Chapter Sixteen – Laina #2
“Is it wrong for me to be excited to spend the night with you?” I asked, sounding way more innocent than I had any right to be. “Even if said night will be in the woods, outside somewhere?”
“Not at all. You’re not the only one who’s excited.
This—” His hands gripped the wheel harder, so hard his knuckles turned white.
“—has been a long time coming. Just you and me. Well, you, me, and the mask.” He glanced at me, a knowing twinkle in his pitch-black stare. “Assuming you still want the mask?”
“Is that even a question?”
Kieran chuckled. “Of course, silly me. Don’t worry, I brought it.”
The mere thought of my Devil making an appearance tonight sent a shiver down my spine, and that shiver didn’t stop there. Oh, no. Let’s just say that shiver went to other places, too, places he was probably thinking a lot about lately.
“How is being back home with dear old daddy again?” he asked me.
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. What about you? Have you talked to your dad?” I shouldn’t have brought the man up, but since he’d been on the forefront of my mind these past few days, I couldn’t help it.
Kieran grunted. “It’s different with mine.
We were never… close. He was always working.
I spent most of my time growing up with Tessa, making sure she didn’t get into too much trouble.
” He seemed to think about that. “Well, I guess it’d be better to say she threw all her troubles at me and expected me to deal with them—and I did.
For so long I did, and I never complained, never saw anything wrong with it. ”
“Until?”
“You, obviously.”
I grinned to myself, waiting a few moments for his words to sink in before I said, “So you don’t think you’ll reconnect with daddy while he’s here?”
He groaned. “Please, I will do anything you want as long as you never call him that again.”
“Why does it bother you so much? Hate to be the one to break it to you, but he definitely gives off daddy energy.”
“I think I need to pull over. I’m going to be sick.”
His comment made me giggle. “Come on. Stop exaggerating.”
“Exaggerating? Me? I would never.” He sounded totally dramatic and aghast when he said that last part. “I am one hundred percent serious all the time. I never make jokes. I don’t even know what a joke is—”
“Funny, that’s what I’m always trying to tell you: you aren’t as funny as you think you are.”
He held a single hand over his heart and muttered, “Ouch. Big talk for a girl who’s begging me to chase her through the woods.
Maybe I’ll let you go and just leave you there—” All I could do was stare at him, which forced him to say, “Okay, I’d never do that.
If, however, you call him that one more time, I might just have to resort to patricide. ”
Another laugh bubbled from my throat. “You wouldn’t kill your dad.”
His brows lifted. “Wouldn’t I? You met him, what, twice, and you’re practically obsessed.” He threw me a knowing look. “I know exactly what’s going on in that head of yours, and I don’t like it.”
“You can read thoughts now? Do tell, what am I thinking about when it comes to Daddy Miller?” I laced my fingers together and rested my chin on them, angling my face toward Kieran as I waited for his reply.
“I’d rather not say it out loud,” he mumbled.
I dropped my hands to my lap and laughed. “You are being ridiculous.”
“Am I? Or are you the ridiculous one for having a crush on the man who gave me life?” As if it wasn’t already clear, he had to add, “The man who gave Tessa life? Hmm? Think about that, why don’t you?
You really want to have a crush on the man who’s responsible for one of your boyfriends being alive and the woman who’s currently making your life miserable? To me, it doesn’t really make sense.”
With a shrug, I said, “I’m sorry, but your dad is hot. I have eyes. I bet most of the women who see him think he’s hot. Plus, he had you guys when he was young. He’s… a fine specimen of a man.”
“I’m sorry, should I give him a call and see if he wants to join us tonight?” Kieran deadpanned.
“Would you?” I waited only a second before saying, “I’m kidding. Mostly.”
With a hard sigh, he asked me, “Do Mike and Fang know how obsessed you are with my father?”
“I think Mike has an idea, and Fang… he knows, for sure.”
He scoffed. “I bet Fang would be more than okay with you getting down with him, too. I, on the other hand, would have to vomit. Repeatedly. Mike would… well, I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what Mike would do, but I bet he wouldn’t be too thrilled about it.
He’s still not a fan of sharing you with me. ”
Kieran reached for me, and I let him take my left hand. He ran his thumb over my knuckles, the warmth of his skin on mine leaving a trail of fire everywhere that thumb went. “It doesn’t matter right now. You’re mine for the night, Laina, all mine.”
My eyelids fluttered shut as he said that to me, and a calm breath flowed from my lungs. Hearing him say that made me feel so at peace, I’d go to the ends of the earth with him, if he asked me to.
Of course, I’d have to bring Fang and Mike with me, but that was beside the point.
And when it came to Jason… you couldn’t blame a girl for having a pipe dream, even if it was a little weird and would make everything so much more complicated. The man was the very definition of lick-able.
We ended up stopping at a restaurant a good hour and a half away from the city, far enough that there was no way in hell anyone would recognize us.
Kieran’s two seconds of fame ended a long time ago, while mine had slowly faded into the past—though the hair and contacts helped mask the little girl who emerged from her two-year kidnapping.
After the restaurant, when we were getting close to our destination, I had to say, “You’re going to give me a little head start, right?” I didn’t eat too much for dinner; wanted to be able to run at full speed if I had to. You know, to make this hunt last, give him a good challenge.
“Is this you telling me you need a head start?” He grinned at me. “How about… ten seconds? That sounds fair to me.”
“Oh, come on. Ten seconds is barely enough for me to get ten feet away. You’ll still have your eyes on me. No. I want at least a few minutes.”
“A few minutes? Damn. Anything else you need, Princess?” He mockingly used Fang’s pet name for me, probably in an effort to make fun of both me and Fang, but given the subject matter, he only sounded sexy when he said it.
“You already know everything else I need.”
Kieran sighed. “Fine. I’ll give you a five-minute head start. How’s that sound?”
“Good. Oh, and just in case you get any ideas about tracking me, I’ll be leaving my phone in the car.” After certain comments he’d made to me in the past about tracking me through my phone, I didn’t want to make it too easy for him. Tonight would be a good, old-fashioned hunt.
“Challenge accepted. This is going to be fun.” Night had fallen as we drove along the backroads with hardly a car in sight, but I could still detect the twinkle in his tone, one that I knew mirrored the same twinkle in his eyes. I wasn’t the only one looking forward to tonight.
Tonight… it really had been a long time coming.
A long, long time. While I’d fallen into a routine with Fang and Mike, it’d been harder with Kieran, in more ways than one.
Sylvester had kept him insanely busy, but that wasn’t the only issue we faced.
I hated that I’d been so caught up in my own thoughts when it came to him.
My Devil.
Tonight my Devil would make me his again, remind me of that delicious possessiveness I knew dwelled just beneath the surface, simmering, always waiting to be unleashed.
I wore comfortable shoes that were good for running, ones I didn’t mind if they got muddy.
Same with the rest of my clothes. I might not have looked too sexy, but the goal for tonight wasn’t to dress to impress.
Oh, no. Kieran would give chase, and I’d put up a fight.
It was definitely going to be a lot of fun.
We neared our destination, and Kieran pulled us off the side road, onto a dirt path. I had no idea how he found this place, and I didn’t care. I was too excited to look the gift horse in the mouth. Tonight I’d take life by the balls.
A few minutes passed, and Kieran slowed the car to a stop. He shut it off, then turned toward me. “You ready?”
I smiled from ear to ear. If I smiled any harder, my cheeks would hurt. “Hell yeah. Are you?”
“Laina, maybe I haven’t been dreaming of this particular night, but I’ve been waiting an eternity to have you again.
Fulfilling one of your fantasies in the process is just a bonus.
” As strange as the subject matter was, Kieran really did sound like he meant it—and why wouldn’t he?
Beneath that grinning exterior was my Devil, waiting to emerge and take control.
I set my phone in the compartment inside the door, tucked away so it could be forgotten about.
We got out of the car, and we both walked around to the trunk.
He lifted the trunk door and reached inside.
Though I couldn’t see a thing since it was so dark, the trees around us were tall and plentiful, blocking out the light of the moon, I heard him unzip a bag.
My heart skipped a beat as I took a step back and watched him pick something up.
His mask. The devil mask that looked like it belonged in a school’s drama department in the eighties. Old, scuffed, black as the night itself. Small horns on its forehead. Only eyeholes and two small holes for the nose.
Even though my eyes hadn’t quite adjusted to the darkness, I still sucked in a hard breath when he picked that mask up. Talk about a blast from the past. I thought I was ready to see it again; I’d been dying for him to don that mask again now that I knew who he was underneath.