Protecting Piper

by Cynthia Eden

  She glanced away from him, the memories stirring in her mind. She’d been taking out the trash one day, walking in the narrow alley behind her building, and she’d found him. Passed out, a broken bottle of Jack at his side. She hadn’t been able to leave him because she’d remembered all the times her mother had come home and passed out on the couch…

  Until the day she didn’t come home.

  Piper had dragged Mark, literally hauled him inch by painful inch, back to her gallery. She’d sobered him up with coffee. And she’d asked him…why.

  Mark’s sister had been murdered—one year to the day that Piper had found him in that alley. When he’d talked to her, when he’d told Piper his story, Mark had said it was his fault. He’d been supposed to pick up his sister after work, but he’d gotten distracted. He’d arrived an hour late.

  His sister had been dead when he found her. She’d been viciously stabbed, over and over again.

  Her killer had never been caught.

  Piper had been able to tell by Mark’s eyes…the guilt had been eating him from the inside out.

  “After what happened to Katie, shit, you know I’d want to help you. If some bastard out there is targeting you, talk to me. Let me help you!”

  Piper exhaled slowly. “Eric runs Wilde Securities. He’s helping me. Providing around the clock protection.” She pointed toward Eric. “His team is on the case.”

  At that moment, Eric looked up. His gaze zeroed in on her. Even in the growing darkness, she could feel the heat of his stare.

  Then his head turned, and she knew he was staring at Mark. Eric said something else to the people around him, then he began marching her way.

  “Someone torched my house last night,” she told Mark. “And now I found out that my paintings were destroyed, too. I don’t know who is doing this, but, Mark, if you saw anything, I mean, if you noticed anyone around my gallery, if anything suspicious stuck out at you, please tell me.”

  “I didn’t see anyone,” he told her grimly. “But I’ll check all of my security feeds.”

  “I’d like access to the footage,” Eric said as he closed in on them.

  Mark cursed. “Look, buddy, I don’t exactly fucking like you—”

  “And I don’t like you, so we’re even, but I want that footage.”

  Mark nodded. “Fine. For Piper. Because I’d do anything for her.”

  Eric positioned his body next to her even as his stare raked over the other man. “You’re in love with her.”

  She felt her face burn. No, Mark wasn’t in love with her. He was grateful to her. He wanted to pay her back for what she’d done for him. But as far as romance was concerned, things between them had never really heated up. They were in the friend zone because when she looked at him, she wanted to—to help. There was no passion, no intensity, no—

  “So the fuck are you,” Mark threw back. “Or else you wouldn’t be walking a tightrope of fear and fury. You think I can’t see it? You lost your shit when I got close to her—”

  “You lunged to attack. Piper screamed.” A shrug. “She was scared. I can’t have her scared.”

  “Because you’re fucking in love with—”

  “He’s not in love with me,” Piper cut in immediately. That was just crazy. “We’re…friends. Very old friends.”

  Eric took her hand in his. Laced his fingers with hers. “Listen, Rogue, I told you—twice—to back off. You should have listened. If you’d listened and not attacked, I wouldn’t have needed to stop you.”

  “And you should have told me what was going on! If I’d realized you just came from a scene where her paintings were destroyed, I would’ve got that you were already on the edge of a major freak out—”

  “I don’t think you get many things about me.” His voice was flat, but then Eric glanced down at her. When he spoke again, his voice softened as he said, “Baby, we need to go. My team has this, and the cops aren’t going to be leaving anytime soon. Let me take you home.”

  Her home had been torched.

  “My home,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I need to know that you’re safe.”

  A sad laugh came from her. “Yes, I’d like to know that, too.” Screw it. She was going home with him. Why fight? She wanted the safety that he could provide to her right then. She cast a quick glance at Mark. “Give him the footage as soon as you can.”

  “For you, anything.”

  She headed for her car. When his agents had come to the scene, Eric had ordered one of them to bring her car to the gallery. She was damn glad that he had—she wanted the freedom and control of being in her own ride. Her fingers slid over the key fob, unlocking it. Before she could reach for the door, Eric was there. He opened it for her and stood back, watching, while she slid into the seat.

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  She stared through the windshield, gazing at her gallery. Police tape had already been rolled across the front of the building. She was in a nightmare, and things were just getting worse.

  Eric slammed the door shut and strode away. Piper glanced in her rear-view mirror and saw him head back toward Mark. He said something to the guy, and she wondered what they were talking about. Eric handed Mark what looked like a business card. Mark took the card, gave a jerky nod, and stepped back.

  A moment later, Eric was in his car. His lights flashed on.

  A tear slid down Piper’s cheek as she drove away.

  This night sucked. This week sucked. The bastard doing this to her—he sucked.

  ***

  Piper had found his tribute. She’d gone into her gallery and seen the work he’d done. He’d been waiting, knowing that she would go back there. Art was in Piper’s soul. There was no way she could stay away. He’d just needed to get close. Needed to wait.

  She drove away slowly, followed immediately by the prick in the Benz. The guy who acted as if he had some sort of right to her.

  He didn’t.

  Piper is mine.

  No one noticed when he slowly pulled onto the street and followed the Benz. Piper wasn’t getting away from him. He’d find out where she was going. He’d keep a very close watch on her.

  I’ve got you now, Piper.

  She wouldn’t be able to hide, not anymore.

  Because wherever she went, he could find her.

  He wondered what she’d thought of his tribute. Did she realize how very much she inspired him? If she didn’t…

  She would.

  Very, very soon.

  Chapter Eight

  You’re fucking in love with her, too.

  Eric stared into the flames. The fire crackled and danced in his study, the flames moving quickly. He’d returned home and lit the fire, thinking that Piper might want to come downstairs and join him, that she might want to talk after everything that had happened.

  But she’d gone straight to her room. Shut the door. Closed him out.

  Shit. He’d lost his control in front of her. He hadn’t meant for that to happen. But when Mark had lunged for her and Piper’s terrified scream filled Eric’s ears, he’d just lost it.

  Attacking had been his response. A primitive, instinctive response to protect what was his.

  Only Piper didn’t think she was his.

  They’d kissed. So what? If he was going to build anything with her, he had a hell of a lot more work to—

  The stair squeaked. The fourth stair from the bottom. It always squeaked when someone was on it. It had squeaked last night and alerted him to Piper slipping down the stairs. Was she going for another midnight snack? He turned and hurried toward the stairs.

  Holy hell.

  Eric staggered to a stop when he saw her. Piper was wearing his shirt again. She’d picked up plenty of new clothing that day, but she was wearing his white button-down and looking like every fantasy he’d ever had.

  When she saw him, Piper froze. Her hand was on the banister. Her feet on the last stair.

  He tried a smile. One that he hoped didn’t lo
ok crazy as all hell. “Got another craving?”

  She gave a slow nod. Her hair slid over her cheek.

  He closed in on her. “What’s it going to be tonight? More chocolate chip cookie dough? Or maybe chocolate? You want to try something different?”

  Again, she nodded. “Something different.” Her voice was soft. Sexy and husky, and it stroked right over his skin. His cock was already at full attention, mostly because her legs were on glorious, perfect display for him.

  And he remembered far too well what it had been like to have her legs wrapped around his hips. For him to carry her across the kitchen. Put her on the table.

  I wanted to make a feast of her.

  His cock shoved at the front of his pants. Desire beat in his blood, and when he spoke, his voice was gravel rough. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you.” Anything to take the fear from her eyes. Eric turned away, ready to hit the kitchen—

  “You.”

  The whole freaking world stopped in that instant. Even his heart stopped beating. Silence lingered all around him.

  “Eric? Did you hear me?”

  Hell, yes, he had.

  But he wanted to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He’d had a dream like this before. A time or twenty.

  Her soft footsteps padded toward him. Then her gentle fingertips pressed to his shoulder. “You’re what I crave.”

  If he turned around, he’d devour her. He’d take her and never let go. She didn’t realize what she was doing.

  What she was offering to a starving man.

  He tried to concentrate on breathing. In and out. But he just pulled in her scent and wanted her even more.

  “Don’t you want me?” Her hand fell away. “You said you did. You kissed me like you did. You made me think—”

  He spun toward her. “I want you. Never doubt that.”

  Her gaze searched his.

  “But I’m not some gentle, easy lover.” She’d had two lovers. Two. Sure, he wanted to kick their asses, and he didn’t like thinking about them. But Piper was careful. She’d chosen those two men. Now she was choosing him.

  “I never thought you would be. I thought you’d be rough. Wild. And hot.”

  His eager cocked jerked toward her. “Why?”

  “Because that’s pretty much how you always are—”

  She was going to make him insane. “Baby, why do you want me in your bed, now? What’s changed?”

  Her lower lip trembled. “I’m scared.”

  “Being scared isn’t a good reason to fuck me.”

  She flinched.

  Shit, shit, shit. He’d done it again. Why did he always say the wrong thing to her?

  But Piper lifted her chin. “It is if being with you makes me feel safe. If touching you makes me forget the fear and just feel pleasure. That’s what happens, Eric. I touch you, and my body ignites. Why can’t that be good enough? Why can’t I be—”

  His hands closed around her shoulders, and he hauled her close. “You are too good for me.” Always had been. He’d known that for so long. But…

  Now that he was touching her…

  Now that she was pressed to his body…

  Now that she was staring up at him with need in her golden eyes.

  He was a goner.

  He kissed her. Took her mouth with a firestorm of need and shoved his good intentions out of the door. She was what he wanted. What he’d always craved. There would be no going back. Not for either of them.

  He pulled her up against him, lifting Piper easily and holding her close. He feasted on her mouth. Kissed her deep and hard and loved the soft moan that rolled in the back of her throat. That moan was good, but by the time he was done with her, Eric intended to have her screaming his name as she came for him over and over again.

  His tongue thrust into her mouth. Her nipples shoved through the front of the shirt—his shirt—and he wanted those nipples in his mouth. He wanted her. Every single, delectable inch of her.

  Eric carried Piper back into his study. The fire was still blazing, dancing and flickering, and he ignored it as he took her to his desk. He put her on the edge of the desk, then caged her with his hands. He kept kissing her. She was kissing him back just as wildly. Her hands curled around his shoulders as she held on tight.

  “I want to fuck you,” Eric rasped.

  “Good…because that’s exactly what I want to do with you.”

  He kissed her again. Fucking hell, he couldn’t get enough of her.

  His hands rose from the desk. Moved to her silken thighs. He parted her legs, stepped between them, and he shoved up the edges of the shirt so that he could see—

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  “Eric?”

  He’d fisted the material of the shirt. “You aren’t wearing panties.” Not even the sexy ones that she’d bought at the lingerie store.

  “I’m kind of an all or nothing woman.”

  She was wearing nothing beneath the shirt. No panties and no bra. That was why her sexy nipples were pushing toward him so clearly.

  “I wanted to be all in so, um, I thought if you said yes, then having no panties would make things easier—” Her words ended in a gasp. Then a moan. Because, yes, things were easier.

  So much easier.

  He could touch what he wanted. Stroke what he craved. Thrust his fingers into her. Strum her clit. Work her hard with his fingers as he’d fantasized about doing over and over again.

  Her head tipped back. Her breath came faster. Her hips pushed against him as she rocked into his touch.

  She was so responsive. So sensitive. She was going to come. He was going to make her come right then and there, and he’d never been more turned on in his entire life.

  He pushed her back on the desk, slid her back more and widened her legs. He dropped his mouth and put it on her sex—a shaved, silky soft heaven. He licked her and kissed her and made a meal of her as she—

  Screamed.

  Screamed his name and came. Hell, yes.

  Hell. Yes.

  But he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. He’d needed her too long. He kept licking and stroking her with his fingers and his tongue as she arched toward him.

  “Eric! I’m going—again—”

  He wanted her to come again. Again and again. Until pleasure was all she knew. Until he was all she knew. The other two lovers she’d had in the past would be forgotten. Those bastards had been lucky to touch her, a gift they’d never get again. He’d erase them from her memory. He wasn’t her first lover, but he’d been her first kiss. And he’d soon know exactly how she liked to be touched and stroked, and he’d never forget. Not a single, solitary thing.

  Not when it came to Piper.

  His Piper.

  Her body stiffened. Her nails bit into his shoulders. “Eric, I want you in me!”

  She was about to come again. His dick was rock hard. She wanted him in?

  He ripped open his pants. His eager cock surged toward her. He thrust into her, sinking balls deep, flesh to flesh.

  And it was perfect. Paradise. She was hot and wet and tight. He pulled back, only to thrust in again. Hard. Deep. Over and over. He pounded into her as she came, screaming his name again, raking her nails down his back, biting through the shirt he wore. There was no stopping. No holding back. He’d held back too long. Too many years. Maybe his whole life. He’d always wanted her. Always thought she was out of reach.

  She wasn’t out of reach any longer. He was balls deep in her. She was screaming his name.

  She. Was. His.

  And he was hers. Completely. Totally.

  But then, he fucking had been…since he’d been seventeen and he’d kissed her in the rain.

  Eric’s climax exploded, surging through his whole body on an eruption of pleasure that beat in his veins. His very soul. The pleasure consumed him, blinded him, gutted him, and it was the best orgasm of his entire life.

  On and on, the pleasure lingered. Blazed. And he held her as tightly as he
could.

  Piper. His Piper.

  He’d just fucked Piper.

  The drumming of his heartbeat finally slowed. His breath heaved in and out of his lungs, and he realized that he was holding her hips, gripping them tightly. Probably too tightly. He didn’t want to bruise her. He’d known he should be careful and handle her with care. Always care. But his hunger had erupted and now—

  “I’m sorry.”

  The words tore from him as Eric lifted up and stared down at Piper. Her eyes were closed, but at his rumbled words, her long lashes lifted.

  “For what?”

  I fucked Piper.

  On his desk.

  And he was still mostly dressed. She still had on his shirt. Shit. This whole scene should have gone down way differently. He started to pull out of her, because, yes, greedy bastard that he was, he was still inside of Piper.

  Inside of Piper. Flesh to flesh.

  No condom.

  “I didn’t use anything.” He backed away. Shoved his still eager cock back in his pants. “Piper—”

  “I’m on birth control. And I’m clean.”

  “So am I. You don’t fucking have to worry about that.” He’d attacked her like a starving man. Because when it came to her, he was starved. Famished. He’d wanted her for years and fought that need. Then she’d come to him. She’d chosen him.

  I hope I didn’t screw this up. “Did I hurt you?”

  She lifted her body so that she was sitting on the edge of the desk once more. She’d been sprawled across it while he took her, and he’d never forget that gorgeous sight.

  But she hadn’t answered him. “Piper, did I hurt you?”

  “No.” Her gaze darted over him. “I’d like to go again.”

  She’d like to—

  He grabbed the side of the desk and held on with all of his strength. It was either that, or—

  “Do you want to go again, Eric? I mean, I know guys can’t always—”

  “I can, not a problem.” Not even a mild problem. When you’d wanted a woman for as long as he’d wanted her, getting your dick up wasn’t a challenge. His dick was up. Up and hard and ready to go again and again.

  But this time, he was going to use more finesse. This time, he’d show her care.