by T. K. Leigh
I halted and turned to face him. “Tyler, as long as you’re honest with me, that’s all I care about. Everything else, we can work through. I may yell and become irrational, but that’s why I keep Jenna and Brayden around. They’re really good at smacking some sense into me.”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath and I prepared myself for him to drop some sort of bomb that would make me question everything I thought I knew about him. “I just need you to know the only reason I’m doing this is because I care about you…deeply. Probably more than you can even begin to fathom.”
“Tyler, just spit it out.”
He paused briefly before releasing a breath. “I’ve ordered Martin and everyone else to remain on their protection detail.”
“Why?” I asked, confused.
“Because, Mackenzie. I need to do everything I can to ensure your safety and my top priority right now is to figure out what the fuck is really going on here. Between your father, our mysteriously disappearing CIA handler, your friend, Damian, and Charlie–”
I inhaled quickly at the mention of that name and Tyler noticed my reaction.
“What is it?” He raised his brows.
“Nothing,” I replied, turning from him and continuing along the shore.
“It wasn’t nothing,” Tyler said, catching up to me. “You want me to be open and honest with you? This is a two-way street, Mackenzie. I can only keep you safe if I know what’s going on.”
“I’ve told you, Tyler. Charlie isn’t a threat to me. He knows where I am. If he really wanted to hurt me, he’s had plenty of opportunities to do so. Am I certain he didn’t kill all those people? I don’t know. But I’m not ready to believe he’s got a vendetta out against my father or me.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” Crossing his arms in front of his chest, making him look formidable, he glared down at me. A chill enveloped me, part of me irritated with his inability to accept I was an adult capable of taking care of myself, the other part becoming increasingly turned on with the dominance and power that covered his appearance as he stood in that stance, his suit making him even more attractive than I thought possible.
“You know,” I began, “you make it nearly impossible for me to be upset with you. You’re using your suit against me.”
He scrunched his eyebrows briefly before his stern expression melted into one of amusement. Chuckling loudly, he pulled my body into his and I got lost in his strong arms, the sound of his laugh vibrating through him and warming me with adoration for him…my strong, protective mystery man.
“You know, a man in a suit to a woman is like lingerie to men. There’s nothing hotter.”
“I’m glad you think so, Mackenzie.”
“I do,” I admitted, pulling my head from his chest and peering into his eyes, the stars and ocean causing them to shimmer. Forgetting my former irritation with him, I reached up and ran my hands through his hair, playing with it.
“Kiss me,” I begged, pulling his face toward mine. Our lips met, the kiss soft and tender. He took his time exploring my mouth, his hand running over the contours of my body as if it were the first time. Everything with Tyler felt like the first time. It was always new and exhilarating, the high I continued to feel whenever he swept his tongue with mine or brushed his fingers on my skin more vibrant than the previous time. We were still chasing the dragon together and I never wanted to stop.
I dropped my shoes, pulling his body closer, our kiss growing fevered and intense. Growling, Tyler lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist, but it still wasn’t enough. At first, I appreciated the effort Tyler was making to take things slow, giving me the opportunity to learn to trust him again, but I didn’t care about any of that right now. I needed to feel him on each and every inch of my skin.
“Tyler…,” I exhaled, trying to catch my breath.
“Yes?”
“Take me home. We’ll talk about whatever you want later.”
“Mackenzie…,” he began, and I could see him struggling.
“I know you want me. I can feel it. I need you right now. We need to make up for lost time. So, please, take me home and make love to me.”
Staring at me with hunger, his expression carnal and animalistic, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, the thirst was gone.
“We need to talk first, Mackenzie,” he said, helping me lower my legs back to the sand.
“We already did,” I replied, my voice bordering on being a bit whiny. I ran my finger down his shirt, settling on his belt buckle as I pulled him back toward me. “You’re keeping your team of trained mercenaries on board to look after me. You know how much I get turned on when you go all protective. We talked, so let’s go do something else now.” I began to unbuckle his belt, but his hands caught mine before I could go any further.
“That’s not all I need to talk to you about. There’s more.”
“More?” I raised my eyebrows.
He simply nodded in response, swallowing hard.
“What is it?”
“Besides us needing to talk about what you’re keeping from me regarding Charlie…”
“I’m not–”
He raised his finger to my mouth, hushing me. “You are, Mackenzie, and I get it. You’re learning to trust me all over again. You’re not sure where my loyalties lie right now. You’re worried I may use what you tell me to hurt Charlie. And you’re right to think that, especially if I find out he’s a danger to you. That’s where my loyalties lie. With you and only you. Okay?”
I nodded slightly and he removed his finger from my mouth.
“It’s about your father…,” Tyler reluctantly said.
“What about him?”
Sighing, he rubbed his temples, his shoulders shrinking. “If I thought there was any other option, I wouldn’t be asking this of you.”
“Asking what?” I countered, crossing my arms in front of me, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.
“I need to talk to him,” he said, his voice soft.
I stared at him, not expecting him to ask so much of me. For most, meeting the parents was a rite of passage, something all couples did. But this wasn’t a simple dinner to make sure I wasn’t dating a complete asshole. This was a man who had approached me for the sole purpose of finding and turning my father in, and was now asking that I bring him to meet the man he may still be hunting.
“Tyler…” I sighed, unsure of what to say to him.
“I know what must be going through your head right now,” he said, grabbing my hands. “I understand your reluctance, but I’m not going to stop working this case until I know you’re safe from harm. That means finding out what really happened all those years ago. There’s been too many suspicious things happening, giving rise to more questions than answers, and I think your father may be able to give us some insight that could help put this puzzle together.”
“Tyler, I just…” I paused, collecting my thoughts. “I spent eight years of my life thinking he was dead. Having to disappear and change everything about me, including my name, was the hardest thing I ever had to do. It broke me and, the day I saw my father step into the living room at my mother’s house, I vowed to do everything I could so I’d never have to lose my family again.” I tore away from him, a chill washing over me as I recalled how lost I felt all those years when I thought I had no father.
“But what about your mother?” Tyler shouted, catching up to me.
“What?” I hissed, spinning around to face him. “Don’t you dare bring her up! She has nothing to do with this, not anymore!”
“Don’t you want the person responsible for her death behind bars?”
“Who? Charlie?! Last I checked, you seemed to be hell-bent on blaming him for all this!”
“Don’t you think your mother would want you to finally be able to let her go?!”
“Why don’t you think–”
Tyler reached into his pocket and pulled out a long velvet box, holding it out to me.
“
What is that?”
“It’s something that belongs to you,” he said softly.
Taking the box from him, I opened it, my eyes settling on my mother’s ornate rosary. I had felt so empty and alone without it over the past few months. It was the only thing of my mother’s I had left, and when I left it in Boston, I felt as if I had left a piece of my soul there.
“You’ll never be able to let her go until you have closure,” he said as I ran my fingers over the soft beads. “I can give you that closure, Mackenzie, but I think the only way I can get on the right path is if I talk to your father.”
“He may not be able to help,” I insisted. “If he knew what happened all those years ago, don’t you think this would have been over already?”
“Not if there’s a reason he’s keeping quiet.” His eyes were urgent as he tried with everything in him to persuade me to agree.
Studying him, I pulled my lower lip between my teeth, an old nervous tick. “My relationship with my father is built on mutual trust. I can’t blindside him like that.”
“I get it,” Tyler said, rubbing his hand up and down my arms. “Can you just talk to him about it? About why it’s necessary? See if he’s willing to meet with me?”
“I can’t make any promises about what he’ll say…”
“Just talk to him. Please.”
Reluctant to agree, I knew he had a point. Perhaps my father knew more than he was letting on and Tyler could find out what. Nodding, I relented. “Okay. I’ll talk to him, but I can’t make any promises.”
Letting out a long breath, Tyler smiled as his tense stature relaxed. “Let me see that.” He grabbed the velvet box back from me, taking out the cross. Opening the clasp, he hung it around my neck, his fingers brushing my skin, sending a chill through me.
“There. That’s better,” he crooned, pulling me into the crook of his arm as we stared at the soft ocean waves. “Everything’s back where it belongs.”
Tyler
“WANT TO COME IN?” Mackenzie turned to me, giving me a demure look as we stood outside her condo. I had been uneasy about this precise moment all night long, even more so than asking about her father. I wanted to spend every minute with this woman, but I didn’t want to move so fast that our lust clouded our minds.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Mackenzie,” I replied.
Her face dropped, her expression turning to stone. She spun around and unlocked her door. The silence between us could be cut with a knife. I didn’t know what I wanted her to say, but I wanted her to say something…how she understood why it was important that we take things slow. Hell, just a few days ago, she was turning down my advances for the same reason.
Angrily turning the knob, she threw her front door open and stomped toward the panel, disarming the system. As I was about to step into the foyer, she slammed the door in my face.
“Mackenzie!” I bellowed. “Don’t be like this.” Refusing to have a screaming match through the door, I gingerly turned the knob and entered her condo.
“Like what?” she hissed, whirling around. “You keep saying you want to take things slow, and I get it, Tyler. But you have no problem making out with me, feeling me up, making me straddle you as you push your cock against me! Then when I invite you in, you suddenly want nothing to do with me!”
I stared at her in shock as tears streamed down her face.
“It’s because you don’t find me attractive anymore, isn’t it?” she whimpered, avoiding my eyes. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course you don’t. I mean, you disappear from my life and come back to see me like this.” She gestured to her stomach. “You don’t have to pretend you like me just to get information about my father. We’ve already played that game, Tyler. It’s tired and old. So just get out and leave me alone.”
“Mackenzie…” I had no idea what I could say to her that would assuage her fears. Maybe that I thought she was the most beautiful woman on the planet? And even more so when I found out she was carrying our child? But they were just words, insufficient to properly convey how I felt about her. I needed her to see, to feel, how much I needed her in my life. She needed to know it was her, that it was always her. Everything that had happened in my life, from my triumphs to my failures, all led me to her.
“Don’t, Tyler. Just don’t.” With heavy footsteps, she stormed down the hallway.
Running after her, I grabbed her arm and pinned her against the wall. Her mouth fell open as she gave me an incredulous look. Before she could say anything, I crushed my lips to hers and thrust against her. Finding her hands, I raised her arms over her head, trapping her in place. “Is this what you want?” I growled, my eyes hooded as I looked down at her.
“No,” she hissed, shaking her head. “I don’t want a pity fuck.” Her chest heaved as she glared at me, her eyes on fire in the darkened hallway. I ran my tongue down her neckline, tracing circles as I inhaled her alluring scent. A barely audible whimper escaped as she craned her neck, giving me easier access to her perfect skin.
“But you do want to fuck?” I murmured. Releasing my hold on her arms, I ran my fingers across her collarbone, tracing the line of her halter top dress.
“You know the answer to that, but it’s obvious you’re not attracted to me. Not like you used to be…” She pushed against me and I stumbled back, keeping my distance from her. We stood in the hallway and stared at each other, both of our chests heaving.
“Mackenzie, I don’t know what you want me to say. I can tell you I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen from the first moment I saw you, but I’d be lying.”
She frowned.
“When I saw you at my mother’s house and saw this…” I stepped toward her and placed my hand on her stomach. “Well, I had never been so stunned before, so speechless that any woman could capture my heart with her beauty and radiance. I’m just worried if we move too fast, we won’t make it.”
“Tyler…” She wrapped her arms around my neck and stood on her toes, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “I want us to make it, too, but did you ever think that maybe I need this. I need to feel you, feel the connection I’ve missed. I need to know you again…”
“You do know me.”
“We’ve agreed to get to know each other again, but I’m not just interested in your favorite color and your most memorable childhood vacation, Tyler. I want to know you intimately. I want nothing more than to open up my heart to you again, but I can’t do that unless I know you…all of you.”
Tracing circles on my neck, she ran her hand down my chest, a renewed hunger washing over me. Passion flooding my veins, I drew her body close and covered her mouth with mine, my kiss ravenous and unyielding as I pushed her down the hall toward her bedroom. It had been ages since I had walked these steps, but it was so familiar, so natural, as if I had walked this path every day of my life.
Approaching her bed, I tore my lips from hers, desperately trying to catch my breath.
“What do you want?” she whispered, eyeing me with part confusion, part lust.
“You,” I replied in a low groan. “Always you.” I thrust my hand in her hair, gripping it hard and forcing her head back so she had no choice but to stare into my eyes. Her chest rose and fell, and it took everything in me to not throw her onto the bed at that instant. I hadn’t been with her in months and I wanted to make up for lost time. For all the lost kisses, lost embraces, lost I love you’s, lost moans… I wanted to remember each and every shiver, every taste of her skin, every waft of her sweet cinnamon aroma. This was the start of our new beginning, and I wanted to give her everything. I wanted to give her all of me.
“Take me.” She swallowed hard. “Feel me, Tyler.”
Hooking my arm around her waist, I pulled her into me, our two bodies molding together. I ran my hands through her hair, brushing a tendril behind her ear as I gently caressed her face.
Sighing, she covered my hand with hers. “There you are,” she said softly.
�
�What do you mean?”
“My Tyler. My loving, powerful mystery man. The man who is fierce, in control, and full of fervor one minute, then is sweet, caring, and loving the next. I like how it’s never boring with you, how it’s always…”
“Unexpected?” I said, finishing her thought.
“Yes. You were unexpected, but the most wonderful unexpected thing that ever happened to me. And I wouldn’t change one minute of it. Not the lies or the heartache because it led us to where we are.”
She reached toward the nape of her neck and pulled at the strings of her halter dress. Stepping back, she allowed it to pool at her feet and stood in front of me wearing a red strapless bra and matching panties.
The room was dark, the only light coming from the moon as it filtered through her windows. It was serene, tranquil, still, in complete contradiction to the frenzied beating of my heart that I was certain was reverberating against the walls.
Slowly, she unclasped her bra and it fell to the ground before sensually lowering her panties down her legs. Her eyes met mine as she stood in front of me…exposed, bare, vulnerable.
Taking several determined steps toward her, I kissed her again, our exchange soft, momentarily lacking the ravenous characteristic most of our previous kisses had. She tugged at my hair, pulling me into her as a small moan escaped her mouth. Clutching onto her hips, I deepened the kiss.
I lifted her up and walked across the room, pushing her back against the wall. It was a mixture of hands and legs as we fused into each other, feeling each other, experiencing each other. I needed her. I needed to feel her. To taste her. To consume her.
With one arm, I held her, using the other to brush all the bottles off her vanity, and lowered her to the mahogany surface. Before she could utter anything, I kneeled before her. Spreading her legs, I placed them over my shoulders and traced my tongue against her calf.
“Tyler,” she moaned, reaching for me as I remained just slightly out of reach of her touch.
