DarkestSin (5 page)

She quickly got Ms. Rogers in room 4, taking her vitals and
noting the reason for her visit, before rushing back out into the lobby.

“What happened?” she asked before she even reached him.

He stood slowly, towering over her, but she was too
concerned with his well-being to feel uncomfortable with his size. “Sliced my
hand working on your car.”

“Oh shit. How bad?” She gingerly took his hand and unwrapped
the towel. “Does Dr. Peters know you’re here?”

“Yeah, Colonel called him as I got into his car. Couldn’t
take my bike like this.”

She winced when she saw the cut. “You need stiches. Hold on,
I’ll be right back.”

She rushed into Dr. Peters’ office as he was finishing up
recording his notes on his last patient for the transcriptionist. “Ms. Rogers
is in room 4 and Bro—er, Brutus from Sheppard’s Garage is here.”

“Ah, put him in room 3. I’ll check him out first.”

Xan walked back to the lobby to gather Brody and escort him
to the exam room. He followed closely behind, his body heat radiating off him
in waves that crashed over her back. She tried to ignore the electrical sparks
tingling up her spine, but she wasn’t doing a very good job. She felt weak in
the knees, hoping she didn’t fall on her face right here in front of him. How
long was this hall, anyway? It didn’t seem this long this morning.

“Here we are. Take a seat and the doctor—”

“Is right here,” Dr. Peters said as he stepped around her
and into the room. “Let’s have a look.”

Dr. Peters unwrapped the blood-soaked cloth and grabbed some
cotton swabs to wipe away the excess. “You need some stitches.” He looked at
her. “Do you feel comfortable taking care of him, Xan?”

“Yes sir.”

He smiled and nodded in approval. “She’ll stitch you right
up, Brutus. I’ll leave you a prescription for some pain meds. Keep an eye on
it. If it swells or smells, give me a call.”

“You got it.”

God, that voice. So deep and sexy, just like the rest of him.
Get your shit together
, she chastised herself. Good grief, the man was
bleeding and in pain, and all she could think about was how sexy he was now
that she knew it was just a cut. She quickly grabbed the rubbing alcohol and
some cotton swabs. She didn’t look at the doctor as he left the room or at
Brody as she started to work. She had to stay focused. If she thought about the
male musk seeping out of his pores, she wasn’t sure she could stop herself from
licking his skin. Yeah, that’d be professional. She needed psychological help.
She just had to keep her mind on her job and get him out of this office.

And she was doing a good job of staying in the zone until
she heard him wince. Her head jerked up and she saw a hint of a blush tinge his
cheeks. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a grown man blush, and
she had to admit, it was a little adorable on him.

“I haven’t even started,” she said playfully.

He grunted and looked away and she felt bad for her remark.
This was her job. She needed to remain aloof.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you. I have to get it nice and clean
before I begin. The shot will numb it up before I start, though.”

He nodded, looking at her through his lashes, and her heart
raced. Why did she have to be attracted to him? She gave him his shot, set
about administering the stitches. Standing this close, she could feel his
breath hitting the crook of her neck. She shuddered and saw her hands shaking.
She did not need to botch this up. Besides the fact she needed this job, she
didn’t want to screw up his hand. She renewed her focus and got busy, blocking
out the feel of his skin beneath her fingers, the way his knee bushed her outer
thigh.

He cleared his throat. “How, er, do you like livin’ here so
far?”

She glanced up at him and smiled. “No complaints. How long
do you think it’ll take you to finish my car?”

He laughed and she smiled brighter. She got the feeling not
too many people heard that out of him. “Not sure, but I’ll let you know as soon
as we have an estimate.”

She finished her work on his hand and bandaged it before
taking off her rubber gloves and discarding them. “Sounds good. And you’re good
to go. Pick up your prescription at the front and call the doctor if you see
any signs of infection like he said.”

She tried to step back so he wouldn’t brush up against her
when he stood, but she stumbled in her attempt. She would’ve been embarrassed
if given the opportunity, but he reacted too quickly. He grabbed her with his
good arm and yanked her up against him to keep her from falling. With him still
sitting, they were at eye level.

Her breath picked up as she watched his pupils bleed into
his irises, turning his blue eyes black. He’d had the same reaction the first
time she saw him, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Her experience with
men was lacking, to say the least, but if she were a betting woman, she’d think
that the attraction was mutual.

Just that thought made her lose all sense of
self-preservation and self-control. She stepped close, and his hand flexed on
her arm. She didn’t know what to do, her inexperience confusing her, but she
knew this level of contact wasn’t enough. She had to do something, touch him,
or—

Her lips hastily brushed against his, and for the briefest
moment, he hesitated. It was just long enough for her to panic and start to
draw away at his rejection, but he clutched her to him, stealing her breath and
taking the kiss with a guttural groan. Her insides rioted in elation and
nervousness, joy and trepidation at the feel of him consuming her. His injured
hand pressed against her back, forcing her flush against him. His hard cock
speared into her belly as he angled his head for deeper penetration. His tongue
massaged hers as his good hand tangled in her hair, directing her movements.

She should feel scared at the sudden control he exerted, but
fear was not the prevailing emotion right now.

She moaned as she threaded her own fingers through his soft
hair. His fist tightened his hold on her hair, and he growled into the kiss,
his tongue plundering her mouth, teeth nipping at her lips.

And it still wasn’t enough.

She thrust her hips forward, rubbing herself against his
cock. He grabbed her ass and forced her to do it again, groaning at the
contact.

She knew she was at work and her boss could walk in at any
minute, but she just couldn’t muster up a reason to care right now. She had to
touch Brody. Nothing else mattered. She let one hand slip out of his hair,
caress his face, and trail shamelessly down his chest to his jeans-clad cock.
She rubbed it tentatively, and he kissed her harder. She squeezed it, and he
stilled.

He grabbed her arms and pushed her away. His eyes were
blue-black fire, eating her up as he panted, his chest heaving with effort. He
stood suddenly, staring down at her with a look of lust, then panic, then what
she could only describe as resolve.

“Stay away from me,” he rasped, before opening the door and
stepping out, slamming it behind him.

She gasped, covering her kiss-swollen lips, staring at the
closed door. Oh God, had she read him wrong? Did she just take advantage of a
man, who’d done nothing but help her, because she couldn’t separate her
fantasies of him from reality? Surely she wasn’t so rusty in the man department
to have forgotten how to read a guy’s interest, though that really didn’t matter
now.

Stay away from him? Not a problem, because after what just
happened, she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Mortification was a strange emotion. Xan had never fully
enjoyed the benefits of this glorious feeling in all her life. Until yesterday.
Standing before Brody, her heart in her hand in offering, waiting for him to
caress—or even crush—it, and he just rejected her. Yeah, she got to experience
being truly mortified firsthand. She pondered reasons why poets didn’t devote
sonnets to the joy derived from such a sentiment.

Mortification may have been new for her, but sarcasm surely
wasn’t, Xan thought as she fixed breakfast. She and sarcasm went together
better than one of Elvis’ peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And was probably
just as good for her. She needed to shake this uneasy feeling and forget about
what happened yesterday. She had more important things to obsess about, like
her ex-husband’s parole hearing. Life or death things were more important than
a little lust.

Tell that to my body.

She really needed professional help. The man was obviously
not interested in her, and here she was still panting over the guy as if he
were dipped in Hershey’s chocolate.

Ugh. It wouldn’t even matter if he were interested. She
needed to keep her priorities straight. And she would, dammit.

“Scott, breakfast’s ready!”

Her son came barreling into the kitchen as if he hadn’t
eaten in days. Growing boys never seemed to get enough food in their bodies.
According to her grocery bill, that was the case with Scott.

“Uh-oh. What’s wrong?” he asked as he grabbed his plate of
fried eggs and bacon.

She furrowed her brow in confusion and shrugged her
shoulders. “Nothing.”

He arched an eyebrow, giving her a knowing look. “You cook
for dinner or when you’re upset. You obsess about food when you have something
on your mind. And face it, Mom, this isn’t Lucky Charms I’m eating.”

“That’s not true.” Though she felt the lie in her response.
Her son was too observant. She’d wanted to bake homemade biscuits this morning,
and the only reason she hadn’t was because she didn’t have any flour. Her
thoughts were all over the place, and she couldn’t get a handle on any of them.
Food was her distraction, and since she didn’t want to have to grease doorways
for her to walk through them, she tended to cook food instead of gorging on it.
“I try to cook you breakfast at the beginning of every school year,” she
continued to defend herself. “I usually don’t start slacking off until after
your first week. Next week it’s Lucky Charms for you, buddy.” She laughed and
he rolled his eyes, inhaling his eggs. “Did you talk to the coach?” she asked
as she sat down to eat her breakfast, grasping for a subject change.

“Yeah, he wasn’t going to let me on the team since tryouts
were last school year and they’ve been practicing all summer, but he let me run
some drills and decided to give me a shot. I can’t miss any practices and I
might be benched the first couple of games or so, but if I do good in practice,
I’ll get to play. Maybe even start before the end of the season.”

“Good.” This was great news, actually. Scott loved playing
football, and as much as they’ve moved around, it’d been one of the few
constants in his life. Plus, it helped him make friends faster at new schools
since teams fostered that brotherly connection. “Just get me your practice and
game schedule, so I can make sure I’m off work.”

“Already on the fridge,” he said as he hopped up. He rinsed
his plate before putting it in the dishwasher. “I’ll see you tonight. I’m
riding to school with Chad.”

“Okay, honey. I love you.”

“Love you too.” He paused and looked back at her. “You sure
you’re okay, Mom?” He frowned.

“Yes,” she said with mock exasperation.

He nodded with a crooked smile before leaving. She could
tell he didn’t quite believe her but was smart enough not to press the issue.

Xan took a deep breath as she looked unseeingly at the
kitchen. She was a grown-ass woman who wasn’t even fooling her teenaged son.
She needed to get it together. And she would.

Starting right now.

She grabbed her purse and got into her rental. The fact she
didn’t have to be at work for almost an hour didn’t register until she was
almost at the clinic. She was thinking she could just drive around to help
clear her head until it was time to be at work, but then she heard a loud
rumbling in the distance over the hill, distracting her from her thoughts. As
the noise got closer, she saw a broad man with long blond hair tied at his
nape, wearing sunglasses and driving a Harley, and her heart stopped.
Brody.

The man was sex on a stick, and she just wanted to eat him
up. She’d be all too happy to gorge herself on him. Where was her mortification
now? And where the hell was her resolve to get her shit together? One look at
him and she was a puddle of horny goo.

As he passed her, his head followed her for those brief
seconds, and she could feel his blue eyes burning into her, even though she
couldn’t see them. She shouldn’t have every golden fleck in his sapphire eyes
memorized. Her body shook in that suspended moment in time, and all she wanted
to do was pull over, rip off her clothes and jump his big, scary bones.

She watched him in her rearview mirror until he was over the
next incline and out of sight.

Okay, starting
now
she would get her shit together.

Yeah, she was hopeless. She needed chocolate.

* * * * *

Brody watched Xan pass by, feeling like the biggest prick in
the county. Why the hell had he told her to stay away from him? As if it were
all her fault they were kissing. Hell, he was two seconds shy of throwing her
down on the exam table and fucking her into submission. Her breathy moans and
shy little hands damn near brought him to his knees. He’d never been that
turned-on, that fast before. And he’d screwed up royally. A night of getting
drunk couldn’t undo the fuckup at the doctor’s office. He’d know. He had the
hangover from hell to prove it.

She was getting to him on a personal level, and he didn’t
understand why. All he knew was that his control was slipping, and before long,
he wouldn’t be able to define the word, much less be able to exert it.

The one good thing about his visit with Jack Daniel’s last
night was the realization he had to do his part to stay away from her, and that
didn’t mean by telling her to stay away from him. No, he had to tell his boss
he’d recognized her from his past and hope the boss man would show some
understanding and forget about Brody having to get close to her. He could do
his job just as efficiently by shadowing her. Well, except for last night.
Fuck, he hoped Colonel didn’t have one of the other guys following him, making
sure he was staying on her because the only thing he watched last night was the
disappearing act of his liquor.

He parked his bike and grunted his greetings to the other
guys. Roc had his nose inside the hood of a car. Bear was talking to Colonel.
Gage and Hunter were standing to the side, tinkering with tools, not really
doing anything, and Blade was texting, laughing and stuffing his face with the
donuts Colonel usually brought in, procrastinating, the little shit.

“I need to talk to you,” Brody said as he approached the
Colonel and Bear. “Alone.”

“I’ll just, yeah,” Bear mumbled, walking off, apparently not
even attempting to come up with a parting excuse.

“What’s up, Brutus?”

“It’s about this plan of yours where Xan Bradley is
concerned.”

Colonel narrowed his eyes. “Look, you’ve made your feelings
on this known—”

“No, I haven’t. Not really. There’s a reason why I want to
stay in the shadows.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. This was harder
than he thought it was going to be. He shifted his weight and took a deep
breath before looking at his boss again. “I-I know her, man. I mean, I remember
her from my past. I just can’t place her. She hasn’t acted like she knows me,
but that could just mean it hasn’t clicked for her
yet
. I don’t want to
take the chance of her recognizing me when I don’t even know how I know her.”

Colonel took a slow breath and hiked his leg over the corner
of the table he was standing beside. “I see. Well, your stubbornness makes sense.
But, Brutus, you didn’t exactly have a stellar life before—”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he growled. “If I know her
because of my previous line of work, then that can’t be good.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions here, son. You might remember
her from when you were kids. It’s a known fact she was a foster care kid. And
you… You lived a life of crime, so chances aren’t great you were born with a
silver spoon. You could have crossed paths in the system as kids.”

“No.” He shook his head jerkily. “I clearly remember her
dressed nicely, long hair, very polished. Granted, she seemed pretty young, but
no kid in foster care would dress like that.”

“Okay,” Colonel said slowly. “But she doesn’t recognize you,
and she’s the one without a brain injury here. If you had some association with
her, she would recognize you. With the exception of longer hair, you don’t look
much different than when I found you. Who’s to say you don’t remember her being
connected to the mafia? You could’ve seen her and remembered her. She’s a
beautiful woman. Maybe you just liked what you saw,” he said with a smirk.

Brody’s muscles tensed, ready to attack the bastard
for…what? Saying she was beautiful? Apparently, his boss saw the anger flaring
in his eyes because he scowled at him.

“You need to take it down a notch, Brutus. I’m just trying
to tell you there could be any number of reasons you recognize her. Do you have
any memories of actually talking to her?”

His shoulders slumped. “No.”

“Being in the same room with her?”

“No.”

“Has she said anything to you about you looking familiar to
her? Or anything else that might suggest a connection?”

“No, damn it.” He rubbed his forehead, shaking his head. “I
just don’t like this.”

“Tell you what.” Colonel stood and patted him on the
shoulder. “I’ll see what I can find out. I’m not promising anything. You’re
already a ghost, but if the connection is out there, I’ll find it. In the
meantime, nothing changes. I still want you watching her and getting to know
her. If Marco Collins gets out, she might run, and we don’t want that. She’s
less likely to do that if she thinks she can turn to you for protection. But
she won’t do that if you stay in the shadows.”

Even though this didn’t go exactly like he’d wanted, the
thought of Colonel finding out his connection to Xan brought Brody a sense of
relief. If he could just answer that nagging question, maybe then he wouldn’t
feel the need to avoid her. Because it was a need, he realized, that couldn’t
easily be ignored. But he had to keep trying. He’d just have to find the
strength to keep on resisting her in other ways. “Thanks, man.”

“You bet. Now that we have that out of the way, I have a job
for you. Bear and I were just talkin’ about some intel we got on a possible
Collins spy. Just checked into a hotel in Conway last night. His name is Dale
Adams.” Colonel gave him a cold stare. “Find out what he wants.”

Meaning through any means necessary. Normally, he’d feel bad
about using his muscles to get what was needed. He figured it was his
conscience working overtime after the life he’d led before his accident. But if
the man was here on Collins’ order, then he was here to hurt Xan and Scott, and
Brody would kill the motherfucker for even thinking he could harm one hair on
either of their heads. Just because he needed to avoid his siren didn’t mean he
couldn’t protect her.

“Consider it done.” It’d be his pleasure. “What about Xan?”

“She’s at work, right? Roc and Bear will take turns watching
her until you get back.”

He started walking toward the exit when he spotted Blade,
still texting and smiling, probably chatting with some pretty little thing. The
boy was a serious flirt. Brody turned back to Colonel. “I’m taking Blade.” He
looked over at the man in question. “Get off your ass and make yourself useful.
C’mon.” He waved him over as he continued out the door.

Blade jogged after him, pocketing his phone, then hopped
into the wrecker. “We pickin’ up a car?”

“No. Doing a job.”

Blade’s eyes lit with understanding. “Ah, well, stop at the
gas station so I can get some smokes.”

“You need to quit that shit. I doubt all your girlfriends
like kissing an ashtray,” Brody mumbled as he backed the wrecker out and headed
down the highway.

Blade smirked. “I ain’t gotta girlfriend. But I’ve had no
complaints from any of my lady friends. They’ve had their mouths all over me
and never once said nothin’ about an ashtray.” He gave Brody that devil-may-care
smile of his.

He stifled a groan. Blade was the closest thing to a brother
he had, but the man had some serious growing up to do, which was ridiculous
since he wasn’t that much younger than Brody.

He pulled into the gas station, sliding out and walking into
the store behind Blade, figuring he could use a cold drink since they were here
anyway. He saw Blade eye the store while walking up to the cashier, but then
detoured, following Brody. Probably going to grab a drink too.

Brody turned the corner and ran right into someone, smelling
a womanly essence with a hint of vanilla, right before grabbing her arms
reflexively to steady her. He stared down and had to stop himself from dragging
her soft body up against his. Xan. Those panicked blue eyes turned sensual
instantly and he bit off a moan as his dick twitched. He had more important
things to worry about than his cock. Like her safety. What the fuck was she
doing here? Her ass was supposed to be at work every morning, and he saw her
heading that way thirty minutes ago. And now he was on his way to investigate
someone who was here to hurt her while she was out dallying around the town as
if she didn’t have a care in the world.