Chapter 6
Paisley
Maybe I’m jumping in too fast, but I don’t care. It doesn’t feel fast. I like being with him. I like kissing him. I like sleeping with his arms around me. I’ve slept awesome this last week. It feels like it’s exactly where we’re supposed to be. I never really questioned why he wanted to be with me because he never questioned why I wanted to be with him.
I remember my birth mother telling me about how she met my father in Times Square. She said she knew he was the one with just a look. When they kissed at midnight, it did nothing but cement the fact that her gut feeling was right.
Polly told me about the first time she met Erik, and she literally felt a spark when she ran into him. The very first time I saw Royce, I felt a shift in my body. No matter how crazy it sounds, I just knew he was the one.
And maybe I’m wrong for not questioning anything, but if this doesn’t last or isn’t real for some reason, I don’t want to waste the time we do have doubting it.
After he dropped me off this morning, my thoughts during psychology class were consumed by him, which isn’t abnormal, but this time, they were reality and not fantasy. And when I walk out of the building and see him leaning on a tree, I stop dead in my tracks. He smirks, and from here, I can see his dimples, so I unglue my feet from the cement and run to him. He plants himself on the ground, and I jump into his arms. My hands find his hair the same time my mouth crashes against his as if we’re lovers sure to be torn apart, grasping for those final seconds before the inevitable.
He doesn’t even budge as I climb him, just steadies me as he holds me tight. Tight enough that if he wanted, he could drown me, but even within the vise grip of his arms, I can finally breathe.
I could be here forever with him, but after a minute, he pulls away, wiping my bottom lip. “Have I really missed out on that greeting this whole time?”
“Hate to admit it, but yeah.” I kiss him one more time before hopping down. “We have a lot of time to make up for.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” He links his fingers with mine as we walk toward his vehicle.
“Paisley! Wait.” Chad’s very flamboyant voice makes me stop.
Royce turns with me and puts his hand on my lower back. I roll my eyes at his possessiveness toward a gay man. “Hey, Chad.”
“Hi.” He smiles at me, then squints his eyes as he looks over at Royce.
Royce tenses beside me, and I quickly put a hand on his stomach. Instead of being a mature adult and shaking his hand, Royce lifts his chin at him in greeting and mumbles, “Hey.”
“Okay then. Anyway…” He swivels sideways so all his attention is on me. “Since you haven’t called me back, I just wanted to make sure we were still doing brunch again on Saturday.”
I feel the tension rolling off Royce, but not because Chad’s talking to me. It’s because he completely just blew him off, and that’s not cool with me at all. Nobody is going to be a jerk to him. “I don’t think so, Chad.”
He huffs. “We’ve been going to brunch every Saturday for like six months, and you all of the sudden have a bodyguard and can’t go anymore?”
“You’ve got about ten seconds before I take over,” Royce promises between a clenched jaw.
“It’s not that, Chad. I’m busy with end of semester, and just have a lot on my plate getting ready to go back home.” I’m trying to keep the peace because if I get into it with Chad, I know Royce will jump in, and I don’t need that.
“I have a purple belt in taekwondo. I can keep you safe while we’re out.”
At that, Royce tosses his head back and laughs. Full belly, sucking in air laughter. I slap him on the stomach, and he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Don’t be a jerk.”
“Shit, man, I never thought someone tryin’ to get in my girl’s pants right in front of me would make me laugh.”
“Your girl?” Chad crosses his arms.
“Yeah, buddy. We’ve already established this,” he agrees condescendingly. “We’re leaving now.” Royce bends at the waist, puts a shoulder in my stomach, and then hoists me over his shoulder. Upside down, I wave. “Bye, Chad. I’ll text you. Ow.” I rub my butt and slap Royce’s back. “Did you just spank me?”
He does it again. “Yes.”
Chad’s already turned his back to me as he walks away.
“Put me down, you big beefcake.”
He drops me onto my feet and wraps his arm around my waist. “That guy’s an ass, Paisley.”
We get to his SUV, and he opens the door for me. “He’s not… at least, not normally,” I tell him as he sits down in his seat and starts the vehicle.
“He is.”
“He’s not an ass. He’s just… dramatic.”
“Whatever you say.”
Royce reaches for my hand and draws a pattern with his thumb on it as we pull into traffic. My arms break out with goose bumps as he continues, and I can’t look away from the simple but meaningful gesture. “Who knew you were so sweet?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Holding hands and stuff. I didn’t take you for the touchy-feely type.”
“Only with you, precious.” He brings my hand up and kisses my knuckles. “And you seem to forget that I’ve had eyes on you. Which means I watched everyone you were with.”
I do seem to forget that. “That’s right. Another point we didn’t talk about.”
“Yup. Want to do it now?”
“Might as well.” Especially since it’ll get him off the topic of thinking Chad is any type of threat at all.
“Just ’cause we’re talking about this doesn’t mean I’m forgetting about Chad, either.”
If I didn’t have one arm with a wrap still on it and the other held prison by Royce, I’d throw my hands in the air right now at how he can read my freaking mind. This does not bode well for me for future arguments.
“Whatever. About the whole watching me for months thing…”
He sighs and uses his signal right before he pulls off into a parking lot. “Erik and I fought about telling you, but ultimately, he won because he threatened to put someone else on you, and I wasn’t going to allow that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re mine,” he says flippantly. “And because I know you, and I knew you’d be pissed when you found out. I figured if you were gonna be mad at anyone, I’d have the best chance of getting your forgiveness.”
“What made you think I’d find out?”
He rubs his thumb across the apple of my cheek. “Because you’re smart. And if you think back, I know you had a feeling someone was following you.”
“I did.” I remember looking behind me on several occasions. I just chalked it up to me being paranoid, remembering what Erik told me about how dangerous New York City was. But it was more than that. It was like… a guardian angel. I can’t think of any other way to describe it. It never felt creepy. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me you were here?”
A beat of silence passes. “You were happy.” I get a dimple before he continues. “I didn’t want to be any part of the reason that changed. I wanted you to experience whatever it was you were going to. You wanted to do this on your own and be independent. I knew it was important for you to come here because of your birth parents’ memory, and I just knew the time wasn’t right. I thought it was best to let you have the time… as long as it didn’t include other guys.”
“So if I would have gone on a date, what would you have done?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Would you have beaten him up?” I tease with a giggle. “Broken his fingers if he touched me… put his hands on what’s yours?”
I’m suddenly yanked out of my seat and pulled onto Royce’s lap. His hand fists my hair and the other wraps around my neck, a delicate pressure making me hold my breath. Resting his forehead against mine, he snarls, “You don’t want to fucking know.”
“Okay.” I feel the sting of tears in my eyes at the sudden change in his mood.
His fingers slide down my neck and across my collarbone, the gentle scrape teasing and making me want more. “Never, Paisley. These hands.” They tighten even further in my hair and slide back up around my throat. “They’ll never hurt you.”
“I know.”
“But if anyone fucks with you, if anyone even tries to hurt you, there isn’t a thing they wouldn’t do to protect you. So to answer your question.” He kisses my cheek, then my lips. “Yes. I’d have beaten him up and broken his fingers if he touched what’s mine.”
Royce
My phone vibrates at the worst time, but I’m expecting a call. “I’ve gotta get this.”
“Okay.” She flashes a smile and moves back to her seat.
“Be right back.” I hop out of the Escalade and answer my phone. “Tell me you found him.”
“I found him,” Q answers back. He’s the tech guru back at Ace.
“Fuckin’ fantastic. I can’t wait to get his dumb ass.” Q pulled in some favors and did a little bit of hacking to access street cams. He notified me this morning that he was getting closer to a location for the guy who attacked Paisley. “Who’s close? I don’t want to leave Paisley alone while I deal with him.”
“Nobody.”
“Fuck.”
I hear a squeak in the receiver as if he’s leaned back in his big ass black leather chair. “Only one not active right now is Erik.”
“No.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t want him back out here, goddamn micromanager.”
Q laughs. “This guy,” he goes on to say, “is just a coke head. Unless he ODs or walks into traffic, he’ll still be around tomorrow.”
Figured as much. “I’ll just pay him a visit while she’s in class then.”
“Sounds good. I’ll shoot the particulars over. Be smart.”
“Yeah.”
We hang up, and I take a second before getting back in the vehicle. “Who was that?”
“Q.”
“What’d he want?”
“Nothing.”
“If it was nothing, then why did you have to get out to talk to him?”
Suddenly frustrated because I have to wait almost an entire day to deal with this prick, I intentionally don’t answer her. I get back on the road and drive to my apartment. She gives me this play, not asking any more questions. But the second we’re inside, she asks again, “What did he want?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Was it about me?”
I grab a beer out of the fridge and pop the top. “Why would Q be calling me to talk about you?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Royce,” she whines. “Just tell me.”
Absolutely not. The less she knows, the better. Plus, she doesn’t need to worry about me and how I’m going to deal with the man who attacked her. “What are you hungry for?”
“I’m not. I’m going on a hunger strike until you tell me why he called.”
“You are, are you?”
She crosses her arms and raises a brow. “Yes.”
“Well, I’m not, and I’m hungry. Do you think you could help me find something to eat… something oh, I don’t know… sweet?”
Her neck flushes. “Don’t try to talk your way out of this.”
“I don’t plan on doing a lot of talking. But you, though? You’ll be making a lot of noise.” I set my phone on the counter and stalk her across the room.
She bumps into the arm of the couch and has to put her hands back to catch herself. “Royce.”
“Paisley.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” With her hands occupied, I take advantage and pull off her stretchy pants. Her white underwear is wet in the center, and knowing she’s already ready for me, I can no longer hold back. I drop to my knees and press my tongue against the material.
She stiffens, and I look up into blue eyes of uncertainty. “Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not. Just nervous.”
“Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”
Without another word, she nods, and I scoot her over until her butt hits the cushion and then grab her ankles and pull her closer to me. As she watches, I divest her of her panties. One swipe of my tongue and her hips shoot up.
“Jesus, Paisley.” I spread her open for me and dive back in, fucking her with my tongue and sucking on her clit.
I use just the tip of my finger to circle her pussy, and she gasps, her thighs shaking. “Royce.”
“You like that?”
“Uh-huh.”
My eyes find hers as I slide my finger inside her, groaning at how slick and snug she is. She watches me watching her, and when I add a second, her eyes roll back in her head. Much as I want to see her come, I do it slowly.
She writhes under my touch, and I go back to eating her out while my fingers maintain a steady pace, curling inside before they come back out and circle. Back and forth, dragging it out, bringing her up and taking her back down.
“Royce.” She grabs my hair and pushes my head as she presses up.
I knew she was gonna be hot like this. Every time I heard her between the walls, she moaned and didn’t care, or was too far gone to realize the headboard would bang against the wall. Didn’t expect her to let go so soon, but I’m not complaining.
“Fuuuck.” She clenches around me, and I nearly come at the taste and the sound of her. Filthy mouth when she’s comin’ all over my tongue… the perfect girl. My girl.
She falls back and throws an arm over her face. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
She catches me off guard when she sits up and kneels on the floor. “Pais—”
“Shut up.”
I bite back a laugh and groan when she grabs me over my jeans. “You think you can tell me what to do, baby?”
Her hands attack my zipper. “Yes.”
“You’d be correct.” I’d do whatever she asked of me, whenever she asked it. “Especially with my cock. It’s just as much yours as it is mine. You can use it whenever you need, precious.”
Her cheeks turn pink.
“Do you need it now?”
“Yeah.”
I bring my hand to her face, cupping her jaw and running my thumb across her bottom lip. “Then have at it.”
She giggles and tugs my pants off, my cock swinging free and slapping against my stomach. It takes everything in me to sit still as she stares. Finally, she looks up at me with parted lips. “It’s really big.”
“Thanks, baby.”
As she looks at my dick again, she bites her lip. “I don’t know what to do,” she confesses.
“Anything you want. I already told you it’s yours to do with as you please. You wanna suck it, then open your pretty little lips. You want to touch it, then please, for the love of God, wrap your hands around my cock and jack me off. But if you’re just gonna look at it, then I’m gonna take over in a second.”
“No. I want to.” She takes a deep breath, and then with a soft touch, she slides her finger up the length. When she reaches the tip, she swirls the precum around, and my cock twitches, the sensation torturous but fuckin’ amazing at the same time.
I let her explore even though it pains me to do so. Her touching me is something I’ve fantasized about forever, and the fact she’s on her knees in front of me is a goddamn dream come true. She’s a dream come true.
With a firm fist, she squeezes. “Is this okay?”
“Yes.”
One pump down, then another up. “This?”
“Fuck, yes.” My thighs shake trying to keep from bucking my hips.
Her mouth closes over me, and she sucks so hard my hips lose the battle and shoot up, and my cock hits the back of her throat. She gags a little but keeps going like the natural she is. Sucking me hard and deep, she uses her hand where she can’t reach and brings her other hand around and digs her nails into my ass. “Fuck, baby, fuck.” My balls tighten, and it hits me so fast I barely have time to warn her since I’m already coming. “Stop or it’s goin’ in your mouth.”
She pauses, then pulls back, but not fast enough because a stream shoots out and coats her lips. Her hooded eyes pop open, and she licks it off, but her face scrunches up like she just sucked on a lemon or some shit, then she drops my dick like it’s on fire. I fall to my back laughing as my dick still twitches.
Never in my life has something felt so fuckin’ good and so goddamn perfect. And I knew it would. There wasn’t a question about it, but fuck, it’s better than I could have ever imagined.