Page 37 of Soul Kiss
Things get blurry after the bomb goes off.I recall the ambulance crew cleaning the kid’s knees and being checked over for injuries myself, but other than dust in my hair I’m fine except for a few scratches.The blast did knock me off my feet, and I’m warned there might be deep bruises that will appear on my skin in a couple of days.The police ask a hundred thousand questions, or rather the same few a hundred different ways.My answers remain the same.I can’t tell them anything new the final time that I didn’t already share on the first.
It’s late when they finish grilling me and agree to let me go.I’m so damned weary it’s an effort to plod along the corridor to the exit.Words and events buzz in my head.My balance is shot to hell, despite having had nothing alcoholic to drink, and I can’t seem to concentrate on a fixed point, until I see her.
Kira’s waiting for me in the station foyer, minus the cute kid.She’s propping up a wall beside a board of leaflets advertising various addiction and mental health services and places that provide legal advice.She’s all lean, mean, and stylish in black, despite the scrape across her left shoulder that’s only partially hidden by a dressing.A jacket, a different one to earlier swings from the tip of her finger, and sunglasses are perched across her nose.She reminds me of a young Debbie Harry—yes, I know who that is.Old music and film are what got me through my teens—perfectly blonde on the outside, but with a backbone far tougher than mine.
When she sees me, Kira allows the glasses to slide down her nose so that she can peer over the top of them.Her eyes are the same ice-blue that I encountered the night we met, but I’ve seen how they melt now, how they burn with a lilac flame in the heat of passion.
“All Stars have made arrangements for you to stay elsewhere tonight.”Her right eye is blackened around the socket, and she has a slender cut right below the ring of bruising.I don’t know why, but I find it weirdly sexy.Leastways, a giddy sort of jolt zaps through my body, and I start genuinely breathing again in a way I haven’t over the last few hours.
“It’s not safe for you to go back to your usual hotel.Not until the team have thoroughly checked it over to ensure there are no other nasty surprises lurking.And even if it’s clear, it’s still a bad idea.For your own protection—”
“I get it.”I don’t need anyone to spell out the fact that I’m in danger.I’ve been shot at, and nearly blown up in the space of a week.
“Come on.”Her hand presses against the small of my back.I’m taller than she is, but that touch infuses me with a sense of security, like I actually believe she’ll keep me safe, as she’s my guardian angel or something.“I’ll get you where you need to be, and see you get settled.”
Settled—I’d like to settle myself in her arms, rest my head on her chest and drift off surrounded by the scent of her skin.I catch a glance at her, and notice where the neckline of her vest scoops across the line of her breasts revealing a hint of cleavage.That’s not something that’s ever got me going before, but I’ve touched that softness.I’ve wrapped my lips around those stiff peaks pushing against the ribbed fabric.Despite all rationale, I’ve made love to this woman.What’s more, I can’t even pretend it was just sex.
I don’t think about the guys I get off with for fun.Once the time is past, I move on.
Moving on from Kira doesn’t seem to be quite so simple.
Johns is waiting for us outside, with the engine idling.Kira and I get into the rear of the vehicle.
“Do you still think the threats are all a ruse concocted by the studios?”she asks during the journey.
I shake my head.“Even they wouldn’t escalate things this far.”Sending notes and the like, sure, that sort of manipulation is only an extension of the mind-games Hollywood likes to play with its stars, but blowing stuff up… I could have been right next to the car.I could have been seriously injured, maimed or worse, and that would cost them time and money.No one likes to sacrifice either.The reminder that I could have been splattered across a street in itty-bitty pieces leaves me chilled inside and out.I zip my jacket right up to the chin.Too bad it doesn’t have a hood in which I could hide.
It’s sheer fortune that there were only a handful of people around when I hit that unlock button, or the outcome might have been a lot worse than a trashed car and a few contusions.
A radio traffic alert informs us that the street remains closed to both traffic and pedestrians.
“It’ll stay closed until the bomb unit and SOCOs are satisfied,” Kira says trying, I think, to break the monotony of the silence.I don’t have anything to say, so there’s only the drone of the engine to listen to as we leave the bustle of the city behind.
The hotel Falchard has booked is way out into the sticks.It’s some rambling country hotel attached to a golf course, and with chintz on the walls.Kira dons a cream-coloured jacket before we enter.She heads straight over to the registration desk.“Reservation for Mr.and Mrs.Pink,” she says adding a chuckle and giving the receptionist a beaming smile.
Mr.and Mrs.?What the hell is Falchard playing at?I find out when we hit the lifts and Kira hammers the button for the bridal suite.
“Seriously?”
“It’s not my doing.My boss made the booking.”
I give her qualifier the sniffy sigh it deserves.“I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t actually attempt to marry us.”
“Dylan, he didn’t mean anything by it.He doesn’t know.”She stops abruptly as Johns comes in to hand us a new burner phone.
“Call if you need a ride anywhere.Howard doesn’t want you getting into any vehicle he hasn’t personally checked over.And don’t talk to anyone, not even your nearest and dearest until we’ve a clearer picture of who’s behind this.”
“It makes sense,” Kira continues once he’s left, and we’re in the elevator.“Whoever is after you will be looking for a single man, not a pair of newlyweds.”
True enough.I can’t argue with the logic.I’m just not sure I want to be alone in a room with Kira right now.Nothing good will come of it.Nothing good came of it last time, which isn’t saying it wasn’t fantastic, only that a repeat is something best avoided.One time you can write off.Shit happens.We all have crazy moments.Going back for seconds—that implies there’s more to it than simply curiosity.I know how it all works between a man and a woman now, so I don’t need to dip my wick in that pot again.What I mean is that I know myself.I know what turns me on, and it isn’t an hourglass figure, boobs and… I lose my train of thought as I watch her kick off her shoes and curl her toes into the deep pile of the carpet.
The bridal suite is everything you’d expect: massive four-poster bed, sunken whirlpool bath tub, veranda overlooking acres of manicured gardens.There’s champagne waiting for us in an ice bucket, a bouquet of roses and a box of gold wrapped Belgian pralines.I make a beeline toward the drink and pop the cork while Kira makes a sweep of the place to ensure there are none of those nasty surprises waiting for us.By the time she’s finished, I’ve downed three glasses of fizz and my belly’s full of bubbles.“Are we staying?”
“It’s all clear, yes.”
I try not to look at her, and concentrate my gaze on her lower half when she addresses me, but her bare toes and long, willowy legs inspire images of her wrapping them around my waist as I slide into her.
Jeezus, I’m one holy mess.