Chapter 7
Brian stands at the door of the steakhouse, waiting for me to move through the door he”s holding open.
So far, the date”s been pretty casual; he texted when he got to my place, he hasn”t made much of a show of gallantry, but I guess that”s not really a big deal. I”m a big girl, I can open a car door on my own.
”Ouch!” The pinch is unexpected as I walk past Brian through the door. So unexpected that I don”t know how to react.
For one thing, it fucking hurt. My hand involuntarily covers the stinging spot on my backside where I”m sure a bruise is forming. Brian grins at me when I face him in shock.
”That hurt,” I inform him coldly.
He just shrugs. ”Ass like that”s beggin” for it,” he answers nonchalantly. ”Let”s go eat.”
Inside, I hold back while Brian gives our name to the hostess.
”I”ll meet you at the table,” I tell him, pointing in the direction of the ladies” room to let him know where I”m headed.
””K, see ya in a few.” Brian shrugs and follows the hostess into the dining area.
In the restroom, I check the spot that still smarts from Brian”s pinch. It”s not showing any marks yet, but I have a feeling it”ll be purple by the morning.
Washing my hands, I give the girl in the mirror a serious look. It”s not like I wasn”t expecting him to touch me. Or even like I didn”t go into tonight with the full intention of letting him.
It”s just that-- I”m not really having fun. Brian does nothing for me and the ass grab didn”t feel sexy, it felt gross. Tonight is obviously not going to be the beginning of anything.
The woman in the mirror tries to assure me that has nothing to do with a certain, brooding, Italian engineer and tells me to at least enjoy dinner.
Determined to take her advice, I open the bathroom door and walk straight into a wall of warm muscle and spiced cologne.
”Let”s go, fiore, your date is over.”
Augustus”s hand splays across the small of my back, steering me out the door with a commanding touch.
When we get on to the sidewalk, I expect him to stop, thinking we”ll talk and then I can go back to my evening.
Instead, August continues to navigate me into the parking lot.
”What the fuck are you doing, August? I”m on a date.”
”Not anymore. You”re not going anywhere near that boy again, Zephyr.”
August”s SUV is parked a few rows away and it dawns on me that he expects me to leave with him. Despite the forceful hand at my back, I come to a dead halt between the parked cars.
”You can”t just steal someone”s date, Augustus,” I huff up at the dark eyes glowering down at me.
Even with the heels, August towers over me. His black hair hangs around his eyes as if he hasn”t combed it with anything but his fingers; his eyes are narrowed, dark brows knitted together in consternation; and those wicked lips pressed in a hard line, his jaw ticking near one ear.
He lets me vent but it”s pretty clear I”m not getting through to him.
”What the fuck is right, Zephyr, that asshole is lucky all I”m taking is his date. I”d have also relieved him of half his teeth and his dick if he”d touched you again. Let”s go.”
No, no, no. Nothing about that made my belly clench or my clit throb with need. Lies, I tell myself, but I”m still not going anywhere with him.
”For your information, I was into it.” More lies.
”Sure as fuck didn”t look like you were into it.” August leans close to level his gaze to mine, fire blazes in the dark irises, his nostrils flaring as he challenges me to disagree when I realize what this means.
””Looked like?” You were watching? Have you been following me?”
Augustus straightens back to his full height and when the firm tug he gives my hand doesn”t get me moving again, he moves so quickly that I don”t have time to do more than let out a surprised squeal as I”m tossed over his shoulder and carried the rest of the way to his vehicle.
For the record, I do consider beating my fists against his back as I”m carried. I also enjoy the view of his ass. The way the muscles flex and bunch with his purposeful strides-- and I think about reaching down to cup my hands around those strong glutes to feel them move. August”s shoulder digs into my stomach, which is less than comfortable, but his arm is wrapped around the back of my thighs like a steel band and I feel his free hand tugging at the hem of my dress to keep me from flashing anyone before he yanks open the passenger door of his SUV and carefully, but roughly, places me on the seat, fastening my seat belt before closing me in and sliding behind the steering wheel on his side.
I”m furious, but I”m also turned on, which makes me more furious.
”Where are you taking me?” I demand. As he starts the engine and pulls out of the parking lot, I hear the door locks automatically engage.
”Home.” His tone is resolute as he very noticeably heads in the opposite direction of my apartment.
”My place is in the other direction.”
”Not your home, fiore.”
* * *
Augustus
”You don”t seriously expectme to ride all the way back to the Ridge with you?”
My flower”s voice is cold and I don”t have to glance beside me to know the angry glare she”s leveling at me.
”No. I expect you to ride all the way back to Turtle Village with me.” I grit between my clenched jaw.
The cabin of the car is filled with the sound of fiore”s frustration.
”That”s a three-hour drive, August. What do you expect me to do when you get me there? Play checkers with you?”
I roll to a stop at the flashing red light that marks Keller”s Ferry”s only major intersection. I hear the click just as the bell on the dashboard chimes and suddenly Zephyr”s fist pounds on the door beside her.
There are no other vehicles at the intersection, so I press my foot to the pedal and start the journey up the two lane, mountain highway that leads to our destiny.
”Do you have the child locks on?” Her voice is filled with awe and laced with real fear. It sets my jaw on edge and has my heart pounding with uncertainty.
”Augustus? Are you kidnapping me?”
”Shh, Fiore mio, please put your seat belt back on.” I don”t recognize my own voice; it sounds flat and far away; dim under the white noise of my blood rushing through my veins.
Flipping the switch to turn on the high beams, I keep both hands on the wheel as I take the car around the sweeping curves that follow the contours of the mountains as we climb in elevation.
This section of the highway is far from any settlement, clinging to the side of a cliff that was blasted into the mountains over a hundred years ago. The only light on the road comes from the headlights and the moon overhead.
Zephyr has gone deathly quiet beside me. The light on the dashboard that said her seat belt was unfastened has gone out.
Beside me, I can sense her apprehension, her hand tightened on the door handle beside her, the other periodically reaching to tighten the seat belt across her chest, her inhalations rough between held breaths.
We round a bend and a deer bolts from the side of the road into the forest. Zephyr startles beside me.
Reaching for hand in the darkness between us, I”m relieved when she takes it and squeezes my fingers tightly.
This is the stretch of road where her father and grandfather hit a deer nearly twenty years ago. It caused them to lose control of the vehicle and run off the road-- killing both of the men somewhere in the process.
She told me she doesn”t travel this road at night.
I am the worst of selfish men.
I”m proving the whispers about me true; I am not a good man. Not someone who should be trusted or welcome in their community. I”ve literally kidnapped a woman and now I”m taking her to my home in a remote, abandoned, mountain village-- and, God help me, but I do not want to play checkers when we get there.
It”s not until we level out on the stretch of road that enters Moonshine Ridge that I feel fiore”s grip soften, allowing the blood to flow back into the fingers she”s been strangling in our silent ascent of the mountain.
”Why are we going to your house, August? Why would you bother kidnapping me just to drive me up there so you can tell me one more time how you aren”t interested in me ”that way”.”
She drops my hand to make the air quotes as I make the turn onto the road that will take us past her family estate, the educational camp they run for school children, and up to Turtle Village.
”You still haven”t read any of the messages I”ve sent you today, have you?” I grumble at the obvious.
She scoffs beside me, more relaxed now that we”re on level ground with wide clearances on both sides of the road that”s more familiar to her.
”I got the gist of it from the previews-- ”I can”t be the man you”re looking for,” ”I don”t want you to regret meeting me.” Same shit you”ve told me already, August. I get it. I don”t need to hear you say it in person. Why do you think I stopped trying to talk to you and agreed to go out with Brian?”
My hands clench on the steering wheel at the mention of the boy”s name. I”m still not committed to letting him get away with putting his hands on my fiore.
”I want you, fiore. I”ve never wanted anyone or anything more in my entire life.”
”Bu-- wait. I thought you said we were going to your house?”
Zephyr”s first thought is lost in her confusion when I make the turn into Hart”s Gulch.
”I”m taking you home. You can call me and I”ll give you a ride back to Slow River tomorrow.”
I pull in front of the storybook cottage she lives in and release the safety locks, fully expecting her to jump out without hesitation.
”What happened to ”I want you more than anything in my life, fiore?’”
Her seat belt is unbuckled, but instead of moving to exit the vehicle, she turns toward me. I go ahead and kill the engine, turning the headlights off manually so as not to draw attention from her neighbor.
Who I”ve already encountered today and would prefer not have bashing my skull in for kidnapping his sister.
My own seat belt unbuckles and I twist toward her.
”I do want you, Zephyr. Since the moment I saw you, I knew you were the only woman who will ever own my heart. But you are young and you have no idea what lies ahead for you between the age you are now and mine. I cannot have you. Once I do, I will want you forever.”
”Are you going to kidnap me from every date I go on? Because I”m not going to play the ”I won”t touch her but neither will anyone else” game. I”m not going to die a virgin because the man I want is too chicken-shit to take me, August.”
Her challenge is not lost on me and it proves to be my undoing.