by Bryn Donovan
A peace offering was in order. Maybe she could help with his project. She put the brush down on top of the bucket of sealer, found her flathead screwdriver and went into the kitchen.
Carlos sat on the kitchen countertop, staring into space.
“Hey. Taking a break?” she asked him.
He didn’t make a move or a sound.
He’s dead. She shook off the irrational thought and stepped right in front of him. “Carlos!”
He jolted out of his trance. “What?”
“Are you getting a little tired?”
“Guess so.” He frowned. “You know, there’s no point fixing up this place. It’s never going to sell.”
“What? It’ll look beautiful when we’re done. Here, let me help you.” She began to strip the wallpaper by inserting the tip of the screwdriver under a seam.
In a deep, choked voice that didn’t even sound like his own, Carlos shouted at her, “What the hell are you doing?”
Andi jumped and stared at him.
His face was bright red as he hollered, “Leave it alone!”
“I’m just going to peel this up—”
“Get the hell away from there!” he roared, rushing up to her.
His brutal grip on her upper arms shocked her. He slammed her with full force against the wall. The back of her head knocked against it and she bit her tongue hard.
She saw dark stardust. Tears sprang to her eyes.
In the next moment, David was just there, hauling the larger man away from her. His fist connected with the man’s jaw and Carlos reeled back against the remaining cabinets. When David pulled him up by the front of his shirt, Carlos swung at him, but David dodged and the blow glanced off the side of his head.
David’s next punch connected squarely with the man’s eye, the impact so hard that Andi heard herself let out a little scream. Another blow to the jaw, and her attacker fell to the floor.
Carlos scuttled back a few inches, grabbing a cabinet handle to help pull himself up. David landed a vicious kick to his midsection. Andi winced at the force and the man’s grunt of pain. David was going to put the guy in the hospital.
She shouted, “Stop!”
David looked back at her as if surprised by the suggestion. Then he took out his phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“Please, don’t,” Carlos said in a strangled voice, pulling himself up to a sitting position, holding one palm up in a gesture of surrender. Andi guessed he probably had at least one broken rib. “I don’t know what happened.” He sounded like his normal self again.
“David, don’t,” Andi said. She wondered why she tasted old pennies. “You could get arrested yourself.” He’d just beaten the crap out of this guy.
Her avenging angel looked down at the man, fists clenching as though considering whether to hurt him even more. Then he said, “Give me the house keys and get out of here. I never want to see you again.”
“You won’t.” Carlos managed to scramble to his feet, though he moved like a drunken man. He pulled the set of keys out of his front pocket, set them on the counter and held up his hands again, as though David were holding a gun on him. He looked at Andi. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t talk to her,” David said in a voice as cold as murder.
The contractor stumbled out.
Andi spat into the sink, surprised at how much blood there was.
David rushed over to her. “Are you all right?” he demanded, his voice still low and tight.
She nodded.
“What is it? Did you lose a tooth?” His warm, strong arm circled around her shoulders. He was all gentle concern now, a dizzying contrast to the ferocity he’d shown just moments before.
“Just bit my tongue.” She ran her sore tongue along her teeth to make sure.
“Do you need stitches? Let me see.”
Again she shook her head, wiping her lip with the back of her hand. It left a red smear. “It’s fine.” She felt exhausted. “I want to sit down.”
“Yeah, here.” He helped her sit down on the floor with care then hovered over her where she leaned back against the wall. “Where else are you hurt?”
“The back of my head—”
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No! It’s not serious.” She hated doctors. She’d seen enough of them as a kid to last a lifetime.
“I’m not even arguing about this.”
“You can’t make me. Or at least, you won’t.”
“Shit,” he muttered. She knew he wouldn’t force her to do anything. When his fingers touched the sore spot on her head, she winced. “You’re not bleeding there,” he said. “Are you dizzy? Can you see okay?”
“I can see fine.” Andi let out a breath. “Calm down, okay? It wasn’t that bad.”
“Bad enough.” He shifted from a crouch to a kneeling position, sitting on his heels. “I’m sorry.”
“You stopped him. I don’t know why you’re apologizing.”
David gripped the side of his head, almost as though he had been injured himself. “I never should have let you work here.”
“What? He’s the one who shouldn’t have been working here.”
“I know! I never knew he’d be like that. What set him off?”
“Nothing! I just…” Andi held up her hands in confusion. “I started to help him strip the wallpaper. He’d stopped working. He said there was no point, that the place would never sell.”
“That’s weird.”
“Tell me about it.”
“We really should call the police,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk to anybody.”
“Why don’t you want to get him into trouble?”
Andi wiped her mouth again. “There was just something so bizarre about the whole thing. Plus, he kind of got punished already. You did a lot of damage.”
* * *
David saw the wary way Andi looked at him. He’d freaked her out when he kicked Carlos’ ass. But what else could he have done?
He’d walked right in to see the man slam Andi against the wall with what looked like all his might. Rage had swept right through him. He would have been furious to see a man hurt any woman, but for someone to hurt Andi…
Considering how he’d felt, Carlos had gotten off pretty lightly.
“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” she asked. “Not that it was much of a fight.”
David wasn’t even going to think about answering that. Taking her hand, he said, “Come on, let me get you home.”
“I can probably drive.”
He shook his head as he helped her to his feet. “I’ll drive your truck and take a cab back later.”
Andi found her purse and handed him the keys. As they walked out, she looked with dismay at the unfinished work in the dining room. “I was hoping to get a lot done today.”
“That’s the last thing you need to worry about,” David told her. “You should take it easy for a couple of days, after being shaken up. Literally,” he added darkly.
They went out the front door.
“I just don’t get it,” David said again. “I’ve known this guy for, what, three years? He goes to church every week. He’s got a family. He feels guilty for swearing when he hits his thumb with a hammer.”
“I know! David, it’s not your fault.”
Once they were in Andi’s truck, he peered at her again. “You won’t even get some x-rays?”
“The last thing I feel like doing is sitting around a waiting room the rest of the day. I’m fine. What, are you afraid I’m going to sue you?” She chuckled, even though he was pretty sure her head hurt like hell.
“No.” He didn’t find humor in any part of the situation. As he turned the keys in the ignition, he said, “You should probably take a whole week off.”
“That’s crazy. I have a bump on the head, that’s all.”
“The whole job’s going to take longer now anyway. I don’t know who I’m going to get to do that kitchen.�
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“You could just hire me.”
This hadn’t occurred to him. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, why not? I’ve worked on lots of kitchens. That was my dad’s day job, you know—installing kitchen cabinets. I worked with him in the summer, all through high school and college.”
“I don’t know.” He wanted Andi to be done with the house as soon as possible.
“You’re not going to find anyone better.”
He almost smiled. “That’s what you said the first time you met me.”
She laughed. “Well, it’s true.”
“I believe you. That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What are you worried about?”
He gripped the steering wheel harder, still unnerved by the violent incident. “We don’t have to figure this out right now. Let’s just get you home.”
They drove for a while in silence before Andi opened the glove compartment and took out a bottle of Advil. He berated himself for not thinking of painkillers earlier as she shook four orange pills into her palm.
He asked her, “Do you want to stop and get a bottle of water?”
She shook her head. “I don’t need it.” She swallowed them down, one at a time, dry.
“You know, Andi,” David said after a while of driving. “It still feels weird to be paying you for stuff.”
She looked up at him, bemused, from where her head lay on the seat. “Well, it would kind of suck for me if you didn’t.”
“No, I know. I just mean…” He stared back at the road. “I feel bad about how this started out. I should be taking you out to nice places. Instead, you’re working in this wreck of a house, and you get assaulted by some asshole…after practically getting assaulted by me—”
“Hey! Don’t say that.”
“You know what I mean.” It hadn’t exactly been a gentle seduction.
“No. Look. That was the best sex of my life. Not that I’ve had so much. But if you think that was wrong of you, you’re just kind of an idiot.”
“Good to hear,” he said. “For me it was, well, I thought it was…yeah.” That was articulate.
She grinned. “I’m glad it was ‘yeah’ for you too.”
He smiled back. “I’m just saying. I know it hasn’t been exactly romantic.”
“I’ve got no complaints,” she said softly. Then she added in a more mischievous tone, “On the other hand, if you really want to take me out to fancy places…”
“Yeah. I do. Let’s do it. Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know that many fancy places,” she admitted. “Maybe you should choose.”
“All right.” He tried to think of some place she’d really love. “You like French?”
“Probably. It’s, like, a lot of butter and wine, right?”
“Pretty much.”
“What’s not to like?”
She was fun. “When do you think you’ll feel up to it?”
“How about Friday night? I mean, if you don’t have anything else.”
“Friday’s perfect,” he said, but something in the way she said that—if you don’t have anything else—made him curious. They reached a red light and he turned to study her face. “Andi…you know I’m not going to see anyone but you, right?”
She tilted her head. “Why would I know that?”
Good question. “I’m not going to. You can do whatever you want.” He had no right to act like he owned her, although the idea of her seeing anyone else unhinged him.
“Me?” She laughed at him. “Not a chance.” It warmed him from within.
He was crazy about her. It was serious. And that made him feel a little lost.
“Okay, where in Rogers Park?” he asked, and she directed him to her place. When they got to her building he pulled into the parking lot and said, “I’ll call you tomorrow, see if you’re feeling okay.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Just take it easy, all right?”
“Yeah, I will.” She opened her door then hesitated. “You want to come up and meet my sister? I told her about you.”
What had she said about him? He couldn’t imagine. “Sure.” He locked the truck behind them, handed the keys back to her and followed her to the front door. Would the sister blame him for Andi getting hurt? Again he tried to tell himself it wasn’t his fault.
Andi let him into her darkened apartment. “Lissa?” she called, walking over to switch on a lamp.
The walls glowed a sunny yellow. Half a dozen mismatched pillows littered the plump denim sofa and loveseat. The small living room wasn’t exactly messy, but green plants, framed photos, candles and baskets stuffed with magazines, knitting needles and yarn made it into a cheerful, cozy cocoon.
“Huh, maybe she’s not here. But at least you get to see where I live.”
“It’s nice. It fits you.”
“You think?” She shrugged. “I always like it when I can picture people at home.”
“Yeah, me too.” He heard a scuttling sound, and then a small mutt looked up at him, giving one conversational bark.
“Heyyy, Scruffy,” Andi cooed, reaching over to scratch him on the head.
“I forgot you had a dog.”
“Isn’t he great? We got him from the shelter.” Andi straightened up again, went into the tiny kitchen and picked up a note. “Mmm, Lissa went to her boyfriend’s for the night,” she told David.
“Oh, yeah? That’s too bad.”
She gave him a sweet teasing look. “Is it?”
He really hadn’t expected this, not after what she’d been through. Her flirtatiousness aroused his interest, but he did his best to ignore this. “Andi. You have a hurt head. And a hurt tongue.”
Her eyes widened. “You won’t stay if I have a hurt tongue?”
His attempt to resist temptation failed. “That’s not what I mean. Of course I’ll stay.”
“Good. Do you want some coffee?”
“No.” Obviously he did not want some coffee. He walked over to her and kissed her gently on the mouth. He started to move his hand to the back of her head, but then he remembered she was hurt there and cupped her cheek instead. Her skin was soft as a ripe apricot under the caress of his thumb.
“Come on,” she whispered, entwining her hand in his and leading him down the hall.
The twilight cast the bedroom in violet and indigo shadows. Maybe she preferred the light off. Whatever she wanted, he wanted. David sat down with her on the edge of the bed covered with an old, worn quilt.
As he kissed her mouth and then her neck, she unbuttoned her chambray shirt. “I feel hot.” She laughed softly as she stripped it off to reveal a black lacy bra.
“You are hot,” he murmured, bending his head to rub his face against her breasts. She smelled like sweat and springtime. He longed to lose himself in her and never come back.
She touched his hair. “You just have to be careful with me.”
“I can do that.” He would show her he could. When he looked up at her, the old dread pulled at him, the fear of who he was or who he might become. “Andi. You know I would never hurt you. You know that, right?”
“What are you talking about?” Caution edged her voice.
“I don’t know.”
Her fingers stroked through his hair again. He felt like a wolf being petted. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she said.
Sorrow stirred within him. “There’s lots.”
* * *
The hint of despair in his voice, usually so controlled, filled Andi with tenderness. She didn’t resist as he coaxed her to lie back on the bed, taking care to make sure her head didn’t come down too hard. Desiring to see him more clearly, she switched on the lamp on the nightstand.
He kissed her again, still patient, careful, the way he’d promised to be. When he paused to strip off his tee shirt, and Andi drank in the sight of his powerful torso. He was a beautiful man, and a good man, too.
Then she noticed something she hadn’t seen before
. On the left side of his chest, over the pectoral muscles, were two pale, circular marks.
David lowered his mouth to her breast. With a devoted reverence, he kissed and caressed her, and she honestly didn’t know whether the sensations he aroused in her were sinful or holy. Body and soul, he made her ache. It was amazing and unbearable.
“David,” she said with a sigh, undoing her jeans. He helped her, peeling them off along with her panties. Now she was completely bared for his pleasure, and even more, for her own.
His hands graced the sides of her hips as his kisses made their way down her belly and to the mound of her sex. Her legs fell wide apart at his slight urging. She felt the whole of his mouth on her, and she couldn’t stop her escalating, wordless cries as teased, nibbled and licked.
“Oh God,” she cried out as his tongue found and circled her clit. He lightly sucked it, taking her to just the right side of the line between agony and ecstasy. She touched his cropped hair. Then she gasped as pure physical joy spiraled through her entire being, rippling out to every inch of her.
An approving growl rose from the back of David’s throat. He rose up slowly, his damp face nuzzling her belly, kissing her breasts again. He looked down at her, rapt. Half in a trance herself, lost in the naked vulnerability in his eyes, she lifted a hand to press it flat over his heart. It slammed hard beneath her hand, beneath his heated skin. Her gaze shifted to the marks she’d noticed on his chest before.
David pushed into her. She tilted her head back in enjoyment—then cringed at the stab of pain as her skull bumped into the wall.
Immediately he froze, laying his hand along the side of her head, whispering, “Sorry, I’m sorry.”
With a brief shake of her head, she let her hand skim down from the taut small of his back to the satisfying slight curve of his ass. She pressed it closer to her, urging him on. His sigh tickled against her neck as he began to move inside her.
The sensation of his strong, supple body against hers, and the feeling of him filling her completely, dissolved her remaining head pain, better than any drug. She gave herself up to easy, lazy bliss. After a long while, he rose up more to reach between them, the pad of his thumb brushing across her most sensitive place. Her toes curled up tight against the quilt.
