Page 12 of Love Fire

“Well hurry up then I haven't got all day”

He lifts a cautious brow.“ Who are you selling the drugs for?”

I lift my leg and slide my thigh between his slowly. He jerks back, surprise flashing on his face but he doesn't relinquish his hold.“What no foreplay? So we're just going to assume I was selling drugs.”

“Erin…” He warns.

“I’m confused, was that a question?” I smile mockingly at him.

His jaw is locked together and his glare is nothing short of murderous. “Do you think this is a game?” His voice is black ice, quiet and deadly. “People are dying, my people. Being hunted and skinned for a drug you just happen to be selling. So I’ll ask you one more time, who do you work for?”

His voice shouldn’t make my legs weak, or my nipples hard, but it does. “Myself.” I grind out.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” he yells, pushing himself away from me. His chest rises and falls in rapid succession. “If you won't be my ally then enjoy being my enemy. You better get used to this room, it's all you’re going to see for a while.”

Maybe it's the way his eyes blaze as he looks down on me or maybe it's the tension in his shoulder as he turns to storm to the other side of the room, but excitement floods my system at his challenge. I wonder how far I can push the big guy.

12

BRENT

Why did I just yell at her? I’m better than that. I’m supposed to be in control of my emotions. She just kept pushing me and pushing and I lost it.

I don’t usually take this work so personally. It’s just different this time. My cousin got addicted to iridescent and this human is a part of it. She has a hand in all the hurt the drug has caused and continues to cause. She deserves to be yelled at and more. Still, I should not be losing my temper. I need to be in control of this.

Before I can compose myself and continue the interrogation, the silence is broken. The ring of a cell phone cuts through the room. I check my pockets but my phone is off. Erin shifts her body as much as she can in the restraints. She turns so her back is angled slightly towards me.

“It’s my phone,” she says. “It’s in my back left pocket.”

I take a step forward towards her. Even after all of this, her scent is still intoxicating. The closer I get, the stronger it becomes and the more I feel myself losing control. There is just something about this human that makes me forget everything.

I lay my hand on her hip and slowly guide my hand to her back pocket. I dip my hand in. I allow myself a moment to graze the smooth curve of her ass with the back of my hand before I grab her phone. Hopefully, she didn’t realize what I was doing. I need to keep the upper hand here.

I look at the still ringing phone. ‘Maria’ is calling. This could be a big deal. Maria might be someone from Erin’s organization. This might all be over soon.

“Who is Maria?” I make sure to let my suspicions bleed into my voice. I want her to be nervous. “Is she a cohort?”

Erin’s face turns to real fear for the first time since I found her. This is not the reaction I was expecting. Though, it might still be useful.

“No,” Erin spits out. “She is a woman that I sponsor from the PNA group. You need to let me answer.”

I thought about this for a moment. I can’t see the down side of this. Even if Erin is lying, I’ll be able to tell if they start speaking in code, and that’ll give me my first real bit of information.

“Fine.” I answer the call and turn on the speaker phone. Then, I hold the phone up to Erin.

“Hello? Maria? Is everything OK?” The fear has not left Erin’s face or voice. Maybe this isn’t an act.

“I messed up, Erin,” the voice says over the phone. “I relapsed. I- I relapsed on iridescent. I’m so sorry.” The voice on the other end of the phone begins to violently weep.

“It’s okay,” Erin says, I can tell she is holding back tears. She actually cares for this Maria. “I just need you to take a deep breath and let me know where I can find you. Can you do that Maria? I’ll come get you.”

“I’m at the Miller house on fifth street,” Maria says. “Please hurry.”

“Okay.” Erin closes her eyes. “I’ll come get you. Just stay-” I hang up the phone.

“You shouldn’t make promises like that,” I say. I don’t understand this human. She clearly cares for this Maria a lot. But she has a huge hand in the drugs that are ruining her life. It just doesn’t make sense. Yet, I can’t help but feel for Erin. The fear on her face is genuine and inside me a desire to help her is growing.

“You have to let me go get her!”

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