293
Tony
A moment later, Ginevra slipped into the seat beside me, a smile on her lips as she lifted her shot of whiskey. Her hair was shorter than the last time, cut in a curly bob that suited her face. Her dress was a body-hugging sparkling black thing that shimmered under the light and a leather, bust-length jacket over it. She wasn't wearing leggings, so she must not have ridden her motorcycle. Though, based on her ankle-high, low-heeled boots, I could believe otherwise.
"You look like you could use some sensible company. I hear I'm a good listener if you want to talk."
I smiled a real one, so genuine it made my chest hurt. I pulled her into my lap and rested my head on her chest. I took in a deep breath of her fresh, wind-swept scent.
"You came," I whispered.
She chuckled, running her hand through my hair and pulling back to look at me.
"Why do you sound so surprised? It's not like it's a cross-country ride. What's happened now? That family of yours giving you more trouble?"
"Something like that," I said. "I'd rather not get into it for now."
Even as the throbbing in my head started, I felt it receding, a push and pull that eased the longer I held her in my arms.
"Are you going to be here long?" She asked.
I groaned. "Not long enough."
She laughed and kissed my forehead. "We'll see about that."
I pulled out of the memory, shaken.
"Fuck," I gasped. The memory struck me, bubbling up out of nowhere. My heart clenched tight. My head ached.
"What's wrong?"
"I… I don't know. We'll talk about it."
"… Alright. You're headed to pick up Quillan?"
"Yeah…" I frowned. "You never answered."
"What are you talking about? I put it on the calendar."
I frowned as I pulled to a stop at a light and checked my phone. Matt had sent me a calendar invitation for tomorrow evening.
"I… must have spaced out." And what the hell was that? A memory?
The pain started to subside, but I could feel it settling, filling in a hole in my memory as if it had always been missing.
"You're under a lot of stress right now. Makes sense," Matt sighed. "Drive safe, alright? I get the sense we… have a lot to talk about. I'll call the hospital and get some details, so don't stress so much. You might be hopeless planning anything but corporate revivals, but I'm not."
I snorted. "You? Planning a funeral?"
"Did you forget that I organized the funerals?"
I went quiet because, yes. I had completely forgotten. I had been so busy with making sure our father ended up in prison for the deaths that I hadn't. I barely remembered the funeral.
Actually, I didn't remember most of that time. The more I tried to remember, the more the pain grew.
"I…"
"Chill," Matt said. "I know. I don't like remembering any of that time either."
I licked my lips. "Matt… have you been feeling … Well, I mean, have you been getting weird memories?"
"Weird memories?" Matt asked. "Like remembering things I didn't before?"
"Yeah…"
"Yeah, it's been… getting more frequent." He paused. "I went to the hospital partially because of it. The… migraine was a killer."
I swallowed as the pain started to build right between my eyes. "Right… And what did they say?"
"That they'd been suppressed and now that weren't… Why? Are you remembering something?"
My lips twitched. "I think… I think my relationship with Ginevra was more… involved than I remember."
"Why do you say that?"
"I can remember us… I think it was a date."
He sputtered. "You went on a date?"
"It… didn't feel like it was the first," I said. "It felt like… it was a regular thing…"
I bit my lip. "Now that I think about it, I couldn't remember how we met… I still don't. I really didn't remember her name, but I knew all the other ones…"
Wasn't that strange? And the timing? Had they all been after her? They had to be.
"… you don't remember how you met all the other women?"
"I do. That's the thing. At some party, a mixer, some event, a club… but I met Ginevra at a lounge…"
I could see the marquee of it flashing through my mind and frowned.
"Motive Lounge," I said. "Could you… do me a favor and look it up. I can't… remember why I would have been there or where it is."
How long ago had it been since I'd gone?
"Sure," Matt said.
I hung up the phone and kept driving to Quillan's daycare. The rush of parents trying to pick up their kids made the air shake with noise. I bypassed most of them and headed down the hall to where I had left Quillan that morning.
"Ah, Mr. Chance," the teacher said, looking up at me. "You're the first to arrive."
Was that normal? I looked around, rubbing the back of my neck. He laughed.
"Most werewolves in Black Moon have longer hours since they don't work for human companies." He looked over at where the kids were still playing. Quillan hadn't even noticed me. "Care to take a seat for a little while?"
I sank onto one of the cushions, feeling as though the whole day had come crashing down on me.
"You look troubled," he said.
"You could say that." I looked over to where Quillan was. "How… How was it? I got the call about the field trip, but I hadn't heard anything else."
He chuckled. "No one should be calling you unless something is wrong. It was a bit of a shaky start, but I think Quillan's settled in well… He's been asking the others for advice about what to get his mother for her birthday, so… be prepared for toddler suggestions on that front."
I blinked. The blinding headache came back like something was trying to pry something out of my head, and then I could see her lying on a bed that looked like it was in a hotel room.
The scent of her perfume and my cologne mingled in the sheets. Sweat and pleasure lingered in the air. She smelled so good. I had never met another human who smelled as good as she did. Even the scent of the hotel's detergent didn't change that, though I guessed that was because the hotel prided itself on being the best supernatural or not.
"My birthday?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said, kissing her hip. "You don't celebrate your birthday?"
Her eyes turned distant. "I never... learned to."
I lifted my head. I was certain that humans celebrated birthdays, unlike werewolves. Well, unlike Blue Moon wolves. I didn't know much about other packs and their customs.
"What about you?" she asked, her voice pitched high and nervous.
I met her gaze. "I suppose... we have that in common."
Her gaze softened. "... your father's an asshole."
I laughed. "Yeah, he is. But hey, at least I've got a good sense of humor about it."
She smiled. "I like that."
"My humor about it?" My lips twitched. "It's… all I have."
She sat up and cupped my face, pressing her lips to mine in a slow, deliberate kiss that stole my breath, made my cock stir, and set warmth flowing through my whole body.
"We should change that," I whispered against her lips, dropping my head.
"What? My birthday?"
"Yeah," I said, grinning, feeling so full of wanting to take the shadows from her eyes. "Think about it."
She blinked at me. "I… don't really… I mean, I get presents on my birthday anyway."
I frowned, blinking at her. She chuckled. "It's Halloween."
I frowned. "Candy does not count as a present."
She laughed. "Not even really good candy?"
"Absolutely not. I'm serious." I wrapped my arms around her, breathing her scent in. "What about… diamonds?"
She laughed. Her whole body shook. "To wear where?"
"A new bag."
"Not my style."
"A new bike."
"Are you calling Marco old?"
"A new saddlebag, then."
"It is new."
I sighed and looked up at her. "How about a trip then?"
She blinked. "A trip?"
"Somewhere you can't ride to and you've never been."
She was well-traveled on the continent. That meant I'd have to take her overseas.
"Somewhere balmy," I whispered. "With private beaches."
She burst into laughter. "I'm not having sex on a beach without some guarantee against sand in awkward places!"
"Mr. Chance?" I looked at the man and grimaced.
"Sorry," I said, "I… It's been a long day."
He nodded. "I understand. I think now might be a good time to collect Quillan." He smiled. "Before they start another round."
I looked over and saw the kids standing around chatting and brainstorming.
"Quillan?"
He turned sharply, and his eyes brightened. "Dad!"
He hurried over and threw his arms around me. I pulled him close, my eyes stinging as a warm, almost overwhelming feeling took over.
Then, I saw a woman standing in the corner of the room.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
