Ally’s eyes bulged and she sputtered, “Not the time, Yankee.”
His grin was chilling. “Oh, I think it is the time.”
“Cole, please,” I murmured.
“Don’t fucking talk to him!” Brent roared, striding directly to me.
His furry kicked my own into overdrive. “Don’t you yell at me, mister. I can talk to whomever I darn well please.”
Brent stood toe to toe with me, seething. His eyes darted to Cole and he murmured, “Well, I have a question of my own for Cole I’ve been dyin’ to ask,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “How long have you been havin’ sex with Ember?”
Cole’s mouth opened, and then snapped shut. Amazingly, a blush stained his cheeks when he glanced at me. Oh, goodness. This was going to hurt. Brent didn’t know I had only just arrived in town and Cole didn’t want to tell him we had been strangers hitting the sheets…er, lounge chair. Cripes.
A few ticks, then Cole cleared his throat. “We only just met tonight.”
Another silence.
Brent whispered harshly - which was way worse than him shouting, “You let a fuckin’ stranger put his cock inside you? What the hell, Ember?”
Oh, heck.
I took a long sip, contemplating what to say. Nothing sounded wonderful, even in my own head. So, I went with simplicity. I shrugged like it was no big thing. “I had an itch that needed scratchin’. Obviously, Cole did, too.”
“Aw, hell,” Ally muttered, stepping behind Zane.
“An itch? A fuckin’ itch?” Brent raged.
“What do you call it when you’re doin’ the nasty with Supermodel?” I stabbed him in the chest with my index finger.
“Havin’ sex with someone I’ve known for more than two damn minutes!” He threw his free hand up in the air, and then ran it through his curls in agitation. “If you even care, I ended it with her tonight. It wasn’t serious. She knew I loved someone.And it wasn’t her.” He stepped in closer, our bodies pressed together. Neither one of us backing down. “If you have an…itch…you fuckin’ come and see me.” He paused bending so our noses almost touched. “You. Are. Mine.”
“No. I’m not,” I snarled. “I used to be. Just like you were once mine. But as you so delicately put it, if I were actually yours then I wouldn’t have had another man’s cock inside me tonight after only just meetin’.” I smiled sweet as pie.
“Time to go,” Stash murmured, turning toward the door.
Yeah, the poo was about to hit the fan.
“No,” Cole said loud and clear.Je-sus!Did he want to fight again? I took a swill, stepping back from Brent, who was fairly vibrating with anger. Cole continued with a voice that would have chilled a meat locker, “I’m not going to ask when, or how, someone branded your back. What I want to know is if that person or persons are dead?”
I almost dropped by liquor.
Chapter Five
NO ONE BREATHED.
You could feel the menace rolling through the room as everyone waited for my answer. I know my eyes had gone dead. It didn’t feel like I had any blood remaining in my head and I tottered, putting a bracing hand out on a nearby chair. Brent grabbed my elbow to support me. I shook him off.
I stared back at Cole as his eyes flew across my face, gathering information as they went. A second later he murmured, “I didn’t think so.”
“I need a shower,” I whispered, heading past everyone to the door. Really, I just needed to get the heck out of the room.
“Who was it, darlin’?” Brent asked in the softest tone that spoke of unimaginable deadly promise.
Silently, I kept on moving. I exited the room and grabbed my bags, still holding onto my liquor. Important, that. I turned to Brent and saw everyone had followed. “Where’s the bathroom?”
After studying me closely, he wordlessly pointed down a long hallway, and then hooked his thumb to the right.
I inclined my head in silent thank you and followed his directions. The bathroom was outrageously extravagant. There was a Jacuzzi tub gigantic enough to fit five people. I scowled, trying hard not to think about him with another woman in it. The shower was separate and had a rainforest showerhead.
