Never Kiss a Bad Boy (7 page)

Together, we ducked into the elevator. Grabbing her shoulders, I spun her until her face was in my chest. I heard the burst of air from between her lips. “Kite...!”

“Calm down.” I chuckled so only she could hear. “This way, he won't see anything but the back of my head. He'll think you're just another girl I'm taking home for the night.”

Marina stiffened in my arms.

Without looking, I bumped my elbow on the button for my floor. The doors shut, sealing the two of us away with a 'ding.'

Marina's hair tickled my nose. It took every bit of control not to openly inhale her smell. She fit against me naturally.

The front of her skirt bumped my zipper. Squeezing my eyes shut, I counted each floor.

It was a very, very long elevator ride.

The doors spread. Carefully, so the camera wouldn't catch a glimpse, I shoved her out with my whole body around her. In the hall, free of unwanted eyes, Marina was the first to break away.

She put five steps between us, lips puckering with her heavy breathing. I swear, I saw the hard tents of her nipples.

Using her duffel bag as a barrier, I adjusted my frustrating erection.
Focus, Kite. Shit.

My door was nearby, keys already in my hand. I wanted the familiarity of my apartment. I wanted to get away from Marina. My fingers itched and throbbed.

“Welcome home,” I said, stepping over the threshold. She followed me in, closing the door behind her. The duffel bag dropped at my feet. “Want a tour?”

Her jaw was slack. I saw the surprise in her face, the way she wandered towards the giant windows and the sea of twinkling lights below. “You live
here?
” she asked.

Normally, this was where I would guide the woman up to the window, talk wisely about the beauty of the view—then touch her cheek and whisper about
her
beauty.

As Marina passed me, taking the position so many had before her, I resisted. “Yup. You like it?”

She pressed her palms on the glass. “This is amazing.” Her whisper smeared a light fog. There was a delightful sparkle in her eyes that transferred to her grin. “I sort of pictured your home being less... majestic.”

“What, because of what I do—or did?” I corrected myself.

Looking back out over downtown, Marina pushed her nose on the window. “Yeah. I knew you had to make good money from your clients, but this is just—wow.”

“You should have seen where I used to live.” Sliding to the counter, I grabbed a bottle of whiskey. It spilled into one of my few clean glasses. “That shit hole would have fit your preconceptions better.”

Sipping the drink, I saw her eyeing me. Was that... concern?
Don't talk about your past, idiot.

I said
,
“Come on. I'll show you where you're sleeping.”

Marina left the window reluctantly.

In the hall, we passed my open door. “That's where I sleep. Not bad, right?”

She leaned into the room, noting my messy bed and the stacks of clothes. Both of us spotted the black panties. “Real nice,” she mumbled.

Ignoring the shame that started to creep up, I kept walking.
Why the fuck should I feel embarrassed?
I reprimanded myself.
It's not her business if I have someone's underwear lying around or not.

Still... I wished I'd thrown them out.

The end of the hall led to a bathroom. To the left of it was a small, spare bedroom I'd been storing random items in. The bed was clean, I hadn't ever slept in it. “Just leave your bag in here,” I said. “The bathroom is right outside. If you need anything, grab it yourself. I might not wake up if you knock.”

“Wait,” she said. “You're going to bed now? It's barely after ten!”

Leaning in the doorway, I put the rim of the glass to my lips. “You want to stay up all night with me, sharing stories? I have more than enough of them.”

Her wince was brief, but it was there. “Forget it. I'll see you in the morning.”

Gesturing with the whiskey, I headed down the hall. Behind me, I heard the distinct sound of her door shutting.

No, I wasn't tired.

I was anything
but
tired.

Tonight, Marina had ambushed me, turning my life upside down in a single second. Worse, as much as I wanted to hate her, her soft body kept worming into my mind. Everything combined had left me wide awake.

There was only one way to soothe my rabid lust.

Closing myself in my room, I finished the drink and got out my gun.

****

M
y clock blinked.

Three in the morning,
I noted silently.

I was sitting on my mattress, the Ruger polished and put away hours ago. I'd thought that would be enough, but when I was finished, I'd succumbed to my most basic need.

I'd polished my cock, too.

The whole time I jerked myself off, Marina filled my thoughts. I couldn't get her out of my skull, even if I'd wanted to. Exhausted, I'd flopped back on my sweat soaked pillow and simply... waited.

Now, it was time to act.

With precision, I slid to the floor. My bare feet carried me soundlessly to my door. I knew how to open it so it made the barest of 'clicks' in existence.

Straining in the hall, I listened for any signs of Marina being awake. Gingerly, I put my ear on the surface of the white wood of her door.

If she wasn't asleep, she was pretending.

I tested the knob. She hadn't locked it.
That
actually surprised me. Marina knew who I was and what I was. Did she feel so confident that the idea of me sneaking into her room and killing her in her sleep hadn't crossed her mind?

Counting the seconds, I pushed the door until I could see inside.

Unlike her apartment, mine was quite warm. She wasn't used to that, and the swell of her hips was visible on top of her blankets. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, the window blinds closed, but leaking in remnants of the city.

For a full three minutes, I studied her.
She's breathing in a pattern. I can hear her whistle through a slightly open mouth.
I was sure Marina was actually asleep.

Tip-toeing further inside, I hovered over her body. Hair spilled around her shoulders, her soft skin visible in her tank-top. The shirt had ridden up to reveal the dip of her spine.

She was curled tight around a pillow, knees to her chest and hands tucked under her chin.

The way her chest swayed when she inhaled was hypnotizing. I could have stared for hours, but I had something pressing to take care of.

Looking down, I saw her purse. Jacob had checked her ID, and I had looked for weapons, but I'd also spotted something else that I wanted a better look at.

Crouching, I kept one eye on her sleeping face while peeling open the small bag. Dipping a hand in, I closed on her phone.

Even in the poor lighting, I could tell it was a cheap device. Turning it, I classified it as what it was: a pay by the minute burner phone.

Well, it was a burner phone to
me
. They went for twenty bucks and you didn't need a monthly plan, great for leaving no trace behind. You could just chuck them in the trash when you were done doing business on them.

I figured Marina chose it because of the cheap price. I'd seen her apartment, I knew poverty when it smacked me in the face; it and I were old friends.

Flipping the phone open, I began to scroll.
She didn't even password protect it?
For every clever thing Marina did, she shocked me with her naivety.

Pushing through her contact list, I realized why she hadn't bothered.
She doesn't have a single saved number in here.

Could she really have no friends?

Furiously, I went through her list of sent and received calls. There were a few to generic numbers, but I scribbled them down anyway. Her incoming calls were essentially blank.

Well, I guess that solves one issue.
The knowledge that Marina didn't have any close friends or family should have comforted me.

On one level, the cautious side, it did.

The rest of me found it depressing.

Looking at her, sleeping in her tight ball of limbs, I tried to understand. What would keep a girl like her from getting close to anybody?

Putting the phone back into her purse, I jumped at the sudden noise beside me. It was a shivering, frail sob that stabbed into my guts.

For an instant, I thought I'd look up and find Marina staring at me. Had she woken up, caught me in the act?

Twisting, I could see her face from where I crouched. Fuck, I could have touched her. Marina's mouth was a grimace, eyes scrunched fiercely shut. Along her arms, goosebumps prickled. The whimper of fear and sadness escaping her was tragic.

She said no words. She didn't need to. I understood her tremors and knew she was having a nightmare. Whatever it was about, it had her whole body twitching.

Standing, I bent closer to her flushed cheeks. She was struggling, I sensed her tears about to start right before the first one flowed. It left a wet streak down her caramel skin.

Then they just kept coming.

Looking around, I told myself to leave. To get out of there and forget about the strange girl who had flipped my life around and was now sobbing in my spare bed.

I should have fled.

So why did I put my hand on her shoulder?

“Marina,” I whispered. Gently I shook her, my fingertips attacked by every tiny quiver that rocked her. “Marina, wake up.”

She was sniffling, great ugly tears that should have been private. Not seen by someone like me. Reaching down, I wiped some of them away.

Her thick lashes fluttered, brown eyes snapping to their widest setting. Marina gawked up at me, and the terror there made me wonder if she was seeing
me
or something else.

Both of us jerked apart, my hands going to my sides. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked, rubbing at her face to hide the evidence of her vulnerability.

“You were having a nightmare,” I said carefully. “I heard you from my room and came to check on you.” Lying was easy when you'd done it your whole life.

Pulling the blanket around herself, like me seeing her in a shirt and shorts was inappropriate—and maybe it was—Marina eyed the bedroom. She was breathing rapidly, realizing where she was.

“Oh,” she said. It was a simple word. Looking up at me, her nose was the color of a cherry. “Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm—it's just...”

“Forget about it,” I said quickly.

Blinking, she watched me curiously and gave a nervous smile. Her lips were swollen from crying. “Alright.”

Wanting to escape the moment, I turned for the door. I said, “Bad dreams happen to everyone. Do you want me to... to get you anything?”

Her smile touched her eyes. “Could you leave the door cracked for me? The hallway light makes me feel better. I know, it sounds stupid.”

A weird flutter hit my belly. “Are you scared of the dark?”

“No.” She looked at the window. “It's not that. Could you just do it? Please?”

Deciding not to pry, I ducked my head and inched out the door. I left it partly open, big enough for a hand to fit through. “See you in the morning, Marina.”

Behind me, her voice was soft. “Goodnight, Kite.”

The floorboards were colder than usual. My body was heavy, limbs not holding warmth. All the blood had gone to my head, flooding and choking my brain.

I had a suspicion about why Marina wanted the door open. It was something so ridiculous, so bizarre...

And I was sure I was right.

Marina had told the truth, she wasn't scared of the dark. She could have opened her blinds and flooded the room with the city if that was the issue. What she had wanted was an opening. Something that connected her to another human.

In this case... to me.

Sitting on my bed, I put my forehead in my hands.
If she thinks that being closer to me makes her safer, that I'm a source of protection from whatever her nightmares are, she's wrong.

I couldn't bring Marina comfort.

Only tragedy.

Jacob

––––––––

T
he sun was still down when the knock came.

Moving from the front room's window, I walked through the blueish shadows. I hadn't turned any lights on yet. With the city back-lighting me, I didn't need to.

Through the peephole, I saw Kite's face. He looked just as grim when I opened the door. “Didn't think you'd be awake so soon,” I said.

He tossed something at me; my car keys jingled, the edge digging into my closed fist. “Thought you'd want those back.”

“And you thought I needed them now?” I asked. “What if I'd been sleeping.”

Arching an eyebrow, he scanned me from head to toe. “It doesn't look like you even tried. Did you even change clothes?”

Touching the front of my dark green shirt, I scowled. “Of course I changed.”

“But you didn't sleep.”

I allowed a cracked smile to spread. “No, I didn't sleep. Come inside.”

He started to, then froze on the threshold. “Actually, I was going to suggest something.”

That was when I saw the bloodshot stains in his eyes. “You didn't sleep either.”

“Not a wink,” he admitted.

Lifting my chin, I squeezed my car keys tight. “Tell me where we need to go. I'll drive.”

Kite shook his head, moving so I could enter the silent hallway. “No,” he whispered. “Where I want to go, your car has already been in the recent hours. Taking mine will be less suspicious.”

And then I knew. “Her apartment. Is she sleeping right now?”

“She was when I checked on her. I think we can risk a brief excursion without her wondering where I am, if she does wake up.”

We took the stairs, jogging down without speaking. It wasn't until we were safely in the confines of Kite's Mercedes that I resumed the conversation. “You went there last night with her. Did you see anything?”

He sped through the relatively quiet streets of the city. “No. I couldn't check much, she was right there. I didn't see her pack anything suspicious.”

“Hopefully we find it in her apartment, then.” My sigh was loud. “Otherwise we have to accept she hid it somewhere. Maybe with a friend.”