by T K Barber
Hell no he couldn’t.
“Hey hey, okay.” He gave her a gentle kiss. “Look at me, Anna. I’m right here. I ain’t going anywhere, okay?” She blinked at him, and her eyes refocused. “I’ll stay right here.” Her breathing slowed and she nodded, moving his hands with the short, rapid motion.
He smirked. “Well. I mean, eventually I’ll have to go to the bathroom, so not right here.”
She let out a short laugh, and sucked in a stuttering breath, nodding again.
He pulled her forward and wrapped his arms around her head, hugging her tight. “I promise. If I don’t have to leave you, I won’t.” He leaned back and caught her gaze. “Ever.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Man, making her do that was such a rush.
She lifted on her toes, brushed her lips against his, and whispered “Ever?”
His pulse quickened. Damnit. The one day he didn’t have the ring with him. Talk about a perfect moment.
He grinned and snagged her bottom lip in his teeth. He swiped his tongue across it, and nearly melted when her breath rushed out.
“Ever.” He kissed her and stood up straight. “Come on.” Twining their fingers, he pulled her into the living room.
She sniffled behind him, and he grinned. She was still so strong. Hell, stronger now.
He turned and put his hands on her shoulders, gesturing to the couch with his head. “Wanna just sit and chat?”
Her brows lifted and a grin spread on her mouth, followed by that sexy as hell blush. For anyone else, a normal conversation was nothing. Tuesday. Over the phone. Rushed, ignored. To them . . .
She twisted her mouth to the side, chewing at the corner of her smile, and stepped against him. “Not really.”
“No?” Huh. He’d been looking forward to that.
Her eyes widened. “I mean, yes. God yes. I want that and grocery shopping and take out and TV in pajamas. All that. Just . . .” She dropped her gaze as she picked at one of his buttons. “Not right now.”
He clenched his back teeth as a wave crashed over him. That blush crept up on her cheeks, deeper, and he shot a look down to her trembling hand.
“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “That’s uh. Now? You sure? That’s a big, ya know, decision. Or whatever.”
She giggled and nodded, making it really damn hard to keep the brakes on. “I’m sure. I know it’s not a helicopter, but my bed’s pretty soft.”
He released her shoulders and dragged one hand down his face, failing to wipe off the dumb grin.
“Can’t believe you remember that,” he chuckled.
She nodded, biting her lip, and he rubbed his neck while blowing out a puff of air. “So . . . Okay then.”
She let the button go and chewed her thumbnail. “You’re okay with it?” Her hand dropped and she grabbed the button again. “Want to, I mean?”
He laughed. “Hell yeah I want to, are you kiddin’ me? I’ve only thought about it every single day since I laid eyes on you.”
Her grin was dazzling, full of joy, and it stalled his heart. “Really?”
Even more heat raced through his body as he wound his arms around her and pulled her tight to him.
“Really.” Her eyes widened, and he smirked as he ducked to whisper in her ear. “In case ya couldn’t tell.”
She shot out a short laugh and nodded. “No, there’s, yes. I can. Be a bit hard to miss—” she swallowed. “—that.”
He laughed and dropped his forehead to her shoulder. “Anna, my Anna.”
Oh, wait.
He popped his head up and found her eyes. “Hey but you’re still, I mean you,” he laughed and let her go, covering his face. “This is crazy,” he mumbled into his palms. “Like.” He dragged his hands down and glanced at the ceiling, then back at her. “You know what to do, right?”
Annalise laughed and put her hand on her cheek. “Yeah. Despite what people think I’m not a total noob. I’ve just not gone all the way. I’ve, you know, done stuff.”
Thomas’s nostrils flared. As dumb as it was, that made him jealous. Seriously jealous. The thought of anyone ever having touched her made him want to hunt them all down.
He quirked a brow. “Stuff.”
“Yeah.” Her bottom lip locked under her teeth for a second then she shook the hair off her shoulder. “Stuff. Like, oral.”
His eyes bugged, and he laughed into his hands again. “Holy shit, Anna!” His stomach muscles ached, and he sat down hard on the couch, arm wrapped around his waist.
Of all the things he never expected her to say, that was right up there.
She crossed her arms and laughed with him as he wiped at his eyes. Then she sucked in a quick breath and dropped down beside him with a massive grin.
“Thomas! Are you blushing?”
His laugh died down, and he shook his head. “NO, I ain’t blushing! You’re blushing!” He looked back over his shoulder and rubbed his cheek.
Anna’s loud laugh made his stomach flutter, and he turned back to face her. How did she manage to get more and more beautiful?
“Come ‘ere, gorgeous.”
He tugged on her upper arm until she straddled him, then gazed up into her drop-dead gorgeous face with her toasted-beige skin, melted milk chocolate eyes, high cheekbones, and sexy as hell dimples that peeked out when he was extra funny. He knew for a fact every bone in his body was going to melt. His stomach spun. That was a sight he could totally get used to. Like, daily.
“What about you?”
He blinked. Had he missed something? He dropped another glance down and found her hands fiddling with that same button again. He swallowed.
“Whatcha mean, what about me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you, you know?”
He frowned, then scrunched his nose. “Nah. Well, not technically. But it ain’t like you’re thinking. I didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
She shifted her weight and leaned back a little, look harder at him.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas stretched his neck and frowned again. This wasn’t how he saw this going down right then.
He sighed and pressed his back against the couch cushion.
“It means,” he chewed his lip. “That pop decided it was time I became a man at the ripe old age of seventeen an’ set me up with a, well. You can guess.”
Annalise tilted her head and squinted. Then her eyes bugged. “A HOOKER? We have those here?”
Thomas winced, and laughed, followed by another sigh as he nodded.
“After that . . .” he shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t have much use for cold, empty, point and click type shit. Then he went outta his way to keep me so busy I barely had time to breathe, let alone date.” He smiled and squeezed her thighs. “Worked out perfect, I think. ‘Cause even if I was with someone, I’d have had to break her heart when I laid eyes on you.”
She glanced out toward the kitchen as she smiled and tucked a section of hair behind her ear. Her cheeks flushed with his favorite shade of pink, and he shook his head. What had he done to be this lucky?
“Hey. Anna.”
She turned back to face him and tilted her ear to her shoulder with a sweet smile. “I love you, too.”
His heart stuttered. How did she—
He stared at her for a second before he remembered to blink. His eyes traveled a slow path down to her mouth, which smiled wider. They traveled down her neck, where here pulse thrummed. Down her chest, rising and falling with her rapid breaths. Then to her stomach, hidden under that damn sweatshirt. Then her hips, and finally to her legs in those tight jeans, one on either side of his.
There was a goddess draped over him, and she didn’t even know it.
He swallowed down a knot and eased his hands further up her thighs, his thumbs trailing along the inner seam of her jeans. She sucked in a breath, and his lower stomach swirled.
There’d be
no way he’d live through this.
He dragged his gaze back up her body to her face and her parted lips.
He shifted his hands to the top of her thighs and skimmed upward, paused at her hips, then slid under the hem of her sweatshirt, eyes trained on hers the whole time.
The slightest sign she was checked out it was all over. There was no way in hell he’d do anything she wasn’t ready for.
She lifted her brows and smirked, leaning back a little further. “What? Don’t like a girl in a frumpy sweatshirt?”
Thomas barked a laugh but lost all ability to talk when she pulled it up over her head and chucked it to the other side of the couch.
How did she even get this shirt on? It was so tight he could count her damn ribs. Not that he was complaining. Because he wasn’t. But . . . she really did need to eat more. Thank God he could take care of her now.
And for the love of all that was holy, that fucking spectacular chest . . . his mouth dried. He knew she wasn’t huge, thankfully. Too big wasn’t really his thing. God, and like he could have forgotten that ripped open shirt.
His stomach turned a little at the memory until she shifted on him and snapped his attention back to her, back to the present.
He swallowed. Seeing them front and center, begging for attention was almost more than he could stand.
She leaned forward and braced on him.
All he wanted to do was touch every inch of her skin. The muscles in his fingers twitched, and he let his hands wander up her sides. Her eyes glazed under a slow blink, and he curled his fingers around her waist.
The second the last fingertip made contact she sucked in a fast breath and slapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh!”
“Jesus, Anna!” He clutched his chest and laughed. “You tryna give me a heart attack?”
She giggled and hopped off his lap.
“Uh,” she rubbed the back of her head with her face scrunched, then blew out a breath. “Wait.” She threw up the first finger on each hand and gestured to him. “Right there.”
She scooted past his knees and disappeared around the corner. Thomas blew out a long slow breath and shook his head to the ceiling.
There was no reason to freak out. He blinked and remembered the gun tucked in the small of his back. Shit. Would she freak out if she saw that? He snatched it out and shoved it under the pink zebra pillow to his left. Then swallowed and dropped his forehead to his palms.
No reason to panic. Another slow breath in and out and he winced. This was Anna. And she said she loved him, and that had to mean no matter what. Scars or no, right? Maybe he could talk her into leaving his shirt on. He snorted.
“What’s so funny?”
Her voice floated right above him. He jerked his hands down and rested them on his knees, eyes slowly widening as he took in the three different colored foil packages fanned out in her hand. Heat crawled up his torso, and he stretched his neck.
At least her brain had still been working.
She cleared her throat and thrust the condoms out to him. “SO, before you ask. No, I didn’t just have a stockpile. To be honest, I was ready to never do that.” She shrugged. “Since it wouldn’t have been with you. So.”
Thomas rubbed one hand down his face and held out the other. His body, mind, and heart were all tangled up. She was really going to just not have sex? She had wanted to be with him that bad?
“I wasn’t thinkin’ that. And now I can’t think of anything other than how fuckin’ hot you are and how much I love you. But where’d they come from then?”
“Well,” she drew out the word and dropped them on his palm one after the other. “I found them. In the medicine cabinet. Just never got around to chunking them.”
Huh. He picked up the blue one and turned it over, on the hunt for magic numbers. He smiled. Not expired.
She dropped down on the couch beside him and leaned in as well. “I don’t think they’ve been here all that long. Can they go bad?”
“Yeah, gorgeous.” He glanced at her profile, right next to his face, and the car chase in his stomach started up again. “They can. But we’re good.”
She turned her face up to his, her eyes shining, and smiled. “Good.”
Ryker
Ryker loosened his tie with a sharp jerk as he stalked through the parking lot.
He was drained. Back to back therapy sessions, Olivia’s exhausting breakdown, and Nataly.
He stilled with his hand on the door handle to his Aston Martin and exhaled.
Nataly was a category of crackers all her own. What did Gavin even see in her? Ryker wiped at a spot on the shiny red paint. She wasn’t smart. He tugged the door open and dropped down on the plush seat with a hefty sigh. She’d never be able to function in society.
He smirked as he glanced out at the dim asphalt and cranked the car. Especially not now. She had nothing to offer.
Well, nothing other than her fantastic little body. And that cute birthmark on the inside of her left thigh.
The strip of imported silk slipped out from under his collar and landed on the passenger seat in a puddle.
If Lyle was going to call him for an impromptu meeting this late in the evening, he could deal with ‘Ryker sans tie.’ A meeting which would go completely different than that smug lawyer planned, thanks to the info he’d dragged from that tiny blond nut case.
He checked his pocket for the requested drug one more time and smiled. Pretty sure he knew why daddy dearest wanted it, and it wasn’t to bake a cake. Good thing there weren’t any morals riding shotgun on this trip. Or ever.
He flipped the visor down and leaned up to check his eyes in the mirror. Not too red, at least.
After a quick smooth ride uptown, he eased his prized possession into the middle of two spaces and hopped out. The back lot of the law firm was empty but better safe than sorry.
Lawyer. He snorted. Perfect cover really.
He snatched the rear door open and was greeted by the trilling warning beep of a security alarm, which promptly ceased. Lyle must have stopped it. Ryker traveled the length of the lower hallway, ascending the steps to the main floor.
Empty and silent. Obviously, The Wolf himself wouldn’t greet him at the door.
Several echoing steps across the freshly polished marble brought him around the receptionist’s desk. He swallowed as he rested his hand on the excessively large, carved door handle to Lyle’s office.
Confrontation. Still not his thing.
Shoulders rolled back, chin lifted, he shoved through.
“Mr. Hunt. Have a seat.”
No attempt at niceties. Interesting. Lyle’s scowl was almost tangible.
Ryker strolled up to the ornate desk and plopped the pill bottle down on the glass-covered wood. “Wish I could be there to see it work.”
After a deep breath in, Lyle’s face relaxed, and he smiled. Only his smile always somehow managed to look like anything but.
“You’ll be the first to hear about its success, of that you can be sure.” He picked up the bottle and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. “How are things at the center?”
“You mean how is Nataly?” Ryker arched a brow and leaned back in the chair. “Oh, she’s fabulous.” No sense in dragging this out, he was too tired. “She’s chock full of information.”
Lyle’s smile/sneer fell, though the rest of him stayed frozen. Ryker smiled. God, that shift was such a satisfying thing to witness. That slight transfer of power.
He linked his fingers and rested them on his stomach. “Is that why you called me here? To ask about the daughter you never visit? Or call? Or even acknowledge is alive?”
Lyle’s throat bobbed, and he reaffixed his smile. “Since you seem set on jumping to the meat of the meeting: Yes. In a sense.” He picked up a wooden pen from his desk and spun it in his fingers as he spoke. “I learned that you extended trials to her. Despite,” he sneered. “My ordering you not to.”
&n
bsp; He placed the pen back down with a deliberate, slow motion, and even though Ryker knew he had the upper hand, Lyle was still a scary dude. But how did he find out?
Ryker tightened his hands and tensed his spine. “It was—”
“Stupid. Reckless. Not part of our agreement. Which,” Lyle shrugged. “Is now null and void.”
Ryker’s eyes widened. Shit. He wasn’t too late, was he? No, he wouldn’t have bothered calling him here if that was the case.
He let out a sigh and shook his head. “I don’t think so. See, Nataly’s cotton candy brain managed to hang on to something you really want to keep hidden.” Ryker leaned up and grabbed the same pen, only he tucked it in his breast pocket. “In fact, it’s the reason you sent her away in the first place.”
Lyle’s nostrils flared and he leaned up in his seat. “This is why you tested on her? Just to get to me?”
Ryker shrugged. “Basically, yes.” He gestured to Lyle’s jacket. “And don’t hop on the high horse. We’re not that different.”
“We, Mr. Hunt, are incredibly different.” He sat back against the seat and gazed past Ryker. “I don’t do this for fun. This is necessary.” His voice rose. “All of it. Everything. Every fucking move I’ve made for the last—” He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. “We are not the same.”
Ryker smiled. Maybe the crazy wasn’t just from mommy. That would certainly explain things. “Okay fine. Not the same. Even so, you’re not only going to keep our agreement, you’re going to amend it. You’re going to send me another hundred K a month.”
“Is that so?” Tall and outmatched leaned further back in his chair and folded his arms. “You think the information you claim to have is worth that? I presume you’re not going to share it?”
Ryker snorted. “That would be a big old negative.”
“Then there really isn’t anything else to discuss. Without some proof of—”
“Fifteen years ago.” Lyle’s jaw clamped shut, and Ryker’s brows lifted in silent victory. “It was a cloudless, dry night. Perfect for a fire. Perfect for—”
