32. You're a Good Man, Victor Creed
Creed guided the SUV down the tree-lined two-lane highway with his left hand. His right rested in his lap and twitched whenever the sound of the engine told him that he needed to shift. He'd given up on trying to get completely used to automatic transmission. He glanced over at the frail. She was flipping through the stack of homemade flashcards in her lap, trying to look like she was studying. He knew she wasn't. She was going through the cards too damn fast and her eyes were darting from the cards to the passing scenery. Every so often she shifted in the comfortable seat. The closer they got to the Cavinder, the more often she shifted.
Creed smiled a little. "Gotta take a piss, frail?"
"What?" She seemed surprised to hear his voice. A soft blush colored her cheeks. "No. Why?"
He grinned at her, one fang poked at his lower lip. "'Cause you ain't sat still for more than thirty seconds in the last hour."
Her blush bloomed prettily and she laughed. "I have."
He chuckled. "Like hell."
"Well, maybe I've been fidgeting a little." She put a black elastic hair band around the cards and dropped them in her purse. "I guess I'm excited about seeing Granna and Grandpa." She turned toward him and stroked his right hand. "I know you're not."
The delicate touch sent a warm vibration of pleasure directly to his cock. He bit back a growl, gripped her fingers and shrugged. "Your grandfather ain't so bad. 'Sides, we'll be at opposite ends of the place."
Curiosity drew her eyebrows together. "That'll make it easier?"
"Well yeah. Least I won't be thinking about your grandmother standing around with a glass pressed to the goddamn wall every time I want to fuck you."
She laughed and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. "I didn't think that would bother you."
"Wouldn't bother me if she was in the same goddamn room. Figure she's an old lady though, she'll wanna sleep sometime and she'll be a pain in the ass if she doesn't get her eight hours." She smirked. "That's all you ever think about isn't it?"
A little smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "When you touch me like that, yes." She blushed and tried to pull her hand away. He held on tighter. "Didn't say I didn't like it."
"You're driving."
"So? I can multitask." He nipped the inside of her wrist.
"Or," She teased his palm with one fingertip. "We could wait until we get there and actually be comfortable. We're only half an hour away, right?"
Fucking frail, she knew just how to touch him and he loved every goddamn minute of it. He grinned and stepped on the gas. "Fifteen minutes."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kelly was sure that there was something about being in an unfamiliar place that made Victor even more randy than usual. It probably had something to do with showing ownership or establishing territory or something like that. If she were honest, she couldn't care less why, she just enjoyed it.
She kept her eyes on their entwined fingers and tried to ignore the speed at which the springtime scenery was slipping past. His hand dwarfed hers. The way his claws teased over her skin sent familiar shivers down her spine and an insistent, heavy warmth began to develop in her lower tummy. Much as she wanted to see her grandparents, she hoped that they were late.
When Victor turned into the Cavinder parking lot, Kelly's hopes for a few moments alone with him disappeared. Her grandfather was taking a bag out of the back of a blue rental car. A purer kind of excitement surged in her chest and her heart started to beat faster. Victor parked next to him.
Kelly looked at him. "Sorry. I was hoping-"
"Go on." She started to pull away, but he gripped her hand tighter. A little grin quirked the corner of his mouth. "I'll just fuck you 'til you scream later." He let her go.
"Promise?" She grinned at him and got out of the vehicle before he could answer. "Perfect timing." She said to her grandfather.
"Kelly!" Her grandfather dropped the bag on the ground and wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. "God it's good to see you."
Kelly laughed. "It's good to see you too, now put me down!"
"Your wish is my command." He set her on her feet again.
"Where's Granna? Is she already inside?"
He gripped her hands and lowered his eyes. Then he looked up at her again. "Kelly, your grandmother thinks that Cody could wake up any minute. I've tried to tell her that isn't exactly true and so have the doctors, but you know how she is once she gets something in her head."
Kelly was certain that all the air was suddenly gone. "She's not here?" She pulled her hands away.
"It was a last-minute decision." He reached for her again.
She stepped back. "I talked to her last night. She said she was packing." Her head was spinning. Anger, disbelief and hurt twined together in a ragged knot.
"Kelly-"
She shook her head, started toward the building and then turned back. "He doesn't even know her! Cody hasn't seen either one of you since he was a baby. He might as well wake up next to a stranger. That's what it'll feel like to him." The anger was working its way out of the tangle.
"I tried to tell her that!" The pain in his voice made it brittle. The sound cracked, so did Kelly's anger.
She took a deep breath and with it came clarity.
"She doesn't want to see me."
"That isn't it." He tried to sound convincing and failed.
Victor walked between them, carrying their bags. He took her arm on the way by. "C'mon, frail. 'F you two are gonna hash this out I need a drink." She looked over her shoulder. Her grandfather was following.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Creed sat the frail in a comfortable chair in the small bar. She told him she didn't want anything. He got her a strawberry lemonade. She forced a smile and took a sip just to please him.
He went back to the desk to check in. The female clerk had a decidedly feline scent, but her golden eyes were the only giveaway that she was anything other than human. He ignored her and turned to study a wooden rack of scenic postcards.
"Two guests Mr. Demmer?"
"Ah, no. Just one."
The girl tapped the keys.
"Can't control your own mate." Creed's voice was low and dangerous.
"What would you have done? Hogtied her and threw her in the trunk of the car?" The old man's eyes were on a large map of the trail system around the inn.
"That's only for special occasions." He listened while the clerk asked Joe to sign the register. The pen scratched against the paper and Joe slide the register back across the desk. The clerk handed Joe a key and told him how to get to his room. He tossed a credit card in front of the clerk. "Creed. Two people in the suite at other end of place from him."
She took the card and tapped a few keys.
"That's my granddaughter you're talking about and I don't find that funny." His voice was tight.
"No, it ain't very fucking funny. That girl wouldn't ask for water if she was on fire. That's how she is. She takes whatever shit comes at her and she lives with it." The clerk handed him the register and the pen. Creed's bold signature covered three lines. "She ain't gonna say shit, but for some reason that judgmental old woman is important to her. You think about that before you say anything to her." He looked at the clerk. "Key?"
She slid two keys with brass fobs across the desk with a professional smile. "One for you, one for the lady. Take the stairs to the third floor. If you turn to the right it's the door marked Tamarack. If you prefer an elevator-"
"No. Got someone to take the bags up?"
"Of course." Another practiced smile.
"Good. We'll be in the bar." He walked into the quiet, dark paneled room and handed a key to the frail. He ordered a beer and sat at the bar. His instinct was to protect her from it all. That wouldn't do her a damn bit of good though. She was just starting to get her confidence back, if he hovered now it would fuck all that up. He took a long swallow of the beer and watched out of the corner of his eye as the old man stumbled through some kind of half-assed reassurance.
He watched Kelly go silent. For a long moment he thought that would be it. That she would just accept whatever he said. She turned to look the old man in the eye. "She's going to have to figure out a way to deal with me. Cody is my brother and awake or asleep I intend to be in his life. She can either keep running away, or she can figure out how to be civil."
Creed was sure he caught a flicker of a smile on the old man's face. Creed's grin was broad as he turned back to his beer.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kelly relaxed back into Victor's chest. The jets were off in the Jacuzzi tub. The lights were dim in the blue and white bathroom. The anger from earlier had been driven out by afterglow and hot water. It wasn't gone, but dwelling on it wasn't going to do anybody any good and it wasn't going to change anything.
His hand drifted over her stomach. "Wanna have something sent up for dinner?"
She smiled and laced her fingers with his. "We have a reservation downstairs."
"So? You think they're gonna throw us out if we cancel?"
"No, but I think grandpa would be hurt if we just don't show."
"You could call him." His hand moved up and cupped a breast.
Her nipple hardened against his palm. "I could, but after what happened earlier he'll think I'm still upset."
"You are." He tugged lightly on her nipple.
She turned a little, but the denial wouldn't come out. She settled back into him again. "Okay, so I am. It's not really about him though. He's just the one who's stuck in the middle. I am sorry I got so upset outside though."
"I'm glad you did."
A short laugh. "You like to watch me make a scene?"
He massaged her lower tummy with his knuckles. "You don't have to take shit just because somebody wants to dish it out. Just 'cause that someone is family don't make a bit of difference."
A smile curled the corner of her lips. One hand stroked his thigh under the water. "Maybe."
A soft purr. "No fucking maybes about it."
"Anyway, at this point I'm too relaxed to be anything but pleasant."
