Go Fetch

Chapter Twelve

Miki looked up as Conall held out her cell phone. “It’s Angie.”

Miki took the phone and watched Conall go back into the room, closing the glass door behind him. With the bed no longer attached to the wall, they’d been forced to change rooms. Conall had been polite enough not to mention how much he had to pay the hotel for that little “accident”. But she loved the new room they had. She had a great view of Seattle and a small balcony she’d been sitting on for three hours with her feet up on the rail and her laptop right in front of her.

“Hello?”

“So how’s the big, blond pooch? Has he started humping your leg yet?”

Miki didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer.

“Okay, Kendrick. Spit it.”

“It’s complicated.”

“You fucked him?”

“No. Not exactly”

“What are you two up to?”

“Too much. It’s getting out of control.”

“Okay. Hold on.”

Miki waited while it became quiet on the other end. She assumed Angelina was at work and had a customer.

“Okay. I’m back. And I’ve got Sara on the line.”

“Oh, shit.”

“All right, Mik,” Sara said with way too much eagerness. “What’s going on?”

Fuckin’ Angelina with her three-way calling.

“This is too weird.”

“We want details.”

“Details about what?”

“She and Conall have been up to shenanigans,” Angie tossed in.

“You fucked him?”

“No. She hasn’t.”

“Oooh. This is getting better and better.”

Miki rubbed her forehead. “I hate both of you.”

“You might as well tell us,” Angie pushed.

“Or I can ask Conall. He has to tell me. I’m like totally in charge and everything.”

Miki rolled her eyes. Sara’s reign of terror. Bonehead. “Okay. Okay. We’ve gotten pretty…involved with each other. But we haven’t actually done the deed.”

“That was vague,” Sara muttered.

“I’ll put it in Sara-speak for ya, hon. He’s either used his hand or his tongue to get her off, but no dicks have made an appearance.”

How could she still be friends with these two idiots?

“Yum,” Sara growled. “So what’s the problem? It’s time for you to cowboy up and break in that mustang.”

“I can’t believe you found a way to work ‘cowboy up’ into this conversation.”

Angelina sighed. “See you need to go into this knowing what it is, Mik.”

“Which is?”

“A booty call. The extended DVD version, but a booty call nonetheless.”

“But what if—”

“No, Miki. No analyzing. No second-guessing. No obsessing.”

“For once in your life just enjoy yourself,” Sara practically begged.

Miki sighed. “To be honest, I don’t think I know how to do that.”

Sara chuckled. “Bartender-Miki knows how.”

“Bartender-Miki? Is this like your Golden Retriever Sara vs. Drunk-Sara theory?”

“No. You, smartass,” Sara growled.

“Bartender-Miki,” Angie began, “is the one who always asks inappropriate questions and says whatever she thinks without caring about the repercussions.”

“Bartender-Miki who used to set things on fire in Chem Lab because she was bored.”

“Who taught herself Elvish and Klingon.”

“Who faced off against my grandmother on more than one occasion.”

“Who could kick guys ten times her size out of the bar when they got rowdy.”

“Bartender-Miki who the FBI still refer to as ‘that bitch’,” Sara stated with obvious pride.

“That’s the Miki we both know and love,” Angie finished.

Miki blushed. Now she remembered why she was still friends with these two idiots. Because they both actually got her. And loved her in spite of it.

“But I was changing everything. I was supposed to be having a nice, normal, respectable life?”

“Normal? Who wants to be normal?” Sara asked in complete confusion.

“Fuck normal.”

“I say fuck Conall. But in a good way.”

Miki chuckled. “Would you two idiots focus.”

“All right, Miki. Listen up.” This from Angie. “Is Conall around somewhere?”

“Yeah. He’s in the other room.”

“Can you see him from where you are?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Okay. Do me a favor. Look at Conall. But don’t look at him like Miki who wants to have a respectable life—”

“We’ll call her boring Miki.” Sara chimed in.

“Instead look at him like Bartender-Miki.”

“Okay.” Miki thought about her nights bartending. Always in control, she never took any shit. She ruled Skelly’s bar with a mighty fist and everyone respected her. She knew what she wanted and what she didn’t and she acted accordingly. She felt like she’d knocked that Miki out for the last six months but she was awake now. Awake and looking at Conall like a prize-winning bull at an Austin auction.

Stretched out on the bed, on his stomach, watching TV; the Viking’s big arms wrapped around a pillow. Her eyes dragged across every inch of that long hard body, taking in the muscles of his arms, the line of his body, how friggin’ huge his feet were. And that outstanding ass. Plus, he was wearing that goddamn black bracelet again.

He seemed to feel her watching him. He looked at her and smiled. A smile that, deep down, she knew was for her and her alone. Instead of turning away, like she always did, she smiled back. And his smile actually got bigger. Then he winked and went back to the TV.

Miki sighed. “Holy shit…”

“We’ve been trying to tell ya.” Sara laughed

“What do I do?”

“Be yourself,” Angie insisted.

“Are you two high? That scares off most men.”

“He’s hardly most men, darlin’.”

“How about you do me a favor?” Angelina asked.

Uh-oh. “What?”

“You’ve got, what? A couple of days until you have to do that thing, right?”

Miki crossed her eyes. “You mean my dissertation? Yeah. Just a couple of days until ‘that thing’.”

“Then why don’t you just enjoy yourself?”

“Don’t worry about work,” Sara added.

“Or school.”

“Or bills.”

“We’ve got your back. We’ll take care of everything. Just relax and see what happens.”

It had been years since she could do that. Just relax. In fact, she was pretty sure the last time she did it, she was about fourteen. Before her mother died. Since then she’d never taken any handouts. She’d always worked for everything she had. And she realized it would be nice to have a couple of days where she didn’t have to worry about anything.

“I guess I can.”

Angie let out a breath. “Good.”

“What’s the worse that could happen?”

“But I’m not promising you two bitches anything. There’s no guarantee anything will happen between me and him. I’ve never actually done the booty-call thing, and that’s all a guy like him would want.”

“You don’t know that.”

“And it doesn’t matter if that’s true,” Angelina jumped in before Sara and Miki could start arguing. “The point is not to worry about it. It’s your choice what you do with him, Mik. I just want you to relax and not worry.”

“Think you can handle that?” Sara asked.

Miki took a deep breath. “I’ll give it a shot.”

He hadn’t been able to stop looking at her since she’d walked out of the bathroom. It wasn’t dramatic or anything. A cropped T-shirt, black denim miniskirt, and steel-toe Doc Martens. But it was the stockings. Dark, thigh-high wool ones with garters. And you could see the garters. The total punk, geek-girl outfit, but on her—it made his whole body hard.

She hadn’t said much to him since Angie called. But he could tell something happened. She didn’t seem unhappy or stressed or much of anything. For Miki that was pretty major because she was usually some kind of extreme. She didn’t even complain he’d only gotten one room for the two of them since they had to move. He’d waited for her to bitch, but she seemed more concerned with the great view. He’d had to pay some serious cash for that, but it was worth it just to see her smile.

And he couldn’t stop thinking about the look she’d given him when she was on the phone with Angie. He’d been minding his own business, trying to watch TV and not think about fucking her on the balcony when he realized she was staring at him. All he could figure was that she and Angie had been talking about him. But, for once, she didn’t look mad or annoyed. In fact, she’d smiled at him. And he couldn’t help but think that smile was for him and him alone.

The woman made him crazy. He wanted her so bad he was afraid his palms would start to sweat. As it was, he was having trouble keeping the wolf under control. Every time he smelled her—every time she came near him—he just wanted to bite the back of her neck and mark her as his for eternity.

They parked close to Craig’s house and jumped out. As Conall came around the SUV, he found Miki crouching down, adjusting the laces on her Docs. He growled. He couldn’t help it. Seeing her legs in those stockings was fucking killing him.

“I heard that.” She stood up and grinned at him. “Try not to start howling during the party.”

“Wearing those stockings, woman, I can’t promise you anything.”

She shook her head and moved toward the house. As she passed him, she grabbed hold of his wrist and dragged him behind her.

She’d touched him. The most innocent of touches, but it was the final nail in his coffin. Now he was hooked. And nothing would save him.

As soon as they walked into Craig’s house, he knew that Miki was in her element. When the standing-room-only crowd saw her the entire place erupted into a chant. “Mi-ki! Mi-ki! Mi-ki!”

Vintage eighties music pumped through the enormous standing speakers, as well as some recent tech. And there were enough high-tech geek supplies to take over the Pentagon. Everyone played games on the giant TV screens or plasma monitors or they were dancing…well, trying to dance. He realized that in her world, Miki was a great dancer. Because these people were the worst.

Of course, he was the biggest one there. Several guys were as tall or taller, but they were usually skinny. Like they hadn’t eaten in days. Or extremely overweight. Like they never left their computer chairs.

Conall tried to ignore the guys hugging Miki as she made her rounds. She was being friendly. They were groping. But when any of them got out of hand, she handled them expertly. She actually twisted one guy’s arm behind his back and slammed him up against the wall.

Conall loved watching her kick ass.

Miki had just finished singing “Love is a Battlefield” with five drunken skateboarders when Amy tackled her from behind.

“My best, best, best friend, Miki!”

She was toasted.

“Dudette. How much liquor did we have tonight?”

“Two beers.” Then Amy began to giggle hysterically.

Just like the bartender she was, Miki pulled the bottle of ale out of Amy’s hand and dragged her to the coffee pot.

“Drink coffee now. Or we’re going to have to give you a cold shower.” That way she could be a wet drunk.

“Maybe I like cold showers.”

“I’ll make Ben do it.” Since Ben had been trying for about ten years to get into Amy’s pants, Miki was confident she wouldn’t have to “make” Ben do anything.

“Bitch. Where’s the loyalty?”

Miki handed her a Styrofoam cup filled with coffee. “I have loyalty only to the Pack.” Then Miki laughed at her own joke.

Amy watched her with narrowed eyes. “You’re awfully perky, you know, for you.”

“I’m having a good time.” And she was in a good mood. Listening to Conall growl every time she moved had done wonders for her ego.

“It’s that guy, huh? Masters of the Universe’s He-Man.”

Miki had such geek friends. She’d already heard Conall referred to as Wolverine, The Punisher, Captain America and, her personal favorite, “One of those blond German guys from Die Hard”.

“Don’t be an idiot.”

“Oh, come on. I’m surprised the guy didn’t piss on your leg this morning when he saw you talking to Troy. And it’s been quite entertaining watching him watch you. While you do your damn best to ignore him.”

Kenny came up behind her. “What’s going on?”

“I’m drunk and Miki’s got Conan the Barbarian on her butt.”

“It has been a hell of a display between you two.”

“What are you talking about?” Miki snapped.

“Show her, Ken.”

Kenny suddenly hugged her. A big, friendly one. Completely asexual. When he pulled away, they all looked at Conall. She could see his glare from clear across the room.

“That’s what we’re talking about.”

“All of you are idiots,” Miki mumbled.

“Deny everything. Admit nothing. Demand proof,” her friends stated in unison.

Miki gave them the finger and walked away. Seeing Conall’s face had made her toes curl. This night was getting stranger and stranger.

Conall couldn’t stop watching her. He liked the way she moved. He liked the way she acted with her friends. He liked her. More and more with each passing second.

“You know some in law enforcement consider watching someone that closely as stalking.”

Conall looked down. Miki’s three male friends surrounded him. Craig. Ben and Kenny Liu who she always called by his entire name.

Conall crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Is that a fact?”

“Yeah,” Craig continued. “You may be bigger than us.”

“Freakishly bigger,” Kenny Liu added.

“But we can do things to you that you can’t even imagine.”

Ben adjusted his backward baseball cap. “Real shame if something happened to your bank account.”

“Or if you ended up on the FBI’s most wanted list.”

“Or if you were listed as dead.”

Conall stared at the three men. He had to admit he was impressed. He didn’t think they had any balls. He’d been wrong.

“So,” Craig finished up, “if you hurt her, we’ll make your life a living hell.”

“And we’ll enjoy every minute of it.” Kenny Liu reached up and patted Conall on his shoulder. “Remember that, Conan.”

Conall watched them walk away. True, he could tear their throats out, but he liked the fact Miki’s friends felt that strongly about protecting her.

His gaze moved across the crowd and he caught sight of her again. She was playing a video game with some guy. It was one of those fighting ones. He and Zach had to stop playing those because they kept getting into real fistfights over them. Whatever Miki had done, she clearly won because she threw the game controller on the ground, brought both her arms up, and screamed “In your face!” Then she did a sad, but hilarious little victory dance.

Conall sighed. “Sure, Conall. Why go for a normal girl?”

He was about to hit the food table again when he smelled it. Cutting through the throng of people. It was a she and she was moving fast. He caught sight of her dark spiky hair as she pushed through the crowded living room.

He glanced over at Miki. Craig had pulled out a karaoke machine and they were dragging Miki up to the front. She’d be fine. She had her dangerously psychotic friends protecting her. He followed the spiky head outside and around the side of the house.

He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and lifted her off the ground. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She fought back, her claws coming out. He tossed her fifteen feet before she could slash him. She hit the ground and slid. Then she flipped herself over and stared at him. She was young. She’d dyed her golden hair black. But she couldn’t hide those gold eyes or that Pride smell.

She hissed like a house cat and backed away from him. Conall frowned and slowed his pursuit. Any other Pride female would have gone for his throat by now. This one was running from him.

“Stay away from me!”

Conall stared at her and, for a moment, he thought she might burst into tears.

“I was just here for the party. I…I don’t want to fight you.”

“Why aren’t you with your Pride?” He looked around, expecting them to suddenly appear. Females attacking from every side.

“I’m not part of the Pride anymore.”

“Why not?”

“That’s none of your business.” She scrambled to her feet. He sized her up. She was the alternative queen. All black clothes, silver jewelry, and deathly pale skin. And, of course, black eyeliner and shadow. A Goth chick. He could bet she didn’t get along too well with some of the other Pride females.

Conall nodded. “Sorry about that. I thought—”

“I know. You thought I was going to fuck with you because you’re Pack. No offense, but I could give a shit. That’s not my life anymore.” She wrapped her arms protectively around her body. “And maybe you shouldn’t attack people without being sure they’re actually trying to kill you. Asshole.”

Then she headed up the street.

Miki went to the food table and grabbed some carrots. She’d tried to go for a brownie earlier, but Conall had nearly broken her wrist getting her to drop it. That’s when she knew they were Craig’s “special” brownies. Having Conall around was kind of like having a drug-sniffing dog at her disposal.

Miki ate her carrots and looked around the room. At first she didn’t see Conall. She felt a moment of annoyance at his absence. Then she felt a moment of annoyance at her moment of annoyance. And was even more annoyed at herself when she felt relief at seeing him come back in the room.

He walked over to her and took a carrot out of her hand. “Well, I’ve hit a new low.”

“What happened?”

“I just beat up a little girl.”

“Compared to you everyone’s a little girl.”

“She was Pride.”

“Oh, yeah. The Goth chick with the gold eyes, right?”

“Yeah. Her. You saw her?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Miki shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. She’s one of Amy’s teaching assistants.”

“You think and obsess about everything else but that doesn’t seem like something you should tell me about?”

Miki was about to get good and pissed off, but then she realized he was right. “You’re right.”

Conall choked on his carrot. “What?”

She shrugged. “You’re right. I should have said something.”

“All right. What are you setting me up for?”

“Nothing.” She would have been hurt if she hadn’t drugged him once.

His eyes narrowed and she felt kind of guilty for making him so paranoid. “Really. I’m just telling you that you’re right. I swear.”

“You been eatin’ the brownies?”

Miki rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Drug the carrots?”

“No.”

“Drug or eaten the Jell-O shots?”

“No. I didn’t drug anybody or anything.”

Conall backed slowly away from her. His eyes never leaving her face. “I’m watching you, Kendrick.”

She stared at his body as he walked across the room to talk to a bunch of snowboarders.

He was watching her. She liked the sound of that.

A sloppy round of “Video Killed the Radio Star” with some guys who actually made money playing video games for a living, and Miki was ready for a break from the people and the heat of the room. She headed to the back of the house and went out on the stoop. Surprisingly dead in the back but, not surprising in Seattle, it was raining a bit. There were several couples in the trees behind Craig’s house. She stared in their direction but she wasn’t really paying attention. Watching other people fool around had never been very interesting for her.

She felt a presence next to her and turned with a smile to see…Troy. And just like that, her smile faded. “Oh. Hey, Troy.”

“Hey, Miki.” He sat down next to her on the stoop. She scooted over because he sat a little too close. “Where’s your pit bull?”

It took her a moment to realize he meant Conall. “Inside. He seems to get along well with the skateboarders.”

“I’m glad you’re back, Miki.”

She frowned at him. “Really?” She never thought the man even noticed her.

“Yes. I’m really hoping you’ll take the job Conridge offers you.”

“She hasn’t offered me anything yet.”

“She will.”

Miki shrugged. “Whatever.”

She stared at her boots. She had nothing to say to this man. In fact, she wanted him to go away.

“You know, Miki,” his hand landed on her knee, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

Miki turned to look at him and, suddenly, Troy’s lips were on hers. She could taste the liquid courage he’d been guzzling to make this move, but he took her by surprise and that was always a mistake with her. She shoved him so hard he flipped off the stoop and landed in a heap.

Miki leaned over. “You okay, Troy?”

He lifted his arm. “I’m fine.” But it was muffled since he went face first in the dirt. “I’m just going to lie here for awhile. Don’t mind me.”

Christ, how did she ever think this guy was cute or sexy? Just the touch of his lips against hers made her want to spit.

As she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, a bottle of water appeared in front of her.

This time she didn’t even have to look to know it was Conall. He’d been taking very good care of her all night. Making sure she ate, stayed away from any cleverly hidden drugs, and that she was always hydrated. She grabbed the bottle and made room on the stoop so he could sit down beside her. She realized she didn’t mind him sitting close. Of course, with Conall she really had no choice. He took up a lot of space on the stoop. At least his shoulders did.

“Feel better now?” she asked as she opened the bottle.

“Yeah. I’ve recovered from my random act of violence.” He looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I almost killed a man, though.”

“What?”

She pointed and Conall leaned over her to see. As soon as his body touched hers, she had that same damn reaction. Hard nipples. Wet pussy. It was getting ridiculous.

“What happened?”

She had to force herself to focus. “He kissed me. But it took me by surprise.”

She felt the growl before she heard it. Miki dropped her water bottle, accidentally hitting Troy in the back of the head, and grabbed Conall’s shoulders before he could leap off the stoop and tear Troy apart.

“Don’t you dare! Sara will kill me if you go to prison.”

He let her pull him back. His arm brushed her breasts and the gasp was out of her mouth before she could even think about stopping it. His eyes locked with hers. She still had her hands on his shoulders. On a whim, she slid them up his neck, cupping his chin. He was so gorgeous. She felt the strength of him under her hands. The power of the wolf just inside his skin.

He was a piece of ass and he was interested in her.

Maybe she’d been looking at this the wrong way. Maybe she should go to what she knew. Science. How did attraction work? Why could one man force her to knock him on his ass, while another made her want to drop to her knees? Well, there was only one way to find out.

She took a deep breath and pulled him toward her.

Conall stared at her mouth and it didn’t seem like he was breathing at all. “Miki…”

“Shhh. I’m testing a theory.” And then her mouth was on his. And, yeah, this was definitely different from when Troy kissed her. She’d felt nothing but panic and the slightest trace of revulsion with Troy. But when her tongue connected with Conall’s all she wanted was for him to crawl inside her. She leaned back against the stoop, Conall right there with her. Over her. His hands sliding around her back. His arms wrapping around her. She realized he was keeping her back off the hard stone stoop. And every time his tongue stroked hers, she felt it all the way to her clit. She wanted this man. In fact, she had to have him. Preferably now.

She pulled her mouth away from his. She needed to say something sexy and romantic with a mere hint of her vast intelligence. Something that would entice him into bed.

But what came out was, “I wanna fuck.”

Conall groaned and buried his face in her neck. “You’re killing me, Mik,” he finally managed. “Don’t do this if you’re just messing with my head ‘cause you’re still pissed or…”

She rubbed her cheek against his silky hair and decided to just go for it. So what if he probably wouldn’t want her after all this was over? At least she could say she had a good time. And she knew Conall would be a good time. A really good time. She was tired of being respectable and normal. It was boring, and she did need to get laid.

So what would Miki the Bartender do here? Easy. She’d be honest. “Do you know what one of the wolves protecting my house back in Texas told me?” she whispered in his ear and she felt his entire body vibrate against hers. “He told me I moaned your name in my sleep. And I realized my hand smelled like I’d been masturbating all night long. No one’s ever done that to me before you. No one but you.”

Conall slowly untangled himself from her. He didn’t look at her. Instead, he pulled away and sat on one of the lower stoops. He dragged his big hands through his hair and she watched him stretch out his big shoulders. Miki sat up and reached her hand out to touch him.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.”

Miki frowned, a little bit hurt. “Why?”

“Because I’m doing my best to control myself. And if you touch me I’ll fuck you right on this stoop, and I don’t want to do that to you in front of your friends. So, don’t touch me right now.”

“I see.” She scratched her neck. “But you know, we can go back to the hotel and then you can fuck me anywhere or any way you want.”

Yeah. That was clear. The next move was his.

Miki stood up and walked back into the house. She got as far as the coffee pot before she felt herself lifted off her feet and thrown over Conall’s shoulder. The entire room cheered as they left. She waved at Amy who drunkenly gave her a thumbs-up.

Conall arrived at the SUV in what seemed like seconds, then he opened the door, dumped her in, and stopped only long enough to say, “Not another word from you. Not one.”

She watched as he went around the SUV to get in. She was almost positive he had no idea his fangs were out.