Thorns & Oranges

Sooner Or Later

Chapter Eight

When I finished my shower, I felt better. I'd worked a few things out in my head, had a little plan on what I would do with my day. Everything was going fine until I emerged from the bathroom, lost in thought as I brushed out my wet hair. Suddenly, I was pressed up against the wall with a warm body resting gently against mine. It was inevitable for one of them to come up and check on me. I'd expected it and hoped it would be Dom.

Obviously it wasn't.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at him. "Dom is downstairs..."

"He took a call." He rested his hands on either side of me and looked into my eyes. "We need to talk."

"About?"

"Last night. That girl. I know you saw me with her. I asked around."

I focused my attention on the poster on the wall across from where we were. It was of an aerial ribbon dancer and I tried to concentrate in it instead of the way his body felt against mine. "You wanted to get laid." I shrugged halfheartedly. "No explanation needed. Happens to everyone."

He brushed his lips across my shoulder and I reigned in the shivers that tried to make their way down my spine. "I wanted it to be you," he whispered across my skin.

"Too bad it wasn't." I glared at him and his hands fell to his sides. "Now you're really screwed and not in the literal sense." I shoved him away a little and headed for the door, hopefully ending this conversation before it began. But the sound of his low growl made me stop. He wasn't finished talking to me just yet. Since it wasn't my brother, I wasn't inclined to heed the warning but on instinct, and because I was used to only my brother growling at me like that, I paused long enough for him to walk up behind me.

"Don't walk away from me."

"You're not the big boss man yet." I glanced at him over my shoulder. "You can't order me around."

"I'm higher ranking than you." One by one he touched the thorns on the rose tattooed on my shoulder. "That's what happens when you leave for a year." He brushed his fingers over the whole thing and then kissed it. "This gang owns you and until Vince decides for real to let you go, I outrank you. You have to listen and do what I say"

"Doesn't mean I'm going to sleep with you."

"I would never order you to do that."

I turned and looked at him, trying to put some space between us by resting back against my closed door. "Have you ever ordered someone to sleep with you?"

"Do I look like someone who needs to order a woman to sleep with me?"

"Wow. The size of your ego is astounding."

"And the size of your self-importance is very small." The corner of his mouth turned up. "We can work on that, if you want."

"In secret?" I said it all mocking like before shaking my head. "I'm not a shadows type of girl. Been there, tried that, and it did not stick. It's not as exciting as one would think."

"I know. I've done it before too. Got my ass kicked by the girl's brother. Only difference here is, Vince can't afford to kick my ass. He's been looking for a replacement for some time now."

"Speaking of that, why you? Where did you even come from? I haven't been gone that long and my brother doesn't trust that easily."

"Go out on a date with me and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"A date. Like a real date or a 'stick to the back of the movie theater' type of date?"

"Like a 'dinner and surprise after' date."