Chapter 6
Now that it was early evening, Ernie’s was much busier.
Vehicles crammed the lot, mostly trucks sprayed in mud and bits of grass.
Violet’s stomach tightened. She took a deep breath, grabbed the package of alligator meat, and got out.
No sign of any of her family’s vehicles. They were probably lying low, plotting.
A hand clamped over her arm, and she screamed. Her Dragon vibrated through her as she spun around, ready to whack her assailant with the package.
Kade met her motion with his upturned palm. “Whoa.”
“Is that what they teach you in the Guard, to sneak up on people and grab them?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
He wasn’t wearing the standard Vega clothing, dressed instead in blue jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt with long sleeves. And he didn’t look the least bit apologetic.
She hmphed. “Don’t touch me again, or I’ll unleash my Dragon on you.” Not that it had worked out so well last time. Wrestling in the mud with him—naked!—had been quite humiliating. And the aftermath…best not to go there. “What are you doing here? How’d you find me?”
“I was coming back and saw you pull in.”
He’d come back. It hit her then, which hopefully meant the Guard was now going to cooperate.
“What did your boss say?” she asked.
The fog in his eyes darkened, like swirling smoke. “I’m here in an unofficial capacity.”
She nodded. “So, the Guard is willing to let war erupt here. Nice.” She let her gaze draw down his unofficial self. “And you’re here for…?”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about him being here. Without the power of the Guard, what could he do? Part of her did appreciate his presence, but she was ignoring it.
“I want to get to the bottom of this.” He nodded to the building. “You here for a drink?”
“Gods, no. The only time I come here is to help carry out one of my drunk family members. Or for information. You…can’t go in there,” she finished as he headed toward the entrance.
“Because I’m Deuce?” He kept walking, forcing her to catch up to him.
“And an outsider.”
He linked his arm with hers. “But I have connections.” His smile almost made her forget what a bad idea this was.
She pulled him to a stop, untangling her arm from his. “If they recognize you as a Vega, there will be even more trouble. You’re way outnumbered in there, and even as Dragon, I won’t be able to protect you.”
His smile grew even warmer, and he rubbed the back of his knuckles down her cheek. “You going to protect me, my fierce Dragon babe?”
She stumbled back. “Look, we had that…moment earlier, but I am not losing my head like that again. So no touching me, and no calling me babe.”
He still wore that smile. “I know what that moment was about, so don’t sweat it.”
She blinked, surprised because she had no idea what it was about and she had participated in it. “What was it?”
“Comfort sex. Not that we got to the sex part, but you needed comfort. And I was handy.”
And yummy and hot and… “Yeah, that was it. Sure, that explains a lot.” But it didn’t really, because she had been righteously aroused, which had nothing to do with wanting comfort.
“So, you don’t have to look at me like I’m going to eat you.” He arched one eyebrow. “Or kiss you again.”
Gods, why did he have to say it like that? “Yeah, you did kiss me. And…a lot more. What’s your excuse?”
That smile disappeared. Interesting. She thought he’d be all cocky or patronizing, like I just wanted to make you feel better.
What a great guy I am, huh? But no, he looked unsettled.
And she remembered that he’d seemed just as shocked by what had exploded between them.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish I knew. All I can tell you is that it won’t happen again. ”
She felt some relief at the confident tone of his voice. “No, it won’t.”
“Let’s focus on the matter at hand. I haven’t had reason to deal with Fringers in recent years, so they may not recognize me. I can do a couple of things to help matters.”
He scrubbed his fingers through his hair, moving his part to the side and mussing it in general.
It made him look like he’d just gotten out of bed, which only complemented his bedroom eyes.
Then he waved his fingers in front of his eyes and, amazingly, Dragon flames ignited in them.
The sight tightened her throat and woke her Dragon.
Purr…
“How’d you create…that illusion.” She’d never seen a Deuce do that before, not that she was around many of them. “All right, since you have an answer for everything, how do I explain you?”
He arched one eyebrow. “Booty call weekend?”
She shoved him, not that he moved much. “You think I go around telling everyone I hook up with out-of-town guys?” She rubbed her finger across her mouth in thought. “But yeah, maybe you’re someone I met in Naples while on business, my—”
“Lover. We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since we met at the—”
“Landscape nursery where I was buying plants. You work there. And we’re just friends.”
He was watching her finger move across her lips. “We’re more than friends if you’re bringing me here.”
We’re more than friends, reverberated inside her. “Fine. But no hands all over. What happens in the Fringe stays in the Fringe. For-friggin’-ever. It’s why I don’t date Fringers. Usually things don’t work out, and it’s awkward every time you see the person.”
“Is that where the booty call weekends come in?”
She let out an exasperated sound. “They’re not booty call weekends. I don’t go looking for a hookup. I travel all over Florida to find new accounts.”
“Accounts for what?”
“My jewelry business. Running the books for the farm is my obligation, and I don’t mind doing it, but my passion is designing and making jewelry.
I started taking weekend trips to visit small galleries and jewelry shops to see if I could actually sell my products.
I now have a dozen shops who carry my pieces, and I’m adding more all the time.
Crescent-owned shops started requesting specific jewelry, like the gods’ symbols. ”
Kade gave her a that’s cool kind of nod. “Mia wears a piece with the symbol of Linnea, Deuce goddess of order and chaos. One of yours?”
“Maybe.” She gave him a devilish smile. “Wouldn’t that just kill her to know she was wearing something I, a lowly Castanega Fringer, made?” She touched the pendant at her throat. “These are my most popular, the symbol I created for Crescents.”
Which invited him to lean close and take the pendant in his fingers to study the crescent moon with a diamond at the bottom point. Enough that she felt his body heat and the brush of his hair against her chin. His scent awakened her Dragon, awakened parts of her better left dormant.
All his attention was on the pendant. “It’s simple but elegant.”
She cleared her throat. “Exactly what I was aiming for. Mundanes like them too, even if they don’t know the meaning. I call my business Luca, after the high god who oversaw Lucifera.”
He rubbed his thumb across the gold, then met her gaze. “Your passion shows.”
She couldn’t breathe for a moment. There was something compelling about the word passion coming out of that made-for-sin mouth that was a fraction of an inch away from hers.
The insane urge to trace her finger across his fine scar that did indeed make him look a bit dangerous assailed her.
She stepped back, reclaiming the pendant. And her sanity.
“I want to hear more about the booty call part of these weekends,” he said.
Damn Jessup for having to say that within earshot of Kade.
“While I’m traveling, I occasionally meet someone at the hotel who doesn’t know about Castanegas or the Fringe. Or Crescents.”
“A Mundane?”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. Very ordinary, but still…”
“I get it. For a weekend, you’re someone else. No one judges you.”
“It’s not that I’m ashamed of who I am. I just need a break from the judgment.
And I don’t meet a guy every time I’m out of town.
I’m not desperate. It’s got to be the right guy, the right situation.
” Though for the life of her, she couldn’t remember any of them at the moment.
She tilted her head. “You sound like you’ve been judged.
But you’re the top of the Crescent heap.
” And gorgeous, confident. Sexy as hell.
He nodded toward the building. “As a Vega, I’m judged here.” He tugged his sleeve down to cover the tip of his dagger.
“True. I guess I never thought about that.”
“You judged me the same way I judged you, isn’t that right?”
“I guess it’s a mutual disdain thing. We should go in now.”
She headed to the door, and he fell in line beside her. “Is there one particular guy you hook up with during these weekends? Or a guy you’ve met up with more than once?”
“Now you’re just getting nosy.”
He shrugged but didn’t look the least bit chagrined. “It’s my nature.” He gave her time to answer. When she didn’t, he nodded toward her hand. “What’s in the package?”
“Alligator meat. I threw it in as incentive for Marshall, the Peregrine patriarch, to meet me. I happen to know he’s a big fan of it.”
He wrinkled his nose, which made him look adorable. “I suppose it tastes like chicken?”
“Better than chicken.” She started heading to the building again. “Marshall isn’t going to talk with you there.”
Kade slung his arm over her shoulders. “I’ll be the distracted guy, just hanging around, not really paying attention. But I’ll be paying careful attention, trust me.”
He oozed lazy casualness, making her wonder what the real Kade Kavanaugh was like.
Dedicated Vega, for sure. Totally sexy, a little bit playful, and extremely adept with his tongue—don’t go there.
Gods, a tantalizing combination of male.
Dedicated enough to investigate the murders on his own time, and for that she was grateful.
Now all she had to do was not let herself get too grateful.
Because his arm across her shoulders and the proprietary way he pulled her close to his side as they entered the bar felt nice. Very nice.