TWENTY-FOUR
IT’S midnight when the sound of the door opening wakes me. I turn on a light, watching as Arrow steps into the room, sitting down on the bed to take off his shoes.
“Hey, where were you?” I ask him.
Silence.
“Arrow?”
“Not tonight, Anna,” he finally says, stripping down and sliding into the sheets. He reaches for me, and I go to him. He wraps me in his arms, but something doesn’t feel right.
Something has changed.
He turns my head to him roughly and kisses me almost desperately.
“I need you, Anna,” he says huskily, his hands wandering down my back. “Give yourself to me.”
I kiss him back, wrapping my legs around his trim waist and running my hands through his hair.
“You have me,” I tell him, moving back to pull off my T-shirt. He quickly takes advantage, leaning forward and licking my breasts one at a time. He bites down gently, while his hands try to remove my sleep shorts.
“Off,” he growls. “Take them off.”
I quickly remove my shorts and sit there before him.
“Beautiful,” he whispers. “And all mine.”
Our lips are once again joined as he lifts me to straddle his waist. When he pulls me up farther so I’m sitting on his face, I feel a little self-conscious. When he starts to lick me, making moaning noises of enjoyment, I relax, turned on to the point of no inhibitions. I look down at his face, unable to look away as he tastes me, his heavy-lidded eyes watching me back, making me even hotter. I can only imagine how I look, hands gripping the headboard, straddling his face—spread out for him so he can please me as he wishes. His hands roam, squeezing my behind and pulling me down onto him. My own fingers reach for my breasts, pinching my nipples as I feel myself about to explode.
“I’m going to come, Arrow,” I moan, my head thrown back in pleasure. “Fuck!”
My thighs tremble as my orgasm hits me. I squeeze my eyes shut, lost in the pleasure.
Arrow sucks on my clit, prolonging my release. My fingers dig into my thighs until the final wave hits me.
I pant a little, look down at Arrow, and slide off him. “Shit.”
He sits up and wipes his mouth. I take him in from head to toe, seeing his rock-hard cock and knowing that it needed attention. I slide down his body so I’m in between his legs and take him into my mouth with no preamble. His hands tangle in my hair, gently urging me on as he sits forward and watches me. I stare up at him, taking him in as much I can, and then sliding back down.
He curses and slides out of my mouth.
“Stay like that,” he demands, coming around me from behind. Holding my hips, he enters me quickly, fucking me like he owns me. His pace quickens, and I know he’s almost ready to come. He pulls out and turns me over, sliding back in. “Want to see your face when I come.”
He thrusts a few more times, his face contorting in pleasure as his orgasm hits him.
His eyes never leave mine.
I hold on to him, my fingers on his back, digging into his dragon tattoo.
“Anna,” he whispers, bracing himself over me. I pull him down, so his weight is on me, but I don’t mind. I like the feel of it.
“Hi,” I say, smiling up at him.
His lip twitches. “Hi, darlin’.”
“I missed you today,” I say, but instantly regret it when his entire body stiffens, and his expression is suddenly devoid of any emotion.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him softly.
He shakes his head and slides out of me, lying on his back. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong.”
I lay my head on his chest and wrap my arm around his waist.
“I love you, Arrow,” I tell him.
“Anna—” he whispers, his voice sounding strangled.
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to let you know. From the first time I saw you, I knew I wanted you. I can’t even explain it,” I ramble, then kiss him on his chest.
He rubs his hand down my back in comforting circles but doesn’t say anything back.
I didn’t expect him to.
I close my eyes and let sleep take over.
* * *
Over the next two weeks, Arrow pulls away from me. It might not be noticeable to others—he was still caring and protective— but I could tell the difference.
Something had happened to make him put distance between us. And I’m thinking it had to do with me dropping the L-bomb on him. Why did I have to tell him that I loved him? Yes, it’s the truth, but if I’d known he was going to act like this, I would have kept that bit of information to my damn self.
He comes to bed later and wakes up earlier. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be around me as much. His playfulness is gone, and he’s almost back to how he was when I first met him.
I don’t like it one bit.
I don’t like that I sit and wait for him to come home at night.
I don’t like that he isn’t being himself anymore.
Why does he think he has to guard himself from me?
One thing that hasn’t changed is the sex. He still wants me, and that’s a good thing, I think.
Okay, I don’t know what to think anymore.
Yesterday, he came home with a present for me.
A car.
He bought me a fucking car.
A brand-new, expensive-looking car.
I don’t want a car.
I want Arrow back.
I wake up in bed alone, which I’m still not used to. I don’t want to get used to it. When I walk into the kitchen, I see him sitting there, nursing a beer. I look at the clock. It’s 9:00 a.m.
“Mornin’,” I say as I open the fridge and grab the milk.
“Mornin’, Anna,” he says quietly. “Do you want to take the car out for a drive today?”
With him? Sure.
“Sounds good,” I tell him, smiling. “Maybe we could get some lunch or something.”
He drinks his beer, eyeing me over the bottle. “Actually, I was going to ask Vinnie to take you. I got some stuff I need to do at Rift today.”
“Oh, right,” I say, looking down so he doesn’t see my disappointment. “Don’t bother Vinnie, I’ll ask Tracker to take me.”
His jaw tightens. “What’s wrong with Vinnie?”
“Nothing. I’m just more comfortable with Tracker, or Rake if it’s such a big issue.”
He makes a scoffing noise.
“What’s going on with you, Arrow?” I ask him straight out. “Is it because I told you I loved you? I didn’t know that would freak you out so much.”
He slams his bottle down, making me jump. “It’s not because of that, Anna.”
He doesn’t say anything else.
Okaaayyyy then.
“Right,” I say, grabbing a cereal box and pouring some into a bowl, then smothering it with milk.
Arrow stands, the stool scraping the floor as he slides it back. “I’ll be home late tonight.”
Of course you will.
He walks over to me and cups my face, his hands cold from the beer bottle. Lifting my chin, he kisses my lips. “I hope you like the car.”
“I do, thank you. You shouldn’t have though,” I tell him, not wanting to sound ungrateful but wanting him to know that I don’t expect anything like that from him or anyone else.
“Anything for my woman,” he says, kissing me one last time before disappearing.
Anything but the one thing I want.
Him.
* * *
The weekend rolls in and the club is having a party. Faye is running around organizing things, and I’m doing a grocery run with Tracker.
We walk down the aisle, me pushing the cart and him acting like a kid in a candy store.
“We need these,” he says, grabbing cartons of soft drinks. “And these.”
He “needs” everything.
When we walk down the next aisle, I grab a jumbo box of condoms. “What you need is these.”
I throw it into the cart.
He grins. “I’ll need more than that. Good idea, maybe I’ll get one of the women to walk around handing them out.” He pauses. “Naked.”
“You’re a pig,” I reply without any heat.
“Is Lana coming?” he asks, sounding a little unsure.
“No,” I reply. “I’m not going to subject her to this. She doesn’t trust men much as it is.”
“She’s a grown woman; stop babying her, Anna Bell.”
“I don’t baby her. She’s a gentle woman. She doesn’t need to know that you, who she likes, participates in orgies.”
“She likes me?” he asks with a grin. Of course that’s the only thing he heard.
I shrug, playing it off. “I told her you had a nice pierced cock and that’s all it took.”
He tugs on my ponytail. “Lana isn’t like that.”
“No, no, she isn’t,” I admit.
“We need those,” he says, pointing to some other crap that we definitely do not need.
“Tracker, I don’t think—”
He gives me his puppy-dog eyes.
“Fine.”
He cheers.
Eh, what did I care? I wasn’t paying for all this shit.