Chapter Two
Inferno
Lord, the woman could kiss.
She tasted like us-against-the-world and that attitude appealed to me on a level I couldn’t explain, even to myself. For the first time since Noose had been killed helping to rescue Oktober’s woman, I felt a spark of life back in my soul.
There were some nerves in her. I’d watched her weighing her decisions, and she knew this wasn’t her smartest move.
I also could see her hurting and knew that rejecting her right now would do more than bruise her ego.
Had she said something about her birthday?
I couldn’t remember. Especially not when her nimble tongue darted out and found mine with a little flick.
This wasn’t about her ex. Not really. At least, I thought this was more about her fighting back.
If she’d truly been the man-eater her dress implied, I was fucked.
But I didn’t think so. She didn’t have that look about her.
I kissed her back anyway, letting her lead but giving her encouragement along the way.
When I opened my eyes hers were closed and a dreamy smile filled her face.
Her fingers curled in my shirt possessively. When she finally opened her eyes they were wide and glassy with adrenaline. I felt the tremor under all that bravado she pushed to the front.
“You don’t have to --” she started, voice rough with the scrape of what she’d done.
“I know,” I said, and waited. She didn’t get up. If anything, she settled her weight more firmly against my body. Her right hand found my left forearm, and her thumb traced the old latticework of burns and tattoos there like the texture soothed her somehow.
“Thank you for playing along,” she said.
I shook my head. “You make your own rules tonight, birthday girl.” I grinned at her and she seemed to like my answer.
Her wrap slipped off one shoulder when she reached for her beer, and that’s when I saw the old burn marks.
Oven rack, maybe? Something horizontal and linear.
They were mostly pale lines, but one looked more recent than the others.
“I’m Juniper,” she said finally, giving me the name.
“Inferno.”
The ex made a show of laughing with the blonde but kept his eyes on us.
The woman in his arms saw it and stiffened, glancing our way with a concerned look.
Darby, who had never cared for drama unless she was the cause, sipped a beer.
She stood next to Sully now, and they both focused squarely on me.
I looked back at Juniper. “Anything you wanted for your birthday, sweetheart?” I let my mouth graze her ear, breathing her in.
She shivered but didn’t let go of me. Good.
The world could burn to ash for all I cared.
As long as she kept her body pressed to me, I’d watch it burn and laugh.
I was surprised at how good she felt. Even the club whores hadn’t interested me lately.
Sure, Noose’s death had affected me -- had affected all of us -- but with all my brothers finding old ladies, I found I longed for a woman of my own, not a warm body in my bed.
“You’re not what I expected,” she murmured, voice rough, that bravado slipping the more she settled into my hold. “But you’re good at this.”
I huffed a laugh. “Yeah? I got a lot more tricks up my sleeve.” I curled my arm tighter around her waist, turning her so she straddled my hips.
Her dress rode up farther, but I moved her wrap from her shoulders to drape around her waist. The tops of her thighs were covered by the material and my hands.
It gave the look of intimacy without my hands straying into forbidden territory.
And it was all I could do not to slide them around behind her to grip that pert ass.
“You just gotta let me know how daring you’re feeling, birthday girl. ”
She snorted, some of that spark coming back. “Bet you say that to all the girls you rescue from their exes.”
I grinned, baring my teeth for her. “Only the ones in red. You wear that dress for me?”
That seemed to take her by surprise. I thought I saw a flash of hurt, and she flushed a little under all the makeup she wore.
While she had on more “war paint” than I typically liked, those lush, fire-engine-red lips made me imagine all kinds of naughty scenarios.
Most of them revolved around those lips wrapped around my dick. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Suddenly, yes. I would like to know. I narrowed my gaze. As I studied her, it clicked. “You wore it for him.” I shifted my eyes to the table where the asshole in question sat, his own stare bordering on hostile. I got the feeling my general overall appearance was enough to keep the guy in check.
She shrugged, looking away. Which wouldn’t do.
“Oh, no, baby girl.” I reached up to gently turn her back to face me.
“You hopped onto my lap and kissed me. I was sittin’ over here all innocent and shit, and now I’ve been claimed in public by the sexiest woman in the room.
So you don’t have the privilege of hiding from me now.
You give it to me. Then I take care of it. ”
The puzzled look she gave me was nearly adorable. You know, if I hadn’t been rapidly building to a blinding rage against the asshole, I might have grinned at her.
When she gave me a blank smile and shook her head helplessly with a shrug, I pushed her. “You want him to see what you look like when you’re going after something you want. Which is decidedly not that asshole.”
She snorted, but her voice broke on a little laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“Not to the right people.” I angled my head, running my nose along her jaw, slow as a tease.
She shivered, her breath catching when I stopped in the sweet spot where her neck met her shoulder.
She was so fucking soft when she melted into me with a small sigh as she let her head fall to the side to give me better access.
“Fuck, you smell good.” My words rumbled out, thick with need.
I wanted to push her right up against the wall and let the whole bar watch her melt, but she wasn’t ready for that yet.
“Red looks damn good on you, but I like your scars even better.”
She stiffened at that and actually tried to wriggle out of my arms. Like she thought I’d just made some kind of joke at her expense. It really didn’t matter much. Juniper didn’t get far because I wasn’t letting her up. No fucking way.
I just grinned, letting her burn with whatever was going through her head. “Yeah, that’s right. I said I like your scars. Problem?”
She glared at me, all fierce and fuckin’ beautiful. “You get off on teasing girls with sad stories, or is this your idea of a pickup line?”
“Fuck no,” I said, and I meant it. I locked one arm around her body, holding her tightly to me.
“You see these?” I lifted my free arm, showing her the old burn latticework.
“Those ain’t intentional, sweetheart.” I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Why would I make fun of your scars when I have some of my own?”
She nibbled her lip and moved her head slightly like she just stopped herself from looking at her asshole ex. “I just always thought I should, you know, get them fixed or something.”
“Why?” When she didn’t answer, I made an assumption. “I’m going with someone suggested you get them fixed. And I’m guessing it was Mr. Dumbass over there.”
She stuck her chin up. “Well, I’m not going to. I’m a baker. No baker worth her salt hasn’t been burned a couple of times.”
“Goes with the territory, I imagine.” I grinned at her.
“Fuckin’ A, it does!”
Very slowly, so I didn’t get her back up, I extended her arm where the small burn scars lay across her forearm at different angles. Then I held my arm beside hers, making my own scars sit next to hers. “We’re alike. You and me.”
Her smile was back and she nodded slowly. “Yeah. I guess we are.”
“You’ve got your own fire, Juniper. Makes you fuckin’ gorgeous.”
She snorted and looked away for a moment. “Want to hear something pathetic?” She didn’t meet my gaze when she spoke.
“Try me.”
“Today is my twenty-first birthday. To celebrate, I got dumped over pork chops and mustard sauce.” She said brightly, finally turning to face me with a big, but fake, smile on her face.
“Mine was three days in the hospital and a guy in the next bed who wouldn’t stop snoring,” I said. “I’ll trade you.”
She grinned. “Pretty sure I still won, but it’s nice of you to play.”
I nodded to the dance floor, where Mr. Dumbass was working the oldest trick in the book. He pretended not to watch me and Juniper. The blonde pretended not to notice Mr. Dumbass watching us. “Want to make him miserable?”
“What?” Lord, there was that adorably confused look again.
I jerked my head toward the dance floor. “I can make this as tame or as wild as you want. Either way, you’ll get your fill of revenge.”
She considered it for less than a second, that contagious megawatt smile parting those red, red lips. “Hell, yes.”
I helped her gently to her feet, then stood. We stepped onto the dance floor, and I prepared myself for the fireworks.
I fitted my hand to the small of her back and pulled her close.
I wasn’t the best dancer and this wasn’t exactly the bar for dancing, but I couldn’t really think of anything I wouldn’t do to keep the smile on this woman’s face.
It struck me then that this woman was made to be noticed.
There wasn’t anything unappealing about her.
We moved slowly, no matter the driving beat of the music.
Some people on the floor bounced around or bopped to the hyper rhythm, but a few basically just swayed, the dancing more foreplay than anything else.
Me and Juniper were in the latter category.
I made sure to turn and move us so we stayed in direct view of her ex.
Every time she laughed, I saw his jaw clench.
I also saw the moment the blonde realized she didn’t have his attention.
Juniper tilted her head up at me and said, “You’re doing this on purpose.”