Crystal Mac: A prologue novella to Captive Series Book 3 HELL'S HILLTOP by J. A. Dennam Page A

quirked her eyebrows.
    All expression melted from the neighbor’s face. “Yeah, right.” With a huff, Luciana snatched the coffee from his grasp, whirled and clacked down the stairs, back to her own apartment.
    Crystal tsked as Mac kicked the door closed. “No goodbye?”
    He dug his palms into tired eyes. “Not cool, Crystal.”
    “She’s gone, isn’t she?”
    “I was handling it.”
    She blew air through her lips and rolled onto her stomach. “It looked like she was handling you.”
    It was tough to ignore how sexy her ass looked in the skimpy silk panties she’d taken from Mel’s drawer, so he scowled and made his way to the bathroom. “No different than what you pulled last night.”
    The only difference was, he’d wanted Crystal. Badly.
    “So, we’re back to the cold shoulder already?”
    Mac aborted his first attempt to shut the door to answer her with a pointed finger. “Stunts like that are the reason I don’t trust you.”
    “What did I do?” S aid with faux innocence.
    “We’re supposed to be laying low, remember?”
    When he finally shut the door, her voice came through it. “You should have thought about that last night before you made me scream.”
    Oh, hell, how was he supposed to pee now? “Don’t count on it happening again,” he barked, frustrated with himself for reacting to her words. Now that he’d had her, he wanted more. But to go down that road would invite the kind of trouble he couldn’t afford.
    “I’m really hurt by that,” she answered with a pout in her voice. “I thought we had a moment with the sharing and all.”
    “I shared that to help you deal. Don’t make me regret it.”
    “But, we cuddled!”
    Her playful mood only pissed him off more. When he emerged from the bathroom, he said, “Get your clothes on, we’re going to the house.”
    She lingered behind to scope out what he’d left. “You put the seat down. That’s so awesome.”
    “Clothes, Crystal.”
    While she changed in Mel’s bedroom, Mac threw on a pair of jeans and a blue denim shirt. Just as he folded up the couch, she came into the matchbox living room with her black uniform in hand.
    “These are bloody and useless now. Can I borrow something?”
    While her in-your-face approach to nudity continued to wreak havoc in his pants, Mac kept his voice bland. “Borrow what you want, just put something on.”
    “I don’t think your roommate would like me poking through her things.”
    With a heavy sigh, he grumbled as he passed her. “She wouldn’t like me doing it, either.”
    But, for the sake of sanity, he’d do it. Mel’s room was crammed with furniture since they’d had to stuff the crib next to the bed. With barely enough room to move, let alone see, he pulled the first thing he touched from the bottom drawer.
    “Yoga pants?” Crystal observed with distaste as he tackled the top drawer next. “How ‘bout a pair of jeans?”
    Melanie’s voice filled the doorway. “How ‘bout someone tells me why you’re going through my underwear.”
    Startled, Mac swore and curled his hands as if they’d been caught in the till.
    “Better yet,” Mel continued with a perplexed frown, “why is she naked in the first place?”
    Completely unfazed, Crystal gave a half-turn and pointed out her bandage. “I got a boo-boo and ruined my outfit.”
    Rolling her eyes, Melanie pushed off the doorframe. “God, you remind me of your sist—” She froze halfway through the room as her wide gaze scoured Mac’s face. “What the hell did you do?”
    Mac squeezed out from around the bed, grumbled, “It was just a mustache, Mel.”
    “But it was DJ’s mustache!”
    Crystal chewed on a nail. “So, make Derek grow one.”
    Irritation flashed across Mel’s face before she turned to dig through her drawers. “Please, Mac, tell me you didn’t sleep with her.”
    He pinched the bridge of his nose.
    “Only after a loud round of tub sex,” Crystal replied with a grin and caught the shirt and pants