• Nine •
“You don’t like the color?”
Briar
He’d taken my car. I paced back and forth on the front porch as I berated myself for being so stupid.
I had said I was going to go get my job at Highwater back, and I’d let him distract me with sex.
He had been charming and entertaining over dinner. Dovie laughed and enjoyed the conversation. She’d been teaching him some sign language, and he was catching on slowly, but his trying meant a lot to both of us. It was so hard to remember what I was frustrated with him about when he did things like that.
I knew Nailyah showing up and taking Dovie for a sleepover had been instigated by him. They barely made it out of the driveway when he started unbuttoning my shorts. We’d had sex in several places, the stairs included, before I passed out in bed.
He was controlling me with sex and sweet actions. Unfortunately, I was helpless against it.
I should have known he’d take my car. Why hadn’t I considered it?
Letting out a furious growl, I walked over to the railing and gripped it tightly as I looked out over the front yard. It was freaking beautiful. Lush, green, and just straight-out-of-a-movie stunning. I loved it. But right now, I was pissed the hell off. He had planned this.
“Stupid, stupid,” I spit out.
I was so stupid. He made me stupid. My ass also hurt like a bitch too. As hot as that had been yesterday, it wasn’t pleasant at the moment and only making me angrier. I acted like some crazy hussy and stuck my ass right on up there for him to whip with his belt. Now, sitting down was uncomfortable. I deserved it. Maybe next time, I’d think about this when he wanted to start taking a belt to me.
I sighed, closing my eyes. I was a lost cause. I already knew I’d bend over and allow it again. Was it because I was broken inside? Something had to be wrong with me for me to enjoy that. It wasn’t normal. But then, when had I ever been normal?
The sound of a car had me snapping my eyes open, and I straightened as a shiny red Mercedes G-Wagon drove toward the house. Who was that? I glanced back at the house, unsure if I should wait and see or go get my gun. When it came to a stop, I squinted, trying to see who was inside, but the tinted windows and the glare from the sun made it impossible. Stepping back to the door, I decided I needed my gun and phone. I didn’t know this person, and just because that was an expensive vehicle did not mean they were … family.
Turning, I opened the front door to hurry inside.
“Briar!” Storm’s voice stopped me, and I spun back around as he was stepping out of the driver’s door.
Placing my hand on my hip, I glared at him. “Where is my car?” I demanded angrily. “I should have known you’d take it!” Then, I looked at the G-Wagon. “And whose is that?”
It was really freaking pretty, but it did not look like something Storm would drive. Maybe if it was black or silver, but not red. He had better not be driving some other woman’s car.
He sauntered toward me as he placed his cowboy hat, which had been in his hand, back on his head. I didn’t care how damn sexy he was. He had left me in bed and taken my car! Just because I fucked him like my life depended on it didn’t mean I’d agreed not to pay Bash back.
He climbed the stairs two at a time, grinning at me as he got closer. “Your car was a piece of shit,” he said.
I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when he cupped the side of my face.
His honey-colored eyes looked down at me like I was his favorite treat. “How’s that pretty ass today?” he asked. “Sore?”
That snapped me out of my Storm haze that seemed to come over me too often and too easy.
“YES!” I snapped. “I can’t sit down. And where is my car?”
I placed my hands flat on his chest and tried to shove him back, but it did nothing. He didn’t even budge. His pecs flexed under my palms, and my scowl deepened. Damn him.
“I’ll kiss it and make it better. You can lie across my lap and let me oil it up nice and easy.”
My stomach fluttered, and I fisted my hands, dropping them so I wasn’t touching him. “That ain’t happening.”
He chuckled. “My girl woke up all fired up today.”
“I woke up, and you were gone, and so was my car!” I pointed out at the driveway.
He licked his bottom lip, then pulled it between his teeth as he watched me like I was entertaining. God, this man was going to drive me freaking crazy. And unfortunately I was gonna let him. I was furious with him right now, but at the same time, I wanted to curl up in his lap and stay there. I had lost it. LOST. IT.
“Baby,” he said softly, and I refused to accept that my body warmed at the sound.
I narrowed my eyes and kept my hands fisted at my sides.
“Where were you going to go?” he asked me, although I knew he already knew the answer to this question.
I rolled my eyes. “As if you don’t know. It’s why you took my freaking car.”
His eyes softened at the fact that I was being honest. Had he expected me to lie about it?
“I don’t want you to go, but if you’re determined, then take this,” he said, holding out a key fob.
I looked down at it and the silver Mercedes symbol, then back up at him.
“What is that?” I asked.
“The key to your car. It’s not a red Jeep, but those aren’t safe enough. I need you safe.”
I jerked my head back toward the luxury SUV sitting in the front yard again. “What?” I asked incredulously.
The fob was pressed into my palm as Storm moved up behind me. “It’s the safest thing I could think of that was similar enough to your red Jeep that you had to trade in.”
I shook my head. “I heard that. It’s not what I mean. THAT is not my car.”
Storm’s fingers caressed the side of my neck as he pulled my hair back over my shoulder. “You’ll find that the title says it is in fact yours.”
I sucked in a breath as I stared at the vehicle. He’d bought me a … a … G-Wagon? Why? I’d had a car!
“Take it back. I can’t take a car from you. I have a car—or had one. I do not need you to buy me a vehicle that cost what, a hundred grand?” I couldn’t even fathom that much money.
“Maybe a touch more,” he said against my ear before taking a snip at the lobe.
“Storm,” I said. “Stop it. This is serious. You are not going to distract me with sex. I am not taking that vehicle from you.”
Moving away from him, I wrapped my arms over my chest and turned to face him. I couldn’t read the look on his face, but I knew he wasn’t happy about this.
Well, join the club, buddy. I wasn’t happy either.
“You don’t like the color?”
“Storm! You know the color is not the issue. I love red cars.” I shook my head. I didn’t need to get off point. “I am not yours to keep. You called me a gold digger just a few weeks ago. And here I am, living in your fancy house and not working a job to pay my own bills. Then, you go and buy me a car that cost more than some folks’ houses.” I threw my hands out in exasperation.
He was scowling now. “Don’t throw my words in my face, Briar.”
“Are you serious? I’m pointing out facts.”
His entire body tensed. “Do you love me?”
I sighed. “Yes. That’s not a factor—”
“Did you ever love any of them?”
I shook my head. “Of course not.”
We had already done this. This was not the point.
“Did any of them tell you that you owned their goddamn soul?”
I let out a ragged sigh and shook my head again.
He took a step toward me. “Then, it’s nothing alike, is it?”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I need it to be different with you. We are different. I can’t let you pay for me. Pay for Dovie.”
He closed the space I’d put between us and pulled my arms that I’d crossed over my chest free, then laced his fingers with mine. “I take care of what is mine, and you’re mine. I need to do it, baby. I want to give you every-fucking-thing you’ve never had. I want to hand you all your dreams. Give it all to you.”
My eyes stung, and I stared up at him. “You loving me is enough. The rest isn’t required.”
He smiled and shrugged. “It is for me. I like seeing you in the best. Having the best.”
I let out a frustrated groan and turned to look back out at the pretty red vehicle. I was giving in, and I knew it. He wasn’t going to see it any other way.
“I’m scared,” I admitted, not looking at him.
He tugged me against him, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “Of what?” he asked.
“All of it.”
“What scares you?”
I closed my eyes and laid my head back against his chest. “That I won’t recover when this ends.”
His arms wrapped around me. “It’s not ever ending.”
But everything always ended. Good things didn’t come my way. They never had.