The strange man sat back down, returned his motorcycle boots to the top of the desk, and laced his hands behind his head.
“He will be here in a minute. Why are you looking for him though?” He asked.
The lilt in his voice was unmistakable. Storm put that with his black hair, impossibly blue eyes, and exotic name. "You're Irish." She muttered, before she could stop herself.
He smiled a smile that could melt a woman at ten paces. "And who else would be running a pub?" He asked.
"But you don't own it." She stated, remembering that Mr. Tim was.
“Perhaps.” He said with a shrug. “But I doubt that is the answer to my earlier question.”
“I’m here to collect my pay. He had eaten at my step mum’s restaurant without paying up. She sent me to do the needful.” Storm replied, meeting the man’s gaze steadily.
“I see. How much is that?” The man asked.
His voice went frosty, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing out.
“Four hundred dolls.” Storm replied, and the man’s eyes narrowed, pupils flicking to slits as he retreated to the predator within him. She knew he was assessing a situation.
A drop of silence, and Storm began to wonder if she had made the right choice obeying her step mum in coming here. She would have just sat it out as the usual, bypassing the threat of having no food to eat for the night and the next day. Justin could help her out with that.
What pushed me to come here? She thought, looking at every nook and cranny of the room, everywhere but at the man who was as hot as hell sitting across from her. She knew he was looking at her, and in any other situation, she would have told him to go to hell for bothering her this much before storming out of the room with or without the money. But unfortunately for her, they had to meet at one of the most crime festered bar in the town. She still loved her life.
“Four hundred dolls huh?” The man asked, and she nodded, not trusting her voice. For some reason, she was also nervous and tongue tied. This has never happened before.
“Okay then. Take this and be out of here. It is not safe for a girl like you.” He mentioned, and she darted her eyes to his hand which was now outstretched towards her.
Storm took the money without hesitation, glad that he was paying up for a debtor, signifying that she wouldn’t be coming here anytime soon. Using her eyes, she did a row count of the crispy bills even as she stood up gingerly on her feet. The man stood up too, perhaps trying to walk her out of the office.
Not planning to be in close range with the strange man, she walked abruptly to the door, opened it and walked into the bar. Outside the room, she exhaled deeply, inhaling deeply the next second when she felt the heat emanating from the man behind her.
“Do you care for a drink?” He asked her, more like whispered into her ears, and she shook her head, not trusting her voice at the moment.
“Too bad.” He muttered, stepping towards the cabinet which was right beside her and taking up a beer bottle. But as he opened the bottle to take a sip of beer, a shot rang out at the entrance the bar.
Storm’s heart beat plummeted.
The bar had no windows, but the front door always stood wide open, and now a cascade of gunfire poured through the welcoming entrance.
The next thing Storm knew, she was on the floor with two hundred and fifty pounds of solid male muscle on top of her. She knew exactly who pinned her, knew the shape and feel of the long body pressing her back and thighs, trapping her with male strength. She struggled but couldn't budge him. Damn him.
"Get off me." She gritted out, feeling her body react suddenly, not minding the fact that she was in danger of being shot. No was she coming here again.
His voice with its Irish lilt trickled into her ear, swirling heat into her belly. "You stay down when the bullets fly, love."
Love? What the hell was the ego maniac talking about? Tried as hard as she may, she couldn’t get him to budge.
A ferocious roar sounded as one of the bouncers, or so she thought ran past, heading outside of the bar. What was wrong with him? Storm thought. Didn’t he know he could get killed? She heard more shots and then the bouncer's bellow of pain. What a stupid way to die. She thought, whilst wondering why his voice had sounded like an animal’s. Bullets splintered the bottles above the bar with a musical sound, and colorful glass and fragrant alcohol rained to the floor. Another roar, this one from another guy, vibrated in the air, and the hail of bullets suddenly ceased. Tires squealed as an engine revved before the sound died off into the distance.
Stunned silence followed, then whimpers, moans, and the angry voice of the bartender which had been washing glasses earlier. "Bastards. Lick brain ass**les."
The few people started rising from the floor, talking, cursing.
"You can get off me now," Storm said.
But the man lingered, his warm weight pouring sensations into Storm's brain-strength, virility, protectiveness.
“You're safe with me, love, and you always will be.” He whispered, and she swallowed down her saliva, refusing to dwell on his statement. Finally, he rose to his feet and pulled her up with him; six-feet-five of enigmatic hot male, the black-haired, blue-eyed, to whom she owed her life.
But still the man didn't step away from her. He stayed right inside her personal space so that the heat of his body surrounded her. "Anyone hurt?" he called. "Everyone all right?"
His voice was strong, but Storm sensed his worry that he'd have to act as something like a guardian tonight, which meant cleaning the bar and its environs of the dead bodies to avoid the invasion of the cops. She had a feeling that the he was also going to go after whomever had been behind the attack. She wondered what it was all about, even though she wasn’t really interested in knowing anything about guns, kills and the likes of it.
From this angle, staring at the man’s face as he ran his eyes through the bar, Storm thought that he looked like the legendary Zofan hated the thought of using the guardian sword. His primary job was to be called in when there was no longer any hope, and that fact put a dark edge to his entire life. Not many people saw this, but she had noticed, as she had gone through the book.Storm was close enough now to the man to sense his muscles relax as people assured him, they were all right. The people climbed slowly to their feet, shaken, but there was no one dead or wounded. They'd been lucky.The floor was littered with glass and splintered wood, the smell of spilled alcohol was sharp, and bullet holes riddled the dark walls. Half the bottles and glasses behind the bar had been destroyed, and the one of the bartenders crawled shakily out from under a table.A man zoomed in through the front door and stopped by a clump of people not yet brave enough to get up. Storm didn’t know who he was
Lent dropped obediently, and the flimsy chair creaked under his weight. Lent was large and hard-muscled, his short but shaggy black hair looked uncombed. He didn't have an ounce of fat on him. Storm wasn't used to seeing as men as hot as this, having never really met one on her side of the town, except for her ex, who had left her to pursue his basketball career at a university, thousands of miles away from her.Curtis had been her high school sweetheart whom she could do anything, totally anything, even if included her right kidney. He had been a home of comfort to her whenever her step mother and step sister decided to turn on their devilish mode and wreak havoc on both her physical and mental state. Curtis had been her lifeline. He had transferred to their school in their eleventh grade, and they had hit off immediately. An act which was obvious to everyone since Curtis was the new hot male student and she was the most beautiful girl in their class, had been voted that way since
Storm pressed her thumb and index finger to the middle of her forehead, stepping back one bit, feeling a headache coming already. She wished she could unsee what she had just seen.“Storm, are you okay?” She heard Kaden ask, and shook her head.“What are you people?” She asked, wondering whether the likes of this people were why this part of the town was not deemed fitted for normal people. Does this mean that she should be staying here?“We...are...” Lent was saying when Kaden cut in sharply.“We are people with special abilities. If that pisses you off, you should leave, and of course don’t mention it to any one.” He said, meeting Storm’s stare.Storm, seeing his accessing gaze, shrugged.“You don’t have to send me away. Mr. Kaden. I also have some special abilities, and I think I can help Lent.” She stated, batting the surprised Kaden's hands aside and pressing her palm directly to the wound. Folding herself against Lent, she held her hand flat to his chest.“What are you doing, St
"The gift isn't that strong. It's not like I can cure terminal diseases or anything. I can boost the immune system, heal wounds and abrasions, and speed up the healing of broken bones. I couldn't have magicked the bullet out of Lent, for instance, but I could relieve his pain and jump-start his recovery." Storm replied, relieved that she was a bit far from his reach."And you don't think this is something we should know about?" Kaden asked, his eyes still stuck on her.Storm shrugged in reply.When she looked at Kaden again, his eyes had returned to that sinful, summer-lake blue, but his stance still said he could turn on her anytime he wanted. If Storm hadn't been intrigued by Kaden the moment she'd laid eyes on him for the first time in a bus station, the man would have terrified her. Yes. Their meeting today in Mr. Tim’s office had actually been the second time she had seen him. She remembered now. She hadn’t been able to recognise him when she had waltzed into the office earlier
Storm scoffed when she heard Kaden’s reply.Stick around? The man must be nuts to think that she would take up visiting this side of Shappy town as a hobby because of him. She thought.It was best she left here already before he started to talk about her working as a bartender in this crime infested bar. After all, he already paid in full, Mr. Tim’s debt.“Aren’t you a little curious about who or what we are? Some people are actually dying for this piece of information, and here you are pushing it away even though it is offered on a free platter.” Kaden mentioned, folding his arms across his chest, his blue eyes boring down on Storm. His reply caused Storm to snort. “Well, I am not interested. I will live just as fine as I was before coming into this bar today. I am not a journalist or among the paparazzi who would do anything for a piece of this juicy information you are offering me.” She pointed out, her eyes already scanning the room for the exit door, even as she asked herself if
It was true that Storm didn’t know who exactly Kaden was or why he was suddenly interested in hearing her problems, but it was heartwarming to know that at least someone cared enough to know about the nightmares that wouldn’t let her sleep smoothly and in peace for the last three years.Her father had found out about it at first, but his love for her step mother, Jess, had blinded him to the fact that she needed warmth, that she had needed his care more than ever. Her father marrying Jess had begun Storm’s misery days. It was like the woman was shrouded in ill fortune and bad news."I really don't want to talk about it right now," Storm finally said, shaking off the earlier feeling of pouring out her feelings to Kaden, who was definitely strange. Since knowing about the uniqueness of Lent when they had attempted to remove the bullet which had lodged into his arm, she had a feeling that her life was about to get a tad bit interesting.And she welcomed it. It was high time something o
After Kaden’s heroic words, Storm straightened and turned, putting her back against the door, her stormy eyes making him wild with wanting. “You know I’m grateful for what you did for me,earlier at the bar drinking room. Thank you for saving me.” She mentioned, deciding to express her thankfulness and curb her stubbornness for the now. If he hadn’t covered her with his body, perhaps, she would have been hurt, either by the gun or shattered glasses.“Aye, and your undying gratitude is what I live for.” Kaden said, his eyes never leaving hers.“Really?” She looked him up and down with a hint of a smile.“Sure it is.” He heard the amusement in his tone, but he couldn’t keep it out.Storm’s brows moved upward, her smoke-colored eyes looking straight into his heart. He had to wonder what she saw there.Kaden had pictured her as a submissive little human-shy and scared, before he’d met her today; for he had known about her living conditions with her step mother, and that she was coming to
Storm and the girl whose name Kaden had overheard, Lucy, said good-bye to Kaden in front of Storm’s house. Kaden pulled Storm into a full embrace, to the shock of the two females-unable to hold himself, inhaling her scent. He liked that Storm hugged him back, not fighting this particular way of saying good night. Her body felt good and warm, the strength and softness of her making him want to hold her for hours. Avery’s hug was not nearly as intoxicating, and her embraces were always accompanied by a flood of perfume. Thinking of Avery, a girl friend of his, made him disentangle from the hug and look around the environment waringly.Avery was very possessive of him even though they weren’t mates. But that hadn’t stopped him from sleeping with her even though she was Lent’s cousin. She had been among the few females who had followed him despite the cloak of shame that had covered him after he had been banished from the pack for a crime he didn’t commit. Kaden waited until Storm had