Vandal (Ashes & Embers 2)

Ivy leans against Lukas and he kisses her head. “It really was so cool,” she says. “That’s the first night I met all of them, and Evie, too. That was before her and Storm were together, and Asher was making fun of her on stage about the blizzard, and I thought she was gonna die because she was there with her boyfriend.”

“Asher’s an asshole,” Vandal interjects, still standing over the grill.

Lukas rolls his eyes behind Vandal’s back. “No he’s not, he was just joking around.”

“What happened with a blizzard?” I ask, confused. If my memory is right, Evie is the girl that was here the first morning I stayed here, and she’s the one who gave Sterling to Vandal. I shake my head, remembering how jealous I’d felt, thinking they were involved. I guess she really is Vandal’s cousin’s fiancée, from the sounds of it.

Ivy leans towards me and touches my arm. “It’s kind of a long story, but Evie was driving in a snow storm and her car got stuck, and Storm, who’s Lukas’s and Vandal’s cousin, came along and offered her a ride, and then he crashed his truck.” She takes a bite of fruit and chews before continuing. “They were stuck on the side of a mountain road in the blizzard for an entire weekend together, and they fell in love, even though Evie had a boyfriend already.”

“They didn’t fall in love, they fucked like rabbits in the back of that truck,” Vandal yells over his shoulder.

“Vandal!” Ivy scolds. “They did not! Evie isn’t like that! She told me they didn’t have sex until months later.”

Lukas and Vandal start to crack up. “Poor fuckin’ Storm finally meets a chick and it takes him months to hook up with her,” Lukas jokes.

“They did fool around, though,” Ivy says, grinning knowingly at me. “She was crazy about him, but she was living with her boyfriend and they’d been together since high school. He was a jerk, though, and treated her like crap. She finally left him for Storm.”

“Evie is annoying as fuck,” Vandal spouts, turning around to smile at us. It’s nice to see him joking around and having fun.

“Vandal!” Ivy scolds again, shaking her head. “She is not.” She looks at me. “Vandal hates everyone.”

“Everyone is hated until proven likable,” Vandal advises. “Did you see the cat she gave me? He has no eyes.”

Lukas chokes on his soda. “What the fuck?”

“He’s adorable. He’s inside,” I tell them. “Vandal loves him. I do too, he’s such a cuddle bunny.”

“No eyes?” Lukas repeats. “For real?”

Vandal walks over to the table and stands behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. His fingers are warm from standing over the grill. “Fuck yeah, no eyes,” Vandal tells them. “Apparently some kids hurt him. He’s awesome, though; he plays and acts like a normal cat. I love that little fucker. He eats like a pig. Good thing we’re eating out here or he’d be trying to steal the food right off our plates.”

“We have to check him out after we eat,” Lukas says.

I touch Vandal’s hand on my shoulder and he gives me a gentle squeeze.

“So how did you two meet?” Ivy inquires, smiling at us.

I open my mouth to answer but Vandal beats me to it. “We bumped into each other at the cafe and she spilled coffee on me. I thought she was cute so I asked her to go for a ride on the bike, and I brought her here.” I stiffen under his touch.

“And you never left?” Lukas questions me.

I squirm in my seat. “Um … no. I kinda needed a vacation and he asked me if I wanted to stay here with him, so I did.”

Ivy gapes at us. “Wow! I think that’s great. Sometimes we just know.”

“Van, I have to say I’ve never seen you look so un-miserable. You actually seem happy. It’s about time.”

“Tabi’s just what I needed, I guess.” He squeezes my shoulders again and goes back to the grill to check on the food, but Lukas’s eyes stay on me for a few moments, and I get the feeling he’s trying to piece our story together and figure us out.

“Tabi, go get some plates, please?” Vandal says. “The food is ready.”

“I’ll help.” Ivy jumps up and follows me into the house. “Can I see the cat?” she asks once inside. “ I’m a cat-lover myself.”

“Sure, let’s go find him. He’s probably asleep on the bed. It’s his favorite place.”

I head down the hall and she follows me into the bedroom and sure enough, Sterling is sprawled out at the foot of the comforter. I gently pick him up, kiss his forehead and he purrs instantly. I’ve never met a cat that just loves to be held so much.

“Here … he likes to be cuddled.” I hand him to her and she holds him like a baby, and he just flops in her arms, purring.

The smile on her face warms my heart. “My God … he is so cute. I could just eat him up. The poor little baby, how could someone hurt him?” She snuggles him against her.

“I know; it’s terrible. But he’s got a great life now. We spoil him rotten.”

She smiles at the cat and then turns to me, lowering her voice. “Vandal seems to really like you. It’s nice to see him smile.”

“He’s kinda closed about his feelings sometimes, but I’m pretty head over heels for him.”

“He’s been through so much … Give him time. I know he can be difficult, but I really don’t think he would let you stay here if he weren’t serious. Vandal doesn’t do relationships, from what I’ve heard, so he must really be interested.”

I take a deep breath. “I’ve been through a lot, too … My husband passed away recently.”

She touches my arm. “Oh Tabitha, I am so

sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay, really. I’m doing much better. Vandal has helped me so much. I’m just taking it one day at a time.”

“Trust me, I know the feeling. I’ve had my share of shit lately too. My life is pretty much upside-down.” She lays Sterling gently on the bed. “Let’s go get those plates before the guys think we ran away.”

When Ivy and I join the guys outside again, Vandal eyes me like a hawk and lifts his chin up at me, which I take as a gesture for me to go to him.

“Did you get lost?” he asks. His eyes are dark and his Dom tone is in full force.

I hand him a plate. “No. Ivy wanted to see Sterling.”

“What did you tell her?” he asks softly, so his brother and Ivy can’t hear.

“About what?”

“Us.”

“Nothing. She said we look happy and they’re happy for us.”

“I don’t want them to know about the D/s.”

My heart skips. “I wouldn’t tell them about that. Do you really think I would talk about that casually to people I just met?”

“No. I’m just making sure, because it’s very private.”

“Agreed. Now stop it. You’re surrounded by people that care about you. No one is out to get you or pry into your life.”

He leans down and whispers in my ear, “I’m going to fuck you so hard later.” He kisses my cheek and I grab two plates piled with food and bring them over to the table.

“I’m starving,” Lukas says.

“You are always hungry. You’re worse than my kids.” Ivy replies.

Vandal brings the rest of the food over and takes his seat next to me, then pulls my plate closer to his.

“You’ll love this teriyaki chicken,” he says to me, cutting it up into small pieces for me, as he does every night when we have dinner. I honestly don’t know why he does it and I feel as if it’s one of those things that I just shouldn’t question. We ignore Ivy and Lukas’s odd sideways glances at us.

“So, Van, I had to fire Dana,” Lukas says between bites of steak.

“Who the hell is Dana?” Vandal slides my plate back over to me, my food cut into tiny pieces and arranged neatly around the plate.