Allegra turned towards Matthew and leaned in. My heart stopped but restarted a second later. No, she was just talking to him, they weren’t making out. She raised her finger and poked him three times in the forehead.
Matthew went the color of pure rage. Purple. Like an eggplant. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her arm down. Her bag flopped to the ground and he rose, bringing her out of the chair with him, ramming his forehead against hers. I saw stars and stood up, knocking my beer over in haste.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, bitch?” Matthew shrieked.
I charged across the wooden floorboards, muscles taut, room blurred to motion and sound. I’d kill him for touching her. I’d pulverize him into human grit and bone for this.
“Hey, motherfucker!” I grabbed him by the throat and he released her immediately, eyes widening.
I walked the cop back until he hit the far wall. His feet scrabbled against the plaster, loosening chips, which fell in a dust of crushed white chunks to the floor. He clawed at my hand.
“Arrest you for this,” he managed, between wild-eyed glances and failed attempts to kick me.
“Yeah, I’m sure the guys down at the station will be really interested to hear you’re harassing your ex. Can you say restraining order?” I dug my fingers into the meat of his throat, squeezing in increments, cutting off his airflow, driving the blood pressure up. Man, I’d fought underground, I’d been through shit, I knew that feeling, the seconds before unconsciousness. The moment when you thought ‘this is it.’ Lights out. The end.
I wanted Matthew to experience that. He was a fucking bully, and there was only one way to break a bully.
I jangled him, slamming the back of his skull into the wall.
“Hey,” a woman croaked, appearing at my elbow. She had a studded chain around her neck and a cigarette dangled from between her chapped lips. “No fighting in my bar, Hercules.”
“Or what?” I asked. “This fucker started it. He was messing with a lady. So it’s okay to harass and physically attack women in your bar?”
Matthew’s attempts to escape had gone as slow as syrup. Shit, I’d better loosen my grip. I let a bit of oxygen into his system so he wouldn’t die before his time. Man, I was tempted. So fucking tempted to let him expire into a lifeless heap on this old chick’s mortgaged floor.
The owner dragged on the cigarette. “I see,” she said, and the smoke bobbed up and down. She puffed out a cloud of grey and scratched at the skin beneath her studded collar. “Then let my boys handle him, sweetie. You be on your way. And take the woman with you and make sure she gets home okay. She had about a fifth of high-end vodka.” She jerked a thumb back towards the bar.
I let Matthew slide to the ground, grasping at his throat. I was gratified by the red welts that had risen on his skin, and the sweat streaking his hair and cheeks. A burly guy in a stained biker’s jacket appeared beside me. He lifted the scumbag from the floor and walked him towards a back room.
“See you later, Paul Blart,” I said, unable to resist a parting shot. Matthew’s gaze was pure terror. He looked from the massive man gripping him by the collar and then at me. Even though I knew it wasn’t over with him. It was never over with men like Matthew because they didn’t know when to quit.
I strode back to the bar, scanning for Allegra. She was my woman and she always would be whether she understood it yet or not. We were meant to be together, because what we had was the only real fucking thing left in my obliterated universe.
Allegra was under the pool table, scrambling for the contents of her purse. A few pool players had stopped their game under the guise of helping her when they were just staring at her glorious ass with their mouths hanging open. She kept telling them off. That was my Allegra. Feisty to a fault.
“Hey,” I said, crouching beside her and offering a hand, “We need to go before Mae West changes her mind and has us thrown out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Allegra flapped her arms. She was definitely a little tipsy. “I told you I don’t want to see you again.”
“There a problem here?” a tall guy said, flexing his biceps. “Seems like this little beauty doesn’t care for any male company tonight.”
“There will be a problem if you make one.” I stroked a thumb down my jaw, scraping it against the stubble. “This is my girlfriend.”
“Enough,” Allegra said, with an exasperated sigh. “God, enough macho for one night, please.” She shuffled out from underneath the table, holding a can of pepper spray and her handbag. She poked a tapered finger into my chest. The same one that had made a dent in Matthew’s forehead. “Don’t call me your girlfriend, you lying prick.”
“I see I didn’t have to worry about you, after all,” I said, though I didn’t believe it for a second.
“Whatever. I want to go home.” Ally tucked the bag over her shoulder and walked to the door. She had heels on and her flawless ass sashayed in her dress. I tried not to drool over her, but she had those killer curves I’d never been able to resist.
Fantasies flashed through my mind. The moments we’d already shared and the ones we would share in the future. We would.
“Allegra, wait,” I said, catching up to her with two great strides. “You can’t go home alone. I won’t let you drive.”
“That’s what public transportation is for,” she replied, then opened the door and stepped into the snow without her coat on. She rubbed her arms and grimaced. “You think I’d drive when I knew I’d be drinking? Probably should’ve brought a coat.”
I stripped off my leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders. “That’s it. I’m taking you home.”
“Yeah, in your dreams, Robert Dewey Hoskins.” She straightened and went to stand by the edge of the road, looking both ways for her savior taxi. Nothing materialized except for a homeless guy near the trash cans at the side of the building. The degenerate stopped dead and stared at the view Allegra made as she tried to hunt down a paid ride.
I walked up to her and rested my hand on her shoulder. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, fine, but you don’t get to touch me,” she said. “You’ve lost the right to ever touch me again.”
I let go of her and nodded. That one syllable. God. I didn’t want to say it. Couldn’t say it. Saying it was like watching a life raft drift through my frozen fingers as I bobbed in the waters of the Bering Strait.
“Fine.”
Chapter 41
Ally
The scent of sizzling bacon and eggs woke me. I rolled onto my side, tangling the sheets around my ankles and groaning. My head was a swollen mass of aching nerve-endings. Yeah, drinking was definitely not my thing. One cocktail and I was half-hungover and ready to give up on life. Although that one cocktail had been about half the damn bottle. No dive bars again. Ever again.
“What happened?” I asked the ceiling and instantly regretted it. Pounding filled the fluffy space my brain had once inhabited. I fumbled for the aspirin on my nightstand and popped two out of the packet. I crunched them down.
Wait one hot second. I was in bed with a headache. So, who was in the kitchen cooking my favorite breakfast?
I bolted upright and grimaced at the responding throb of pain. Memories mulched together, jamming through me in a flood of images. Matthew at the bar, confronting me, pepper spray and then a flash of motion.
Gabe.
He’d come to my rescue the night before. I flapped the sheets back, but I was fully clothed. Thank God, we hadn’t done anything. I guess he was more respectful than Matthew, although that wasn’t the highest in compliments.
Still, he had no right to make breakfast in my kitchen after what he’d done. He had no right to be in my house at all. No right to be anywhere near me. I slipped from my bed, but paused to stroke Codsworth, who was curled into a ball at the base. Like he knew there was an interloper in the kitchen and he needed to protect me. He purred when I touched him and I stalled a moment longer, enjoying the simp
le touch of my fingers to his silky fur.
Animals were so simple. They loved you and that was it. No complications or betrayals, just loyalty and lots of cuddles.
Pity Gabe Moreno couldn’t emulate that.
I squared my shoulders and marched out of the bedroom and into the hall. I peered into the living room and sighed a stream of relief. Tangled blankets and a flattened pillow inhabited my sofa. I ignored the brief flutter of regret at the picture. A fantasy starring my naked body splayed out on that couch. And Gabe. Touching me.
He thought he could sweep in and save me, did he? I’d put him in his place. I wasn’t his to save anymore.
I stormed into the kitchen and stumbled into a scene from Leave It To Beaver. Eggs on a plate, accompanied by bacon and toasted English muffins with butter. There was even a pot of jam positioned beside it and steaming coffee in a mug on the counter.
Gabe turned, wearing my pink frilly apron and nothing else. Okay, he had jeans on, but his naked back and chest detracted from that minor detail.
“I thought you might appreciate a real breakfast,” he said, waggling a spatula at me. “Nothing like a bit of grease to fend off a hangover, right?”
I didn’t answer, but reluctantly tore off a piece of English muffin and dipped it into the sunny-side egg yolk. I deposited it in my mouth and let out a tight groan in spite of my intentions.
“It’s good then.” He grinned and switched off the gas with his free hand. “Allegra—”
“Don’t you dare start before I get a chance to speak,” I said, picking up my mug. I sipped and nodded approval. He’d gotten the cream and sugar right, at least.
“All right,” he said, opening his arms and dropping the spatula into the sink. “Speak.”
“How dare you swoop in and save me after what happened between us. Shouldn’t you be with your fucking fiancé at her house, anticipating the birth of your first child?” It spewed out in a rush of anger, and it felt so damn good to get it out.
“Whoa, okay. You don’t understand.” He ran a hand through his mop of bed-head hair. “I’ve been trying to tell you that I can explain.”
“Whatever,” I said, trying to detach myself from the situation, forcing myself to remember he’d lie. Again and again.
“Let me explain?” He stripped off the apron, muscles rippling beneath. He stretched, showing them off and pretending it wasn’t for my benefit.
“That’s a cheap trick,” I growled, but waved for him to explain. How could there ever be an explanation for having a fiancé?
“I’m not engaged, Allegra I told my dad I wouldn’t go through with it.”
“I don’t get it. What’s your dad have to do with this? If that were true, why wouldn’t you just tell me in front of him? In front of her?” I pressed my lips into a tight line.
“I didn’t want him to know how much I care for you. I wanted him to think you weren’t important,” he said.
“Well, you did an excellent job. I’m not important.” I turned to walk out, but he hurtled across the room and grabbed my upper arm. “To you.”
Gabe spun me on the spot and looked into my eyes. His gaze traced the contours of my face, resting on my lips, the tip of my nose, then flicking up to meet my anger again.
“A cheap fuck,” I spat, struggling against his grip. “So that’s what I am to you?”
He gave me a slight shake. “Don’t you ever talk about yourself that way in front of me again. Quit jumping to conclusions and let me finish. I wanted him to dismiss you because everything my dad touches turns to shit. He destroys whatever gets in his path, Allegra, and you would be nothing but a bug to crush beneath his heel if he thought I cared about you. He stops at nothing to control me.”
I stopped moving and swallowed. “Huh?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Donovan Moreno isn’t just the billionaire you’ve heard about. He’s a ruthless asshole and he’ll do whatever it takes to get his way.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Okay, but what’s that got to do with… her.” I couldn’t say her name as childish as that might’ve been. It made me want to break things just to think about her. Her perfect hair and lips. Her perfect designer outfits. Everything that she was and I wasn’t.
“My father wants me to marry Faith because of her influence. Her father, George, is on the same ‘level’ as my dad. He thinks it would be a prosperous marriage. All he cares about are appearances. He doesn’t understand relationships. Or happiness.”
“I’m still missing something. Why don’t you just tell your dad to stick it?” I asked, keenly aware of his body pressed against mine. Abs against the fabric of my PJs, strong hands gripping me so I couldn’t move a muscle. I didn’t want to be fighting. I just wanted to forget everything except the feelings coursing through my body. I wanted to melt into him.
“He’ll cut me off if I don’t do what he wants. Sever my inheritance.”
“Money,” I spat out, “that’s what this is about? You’re willing to marry Faith and forgo a damn paternity test for money? For your daddy’s approval.”
“Once, yeah, that was who I was,” he said and his forehead creased in that way that made me want to comfort him. To trace the frown lines with my fingertips and take away his pain. Damn it. He should be worried about taking away my pain. “I’ll admit it. I wanted to be the golden boy, the son who impressed him. He hates the fact that I’m a firefighter instead of using my fancy college degree.”
“And now?” I wanted to believe every word of it. God, help me. Why couldn’t I stop these emotions and stop wanting him? I felt like every kind of idiot. What if it was a lie again and I got lost in him again? So deep that I drowned in it and ended up destroyed.
“Now, I don’t care what my father wants. I don’t care about the money. I want to do what I love and be with the woman I love.” He let go of me and gently reached up to cup my face in his palms. “That’s you, Allegra. I want your love. I swear to God, I could fucking breathe, eat and sleep your love. You’re all I need, woman.”
I couldn’t summon a word of argument. I wanted to put up those walls again and shut him out, but when we stood like this, chest to chest, his calloused skin brushing my cheeks, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
He was the man for me. Flawed maybe, with a child on the way from another woman, but he was the one. His soul was on the same level as mine, we were in sync and I couldn’t pull back now.
“Love me,” he whispered, kissing my forehead.
Chapter 42
Ally
“Gabe,” I said, unable to get the words out.
He pressed two warm fingers to my lips and shook his head. “Just love me the best way you know how.” Those tender words coupled with the sincere tone did it. I was flat out gone.
I ran my fingers up the muscles of his back, on either side of his spine and stroked him, tilting my head back and offering up my neck. He loved my neck, I could always tell from the small noises of satisfaction he made when kissing me. Soft grunts of pleasure.
He made them now, lowering his open mouth to my flesh. He nibbled and sucked on each sensitive spot, feasting and inhaling through his nose, then finally moving to the next position, further down.
I gripped his back, lost in his sweet, hot kisses. This was right, even though I didn’t want it to be. I loved his touch as much as I loved him, my need for his soul was entwined with my lust for his body.
Gabe broke away, studying me for a moment. He brushed my lips with his and I squirmed for more, but he withdrew, chuckling.
“Follow me, gorgeous,” he whispered, that sexy half-smile lighting his features. That was a beacon to me, a combination of confidence, sex appeal and utter desire that went deeper than skin.
I was most definitely a moth to his flame.
He walked out of the kitchen, glancing back once. He crooked a finger and my heart thumped, a strange tickle of excitement crawled through my soul. Nerves that should be reserved for the first time.
Ev
ery time with him was like the first time.
I followed, drawn by his scent and those delicious broad shoulders. I was wet at the prospect of touching them again, running my hands along the rippling biceps and to that solid middle, then up to his tan chest. God, so tan, and those enigmatic eyes.
I throbbed for him.
He strolled into the lounge and stood in the center of it. Pop went the top button and he unzipped those jeans slowly but left them on to seduce me with the sexy indentations of his muscles.
Take them off.
“You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?”
“Wh-what?”
“You wanted me the minute you woke up this morning. Your pussy was probably wet the second you walked into the kitchen.”
I gulped and nodded, though I was a little reluctant.
“I didn’t want it. I would have done anything to stop it.” The admission cost me. “There’s something about us, Gabe. I don’t know what it is.”
“Chemistry,” Gabe groaned. “I fucking knew it. I pictured ripping those pants down and burying my face between your legs while we talked. I want you dripping for me, Allegra. Most of all, I wanted to look like a man who’s been eating pussy instead of eating cupcakes.”
I blushed at the words as my hands went to my chest and my breath came in short gasps. I was so wet it misted through to my PJs, spreading to the indents at the top of my thighs. “Gabe, how did I get these pajamas on last night?” I glanced down at the flannel plaid design and noted the soft cotton against my fevered skin.
He stilled and found my gaze. His stare dripping with passion. And more.
“I put them on you.”
“How?” I couldn’t help it. I wanted to know. Wanted to hear him say it.
Just wanted.
Line: Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 40
