All of which leads me back to the girl who is yet again getting herself into trouble without a plan for how to get back out again.Only this time, I’m not going to just stand by and watch it happen.
I glance up in time to see her eyes suddenly move from me to the parking lot behind me, and spin around to see two vans pulling in, their tires squealing and their drivers running over both curbs and small trees in their rush.They’re spinning through the rain like the devil himself is after them, and I don’t have to think twice to know they’re doing something illegal.
Like kidnapping a girl.
Right.Time to play, then.
“What are you thinking?”I ask, dropping back into the shadows next to her.They’ll see my car if they’re looking, but we’re in a parking lot and I hope they won’t think anything of it.We’re sure to be outnumbered, and I don’t want them discovering us any quicker than they have to.
She pulls her gun up and checks the magazine, the movements so smooth I wonder how many times she’s practiced them, then turns to look at me, a knife between her teeth and a locked and loaded gun in her hand.
“You look like a fucking pirate,” I breathe.More than that; she looks unbelievably sexy, her hair tousled and flying around her face and murder in her eyes.The knife is over the top, but the thought of her in some skimpy pirate wench outfit, the skirt too short and the top too tight, is making my cock twitch.
“You should talk,” she snorts.“All you need is an eye patch and a parrot.You’ve already got the cane.”
I move closer, feeling the heat of her against me, and let my lips travel to her ear.“And here I thought you didn’t like my cane.”
Goose bumps travel down her neck and across her jaw and I have to fight to keep from licking her.I want to taste the flesh right here, in this soft spot beneath her ear.One of the only soft spots she allows.I happen to know how ticklish she is right there, and how she gasps when you touch her right.
Devils, she must hate that I know that.
It brings a sly, curving grin to my face, and I lean a bit closer and let myself taste her.Just for a second.
She jerks away and stares at me like I’m insane.“Did you justlickme?We’re about to start a gunfight and you thought you needed to remember what I taste like?”
“Oh love, I remember exactly how you taste.I’m just waiting for you to remember how much you liked it when I played that game.”
Her face goes cold so suddenly that I miss the moment it changes.
“Are you going to help me or what?Because if you’re not, then I suggest you get the hell out of my way.”
She literally elbows me to the side, then pulls up her gun and runs forward, already shooting.I stare after her for a beat, trying to understand what she’s doing, then take off after her, my cane tucked under my arm and two guns in my hands.
I guess we’re not discussing a plan, then.
Typical Brooks.
***
The fight is quick and intense.Brooks kills the first two guys out of the first van, then spins and takes cover behind it, her eyes on the other van and the men getting out of it.They have guns in their hands and are already firing, and I slide to a stop next to my girl and try to fucking think.We don’t know if anyone else is in the van we’re hiding behind, or whether they even have the girl we evidently came for, and which van she might be in.If they have her, shooting in at either van could go all sorts of wrong.The last thing we want to do is kill her while we’re trying to rescue her.We also don’t want to kill all the men–not if we’re going to try to kidnap one of them and force him to talk.
Though I don’t know whether Brooks even remembers that she wanted to do that.She spins and takes two more shots, then comes back and reloads.
“Do you actually need me here at all?”I ask, half amused and half annoyed.I haven’t gotten a shot off yet and she’s already killed most of the guys.
She huffs.“Are you actually going to make yourself useful?Or just sit here and watch?”
This girl.
I hurl myself over her and roll when I hit the ground, coming up with my gun in front of me and taking out the first guy I see, then jump to my feet and run for the van, intent on finding the girl we’re here for.When I slide the door open, though, the inside is empty, and I stare at it for a moment, confused and off balance.
Where’s the girl we’re rescuing?
Moments later I hear voices, and look up to see several girls stumbling out of the door that leads into the catacombs.They’re dressed to the nines and wearing something sparkly over their faces, their hair long and curled, and I can tell from here that they’ve had far too much to drink.
I look from them to Brooks to find her eyes wide, and know she’s coming to the same conclusion I am.They didn’t have the girl, yet.They were coming to get her.
Seconds after that, another van comes screeching into the parking lot, and I don’t have to look at it to know what’s going on.The first two were either decoys or padding, and though we killed the guys driving them, we’re not out of the woods, yet.Brooks and I both move at the same time, racing for the girls that just came through the door.She’s shorter than I am, but she’s sprinting like her life depends on it, her strides matching mine.
