Stormfront (Undertow Book 2) (13 page)

“We both were there,” replied Jesse, not answering the obvious.

“And you immediately apologized for him!” I snapped, catching the attention of a few people walking by. I did not want to be in the spotlight, especially about this.

Jesse backed up slightly, “You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that, but he also didn’t deserve the punishment I saw in Raef’s eyes.”

“And what did I deserve?” I demanded and I knew I was done talking. I turned and headed for my car, refusing to look back.

It was hard enough leaving Eil
a
alone at school after what the dealer had said to me, but standing by while she argued with Jesse over his idiot teammate assaulting her was almost impossible. I stood my ground, however, because Eila had asked me to trust her to hold her own, even though I wanted to hurl Jesse under one of the exiting buses.

I had managed not to think about that night for a while, shoving it to the back of my mind, mainly for
Eila’s benefit. She didn’t talk about it and insisted it wasn’t a big deal, but when I got to her that night, I saw the fear on her face.

I heard her screams and saw her fight.

And no, Teddy didn’t get far, thank god, but I had no doubt he wouldn’t have stopped had I not been there.

That type of violence I found to be the worst of the worst. Unforgiveable, by any standard, which was why it was so easy to kill a forty-year-old man a few hours ago. He was a convicted offender, but the justice system was faulty. He had been released and gone back to his old ways, including a tendency to go freshwater fishing after an assault.

That’s how I found him – fishing behind his Vermont cabin just as the dealer’s assignment said he would be, his victim still unconscious in his decrepit shack of a house. I checked on the young woman, who had a steady pulse, but resisted moving her from the floor where he had left her. I could smell the alcohol and ketamine he had given her, making her an easy target, and would thankfully erase some of the attack from her mind.

Eventually, however, she would wake, and see herself in the mirror, leaving little doubt of what had happened to her. The knowledge of what she would wake up to made my anger all the more pure. When he finally saw me approaching his boat, I turned off any shred of humanity I had left. Unlike the deer, I made his final moments brutal, absorbing every scream for mercy he made as penance for what he had done to each of his victims.

When I was finished with him, I dumped his body, along with his boat, in the middle of the lake and swam back to shore. It would look like he had a heart attack and drowned – a favorite way to cover a soul thief’s tracks.

It was the first human I had killed in a long time. I thought it would bother me, taking a man’s life again, but it didn’t. He had it coming – deserve
d the end he got, and justice was served in the name of all the women he had attacked.

As I watched Eila, all I could think of was the girl on the floor of a dirty cabin, her life forever changed
, and how close E came to a similar fate. I wanted to kill Teddy Bencourt and I was sure his death I wouldn’t mourn either.

I watched proudly as Eila told Jesse off,
then started walking toward me. She didn’t stop until she grabbed hold of me, snaking her arms around my waist and under my leather jacket. I held her tightly to me, and could feel a small shiver go through her body. I glared at Jesse from over her head.

To his foolish credit, he didn’t flinch and met my eyes with his own, unwavering. Finally he turned and walked to his own vehicle and I pulled my attention back to Eila, who was resting her head against my chest.

She drew a deep sigh, “Thank heavens the day is over.”

“That bad?” I asked, concerned.

She drew back from me and I moved so she could unlock the Jeep. She tossed her things inside and leaned on the open door, “No, it was actually okay. Just getting back into the swing of things is a little rough. I just need to unwind.”

“Unwind you say?” I asked with a smile. “I think I have just the thing.” I took her hand and towed her around the other side of her Jeep. Sitting in its own park
ing slot was my Harley – a bike which had become our first date of sorts so long ago.

“Really?” asked Eila, a smile lighting her face. “I thought it was put away for the winter.”

“Technically it was just stashed in the garage at Christian’s, but the day warmed up so nicely that I thought you would be willing to come for a ride with me.”

Eila’s
smile faltered, “I’d love too, but I didn’t bring a jacket. I’ll freeze on the bike.”

I started peeling off my leather jacket, which would be a perfect windbreaker for her. The cold air wouldn’t bother me, even in the t-shirt I wore.

“Are you sure?” she asked, which was a bit crazy. I always would supply her with whatever she needed.

“Of course,” I replied, holding out my jacket for her.

“Well, okay – but let me take my sweatshirt off,” she replied, starting to pull the blue hoodie over her head. As she did so, it caught on her t-shirt and began to raise the thin fabric, revealing the smooth skin of her stomach and a perfect, oval belly-button. Instinctively, protectively, I reached out and gently grabbed the shirt, tugging it down so she wasn’t exposed to the world. She finished pulling the shirt over her head and her raven hair tumbled around her shoulders, like a riot of black party streamers.

She left me breathless and I couldn’t pull my gaze from her easy beauty. Eila swallowed as she looked at me and I realized I was still holding her shirt. I let go and cleared my throat, “Sorry – it was riding up.”

“Thanks,” she replied quietly and I helped her into my jacket. She wrapped her arms around herself, “Oh! It’s still warm!”

I smiled back at her and handed her a helmet. She put it on and snapped the s
trap into place as I climbed onboard the bike. She followed once I had it balanced, and I cranked it to roaring life. She slid down to my back, her arms winding around my waist holding me tightly. Her breathing had kicked up, and I knew the bike had made her nervous before.

“You okay?” I asked as I looked back at her and slipped my own helmet on.

She nodded, giving me a cheeky grin, “Yup! Let ‘er rip . . . but not TOO fast.”

I laughed, loving her smile and the way her hands curled tighter against me as I torqued the throttle, forcing an angry growl from the chrome pipes. A few of the students turned toward the sound and I saw Jesse watching me through the windshield of his pick-up truck. I pulled down the wind
visor of my helmet and gave Eila’s small fist a squeeze, signaling her to hold on.

My hand twisted on the throttle and the bike smoothly accelerated out of the high school parking lot, letting the drama of the day blow away from both of us. I made a decision then to not tell her about what the dealer had said – she needed a chance to just be a teenager. I could guard her with the help of Kian, Christian, and MJ and give her the life she so craved – one of normalcy and homework.

As I pulled onto the main road, I felt her tighten her grasp on my torso and I knew, without doubt, I could protect her.

Raef shifted the bik
e
through the gears, bending easily into the turns, and I pinned myself to him, following the movements of his body.

We were melded as one as he navigated the twists and
turns of Old King’s Highway that snaked its way through the picturesque area of historic Barnstable. Every once in a while the tall oaks would part, revealing a sprawling saltmarsh and the ocean beyond, a vibrant blue against the winter sky.

I didn’t know where we were going, nor did I really care. I didn’t want to think about anything but the boy I held myself so tightly to, and the salt-kissed air that rolled past his heated body. If I could live in this moment of freedom forever, I would be entirely content.

Eventually Raef eased back on the bike and turned into a road I didn’t recognize. He deftly avoided the aging potholes and excess sand that littered the cracked blacktop. The tall grass and pines that lined the road eventually thinned, revealing a well-worn parking lot and an endless stretch of sand, dotted with beach shacks. It was the definition of Cape Cod and what I had envisioned when I first learned of the house here, before I even moved.

Raef slowed and lowered his legs to balance the bike, shutting down the grumbling engine as he did so. He flipped up the visor of his helmet and I did the same, the raw air instantly making contact with my face.

“This is fabulous. Where are we?” I asked over his shoulder.

“
Cummaquid,” he replied, pulling his helmet off. He turned more toward me. “Want to go down to the beach?”

I smiled and nodded as I began taking off my helmet. When I finally pulled it off my head, I realized Raef had been watching me.

“Oh man – do I have helmet head?” I asked with a laugh, dragging my fingers through my hair. But then I caught the look on Raef’s face and I swallowed, the joking slipping away from me.

Raef leaned toward
me, “I love your hair, how dark it is, like coal before it transforms into a diamond. The way it frames your face steals my breath away. But then you giggle like that and all I can think of doing is kissing you until the world crumbles into oblivion.”

Dear heavens . . .

I tried to form a single, sensible reply. Something along the lines of
thanks
would’ve been great, but instead I went all goofy and slapped my hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I mumbled through my fingers, my heart-rate doing way more than the appropriate 60 beats per minute.

He reached up and pulled my hand away from my mouth as he smiled, stealing the air from my lungs. “Don’t ever
apologize,” he said quietly as he leaned in, drawing his lips across mine, sending a delicate flame dancing across my face.

His touch sent electricity fanning out over my body, and I drew a shaking breath as his mouth began to carefully explore my own. He twisted his solid body towards me, but the movement caused the heavy bike to shift and I let out a squeal, breaking our kiss. Raef steadied the bike with a smile, but I was done trying to make-out on a two-wheeler that weighed close to 800 pounds.

“We should probably get off the bike,” I offered, though Raef’s face was still intoxicatingly close to mine. I slid my way off the back seat and was about to step away to give him room, but he grabbed my waist, and pulled me tightly to him as he remained straddling the bike. He let go of the handlebars and balanced the massive machine with his legs alone as his other hand caressed my cheek.

His touch, while gentle, felt stronger. He felt stronger, as if the granite he was made of had been reinforced with steel. I suspected it was because of the deer hunting he had done while I was at school, but the contrast between how gently he touched me, versus how dangerous he truly was, made my head spin.

He held me there, stroking my cheek, and threading his fingers through the hair that hung by my face. His other hand softly crossed back and forth over my lower back and his look was pensive.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, tracing the furrowed lines on his brow with my thumb. He shook his head unwilling to speak at first, but I put my face closer to his. “Talk to me. Please,” I whispered,
worried for the boy who always guarded me and my heart.

“I’m sorry I had left you alone that night on the beach. I’m sorry you were alone when Ted came by,” he said, not able to look at my face.

“Raef – it’s okay. Nothing –”

“It wasn’t okay!”
he demanded fiercely and his blue eyes darkened. “It is never okay, and when I heard that idiot Jesse try to make light of it, I wanted to kill him. I still want to end that fool Teddy.”

I shook my head, “You can’t end Teddy.
  And Jesse did act like an idiot for a moment, but he is also trying to walk a fine line between being my friend and dealing with Teddy. He’s a good guy, and you know it.”

I watched Raef’s face as his jaw set into a tight line. He looked away over the water as he spoke, “Ted touched you against your will. You told him to stop and he didn’t. He crossed the line, drunk or not. It could have ended so differently.”

Okay – yeah, that was all true. But Ted was also horny and had enough alcohol in him to pickle his liver that night. I had to hope that his behavior was just a one time, momentary lack of a brain that had him man-handling some of my parts.

Unfortunately, I could still feel his hands drawing down my body, his weight locking me to the beach. I began closing off the memory, securing it away in a place where it couldn’t dictate my life. Was it healthy? Probably not, but survival was survival.

Raef took my hand in his and I realized he had been watching me. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was torn.

“What?” I asked finally.

He held my hand tighter and his face looked tense. “Has anyone else ever done that to you?”

“Good grief, no,” I
sputtered, amazed he would even think to ask.

“No past boyfriend that was more insistent than he should have been?”

I began to blush, “Uh, no. No boyfriends.” How lame was that? I was turning eighteen two days after Christmas and I had no flipping boyfriends in the past.

Raef however, looked relieved but then looked weirdly ashamed. “Did I . . . cross a line? At Christian’s?”

Did he? Or was I just being an inexperienced freak? I debated my answer, but Raef took my silence as confirmation and his hands dropped away from me. “Eila – I’m sorry. I didn’t think for a second. It isn’t a good excuse, but I –“

“Stop. Just stop,” I said, wrapping my arm around his shoulders and bringing my body close to his. “You didn’t cross a line. I just . . . hadn’t done that before. Kissed like that or had someone touch me, like, you know. Like
that.” My face blushed hot as I stumbled over my words.

Raef’s face warmed with a gentle smile, and he carefully wrapped his arms back around me. “Never?” he asked. I just shook my head, entirely horrified at my own lack of
smoochery background.

“I’m glad you told me,” he said, slowly dragging his hands across my lower back. His touch left a fiery trail along my skin and I pulled in a shaky breath. “I want you to always tell me when I come close to crossing a line that you are unwilling to cross. You set the rules, okay?”

I could only nod, watching his beautiful eyes study my own, and then he leaned in and kissed me. It was gentle at first, beautiful in its simplicity, and I closed my eyes as I felt his hands slide around to my hips. His kissing grew stronger and caused heat to swirl inside me, flowing through my veins and weakening my legs. His fingers slid under the edge of his leather jacket that I wore, and he made contact with my skin, grazing my lower ribs. My mind began to fret as his fingers came closer to my belly, and I stiffened ever so slightly.

He pulled his face away from mine and brought his hands back to the unfeeling fabric of my jeans. “Line?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” I replied sheepishly. “The kissing thing, though, is well within the boundaries.”

He smiled with breathtaking perfection. “Yes
, Ma’am,” he replied and began kissing me again, lighting a brilliant burn across my lips.

We never made it to the beach.
The lot was way too fabulous.