Page 14 of Peacock Me Like a Hurricane (Rise of the Resistance #2)

TAURUS

S he blinks. “Oh! Did I mention? The rest of my family went out on a beach trip to cheer up Rafe and I was there alone picking up stuff. Rhea tried to pop by my place right after I arrived. I didn’t answer the door, but she left a note. I didn’t read it because it’s probably full of bullshit.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me.” I shake my head, wondering how the chit who had simply been a little insecure—but basically a good person—became so twisted in the year we were away. Talia remained friends with her on the other side of the Rift, but Brenda’s a different person than the woman living here. Rhea’s been a sodding wrecking ball to everyone around her for the past month.

Maybe longer, as I think there are things the kitty is holding back.

I’d understand if she was. She’s been burned to a crisp by people she loves. But I feel—especially since the mating—that she’s got deep darks we’ve not shared yet. I figure that it’s up to her when we share something that’s aching her that badly. I don’t want to push her away.

“I’ve got a mind to poke at Blondie now—get her all worked up, then tell her I’ve got to see a woman about a tail.” I grin evilly and bob my brows, but I’m only half kidding. I’m ready to throw our happiness in her face if only for the pain she’s caused my mate.

“She’s probably too busy pretending nothing is wrong or trying to sleep with Constantine. He’s the last one she’s not completely alienated.”

“Talia did promise I’d stop by and see Rhea next time I had a chance. It would be positively rude of me to snub her now, wouldn’t it?”

I’m going on record now saying that this might not be my brightest idea. I’m just so bloody angry at the change in a woman I once considered family that I’m feeling vengeful.

It might be clouding my judgment; sue me.

“You’re bad.”

I can’t tell if she’s forcing her chuckle, but she doesn’t say no. I shrug, looking unrepentant. “I’m so bloody good at it.”

“I guess it would be gauche to tell you that Sari said she’d buy you mouthwash, floss, and shower stuff if you’d eat Rhea and get it over with.” She snickers and I laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, I almost forgot—‘manly scented body wash’.”

Laughing harder, I shake my head. “Bloody hell, I might start liking that little gnome.”

“Occasionally, when the insane level is low, she’s not so bad to be around.”

That’s probably the closest thing to truth she’s willing to admit about the little snot. Sari’s been the bane of both mine and Talia’s existence since we met her, and her foppish mate isn’t any better. I’ve always believed that a deep, dark ugliness is hiding under her ‘let’s all be family’ credo. I haven’t been able to suss out if I’m right because her people never leave. Inspires loyalty to a fault, that one. I’d be willing to bet it’s through a painful ‘take and take’ relationship that her ‘family’ doesn’t realize they’re part of.

My minx is mated to her, though, and I promised to be civil. “The runt has a decent sense of humor. She was also quite the host when I dropped by to thank her for the cookies she sent Talia. I’ll have to pick her up a little something when I head to Milan tomorrow.”

The kitty gives me a small smile, but there’s something behind it that I can’t put my finger on. Fear? Worry? Her eyes don’t agree with her words. Time for a subject change. “So… Should the kitty’s hot stuff lover play with the teeny fire? What do you think, mate?”

“Baby, you can do whatever you’d like.”

That wasn’t a ‘no’, but it wasn’t a ‘yes’, either. “I can, but I’d like to hear what you think. I plan on shagging you until you howl in a few and I don’t want to ruin the mood.”

“Awful full of ourselves, aren’t we?” she teases.

I look at her, lowering the wall behind my eyes so she can see my desire to please her. Just as quickly, I hide it again behind the smug arrogance that I give everyone else. “Not as full of you as I’m going to be.”

“If you want to go poke at her, go ahead.”

Again, her words and eyes don’t match, but I can’t seem to get off making Blondie miserable. My thirst for revenge is a character flaw, I know. Punishment for her sins outstrips every other thought in my head when I’m like this.

I kiss her and roll out of bed. Crossing to the hidden closet, I slide the panel open to reveal a vast array of styles and clothes. It hits me and I close the closet, walking over to pick up the towel I had on earlier. “Let’s hit her with the big guns.” I look over my shoulder, eyes gleaming, and tap my head. “I’ll keep in touch.”

The last thing that I see as I go out is my minx pulling out her notebook to work on her ritual, a furrow creasing her brow. That should worry me, but I can’t focus on it now. I apparate directly to Rhea’s home in the Cabal Quarter. I haven’t been there in a long time and I’m hoping that she hasn’t added a dungeon given what the kitty’s told me.

Ringing the bell, I whisper into my mate’s mind. ~I so enjoy torturing the meek and witless. ~

The minx sends the feel of a smile as she murmurs. ~ I know, baby. ~

Once I get inside, I sigh internally. The moment she sees that I’m in a towel, it begins. Her overt, clumsy attempts at flirting make me want to get back to my mate, but I let her draw me onto her couch. She scoots as close as possible without climbing onto my lap and I run rings around her verbally.

~She’s willing to see me naked. She’s even sharing her comforter to keep me warm. ~ I touch the minx mentally, trying to give her the sensation of a kiss. ~Baiting her is so easy that it’s almost no fun. ~

~I heard she was all over Constantine last night. She’s aiming for him because Wilde and Rafe aren’t speaking to her. It makes me want to heave. ~ The bite in her tone is obvious, but I don’t let it stop me.

~To be fair, she didn’t come looking for me, baby. ~ I remind her. I know that it won’t change things, but making Rhea show her true colors was part of my twisted revenge plot. Our connection feels colder and I wonder if she’s trying to compose herself.

~Sorry. I reconstructed a timeline of her crazy recently, and it was rather revealing. I’ll try not to be so bitchy. ~

My hackles rise a little because I haven’t known the kitty to back away from a fair fight. She’s been righteously—and deservedly—angry at Blondie and my brother. Now it sounds like she’s blaming herself. Maybe if I distract her?

~I dreamed about you last night, love. ~ I send her a properly debauched image that I know will make her squirm in delight. A little bonus for me is that I can feel her responses now, too.

Did I mention what a bloody amazing multi-tasker I am? I’m also busy giving the perfidious blonde one a ‘poor me’ story about being anachronistic in this new world. I tell her that it used to be that seeing me get naked would send chits into a frenzy so I must be old. She immediately coos and corrects me, batting her lashes like a fool.

Christ, she’s such easy bait that I can hardly pay attention to the fact that my minx is playing her own little torture game in my head and it’s having a stirring effect on me.

~You know, it’s always so itchy right after a shave. ~

I blink, almost losing the thread of my conversation with Blondie when I get her meaning. ~ You did what? You’d better be sodding ready when I get home! ~

Her chuckle is husky as she sends me the image of her slipping off her nightie, and lolling on the bed with her hair spread out like a fan. I’m missing something bloody brilliant to be here messing with a treacherous bint. Am I sure I want to be here doing this rather than there? I let that war inside me, not paying attention to the phony fawning. Blondie’s still reassuring me that I’m not old and useless. Like I need HER to tell me that.

~When you get done, I’ll be waiting here—all smooth and soft and smelling like flowers. ~

~Evil woman. I’ll get this done fast. ~

I growl a bit, rolling my eyes inwardly as it makes the bint I’m baiting pretend to cower. When my minx does that, it’s adorable and endearing even though I know she’s not scared of me. When Rhea does it, it seems sickeningly contrived. I barely catch it when she says something vague about others chasing me. I’m not sure what she’s hinting at, so I ask my mate. ~Are you SURE Blondie doesn’t know about us? ~

~If she does, I don’t know where she found out. I haven’t spoken to her in over a week, and neither has Rafe. ~

~Does ANYONE know I’m in love with you, baby? ~ My brows furrow and I try to focus on whatever drivel Rhea is spouting. She just keeps giggling and coquetting every couple of minutes like a teenager and I’m going to get a sodding cavity soon.

~Sari figured it out. I didn’t want to share it with her, but she’s acted okay since. ~

~The gnome knows that I love you. She doesn’t know you love me, either, does she? ~ I can feel her unease at that statement, and I file it away for later. I should question what she’s worried about that she won’t say.

~Yep, and Wilde, too. ~

She changes the subject quite nicely by sending me another vision of her naked and I groan internally. ~Minx, you’re going to have to stop that. I can’t split my focus with the bint because I’m afraid…~

~Oh! Sorry! ~

I feel her worry. There is something here I should talk to her about later. A sigh of relief escapes my lips as she sends me a horrifying image that turns off my arousal faucet like ice cubes in my lap. ~Thank Hell. Now I can keep from letting something terrible happen.~

Turning back to Blondie, I listen to her still trying to convince me that I’m not old and out of touch. She’s right about the first and wrong about the second. The Minx sure as hell doesn’t mollycoddle me like Rhea’s trying to do. My mate lifts me up and shows me that I belong with her, regardless of what anyone else thinks. ~ Blondie’s about to find out I’m in love with you. You know, unless she keeps trying to shag me. ~

~Oh, she’ll keep trying. ~ The kitty’s voice is full of disgust.

I don’t tell her that her former mate just climbed up on my lap and is wriggling around. Not because I think she would be angry at me, but because I think it would hurt her to see the show being put on for my benefit. More to the point, Rhea not getting enough emotional validation from her friends has made her desperate. She'll get it from anyone she can get her hands on, even evil, non-cuddling me. I don’t know that my minx needs to see how low her friend is sinking.

~I love you, ~ I whisper in her head.

~I love you, too. ~

~Stop imagining ripping her spine out. It’s making me antsy. ~ I joke lightly, hoping to take the edge out of her tone. I realize now that I have to figure out how to untangle myself from this idiotic endeavor.

~ I’m not imagining that. ~

Her statement is clipped and hard, more so than I’ve heard from her before. It feels like I got mentally slapped in the kisser. ~Then you might want to make sure your inner bitchy is under control. ~

~If you must know, I was finger painting a mural with the blood gushing from her jugular. ~

My eyes pop open. I have to stifle the laugh that is threatening to escape in front of Blondie. THERE’S the Minx I love.

~It seemed more artsy and creative. ~

The cat sends me a delicate sniff and I can feel my heart grow like that Seuss git in the cartoons. I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for a badass woman with a soft side. You wouldn’t know it from the way Talia and I fight like demons, but that woman has me licked. She’s probably feeling all of this and laughing herself around the house like a maniac.

~Blondie just told me that no one knows her like I do and no one’s ever made her scream like I did. ~ The tension across our connection becomes thick and the minx goes eerily quiet. This game might be over. I don’t want it to hurt her, even if it is making me feel better about the betrayal of my ex-family member.

~Did she now? She mentioned how badly she missed Rafe in graphic detail in that stupid bloody letter. Yes, yes; I read the damned thing. I couldn’t stop myself! ~ Her voice is frigid and tight, something I’ve not heard before.

~Shh, baby. She’s lying. She hasn’t looked me up in a year, so it’s not about me. It’s about needing a fix. ~

~It doesn’t matter. It’s always about her. Period. ~ My mate snarls, a vein of hatred skating through our bond.

~Baby, are you okay? I think I should get out of here. I’m uncovering nasties that are better left buried. ~

~I’m fine. ~

Those words are the two biggest lies in the female universe. They never mean that, and what they do mean is nothing good. ~ I’ll stop giving you a blow by blow. ~

~I’m going to take a shower. I feel dirty. ~

I feel her move off the bed and head into the bathroom. Hurt radiates off her in waves that drown me, even from here. I rarely feel emotions through the bond this strongly unless it’s the golden goddess. That’s only because she’s an empath. I don’t know why the minx has such a strong connection or how she’s emoting so fiercely through our bond.

What I do know is that I’m done here. I fob off Blondie like I’m on fire and apparate back to our place, worry clawing at my gut. Chucking the towel for a robe, I note that the bathroom panel is shut, and the water sounds like it's on full blast. I’m not sure what to do as I stare at it.

This is all my bloody fault. I pushed her to let me go after the bint, after feeling her unease and didn’t stop when she felt off. I’m not the one hurting her, but I sure as hell set her up to get hurt. Steam slips out from under the door and I wonder how hot she’s got it in there. Reaching out to her mind, I murmur ~ Baby, can I come in? ~

She doesn’t respond and I start to freak out. I can’t even FEEL her now. My minx has been a presence in my heart since we mated, and now, there’s nothing. How in the HELL is she doing that? I knock on the door, trying not to panic. ~Love? Sandwich? Answer me, baby, please? ~

~ Yes, love? ~

My eyes narrow on the door. Oh, hell no. She isn’t getting away with whatever that was. My sensitive, strong, passionate woman doesn’t shut down unless she gets really hurt or pissed. Either way, I’m getting to the bottom of it, sod it all.

I knock harder, raising my voice. “Deli, love, either open up or I’m coming in. Come on, you’re scaring me. I can’t feel you in my head.” She doesn’t respond again, and I pound on the panel. “You’ve got to the count of five, mate, or I’ll come in, door be damned.”

The count reaches three when she murmurs, ~Come in. ~

The locks undo without so much as a touch from her and I blink. She wasn’t kidding about magick. I humored her when she was talking about a ritual. She said that she didn’t talk about the real aspects of her power with others for fear of being the ‘in’ thing, but I figured that was a cover. This community she loves is chock full of hangers on and sycophants and crazies who suck the life out of her like a damned vampire. She never minded it before. I assumed that was because she was conning herself, like a fake psychic. That, however, is a topic for another time.

I push through the door and move to the shower. “Baby?”

My mate looks over the tops of her kneecaps, bloodshot eyes peering at me as she huddles in the corner. Her skin is bright red from the heat and her voice is hoarse. “Yes?”

It makes my sodding heart shatter to see her. “Oh, love. What are you doing to yourself?” I reach out and turn off the water, shucking my bathrobe as I bend to drape it around her. “You can curse me for the knuckle dragging later—or stake me for all I care, but you’re bloody well coming out of there.”

She doesn’t fight me, so I pick her up, bundled in my robe as I head out to the bed. Sitting her down gently, I dry her off and hold one of her hands as I look into her eyes. “Talk to me, baby. Please?”

Her words are muffled in the robe as her shoulders shrug . “I always take hot showers.” She looks up and I feel the struggle inside of her. She’s trying not to let everything out, but tears well up and she loses control. “What should I talk about?”

I look at her as if she’s started speaking Japanese. “How about what made you hightail it in there? Maybe about what made you take a shower so hot it almost cooked you as soup? I know! How about what made you shut me out completely? Yeah, those are the whats you should talk about.”

She waves at the door like it’s nothing, fighting her pain. “The shower was fine.”

Scoffing, I give her a look that says I’m not buying that bridge. “Try again.”

Huffing, her eyes fixate on her cute little toes for a moment before she gives in. Her response is hissed, venom lacing her tone. “Rhea just ripped my goddamn heart out and threw it into the dumpster. She never, never cared about me or Rafe. It was all about her from start to finish—what we could do for her ego. She started with us because she was mad at Sari. When I get upset about being used, she jumps to the next thing without a bloody thought. It’s only about what makes her feel good—like we’re whores. I locked myself in the shower before I did something destructive. I can move from rage to hurt if I focus on other things. It wasn’t about you, baby. I only shut you out because I didn’t have the energy to leave any holes open. It would have all busted out.”

Gesturing around her as if I should see something tangible, she gives me a pleading look. “Can you feel this?” I look around, trying to figure out what she’s talking about. “I do. It’s like a force field in the air. I needed to keep it in long enough to calm down. This happens all the time—whether I’m upset, happy or angry— any emotion. This gigantic ball of energy surrounds me. It can amaze you or, um, it can be awful. I think it’s because I don’t let my magick out like it wants to be. It’s gotten stronger in the Rift, and I don’t use it enough. I try to burn it off, but that doesn’t get it done anymore.”

I look at her seriously. “Blast me.”

“NO! I don’t want to blast you. There’s no blast left.”

“You don’t have to hold it in, afraid you’re going to blow. Not with me, baby—never with me. I won’t incinerate, this place can get fixed, and there’s nothing you can do that would destroy it. Let it all out, but don’t you ever terrify me like that again.”

Her face crumples and I feel her panic. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Her shoulders shake and she puts a fist against her mouth, holding in sobs.

I wrap my arms around her, holding her close. “Shh, baby, it’s okay. It’s okay, love. Everything’s going to be alright.”

Arms tighten around me, holding on as if I’m the only thing grounding her, and she shakes her head. “It’s not okay. She hurt me, she made me shut you out, and worst of all, she made me act insane.”

“Baby, everything’s going to be fine, I promise. I know she hurt you. It’s okay to feel hurt, but you’re not acting insane. You’re acting like a person who was hurt badly by someone she cared for.” I rock her, hoping her broken parts can be soothed. Maybe now she can finally let go of my brother and his mate because whatever they had is never coming back. This kind of pain is ‘goodbye’ pain. “Shh, baby. I love you. Everything’s going to be alright. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I tried so hard not to be angsty and insane about this.” She sounds upset with herself, like she’s scolding herself for not being able to control her emotions. Curling around me, she makes herself as small as possible in my arms.

Anger wells up inside me at that. I don’t understand why she thought she had to do this alone. “Then shame on you, baby, for thinking you needed to keep all this inside you. What am I, eye candy? Unless I missed a repudiation ceremony, I’m your mate, sod it all. When you hurt, I hurt for you. I can’t make it all go away, but I can listen and be here for you. Let me do that, please.”

“Hearing what just happened hit me like a baseball bat. I’m very, very hurt and raw. I needed space and a chance to assimilate in my head. I have to come to grips with the fact that she’s been using us all along. That’s hard to swallow.”

“It is.”

“It breaks my heart. Normally people don’t get in as easily as you. It took her months to get trust, but it was all a lie. Ten to one, she’d lie to my face about what she did tonight if I asked her tomorrow.”

My eyes narrow and I snarl. “Let her.”

“I don’t want to see her face again to ask.”

“I started it by going there in a towel, baby. But I didn’t know it would hurt you like this.”

“She wants a fix; it doesn’t matter who it is.” She leans up and kisses my jaw lightly. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

I finally feel like I can breathe and the ball of terror around my heart melts. “Understatement, thy name is Kitty.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, stroking her hand over my heart.

I sigh at her touch, but I don’t want her to make me happy. I want her to be okay. “Baby, stop. You don’t have to soothe any feathers you think you’ve ruffled on me. This is about you and your feelings.” I tilt her chin up and look in her eyes. “Can I say a few things?”

She nods, chewing on her lip.

I brush her hair out of her face and look at her seriously. “I have to tell you that you’re deeply emotional. You’re sometimes angsty, sometimes insane…but always blindingly bright. You’re deeply sensual, genuinely caring and I know all of this. I still love you more than—well, everyone. I love you for all of it because it makes you what you are. Don’t be afraid of being angry, angsty, crazy or anything else; you won’t shock me. I. Love. You.”

Her expression clouds. I can’t tell what’s going on behind those sapphire blues for a moment, so I continue. “Blondie used and lied to all of us. It wasn’t your fault, nor was it anything you did. It’s her way; it’s who she’s become. My golden goddess has known her for a lot of years and never saw this. Blondie’s changed—she’s not who I met when my goddess brought my brother home for her.”

“It’s worse for me because I saw who she was from the beginning. I stopped listening to my gut because everyone said she was wonderful. It makes me want to smack myself. I said she was a manipulator back when she smeared herself all over Dirty Deeds... I knew she used Sari and Wilde to make her feel good about herself. I let her in because Sari convinced me she was okay. I should have listened to my gut.”

“I wasn’t around much then, neither was the golden goddess. That Dirty Deeds place was a toxic waste dump. Shame it exploded out of nowhere.” I don’t mention that I know the git who made it happen. He’s a colleague at the Company whose special skill is explosives and though he’s not my cuppa, the minx would LOVE him. Therefore, I’m never bringing his Lucky Charms arse anywhere near her.

“It was fun for a while, but it became harmful and ugly. Too many people fighting over attention from the ‘in’ crowd.” She looks up at me. “I digressed again.”

“Wasn’t that on the list of things I loved about you? I thought for sure I put it on there.” I grin a bit, kissing her temple.

“What remains to decide is what I should do about her.”

“I’m of the opinion that I should eat her; sod the goddess’ rules.”

“She’d enjoy you biting her too much. Trust me.”

“What do you want to do, baby? It’s your decision and I’ll support you completely.”

She shakes her drying curls, sighing. “Rhea will be destroyed when she finds out about us. It’s the ideal she pined for that was always out of reach. She pushed Rafe and Wilde away, and she doesn’t really want Constantine. All of it together will knock her flat. I don’t want to bring our connection into the bitter stuff with her. She doesn’t get to be a part of it.”

I look at her closely, seeing the violet smudges under her eyes as I tilt my head. “You need to sleep, love. You’re exhausted—mentally and emotionally. You shouldn’t decide in this state.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Do you want me to take you home or do you want to stay here?”

She snuggles further into the blankets. “I’m going to stay here. I’m too tired to do anything else.”

“Do you want me to stay with you, baby?” I stroke my hand over her hair, still kicking myself for starting this mess.

“You don’t have to.”

“I said, ‘do you want me to stay with you, baby’. Not one single ‘have to’ in that sentence.”

“I was letting you know that if you didn’t want to, I’d be okay.”

Her eyes raise to mine and I realize that statement is only for me. She doesn’t mean a word of it; she’s simply been trained to put her needs second to whoever she’s dealing with. What in hell’s name has my brother and that gnome’s family done to her?

“I want to stay, but I won’t if you’d rather be alone.”

“I’d always rather you be here,” she murmurs, yawning broadly.

I can tell she’s about to fall asleep. “Good, because I’m fairly sure it’d take a crowbar to get me away from you tonight.” I kiss her closed eyelids, feeling her drift. “One favor before you go to sleep, baby.”

“Mmm?”

“If you could love me for a good long while, that’d be nice.”

“Your wish is my command, love—always.”

With that, she drops off to sleep, and I sigh. She’s loyal to a fault, my minx, so she means it. I can tell by how hard it’s been for her to let go of my brother that when she loves someone, she’ll hang in there until there’s nothing left to hang on to. I can only hope that I come to deserve her devotion.