Abby
I made him drive my car.
We went round and round about how that was not part of his job description, that he was a bodyguard not a chauffeur, but really, what did I care? He was the same thing in my book—an employee was an employee. It didn’t matter if he was hired by me or by Uncle Caleb. The point was he was being paid to do a service, and at that moment, the service I required of him was to drive me to the damn party.
In the end, I’d won through will and some sly logic spinning.
“Well, I just fired my last driver,” I informed him, thinking of the young man from the previous night.
Kade had rolled his eyes at me. He’d been on edge since his arrival, which, okay, was probably my fault, but that couldn’t be helped. I didn’t want him to be here for a multitude of reasons, and the fact that my uncle refused to have him replaced with an alternative bodyguard was making me dislike him even more.
And by dislike, I meant lusting after him at every turn. The man was gorgeous, as proven when I wrangled him into a white button-down shirt and a pair of dark black jeans. He refused to lose the steel-toed boots, but I gave him that concession because it gave him a renegade look and sexy overall appearance.
None of which I told him.
“I don’t care,” he told me gruffly, fidgeting with the sleeves of his silky button-down shirt. I had been right; my male model ex had been a perfect fit. The shoulders, the muscular arms, the sculpted abs…it was kind of crazy how good a shape Kade was in. “Can’t you just hire some new guy?”
I made a face. Yes, technically I could hire a new driver. In fact, it would be really easy since the company I usually found my employees through had already picked out someone new for me. They’d sent over his information and qualifications—along with a picture that showed a young, pleasant-looking man, if not smoking hot—for me to review and make my decision. If I vetoed him, they’d have a list of several other choices.
But now that I had Mr. Super Sexy Bodyguard at my disposal, I had decided to make good use of him.
It wasn’t that I was hesitant to spend the money. I was rich; splurge whenever was my motto. Instead, I wanted to make his job more difficult, because then maybe he would ask to leave. If he asked to get the hell out of here, then Uncle Caleb wouldn’t make him stay, right?
That was my hope, anyway. So when I learned that he was opposed to wearing something fancy for the party, I insisted that he do so. And when I figured out that he didn’t want to be my chauffer, I was determined to make him just that. Hell, I’d find a stupid little hat for him to wear if I thought I could actually get him to do it.
“You want me to hire a new guy tonight?” I’d asked him, putting on my best shocked expression. Sometimes it really paid to be an actress. “His first trial run being right after I’ve just been attacked? How can you be so callous?”
He’d narrowed his eyes at me then, just as dark and alluring as they’d ever been. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was irritated with me, which just made a flush of satisfaction wash through me.
“What’s the problem, exactly, with a new guy?” he asked me gruffly.
A shiver of pleasure ran through me at the sound of his deep voice. I was finding myself increasingly attracted to that tone. It was suddenly all I wanted to hear. In fact, I wanted it whispered in my ear—dirty, lewd things coated in it.
I couldn’t say why my body craved him so, but I had already decided that I wouldn’t give in. I didn’t care how suggestive he got or how solid his body was or how intense his eyes were. Screw him. Just not literally.
“A new guy can’t be trusted,” I told him sweetly as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. As soon as I said it, it actually occurred to me that I had a very valid point. It made me feel a little better and gave me the extra push to keep going. “I have no idea who did this to me. He could be anyone. What if they send someone over and it turns out to be him?”
I hadn’t meant to be quite that convincing. I just wanted to play with him and convince him to do what I wanted, but now that I’d actually voiced that thought, I realized that it was a fear that rang true for me. I was actually concerned that my stalker could be a new driver. It could be anyone. Someone at the party I was going to tonight. Someone who trimmed my hedges. Someone who cleaned my pool.
I didn’t know the first thing about my assailant and that was such a terrifying notion that I suddenly didn’t want to go to the party anymore. I just wanted to wad myself up into a tiny ball and hide under the covers in my bed, waiting for the rest of the world to go away.
There must have been something showing on my face because I watched as Kade’s expression softened. There was something almost tender about the way he was suddenly looking at me. Like he felt sorry for me.
It bolstered my anger toward him and helped tamp down some of that lust.
“It’s pretty unlikely that that’ll happen,” he told me softly, his voice surprisingly sweet for being so low. “They look pretty far into people’s background before hiring them for jobs like that.”
I felt the sting of tears prick behind my eyes because I was still scared, and he was comforting me and it made me want to crawl into his arms instead of my bed just to let him hold me. Which was ridiculous and I wished my body and mind could figure out what the hell they wanted.
Fighting back my tears, I folded my arms beneath my chest, pushing my breasts together. I was wearing a liquid midnight blue dress that went to my knees. It dipped low in the front, a halter dress that left my back exposed and my breasts trying their hardest to once again burst free. The material was silky and shimmery without being overly flashy like the one last night. It clung to me light a second skin, my curves feeling almost exposed by the thin, sheer fabric.
“But it could be him,” I whispered, wishing I was still acting and that the fear wasn’t real.
Kade pulled his full lips into a frown, then nodded. Even unhappy, distressed, his face was handsome in that rugged, I don’t give a shit kind of way. “Alright. I’ll drive. It’ll be easier to get out of there that way anyhow.”
I should have felt a thrill of victory at having forced him into doing what was clearly not his job. Instead, I just felt relief at not having a stranger with me tonight. And then I felt angry at myself for feeling that way.
What is wrong with me?
We were in the car now—him sitting up front driving, me in the back like the movie star I was—and I was staring out the window, watching as the night lights passed by in quick succession that drew them across the dark sky like neon streaks. I hadn’t said anything since he’d agreed to drive and he had observed my own silence, making it his.
Part of me really wanted to talk because it was better than being left alone with my own fearful thoughts, but I didn’t want to talk to him because I was worried. Worried that he would see the fear in me. Despite my earlier thoughts that he was a Neanderthal, the fact was that he seemed pretty perceptive.
Kade Johnson, I thought, mulling his name around in my head. I pictured him the way I had first seen him, dressed in that torn up shirt and ripped jeans. The dark eyes and the silky, thick hair to match. The rippling muscles. It was amazing how different he looked now in clean clothing, the silky shirt and dark jeans doing wonders to make him look James Bond good. Delicious. Good enough to eat. It was amazing what a change of clothing could do.
But if I were being honest, it wasn’t the clothing that had me thinking about him. It was the way his skin felt on mine, the way his rough hands jerked me into his body. The way he looked at me like he wanted to eat me right then and there.
Which was not an unpleasant thought.
And therein lie the problem. I wanted him. My body craved him. He looked like something I wanted to run my hands all over, and he spoke like the kind of man whose words I wanted to drown in. Even if he was kind of an ass.
We pulled up to the club where the party was being hosted tonight. Pauline Brady had reserved the entire club for the night, making sure that only those on her personal list got in. I, of course, was on that list, along with several other big names, including Riley unfortunately. It wasn’t fair, but after last night, I disliked her even more. It wasn’t that it was her fault, honestly, but I would forever associate that attack with her house and her party and her snide remarks that had me running from the house as quickly as possible.
“You can just drop me off here,” I told Kade, treating him like I would any other driver. I was so used to people just listening to me that I was trying the door where I expected him to be coming to a stop. Except that he didn’t come to a stop and the door was locked. Child safety, even. “Um, I said stop.”
I caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. It was a mixture of annoyance and amusement, which must have been a feat, honestly.
“This isn’t funny! Let me out right now!” I jiggled the door handle again, but he just kept driving.
“Nope, sorry, princess. Since I am both your driver and your bodyguard for the evening, you’re just going to have to go with me while I park.” I saw his smirk and fumed; I wanted to smack it off his face. “After all, as your bodyguard, I can’t exactly let you go into that club unprotected.”
Oh, I see how it is.
He probably had this planned all along. Give in to the whole chauffer thing only to catch me on something else later. Well, I’d figure out other ways to get under his skin.
“Hope you have decent walking shoes,” he added just to harass me a little further.
I narrowed my eyes at him. Of course I didn’t have sensible shoes on. They were four-inch heels, damnit, and they looked spectacular on me, especially with this dress. But they were not really designed with walking of any kind in mind. They were more for lounging about in chairs or tall stools. Maybe for just a little bit of dancing. And, of course, kinky fucking.
But walking? I was going to hurt tomorrow.
“Don’t worry about me,” I told him hotly, because I wouldn’t let him get the last word in.
He just laughed at me, making me feel even angrier.
He found a parking spot that wasn’t too far away from the club, though I still wasn’t keen on walking that far. Especially since the pavement wasn’t exactly red carpet nice. As we began the short trek to the club, my heels kept catching in little cracks in the sidewalk or hitting the pieces of cement that had jutted up from earthquakes.
As we rounded the corner, I caught a particularly bad crack and starting falling. Unable to regain my balance, I felt myself falling and braced for the impact that would come momentarily.
Except that it never did.
Kade had caught me, wrapping his arm with its thick, ropey muscles around my middle. He pulled me back up in a way that forced me against his body. I shivered at the contact, unable to deny how good his heat felt as it filtered through my dress and soaked into my skin.
I swallowed. “Thank you.”
I heard the smirk in his voice as he answered, “No problem, princess. Though I kind of thought you were supposed to be graceful or something.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I shoved at his chest—hard and unyielding—to push him away. He let me and I straightened up, smoothing out invisible wrinkles in my skintight dress. I didn’t look at him again as I marched purposefully toward the club, more mindful of the ground beneath my stiletto heels.
I met the bouncer at the door; he gushed. Although sometimes it still weirded me out when people recognized me and had one of those “moments” where they just sort of freaked out, it was also really nice to have someone know who I am.
I had been a no one not so very long ago and I hadn’t cared for that. Now, I mattered.
“I know I shouldn’t and you’re just here to have fun and all,” continued the bouncer, who was adorable because he was the size of a sumo wrestler but was gushing like a thirteen-year-old girl over some young adult vampire franchise. It was sweet. “But would you be willing to give me an autograph? I just love your movies! All of them!”
I smiled at him, then sent a scathing look toward my temporary bodyguard. He frowned at me, making my smile widen. I turned back to the bouncer. “Of course! I’m so glad that someone likes my movies.” I flashed him my smile.
The bouncer quickly dug into his pockets for a pen and some paper, ending up with a scrap of a receipt or something like that for me to sign. “Sorry, it’s all I have,” he apologized, looking truly disgusted with himself.
I felt like laughing. He looked so heartbroken over it. But I didn’t laugh and I didn’t care that a receipt was the only thing he could find for me to sign. It was the thought that counted, and right then I honestly believed that.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, taking the pen and paper from him. “I’m just glad you like my movies so much. It means the world to me.”
His smile was surprisingly brilliant given his size. He had clearly been chosen for the job because he had a menacing scowl, but I wouldn’t have guessed that beneath it he was a total teddy bear.
I signed my name with a flourish, then added Keep up the good work, Big Boy! XOXO When I gave it back to him, he was so thrilled that he looked like he wanted to do a happy dance. It was all the funnier to me because he was ready to usher me in on his own personal red carpet, then immediately went back to intimidating bouncer when Kade approached him.
“Hold up there,” he said, holding out a hand palm flat. “You’re not on the list.”
Kade made an irritated sound low in his throat and I wanted to laugh. “I’m with her,” he said gruffly, pointing at me.
The bouncer frowned. “You’re not on the list.”
Kade looked like his head was ready to explode. I was fairly certain that of all the things that could go wrong that night, this was not one he had predicted. Looking around the bouncer to me, he asked, “A little help please?”
I tapped a finger on my chin, pretending to think really hard about the whole thing. Inside, I felt like giggling. I might have even left him outside the club just to teach him a lesson after the whole high heels and graceful thing, but as I considered it, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks.
If he stayed outside, I’d be in here alone. With a bunch of strangers, in shoes I couldn’t run in, with dark lighting, people lost in a crowd…
Fear flashed through me and it made me feel awful inside, but it had me putting a hand on the bouncer’s shoulder and carefully telling him, “It’s okay, really. He is with me. He’s my new bodyguard.”
The bouncer considered Kade one last time before looking at me. “If you’re sure, Miss Woodard.”
I smiled. “I am. Thank you for looking out for me.”
He beamed, then shot Kade a warning look before letting him in after me. I made sure Kade was inside and following me before venturing too far into the club. I hated that I was afraid.
The party inside was about what I expected it to be. There was a huge throng of bodies pressing against each other, dancing wildly and without worry. They were dressed not unlike me. The women were in skintight dresses of varying lengths and colors. Most bore extreme cleavage when they had it and long expanses of back if they didn’t. Their legs were like milky white towers spiraling upwards into forever and their arms were bedazzled with bangles and glitter both. Hair came in all shades, many of them not found in nature, and their faces were painted in every which way possible. Some of the guys, too. Some wore intense makeup meant to shock, while others were very muted, looking as though maybe they weren’t wearing makeup at all. And each and every one of them looked as though they had styled their hair with enough gel to start their own beauty supply shop.
Along the edges of the dancing starlets and their impressive, equally vain beaus, were people with a little more decorum. These were the people who had been raised to have money and act like it. They sipped at their drinks as they talked about politics or agents or whatever else they thought was important to talk about so that they could look as fancy as they thought they should. Though they were boring and often so stuck up that my smile had to be screwed into place. They were the ones I searched out tonight.
I didn’t want to get caught in the throng of undulating people. I couldn’t handle it, not right now in my current freaked-out state.
So instead I went to the bar first to order a drink. I got something with a lot of vodka in it and a little bit of flavoring, then thanked the bartender with a large bill and a flirtatious smile. He seemed pleased and even blushed, though I was sure I wasn’t the first and wouldn’t be the last to treat him like that.
As I turned around with my drink in hand, planning to immerse myself amidst the rich and snobby while condemning myself to a night of boredom, I ran smack into Kade.
“Hey!” I cried as a little of my pinkish-colored drink sloshed over the side and onto the floor. I hopped back just in time for it to miss my shoes. “Watch where you’re going!”
He snatched the drink out of my hand so quickly that I had to blink to make sure that it wasn’t still there. “Should you really be drinking right now?” he asked in the best imitation of Caleb I had ever seen.
I scowled at him. “Excuse me? I’m twenty-three. I’ve been drinking for two years now.” Legally, I didn’t add, because I felt it wouldn’t add to my case.
“I don’t care about whether or not you’re legal,” he told me in irritation, though I thought I saw a flash of heat and wondered if he hadn’t considered the other meaning of the term legal. “I’m talking about being sober enough to be aware of your surroundings.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. There was a small part of my brain that told me he was right, that I should make smart decisions and be more careful. Then there was the rest of me which was outraged at being told what to do by some biker dude who didn’t know the first thing about me. Like he was my parent or guardian or something.
“I’ll do what I want,” I told him, not caring if I sounded childish or bratty. I jabbed a finger into his rock hard chest. “It’s your job to make sure I’m safe, not mine. So do your job.”
He scowled at me and looked like he was going to argue with me some more, but before he could, I snatched my drink back and downed it in a single gulp. It burned all the way down, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t been planning on doing a lot of drinking tonight for the very same reasons that Kade had just listed, but now that he was challenging my right to make decisions for myself, well, it would be a free-for-all.
I wouldn’t let anyone tell me what to do, and I was already starting to feel like too many people were doing just that.
First Uncle Caleb and now the man he sent?
Shoving the empty glass back into his hand, I spun around and marched back to the bar, flagging down the same bartender. I ordered a double this time and downed that, too. I knew I should slow down, but now that I’d started, I wasn’t about to let it go.
But as I let the second drink settle in my stomach, aware that I hadn’t eaten much since breakfast and it was hitting me hard and fast already, I tried to come up with other ways to annoy Kade. Other ways to get back at him and Caleb both for making me feel like a child. For making me feel like I wasn’t capable of taking care of myself. Just like that guy last night, thinking he could just attack me and I wouldn’t fight back.
Now that I’d made the connection, I was even more furious. I was a grown woman. I could take care of myself. I could make my own choices!
And that was when I spotted him.
He wasn’t anyone I recognized, though he had to be someone if only because Pauline had chosen the guest list for tonight very specifically. She was picky, too. He was probably a model or something, maybe someone up and coming. Really, in that moment, it didn’t matter. He was sexy in a well-kempt, overly made up sort of way. His dark hair was slicked back just so and his eyelashes were so dark and long that I was pretty sure he was wearing mascara. His lips were full, maybe falsely so, and his skin was that perfect tan that told me he went to a really good salon. Add that to the couple thousand dollars’ worth of suit, and it was pretty safe to assume that this pretty boy was as vain as the day was long.
But he was pretty. And that was all I was after tonight.
Grinning like a cat, I slunk toward him, keeping one hand on the bar as I did so because I was already beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol on my system. Sliding as gracefully as I could into the seat next to him, I asked after the fact, “Is this seat taken?”
He grinned back at me, showing rows of pearly white teeth that might have been fake or at least partially manufactured. “I hope it is now.” He winked at me.
I forced a laugh from my throat, making it loud in the hopes that it might travel far enough for Kade to hear it. Take that, I thought spitefully, willing him to react to the sound. Maybe he would see me and Mr. Pretty Boy together. Maybe he’d get angry, jealous even. “Aren’t you charming?” I told him flirtatiously, batting my eyelashes at him and running a slender hand down his arm.
His smile widened and under normal circumstances I might have noticed something a little off, might have sensed that something was wrong. But alcohol flooded my system and I was swaying already. My judgement was off and worse still than that, I was so focused on Kade that I really didn’t care that this guy was kind of slimy and maybe rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t care so long as it got to Kade.
My gaze flashed over to where I’d left him. He was standing nearby, leaning against the wall. His arms were crossed and his face was tense in what was probably anger. And he was staring right at me.
I felt a rush of satisfaction and upped my flirting with Mr. Pretty Boy.
“Can I get you another drink?” he asked, his eyes flashing.
There was some little voice in the very back of my mind that whispered a quiet no, but I shoved it aside. I was tipsy already and the whole point was that I could make my own decisions. Which meant I should totally take the drink offered to me, right?
It sounded reasonable to me in that moment and that was enough for me.
“Yes, please,” I told him, giggling softly as I leaned toward him, knowing that my breasts were half spilling out of my dress as I did so. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he told me, his eyes darting down to my breasts.
I didn’t necessarily care for him staring at me and felt the sudden urge to cover my chest, but this was all just part of the game. I wouldn’t go home with him tonight, wouldn’t sleep with him, but I could flirt and do all the things that flirting entailed. And that would piss Kade off and prove my point all at once.
Yes, this was a good plan.
The new drink came over and the guy, whose name I had yet to catch and didn’t really care to know anyway, shoved it toward me. “Here you go,” he said, still smiling.
He watched eagerly as I downed it, which only made me about half as uncomfortable as it should have. What little discomfort I did feel, I shoved aside. I don’t know if he called for another drink or not, but it seemed like a new drink appeared before me almost instantly. By this time, I was pretty hazy and I wasn’t really interested in having any more, but it was there and my hand was already around it before I could even think about what I was doing.
When yet another drink appeared, I shook my head. “I think I’ve had enough,” I told my new suitor, thinking that something felt off. Maybe it was just my stomach that wasn’t feeling great right now.
I thought I saw a flicker of a frown on his perfectly sculpted and painted face, but it was there and gone so quickly that I thought maybe I’d just imagined the whole thing.
“Sure, no worries,” he said in answer to me. There was a pause where I felt like the whole room was swaying. “You okay? Maybe you should go outside, get some fresh air?”
I nodded. That was the best idea anyone had ever had in the whole history of the universe. I managed to get to my feet, though I swayed unsteadily as I did so. I thought I told him something to the effect of “I’ll be right back,” but I couldn’t be sure. I was so unsteady that I wasn’t positive what I had actually said out loud and what was in my head, but the guy must have been okay with my leaving because I stumbled through the pulsing crowd alone, staggering toward the back door.
Probably, I should have waited for Kade so that I wasn’t alone, but I didn’t want to be around anyone right then. I just needed some air and some space. I needed a moment where I could just breathe. And possibly puke.
Ew, I don’t want him to see that, I thought as I reached the door and shoved it open.
The cool night air hit me like ice cubes in the middle of summer. It felt so good that for a moment, I thought maybe I was sober again. Of course, I wasn’t. I was still so drunk that I was swaying and dizzy and in no way likely to be getting much farther than the door on my own.
Using one hand on the wall to steady myself, I took a few steps into the alley and just sucked in huge lungfuls of fresh air. Thankfully it didn’t smell like rotting garbage or urine, so I didn’t have to suppress the urge to gag.
Because if I started puking, it was all coming up tonight.
As I let the cool air calm me down and settle my uncertain stomach, I didn’t notice the door creaking open or the sudden burst of music, nor the way it died out a second later to be followed by the slamming of that same door. I didn’t hear the footsteps behind me or the dangerous purr in his voice as he asked, “Hey, baby, you okay?”
I swirled around to face the man who had joined me outside, my body seeming to move in slow motion even as I tried to urge it faster.
The man was Mr. Pretty Boy from the bar.
He was leaning against the wall casually, but looked sort of predatory, like a cat with a swishing tail just waiting to strike. His eyes almost seemed reflective like a cat’s, too, his whole body suddenly long and sleek and maybe a little more powerful than I had initially given him credit for.
I took an involuntary step back.
“What’re you…” My words slurred and I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to ask him. What are you doing here? Maybe.
He smiled at me and suddenly it didn’t look sweet or charming or boyishly stupid or anything of the sort. Instead, I was left with an impression of danger that must have been purely instinctual. I had the urge to run, but didn’t think I’d get very far.
Stop being such a pansy! I ordered myself. Hadn’t this all been about proving that I could take care of myself?
I decided quickly that if I could get to the door and go back inside, I would be fine. A trickle of fear snaked down my spine, but I shoved it aside. I reminded myself that Kade was inside. He would protect me. All I had to do was get to the door.
Forcing a weak smile onto my lips, I managed to get out a sloppy, “Not feeling so good. I’m going to go back inside.”
The man nodded and stepped back from the wall, motioning with his arm that I was welcome to make my way to the door. I did so unsteadily, still using the wall for support, but did my best to appear like I didn’t need it. I doubt he bought it.
Just as it looked like I was going to reach the door without incident, he grabbed me. I let out a quick yell as his hand wrapped firmly around my upper arm and he shoved me. My back hit the brick wall of the building harshly, jarring me and making my vision swim again.
“Whoa, easy there,” Mr. Pretty Boy told me, grinning. “You look a little unsteady. Let me help you.”
The fear that had only been a trickle moments before turned into a flood. I shook my head, even though that made my vision swim. “N-no, I’m fine. Really. I just need—”
“Don’t you worry, baby. I know exactly what you need.”
And then he pressed himself closer to me. I realized what was happening and tried to pull away, but where could I go? I wasn’t strong enough to go through him, and thanks to the wall at my back, there was no stepping away either.
“Please,” I got out right before his hands started to wander.
I felt his right hand on my leg, snaking upward as it caught the hem of my dress. I slapped at his chest as panic began to rise within me, but he only laughed, then shushed me, telling me to relax. His hand dragged the hem of my dress upwards, revealing more and more of my upper thigh, which he delighted in touching.
“No,” I told him, trying to sound firm, but it was difficult because tears had begun to trickle down my cheeks.
“Shut up,” he snapped at me, his other hand going to my breasts.
I tried to jerk away from him, but he slapped a hand across my cheek. I let out a sob as his hand returned to my chest. He jerked the strap of my dress away, tearing it so that the halter fell down and revealed both of my bare breasts. I shivered against the exposure and the cold.
I tried to scream as he grabbed at me, the hand on my thigh going higher and moving inward. I felt him at the edge of my panties and let out a shrill sound that wasn’t quite a scream, but rather a cry of anguish.
This was it. No escape. No getting away. I was going to be—
I couldn’t complete the thought, but thankfully I didn’t have to. Before Mr. Pretty Boy—soon to be known only as Mr. Attempted Rapist—could slide his fingers beneath my panties, he was jerked back away from me.
I let out a sob as I slid down the wall to the ground, my arms folding across my chest to cover my exposed breasts.
Through bleary, beer-goggle vision, I could see a tall, dark, devastatingly handsome man manhandling Mr. Attempted Rapist. Kade, I thought, hope and relief both filling my chest until I thought it might explode. I watched as he threw a hard punch that landed squarely in the other guy’s face, hopefully ruining it forever. And it wasn’t just one punch either. It was a dozen, each angrier than the last.
Maybe he would have kept going for the rest of the night, except that I called out his name, “Kade.” He froze.
He turned to me, his eyes wild and full of panic, worry, anger. Every emotion seemed to flit across his face until he finally seemed torn between only two: relief and worry. He rushed to me, leaving the barely-breathing half-broken shell-of-a-man crumpled on the ground. He didn’t say anything as he scooped me up with the softest, gentlest arms I’d ever felt. Not a word as he let my head fall against his broad chest, my sobs soaking through the silky material of his borrowed shirt.
He didn’t go back inside. Instead, he carried me down the alley and around the side of the building. He felt warm against my suddenly chilled body. He had me tilted slightly into him so that my exposed body was covered, buried against his chest. And like the gentleman I couldn’t have imagined him to be, he didn’t look even once.
We reached the car not long after and he put me in the back seat, covering me with a jacket that smelled of leather and had a vaguely familiar emblem on it that might have been an angel. Then he was gone and I had only a quick moment to panic before he was back in the car, this time in the driver’s seat. We pulled out of there quickly and I had never felt so relieved the get out of a place before.
I was pretty out of it and maybe even in shock, but I thought I heard him speaking softly. Maybe calling someone. Caleb? I hoped not. If he called him, I’d never be allowed to go out ever again, like I was some fifteen-year-old girl.
Haven’t really proved you’re an adult, have you? I thought bitterly.
Tears stung at my eyes, and I pulled my knees to my chest, covering up as much of my body with the leather jacket. The one I now realized smelled not just of leather, but a little bit of grease and a lot of a smoky, woodsy scent that was vaguely familiar. It was strangely comforting.
I must have dozed off a little during the drive, because the next thing I remembered was being lifted once more into someone’s arms. It was Kade again and he was carrying me inside. I was home, thank god.
He left the jacket draped across me as he brought me inside, then settled me onto one of the large couches in the living room. As his arms slipped away from me, I suddenly felt panic rise again. The tears spilled with a fury, drowning me and blurring my vision until I felt like I was still completely drunk.
Not that I’d really reached sober yet.
Wildly, I reached for him, “Please!” I found myself begging desperately. “Don’t leave me!” Normally, I might hate myself for being weak. I might berate myself for being stupid and needy, but tonight I felt like it was justified. Like it was okay, because after everything that had happened, he was the only thing that made me feel like somehow I was still safe.
His eyes went to mine and through my tears I saw the intensity of his gaze, the worry and regret that lingered there. He knelt down in front of me, reaching out a large hand toward me to stroke back the hair that had to look a total mess. “It’s okay, you’re home now,” he told me softly, his voice gentle and soothing. It made me want to cry harder. “I’m not leaving you,” he promised, and something in my chest eased at least a little bit. “I’m just going to make coffee.”
I bit my lower lip. Coffee did sound absolutely amazing, but I didn’t like the idea of him not being right here with me. When he rose to go and do as he said, I reached for him again. “Wait,” I told him urgently. When he glanced back to look at me and likely tell me that everything was okay again, I said, “I want to come with you.”
He frowned a little at me, no doubt thinking I was a little mental. The kitchen actually connected to the living room. Tile turned into carpet quickly. I could see the counter and the coffee pot and the fridge from where I was sitting, yet I didn’t want to be so far from him. I finally regretted having such a large house.
After a moment, he nodded and helped me up.
The jacket fell from my body and belatedly I realized that my breasts were still exposed, my dress ripped and ruined for good. There was no way he had missed them this time, but he looked away quickly. Despite my current state, despite having all the power and being able to do what he would with me, he chose to give me what little privacy he could.
At least, I thought so until I saw him beginning to unbutton his shirt.
A fresh wave of panic washed through me and I began to shake my head as he slipped his shirt off of his sculpted, godlike body. I felt terror right until he threw his shirt about my shoulders and pulled it closed across my chest.
I blinked at him in surprise, my mouth opening, trying to say something, anything, but unable to find the words.
He offered me a strained smile. “C’mon, let’s make some coffee.”
Then he headed toward the kitchen, pausing on the edge of the carpet so I could follow after him. Tears welled in my eyes again at the courtesy, the gentleness, the unexpected everything. Carefully, I slipped my arms into his shirt and did several of the buttons so that I felt less exposed, less vulnerable.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I made my way over to him.
He didn’t say anything, only smiled. He went around making coffee. It took him longer than it would have me because he didn’t know where anything was, but I didn’t mind. I wasn’t in any condition to be doing anything and he seemed adamant about making it himself. It warmed my heart a little bit, so I let him.
When the coffee began to brew, he encouraged me back to the couch, then took a seat across from it in the same overstuffed chair he’d sat in earlier. We sat in silence for a while, the only sound the coffee brewing. I bit my lip. The scent of wood and grease and smoke surrounded me. I realized it was coming from the shirt, one I knew didn’t have that scent before I’d given it to Kade.
This is him, I thought, and a second later found that it comforted me better than anything.
He comforted me.
It made me want more of that comfort. I wanted to feel safe tonight, at home. I wanted to feel as though the big bad world wasn’t out there waiting for me around every dark corner.
Clutching the shirt at the front over my chest, even though the buttons were closed, I got up from the couch. Instantly, Kade’s eyes were on me. His thick dark eyebrows were pulled down in worry as he watched me. I approached him and a frown tugged at his lips. He parted them to say something, maybe to ask me what I was doing, but I had already reached him at this point. I straightened a single finger and placed it against his parted lips, feeling the heat of them and the mild humidity of his breath against my skin.
“Shh,” I whispered to him, not really positive of what I was doing until I was doing it, but knowing it was right all the same.
He looked conflicted, unsure as I slid into his lap, one leg going on either side of his hips so that I could straddle him—so that I could be closer to him. He looked ready to protest, his hands going to my hips, maybe to push me away and maybe to pull me closer. Undecided, they just rested there, pools of liquid heat spreading through my body through those two points of contact.
He swallowed as I removed my single finger from his lips, trailing it down, catching his full lower lip gently with my nail before letting it slip free. He sucked in a ragged breath as I leaned forward, my mussed hair falling about us like a curtain, shielding us from the rest of the dark, awful world.
Beneath me, he trembled. His body was tense, hard like rock with heated flesh coating it. I liked that he was shirtless. I liked that he was warm. I liked that he was looking at me with uncertainty and tenderness and worry. I liked that he smelled like comfort.
I was desperate for comfort.
Closing the space between us, I brought my mouth slowly closer, inch by inch, until I could feel the electricity jumping between our bodies. I hesitated a fraction of a second, long enough that he looked like he was going to stop me, then I pressed my mouth to his.
As soon as skin made contact, I was lost and his restraint died.
What I had meant to be gentle, to be sweet and comforting, turning into pure intensity. His mouth devoured mine, his tongue slipping between my parted lips to plunder the cavern of my mouth. His tongue swept through me, tasting, teasing, begging. I groaned into him, my hands gripping his shoulders, holding onto him as though for dear life. His hands, which had been silent, unmoving partners earlier, had come alive. They gripped me now like vises, clutching at my full hips, pulling me closer to him so that I could feel what was growing quickly beneath my center.
I moaned and whimpered, clinging to his heated frame, trying to keep a grip on something, anything. But I was lost, so lost.
My body melted under his touch. My chest heaved as I struggled to breathe without breaking a kiss, without missing a beat, without losing anything that I could have in this very precious, very intense moment.
Heat flashed through me and I wanted him, god I wanted him. Like nothing before, I needed this man beneath me, and as I pulled back ever so slightly, I could see that need reflected in his own dark eyes. My lips felt bruised and I was gasping for breath as I looked down at him, realizing my mistake.
I had kissed him for comfort. I had crawled onto his lap searching for safety and softness, but I hadn’t found that. No, instead, I’d found a very specific kind of danger. There was intensity in him, a vibrating power that told me it was only this power that kept his need at bay. A need that was currently focused on me.
I had sensed that he wanted me—it wasn’t hard with those lingering, heated gazes and the words that dripped with sensual promises—but I hadn’t realized how much. I hadn’t realized that when I came over here to soothe my own worries and fears, I had awoken something primal within him.
And I didn’t think I could take it back now.
“Abby,” he breathed, my name sounding like both a prayer and a curse from his lips. I could hear the ache in his voice, the need, and part of me wanted more right then and there.
But I couldn’t.
As his hands lingered on my hips, I remembered the way that guy had pinned me to the wall. My mind flashed back with perfect accuracy to the way he’d held me so easily and then began to touch me. The way his hand had snaked up my thigh, exposing skin and branding it as his as he went. The way he’d ripped my dress—I sobbed—and exposed me to his awful gaze, his disgusting hands.
“Shhh.”
I didn’t realize that Kade was just holding me until I heard him whisper softly in my ear, barely more than a warm breath across my skin. His large, strong hands were gentle as one rubbed along my back and the other smoothed across my hair. He was holding me against his chest loosely, to the point where I could pull away if I wanted to, but firmly enough that I wouldn’t fall off by accident.
“It’ll be okay,” he told me sincerely, fiercely.
In that moment, I didn’t think it ever would be. I felt unclean, terrorized, but as Kade held me, I began to calm. I felt better. I felt less like I was being devoured by some dark monster that I couldn’t see or fight.
As he held me tightly in his arms, I began to believe that somehow, Kade would save me from whatever came for me. Even if it was myself.