“CatAndMouse”—TheRedJumpsuitApparatus
Six years later…
“Welcome home!” I’d heard that a million times since the party started. Sure, I’d seen everyone when I came back on leave, but I was finally home for good. I’d done what Rowdy had asked, and I’d become one of the best snipers on my team. Yeah, I made it into special operations, and I’d been a killing machine. That part of the military didn’t bother me; it was some of the shit I saw that I had no control over that haunted me at night.
During my first deployment, Monique had dropped off a note at the clubhouse and disappeared. Rowdy had told me when I called home. I’d tried to find her, but without a last name or social, she might as well have been a ghost. I’d often wondered what happened to her.
The party was heating up, the drinks were flowing, bass was thumping, the bonfire was lighting up the night sky, and the women were hot. It should’ve been exactly what I needed to lose myself before I took on the title of “prospect” tomorrow and a year of shit-work began. The thing was, I needed a minute to myself. I grabbed a bucket off one of the tables and filled it with ice and several beers.
Quietly, I snagged a chair in the shadows. After I popped the top, I lifted a cold bottle to my lips and surveyed the party. That’s when I saw the two chicks on the edge of the crowd, not far from where I sat. It was obvious they were out of their element, but they were gorgeous. They also didn’t notice me, so it gave me time to study them.
One was blonde, short, but curvy—the other was the one I couldn’t keep my eyes off. Mink-colored hair rippled over her shoulders. Eyes that flashed gold in the firelight scanned the crowd. My eyes traveled over the banging body I could already see myself bending over the nearest stable object.
“You need a beer?” I asked from my shadowy hiding place. Both girls squealed a little, and I chuckled.
“Fucking hell, you scared the shit out of us!” the blonde said as she pressed her splayed hand over her chest. The brunette studied me without saying a word. When she stepped closer, her eyes caught the light of the bonfire and reminded me of a tiger’s eye stone. They were stunning. They also eerily seemed to be able to see right through me.
“Yeah, I’ll take one,” she boldly said as she approached me with cat-like grace. Her lips were full and ruby red, and her tits, not too big, not too small, stretched the black fabric of her sliced-up shirt.
A crooked grin lifted the corner of my mouth as I reached into my bucket and popped the top off with one of my rings. “Here you go,” I said as I handed her the dripping bottle, careful not to make contact with her slender fingers.
Her pink tongue wet her bottom lip as she took the cold bottle from me. That sultry gaze of hers locked on mine as she took a drink.
“Why are you hiding over here in the dark?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Needed a minute. Why were you two hiding on the edge instead of joining the party? Isn’t that why you’re here?”
They cast uneasy glances at each other before they schooled their features. “Just checking things out,” the brunette smoothly replied.
“You want one?” I held my beer up to the other girl just as Ghost popped up behind them.
“Boo!” he said with a laugh and placed an arm around the blonde. He tried to do it with both, but the brunette dropped her head and stepped closer to me, hiding behind her hair. Her body language screamed she wasn’t comfortable with Ghost’s bold manner. Immediately, I wanted to rescue her, but had to remind myself it wasn’t my place.
“Thanks, but I don’t drink beer,” the blonde said to me with a wrinkle to her nose.
“Then how about we leave this broody asshole here in the dark and I take you two pretty ladies to the bar for something you do like?” Ghost said with his usual charm.
“I’m good with my beer,” the brunette said in a soft tone.
“You okay here, J—” the blonde started.
“Yep!” the brunette immediately piped in before her friend could finish her question. Ghost cocked his head as he looked at her with a narrowed gaze, but the blonde slid a hand up his chest, and he looked down at her with a grin.
“Cool, cool. Be good, Nico.” Done with our brief interaction, he steered the blonde through the crowd.
“Sorry about him. So what’s your name?” I asked her as she sat on the bench of the picnic table under the tree.
“He’s okay. Call me Jay,” she said as she boldly held my gaze. Funny, but she hadn’t seemed okay when Ghost was there.
“Has he bothered you before?” If he had made the golden-eyed beauty uncomfortable in any way, I’d throttle him. That would end my prospect time before it started, but something told me, for her, I’d be okay with that.
She shook her head rapidly and raised the bottle. Her slender hands shook slightly, but I was sure she thought I didn’t notice. The thing was, I noticed everything. Hell, my life had depended on it for years.
“First time here,” she said after she lowered the beer but dropped her gaze. The pulse in her slender throat was pounding.Interesting.
“What do you think so far?” I asked her as I watched every little nuance of her movements.
“It’s all right. Not exactly what I thought it was going to be like,” she said as she scanned the crowd. It was pretty wild, and I wasn’t sure if she and her friend had known what they were in for when they came. There were all levels of debauchery going on that she quickly looked away from. A flush tinted her bronze skin.