by Jennifer Ann
Shit. I’m talking to myself again. I really need to look into a low-maintenance pet.
Glancing up at my dark apartment over the garage, I sigh. Though I’d kill for a change of clothes that aren’t a blatant reminder of wild shed-sex with Jace and need to make sure Ellen hasn’t been snooping around my apartment, I need to find Kory and see if he’ll help me change Jace’s tires just as soon as I decide how I’m going to get Jace’s bike back.
“Where’s your new fuck-friend? He ditch you already?”
Pins and needles shoot up my spine with the sound of Decker’s voice. God, I’m an idiot for coming here. Now what do I do?
Fuckity fuck fuck.
Spinning around, I put on my best game face when facing my ex lurking in the shadows. His hair’s sticking up and he looks like shit in general, as if he hasn’t slept in days. And he might be a little drunk or high the way he’s swaying.
“I’m sure the Warren County Sheriff would love to hear how your dad hauled someone’s personal property off just so you could steal it.”
His lips quirk with a fleeting flash of a smile. “That’s pretty stellar, coming from someone like you. Ellen told me you’ve been conning old dudes for years. What do you suppose the sheriff would have to say about that?”
I shrug. “Good job?”
Decker strides toward me in a flash, gripping his fingers around my throat. Holy shit that hurts.
“Where is it, Phoebe? I’m done playing games.”
“It’s about time,” I reply, pulling down on his elbow in an effort to relieve my windpipe. “The only thing you’ll ever get out of gaming is carpal tunnel.”
“You still think you’re funny, huh?” His eyes narrow as his fingers tighten. “How about now?” Beginning to claw at his arm, I try desperately to catch my breath. A tear of pain squeezes from my eye when it feels like he’s completely crushed my trachea. “Where’s the goddamned ring? I’m not letting you and your new boyfriend run off with a quarter of a million dollars in your pocket! That money’s mine!”
My knees buckle just as Decker releases me. As I’m falling to the ground, gasping for breath, I hear a lot of grunting amidst the scuffling noises of a fight. Through blurry vision, I discover Decker attempting to hook his arm around Jace’s neck as Jace attacks.
Our eyes meet, and I can’t stop the smile that spreads over my lips.
My gorgeous giant of a man came back for me.
“Jace!” I rasp out, scrambling back to my feet. I stop myself before adding, I told you not to come after me, you dumbass, because I don’t want to sound ungrateful or make him think I’m not the giddiest girl in the world with the sight of him. I’m so over the women’s rights bullshit and more than happy to let him save me.
As if hearing me say his name enabled him to power-up, he easily slips out from underneath Decker’s arm and throws his fist in Decker’s face. But Decker recovers and strikes Jace square in the stomach. Jace seems to have lost his breath momentarily as he stalls, cradling his gut. Rather than stand by and watch on like a spectator, I dive for Decker, throwing us both to the ground.
“Stupid bitch!” he roars.
Jace yells my name. There’s a quiet click inches from my ear. A second later, the cool edge of a blade is against my throat. I forget how to breathe as he hauls me back to my feet.
“Hurt her and I will kill you,” Jace promises, watching Decker’s every move with flared nostrils. “I guaran-fucking-tee it.”
The hyper Husky two houses down is yipping as it always does, otherwise the neighborhood is silent as the two men engage in an intense stare-down. Any other time I would’ve told Jace that Decker is too much of a coward to actually injure me, but I wouldn’t put much past him at this point. From the feral look in Jace’s beautiful eyes, he doesn’t seem too confident this will end well either.
“I knew you were more than a stranger passing through town,” Decker sneers, backing away from Jace with the blade still tight against my throat. “How long have you two been planning to steal from me?”
“Why would you think that I took your stupid ring?” I ask among a long groan. “I haven’t been back to your place since the night I walked out, and trust me when I say that I have no desire to return.”
“You’re the only one who knows where I store the shit I find after jacking cars, and you’re the biggest lying whore I know!” Though I can’t see his face behind me, there’s enough venom leaking from every word to indicate he’s becoming unhinged. His chest is heaving against my back. If Jace wasn’t standing ten feet away, looking ready to tear Decker apart, I likely would’ve been freaking out about now.
“First off, I don’t think I’ve fairly earned that title when we both know Tami Robinson has slept with every man in this town under the age of fifty. And you’re telling me that someone left something that valuable in a car?” I refrain from shaking my head so Decker’s knife won’t slice into my skin. “Shit. When I had that old Chevy sedan, I used to worry my sunglasses from the gas station would get jacked and made sure to always hide them under the seat.”
“Doesn’t sound like she has your ring,” Jace tells Decker, holding his hands up at his sides as he starts for us. “So let her the fuck go before I show you how a real man uses a knife.”
“Who the hell even are you, tough guy?” Decker asks with a haughty laugh. “Where did you come from and why do you give two shits about this white piece of trash? Give her enough time and she’ll steal from you too. Mark my words.”
Jace’s upper lip lifts to show his perfectly straight teeth. “Drop. The. Knife.”
“Or what? You’re gonna hurt me? Are you ready to go to prison for her? Because I can promise you that either way I’m walking away from this untouched. When your dad’s in charge, there’s all kinds of shit a person can get away with. In fact, I guarantee he could be easily convinced that the stranger from out of town that Phoebe was fucking decided to slit her throat open when he was done with her.”
A singeing burn slides across my neck. I release a surprised yelp and Jace springs into action. We’re all knocked to the ground. The two guys roll over me and engage in an intense battle of fists and wrestling. Jace may be bigger, but Decker is crazy determined to win. I push to my knees. Even though Ellen won’t hear me, I’m tempted to scream loud enough to wake some of the other neighbors. But Decker would just tell him that Jace had attacked him, unprovoked, and someone might actually call the sheriff. Doubtful, but not worth risking whatever Jace is hiding.
The knife clatters on the sidewalk beside them and I start for it. Decker jumps on me, grabbing a handful of my hair and knocking my head on the edge of the sidewalk. Pain explodes through my head like a bomb. There are literally stars bursting behind my eyelids when I try to assess what’s going on between the two men.
Decker yowls. Jace has Decker’s fingers out of my hair and his fingers backward. Bones snap. As I’m pushing myself off the ground and attempting to scurry out from underneath Decker, I hear one of the men howl with rage. I’m knocked face down, my cheek landing on the rough handle of the knife. This time when I brace myself with the palms of my hands pressed to the ground, I’m able to slip a hand around the knife’s handle.
Jace roars my name.
I move toward the sound of his voice.
The knife slides in so easily that I wonder if it really happened.
12
Jace
From being alongside guys who experienced their first interaction with raw violence while deployed overseas, I know immediately that Phoebe’s in shock. She stares blankly ahead at nothing, her hands limp at her sides like she’s afraid if she looks this will all be real.
Her fucker of an ex has split before I make it over to her, pulling my T-shirt off my back. I wasn’t trained as a medic, but I’d seen enough first aid to have a general idea of what to do.
“Look at me,” I command, pausing until her big brown eyes drag over to meet mine. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
“Hell no!” she insists as her face turns chalk white. “Decker will pin this on you and you can’t afford to get involved with the police!”
“Then we’ll have Ellen take you in.”
“They’ll still come looking for you! Think about it, Jace! I can’t go into the ER saying I stumbled onto a knife, and I refuse to let you run off without me!”
Dropping my head, I growl. Damn it all, she’s right.
“Just…look at it,” she pleads. “How bad is it? Like slasher movie bad, or do I not want to know? Am I going to die?”
Bracing myself for the worst, I breathe a sigh of relief once I’ve given a closer look. The knife went in shallow, having penetrated less than an inch of skin. It’s not anywhere deep enough to have hit any of her vital organs. And from the small amount of blood pooling at the surface, it’s far from life-threatening.
“You’re going to be okay,” I promise, stopping to squeeze her shoulder.
With two swift motions, I’ve removed the knife and replaced it with my shirt, pushing hard against the wound. She cries out in pain before I drag her into the safety of my free arm.
The sound of squealing tires from not too far away gets my blood pumping hard enough that I consider leaving Phoebe to go after the coward.
“Take me upstairs,” she pleads. “We can’t have Ellen getting involved in any of this.”
“You’re right,” I grumble, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Ellen isn’t already watching from the house. For a warm summer night, it seems highly unlikely that there isn’t a single kid playing outside. Then again, with dangerous creeps like her ex roaming around, I can’t blame the parents for keeping their kids indoors. I can’t wait to get Phoebe out of this dump of a town.
Ever so carefully, I have her hold the shirt to her side before I carry her up the steps and into the apartment, setting her down on the couch. Her big brown eyes roll down to where she still holds my shirt against her side.
“Are you sure I’m not going to die?”
A small chuckle lodges in my throat. “You’re lucky…it barely nicked you.” Leaning down, I kiss her forehead. “Hold it there until we’re sure the bleeding has stopped.”
“Where are you going?” Though I know she’d never admit to being scared, there’s a hint of panic behind her words. Does she really think I’m going to just bail on her?
“Have any superglue?” I ask.
“Ummm…I just bought some last week to fix the laminate on my countertop. It should be in the drawer underneath the microwave. Why? In the mood for arts and crafts?”
“The cut is shallow. Glue will do a better job than a bandage.”
Before I can step away, she’s grabbing my wrist. “I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. I figured it’d be easier that way…for both of us. It’s inevitable that you’ll leave at some point anyway.”
I turn to her, nearly breaking down when I see the tears pooling in her eyes. “I thought I made myself clear when I asked you to come along with me. I don’t plan to leave you behind.”
“Not yet, anyway. Wait until you find out that I snore when I’m drunk, or that I sometimes forget to put the cover back on the toothpaste, or—”
Bending to seal my lips over hers, I replace her doubts with resolve in the way I kiss her, leaving no question in her mind what I want. With a wince she wraps her free hand in my hair, answering the untamed desire that’s building in my chest with the twist of her lips and languid strokes of her tongue. I allow the kiss to continue long enough to make it undeniably clear—I’m not going anywhere without her.
When I back off her eyes are still closed and she lets out a small sigh of content.
“I love every little thing about you that makes you different from any other woman I’ve ever met,” I whisper, dragging my lips across her jaw. “I’m not leaving you, gorgeous. I can’t wait to take you somewhere to learn about every one of your quirks.”
Eyes flipping open, she blurts, “I think Ellen has Decker’s ring.”
Backing away, I draw my eyebrows together. “Why do you think that?”
“Because no matter how hard I try, I can’t shake the horrific feeling that she’s sleeping with him. And Ellen only sleeps with guys when she’s using them for something.”
“So what?” I ask, running a hand alongside her smooth cheek before settling it along her warm neck. “It’s not like we can call the cops or return it to whoever he stole it from.”
“It’s worth a quarter of a million dollars. That’s a shit-load of cash. It’d take me decades of bagging groceries to make that kind of money.”
Unease roils through my gut. “You want to steal it.”
“You can’t steal something that’s already been stolen,” she says, rolling her eyes and clicking her tongue. “Think about it, Jace. You’re asking me to leave my job and my only other source of income behind. If we go after that ring, we’d be set for a very long time. You wouldn’t have to worry about getting your bike back…we could afford another one. If we live off peanut butter and jelly and live in that crappy little shack on the beach that we talked about, maybe even forever.”
Blowing out a deep breath, I drop my chin to my chest. Stealing has never been my thing, and any way she wants to twist it, that’s still what we’d be doing. And I don’t have a clue how to go about selling something like that without leaving a trail. I can’t willingly allow Phoebe to put herself in danger.
But she’s right…that’s a lot of money. My fingers begin working at my temples before I meet her gaze. “First we get you somewhere safe for the night, then we’ll talk about coming back. I don’t like waiting around in the dark for your ex to come after you again. Especially if he decides to call the police.”
“Fine. Glue me back together and let’s bail.”
When she puts on a brave smile, like she doesn’t have a care in the world, I bring my lips up to brush over her temple. Damn, I adore this woman. She’s not only incredibly sexy, but courageous as hell. Once we’re out of this town, I plan to introduce her to a new way of life that doesn’t involve being scared or the need to bury any more secrets.
For the first time since arriving in Chesterville, I realize my reason for coming here will have to wait. I don’t have time to search for Bugsy’s family without getting Phoebe involved. I’ll find another way to contact them. I have to get Phoebe out of town before that asshole returns to finish the job.
My eyes open to the glow of the motel’s neon sign outside the window. I reach over to find Phoebe’s side of the bed empty. Once she was satisfied the glue holding her wound together had dried, she fell asleep in my arms shortly after we hitched a ride back to Katowood. I swear to god, if she’s left me again—
Then I catch the muffled sound of running water and breathe easily. It seems early for a shower since the sun isn’t even up yet, so I decide to check on her. After knocking on the bathroom door, I find her naked, huddled on the floor in front of the bathtub as water flows into the drain. Clutching onto her knees and shivering, she stares back at me with a blank expression that pierces my heart.
“The only other person I cared about this much left me,” she whispers.
Instead of asking who was stupid enough to leave her behind, I slip my arms around her and cradle her to my chest. After checking the temperature of the water, I push the curtain aside and take her under the warm stream, soaking us simultaneously. I snatch the washcloth and gently dab at the wound on her forehead created when Decker pushed her into the sidewalk.
Releasing a hiccuping whimper, Phoebe curls into a tight ball against me before her shoulders shake with quiet cries. Seeing her so broken makes me want to hurt everyone who made her this way. I alternate between kissing her wet head and hushing her until she’s done crying.
After a few minutes, she finally relaxes in my arms. Slipping her hands around my neck, she looks into my eyes with a thousand emotions stewing behind her gaze.
“You came back,” she
says in an absentminded mutter. “I left you, and you came back for me. Why?”
“Because I want to keep you in my life.” The truth sears my veins.
“At what cost?” she whispers.
“Whatever it takes.”
Next thing I know, she’s nudging my head down so our lips can meet. I’ve tried to ignore the fact that my dick went hard the minute I scooped her off the floor, not wanting to come off as a caveman who’s insensitive to her feelings, but from the way she’s kissing me without holding back, it’s quite obvious what she wants.
Since there isn’t much room in the shower, I shut the spray down with my foot and turn the handle before snatching a towel from the rack over the toilet. Stepping out onto the rug, I set Phoebe down and carefully dab the droplets of water rolling down her body. Her eyes don’t leave me as I kneel to dry her off all the way down to her feet.
Leaning against me, her pussy falls within an inch of my mouth. With a rumbling growl in my chest, I wrap an arm around her damp ass cheeks, bringing her in close to nestle my lips inside her damp curls and inhale her natural scent. So damn irresistible. My mouth waters, craving a taste of her, so I give in and swipe my tongue inside.
Moaning, Phoebe wraps her fingers through my wet hair. “I need to feel you, Jace.”
Rising back to my feet, I slide my lips along her skin, stopping for a taste of her peaked nipples, and lift her into my arms. Her legs wrap around my waist and she stares into my eyes, leaving no doubt in my mind that she may be broken, but this is something she truly needs. Unable to hold off any longer, I seal my mouth over hers and head back to the bed.
We lay on the mattress together for several minutes, our ravaging mouths and tongues unable to get enough of each other. Our individual secrets have bonded us, made us two birds of the same feather. My cock swells even more with the reality that this will be the beginning of countless times I’ll have the chance to make love to her. With languid strokes of my tongue and fingers, I take my time exploring every last crevice of her body.
