nemesis bonus chapter.

“A Ride Home”

West

Streetlamps lit up the sleeping woman in my passenger seat. It had been only a few minutes since we left the club. Lili had shown up drunk and angry, stomping inside to go straight to the bar. I was nearly struck stupid at how beautiful she looked. Well, she always looked beautiful. But tonight, she was wearing a little black thing that pushed up her ample tits and barely covered her legs for a combination that was all too tempting.

Done up for a date with Benjamin. A date I’d known about. Had seen people post pictures of the two of them at some nightclub on social media. I was torturing myself, telling myself I was just keeping an eye on her like her sister asked as I looked at picture after picture before she showed up. I tried to block out the images of his hands all over her as I glanced at her sleeping form, still covered in my jacket.

A soft sigh fogged the glass beside her face. It was relaxed with sleep. I’d stood over her in the club and admired her on the sofa in the dancer’s room. After a few more cocktails and a handsy patron, Cari sent her back to sleep it off until I finished my shift and could take Lili home. Irritation flared in me as I remembered pulling the man off of her. He was lucky I didn’t break his fucking hands.

I listened to Lili’s quiet, even breaths as her small apartment complex came into view. It was a modest place. Tiny yellow bungalows lined up next to each other. Each one contained what had to be only studio apartments. It was late enough that parking in front of her little yellow box was easy.

Ignoring the nip of the late-night air, I rounded the Bronco and opened her door. Pulling the jacket up around her shoulders, Lili sighed and carefully placed each of her high heels on the curb. With twisting little steps, she walked toward her front door. The silky layers of fabric coiled around her thighs. I fought the urge to sweep her up and carry her inside.

Clumsy fingers fumbled with keys of different sizes as she searched for the one to open the door. A satisfied little yip sounded as she lifted the correct key to the door. With a clearing of her throat, she slid the key in and looked over her shoulder at me. Well, not at me. At my feet.

For a moment, I let myself imagine what it would be like if this were a date. If I was walking her to her door after a night out together. I’d brush the hair out of her eyes. Lift her chin so those beautiful lips lined up with mine and…

“Thank you for rescuing me,” she said as the lock clicked open with a turn of her wrist. Her voice focused my wandering thoughts. I needed to stay with her. Just a little longer.

“The rescue is free. The ride comes with a price.”

Her eyes widened with surprise.

“Can I use your bathroom?”

“Yeah,” she laughed.

As her door creaked open, I watched her enter the darkened space. Followed her inside. She pointed me to the open door on the other side of the small kitchen.

“Bathroom’s over there.”

A pink bathroom. I didn’t know what to expect walking in here, but it certainly wasn’t a bathroom covered in flamingo pink tile. A pink tub. A pink sink. Hell, even the toilet was pink.

After seeing to my needs, I stole a few extra glances around. The small shelf above the sink was covered in cosmetics. Things she definitely didn’t need, but she’d used them tonight and the end result was fucking breathtaking. Beside the faucet was a small bottle of perfume. It looked even tinier in my oversized fingers. The tiny gold cap lifted off with a snap I hoped she didn’t hear. Lavender, citrus, and something herbal. Delicate and fresh.

She hadn’t heard me get the aspirin or open the door. I found her sitting on her bed with my jacket pressed to her nose. Like she was breathing me in. Then she folded the jacket and placed it beside her, running a hand over the shearling-lined denim. Those incredible irises locked on me.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” she said as she pulled pins out of her hair. “I’ll be fine, I mean. It was just kind of a bad night.”

Black strands tumbled down in curls I wanted to wrap around my fingers. Before I knew it, I was kneeling in front of her. Peering down at me like a queen before her loyal subject, Lili’s eyes were still clouded with liquor. Her hand fumbled for the aspirin. It went into her mouth, followed by the water.

“Let’s get these shoes off and you can go to sleep.”

I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. Not for another second. Her calf was round and firm with muscle, but her skin was soft. So fucking soft. The feel of her sent blood rushing to my cock. I lifted her foot from the high heel she had on. The red bottom winked up at me like it could read my mind. Was I still breathing?

Moving to her other foot, I let my hand coast up her calf. Beneath her knee. Let myself enjoy the feel of her. She licked her lips, sucking the lower in so she could gently bite it. I had fantasized about a moment like this hundreds of times. Now that she was leaning toward into my space, those gold-rimmed eyes filled with desire for me, all I could think was one damned thing.

Not like this.

The thought was at war with every instinct. My body begged me to kiss her. Pin her to this bed and fuck her until she was covered in sweat and boneless from pleasure.

She wanted me. I’d seen it before. For a second or two. Even though I’d seen it tonight, tonight was different. I could see it right now. Burning in her. My skin heated and pulled tight, aware of where my hand still gripped her leg. I couldn’t look into those eyes again. I’d be done for. Instead, I focused on a seam on the bodice of her painfully revealing dress, barely avoiding the luscious thighs parted before me. The flash of lilac lace between them. An image of pulling them down with my teeth flashed in my mind.

Fuck.

“Go to sleep, Lili.”

I grabbed the glass of water from her nightstand, barely able to keep hold of it. Hoped she was still too drunk to notice the grit in my voice as I spoke. It was hard enough to steady my breathing as I stood and approached the kitchen. Harder still when I noticed her throw the dress to the floor, knowing all that separated that dangerously beautiful body from me was a few blankets. A dusty rose nipple peeked at me as she turned over, muttering something unintelligible as she nuzzled into her pillow. The urge to climb in and wrap myself around her forced my feet into motion.

I busied myself as a means of distraction. Collecting things to throw out. Tidying up her small space. I couldn’t leave now. My mind was too clouded with the primal need to claim her to focus on the road. Better to cool off first.

Someday. Maybe someday soon, she’d be ready for me. Ready to hear what I needed to tell her. Tell her that I was done for from the moment I met her. But not tonight. The confession was on my tongue, waiting as I stood beside the bed and looked down at her one more time. Lili was now lying on her stomach, wrapped halfway around a pillow, her black hair half-obscuring her beautiful face. My knuckles slid down the expanse of bare shoulder exposed to me as I reached for my jacket. She hummed softly at the contact, nuzzling into the pillow she clutched.

Leave, West.

So I did. I opened the door quietly, locking the handle so it would secure behind me. Standing in the frame, I took one last look at the girl sleeping soundly in her bed.

“Good night, Trouble.”