High Voltage (11 page)

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Authors: Bijou Hunter

Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Suspense

BOOK: High Voltage
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18

~ Dino ~

Fly Me to the Moon

M
inka is restless, and I want to fuck away her
edginess. Unfortunately, all of the vigorous fucking the last few days has left
my dick willing yet pained. Minka claims her pussy is closed for repairs. I’d
believe her complaint more if she would stop stripping me down with her eyes
and imagining us in bed again.

Rather than naked play, Minka decides to walk
around the hotel. I follow her because I have no interest in anything in the
entire world besides this woman. When she smiles, I must smile back. Even when
she’s pissing me off like she is right now.

“Don’t act like an ape during our meeting with the
two clubs tonight.”

“An ape?”

Minka smiles at my irritation. “Not that I don’t
enjoy when you grunt and jump around to make your claim on me. I’m just
thinking it might not be the time or place for that crap.”

“An ape?” I ask again, grabbing her shirt and
tugging her against me.

“A sexy ape.”

“A little better.”

“Did your father pee a territorial circle around
your mother? Is that why you’re behaving like an ape?”

“He didn’t need to. Mom was loyal.”

“I’m loyal,” she balks, moving to knee me in the
crotch before deciding better of it. “Why wouldn’t you think I’m loyal?”

“I see you looking at other men.”

“It’s called making eye contact. I do it with women
too.”

Studying her irritated expression, I realize she’s
truly offended that I might consider her disloyal.
Fuck, she’s sexy when she
gets wound up.

Swaying to the music playing in my head, I smile at
her grumpy face. “I only have eyes for you,” I sing along with Sinatra’s voice.

Minka shares my smile. “People are looking.”

“Do you really care?”

“Not even a little.”

We dance to a song only I can hear. Minka glances
down the hall at the pool and exercise room.

“Maybe we should work out.”

“I’m not running unless someone is chasing me,” I
tell her.

“What if someone is chasing me?”

Grinning, I dip her and spin her around. “Good
point. Do you want to run?”

Minka considers running off her edginess. “If I
don’t stretch before running, I strain my glutes.”

“Those are ass muscles, right?”

“Yeah, but first I’ll stretch and then I’ll run and
then I’ll need to cool down. Sounds like a lot of work.”

“No one needs that,” I murmur while dancing in the
hallway towards our room.

“Closed for repairs, remember?”

“Oh, I remember.”

Once we’re back in the room, I play
Fly Me to
the Moon
on my phone.

“I like this song,” she says surprised. “Look at
you finally having good taste.”

“I have the best fucking taste, Apples.”

Minka kicks off her shoes, trusting me not to step
on her toes.

“You learn to dance in Jersey?” she asks as I guide
her around the room.

“Yep. We were always going to weddings and other
parties. Knowing how to dance without injuring a girl was important. That’s how
my parents met.”

“You’re making me jealous that I didn’t have
happily married parents.”

“You ought to be jealous. My parents were amazing
together. Even when they argued, they had rhythm.”

Minka throws her head back and laughs. I take the
opportunity to kiss her long neck. She sighs in the breathless way that signals
her panties will be flying off soon.

“No,” she mutters, trying to pull away.

“Hey, I’m just dancing. You’re the one thinking
about more horizontal activities.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Staring into her eyes, I smile. “I think that’s the
nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Minka laughs again. Her earlier edginess is gone,
and she relaxes in my arms. We move effortlessly around the room.

“Before we meet the bikers, I need to have my
weekly chat with the girls.”

“Can I listen to you gossip? I really enjoy hearing
about how fantastic I am in bed.”

“No and no.”

“You’re fooling no one,” I tease. “How come I can’t
sit in?”

“This girl thing is new for me, and I want to
follow the rules. No men involved. It’s easier when we’re in the same town, but
with Harlow in Ellsberg and the other girls in Houston, this phone conference
thing will have to do.”

“By other girls, do you mean Troy?”

“No, though you’ll need to shake off your
bitchiness about him. He’s my closest friend, and I’m not ditching him because
of your misguided jealousy.”

“Men and women can’t be friends.”

“No, you and women can’t be friends.”

Minka challenges me. I stare into her eyes and
challenge her right back. She wins this time. I can’t deny Troy is sloppily
head over heels for Darla.

“Fine, but only on one condition.”

“No.”

Ignoring her response, I continue, “You need to
tell the girls how great I am in bed and how I’m bigger than Troy.”

“What if you’re not?” Unable to remain serious,
Minka laughs. “Troy can’t dance. Does that make you feel better?”

“Sure does. What kind of shithead can’t dance?”

“A big, dumb blond one.”

“He is dumb, isn’t he?”

“And smelly.”

“And I smell great.”

A laughing Minka inhales my scent and shivers.
She’s giving me the horizontal dancing look again.

“Closed for repairs,” I remind her.

Minka nods, but I wonder how long the shop’s doors
will remain shut. She’s nearly fucking my leg during the final Sinatra song. I
pry myself away from her and grudgingly leave the room before her girl chat
starts.

As I look back from the doorway, Minka acts as if
she’s measuring something and mouths, “Huge dick.”

My woman knows just the right thing to say.

19

~ Minka ~

Oh, the Feelings!

K
icking Dino out of my hotel room, I promise not to
talk shit about him during my video call with the girls. He doesn’t believe me,
and he shouldn’t. All I want to do is talk about his naked body and how he
makes promises he’ll likely break.

Connecting first, Harlow beams once her camera goes
online. She’s so happy to visit her family. I’ve never known the kind of
comfort she clearly finds in Ellsberg.

When she comes online, Darla looks confused at
first, and I hear Troy bugging her in the background.

“No men allowed,” I remind her.

“He won’t go away.”

Troy
leans down
next to Darla and stares into the camera. “Guys like gossip too. So what’s up
with you and Dino? Walking funny yet?”

Harlow
laughs
while Darla looks embarrassed that she can’t shake her man for our weekly chat.

“I’m not sharing until Saskia joins us.”

“I’ll wait,” Troy says, walking out of frame.

Darla leans into the camera and whispers, “He
wishes he was there with you. There’s nothing going on in Houston.”

Troy
’s voice
booms from the background. “We’re having a cold snap here, so apparently all
other threats don’t matter.”

“You wouldn’t enjoy this assignment, Troy. All we do is eat spaghetti and dodge rednecks.”

“If a redneck kills you, I’ll avenge your death,” Troy says and then adds, “Assuming Darla says it’s okay.”

We all smile at his pussy-whipped comment. Even
Saskia is smiling when her face appears, but I think she’s mostly just happy to
be retired and in love. I doubt I would smile so much in her position.

“What are we talking about?” she asks.

“Troy is bored and weak.”

“I knew those things. Can we talk about something
new?”

Troy
glares at
Saskia through the camera, but she doesn’t even acknowledge him. No one pisses
off Troy like his tiny nemesis.

“I’m sleeping with Dino,” I announce.

“I knew that too. Harlow texted everyone two days
ago.”

“What?”

Harlow
shrugs.
“Rafael said you and Dino hooked up, and I thought the others needed to know.
You know, for educational purposes.”

“Uh-huh. Your man is a gossip.”

“Tell us about your man.”

“He likes spaghetti,” Troy announces from somewhere
off-screen.

“He’s sweeter than I expected.”

“Sweet how?” Darla asks and the three women lean
into the cameras.

“He can be tender is all,” I mutter, self-conscious
with them all staring at me.

“Do you think he could work out, or are you just
having fun?” Harlow asks.

“He talked me into visiting my mom after this job.
He says he’ll come with me. That seems pretty serious. I mean, I’m bound to be
a drama queen during the visit. Am I reading too much into that?”

Troy
slides a
chair next to Darla, who gives him a grumpy side-eye.

“Visiting your mom? Are you nuts?” he asks,
horrified. “You’re going to cry so fucking much. That isn’t a sexy trip he’s
signing on for.”

“Yeah, I know, assface. I already admitted that
before you vomited your opinion at me.”

“Yes, but I didn’t like the way you said it and
felt I could do better. As usual, I was right.”

“Since you’re so damn wise, tell me what you think
about Dino. Is he too much of a player for me to get wrapped up with?”

“Men change,” Troy says, wrapping an arm around
Darla to make his point. “He could be sick of fresh pussy and want your tired
one.”

“I’m going to climb through this fucking laptop and
cut off one of your balls.”

“Bring it.”

Troy
and I
smile, but Darla isn’t happy. “This is why I didn’t want you listening in. We
can’t talk like girls when you’re around.”

“Minka’s not a girl. She looks like one, and she
might have the right parts, but she’s a dude. Trust me.”

“He’s not totally wrong.”

“You’re very feminine,” Darla says, irritated with
us both now.

Bowing to Darla’s will, Troy finally leaves the
room, but I suspect he’ll be back.

“Dino talks about having kids.”

“Why?” Saskia asks.

“Exactly!” I cry. “What’s that about? Do I have
baby-making hips or something?”

Harlow nods. “You’d carry a baby well. I was just
saying that the other day on another conference call.”

“You like him,” Darla says, cutting through the
bullshit as usual.

“He suits you,” Saskia adds. “The two times I spoke
with him, Dino was loud and obnoxious.”

Saskia isn’t teasing me. She thinks I’m loud and
obnoxious too, but I won her over much like Dino did with me.

“The thing is, I’m getting attached to him. It’s
freaking me out.”

Darla and Harlow do a nearly identical “sympathetic
head tilt and sigh” combo. Saskia only stares at the camera as if she’s hoping
to hypnotize me through the screen.

“It’s not as if I love him,” I add, and they give
me another head nod.

“He’ll likely dump you at the end of the
assignment,” Saskia says.

“Why would he?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“I’m awesome. That’s why.”

“Would you really care if it ended?” Saskia asks,
refusing to back down.

“Are you PMSing?” I mutter.

“This isn’t about me. It’s about you falling for a
man who will use you and then discard you.”

“Dino isn’t like that.”

Saskia frowns. “I think he is.”

“What are you basing that assessment on?”

“Everything you told me about Dino.”

“Well I didn’t know him when I told you those
things.”

“And you know him now?” Saskia asks.

“Yes. I mean I know him better. Before he was just
a dumb goomba. Now he’s a real person.”

“So, will he or won’t he dump you as soon as he
gets bored of fucking you?”

“I don’t think he would.”

“And would you really care if he did.”

“Fucking duh.”

“So, if both of you have real feelings, what’s the
problem?”

Rolling my eyes, I hate when Saskia pulls off the
Band-Aid without even warning me.

“I guess there isn’t a problem.”

Harlow sighs loudly, signaling her impatience with
Saskia’s help. Darla leans away from the screen as if to protect herself from
the oncoming fight. Saskia smiles at their reactions. I shouldn’t laugh and
encourage her bitchiness, but I can’t stop myself when she riles up the other
girls.

“I care about Dino,” I admit after laughing myself
out.

Harlow nods. “Then give him a chance.”

“I am.”

“No, you’re looking for a way out,” Saskia says.

“Shut up.”

“I know you, and you don’t trust men.”

“I trusted Troy when we were together.”

“Unlikely. You said you didn’t think he could
really fall for Darla.”

“Hey!” Darla cries.

“It wasn’t personal. I just didn’t think he had it
in him.”

From the next room, Troy calls out, “I heard that!”

“Shut up. The girls are talking.”

“You have issues with men,” Saskia says.

All three women nod in unison. I can’t argue that
my view of men isn’t positive. My father was a well-meaning idiot. My brother
isn’t much better. Until recently, I viewed every man except Troy as the enemy.

“I trust Dino,” I mumble, shocking myself. “Why?”

“It’ll be okay,” Darla says. “I’m sure he’s worthy
of your trust.”

“What are you basing that on?” I ask.

“You’re a good judge of character.”

“I was wrong about Troy.”

“Because you didn’t realize how awesome Darla was,”
Harlow says.

Darla nods at this comment and Troy’s head appears
next to hers so he can nod too.

“Dino’s going to tear out my heart and shit on it.”

“What are you basing that on?” Saskia asks.

“You’re getting on my nerves.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Talk amongst yourselves while I deal with how to
get myself out of this situation.”

“No,” Saskia says and the rest of them, including
Troy, shake their heads.

“I never once thought Dino might sell me out to
someone on this job. I never thought he might take advantage of me while I
slept. I never once counted my cash to see if he stole any while I was taking a
piss. What in the hell am I thinking?”

“You’re not. You’re just feeling,” Troy says.

Harlow bursts into laughter. “Lame.”

Everyone laughs at Troy’s hokey attempt at wisdom.
He’s right, though. I’ve been feeling with Dino since the beginning.
Lust.
Annoyance. Curiosity. More lust.
Now this stronger version of lust that
makes my heart tighten and stomach flutter.
A wussy kind of lust, I guess.

“What if he breaks my heart?” I ask.

“Kick his ass,” Saskia says.

Darla gives me a sympathetic smile. “Cry until you
can’t cry anymore.”

“Get drunk,” Troy adds.

Harlow leans into the screen. “Let us make you feel
better. You’re not alone.”

“Your support is making me nauseous.”

Troy laughs and walks out of the room, but the
girls look offended.

“Now that he’s gone, I’m really nervous about
Dino.”

“It’s not him. It’s you.”

“I know. I’m fucked up.”

“Everyone’s fucked up.”

“I’ve never had my heart broken before. I almost
did as a teenager, but when I thought the turd was going to dump me, I dumped
him first. I still felt like a loser, and I cried all summer.”

“Dumping Dino isn’t the right move,” Saskia
announces.

“He won’t let you go anyway,” Harlow says. “Dino
strikes me as a stalker.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty damn possessive,” I murmur,
smiling. “I really like him. Maybe I should dump him, though.”

Saskia rolls her eyes. “You’re being a wuss.”

“I know, but it’ll hurt if he dumps me.”

“You cried all summer when you dumped that turd.
What did you really save yourself from?”

“Being humiliated.”

“If Dino dumps you, he’s a dumbass. How is that
humiliating?”

“I don’t know,” I mutter, balling my fists. “I
think I want to bail. You know, just to be careful.”

Saskia glares at me with her dark eyes. “Should I
fly to wherever the hell you are and hold your hand through this idiotic panic
attack?”

“As appealing as that sounds, I’m fine.”

“Don’t dump him.”

Harlow nods. “You’ll regret it.”

“You told me to face my fears,” Darla says, nearly
wagging her finger in my face. “Don’t be a scared whiner.”

“Stop ganging up on me.”

The three of them stare at the cameras, silently
judging me. Even Troy returns and leans into view to shake his head
disapprovingly.

“Okay, I won’t. Now let’s talk about something
else.”

“Promise first.”

“I promise I won’t dump him. Now someone else needs
to talk.”

No one has anything to share. They’re only
interested in Dino.
Is he good in bed? How big is his dick? Does he make me
sleep on the wet spot?
I refuse to answer any of their questions.

Terrified, I realize I’ve fallen hard for Dino. He
has all of the power, while I can only desperately hope he won’t crush my heart.
I’m so fucked, but now I’ve made the stupid promise!

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