Bleeding Hearts Page 3
By the time they’d reached Luke’s house, she was tense. Jeremy was anxious, she could feel the anxiety rolling off him as he followed her into the house. Luke glanced at them both and remained quiet while he unlocked his front door and let them in.
All night, she had to figure something out. What would he want to do to her for that long? Her heartbeat racketed up and started pounding inside her madly, like a trapped person, repeatedly banging on a window screaming for help. And she began to hate herself for going through with Luke’s offer for both of them.
He turned on lights more for Doll and Jeremy than himself, so they could see where they were and relax a little. The tension that had been creeping upwards in the car had been making his skin want to itch.
“Make yourselves at home.” He muttered heading further into the house. “Do you want something to eat? Drink?” He asked over his shoulder casually, heading to the kitchen as Doll and Jeremy stood, in the front room, looking about them. Assessing their surroundings. Jeremy started to walk further into the house but Doll grabbed his arm, shaking her head silently. “We don’t know if it’s just him.”
Luke walked back out into the living room and handed them each a beer. “Let’s just get the money transaction out of the way first.” Doll replied putting her beer and Jeremy’s down. Luke frowned and looked at her and across at Jeremy. She was all business. He still couldn’t figure her out. Was she just a hard ass out for cash? Couldn’t she see he wanted to know her? At least a little. Nothing serious, but a bit of flirty-flirty and then maybe, something-something. Did he really come across like her clientele base of johns?
“I wasn’t offering you money for sex.” Luke stated.
Jeremy’s eyes widened and he stepped closer, almost behind Doll automatically. Luke watched her place a hand on his arm. Reassuring him through connection without saying a word. What was this guys deal? Doll’s eyes narrowed in on him suspiciously. Some men had trouble equating paying for the act of sex with their egos. It wouldn’t surprise her that a guy like Luke would have that problem too.
“What do you want with us then?”
Someone had seriously done a number on these two werewolves. Luke was sure of it. He kept his temper at the bay for the sake of not frightening them more than they already were. A serious change from the Doll he’d met at the bar. Where had the girl with the blindingly wholesome smile that had been like a sucker punch to his gut gone?
“I just wanted to offer you guys a chance to sleep off the street for the night. Didn’t seem like you’d come with me if I didn’t put cash on the table. There is a spare bedroom already made up, down the hall on your left you can have and a fold out couch in there as well.”
“Not that we don’t appreciate a roof overhead, but we’re not your charity case Luke.”
Jeremy glanced at the front door. “Let’s go Doll, let’s go.” He tugged on her jacket sleeve. A night on the street was scary, and incredibly cold and uncomfortable. But a night in a stranger’s house was filled with uncertainty and that was just as terrifying to think about too. They had been captives for a year. Doll couldn’t afford to let that happen again. Neither of them had enough strength to survive that horror. But they could always sleep in shifts if it came down to it. Wouldn’t be the first time they’d done that.
“Tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. Stay the night here, off the streets and I’ll pay you all the cash in the morning. No sex involved. You can eat what you want and drink what you want, you can use anything in my house as if it were your own.”
Doll’s eyes glanced about them. “Is it just you here?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the catch?” Doll asked directly. Luke could appreciate directness. But Doll’s directness came with a big old helping of suspicion. He wasn’t used to not being taken on his word, even by strangers.
“No catch. You intrigue me. So if you happen to want to talk to me, that would be…nice?” Luke said downing some beer and sitting on the sofa and putting his feet up on the table in the room.
Doll turned to Jeremy and patted his arm. “Why don’t you check out the rest of the house?” Jeremy began to walk away slowly. “I’ll be right here.” Luke watched Jeremy wonder off before Doll turned back to him.
“I don’t honestly believe you’re going to give us four hundred dollars cash for staying overnight in your house for free.” Doll started looking at Luke. She walked over to him and sat on the edge of the table beside his legs. Leaning forward she said in a low voice. “But I can play. Just leave Jeremy out of it.”
Luke frowned at her. “I told you this was not about sex.”
Doll laughed bitterly at him then and looked at Luke, slowly unbuttoning her jacket. “You’re an alpha right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s always about sex when it comes to alpha werewolves.” She slid her jacket off her and let it drop to the ground.
Luke held her gaze. Anger danced in his eyes. “Doll if I wanted sex, why would I go after it from a street urchin like you? I am after all, as you so eloquently put it, an alpha. Clearly you know what that must mean right?” He was trying to bait her pride. Well he was in for a shock. Doll had none.
“Maybe you like slumming it mister lone wolf. I don’t know, why else were you cruising that area where you found us?”
“First off, I’m a Seattle Alki, pack wolf.” He watched Doll tense up and then try and relax again. But something about what he’d said scared her; he could smell her immediate fear.
“I didn’t know there was a pack here in Seattle.”
“Where are you from?” Luke asked softly changing tactics.
“Around.” She replied her eyes on the floor. Again with the small talk. She was so not good at it.
“There are packs all over the cities.” Luke said watching her closely. “How old are you?” She looked young without make up on. But her reaction to his words, made him wonder how much she knew about the larger werewolf community. It was clear to him that Doll was new to the Seattle U District area and wary of werewolves in general. Even though she was one. Jeremy didn’t seem to be any more trusting or happy to be around another werewolf unless it was Doll.
“Twenty eight” He was six years older than her.
“And Jeremy?”
“Same.” Luke nodded his head. “I know about that area I found you guys in because I’m a local and we know what goes on the in the U district. Do you have to do that often? Sell yourself?”
Doll’s head remained down. “Can we talk about something else?” Her voice made Luke think she was ashamed. And yet, she’d come back to his place under the assumption it was going to be for sexual services rendered. Was she so desperate for cash that she’d do something she clearly wasn’t happy about doing.
“Well now, since I’m going to give you four hundred dollars, I think I should be able to pick the topic of conversation.” Luke said back at her. “I want to know why you would do that. Don’t you know how much risk you’re putting yourself, not to mention Jeremy at?”
She lifted her head and looked at him, somewhere between bored and insolent. “For four hundred dollars, I’d rather this was about sex than talking. You can pick the topic, doesn’t mean I’m going to answer and it sure as hell doesn’t mean I came back here for some sort of werewolf reach-out program.” She said starting to move. Damn him for being difficult, it was making her edgy.
“Sex is easier than talking huh? Interesting. And just for the record, I wasn’t cruising. I was out looking for you two. Well, you in particular.” Luke said quickly, stopping her again. He didn’t like the idea of her out on the street for the rest of the night. Especially if it meant, he would have to watch over her if she did go back out there. It was after all, fucking freezing out there with the winds coming in off the sound.
Doll lifted her head and looked at Luke. “Why me?”
A smile curled at the corner of his mouth. “You made an impression back there. It was kind of exciting.” H
e said watching her frown.
“Me? Kind of?”
Luke wondered who had dented her confidence. He didn’t know to many werewolf females who didn’t have an ego or a good-sized amount of confidence about themselves. Doll’s lips clamped together and she pushed off the table until she was sitting on her knees beside him. “I’m not good at the small talk.” She said placing her hand on his jean clad, stretched out thigh. “But other things, I can do better at.” She said moving her hand up his thigh towards his groin. “I can do anything you want.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed as he watched her hand ghost over his leg to his crotch. It would be so easy to take advantage of her obvious offer. But his wolf was irritated, it wasn’t looking to mate. Luke dropped his feet off the table. “I told you this was not about sex.” He growled at her.
“And I told you, I didn’t believe you and I am prepared for sex.” Doll fired back at him, her hand slowly tweaking the material of his groin. Luke brushed her hand off him, fast. The movement made her loose her balance and bounce back on her heels form the force of the movement. She’d insulted him. Alpha’s and their god damn egos.
“Well what do you want for four hundred dollars then? And don’t say to talk.” Doll asked exasperated. She knew for four hundred dollars, she wasn’t in charge of this arrangement, not that she expected to be in charge of anything, but it didn’t mean she had to believe the good boy act either. He was an alpha werewolf after all. If he was just honest about what he wanted, it would put her at ease.
Luke looked at her and swallowed his anger again. She looked rather on edge and somewhat fragile now that he paid close attention to her. “Whoever said talk is cheap, got that wrong. Go to bed Doll.” He said tempering his annoyance down as best he could. He stayed put where he was as she looked at him, shrugged her shoulders and picked up her Jacket and headed back to the spare bedroom. If he wanted to feel like he was doing some humanitarian act and community service by saving the two street werewolves form a cold Seattle night, then Doll could deal with that for four hundred dollars.
If she got through the entire night without him trying to fuck her, then she might begin to believe he was a good guy and that, from what she’d experienced, was not in an alpha werewolf’s nature.
3
Luke awoke from an odd angle on the couch, where he’d slept all night, not his bedroom. He briefly wondered why he’d done that. His neck hurt, his feet were hanging off the couch and he was fully dressed in the clothes he’d worn out the night before. He had an achingly hard morning hard on that he needed to jerk off.
He undid his jeans and slipped his hand down to his swollen and unattended cock. He hadn’t managed to pick up last night. “Damn shame.” He muttered softly sighing as he stayed where he was, his hand beginning to move up and down his cock. A morning blow job would be a fucking delightful way to start his day. Then he remembered her and his hand stilled around his cock. Doll. She’d offered herself to him and he hadn’t taken her up on it. Luke tucked his cock back in his jeans and zipped them back up.
Luke stood up and stretched and rubbed his neck. Doll. That was right, he had house guests. Doll and Jeremy. She was a little hostile and challenging and Jeremy was a little on edge and afraid. He’d need some privacy to jerk off his early morning hard on. Luke walked barefoot towards the bedroom. The spare guest room door was closed. He wondered if she’d found a way to lock it from the inside as he cautiously turned the handle.
But the door opened quietly with ease. Luke frowned at the dishevelled bed that no one was in. They had left sometime in the middle of the night; they’d slipped out of the house without him being aware of it. But that was impossible. Luke wasn’t a heavy sleeper; his werewolf self would have alerted him to some sort of movement going on in his house. Then he heard a faint snoring sound and he looked at the sheet hanging off the bed and squatted down on his haunches, a hand resting on the door frame as he peered through the ajar doorway.
Doll and Jeremy slept curled up together with a pillow between them and the duvet half covering them. Underneath the bed frame, on the floor. Luke stood and closed the door again and walked away. Part of him was relieved that both the werewolves were still there at his place. And another part of him was unhappy about what he’d seen.
He’d seen that kind of behaviour before. And it made sense to him with what little he knew of the two lone werewolves in his house. It was giving him an idea of why Doll was so infuriatingly odd and switching from good time girl to all out hard ass harlot. They’re behaviour was rather indicative of either institutionalization or abuse. Possibly both.
Luke let out a heavy sigh. Shit. He sat back down on the living room sofa and leaned forward on his legs, in thought. His hard on dying rather instantly with what his new train of thought meant for Doll. He heard the light movement of footsteps on the floorboard. The room was still dark because his blinds were drawn and it was only six am in the morning.
“Sneaking out?” He said casually feeling anything but casual as Doll came into view. She was still dressed in her jeans and long sleeve top. Luke wondered if she’d slept in them.
She flinched slightly at the sound of his voice and looked at him encased in the room’s darkness. “Just ensuring the aisle is kept free of moving objects and tray tables are stored upright and the front door still opens from the inside.” She threw back at him and glancing back at the direction of the front door.
“Go ahead, test it.” Doll hesitated then moved to the front door and unlocked it, opening the door, looked outside and closed it again. And opened it again and satisfied she wasn’t locked in, closed the door.
“Breakfast?” Luke asked reminding himself not to be offended by her behaviour. He pushed his werewolf’s annoyance down inside him. “Do you like bacon and eggs?” After all, he’d made a deal with her last night, stay the night and he gave her four hundred dollars. She might be a street werewolf, but he doubted even Doll after spending a stress free, warm night indoors at no cost to her or Jeremy, would walk away from free cash. After all that had been her goal last night, while his was just to get to know her a bit. And maybe get a little lucky.
“Sure.”
Instead, he’d lucked out, and not because she hadn’t been willing and up for it. “How does Jeremy like his eggs?” Luke asked casually walking past her towards the kitchen. But it hadn’t been right and Luke whilst maybe up for sex at almost any opportunity, was not yet a complete bastard and so he’d been the one to turn her down. His brothers would fucking laugh at him if they knew.
“Poached.” Doll fired back at him, still unsure of him.
“A challenge I don’t think I’ve done poached eggs before.” Doll watched him walk back to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure why he’d treat her so casually, like a house guest. “How do you like you’re eggs Doll?”
“Poached.” She replied walking past the kitchen back to the bedroom to check on Jeremy.
“Be sure to have a shower!” Luke called out at her. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if she smelled but realised, she probably did. She hadn’t showed in over two weeks. Hot water was somewhat of a luxury at the present for her and Jeremy. “Linen cupboard just outside your room.” Luke directed from the kitchen. “You will find clean towels.”
Doll walked into the bathroom with Jeremy trailing behind her. He closed the bathroom door and they looked about the room. It was almost as big as the bedroom they’d stayed in last night. And it was all pristine white. Tiled white, white towels. Jeremy pulled down at towel and folded it up and sat down on it, his back to the wall nearest the door. “You go first.” He said pulling his knees into his chest. Doll looked over at Jeremy. Ever since they’d gotten from the Alpha Pack he’d been like a constant shadow to her every move. Not that it honestly bothered her. It was kind of comforting when everything else in the world made you jump and look over your shoulder constantly.
Jeremy had developed separation anxiety when it came to her. She understood the why. She
might have a form of it too, she didn’t get anxious when she wasn’t around Jeremy. But she didn’t like him being that far out of her sight. She’d taken on the role of protector and provider to him. It was the least she could do for him after what he’d been through.
Doll stripped off her thin long-sleeved top. It was almost thread bare. And clearly was not the smartest piece of clothing to steal. But beggars didn’t get to be chooses. Of that, she knew for sure. No designer clothing for her, it was more like convenience shopping with a five finger discount when stealing on the run.
“Jer, why don’t you see if Luke has a spare t-shirt he can loan each of us.” Jeremy looked over at her as she pulled her only other piece of clothing down. Dark blue jeans that she’d also stolen. Jeremy and her had fled when the opportunity had presented itself and they’d fled with nothing but each other and a weapon. Utterly naked, vulnerable and full of fear. And yet, they’d managed to go with that urge to flee, to run far, far away. It’d kicked in the once and they’d listened to it. And now, here they were in the whitest, cleanest, bathroom Doll had ever seen, about to soak up some hot water.
“Okay.” He said pushing himself back up off the wall. “He did say to make ourselves at home right?” For a brief moment, Doll saw a flash of something like mischief in Jeremy’s face. That was the Jeremy of old in him, it was still there, somewhere. It made her smile at him.
“Yes he did.” Doll said turning the taps on in the shower and not waiting for the spray’s temperature to level out. She wished the old part of her had survived the past year. But she was changed and she knew it. And she hated it and herself. That was why she couldn’t see why Luke had taken an interest to her in the bar last night and yet, he’d turned down her open advance on him when she’d done the expected thing. The thing she expected he wanted from her.
Her hands revelled at the touch of water beating down on it and she lifted her head to the shower head. Her eyes closed as the water washed over her. Doll stayed like that for some time. Her eyes closed, not squeezed shut as they had been for the majority of the past year. A shower was something to savour.