Home > Neon Drops(5)

Neon Drops(5)
Author: M. Sinclair

“It isn’t that terrible,” Desmond replied, trying to be positive as I grunted and shook my head.

Only minutes later we were walking out of the house, my hand intertwined with Draven’s large one. Except instead of riding with Cash and Rhett or any of the other guys, Dean led me towards his BMW and opened the door. I slid into the expensive car as he crouched down and buckled me in, making me pin him with a dry look.

“You know I’m capable of putting on a seatbelt, right?”

His eyes darkened as his lips twitched slightly. “Capable, sure. Whether you would actually do it is a different question.”

Fair.

The door closed and I crossed my ankles, opening up my small box purse. The purse that used to hold drugs now held my small ID and card case, as well as lip gloss and my phone. It still smelled of cocaine, and trust me—if you have kept cocaine anywhere for a period of time, you know the exact smell I’m talking about.

My nose twitched as a weird surge of need went through me, despite not actually wanting to do a fucking line. It was like a physical memory of how good it felt. Addiction was weird like that, and I tried to ignore it, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get high anyway. My body would just reject it.

Taking Dean’s phone as he pulled out of the driveway, I scrolled through his essentially empty playlist queue. I frowned. “You have no playlists, Dean.”

He shrugged. “I only downloaded the app to listen to your music before you came back.”

A small smile floated to my lips as I searched his expression and found nothing but truth. His large hand slipped onto my golden thigh as I finally chose a song. The intense rhythmic and low tones of Ruelle filled the comfortable air-conditioned space as we began driving through the pride’s compound.

The sun had risen, and the sky was a clear, bright blue that seemed to reflectively shine against the desert landscape. I looked up at the many palm trees we passed as elegant mansion after elegant mansion passed us. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. It was weird noticing the smaller things now that I was sober.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly. I looked at him and saw a real curiosity there, making my heart warm. I felt possessive over Dean and his emotions because I was the only person he’d ever felt them for, besides maybe his brothers.

“How beautiful everything here is and how much I missed out on when I was high,” I answered honestly as he let out a low rumble of understanding.

Unfortunately, all too soon our peace was broken and we arrived at Roman Preparatory Academy. The brightly colored school was barred with gates, and I shook my head as I realized the media was once again camped out and waiting for me.

Honestly, it didn’t seem as though the crowd was lessening over time. If anything, it seemed to be growing larger. I understood the fascination with celebrities, more so my brother and I, but come on. I play music and model, it isn’t that fucking interesting.

Talking about my brother...

“They ended up purchasing a house on the other side of the compound,” Dean offered as my brother waved from where he leaned against his dark car, surrounded by two of his bonded.

I had known they’d been staying somewhere, but ever since returning from Broken House, I’d been distracted to say the least. It didn’t surprise me that Dean knew. The man literally knew everything that happened within this damn compound. It was sort of hot. I know, there was no good reason for me to find that attractive, but it was Dean… so, yeah. It was just a thing.

The twin girls were laughing about something as my brother ran a comforting hand up and down one of their backs. I couldn’t tell Elliot and Quinn apart unless I could see their eyebrow piercings. It was something I felt bad about. I would need to figure out another way, especially since they were important to Cormac and would be in our life for the foreseeable future.

What I did know? My brother totally got the more relaxed bunch of bonded. Fucker.

“I’ve been thinking that we may need a new house. There are a lot of us, and I really am not a huge fan of the decor in Jeanie and Nelson’s house,” I said softly as Dean perked up.

Oh, Christ. Why did I feel like this was going to be trouble?

“I may already have something,” he rumbled softly.

“I don’t want to burden Maggie by invading your home…”

Dean put the car in park, tossing me a rare smile. “It’s not that either.”

“Alright, well, come on, tell me.” I offered him a curious look as he picked up his phone and scrolled through it, leaving me in suspense. Finally, he offered me the device, and my eyebrows shot up.

Well shit, that was stunning.

“Where the hell is this in the compound? I’ve never seen it,” I pointed out, knowing he wouldn’t move outside of the massive neighborhood division.

“It’s actually not far from your current house. You wouldn’t have seen it before considering construction finished on it a week before you arrived,” Dean spoke quietly.

I was so engrossed looking over the architectural masterpiece that his words didn’t click right away. When they did, I looked up at him and asked, “Who was it built for then?”

Then the cutest fucking thing ever happened.

My psychopath, the man who snapped necks without a second thought, blushed slightly. Holy fuck. I blinked as his eyes darkened with slight heat and caution, but he explained, “I had built it. In case you...”

“Ever came back?” I finished as heartbreak swarmed Dean’s blue eyes, making pain surge through my heart. Only in the quiet of the moments between us did Dean admit just how badly he’d been hurt when I left. How heartbroken he’d been. I felt my eyes sting with tears.

“Can we see it later?” I asked softly. He nodded sharply, looking as though he was trying to wrestle down his emotions. If Dean ever fucking cried, I would probably lose it. Scratch that, I totally would.

Impulsively, I leaned across the car and crushed a kiss to his lips as a growl broke from him. His right hand delved into my hair, holding me against his mouth in a demanding grip, while his other hand easily lifted and pulled me over so that I was straddling him. Thank the Maker for tinted windows. His dark, demanding kiss had me whimpering against him as he finally pulled back looking a bit frenzied, his predatorial energy surrounding me tightly.

“I love you,” he got out gruffly as I whispered the same in return.

Suddenly, the passenger-side door was flung open by Adriel, who popped his head in, looking completely unsurprised and with his dry humor restored. “Hate to interrupt this loving moment, but...”

Dean snarled as the elf king continued, “But people are wondering why their favorite college counselor hasn’t gotten out of his car yet, especially since you are with him.”

“Fuck school,” I growled as Adriel helped me out.

“What I heard was ‘fuck in school,’” Dean muttered.

I barked out a laugh as I joined the others. Maybe getting Dean on board with my student-teacher fantasy wouldn’t be that hard after all.

 

 

2

 

 

Adriel

 

 

“A boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans

Then making a wish he tossed in the sea.”

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