Chapter 19 - Bee
Good times and orgasms, that’s all I want . . . oh, and food, don’t forget the food!
~ Phoibe Cupid
I washed my hands as Mac leaned against the marble bathroom counter watching me closely. Her smug gaze felt heavy and loaded with accusations. The spark of humor dancing in those bright orbs also told me my BFF had something on her mind, probably along the lines of “I told you so.”
“What?” I finally snapped as I shoved my wet hands under the dryer.
Mac began singing an old, country song called A Touch Of Pink, A Touch Of Red. When my brow furrowed with confusion, Mac changed the song to Pink Cashmere by Prince. Was she losing her freaking mind? I stepped forward, hand out, to check for fever, but Mac changed the song once again to Aerosmith’s Pink. Mac bounced around the bathroom, her hands hovering over my skin almost reverently. That’s when I got it, the full impact of what she was trying to tell me, and it slapped as hard as a physical punch. Mac was singing about my aura. It was a deep pink, so close to red, so freaking close to LOVE.
I batted Mac’s hands away and leaned against the counter, my gaze taking in my arms and legs. My aura was churning, stretching, reaching our for my effing potential who wasn’t even in the same room. My hand clutched my stomach as panic threatened to take me away, and my breathing was as ragged as a pack a day smoker. Oh crap, I was falling!
“Oh, stop being so dramatic,” Mac laughed.
“Shove it,” I growled, taking long, deep breaths as I pushed myself away from the counter so I could see my reflection in the mirror. There it was, a pink hue that was so close to red it made me want to weep. And yet, there was no mistaking the underlying excitement just begging for recognition.
At that moment, the door was shoved open and a gaggle of women stumbled in. I watched as two of the women staggered drunkenly into stalls while the other two made their way to the mirror. One of the women eyed Mac’s hat, and her nose turned up in distaste. Mac, of course, noticed, and I rolled my eyes at what would inevitably follow. The distraction was just what I needed right now.
“Got a problem?” Mac asked the woman in a sweet voice.
“I’m fairly sure the club has a policy on hillbillies.”
Oh, no she didn’t! I kind of wanted to sit down with a bucket of popcorn and watch the epic battle that was about to take place.
“Are you insinuating I’m a hillbilly because I’m wearing a hat?” Mac asked, her voice still soft and melodic, hiding the true rage I knew dwelled beneath the calm exterior she was projecting.
“If it looks like a hillbilly and smells like a hillbilly . . .” the woman trailed off, as her friend stood stoically by her side trying unsuccessfully to hide her laughter.
Mac caught my reflection in the mirror, one hand on her hip, her brows high with an unspoken question.
“You ever seen a hillbilly dressed this well?” she asked me, and I shook my head. “You ever seen a hillbilly who smells this good?”
Snapping my fingers, I pointed to Miss Attitude, now joined by her two other friends who I noted had not washed their hands. Ew! “Chanel No. 5, it’s her fav, and I don’t know any hillbillies who could afford it other than the Clampetts who struck oil in Beverley Hills.”
“Who are the Clampetts?” one of the women standing before me asked.
She didn’t know about the Beverly Hillbillies? What was wrong with the youth of today?
“You look ridiculous,” the woman who appeared to be the leader of the drunken scuzz-bucket crew snapped.
“Oh for the gods’ sake, I’m so sick and tired of women hell bent on tearing each other down,” Mac huffed. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Sophia.” There was no missing the subtle tension in the over-opinionated woman’s petite frame, followed by a visible blanch when Mac said her name. “Your husband is cheating on you, right now, in fact. If you head over to The Sheraton, you will find him and his latest side piece screwing each other’s brains out in room 304A. That’s right, Sophia, Mark is hiking the trail and picking up any hiker with a vagina along the way, and who knows what other disease type things he’s also picking up. You need to kick his cheating, rod rotting backside to the curb.” Sophia remained blessedly silence as Mac snapped open her purse and pulled out a card. “This is a friend of mine. She's a lawyer who will not only get you every damn dollar that man has, she’ll personally make sure his balls are gift wrapped and delivered to your front door.” Numbly, Sophia reached out and took the card. Mac was sporting a satisfied smile on her ruby red lips. “What are you waiting for? You’ve got the posse. Now, get going!” With that, the women moved from the bathroom far more sedately than they had entered. “Oh, and, Soph . . .” Mac called out, and Sophia paused at the doorway, glancing back over her shoulder with a lost look on her face. “Cut the tag off that dress when you get home. You don’t need to return it. Once your divorce is final, you will be able to go out and buy ten more of them in different colors. You look rocking hot in it, too.”
Sophia gave a stuttered nod before leaving us alone once more. I shook my head in disbelief and turned to look at my best friend who might as well have been a total stranger right now. Where was the gore? The anger? The ass-whopping?
Mac simply shrugged. “I know, I handled that with far less bloodshed than usual. I didn’t even curse her with a venereal disease. What can I say? Walker brings out a whole new side of me.”
“I’m . . .” I was what? Shocked? Impressed? Horrified? I wasn’t actually sure.
“In awe of me? I know. I’m pretty awesome.”
I shook my head, but then it slowly turned into a reluctant nod. Yep, Walker was changing my friend, and as much as I hated to admit it, it was for probably for the better. Mac’s volatile temper seemed to have been curbed and by nothing more than a mortal male. That was some powerful mojo right there.
“Do me a solid?” Mac asked, interrupting my turbulent thoughts.
“Anything,” I said without hesitation.
Mac’s eyes lit up. “Anything? You already said it, you can’t back out now,” she taunted.
I somehow held back the curse desperately wanting to be thrown Mac’s way.
“Let all the hate go, just for tonight.” When I would have opened my mouth to speak, Mac placed her finger over my lips to shush me. “Just go with it, Bee. Stop fighting and see how effing great love can be.”
With that, Mac sauntered out of the bathroom, and once I regained my composure, I ignored my new pink hue, pushed my shoulders back, and followed.
As the night wore on, I felt the tingling effects of the alcohol help take my worries away, leaving a woman who was simply hot and lusty for her potential. Life was so much easier with muted emotions and heavily numbed common sense. I danced with Mac, my arms raised high in the air as my fingers twisted amongst the golden beads that hung from the ceiling. Rihanna’s Skin played, the seductive beat of the music and the wicked lyrics filling the air with desire which I could just smell through my muted powers. The heady vibrations of lust pulsed through my body as I moved. Mac’s body throbbed with such power that it made my skin prickle with awareness, and my heart longed to have my bow back. Couples dancing alongside us were moving as if they were making love, bodies pressed together, skin slick with sweat as inhibitions were lost and desire was all consuming. I allowed my hips to sway as my head dropped back, eyes closed. A pair of large hands slipped around my hips and a hard male body pressed against my back. I knew who it was before he even touched me, his familiar scent, heat, and aura giving him away the moment he moved in my direction. I could pick this man out in a crowded room with my eyes closed. Heck, I just did!
“Keeping my hands off you is torture,” Austin breathed in my ear as he danced behind me.
“Then don’t,” I whispered, pressing my hands over his and encouraging him to wrap his arms all the way around my waist. Austin didn’t object, and I had never felt so completely surrounded and consumed by a man before. The heat from his body was like the warm licks of a flame on an icy, cold night, thawing my frozen heart. All my senses were wrapped up in this man. His body moved with mine as if they were destined to be together, which of course, they were.
Glancing down, I watched as our auras mingled together, like lazy, contended smoke. They twisted and spun, dancing to their own seductive song, one of love, bonding, and desire. It was a merging on a soul deep level, and succumbing to this need was easier than fighting it. For the first time in my long life, I was tired of fighting.
Pressing my hips back I felt the rigid outline of Austin’s manhood, and I groaned. Damn, that was one large appendage. I would have smiled if I hadn’t suddenly found myself being dragged from the dance floor and flung behind the soft, billowing fabric that surrounded the upper level of Purgatory. Before a startled gasp could even slip from my lips, I was pushed hard against the cool wall behind me, my legs automatically wrapping around Austin’s waist as his hand tangled in my hair. He tugged ruthlessly until I was looking into his heated gaze. We paused, this moment etching itself into the very fabric of time. We were both breathing hard and so much was conveyed it this short, silent moment; a new awareness of each other, a deeper respect, an overwhelming feeling of more. More than like; hell, more than love. This was soul, deep need.
I was shocked to my core when Austin’s savage passion became restrained under the gentle press of his full lips to mine. The hand that had been tangled in my hair freed itself until those two calloused palms were cupping my cheeks as if I were the most fragile thing in existence. Austin’s lips tasted and sipped with exquisite gentleness. The contrast of his solid body pressing me forcefully into the wall and the tenderness of his hands and mouth brought tears to my eyes. Nobody had ever held me with such care. This was the moment when I stepped from the lofty heights of my immortal realm and fell; a spectacular fall that would quite possibly leave my heart shattered and broken one day. There seemed no way Austin could love me for eternity, such love was a rarity and if I were to be honest, I didn’t think I was worthy. I ignored the unanswered questions and tried to forget the future, and instead kissed my soul mate, our tongues barely meeting, in this perfect moment in this imperfect world. I knew, regardless of my fears, I had been forever changed.
Finally, and yet too soon, Austin drew away and gazed down into my eyes. I wondered what he saw there? Desire? Oh yeah, I had that in spades, but could he see the fear I was trying so hard to hide. I’d never been afraid of anything, and yet this mere mortal had the potential to shatter me in a way I was afraid I’d never recover from. Gently, Austin tucked a strand of hair that had fallen loose behind my ear, such a tender gesture that my aura flared and the pink deepened just a fraction. Even if I hadn’t noticed the deep red in Austin’s aura, I could see his love for me in his gaze. The wonder in the depths of his eyes overwhelmed me.
“Just go with it, Sugar. I promise it won’t hurt,” he assured me.
I knew he wasn’t talking about the kiss we just shared or the sexy times I hoped we would soon be sharing. No, he was talking about me and my heart.
“You can’t promise that,” I whispered, my voice embarrassingly husky.
“Of course I can,” he replied with an arrogant smirk.
I sighed. “You might find out something about me that you don’t like.”
“Okay, good point. Let’s check a few things then.” Austin still held me captured between his hard body and the wall. “Do you like to chew on your toe nail clippings?”
I screwed up my nose. Was he freaking serious? “Ummm, no, and who would do that?”
“You’d be surprised. Do you have any weird fetishes for bodily functions?”
Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him. If he asked me to pee on him, I’d trace out of his arms, collect Mac, and hit Vegas for a decade or two.
“Are you referring to golden showers? Because that is a hard limit for me, Music Man!”
Austin chuckled, and his body moving beneath mine shot a bolt of lust straight to my vagina.
“We’re on the same page, Sugar. Okay, this one is a big one, this could be a deal breaker.” He looked so serious, and I wanted to kiss that look right off his face. I liked arrogant, sexy smirk face Austin a whole lot better. “Do you pee in the shower?”
What the actual f . . .? I was lost for words, my haze of lust officially gone, my bladder tugging and reminding me the alcohol I had consumed had finally run its course and wanted to exit. How entirely appropriate.
“I mean, I know some people do, heck, my sister does, but it grosses me out, especially if you’re sharing that shower. I don’t want to be sloshing around in someone else’s pee, and I’d never subject anyone to sloshing around in mine.”
“I’m . . .” I began, but there were no words. “Like . . . I mean . . .”
“Oh shit, you do, don’t you?” He looked horrified, and yet under the horror, I found humor sparkling in his eyes.
“Are you screwing with me?” I demanded, slapping him on the chest.
“Not yet,” he growled in a low, husky voice.
Damn, lady lust was back!
“No,” I whispered.
“No what?” Austin asked, seemingly distracted by my lips.
“No, I don’t pee in the shower.”
Austin nodded. “Then we’re good, Sugar. I’ve already told you I don’t stand for lying, cheating, or secrets, so we’re all good.”
Gods, my stomach dropped, and I realized I had been both lying to him and keeping one big, stinkin’ secret. A non-disclosure agreement, that’s what Mac claimed her and Walker had, and it worked. She’d shared her immortality and he’d dug it. Maybe, just maybe, Austin would accept it, too.