Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Chapter 20_Part 1 - Nat

Saturday 13 February

~*Nat*~

“Again, I’m so sorry, Nat. I honestly thought Dad filled the tank yesterday.” Mac rummaged in the centre console for his wallet, his door already half open and letting the smell of petrol filter into the cabin. “I won’t be long.”

“No problems.” I gave him a warm smile. “I’ll take the opportunity to duck to the ladies.”

“Okay.” He glanced up at me quickly to nod in understanding, then went straight back to the console to hunt for his elusive wallet.

I was out of the car and asking the station attendant where the toilets were within seconds. Mac and I had spent the past few hours having a picnic in a gorgeous nature reserve, looking towards a slow-moving creek and rocky waterfall.

It was stunningly picturesque; the food was delectable, the wine we’d drunk was delicious, the company was outstanding.

There was only one problem—the reserve had no public toilets.

The sounds of water bubbling at the base of the waterfall, combined with the intake of copious amounts of wine, had resulted in a bladder that was about fit to burst.

I hadn’t bothered saying anything to Mac, seeing as he’d already mentioned on the way to the picnic grounds that we would have to stop for fuel when we were headed back to the pack house. Mind you, if he wasn’t going to visit the men’s facilities before we left the petrol station, I would be utterly convinced he had some sort of inhuman control over his bladder that would require scientific study so it could be replicated in a lab to benefit future generations of sales staff.

After doing what I needed to and feeling far more relief than I had any right to feel, I stood at the basin staring at myself in the mirror listening to the trickle of water coming from the tap and washing over my wringing, soapy hands. My face was slightly pink from spending so long outside in the sun, but I hadn’t turned lobster red yet, which was a relief. What an impression that would have made on our first date.

I chuckled at the idea. ‘First date’. Here I was already counting on having more. I must have enjoyed the day more than I originally thought.

And I hadn’t thought of him once.

My smile slowly melted from my lips. Damn you, brain. You had to spoil everything, didn’t you?

My fingers tensed under the running water. I let out a slow breath to find my equilibrium, but it wasn’t working. I gripped the basin and stared at the water circling the drain, trying to ease my tension.

Breathe, Nat. Breathe. Focus on something else.

“You could try stopping the water from draining. That would take your mind off things.”

I nibbled my bottom lip. Alex and Nahi had been training me for weeks on how to source and manipulate water. They said it was something that should come reasonably naturally to Rainbow Serpents, but so far, I’d been struggling. Everyone just figured I needed more practice.

I looked at the locked door, then back at the sink. No-one would see me in here and Alex was right—it would get my mind focused on something other than him.

Slowing my breathing, I held my right hand a few centimetres over the swirling water, mentally urging it to slow its movement. I tried to empty my mind and concentrate only on the spinning of the water, but just like all the other times I’d tried it, nothing was happening.

“Let me try something, kid.”

Letting my hand drop back to the edge of the basin, I sighed in resignation. “Okay, Alex.” Anything was better than nothing at this point.

Image after image of Mac’s face flitted through my mind. Snapshots of him from earlier that day bombarded me, others of him from class, even a couple from our very first meeting back at Nahi’s apartment. On and on, the slide show went until I started seeing the same few images repeating before it finally settled on one image in particular.

It was from earlier in the day during the picnic. A beam of sunlight was glinting off Mac’s glasses, sparkling through his fringe that hung loosely over them, but not enough for me to miss the cheeky twinkle in his eyes. An incredible smile spread over his face as he tipped back his head and laughed at something I’d said, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what. I remembered how I felt at that moment—at ease, happy, content, comfy, and warm. Exactly like I’d been wrapped up in a weighted blanket on a cold winter’s night.

The image pulsed and glowed in my mind’s eye, filling me with the exact same feelings I’d had earlier. I breathed out slowly, letting a soft smile spread over my face from the memories.

“Try it again now.”

Following Alex’s instructions, I let my hand hover over the water. It took a couple of seconds, but the water slowed its movements, then hesitantly moved away from the drain. As the tap was still running, the sink began filling with water, but there was an invisible barrier around the drain, stopping its momentum.

Once the sink was half-full, I shut the tap off with my free hand. I now had a sink of water that couldn’t go down the drain. I let out a startled giggle when I realised it’d worked. This was the furthest I’d ever been able to get with water manipulation.

“Try to lift the water out of the sink.”

Blinking hard and trying desperately to hold my focus, I lifted my hand up several inches, only for my eyes to widen in shock when the water followed, separating entirely from the sink.

“Holy f*****g manatees, Batman… it’s working…” I whispered in astonishment.

“Knew you could do it, kid. Well done.”

“How much longer will you be? I need a f*****g piss!” The door handle rattled impatiently before a heavy fist pounded the door, ripping my focus away from me. The water that had been suspended above the sink immediately dropped, hit the sink, and splashed up to hit me in the chest.

“f**k!”

My hands fluttered uselessly in front of me as I tried to figure out what to do.

“Uh, just a second!” I grabbed my shirt away from my skin and tried desperately to wring the water out of it as I listened to the man outside grunt his displeasure.

I tore some paper towels from the dispenser and started patting at my shirt, plucking the material away from my bra to get it to dry quicker.

I groaned when I realised nothing was going to work in the short term; I was just going to have to let it air-dry. Until then, I was going to look like I’d lost a wet t-shirt competition.

“Will you hurry the f**k up?” The handle rattled again. “What the hell is taking so f*****g long?! Come on!!”

“Jesus! Alright! Hold your f*****g horses!” Still dabbing at my shirt, I flicked the lock on the handle and nearly tore the door off the hinges as I flung it open.

“About f*****g—” The enormous biker standing at the door froze as he took in my furious, yet decidedly soaked self, standing before him, waiting for him to get out of my way. His eyes dropped to my drenched breasts and his jaw dropped. “Uh…”

“Eyes up here, arsehole,” I growled at him, waving a middle finger in front of my chest, before pointing it to my face, then shoving him out of the way when he refused to shift his attention away from my t**s. “For f**k’s sake…” I stormed past him and headed straight for Mac’s ute.

I ripped the door open and threw myself into the passenger seat, crossing my arms over my chest and scowling out the window.

“Uh… Everything okay, Nat?” Mac asked hesitantly from the driver’s seat.

“Everything’s f*****g peachy,” I snarled, refusing to look at him. And to think, today was going so well. Fat load of good it did now that I was sitting on a leather seat dripping water over everything.

Silence filled the cabin as Mac started the engine. I couldn’t stop myself from flinching when I saw his hand move towards me out of the corner of my eye, but all he did was flick a couple of switches on the dash before the cabin started filling with warm air. It didn’t take me long to notice that the air was directed straight at me.

He remained silent as he pulled out of the station and onto the road for the hour-long drive back to the pack house.

Ten minutes passed before I relaxed enough to break the silence. “Sorry, Mac. I had a slight sink malfunction back there and there was a biker…” I trailed off, letting him fill in the blanks.

He turned his head to glance at me before returning his attention to the road. His fingers gripped the steering wheel tight enough that his knuckles turned white. “Well, I wish you’d told me that before we left. Do I need to turn around and hunt him down so I can kick the ever-loving crap out of him for being an arsehole? Because I can. I might s**t my pants doing it, but I’d give it a red-hot crack.”

I felt the ute slow slightly until I reached out and placed my hand on his upper arm. “It’s okay. It just caught me off guard, is all.” I squeezed his arm gently. “But thank you for the offer of defending my honour. Shitty pants and all.”

He ginned sheepishly as he returned to the speed limit, his strangling grip on the steering wheel gradually easing. “You want to talk about it?”

I sighed. “Nah. It was more embarrassing than anything else.” I looked down at my now dry t-shirt. “Thank you for turning the heater on.”

“You’re very welcome.” He reached forward and turned the heater down, but didn’t turn it off. It suddenly dawned on me I hadn’t seen him look at my chest once since I’d got back in the ute. Not to say he hadn’t snuck a peek when I wasn’t looking, but I appreciated the effort he made at not being obvious.

I shifted in my seat to lean against the door so I could look at him while he drove, one elbow resting on the window ledge, the other on the seat headrest while I played with my hair. Yet again, a sense of calm swept over me, leeching away all the anger I’d felt. I let out a short, soft sigh.

Raising an eyebrow, he flicked his attention at me for half a second, then looked back out at the road. This time I really took notice: his eyes never deviated from mine, even though I was basically flaunting my chest at him.

I felt a smile stretch across my face. “You’re a good egg, Mac.”

He chuckled. “Not really, Nat. But thanks for saying so.”

I let my mind wander as I watched him drive. Remembering the slide show Alex had shown me earlier and how that single image of Mac had calmed me made me realise how much more relaxed I was when he was near me or when I was thinking of him.

“I really hope we can do this again,” he said, almost like he could hear me. He started chewing his bottom lip with nerves. “I mean, obviously without the exploding taps.” He peeked at me with that cheeky glint back in his eyes. “Unless, of course, you want to.” A sly grin appeared. “Is that a secret fetish I should know about? Should I be thinking about changing professions? Should I install a room in the pack house full of pipes just for you?”

My head fell back as I laughed harder than I had in ages. “No, no plumbing fetish. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Well, s**t, Nat. There go my plans for a permanent slip and slide in the backyard,” he said, laughing just as hard as I was. “Now what am I going to do with all those hoses?”

Wheezing from laughing so hard, I slapped him lightly on the shoulder and held my stomach while it cramped. “Stop! It hurts to breathe!”

“Okay, okay. Goddess forbid I risk getting thumped again for my jokes.” Grinning like a loon, he rubbed his shoulder where I had smacked him, playing the ‘injury’ up.

“I’m sorry, Mac. You want me to kiss it better?” I asked, still laughing.