UP IN FLAMES

Someone wanted to scare Vanessa badly enough to send her running, something he doubted she did often, and he’d succeeded. The woman looked like her legs would give out on her at any moment. The urge to take her into his arms hit him hard. He wanted to hold her. More than that, he wanted to protect her. That sudden need went beyond his job, but he resisted. Something told him that she would most likely react like a wild animal cornered if he did pull her into an embrace.

“Come on,” he said quietly. Taking her arm in a gentle grasp, he led her into the living room so she could sit.

His partner’s brows nearly reached his hair as he watched Alaric guide a quiet Vanessa to the edge of the couch. She tucked her hands between her knees, but he could still see them trembling.

A feeling of helplessness assaulted him, a sensation he wasn’t used to at all. Alaric knew how to protect people. He made a living doing it, but so far, he’d done a piss-poor job of doing so.

Turning to Paul, he curled his hands into fists. “Can you go get us a glass of whiskey?”

Paul opened his mouth but closed it and then left to do his bidding. Very wise decision, because if any bullshit comment came out of his mouth about Vanessa, he would lay him out on his fucking back. Partner or not.

Vanessa’s eyes followed Paul’s retreating form. “He doesn’t understand why I’m here.” She said,

“Fuck him.”

Her gaze bounced back to his, “Really?”

“Yep.” He sat in front of her on the coffee table. “This is my house, so fuck him.”

A dry laugh came from her. “I really am sorry. I just didn’t know what to do. Seeing all my stuff destroyed like that?” She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes briefly. When they reopened, her stare fixed over his shoulder.

Paul returned with a glass of amber liquid. Alaric didn’t give him the chance to hand it to her. Intercepting the glass, he waited until Vanessa lifted her hands.

“Drink this,” he ordered, somewhat surprised when she obeyed.

Vanessa took a huge gulp and immediately sputtered.

“Slowly.” Alaric chuckled. “It’s a bit strong.”

“Yeah,” she muttered, taking another tiny sip.

Paul lingered by them, his brows pinched. “Is everything okay?”

Alaric opened his mouth, but Vanessa lifted her gaze. “Yes. Everything is fine. I’m just…” She took another sip, her stare once more fixing over Alaric’s shoulder. “Shaken up I guess”

Ten levels of awkward silence descended on the room, and anyone with an ounce of common sense would’ve bounced by now, but Paul looked like he was glued to his spot. Turning to his partner, Alaric pinned him with a look until Paul rolled his eyes.

“Okay. Well, I’m going to go get some ginger ale and crackers.” Paul headed toward the dining room, stopping long enough to look back at Alaric. “I’ll be calling.”

Alaric ignored him, taking the glass from her hands. “How are you feeling? You were looking a little wobbly out there.”

“I’m fine.” She smiled, but it was painfully forced. “Ginger ale and crackers?”

“Emily is sick.” He caught himself, probably realizing she didn’t know who he was talking about. “Emily. She’s his fiance”

Vanessa nodded slowly, and Alaric leaned forward until his knees pressed into hers. She lifted a hand to her hair, smoothing the tiny strands. He caught it on the way down, capturing her much smaller hand between his. She jerked back but couldn’t pull free. “What are you doing?” She asked.

“Your hand is ice cold, Vanessa.”

She wet her lips, and his eyes zeroed right in on that. Despite how obviously stressed she was, his cock swelled in response. He wanted to taste those lips with his tongue. He wanted to taste a lot of her. But that, unfortunately, was going to have to wait. Lifting his gaze to hers, he held her stare as he picked up her other hand. Capturing them both, he slowly rubbed them between his, warming them up.

Vanessa’s dark eyes were unfocused behind the glasses. “I should never have married Christopher,” she said softly.

One side of his lips tipped up. “Then why did you?” he asked.

Color invaded her cheeks and a bit of sharpness returned to her gaze. “That’s a personal question.”

“You brought it up.” He slid his hands up, his fingers reaching under the cuffs of her suit jacket. “Don’t blame me.”

She held his stare and several seconds passed. “I guess I was just young and stupid and thought I knew everything,”

“And what did your family think of him?”

“I really didn’t have any by then. I just had my mom growing up, but she’s late now. She had a drinking problem. And a drug problem. And a boyfriend problem.”

“That’s a lot of problems,” he murmured, admittedly surprised. For some reason, he’d pictured Vanessa coming from a two-parent household. Stiff. Logical. A bit boring, but a fully functional family nonetheless. “My mother had a drinking and prescription pill problem. Father also had a girlfriend problem.” he told her.

“That had to be tough. The girlfriend problem, considering he was married.”

Alaric smirked. “It was.”

Her gaze flickered away, and her lashes lowered. For a moment, she sat there, letting him rub her hands. They were warm by now, but he couldn’t make himself stop. Her skin was soft, her hands delicately formed. Didn’t take any stretch of imagination to picture the rest of her body as beautifully formed.

“And that doesn’t bother you?” she asked quietly.

Shrugging a shoulder, he spread his thighs a little, giving himself room. How he could still be hard talking about this shit was beyond him. “Did it suck for my mom and us as kids? Fuck yes, it did, but that’s the way life is sometimes. It messed with my brothers a little.”

“But not you?”

“People get married when they shouldn’t. They settle because they think they need to or it’s what’s expected from them. It happens every day, several times a day. Two people come together who shouldn’t stay together. I’m smart enough to realize that there are cases where people meet and they should be together and just because my parents fucked up their lives, it doesn’t mean I will or should.” He paused but kept his hands moving over hers. “It is what it is.”