Her shoulders sagged in obvious relief, and her body finally melted into mine. “That sounds perfect.”
Dunking a washcloth into the water, I slowly dragged it over her shoulders and arms. The soothing gesture was just as much for me as it was her.
We stayed in the bathtub until the water eventually turned cool, and I was just about to get us out when she spoke again. “I’m sorry.”
“For what, baby?”
“For today.”
“Lyla, what that bastard’s doin’ isn’t your fault. You don’t need—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the bottle. I saw it and automatically thought the worst of you.”
I looped my arms around her and pulled her tighter against me. “There was an empty bottle of booze in our house, Goldie. What else were you supposed to think?”
“I should’ve believed in you. I should’ve trusted that you wouldn’t do something like that.”
“I don’t blame you, so get it out of your head,” I commanded on another squeeze. “Let it go, baby. I mean it.”
She turned to look at me over her shoulder, a sincere smile finally stretching across her face. “Sir, yes, sir.”
And just like that, I had my girl back.
Lyla
“You didn’t really think you could get away from me that easily, did you?”
My eyes shot open just as Daniel’s hand closed over my throat and squeezed, cutting off my air.
“You stupid bitch,” he hissed, leaning into my face as his grip tightened. The rancid smell of the whiskey on his breath filled my nostrils as I struggled, thrashing on the bed and clawing at his hand and arm.
I couldn’t breathe. God, I couldn’t breathe. I fought to pull air into my lungs, but it wouldn’t come.
“Please stop,” I rasped, somehow managing to push the words out by sheer will.
“You’ll never get away,” he continued as I gasped. “Never. I’ll always be here.”
“Lyla, wake up!”
I shot up with a sharp cry, sucking in one huge lungful of air after another as I slapped at the hands trying to grab me.
“Baby, stop. It’s okay. You’re okay. It was just a nightmare. Calm down. Breathe, baby. Breathe.”
I stopped fighting as the horrid dream loosened its clutches and reality sank back in. I didn’t realize I was crying until Mace took my face in his hands and wipe at the tears pouring down my cheeks.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here.” He pulled me into his lap and held on.
“Mace,” I panted, clutching him tighter as I tried to shake off the fear.
“I’m here. I’m here, baby. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
A sense of desperation stronger than I’d ever felt before consumed me. I needed Mace more in that moment than I ever had before. Shifting in his lap so I was straddling his legs, I pulled his face to mine, planting frantic kisses anywhere I could reach.
“I need you,” I pleaded anxiously. “Need you, Mace. Please.”
He fisted the material of my nightie in his hands. “What do you need?”
“Everything. I need everything. Just… take it away. Please, honey. Make it go away.”
“I’ll give you everything you need. All you have to do is take it.”
And I did exactly that. Lifting up, I pulled my panties down my thighs and shifted to yank them all the way off. Jerking the drawstring on his pajama pants, I untied it and pulled his cock out.
Lining it up with my opening, I drove myself down onto him, crying out as his thick length stretched me.
“Take it, Lyla,” he grunted, snapping his hips to force himself deeper. “Take everything you need from me.”
Bracing my hands on his chest, I rode him hard and fast, pushing myself closer and closer to that precipice. It was coming fast and strong, threatening to overwhelm me.
“So good,” I panted, rocking my hips back and forth, grinding my clit against the base of his shaft. “Always so good.”
Mace shot to sitting, wrapping one arm around my waist and tangling the other in my hair. He used his hold to force my face down and took my mouth in a hard, claiming kiss.
“Love you, Lyla.”
“Love you too,” I breathed, only seconds away from exploding.
“Do it, baby. Let go.”
On one last downward glide, I detonated, throwing my head back on a long moan as I came.
I was still coming as Mace took over, flipping me to my back and powering into me. He followed closely after the same way he always did, burying his face in my neck as he groaned out his release.
It took a few minutes for us to come down from the blissful high, and once we did, Mace lifted his head to look into my eyes. “I’ll always give you what you need, baby. Never doubt that.”
I reached up to brush the hair off his forehead. “I know,” I said softly. “And that’s only part of the reason I love you so much.”
After I cleaned up and came back to bed, Mace pulled me against his body and held tight as the minutes ticked back.
And as always, with him holding on to me securely, I fell asleep feeling safe and complete.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Lyla
After the stress of the past couple of days, Mace had been in desperate need of a meeting. He wouldn’t admit it, but I could see how badly he was struggling, and after two days I finally put my foot down.
He argued, not wanting to leave me alone with Daniel still out there, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer. We finally reached a compromise that made him feel better—one of Ian’s guys would stay with me whenever Mace wasn’t around.
And it was for that reason that one of the stoic, monosyllabic security dudes was sitting in the kitchen like a statue that very moment while Ian’s buddy Lincoln installed our new security system.
I’d been sitting on the couch, curled up with my forearms resting along the back and my chin propped on my hands as the huge dude with sandy blond hair and electric green eyes used every power tool in existence to install cameras and motion sensors and glass-break sensors and everything else you could think of all over the house, inside and out.
Now he was fiddling near the front door, putting up a complicated-looking panel that I seriously doubted I’d ever get the hang of. The whirr of the impact driver finally went quiet, and I asked, “Is all this really necessary?”
Lincoln looked over his shoulder at me with a smirk that could only be described as sinful. Then again, there wasn’t much about him that wasn’t. It was like there was an unwritten rule somewhere that any man who worked in security had to be abnormally good-looking.
And he was no exception. At least four inches over six feet, the dude was built like a freaking brick house. He was all man. And the kicker was he obviously knew it, using his size, good looks, and alpha magnetism to his benefit. It was like it was ingrained in him to exude masculinity with his every move and breath.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think he was as fine as Mace, but if Mason Keller wasn’t in the picture, this was definitely a man I’d trip over my own feet to get to.
“From your point of view, I’m guessin’ not,” he answered, “But seein’ as I’m a guy, and I can relate to your man better than you can you, I’d say hell yeah, it’s necessary.”
I snorted with a roll of my eyes. “What is it with you guys being all alpha and pissing around your territories?”
A deep, rumbly chuckle worked its way up his throat. “It’s not about markin’ our territory, darlin’. Any man worth a shit’ll do everything in his power to keep his woman safe.” His gaze skated along my face and to what parts he could see from over the couch. “You were my woman, I’d break my back to protect you.”
Mace was it for me, but that didn’t mean a man with Lincoln’s particular charms didn’t have an effect on me. A tremor worked its way through my body as I found the strength to mutter, “Inappropriate.”
“Just stating the truth. You don’t
have a man willin’ to do that, then you picked wrong, and you need to get rid of his ass and find one who will. From what I can see, you’re dude’s willin’ to do just that.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked with curiosity. “You only met him for like two seconds.”
“Sweetheart, a man who doesn’t care wouldn’t shell out what I cost. Not even men with the kinda money your guy has.”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “Seriously?”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Absolutely, darlin’.”
“Wow. Ian said you were the best at this stuff, but….” I couldn’t wrap my brain around what I’d just heard. “Seriously?”
“Come on,” he said with a chuckle. “Let me show you how this system works.”
I stood up and rounded the couch. “Something tells me you’re gonna need to leave a very detailed instruction manual.”
That sinful smirk returned, and my knees wobbled. “You’ll get it, don’t worry. It’s not as hard as it looks.”
Yeah, he was so full of it.
“You don’t have to stick around.”
Jeff, the guy Ian had put on me, seemed determined to enter the rec center with me. That wasn’t going to work, not only because these meetings were private, but because there were still women in my support group who were leery around all men. Add Jeff’s brawn and bulk into the equation and they’d be scared. I wasn’t cool with that.
“Rule is I’m supposed to keep you in sight the whole time.”
I stopped us just outside the doors of the rec center. It was bad enough that he’d tailed me the whole way there, but now he wanted to go in? Nope, not happening.
“These meetings are very personal. You can’t hover just inside the door freaking the women out. They’re entitled to their privacy, and I’m not gonna let you take that away from them, so you have two choices. You can either wait in your car out in the parking lot, or you can go do your own thing, and I’ll call you when I’m ready for my shadow.”
He paused for a moment, and I thought he was going to give me more trouble, but then he sighed. “Fine. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I warned. “It’s a meeting with nothing but women. We tend to run late more times than not.”
Jeff looked like he was dangerously close to having an aneurysm. “Fine,” he grunted. “But you call me the minute the meeting’s over.”
“I will.”
“I’m serious, woman. The minute it’s over.”
I quickly traced an X over my heart and held my index and middle fingers up in the air. “Cross my heart and hope to die. A needle in the eye and all that jazz. I’ll call the minute the meeting ends.”
He stayed out on the sidewalk as I headed inside. Once the glass door closed behind me, I turned and gave him a wave over my shoulder. Then I spun around and went into my meeting, putting all ugly thoughts of Daniel and intricate security systems and twenty-four-seven guard duty out of my head.
At least for now.
“I’m nervous,” Kate admitted sheepishly. “It’s been forever since I’ve gone on a date. I’m totally out of practice.”
I folded my chair and stacked it against the wall before looking back at her with a kind smile.
“This is a good thing. You deserve to be happy, honey.”
She was going out on her very first date since getting out of an abusive relationship that had spanned over a decade. After being physically and mentally beaten down for so many years, it was a wonder she had the courage to try again. Fortunately, she was unbelievably strong.
“I know. It’s just hard,” she said as we started out the door of the room where the group was held and down the hall toward the glass doors leading out to the parking lot. “What if…?” She swallowed thickly. “What if I’m not good enough?”
“Hey now. Stop that,” I ordered, grabbing hold of her shoulders and turning her to me. “You are good enough. Never ever doubt that. You have nothing to prove to this guy. He asked you out because he liked what he saw. And honey, everything there is to see about you is all good.”
She gave me a shy smile. “You’re just saying that ’cause you’re my friend.”
“No,” I stated firmly. “I’m your friend because everything about you is good. Just remember one thing when this guy picks you up tonight. He’s the lucky one because you said yes, babe. You’re the prize here, Kate.”
Leaning in, she pulled me into a tight hug. “You’re the best, you know that?”
I returned her embrace and pulled back. “You are who you’re friends with.”
“All right. Well I guess I better get going. I have a date to get ready for.”
“Shit,” I hissed, looking from the darkness outside to the time on my cell phone. “I forgot to call Jeff.” He was going to kill me. And as soon as he was done, he’d find a way to bring me back to life so Mace could kill me a second time.
“Who’s Jeff? I thought you were seeing a guy named Mace?”
“I am. Jeff is… a friend of his. I was supposed to call him when the meeting ended.”
“No biggie,” she said with a shrug. “Can’t you just call him now?”
“Yeah. I’ll call him when I get to the car.”
Kate gave me one last hug before starting down the hall in the opposite direction, walking backward as she spoke. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Ly. See you next week?”
“Definitely. And you better be ready to fill me in on how tonight goes.”
I turned and headed out of the building toward my car as I fished my keys out of my purse. Bleeping the locks, I pulled the driver door open and climbed in, closing myself inside before going back to my phone.
Scrolling down to Jeff’s name, I hit Call and lifted it to my ear, only for every muscle in my body to seize when something cold and metallic pressed against the side of my head.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Ice slithered up my spine at the sound of Daniel’s voice coming from my back seat. I moved to turn and face him, but the metal at my temple pushed in deeper.
“Don’t move,” he hissed. “I’ve got a gun to your head right now, and I won’t hesitate to pull the goddamn trigger if you do anything stupid.”
I should have been scared. I should have been out of my mind and nearly peeing my pants in fear.
But for some odd reason I doubted I’d ever be able to explain, I wasn’t scared.
Oh no. What I was feeling wasn’t terror at all.
It was pure, unadulterated rage.
So help me god, if this asshole thought he was going to ruin one more thing for me, Mace wouldn’t get his chance to beat the holy hell out of him.
Because I was going to kill him myself.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lyla
“Daniel, you stupid son of a bitch! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Shut up!” he snapped, spittle hitting the side of my face at the same time he jammed the gun deeper into my temple. “What’d I say about doing anything stupid?”
“Jeez, Dan, you’re getting spit all over me. Knock it the hell off.”
“I said shut up! Now hang up the phone.”
Not wanting to push my luck, at least not so soon into whatever this jackass had planned, I did as he demanded and ended the call, tossing my phone into the passenger seat.
“Good to see you can still take orders,” he said snidely.
“Oh go to hell, asshole.”
He reared back and planted his foot into the back of my seat. “Shut your goddamn mouth! Now start the car. Time to get the hell outta here.”
Shoving the key into the ignition, I twisted and the engine turned over. Putting the car into Drive, I chanced a peek in the rearview mirror and noticed for the first time that Daniel looked like complete and utter shit. He looked and smelled like he hadn’t bathed in days. His hair was disheveled and in need of a cut weeks ago, and he hadn’t shaved in just as long if the p
atchy, uneven beard on his jawline was anything to go by.
“And where exactly am I supposed to be driving?”
“Uh….”
The longer I was stuck in his presence, more pissed off I was becoming. “Are you fucking kidding me? You don’t know where we’re going? Did you think this attempted kidnapping out at all?”
“It’s not a kidnapping!” he barked. “You can’t kidnap your wife. I’m simply taking back what’s mine.”
“Jesus Christ,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. “You really don’t have the simplest concept of the law, do you? Clue in, genius. I’m not your wife, and haven’t been since I got smart enough to scrape your ass off. It also stands to be said that when you stow away in someone’s back seat, put a gun to their head, and order them to go somewhere they don’t want to go, that’s the very definition of kidnapping, no matter who it is.”
“You pushed me to this extreme. I told you I wasn’t gonna let you go, and you just had to rub it in my face. Now drive. I won’t tell you again.”
I backed out of my spot and started through the parking lot when he commanded, “Take a left out of the lot. Then stay straight until I tell you otherwise.”
I did just that, mindful to keep my attention split between the road and his reflection in the mirror.
“Out of curiosity, what was it you think I rubbed in your face?” I asked a minute later.
“You know exactly what you did,” he grunted. “Take a left here.”
I turned the wheel and continued my line of questioning, thinking that if I could keep his mind occupied, I could somehow get the drop on him. I didn’t have the first clue what I was going to do, but whatever it was would require drastic measures, so as I drove, I slowly and carefully pulled my seat belt across my chest and slipped the buckle into place.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked.”
Ravage (Civil Corruption Book 4) Page 22
