lord over me. I am not going to take it from you, do you hear me?”

“I believe the whole house heard you. Now you will—”

She screamed. Not one of those, squeaky little shrieks that some women made, no this was a full blown, hair standing on end, ear hurting, piercing scream. When she inhaled to do it again, he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled her to him and kissed her.

Chapter Six

She stiffened in his arms, her whole body rigid against his. And when he made to pull her in closer, she put her hands on his chest to push him away, her mouth just opening to give him a piece of her mind he was sure. He took advantage and invaded, his tongue sweeping inside of her mouth tasting and taking. Any thought he’d had completely disappeared. She was his. He cupped her face, tilting her slightly so he could dive deeper, taste more of her when she moaned. That’s when he remembered her injuries, her wounds.

He jerked away, pushing her away from him, out of reach because the temptation was nearly overwhelming to pull her back and begin again. He could only look at her, panting with need, need that was slow to dissipate. He closed his eyes against the red haze. He wanted her, but didn’t want to frighten her.

“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sure why he was, but he definitely was very sorry. He was sorry for kissing her, and for stopping, sorry for pushing her away and not pulling her back; mostly he was sorry he couldn’t finish what he so desperately wanted. He wanted her, wanted to be deep inside of her, right now. And she smelled of cherry blossoms. Fuck!

~~~

Maddy, still trying to catch her own breath, finally got her mind to being to function again, it having left the building right along with Elvis finally grasped what he had said. ‘He was sorry, he was sorry, he was sorry’, like a litany it kept running like an endless loop through her brain. He’d kissed her and now he was sorry.

She turned on her heel and left the room, only to run into Mr. MacManus and the entire household was there as well. They must have came when she screamed she reasoned, came to see what she was about, she wasn’t sure anymore. She just needed to get out, out right now before the dam of tears she was barely able to hold in check fell. With a murmured ‘sorry, excuse me’ she ran to the front door and out into the night. She was into her car in record time and had the door slammed shut and locked seconds after getting in. Damn it!

He still had her keys.

Putting her car in neutral, she stood outside the doorway, with anger and humiliation giving her added strength; she pushed it further down the slight hill. When she was going almost too fast to keep up she hopped inside, popped the clutch again and it thankfully started. Slamming the door, she drove to the gate, which had an eye for giving guests a straight shot out of the drive. She didn’t even slow down, but drove faster, as if the man who said he was sorry for kissing her was about to come out and try to stop her again.

There was a note on her table when she came back in to work on Monday. Simply put she was to come to Mr. Schaller’s office as soon as she got there. She didn’t even bother taking off her light jacket or putting down her things but went up to his offices on the top floor. Her mood had not improved over the weekend nor had her pain lessened.

Wouldn’t want to be seen mingling with us underlings, now would we? S
he’d noticed on Sunday afternoon that she had started having bitter conversations with herself, either centered on the incident at the mansion, or about the fucking duckweed at the house. She had also worked on her vocabulary as he had suggested, coming up with all sorts of creative names for him. She hoped that sometime in the near future she would be able to use them on him.

The bosses latest bimbo, this one had to be number sixteen, was at her desk, eating a donut she didn’t need while sipping coffee from a company mug. The coffee smelled like vanilla and something else that said ‘I spent more money on this one pound of coffee than you spent on your groceries this week’ smell. The office area was tastefully done, warm and cool colors, wood desk and plants everywhere. This area said, ‘yes, I’m a very successful lawyer, and you should trust me.’ Bullshit!

“Sherman, err Mr. Schaller expected you thirty minutes ago, Ms Harm. I’ll see if they’re ready for you.” Before she could press her little intercom button Maddy commented, not caring anymore if they added two hundred years or two thousand. She’d had enough. Disbarment was much better than what she had had to stoop to do keep her job.

“As I’m not supposed to be here until nine and it’s barely eight fifteen, I don’t know why he would expect me long before I’m supposed to be here. Unless you told him the moment I walked in the door. Could you even see me around that donut? Also, if he was expecting me, then why would you have to see if they’re ready for me?”

Bimbo number sixteen just looked confused, and before she could blow a fuse and have a total fake blond hair and big boob job meltdown, Maddy said “Never mind.”

A couple of minutes later she was ushered into the massive office. When Mr. Schaller stood to greet her, his hand extended and a smile on his face, she stopped, suddenly leery of him. She stared from his hand to the smile as if he was some pod person or she might catch something from him. Trusting this man was not high on her priority list of the things to do. 

“Miss Harm, I’m so glad that you are feeling better this morning. I was so glad to hear that you are better from the dreadful car accident.” Sincerity nearly dripped from his mouth.

“Oh? Well, maybe you could tell me what you heard, because I wasn’t in an accident, car or otherwise. If, however you are referring to these bruises, then you need to ask your boot licker Button about it. He hit me Thursday, and then the abusive prick left me there on the floor covered in blood.”

She didn’t know why she was called in here, but this couldn’t possibly bode well for her. And if she was going down, she was taking as many bodies down with her as she could. Fuck’em all.

“You told me that she was in an accident, and that you had seen to her personally. So what was it Schaller? Was Miss Harm in an accident or did your…boot licker as she called him hit her?” She knew that voice, but the cold steel of anger was new and thankfully not directed at her. She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them quickly when she heard the chairs.

He was standing now and Mr. MacManus and two other men were as well.

“Could this week get any worse?” She’d said it under her breath, barely moving the air around her mouth, but apparently loud enough for the four men standing there to hear. She glared at them, one and all. “GQ just move into this office, or what? One man looking this good is, well doable, two, okay, but four? I’m still asleep aren’t I? I’ve fallen into a fourth dimension where all the men are gorgeous and I’m…well I’m me. Not you Mr. Shitface, err Schaller, just these guys.” She noticed that they were staring at her…oddly even for her. “I’m not asleep am I? You can actually hear me?”

“No, you’re not, and yes, we can. Come have a seat Ms. Harm. We’ve set this meeting up to see if we can all come to a mutual agreement of sorts. This concerns you working for us on a full time basis.”

Maddy looked at all five men sitting around the table. She could almost feel the anger emanating from her boss behind her. There was anger from the others as well, but she couldn’t figure out what she’d done to piss them off…well, expect for Kyle. She was so going to pay for this, she just knew it. If not from her boss then surely the men sitting here.

Kyle was glaring at the man behind the desk, glared so hard that Sherman began to pull at the collar of his three hundred dollar shirt and two hundred dollar tie. They looked like shit on him anyway, Maddy thought. He stopped glaring long enough to look to where Aaron was leading her over to the conference table and moved to follow them. When she stopped suddenly, he bumped into her from behind. Her whole body tightened. If the chair that Aaron was holding out for her hadn’t been there she would have fell to the floor.

“I…no, I don’t know…what’s this all about Mr. MacManus? I have a right to know what’s going on, especially now, with him here.” She was pointing at Mr. Schaller. She actually had no idea why any of them were there, especially her.

When Schaller charged forward, Maddy cowered back. She hurt too much to let someone take another swipe at her and she wasn’t sure she could take much more. With his hand drawn back in a fist, Schaller snapped out at her.

“This is my office you stupid bit…”

“I wouldn’t even
think
the end of that word if I were you. Not if you value your balls where they are.” Kyle was at his throat in a second having flashed across the room the moment drew back to hit her. She could only blink in surprise.