Chapter Thirty-Nine
HUNTER
“Left hand, blue.”
I gritted my teeth and twisted my torso, stretching my right arm until my hand landed on the closest available circle—between Kellan’s legs. It was funny as hell to watch him grow increasingly agitated with each round that brought us closer and put us in compromising positions.
He was in an impressive back bend that lifted his shirt a little, showing off his Adonis belt and the dark trail of hair that disappeared inside his jeans. If I hadn’t already seen the dark hair peeking through his roots, I’d be shocked to learn that Kellan wasn’t a true blond.
He kept muttering about losing his hands and feet over a childish game.
The laugh I was holding in broke free and nearly sent me to my ass when Coby spun the spinner and called for him to put his left foot on red.
I was already straining to hold this impossible position, but thanks to Ocean, I hadn’t been eliminated yet.
After a season of sexual gymnastics, my body was now accustomed to being twisted into a pretzel for an extended period.
Cursing, Kellan moved his bare foot to the red circle above my head, widening his legs and putting his crotch in my face.
“Why, Kellz, so soon? We hardly know each other,” I teased.
Coby and I laughed uncontrollably while Kellan groaned.
Coby took pity on him and flicked the spinner again, calling for me to move my right hand to yellow.
I fell on my face, and Coco barked before running over with a click of his nails on the hardwood floor.
I lay still while he sniffed my hair to make sure I wasn’t dead and then bossily barked for me to get my ass up and stop faking.
Some of his black fur was already giving way to the brown, but he still looked like an asshole.
“Thank fucking fuck,” Kellan huffed as he straightened and stood. He held out his hand to help me up.
“What’s so scary about a harmless game of Twister?” Coby asked as she stood from the couch with a wary glance thrown at the barely three-pound puppy. She tossed the spinner into the box, grumbling about sharp teeth and rabies.
“Your fiancé,” Kellan retorted. “Do we have a deal? I played your dumb game. Now, you two agree not to sneak out again and give me a heart attack.”
Coby pouted. “We were bored.”
Last night, Coby, Deborah, and I had snuck out for a test drive that ended way too short once Kellan caught up to us and dragged us back here.
“What’s the big deal anyway?” I griped. “We’re out here in the middle of nowhere.”
There was also a lot of land and a long, private road between the rest of the human population and us.
After Roshaun had been executed, the three of us left Glainne and retreated here when Ocean decided to take the offensive. Apparently, he had this six-thousand-square-foot ranch house just waiting on standby.
This house was half the size of Glamis, which suited me perfectly. There were enough rooms to retreat when one of us needed space, but not so big that you could hide for long.
The only problem? Ocean was gone most of the time.
The war against his father had gotten ugly, and Ocean had wanted us as far away from it as possible.
I hated that.
I hated sitting here wringing my hands like a damsel.
I hated not being there to watch his back.
I hated that tomorrow I might wake up to another morning without Ocean between us.
And I knew Coby hated it all, too.
He’d kept his promise and checked in regularly, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t him.
“Malcom’s power reaches further than you think,” Kellan warned.
“He has eyes and ears everywhere. What happened to Roshaun should have told you as much. If you were captured or killed during your frolic through town, what happened to your brother would look like a kiss on the fucking cheek compared to what Ocean would do to me.”
“He wouldn’t hurt you,” Coby denied. “You’re his friend.”
Kellan shook his head, but his voice held no bitterness when he spoke.
There was only respect. “In another life, maybe. In this life, Ocean is my boss. He’s…
” Kellan trailed off before abandoning that train of thought with a shake of his head.
“Let’s just say I grew up with someone just like him.
Someone I called a brother, and when I had to walk away, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do.
I’d rather not form attachments this time. ”
“It sounds like you have no intention of sticking around,” I said, letting suspicion ride my tone.
Kellan merely shrugged. “I’m a drifter,” he explained simply. “It’s what we do.”
“Hmm.”
An hour later, Kellan surprised us with dinner. Afterward, Coby disappeared to make a few phone calls. She’s been doing that a lot lately. I frowned at her retreating back as I wondered what she was up to.
She and Ocean were both little schemers.
Kellan got bored enough to ask if I wanted to play cards, so I agreed. After winning the first hand, I decided that I was entitled to a truth. “How did you and Ocean meet?” I asked while we took turns drawing a card.
I didn’t expect the answer to come so readily.
“He saved my life. I had just left Chicago and was new in town. I didn’t know all the players yet and pissed off the wrong people. Ocean stepped in, threw his weight around, and I got to keep breathing.”
“That was nice of him.”
Kellan laughed and shook his head. “Not really. Nothing in this town comes without a price.”
“That’s when you started working for him, huh?” Kellan nodded and tossed seven of clubs on the table. I threw a nine of the same suit and scooped up the cards. “Why do you think he saved you?”
“My sparkling personality and devastating good looks?”
“Kellan.” I gave him a reproachful glance and threw down a king of hearts.
He blew out a breath and then tossed a two of spades down before taking the trick. “I think Ocean wanted someone in his camp who had no connections or shred of loyalty to his father. Who better than a stranger in his debt?”
“So you really don’t think he cares about you?”
“I didn’t say that. Ocean is a good man. I wouldn’t work for him if he wasn’t, but I don’t let things get personal anymore.”
“Ah, right. Because of your real friends waiting for you back home,” I teased.
“You know I knew a headstrong girl like you once.” A fond smile appeared on his lips before he said, “You’d like her. She had a knack for driving me up the wall, too.”
“You loved her?”
Kellan shook his head. “Only as a sister. I mentioned that the Fola isn’t the first family I’ve served and survived, but what I didn’t say was that Ocean isn’t the first heir I’ve known to burn down his entire world for the woman he loves.
Or in Ocean’s case, the women he loves.” Kellan waggled his brows.
“So…how did it end?”
The knot in Kellan’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and the cards crumbled a little in his fist. “He sacrificed himself for her.”
“Oh…” Well, that doesn’t sound promising. I placed my hand on Kellan’s arm. Considering how lean he appeared, I was surprised to feel so much muscle there. “He died?”
Kellan’s lips flattened as he pondered his cards. “Worse. Prison.”
I wanted to pry some more, but talking about it didn’t seem to be helping Kellan, so I forced myself to let it drop and tossed down three of spades. “So…he’s the friend you mentioned?”
“They both are.” It was Kellan’s turn to play a card, but he didn’t notice. His mind had already drifted off somewhere far away—to home.
“You miss them.”
He blinked as if startled and then answered hoarsely, “Yeah.”
“So why don’t you do something about it?” I gave him a gentle nudge. “I’m sure they miss you, too.”
“Because I left Chicago for a reason,” Kellan answered. “I’m not going back until I find what I’m looking for.”
“And what is it that?”
His green eyes turned hard as he stared down at his cards. “Revenge,” he answered coldly.
Whoa. Kellan’s blond-dyed hair swung in his face, so he cursed and ripped off the rubber band around his wrist. I watched him pull his hair, which had grown to a considerable length since I met him, into a messy top knot.
“The douchey man bun look suits you,” I remarked.
Kellan snorted and tossed down a card. “Thanks.”
We played another round before my eyes started to grow heavy. I told Kellan I was calling it a night and stood from the stool. He nodded, shrugged on his leather jacket, and then left the house to do his usual patrol around the grounds since it was just us.
No guards.
Ocean had been too paranoid after Roshaun to trust that any one of them wasn’t feeding information back to his father.
We weren’t completely helpless, though. I’ve been keeping up with my training with Abel, so if anything popped off, I’d be more than ready.
I heard the mudroom door slam behind Kellan as I left the kitchen—Coco weaving between my ankles—and walked down the gallery beneath the skylight and vaulted ceiling. The house was massive and all on one level, excluding the basement Ocean had deemed off-limits to Coby and me.
Searching for Coby, I headed to the master bedroom when I couldn’t find her anywhere else and stepped inside to find her without a stitch of clothing on.
She was lying on her stomach across the four-poster bed with a sensual smile on her lips, and I knew without a doubt that she’d been waiting for me.
“I thought for dessert you could have me,” she invited sweetly.
Smiling, I reached for my shirt to pull it over my head as I took one eager step toward the bed.
Before I could reach her, though, the lights went out.