London Falling (Falling #2)(39)
When she came out, she looked refreshed, yet like a woman who had just had a thorough rodgering. I couldn’t help but grin.
London smiled widely, her cheeks pinking up as if she were shy. The woman was not shy, though I’d pretty much give anything to see that smile on her face every day, be the one man allowed to put it there.
“We’d better get back. We’ve been gone awhile.”
“I’m pretty sure they all know what we were up to. Though your friend Tripp may have an issue.”
She balked which made me feel a little relief. “Why? Tripp and I are friends. I’ve told you that.”
“Does he know that?” My voice sounded gruff.
Her eyes narrowed and she bit her lip. “As a matter of fact he does. Now, let’s go.” She held onto the door handle.
“Wait.” I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into my arms. “That date you promised?”
She rolled her eyes. “Really, you just got laid. Can you give it a rest?”
“No, I won’t. You promised.”
“While you were f*cking me!” she retorted. Her face showed irritation but her eyes held a hint of wickedness. I could so easily fall in love with that face.
“Doesn’t matter. I will use whatever super human powers I have at my reach. So next weekend?”
“Fine,” she answered briskly.
“Fine.” I finished in a huff, not sure why either of was holding onto any annoyance, seeing the fabulous coupling we’d just had.
We made our way down the hall. The entire table stopped talking when we entered. Nathaniel clapped. “Cheers, mate! That was quite the entertainment. Did I tell you one of my issues with this apartment? The walls are very thin, brother mine?”
London’s face turned bright red. Aspen and Oliver laughed their asses off. Hank looked embarrassed but coughed into his hands and adjusted his pants. Dean held a knowing smile. Emma’s cheeks were tinged pink, probably matching my own. What caught my attention though were the daggers being thrown at me from across the room. Tripp looked at me, jaw tight, eyes narrowed. His hand was a tight fist on top of the table. Clearly, he had a difference of opinion on the status of his and London’s relationship. I vowed to get to the bottom of it. If London and I were to be anything in the future, this skeleton in her closet needed to be buried.
Chapter - 10
Dinner progressed after a little more ribbing from our friends. I tried valiantly to blow it off. Collier looked flat out like the cat that ate the canary. He spent the rest of the evening sending erotic little messages with his eyes and lips from across the table. We’d just had sex and he was staring at me like I was his next meal instead of the dish Nate and Emma were serving.
“Aren’t you just the sweetest thing,” I heard Tripp address Emma as she refilled his wine. She blushed and looked away, smiling. Tripp grabbed the hand not holding the wine bottle. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” he said in that low smooth voice of his.
Oh no. Not good. Something was already wiggy between Tripp and Collier. Now Tripp was using that voice on Collier’s sister. I closed my eyes and waited for her reply, wishing silently that he wasn’t doing what I think he was doing. It was hard to tell where Tripp’s feelings were when Mr. Sexy Englishman was throwing erotic, lusty emotions across the table that were so powerful they stole my breath. It skewed my emphatic radar, and made it impossible to focus on anything other than the pulsating desire practically ripping off my skin.
As I focused on Tripp and Emma’s conversation, Nate interrupted Collier, effectively breaking the tether between us.
As I turned to focus more closely on Tripp, he was responding to something Emma said about not knowing anyone in the States. “Sweetheart, you just need to get out, have a little fun. I’ll take you on a trip,” He waggled his eyebrows and Emma beamed. Her elegant features lit with joy; clearly she appreciated his advance. “Let’s exchange numbers and I’ll take you out this week. Show you a bit of the city. Would you like that?” He kissed her hand. Smooth Tripp, real smooth.
I rolled my eyes and bumped his elbow, throwing off his mack on Collier’s sister.
A noise that sounded an awful lot like a growl made Tripp and Emma look across the table. Collier’s brown eyes were so dark they were practically black. Anger pumped off him with a passion, turning his aura a muddied red. Emma pulled her hand away, quick as a snap of the finger.
“We’ll connect a little later,” she offered and continued her merry way, filling wine glasses until the bottle was empty then leaving to retrieve another.
Collier took a deep breath and focused on finishing the food on his plate. A frown marred his five o’clock shadow and his lips moved as he stared at his plate. I think I caught the word ’bastard’ and ’sucker’ but I couldn’t be sure. It would be easy enough to figure out what he was saying and who it was directed at.
Allowing Collier to brood, I looked around the room at the different folks deep in conversations. The white walls of Nate’s house served as a perfect background to evaluate each person’s mood and aura. Of course, it was a cinch if their emotions were spilling off them strong enough I didn’t have to focus, like Collier and his present angry state.
My scan first settled on my sister Aspen and her fiancée Hank. Their aura’s matched, a luscious pale pink, indicative of a revived romantic relationship filled with love and affection. Hers had the telltale flicker of white stars or sprinkles of light along the edges. Those effervescent glimmers signified she was pregnant. Those little bursts of light reminded me of the lightening bugs we used to chase across the large grounds of our parents’ estate, beautiful light that was almost impossible to grasp, though we spent countless hours trying. This time my dear sister had caught her light source and it had something to do with the man currently cupping her cheek reverently.