Page 46 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
“What else is mentioned inJourney? Honestly, I need to read more of this shit considering how much it's changed my life. My thanks to Jules Verne,” he grumbled.
Facts. I searched other locations inJourney to the Center of the Earth. “Umm, so there's a volcano. A subterranean prehistoric paradise. Stromboli Island.”
He flipped me over, so I was on my knees between his thighs. “Stromboli is where we go then. Sorry Chaos, but I’m going to have to veto volcano diving. You’re already a little broken.” He nodded at my arm in a cast. Honestly, it was amazing how quick I got used to it, probably due to the fact it wasn’t my dominant hand. That would have been a bitch.
I leaned in close, brushing my lips across his. “How are you going to stop me, lover?”
“Did I ever tell you I used to be a Boy Scout? I can do a one-handed slipknot with my eyes closed,” he teased, and I grinned. I was beginning to learn that under all the gruff, no-nonsense exterior, was a man who just wanted to let loose and play.
“What were you like at my age?”
“You mean back in 1955 when there was no television? When dinosaurs roamed?”
I slapped his chest. Man, he was way too dressed for what I wanted to happen right now. “You know what I mean.”
He shrugged. “I was young and stupid. Like the guys, but without the money. Joined the army, and got kicked out of boot camp because I found I didn’t like following someone else's orders. Got recruited by a private security firm. Worked with them until they took Sampson’s kidnapping case, and was headhunted to be Sampson’s private security. I earned enough to open my own firm, got some employees, and here we are.”
I wiggled on his lap. “Yes. Here we are.” I kissed his jaw. “Have you ever thought how different life could have been if only one small thing changed?” I nipped his chin. “If you hadn’t been a stubborn bastard and had followed orders. If I had hit the brakes instead of plowing into that fucking magnolia tree.”
“Mmm, fuck that magnolia.”
I huffed a laugh. “If Hendrick had been… not Hendrick. Or if he’d had a girlfriend. Or if he’d stuck with the nurse and not stalked my ass like a weirdo. If Otto or Sampson had talked him out of the trip. All these tiny decisions, and I would never have been this happy.”
His hands stroked down my spine. “You don’t know that.”
I held his cheeks between my hands. “I do know. I haven’t been happy in a decade. I can’t even remember when I was this happy—maybe not ever. A part of me knows it’s the meds, and probably all the sex endorphins, but I don’t care. You make me happy, Evan. You all do.”
His hand wrapped around the back of my head, and he pulled me in for a kiss. It was soft and sweet, and over all too quickly.
“You’re the best accident I’ve ever had, Chaos. I thank the Fates every day that I’m a pig-headed bastard with more good luck than I deserve.” He flipped me onto my back and spread my thighs wide. “Now, let me show you how thankful I am.”
Chapter24
Otto
Iwatched as Hendrick downed half a bottle of Hennessy all by himself. He was celebrating, and Drix in a happy mood was infectious. Only one person could make this even better, but she was half a world away.
Sampson was laughing at Drix dancing around like crazy to Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping,” jumping up and down in his own personal mosh pit. We would have gone out and partied, but it didn’t feel right without Aviva.
Drix was singing at the top of his lungs, and if we had downstairs neighbors, they were going to be pissed. But he deserved to blow off steam, so I would personally fuck up anyone who complained.
He sauntered over, kneeling on the couch beside me. He grabbed my chin and kissed me messily. I laughed as he spat cognac in my mouth, licking at the droplet that dripped down my chin.
Then he was back on his feet, spinning around and around. It wasn’t over yet; I knew that, and so did Hendrick. Ted Kenley wasn’t one to just lie down and take a defeat. No, he was a malicious and petty motherfucker, so while Drix celebrated, I waited for the other shoe to drop.
Sampson got up, and they bounced around the room together with hard thuds. Eesh. The song moved onto something else from the nineties, and I reclined back into the couch.
I sipped my drink, chewing my lip as memories superimposed themselves over this moment. The first time the three of us ever drank together, Hendrick had tried to chug whiskey straight from the bottle to impress Sampson, who’d only arrived a month before, and he’d ended up puking in the bushes.
Evan had stood in the background, even back then, though I knew that if we’d done anything too stupid, he would have stopped us. But some lessons were better cemented in the burning sensation of vomit. He’d always been there, this security blanket that encapsulated us all, even if on paper, he was just there for Sampson. It suddenly occurred to me that Evan had given up his twenties to take care of a bunch of unruly teenagers with more baggage between them than the tarmac of JFK.
I pulled out my phone. It would be the middle of the night over there, so they were probably asleep. I snapped a quick photo of Hendrick and Sampson trying to do that lift from Dirty Dancing, sending it to Evan directly.
Me: We owe you a lot. I don’t think we’ve ever said thank you.
I stuffed my phone in my pocket. The guys had moved onto some rap song that was so fast, I was impressed at their ability to keep up, since they were both drunk as fuck.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it back out. The message back had a photo of a sleeping Aviva.
