Everyone has a Weak spot (12 page)

War found his perfect opportunity to campaign for Lorelei's affections late in the summer. The Duck Festival was starting the next week and he knew she'd be there. He was counting on her affinity for ducks. Of course, War would be there, too. He'd be there out of uniform since he had plenty of men to work it. He'd visit with the good citizens of Xavier Parish wearing jeans. He'd sneak up on her.

Chapter 17

Renaud had forced her to come; Lorelei was perfectly content to stay home. She had kept her own counsel regarding her relationship with War. Renaud knew she'd tell him what she needed him to know when the time was right.

Still, Renaud insisted that his sister needed to relax and she needed to get out. Obviously, something had happened, but she kept it to herself. She'd tell him if he needed to know. He loved her, and he worried about her.

But he also had his own hands full with Zierra. Ever since he'd used her body so roughly, she wouldn't leave him alone. He found it very hard to refuse the use of her willing body, but he managed it. He tried not to think about how much easier it had been to tolerate her company when he'd been buried in her to the hilt.

Lorelei had insisted on driving herself to the Duck Festival. She wanted to leave when she was ready. She didn't want to wait for him. She got tired early these days. Renaud surmised she was a little depressed.

* * * *

War spotted his prey around seven p.m. near the Tilt-a-Whirl. She was walking along looking at the booths. War ambled along behind her keeping her in his sights.

He didn't crowd her. He knew the right moment would come along. In the meantime, he was having a very hard time controlling his beast with all the men trying to talk to Lorelei.

Doesn't she know how sexy she is?

War watched from behind a jewelry booth as an older woman stopped to talk to Lorelei. She had noticed the necklace Lorelei was wearing. The woman asked her where it had been made.

Apparently the lady was a visitor to the area and thought the medallion was local Cajun art. Lorelei artlessly told the woman that it was from her father's homeland and only her brother had one similar. She extended the amulet hanging around her neck so the woman could admire it. The woman gushed a little longer and then turned back to the local jewelry.

War puzzled over this for a moment. Lorelei had a brother? That seemed like important information. Renaud had never mentioned that.

Holy shit!
RENAUD
is her brother? How could that be possible?

War was stunned. The implications of that idea were greater than he could consider right then. They had a whole life he knew nothing about. Why would they keep such a thing a secret? He had to consider this possibility carefully. Now was not the time to examine this new discovery. He pushed it to the back of his mind as Lorelei moved on.

* * * *

Lorelei had chosen her favorite pair of holey old blue jeans. They had a hole on the back of her right thigh and were missing the better part of her left knee. She wore a short tee shirt with her favorite duck stitched on its white background.

It
is
a duck festival, right?

She felt like she looked good. Lorelei took a deep breath. She loved the smell of a carnival. She looked over at the rides but looked away. She really didn't want to go on any rides alone.

As she turned to go to the cotton candy booth, Lorelei was surprised by two arms landing on either side of her shoulders. She stopped short and ducked. The two men who'd accosted her stumbled forward.

“Whoa there, little lady, I'd almost think you weren't gonna be neighborly tonight!” said the guy she mentally nicknamed Thing 1.

“We was havin’ us a good-natured little argument back there, and we just had to ask you a question pretty lady!” That from Thing 2.

Lorelei tried not to look at his teeth.
Yuck
. They both smelled a little ripe to her.

The men had propelled her to the side of one of the game booths at the center of the midway so, although she didn't feel trapped, she certainly didn't want to stick around either. Maybe if she answered the question, they'd go away.

“Okay, ask,” she said. “If it's an ugly question, I won't answer."

Thing 1 leered at her. “You sure are a purty little thing, ain't ya?"

“Was that your question?” Lorelei asked, waving her hand in front of her face. Thing 1 could really use a Tic-Tac.

Thing 2 laughed as if he'd never heard anything so funny.

“We was wondering ‘bout that red mark there on your neck, honey."

Lorelei jerked away when the man tried to touch it.

“We wanted to know if that red mark is a birthmark or a love bite. That's what we wanna know."

Thing 1 had apparently gotten with the program.

Lorelei sucked in a deep breath. “It's a bite,” she said. “Not a birthmark. Is that all? Have a good night, guys."

Thing 2 wasn't finished. “Now honey, I wanna know, is it a
love
bite?” His eyebrows wiggled up and down, and he was closing in on her.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, War was there.

“Damn straight it's a love bite!” he snarled at the two surprised men. He'd finally gotten around the crowd, but that effort had added to his frustration. “The man that made that bite is one jealous bastard, too. I suggest you assholes get gone!"

And that was the end of Thing 1 and Thing 2, thought Lorelei, swallowing a hysterical giggle.

Now she was alone with him. It didn't matter that they were in the middle of the midway at the Duck Festival. Lorelei felt panicky. She felt as frightened as she did that first time she met him—more frightened now that she knew what he was capable of. He wouldn't do anything in public, though.

* * * *

War could smell her fear. He could tell it wasn't a life and death fear, but he knew she was afraid. He felt lower than whale shit. She was just standing there. At least she didn't try to get away.

Time to roll the dice.

“
Chéri
?” He wanted to reach out and touch her more than he could remember wanting anything in a long time. She looked at him.

“It
was
a love bite,
chérie,
” he said, voice gruff.

She turned away from him. It took him a minute to realize that she was taking big gulps of air. She wasn't crying or anything, but she might be trying hard not to.

Merde! Now what should I do?

He moved up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He carefully turned her toward him.

Once again, her face was buried in his chest, right where he wanted it. He put his arms around her and held her. He whispered softly into her hair words that he knew she didn't understand. He rubbed her back.

He put his face in her hair and took a deep breath.

Mon Dieu, how I've missed her scent.

War then did what he'd been dying to do since he saw her at the Tilt-a-Whirl. It was almost the end for his chances with Lorelei. He stroked the back of her thigh through the hole in her jeans. She jerked as if he'd pinched her.

Looking in her eyes, he saw an injured and frightened animal looking back at him. Now he smelled that life and death fear. She clutched the charm at her throat. He saw a yellow flash.

War realized the enormity of what he'd done that night a month ago. He'd crushed a butterfly in his fist. She had trusted him. In return, he'd practically raped her.

She had given him access to parts of her that nobody else had ever gotten anywhere near. She had trusted him with something she'd kept buried for most of her life. She trusted him with her sexuality. And she had trusted him to care about how she felt.

She only trusted one other person in the whole world and—shit—there he was.

“Boo, you okay?” Renaud had come tearing up between some rides. He showed some signs that his beast was beginning to emerge. He had slowed down when he saw his uncle. He touched the glowing red medallion at his throat. He stopped about ten feet away. “Boo?” Renaud was confused, but there was no mystery about why he was there. Lorelei was afraid. When Lorelei was hurt or afraid, when Lorelei was threatened, Renaud was there.

The boy stopped, but War knew in that moment that Renaud would charge full speed ahead if Lorelei gave him any sign that she needed him. War also knew that the boy would fight until either he or Renaud was dead. If Lorelei needed him, Renaud would not stop.

War spoke softly to Lorelei.

“Tell him its okay,
chéri,
” he stepped a foot closer. “Tell him I'm going to buy you some cotton candy and win you a stuffed duck."

War looked intently at her. He tried to convey with his eyes that she would be safe with him. He tried to tell her that he would earn her trust again. She closed her eyes.

Renaud stood without moving for a moment. Then he spoke.

“I can drive you home, Boo,” he said.

Then the boy was gone. He hadn't even looked at his uncle again. War filed that in the back of his brain to be considered later, too. That little area was filling up fast.

War expelled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. She was going to give him a chance again. He swore he wouldn't blow it this time.

“Lorelei?
Chéri?
Let's go get some cotton candy, no?"

She nodded, and he lightly touched her arm. She jerked. He badly wanted to take her hand. He was praying for that crowd to show up again. It didn't let him down. After letting her get jostled one time he moved close to her side and a little behind her.

“You want cotton candy or fries,
chéri
?” he asked. “There's a tent over here where we can sit a minute. Sound good?” She nodded.

He escorted her in and took every opportunity to pull her close to him. The place was crowded. He didn't want someone to cut in front of them. He
had
to protect her from getting shoved or nudged, didn't he? She bruised so easily. She began to accept his touch as long as he kept it impersonal.

He had a beer, and she had a soda. They had a large order of fries smothered in catsup to share. He wanted her next to him but, just for now, he could live with her sitting across from him.

He liked to look at her face, anyway. The need to touch her was painful. He'd wait. He was sure she'd get catsup on her face or something.

“How you like the Duck Festival,
chérie
? Not many ducks, huh?” He winked at her and gave her a devilish smile.

Shyly, she told him, “I haven't seen a single duck yet.” There it was! Catsup was smeared on her left dimple.

“For true? Not a single duck?” he reached over and lightly wiped the catsup with his thumb. He sucked his thumb clean and asked, “You haven't even seen your friend there?” He pointed at her shirt.

“I haven't seen him at all. But he
is
a Canvasback, even though his last name is Mallard. Maybe this isn't his neck of the woods."

She was trying to make a joke. That was a good sign. She had been waving a french fry around while she was talking.

War grabbed her hand and took a bite from the fry. He stopped short of putting his mouth on her fingers.

“You were makin’ me mighty hungry with that fry, Sugar.” He tried to look innocent and failed. He decided that watching her put things in her mouth was punishment all by itself.

“What would you rather do,
chérie,
let me win you a stuffed duck or go ride the Ferris wheel?"

The look on her face was intriguing. Her innocent pleasure in the moment was greater than her fear. He fought back the moisture gathering in his eyes.

“I've never been on a Ferris wheel before,” she told him, “but I don't have a stuffed duck, either."

He threw back his head and laughed. He was so glad to be with her again.

“We have a lot to do, then, don't we?” His eyes sparkled with laughter. “We'd better get busy!"

True to his word, War won her a stuffed duck.

“It does look a little like Drake Mallard,” she assured him. “See, it's white and has on a vest."

She must still care a little, or she wouldn't spare my feelings about the duck, right?

She held her duck in one arm as they headed for the Ferris wheel line. War frowned ferociously at anyone, friend or foe, who tried to speak to him.

Lorelei moved in front of War in the line. Next to her, a little boy dropped a toy that he'd been playing with. Lorelei squatted down to pick it up and then bent over to hand it to the child. She straightened up and bent over again to hear something the boy was saying.

War couldn't hold back his groan. “Oh,
chéri!
Please come and stand in front of me."

Between her delectable derriere, and that edible thigh hanging out, this hard-on is going to take over the carnival.

She looked at him in confusion.

“At least,
petit,
let me hold your duck,” he begged piteously.

She handed him the duck, and he tried to casually hold it in front of his lap. She was blushing a little as she looked at him. He could feel himself blushing, too.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “As much as it pains me,
chéri
, I must beg you not to bend over any more."

War crossed one arm in front of her neck and shoulder and pulled her close. He was careful not to fit her against his erection even though he longed to do so. He was grateful that she allowed even this much familiarity.

Chapter 18

“It doesn't ever go fast, then?” Lorelei was looking over the edge of the ride as the ground fell away.

As she leaned over to look out of their Ferris wheel chair, her shirt tugged away from her neck and shoulder. At first he noticed the delicate chain around her neck and then War got a very good look at the bite he'd made on her shoulder.

He winced. He had pierced the muscle. No damned wonder she'd closed the school for a week.

Dieu! I'm a bigger bastard than I thought.

“Warrick?” She looked back over her shoulder at him questioningly.

He was hit with the image of her looking back at him when he'd plunged into her that night.

“You're mine! SAY IT!” He'd snarled the words at her. “Look at me and say it!"