Chapter 15
Nirvana
Thorsen
“Say hi to Vic for me,” I mimicked, rolling my eyes and throwing an empty pack of gum out of the car window.
You’re littering.
Well, screw you, voice in my head. I have bigger problems than that.
Seriously, what was wrong with me? First, I almost kissed Carter, which meant I had a serious issue with my self-control. Second, ten minutes after he’d left, I went to his apartment because I kept wondering what they were doing. When I heard music coming from inside and Vicky laughing, I left with clenched fists. So, no wonder I was in a foul mood. And littering.
And he was there with her. Now. And they were probably in bed and—
I shook my head with a grimace. No, don’t go there.
Instead, I sent him a text.
Me: Is Nirvana still on for one o’clock?
There. I hoped it would interrupt him in whatever he was doing.
The reply was immediate.
Carter: Yes.
We agreed to meet at one o’clock and visit that gay bar where we hoped to find Luz, but I wondered if Carter was even going to show up. Would I show up if I were balls-deep inside him? Not for the world.
When a car door opened, I flinched and reached for my gun, only to see Carter standing outside.
“What the hell, man?” I exclaimed as he sat in the passenger seat. “You scared the shit out of me. I almost shot you.”
“We agreed to meet, remember?”
“Yeah, but you’re early. It’s not even midnight.”
He looked at me and frowned. “What crawled up your ass?”
I opened a new pack of gum and tossed a piece of gum into my mouth before starting the car.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You were a cuddly bear when I left you. Now, you’re more like a rabid dog.”
“My cheek hurts,” I lied.
He raised his hand and touched my face.
“Have you iced it?”
“Ne me touche pas,” I muttered, slapping his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
For all I knew that hand could have been in a vagina not so long ago.
“Wow,” Carter said, cocking his eyebrows. “I have never seen you like this.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like an asshole. “But it really hurts.”
My heart.
“When we get back home, you’re coming to my apartment. I have some ice packs that should help.”
“Are you sure Vic won’t mind?” I said sulkily. “By the way, where is she? Waiting for you in your bed?”
“Not as such. She has a fashion show tomorrow. She went home to get some rest.”
“So, no action for you tonight?”
“My action is none of your business,” he replied, scrolling through his phone.
He didn’t look like a guy who just got laid. Why? First, he smelled like himself and not like her. Maybe he even smelled a little like me because I hugged him earlier. Second, he had a semi, which I noticed while ogling him. The guy who just got some wouldn’t have a semi. Or would he? It made me realize that I had a semi too, so I covered my lap with my arm to hide the fact.
Still, it was enough for me to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” I said with a sigh. “We walk into Nirvana and ask around for a guy with blue hair, or...? Not that guys with dyed hair are rare these days. Our chances are slim.”
“Yeah, but we’re looking for a provocative guy who likes attention. Maybe he helps us out on his own.”
As expected, the club was crowded and filled with rowdy people, mostly same-sex couples. The dance floor was packed, smelling like perfume and sweat. I could even distinguish the aroma of cannabis coming from a distance.
“Low profile, okay?” I murmured, looking around.
Carter smirked. “With the size of you, I wouldn’t bet on it. By the way, the owner of this building is Bryce ‘The Bomber’ Krakowski. I arrested his brother for multiple homicides, and now he’s serving a life sentence in Grangetown.”
“Your point being?”
“The Bomber is the one who crashed my car. If he sees me, he will shoot. If you spot a guy built like a bull with dreadlocks and yellow contacts, make sure your gun is close.”
“That’s just great, Carter. Is there anyone who likes you in this town?”
“Yeah. You.”
“Not lately,” I said, stepping toward the guy on the roller skates passing by us. “Excuse me, have you seen a man with blue hair here tonight?”
“Are you sure you don’t prefer blondes?” The guy said, wrapping his finger around the strand of his long, blond hair. “I love your accent, by the way. Are you French?”
“Have you seen this man or not?” Carter snapped.
“I have not, handsome. Do you prefer blondes by any chance? I have a feeling that you do.”
“Are you going to arrest him, or should I?” Carter said, rubbing his forehead.
I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him after me. “We don’t have time for that. I saw someone with blue hair in that corner over there.”
“I’ll be the one doing the talking.”
“No, you won’t, partner.”
“Why not? And why are you so cranky tonight?”
“Because you annoy me.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to…”
Hug you. Kiss you. Fuck your ass. Cuddle.
“Get some rest when this damn day ends,” I said instead. “I almost got knifed today. Some asshole punched me in the face. The chief yelled at me. And—”
“Oh, shit.”
“Oh, shit, what?”
Carter made a face. “The Bomber just came inside. Fuck. We should—”
“Run?” I said, reaching for my gun. “If he shoots here, people are going to die.”
“No, let’s just…”
I looked around at the couples groping each other, contemplating something.
“I have an idea,” I said. “But you won’t like it.”
“If it involves guns—”
I gripped his face and slammed my lips on his.
And that was it. The final mistake. The final fuck-up. The one I was compelled to make to save his ass. To hide him. And to scratch that itch that has been itching me since the moment I met him.
When I grabbed him, he stumbled because I wasn’t exactly gentle, and he lost his footing. He collided with a barstool as I pushed him backward until the bar obstructed the view of us. And as I held his face and used my body to hide him, I licked the seam of his lips. Just one lick, I told myself, but it wasn’t enough. After one lick, I needed one taste, too. When his lips parted, I let my tongue slide between them. I searched for his tongue with mine, and when I found it, wet and hot, I almost lost my balance. He tasted like heaven—no other way to describe it. Something fresh and watery, with a hint of strawberry, like those bonbons with a fruity center he chewed on sometimes.
I would have stopped then. I swear I would have, but then he let out a low moan, and it was the sweetest sound in existence. When he slammed me against the wall, I braced myself for a punch, but it never came. Instead, his tongue licked at mine, a slow, tentative lick that made my dick turn into a fucking stone. I licked him back as our lips moved, fusing together so perfectly it blew my mind. Our hands didn’t roam, nor did our hips move. Only our mouths caressed while our tongues indulged in slow, sensual licks. It was like the most fantastic, lascivious, gentlest, the most torturous fucking imaginable turned into a kiss. We kissed and turned it into an orgy.
And as we kissed, the room around me faded. The sounds were next to vanish until perfect silence took over. It was like calm before the storm. A deep breath before the races. The last shred of decency before the filth took over. The problem was I couldn’t get enough of him. I couldn’t kiss him deep enough, or hard enough. I couldn’t taste him enough. His lips were too sweet, his tongue too slippery. He was hunting for something too, so no wonder we made a mess of things with our teeth clashing and our mouths devouring. No wonder that kiss went from gentle to in-fucking-appropriate in a millisecond. No wonder it became clumsy, uncivilized, and painful even. I would arrest someone else for a kiss like that, but I was too busy chasing that strawberry-tasting drop of saliva on his tongue. I couldn’t think, not with the blood pounding in my ears and my balls tightening, threatening to erupt.
And we wouldn’t have stopped, either. Fuck, I wouldn’t have stopped until I fucking climaxed if it weren’t for the voice in my vicinity that penetrated the lust clouding my mind.
“Yo, you two, get a room. Are you making a porno, or what? Geez!”
I could feel myself coming down from a high, but it was a leisurely ride. The room slowly reappeared around me… first the flashing lights, then the walls, and finally the crowd. The sounds returned, too… the music, the shouting, the laughter. I reluctantly let go of the sweetest lips I’ve ever tasted, but not before catching the bottom lip with my teeth and giving it a slow, teasing tug. His tongue darted out for one more hungry lick, and then he pulled away as well.
When jungle green eyes met mine, they weren’t green anymore. They were golden, and yellow, and orange, and amber, as if someone poured gasoline over them and set them on fire. And those lips I just made a meal of were wet and red and swollen, just like the tip of my throbbing dick against the damp front of my underwear.
When the guy with dreadlocks came into view, I sobered enough to grab Carter’s hand and pull him after me.
“The Bomber is behind you. Don’t turn around.”
We ran down the narrow, crowded hall until we reached the door that led to the balcony. I opened it and looked over the railing, scanning the distance to the ground. It wasn’t that bad.
“You jump first,” I said, glancing behind me. “I’ll keep watch.”
After Carter did what I said, I jumped too, landing on the street next to him. I was scrambling to my feet, still dizzy from that kissing orgy, when a fist hit my face. For a moment, everything turned black because it was a mean punch, and my head flew to the side with force. When I felt blood in my mouth, I spat it out, wondering if I still had all my teeth.
“What the fuck was that?” Carter exclaimed, his voice filled with shock and… horror?
I looked at him, wiping the blood off my mouth with the back of my hand. His jungle greens seemed wild. His face was pale, but his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.
Before I could answer, he pulled out his gun.
“Whoa,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “Calm down.”
“What the fuck was that?” he said, wide-eyed.
“I was improvising,” I replied, trying to explain. “The Bomber was right behind you, so I had to do something.”
“Something?” he shouted. “Something?”
I was in pain. And horny. And perhaps a little angry. Certainly not in the mood to argue.
“It’s no big deal,” I said with a sigh. “Haven’t you worked undercover? It usually requires all kinds of… improvisation.”
My nose tickled, and I wiped it with the back of my hand, only to realize it was the blood running out of my nostril. So, he broke my nose too? Worth it. So worth it.
“Yes, I have worked undercover,” he growled. “But I’m not working undercover now, am I?”
I laughed bitterly. “That’s just great. That’s the thanks I get for saving your ass, asshole.”
He raised his gun higher. “Are you for real right now?”
“Okay, okay,” I said, staring at the barrel of the gun. “I’m sorry for calling you an asshole, and I’m sorry for kissing you.”
“God don’t say it out loud,” he whined. “You’re making it worse.”
I licked the cut in my lip. “What’s the big deal? It was just pretending.”
“Pret—” He paused, gritting his teeth. “What about this?
When he waved his gun in the general area of my crotch, my cheeks warmed.
“It’s just my body’s reaction, which is perfectly natural,” I mumbled, looking away. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
Would it help if I told him he had an obvious erection at this very moment? Or that he kissed me back? Probably not. No. I needed a diversion, especially with that gun pointed at my face.
“If you must know, I was thinking about Shelley,” I said, keeping a blank face.
It was the wrong thing to say, because now he looked even more pissed.
“Don’t you dare say it,” he bit out. “Take it back.”
“I won’t take it back,” I said, smiling sweetly. “And you’re an asshole.”
“Touch me again, and you’re dead.”
“As if. And for the record, I won’t save your life again, either.” I walked up to him and yelled into his face. “For the last time. I was trying to protect you, you egomaniacal prick.”
“I don’t need your protection,” he said, walking away. “Dickhead.”
And now he was leaving? Just great.
“Where are you going?” I said, rolling my eyes. “You can’t walk back home at this time of night. It’s too far away.”
“Watch me.”
“Dom, stop. Please. Get in the car. Don’t be a child.”
“Fuck off.”
When he disappeared behind the corner, I rested my arms on my hips, shaking my head in frustration.
“Fuck.”
Carter
Only when I reached the main street did I realize I still had a gun in my hand. I tucked it into the holster, ignoring the fact that my hands were shaking.
What the fuck just happened? I couldn’t remember it properly, as if someone fucked with my mind and then lobotomized me. Everything was just a… blur. The crowded club. Soft lips on mine. The taste of peppermint, hitting my brain like in those TV ads for chewing gum. Heat. Teeth. Mouth sucking on my tongue as if it were a fucking lollipop. And then a blank, as if my mind blocked it out.
Tye Thorsen was a strange bird. I was willing to give him that. He was impulsive, reckless, and rash at times. Still, this was the worst diversion he could think of. And no, I didn’t have a problem kissing a guy, but I had a problem kissing him. I always felt a little weird around him, as if there was some kind of screwed-up chemistry between us that always kept me on my toes. To make things more awkward, he was sporting an erection. I knew I shouldn’t blame him for it, but I blamed him because all of this shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
When I knocked on Vic’s door, I was still shaking.
“Hey, darling,” she said after opening the door, looking surprised. “What hap—”
I grabbed her by the waist and slammed my lips on hers.
A soft gasp escaped her as I pushed her inside and closed the door with my foot. I pinned her against the wall and pushed her PJs down her hips when she broke the kiss, panting.
“Carter, you’re hurting me.”
I loosened my grip even before she spoke because she tasted like perfume, and it distracted me.
“What has gotten into you?” she said, staring at me in disbelief. “You never behaved like this before.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’m… I wasn’t thinking.”
“What happened?”
“I had an awful fucking night.”
It was an understatement. We missed the chance to catch Luz, and then I got kissed senseless by a lunatic in a pink shirt and ripped jeans.
“I’m sorry, Carter, but I need to rest,” Vic said with an apologetic look on her face. “It’s an important day for me tomorrow, and I need my beauty sleep. You understand, don’t you?”
I reprimanded myself for being an ass. “Of course. I’m sorry. I’ll go.”
She giggled, looking down at my crotch. “Do you want me to take care of Mr. Naughty before you go?”
I followed her gaze, only to realize that my pants were tented. Lately, it seemed as if I had a perpetual hard-on and half the time I didn’t even notice. Honestly, what was wrong with me?
“No need,” I replied, trying to salvage some of my pride. “Talk to you tomorrow, yeah?”
“Of course. Oh, by the way... Was Tye with you tonight? Was he the one who got you so upset?”
I forced a smile. “No. I was alone. It had nothing to do with him.”