Daughter Trilogy Bundle (46 page)

"I'm a woman, too."

"Yeah, but you're my sister, so you don't count," he says with nonchalance.

"The human race would cease to exist if all men had your finesse and perspective," I grumble.

"I don't know," Hale says with an intrigued tone.  "I see his point."

I roll my eyes at the male equivalent to Aphrodite.  None of them would say such things if they loved someone like I do Devin.

"Same here," Kry retorts.

"What about you?" I dare Devin.

He smirks lightly, but Ther interjects before he can answer.

"Devin has flown through more women than any of us," he pops out with an absentminded accident.

His eyes grow wide when mine cut to him, and Devin lets a small chuckle escape.  Jake leans up so he can see around me to meet Devin's eyes.

"So you're the love em' and leave em' type, eh?" Jake asks with more suspicion.

"I've only ever loved one, and I'll never leave her," Devin says while his eyes stare into mine.

The stupidest grin inches across my face, and Jake pretends to be gagging at the super sweet comment.

Ther and Kry laugh a little at what must be a rather uncharacteristic side of Devin, but it's the only side of him I've ever known.

"I love you," he murmurs.

"I love you, too," I whisper - a mortal whisper.

"Oh, I'm going to be sick," Jake grumbles.

I roll my eyes just before Devin's lips reach mine, and then I turn to scold my brother.

"Really?  Are you that immature?"

He shakes his head, and I see the almost puce color invading his face.

"No.  I'm really going to be sick."  He grimaces while holding back an upchucking motion.

Kry squeals the car to a halt, and Jake dives out into the night air.  He doubles over, hands-on-his knees, and does his best to catch his bearings.  I climb out slowly with worry etching my face.

"What's wrong?" I ask, feeling anxious.

He holds up his hand in a "stop" motion, while gingerly taking soft breaths as if he's trying to steady his hurling impulse.

"I'm okay.  I guess I just got carsick or something," he mumbles as he stands back up very slowly.

"Are you sure?" I worry.

"Yeah," he reassures.  "Hey, look.  It's the first bar I ever took you to," he says while pointing to a sign.

"You want to go here?" Devin asks as he climbs out.

"Yeah.  I need a good walk down memory lane with all the shit that's apparently happened in my absence," Jake grumbles while grabbing his head.

Everyone hops out, except for Kry who drives off to park.  I lean over to whisper -
our
whisper - as everyone starts making their way into the hazy bar that is dimly lit with tacky neon and cigarette embers at the entrance.

"Is it safe to be here?"

He nods to Ther and Deacon who walk in first upon his permissive motion before he answers.

"It should be.  The smell of alcohol, cigarettes, lust, desperation, and sorrow should drown out any of our scents as well as his.  The more disrupting sounds and scents, the better.  That's why I suggested a drink.  The jet has to refuel and prep for another trip, so hold off on forcing his willingness to leave until they call," he instructs.

I shiver slightly when the anxiety rumbles to the surface, and Devin wraps his arms around me in response.

"He's fine now.  He's with us," he murmurs soothingly.

He holds my hand as we walk into the bar.  Jake is already chatting up some pretty blond sitting alone at the bar. 
Poor girl
.

"Well that took five seconds," I snark.

Devin laughs lightly as he pulls me to be beside Jake.  The girl squirms while giggling foolishly on the barstool.  I roll my eyes as I order my drink.

"Vodka, straight up," I yell over the dreadful karaoke music.

Jake spins around with quizzical eyes, his blond prey forgotten.

"Since when do you drink the real stuff?" he gasps.

"It's a long story," I tease.

He just rolls his eyes at my favorite line of the night.

"I'll have whiskey on the rocks," Devin says as he hands the bartender his credit card.  "And start a tab for all of us."

Jake's eyebrows etch up.  "You drink hard, too, eh?"

"Yeah.  It's a nasty habit," Devin chuckles.

It's impossibly hard to get drunk as an immortal, and beer doesn't even come close to cutting it.

"Adisia can't drink like that for too long.  She's a lightweight.  I used to have to carry her home after a few beers.  I hope you're ready to hold her hair back," Jake teases.

I smile as the guy hands me my drink, and I guzzle it without so much as making a face.  The burn barely stuns my immortal throat.

"I bet I can out drink you," I dare while staring into my naïve brother's eyes.

He swivels his whole body to face me and holds up a hand to the bartender.

"I'll have whatever she's having for the rest of the night," Jake says as he takes me up on my little challenge.

The guy hands him a glass of vodka.  His eyes close tightly, his nose turns up, and his throat forces the drink down once he finally attempts to guzzle it as I did.

"Okay," he breathes harshly.  "What's next?"

"Another," I say with an air of fearlessness to the bartender.

He gives me an insuppressible grin as I swish the strong liquor in my mouth and gulp it down.  Jake shakes his head with a surprised smile as he follows behind me.

Devin doesn't seem too amused with the charade.  As the bartender reaches for another, I whisper to my distracted man.

"What's wrong?"

His eyes stay focused as he pulls out his phone.

"I don't know.  I can't see anything in your brother's future," he murmurs vaguely as he types away.

"Maybe it's because he's drinking and talking with me," I try to explain.

Devin doesn't seem convinced as he mutters, "Maybe."  His eyes shift up to offer me a less worrisome look.  "I need to call Mom and the others to see where we're at with the jet.  I'll be right back."

I lean into him as his hand slips over the back of my neck, and he kisses my forehead.  I turn back to Jake and clank my glass against his before turning it up again.

He shakes his head in disbelief, but he refuses to back down from the fast pace I've set.

"Since when can you drink?" he spouts.

"Things change when you stay gone for too long," I snark.

He rolls his eyes.  Then a voice interrupts our playful sibling rivalry.

"Well I'll be damned.  Aphrodisia and Jake Titan," a piercing, unwelcome voice bids.

I stifle a scowl as I turn to face the girl I've long despised.  Her blond hair wraps around her shoulders with a bit of frizz, due to the hot, humid air tainting the bar.  Her makeup is smeared from the beads of sweat forming around her brow and upper lip.

I don't even feel the heat or the cold anymore - at least not because of the actual temperatures.  Aphrodite's passionate fever is sometimes challenging.

"Sharon," I cordially force.

"Well, you look… different," she says with a displeased and somewhat surprised tone.

Yeah.  I look like a goddess, bitch.

I smugly stare her down, and notice that time hasn't been as friendly to her.

At the ripe old age of twenty-five, she has crow's feet and terrible brown roots sticking out above her store-bought blond.

It would be sort of pitiful if she hadn't been a perky, popular, cheerleading, boyfriend-stealing bitch in high school.

"I am different," I retort.

Her eyes seem sad for a brief moment, and then the bitch eyes I've grown accustomed to return.

"I see you're still relying on your brother to hang out with you.  It's sort of a sad thing to do on a Saturday night, don't you think?" she snarks.

Jake rolls his eyes as he motions for more drinks, and a semi-attractive man comes to slap Sharon on the ass.  She giggles at him as he does so, and she quickly introduces him.

"This is Tad.  He's my husband," she says with an even smugger, in-your-face tone, but I'm so far from jealous.  As petty and shallow as it is, I want to rub Devin in her face.

Tad's eyes dance excitedly as he stares me up and down, and I try to fight the urge to vomit.

"You're far too hot to be from around here," he gushes.

Sharon elbows him in the ribs, growling her disapproval, and I just roll my eyes at the crude and inappropriate remark.

Devin walks back over like my real-life hero.  No doubt he's been listening in and saw my discomfort.  He snakes his arm around my waist while kissing me on top of the head.

"Sorry it took so long," he says with a menacing smirk, and then he turns to face the gaping mouth of Sharon as she stares with a stupefied and dumbfounded gaze at the beautiful man in love with me.  "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," he says with such an innocent tone.

"I'm
… uh… Sharon," she stutters, and she completely forgets to mention Tad.

"I'm Devin Cole, Adisia's fianc
é."

I've never been happier to rub that in someone's face.  I'm deriving the most surreal joy from her gaping disbelief.

"Oh.  I didn't know she was engaged," Sharon mumbles while staring dreamily at my man.

"Join the crowd," Jake gripes as his eyes narrow at me.

Sharon giggles in her awkward fashion, and Tad grows restless behind his drooling wife.

"That's Tad, her husband," I say to mock her slightly.

She doesn't even acknowledge him as he extends his hand to shake Devin's.  I snuggle into Devin, and her eyes stay locked against him as if she's planning their future.

"I think we should get back to our evening, but it was nice meeting someone who knows Adisia," Devin says while trying to escape her family-planning eyes.

"You, it's nice to meet too.  I mean, it's nice to meet you, too," she stammers foolishly.

Devin tugs at me, and I willingly leave behind my arch nemesis and her stalker eyes.

"I don't know why I thought I could leave you unattended for a moment," he teases.

"Thank you for returning when you did," I utter with exasperation.

He brushes my hair from my cheek, and his lips brush against mine with such a sweet taste.

"I love making you smile like that," he says as his thumb rubs over my grinning lips.

"I love that you love it," I breathe.

He smiles his pleased grin, but I can still see something in his eyes burning with angst.

"What's wrong?  Are you still upset about not seeing Jake?" I question.

He tightens his lips before forcing a half smile.

"Mom said the jet is ready now," he murmurs as he avoids answering my question.

I sigh a little as I look over to my happy, na
ïve, and completely mortal brother who has gone back to trying to take home Little Miss Blond.

He's going to have to hide to stay alive, and I'm going to have to force him to do it.  He'll lose his job and possibly his apartment, and he won't even know why he did it.

"I guess it's now or never," I grumble.

"I'll get him a better job, a better home, and anything else he loses in transition," Devin assures, apparently reading my mind.  He really does know me so well.

I smile slightly at my wonderful, thoughtful man who is so intent on making my anxiety fade.

"I thought you couldn't see me.  How is it you know my worries?"

He leans over and kisses me so lightly, and I feel the sincerity of his love for me trickling against my lips.

"I can't see you, but I know you.  I know how you think and how you worry.  I see your eyes droop when you have more on your mind than you wish to share, and a tiny frown always appears.  I hate seeing that frown.  You don't have to worry about anything materialistic in this world, so please don't," he murmurs so genuinely.

I feel my mouth turning up in a smile as my eyes stare adoringly into his.  I still find him too perfect to be real.  I'm so entranced, obsessed, and in love with him.

"That's better," he utters with a smirk playing on his lips as his thumb strokes my smile.

"That's usually the effect you have on me," I sizzle out with more seduction than I had meant to.

His lips waste no time pressing against mine, and I feel his breath dancing with mine as his devilish tongue enters my mouth.

My hands clasp against the back of his neck, pulling him closer, deeper into the kiss.  He grips my sides and my insides begin throbbing and begging for this to spin out of control.

"Wow.  You two really know how to draw a bar's attention," Jake chuckles.

I look up to see every woman ready to throw themselves at Devin, and the eyes of every man teeming with vicious desire for me.