Torched (25 page)

Torch nodded as it dawned on him where I was going with this. “Masters offered you a job. That’s where it started.”

“Yeah. The first assignment was a white-hat type thing, he seemed legit and wanted me to upgrade a firewall. Didn’t think anything of it. But while I was doing that, I noticed a coding flaw in his encryption software. If anybody got through the firewall, all the files on his servers could’ve been exposed by a second year IT student. When I told him about it, he freaked out and offered me seven hundred and fifty grand to fix it, half up front.”

He whistled at the figure. “I’m in the wrong fucking business. You take it?”

“No. Something just seemed really off about the whole thing. He could’ve had a program built from scratch for that, but Masters wanted the fastest option. Curiosity got the best of me. Since I had access to all his files, I started doing research. I found the usual shell corps and offshore accounts, but nothing that would warrant that level of panic or money. So I hacked into his surveillance cameras next, trying to see if he was meeting with anybody suspicious—”

“Maric.”

“Yup. I recognized the Kraja tattoo on his arm from reading about them. One lead led to another, and you know the rest.”

Torch leaned forward, deep in thought. I could practically hear the wheels turning in his brain, going through my story and trying to find a hole. A moment of uncomfortable silence later, he turned back to me. “The video you showed us, of Maric meeting with his guys...”

“What about it?”

“That looked like an empty basement. Nothing of value from what I saw. Why would they have a camera?”

“Because I put it there.”

His blank expression was about to turn into one of rage, I could just feel it. “You did what now?” he asked.

“I put it there,” I repeated.

Here it came, the fire-breathing alter ego.

“Woman, I heard you the first fucking time! Jesus Christ…” He leaned on his elbows and ran his hands through his hair. “What the hell were you thinking, babe? If they’d caught you—”

“They didn’t catch me. I did what I had to, Torch.”

“You didn’t have to,” he fumed. “Said it yourself, you were just curious.”

“And my curiosity hopefully saved a few lives,” I sneered, suddenly in a fighting mood again. “It was worth it. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty if the stakes are high enough. I’m not gonna sit here and justify it, not to you of all fucking people. You wouldn’t think a Serpent would be sitting here giving me shit.”

“It’s
not
the same,” he seethed.

I smirked and rolled my eyes. “Why? Tell me, babe. Seriously, is it because I don’t have a dick? Or maybe you were lying when you said you don’t see me as helpless. Because it sure as shit sounds like it.”

“Oh, here we fucking go,” he groaned, throwing his hands up and leaning back.

“No. We’re not going anywhere. You got the answers you wanted. You wanna be pissed? Fine. But this is what I do, it’s who I am. That double standard might fly in your world, but in mine, you’re being a fucking hypocrite.”

He closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand across his beard, no doubt gritting his teeth in frustration. I didn’t blame him. He may have lived on the fringes of society, but it was still an old-fashioned world, where women were expected to stand down and let the men handle business.

That wasn’t the world I lived in. And unfortunately, this conversation was simply reinforcing the decision I’d made to stay out of his. They didn’t mesh. I wasn’t just thinking about myself, I was thinking of him, and the last thing I wanted was to be the cause of collision course.

The deafening silence started getting to me. “Torch, I—”

“Stop. Talking,” he groaned, then looked over at me and sighed. “I didn’t come here to start shit.” Something in his tone had changed. He sounded like he was conceding. Probably temporarily, but I’d take it. “What happens now?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“The state-hopping. Am I gonna come here next week and find an empty house? What’s the plan?”

“There is no plan.”

“The fuck kind of answer is that?”

“An honest one.” It really was. It wasn’t like I stuck to a schedule when it came to skipping town. But that was another story for another day. Right now, I just needed a minute to myself to decompress. I got up and picked up our glasses. “Refill?”

He raised his brow. “You gonna lock me out?”

“Of course not.” I patted him on the shoulder. “I’m out of cigarettes and you have a whole pack.”

Torch growled and grabbed my wrist. Before I knew it, he’d stood up and backed me up against the sliding glass door. With his hips firmly holding mine in place, I found myself in a familiar, compromising position. All I could do was try to breathe, because being pinned down by his hard and warm body wasn’t helping my self-control. At all.

“You didn’t answer my first question,” he said, scanning my face.

What the fuck was his question again? I couldn’t even remember my own name at the moment. “About….”

“Running. That fucker from Philly after you?”

“That was a long time ago—”

He slammed his palm against the glass above my head. “Quit dodging. Jesus. Yeah, it was, and I still don’t know how you ended up outside my goddamn door the first time. Why can’t you tell me what the fuck happened?”

“I just don’t like going there, Torch. Stewing in shit memories won’t change anything, you know that. I move because it’s part of the job. A lot of what I do is illegal. ”

He tilted my head so I had to look at him. “Cut the shit, you’re obviously good enough to cover your tracks and not get caught. I’m not a fucking idiot, there’s something else to it. Babe… do you need protection?”

The only thing I needed protection from was myself, because the sexual energy radiating from him was making me teeter on the brink of doing something incredibly stupid.

“No,” whispered. “I just need you to let me breathe. Please.”

“Request denied.”

His lips came crashing down on mine, depriving me of the oxygen needed to keep it together. As his tongue invaded the fortress of my lips, all control dissipated into the cool night air. I gripped the back of his neck and kissed him back, letting myself breathe in the enigma that was Torch Larter.

I felt his hand brush down my lower back and grip my ass, sending me spiraling into a transcendent abyss of desire. He pushed, I pulled. I pushed, he pulled. I couldn’t discern right from wrong, the past from the present, or self-preservation from self-destruction.

None of it mattered. This was what I’d been missing. With every fiber of my fucking being, no matter how hard I’d fought to keep it contained, I missed him.

So lost in the release of pent-up frustration, lust, and memories, it took a moment to realize that the pounding I heard wasn’t coming from inside my own head.

“Auntie Livie! Auntie Livie!” Chloe’s cries brought me crashing back down. She was beating her fists on the glass door behind me.

Torch must have been on the same space-time continuum, we pulled away startled at the same time.

I quickly spun around and yanked the door open. Chloe flew out and threw her arms around my leg. I crouched and pulled her to my chest. My head was still spinning so fast that I didn’t notice Torch moving, gun in hand, until he was already inside.

“Torch,” I called out, but he was too focused looking around to hear me. “Torch!”

He finally looked back. I shook my head. “It’s okay. I think she just had a bad dream.”

I uncurled Chloe and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Did you have a nightmare, lovebug?”

“Nuh uh,” she whimpered. “I saw it… the monster… he’s under the bed. He’s green and he wants to eat me!”

I pulled the terrified little girl into my chest, trying to make her feel safe. “Shh, it’s okay, honey. It was just a dream. There’s no monster up there, I checked.”

Her sobs slowed down and she finally pulled her head up. “You did?”

“I sure did. No monsters,” I assured her.

“I want Mister Torch to check.”

I looked at him apologetically, certain that this wasn’t how he envisioned his night going. Hell, I was surprised he wasn’t high-tailing it to his bike to save what was left of it. But, once again, he surprised me.

He came back out and knelt down in front of us. “I’ll go make sure there’s no monster up there,” he assured her. “And if there is, I’ll make him leave and never come back, okay?”

Chloe nodded emphatically.

“Thank you,” I whispered over her little head.

“Can’t leave a damsel in distress, can I? I’ll be right back, sweetheart.”

With Torch on a monster hunt—probably in my liquor cabinet—I picked up Chloe and sat back down with her in my chair. She was still trembling, so I rubbed her back and rocked for a few minutes.

I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved that she’d interrupted. Maybe it was a sign, another reminder that I should stick to my guns and stay far the fuck away from Torch.

“All clear, sweetheart,” he announced from the doorway. Sure as shit, fresh drink in hand.

Chloe looked up at him with the biggest, happiest grin I’d seen. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he said with a smile.

“Auntie Livie, will you sleep with me?” she asked, turning her attention back to me.

I sighed and glanced at Torch. He raised his glass and chuckled. “Do your thing, babe.”

I nodded and scooped her up. “Alright, sweetie. Let’s get you up to bed. I’ll lay with you until you fall asleep.”

Torch followed us in and shut the door behind him. As I carried her up the stairs, I glanced back to see him taking off his cut and flopping down on the couch.

“It’s getting late,” I reminded him, now fully convinced that the kid had been sent by fate herself to put a stop to whatever the hell had almost happened out there.

“Yup.”

“Are you heading home soon?”

“Crashing here tonight, babe. Not gonna leave you and the kid alone in the woods with mean monsters lurking around.”

Chloe giggled.

I scowled, mostly because I didn’t trust myself not to sleepwalk right into his lap at some point during the night. Or at least that would be the excuse I’d use if I landed in his lap fully awake. “It’s hardly the woods, we’ll be fi—”

“Fuck woman, I said I’m staying. Quit arguing.” He folded his arms behind his head and smiled up at me. “Sweet dreams, beautiful.”

Shit.

I was a dead woman.

: :

: : : :

I woke up to the sound of Harley pipes ripping through the air. A smile spread across my face. God, I loved that sound.

Wait a minute, was that Torch taking off? What was it with that guy and ducking out while I was unconscious? Eyes still closed, I sighed and pulled the comforter over my face.

I must have been losing my shit because I could swear his scent was still lingering from the night before. Still groggy and not willing to completely wake up just yet, I felt around the bed for Chloe.

She wasn’t there.

My eyes flew open and I sat up in panic, only to discover that I was back in my own bedroom. When the hell had I moved from the spare room?

And then it hit me. Not the memory, the scent, I got another whiff. Torch had been in this room not too long ago.

Oh shit
.

I kicked the covers off and looked down, relieved that I was still fully clothed.

Grumbling, I forced myself to get up, wanting more sleep but deciding that some early morning alone time would be nicer. Chloe would be out for a couple more hours at least, but I didn’t know when her parents would be getting back.

After checking to make sure the rugrat was still breathing, I took a nice long shower, letting myself get lost in erratic—and erotic—thoughts. I hadn’t changed my mind about trying to stay away from him, letting myself get involved even just on a physical level would be downright dangerous, but I figured it was safe enough to let the my freak flag fly in the privacy of my own head and bathtub.

Without even really thinking about it, I reached down and started rubbing circles on my clit. As usual, my mind immediately went to Torch. But this time, the images in my head were more vivid and real. I could practically feel his breath on my wet skin as I leaned on the tile wall and increased my speed and pressure. Thoughts of being in the shower together—his big hands caressing my ass and breasts, me playing with that spectacular cock—it was all too much. Within minutes I could feel a climax building. As I pictured him turning me around and slamming into me from behind, that beautiful, earth-shattering feeling of an intense orgasm rippled through me.

: 16 :

“Morning sunshine!” Lexi called out, as her and Neil barreled through the front door a couple hours later.

“In here,” I yelled from the kitchen.

“Whatchya making?” Lexi asked as she bounced in, her post-sex glow almost at the brightness level of a nuclear explosion.