Chapter 4
Diablo
I arrive at the diner five minutes early and decide to wait outside, choosing to watch her clear a table through the windows instead of going in. There’s no plan here, even earlier in the diner I didn’t know what I was doing. I told the guys I was going to pay her for the food before we left.
But after I’d watched her all night; the way she chatted with the old guy over pie, seeing her giving him that open laugh and smile she uses with Donovan and the others, and then the view of her in that fucking uniform, showing all of her curves. Shit, I just wanted to be close to her again.
When that pendejo Brian interrupted us, I could have killed him.
All I could smell was the vanilla coming from her hair, and I know my words were affecting her, then he had to go and fucking ruin it.
It was probably a good thing though, otherwise I might have never found out that she walks or catches the bus home.
What the fuck is she thinking? What is Donovan thinking? He must know she works here, how does he think she’s getting home? Doesn’t he know how dangerous this neighborhood is? My anger is building again, so I take a couple of deep breaths; then I’m distracted by the sound of the doors.
She comes to a stop in front of me and crosses her arms.
“I’m surprised you showed, I’d hoped you might have been messing with me again,” she says.
I shake my head and hold out the spare helmet I brought for her.
“If I say I’m gonna do something, I do it, now get on.”
She doesn’t take the helmet, standing her ground instead.
I sigh. “Will you just take it and get on the bike. You usually walk or take the bus, coming with me is door-to-door service, you know it’s the better option.”
Reluctantly she takes the helmet and puts it on.
“Where to?” I ask, “I’m guessing Radbury Heights, but I don’t know which street you live on.”
“Don’t worry,” she scoffs, “you’re not going that far, I live in Midtown Apartments.”
“What? Are you sure you mean Midtown Apartments?”
“I think I know where I live, asshole,” she rolls her eyes and climbs onto the bike, keeping plenty of space between us so I can’t even feel her behind me.
“You’d better hold on, princess.”
“I am, to the bike, I’m sure it’s much safer than holding onto you.”
I laugh, kicking the bike to life and putting it into gear.
“You’re probably right,” I murmur, before heading out to the road.
Midtown Apartments isn’t far away, but as we ride through the streets with the homeless people and addicts hanging around, I’m terrified at the thought of her walking through this alone.
She must stand out like god knows what, a target for anyone.
Regardless of what happens next, I know I need to find a better way for her to get home.
Donovan would be devastated if something happened to her, and I’d never forgive myself.
I pull into the apartment complex and glance around, it’s fucking miserable. Old mattresses, broken down refrigerators and washers litter the parking lot. It’s empty, but I know the type of people who live in these apartments. Why the fuck is she living here?
Once I’m parked in a spot near a light, she climbs off before I even have a chance to cut the engine. She moves in front of me and shoves the helmet into my hands.
“Thanks for the ride,” she says, walking away.
“Hold up!” I call, and she stops. I take my time removing my helmet and climbing off the bike, before slowly walking towards her. “I thought we were gonna talk?”
“It’s 3 a.m. and I’ve just worked a six-hour shift, the same as I have since Monday. I’m not in the mood to talk to you right now.”
“Okay, so come by the clubhouse tomorrow, we’ll talk there in front of everyone else, or you can come to my room if you’d prefer privacy.”
I know the threat of people seeing us go to my room together, or even talking publicly at the clubhouse will get her to change her mind.
She sighs. “Fine, what do you want to talk about?”
I look around, appraising the parking lot.
“I’m not sure I feel safe out here, princess,” I smirk, “the least you could do is invite me inside where it’s warm.”
The muscles in her jaw clench, she probably wants to punch me in the face, and I kind of love that I can rile her up like this. I hold her gaze, not even hiding the fact that my eyes are dropping to her lips every now and then too.
“Fine, come on.”
She walks towards one of the stairwell entrances; the door opens without her entering a code, even though there’s a keypad there.
“No lock?” I ask.
“Hasn’t worked as long as I’ve lived here,” she says.
This isn’t safe, anyone could walk into the building. I know she’ll have the door to her apartment, but that isn’t going to slow anyone down. I hate the fact that she lives here and she’s so vulnerable.
We climb three flights of stairs in silence, and I don’t let myself get distracted by how good her ass looks in her skirt. Nope… not at all…
She turns onto a corridor when we reach her floor; the layout is pretty standard, we’re looking out over the parking lot, and the other side of the u-shaped building across from us. There are still lights on in some of the apartments but it’s mostly dark.
We stop in front of apartment 3F and she unlocks the door; just one lock, no deadbolt. For fuck’s sake, doesn’t she know anything? The thought of her sleeping here alone is making me clench my fists. Why isn’t she living on campus with Donovan?
She holds open the door and waves me in, locking it behind her but leaving the chain loose.
“Why not the chain? It’s safer with it on,” I say.
“Yeah, but I figure you’re not staying long so, what’s the point?”
She takes off her jacket and hangs it over the back of a dining chair before putting down her backpack. It’s just this one room; there’s one other door but through it there’s a shower unit, so I’m assuming it’s the bathroom.
The main space is filled with a small double bed, a couple of comfy pillows and a blanket sitting on top of the duvet.
There’s a large suitcase on the floor instead of a wardrobe or chest of drawers, and I can’t see a TV or radio anywhere, just a few piles of books dotted around the foot of her bed.
Where we’re standing is the kitchen, I say kitchen—it’s a single cabinet, an oven, fridge, and a sink, then a small table with two chairs, one now holding her jacket and bag.
I’m about to ask her about it but she speaks before I have a chance.
“So, what do you want?”
Elizabeth
I can’t believe I let him into my apartment, and all his weird questions about the locks, is he scoping the place out, or figuring out how long it will take someone to find my body after he’s killed me. I know, I’m catastrophizing, but I can’t help it.
I’m mostly embarrassed. Donovan is the only other person who knows I live here. He hates it, but knows I have no other choice, and if I’m ever scared or worried, I can call him anytime and he’ll be there for me, or if there’s shit going down here, he lets me stay in his dorm room.
The place isn’t safe; it’s why I carry everything I have of value with me all the time.
My backpack holds my phone, purse, laptop, and photo album, and they never leave my side.
The stuff I have in the apartment—clothes, books, and food—is all replaceable.
Diablo is looking around at my stuff, or lack thereof, and I need to distract him .
“So, what do you want?”
He faces me. “What do I want?”
“Yeah, you were the one so desperate to come here and talk, so talk.”
He chuckles. “Not sure why you’re getting so angry with me, princess. I should be the one demanding an explanation from you, if memory serves, it was you who kissed me.”
There’s a sensation low in my body as he mentions the kiss and I have a pretty graphic flashback of his lips on mine as I pressed my body into him. I clear my throat to distract myself.
“Yeah, and as soon as I did, I knew it was a mistake. I was pulling away to apologize when you grabbed me and kissed me back.”
“Nah, don’t put this back on me.” He’s shaking his head. “This was all you.”
“Oh my god, that’s what this is about. What, you’re angry that you kissed me back and broke one of your golden rules.”
“What are you talking about, golden rules?” he asks.
“Oh please, you think girls don’t talk, I know all about you.
” I mimic the girls who hang out at the clubhouse.
“Diablo doesn’t kiss, Diablo doesn’t go down, Diablo only fucks from behind.
Well get over yourself, it was a stupid kiss because of a stupid dare, you don’t have to worry about it ever happening again. Are we done now?”
He looks furious, livid. Angrier than I’ve ever seen him before. Shit… what have I done? I take a step back, further into my kitchen, but he follows, closing the gap between us.
“Nah princess, we’re not done yet.”
“Well, what else do you want?” The tremble in my voice is obvious even to me.
A couple more steps and he’s in front of me, as close as he can be without us touching.
I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze, just as I did in the closet, only this time it’s not dark.
His deep brown, almost black eyes, bore into me and I have to look away, instead letting my eyes fall to the stubble around his jaw, his mouth, his lips…
and he smells so fucking good too, like whiskey and leather.
“What do I want?” he asks, reaching out a hand and tucking a lose strand of hair behind my ear. It takes everything I have to stop my body visibly reacting to his touch. “I wanna kiss you again, but this time, I don’t wanna be interrupted.”
This must be one of his cruel jokes. With the spell broken I push him away as hard as I can.
“Very funny, you’re hilarious,” I say, laying the sarcasm on thick.
His face doesn’t change, instead he steps closer to me again.
“Does it look like I’m laughing?”
This has to be him messing with me, it must be. I push him away again, admittedly not as forcefully as before.
“Don’t fuck with me, Diablo. I mean it.”
“I’m not fucking with you,” he says, stepping in again, still not actually touching me.
I wait, not knowing what to believe anymore. I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not. Shit, I don’t even know what I want. Do I even want him to kiss me? I know the answer before the question has fully formed in my mind. Of course I want him to kiss me, but I shouldn’t.
He’s Diablo, I hate him. And worse, he’s my best friend’s brother.
God… Donovan leaves town and within a week I’ve started something with his older brother.
I cannot be that girl. I didn’t even tell Donovan what happened in the closet, I just told him that we’d argued, and Diablo pissed me off which is why I left in such a hurry .
“We can’t,” I whisper, so softly I’m surprised he can even hear me.
“Are you saying no?”
He might be an asshole, but I know that he’ll respect my answer.
I can say no, and he’ll leave, never bothering me again.
I should say no… instead, I’m still… and I’m quiet.
Watching his face, and the way that every now and then his eyes dart to my lips.
Feeling self-conscious, I roll my bottom lip in between my teeth.
He reaches his arms on either side of me, gripping the kitchen countertop.
“Don’t do that,” he says, his voice deeper than normal.
“Sorry, nervous habit,” I say softly, with no idea why I’m apologizing to him.
“You’re still doing it.”
He lifts his hand to my face, gently pulling my bottom lip out from between my teeth, running the pad of his thumb across it.
Fuck it.
I lick his thumb and gently suck it into my mouth.
It’s all the invitation he needs because the next thing I know I’m in his arms, his lips on mine, his hands gripping me anywhere he can reach.
I part my lips to let him in, and he groans before exploring me with his tongue.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him to me, reveling in the scent of his leather cut.
Needing more, I press my body into his, and he grinds into me in response; he’s hard already, just like in the closet.
It was at this point that the door had opened, but there’s no one here to interrupt us now.
That thought alone makes me realize what’s happening…
as incredible as this feels, the logic in me knows this can never end well.
I should stop this, but the thought of not having his hands and lips on me isn’t an option.
He trails kisses down my neck and across my throat, my head falls back and I release a moan as he gently nibbles at a spot on my neck that I love.
It drives him on, his hands move under my ass, lifting me into his arms. He’s stronger than he looks, usually it’s only bigger guys who bother to try and pick me up.
I wrap my legs around him, feeling his length pressing against me.
I’m placed on the kitchen table as he stands between my legs. His hands are exploring my body, cupping my breasts over the top of my t-shirt. My nipples harden even through my bra and he uses his thumbs to tease them, making me moan again.
He groans. “You feel so fucking good, princess.”
One of his hands leaves my breast and lowers between us, I guess he’s probably going for his fly, he thinks we’re going to fuck. What am I doing? This is Donovan’s brother. I can’t.
“Stop.”
He pulls back and steps away but looks at me with lust filled eyes; the fly on his jeans is still intact.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I have no idea what to say, how to even begin to explain this, I just know that this can’t happen.
“You need to leave,” I say, but the worry on his face makes me feel bad. “I’ve got morning classes, they start at 9 a.m. and I need to sleep.”
He nods his head before giving me that smug smile he wears so well.
“So, are we doing this again soon?”
How the fuck is he so calm?
My whole body feels like it’s on fire and my brain is barely working, and he’s just standing there like he’s waiting for a fucking bus.
I don’t know how to answer him, so I force myself to walk to the door, making sure to give him a wide berth and keeping my head down as I pass.
Unlocking the door, I hold it open for him and wait.
He smirks and walks through, looking back once he’s out in the corridor.
“We need to keep this between us,” I say, before I close the door, lock it, and put the chain on as quickly as I can.
I rest my head against the door until I hear his footsteps disappear down the corridor.
Shit.