Breathing Fire

Siobhan was childhood friends with Dom and his cousins. They had also dated some years before he and I became an item. According to her, I was all that stood between them reconciling and living happily ever after. According to everyone else, they’d always just been friends and occasional bedmates. I was the only woman Dom had ever dated exclusively. I’d also heard from other sources that Dom had flat-out told her he was planning to marry me. So, all of her jilted lover angst always fell to me. Go figure.

Christian, who had entered the room right behind me, whistled softly. “This should be an interesting evening.” His whistling suddenly turned into the tune for the theme from ‘Rocky’.

I shot him a glare over my shoulder. “For you, maybe.”

“Hell yeah, for me. I’d say I have your back, but if I touch that prissy druid princess, they’ll gut me outright.”

I nodded. “Yes. You definitely need to stay out of it. It’s fine. I’m going to ignore her anyways. It’s all ancient history. If she has half a brain, she’ll pretend she didn’t see me.”

“She always had more tits than brains,” Christian muttered. Sure enough, she was striding across the room to us as he spoke. Several druids paced after her, talking rapidly. Trying to talk her out of doing anything stupid, I was sure. The room was full, mostly of men. Not surprising. Most of them wore black, with various armored vests. Christian and I were decked out the same. Not Siobhan. She wore a slinky red dress that barely covered her crotch. Oh, and it clashed with her hair.

She stopped a few feet from me, her hands clenched. “Whore,” she spat. Not a good start.

I calmed myself before speaking. “Siobhan. It’s pointless for us to still be fighting each other for a man that doesn’t belong to either one of us. Let’s just leave it at that.” I really was trying to defuse the situation. Honest.

If anything, it worked her up even more. “Don’t you tell me where to leave it, you dumb bitch! I’ll leave you buried in the f**king desert!” I just blinked at her for a minute. She wasn’t alone with that sentiment. Apparently my desert burial was a popular fantasy amongst the druids.

“I’d love to see you try,” I told her softly. I couldn’t help it. Seriously. When someone threatened me, and I was ninety-nine percent sure they couldn’t kill me, I had to call them on it. And I would sincerely love to see her try.

“One of these days I will.” Her voice was a purr. I’d forgotten how much I hated that venomous drawl.

I shrugged. “I’ll be waiting. Has it ever occurred to you that your problems with Dom have nothing to do with me? I left for over seven years, and it looks like all you managed to get out of him were some pity f**ks.” Okay, even I thought that jab was on the bitchy side. But it felt so f**king good to say it.

She was literally quivering in rage. She was showing considerable restraint though, for her. Years ago, whenever we’d had a confrontation, half the room had had to hold her down. “They have everything to do with you. You f**ked with his head. If he had never met you-”

“Um, sorry to correct you, but he’s known you all your life.”

“Luckily I was there to comfort him when you left. You were exactly what I’d always told him you were. Guess whose bed he crawled into to lick his wounds?”

The revelation stung more than a little, but I shrugged, my face serene. “Hmmm, let me think. Probably whoever was clinging closest? I’m assuming that was you? He’ll f**k anything these days, I’ve heard. Seems like he’s getting your kind of comfort from a lot of girls.”

“Even you now. Rumors are you two tore up his office. You think you’re reconciled? He’ll never care about you again. I hope you know that. He’s on to you now. I always told him you were screwing around on him. He denied it, but I knew he always suspect-”

I’m not even completely sure how it happened, but before she finished her sentence, my fist was flying through her face. Not into her face, but right through it, as though I’d been aiming at a spot a foot behind her, and her face just sorta, I don’t know, got in the way? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t gratified to see her fly back twenty feet, slamming into the wall. Though I have to admit, it wasn’t quite as fun as that time I threw her out a window.

She lay there, stunned. Every eye in the room was staring at me in shock. I wasn’t sure whether they were shocked that I’d punched her, or that I’d punched her hard enough to throw her that far. Suddenly every eye was centered behind me, on the open doorway. I didn’t turn. No way was I giving my back to the bitch after what I’d just done.

“I swear you show up just to cause trouble.” I recognized the gravelly voice instantly. Cam strode past me, going to help Siobhan to her feet, I assumed. I assumed wrong. He restrained her arms as soon as he reached her. “This ends now.” His authoritative voice commanded the room.

“You had sex with Dom?!” Christian’s voice whispered loudly behind me.

“Shut up,” I whispered, just as loudly.

“Oh my God! You really did!”

“Shut. Up.”

“You sneaky little tramp.” Christian was laughing at me.

“I’m going to rip your head off!” Siobhan was screaming from across the room. I stuck my tongue out at her. It’s entirely possible that I was actually losing maturity as the years went by. Likely, even.