Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Jenna
I woke up clinging to Liam like a baby spider monkey, his butt and thighs wedged into my curves, my arm wrapped around his waist, and my heart and body doing crazy things.
My heart was so full and vibrant, like a kaleidoscope bursting with happiness.
That might sound crazy, but it was true. I really was that happy.
I felt warm and soft and squishy, completely content with Liam in my bed. In my arms.
I was amazed I’d slept so soundly with him that I’d barely stirred all night except, apparently, to get closer to him.
I was awed and excited that we’d had great sex last night. No, not great sex. Earth-shattering, mountain-moving, life-changing sex.
I was head-over-heels in love with this big, tough alpha-male who’d let me be the one to hold him all night when I knew it went against his every instinct, but he’d done it for me.
And my body…every nerve felt alive. I ran my hand over Liam’s abs, exploring the ridges of his six-pack. His skin was soft, and his muscles were hard, and touching him made me feel electrified. His butt against my crotch did too.
“Good morning, Firefly.” His raspy morning voice was the second sexiest thing I’d ever heard. Nothing could compare to him crying out my name.
“Good morning.”
“Can I turn over to see your beautiful face?”
“Of course.”
“My cock is hard. Really hard,” he warned.
“It’s okay.”
He rolled to face me, his bent knees putting unnecessary space between us as his hand came up to smooth my hair back. “How do you feel?”
“Wonderful,” I said simply, hoping my smile said everything I couldn’t put into words.
His lips brushed mine, and it was like he’d lit a spark…
that electric hum now buzzing and crackling.
I slid my leg between his, erasing the space he’d left, and I rolled my hips, groaning at the feel of his cock against me, at the surge of power that zipped through me as it grew even bigger and harder at my touch.
His hands skimmed over my chest, and I moaned, desperate for more.
I leaned over him, trying to catch a glimpse of the clock. If we hurried, we could have sex again before we had to go to work, right?
Crap, the reminder of work doused that fire.
If we did this now, it would take up all our time before we had to go, and it would be days before we were together again.
After last night, I didn’t feel right leaving a secret lingering between us.
I had to tell him about Snake Eyes. I was dumb for not telling him already, and I knew he’d be mad I waited so long
“Wait.” I pushed off his chest and leaned up. “I have to tell you something.”
“What’s wrong?” Liam sat up and took my hand, tender concern in his eyes.
How should I start? And how could I keep him from freaking out?
“Is it about last night?”
“No! Last night was perfect. This isn’t about you at all. There’s this guy…”
His eyes hardened before his expression turned blank.
Oh boy, that was not the right way to start. “No! Not like that,” I hurried to say. “You’re the only one I like at all. This guy...I’ve just seen him around a lot lately and he kind of…worries me.”
Every muscle in his body tensed. “Who? What did he do to you?”
Thor whined and crawled up from the foot of the bed where he’d begrudgingly slept, and I pet him with my free hand. “It’s probably nothing. He hasn’t actually done anything. He just gives me a weird vibe.”
“Who is he?” Liam asked tightly.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know if the person I think is him is always him.”
“Start from the beginning and tell me everything.”
I told him about the times I saw Snake Eyes in the library and the parking lot, the times I didn’t see him but felt like he was there, and the times I saw someone who could have been him but also may have just been a coincidence or paranoia.
As I spoke, Liam transformed before my eyes. The sweet, gentle boyfriend who shared my bed last night was gone, replaced by a fierce soldier. “Do you have any idea who he could be? Anywhere else you’ve seen him?”
“I don’t know...maybe. It’s far-fetched.”
“Tell me,” he demanded.
I told him about the man in the park and how they’d said, Pardon me, similarly.
Liam muttered a string of curses, his jaw clenched so tight the force of it echoed in my own chest.
“Please don’t be mad. I know I should have told you sooner, but nothing has been definite, or even that threatening. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing.”
He yanked me into his chest, his heavy exhale ruffling my hair. “I’m not mad, Firefly. I’m scared. Tell me more about how he looks.”
A shiver knifed down my spine. Liam was scared? I clung to him and squeezed my eyes shut as if that could block out the image of those soulless eyes.
“His eyes are dark, almost black, and they’re small and beady, and even from under his hood or hat, they’re piercing.
His smile is thin and flat and sinister, like he only smiles at someone else’s pain.
I’ve never seen his whole face clearly, so I don’t really know.
But even with that, he looks scary. And because I don’t know who he is, anyone I see in a hood or a hat, I’m scared it’s him.
And that’s a lot of people, so I’ve been scared a lot. ”
By the end, my words rushed out, breathless and shaky.
Liam rubbed slow circles on my back, trying to soothe me, but all I could feel was the fear thrumming through him, mingling with mine, our pounding hearts racing each other.
“Shhh, Firefly. I’ll keep you safe.” The words were right, but his voice was so tense, so wrong.
I’d known he’d be upset, but not like this.
There was only one explanation for his reaction, and it made my blood turn to ice.
“You don’t think I’m imagining it,” I squeaked out.
“No.”
Oh God. My stomach plunged, the cold spreading inside me. “What if I am, and we make a whole big thing about it, and it’s nothing? What if he’s just a nice guy with a creepy face who likes to read at the library?”
“Then he’ll find somewhere else to read. Tell me more about how he looks. His size, hair, the hat he wears, everything.”
“He’s white. Average size. I haven’t seen his hair, so I guess it’s short enough to be under the hood or hat. The hat is gray and worn-looking with a white outline of a house.”
He gasped, his arms tightening in a sharp, startled jerk. “Motherfucker,” he exhaled slowly. “You should have told me sooner!”
“I’m s—”
He crushed me to him. “No, I’m sorry, Firefly. I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice sounded tortured.
“It’s okay, you’ve already been protecting me. And you didn’t even know.”
“I did. I knew it. I fucking knew it, and I didn’t do anything. I’m so fucking sorry.”
My heart thrashed. Liam wasn’t freaking out over nothing. I might have been, but he wasn’t. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”
Liam buried his face in my neck. “You should have told me. I should have known.”
“Liam, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
He set me back and reached for his phone on the nightstand. “I need to call Quint.”
I grabbed his arm. “No! Talk to me first.”
He got up and paced to the door and back, and back again. “The day we walked Thor in the park, the day of Dylan’s party…I saw someone.”
The air in the room thickened and time slowed, the words he hadn’t yet said hanging heavy between us. “S-Snake Eyes?”
“Maybe,” he admitted, like it pained him to say it. “He was on a bench by the parking lot. He was hiding his face, but he was wearing a worn gray hat with a white line drawing. I couldn’t make it out, but it could have been a house.”
I clambered off the bed, panic clawing at my insides. “What does that mean? Does that mean it was him? Snake Eyes—he raped that girl?” Oh God, I didn’t want to think about what that meant. If he raped her...
“I don’t know.”
“You do! You think he raped her. And then he followed me. Why didn’t you tell me?” I shouldn’t have been yelling, not at Liam, but I couldn’t help it.
“If you told me…”
“I didn’t know it was anything! You saw the rapist! You saw him and didn’t tell me!”
Liam reached for me, but stopped, his hands hovering mid-air. “I’m sorry, Firefly. He could have—I’m so sorry.” He looked devastated. And afraid to touch me.
No. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was supposed to tell him, and he’d freak out and promise to protect me, and I’d tell him it was nothing, but I’d take his protection, and then it would all be okay.
He wasn’t supposed to tell me it was a million times worse than I thought. We weren’t supposed to be blaming each other. And he wasn’t supposed to be standing there afraid to touch me. Like I’d fall apart. Or rip his head off.
I took his hands and wrapped them around my waist. He hesitated for a heartbeat before pulling me in, his arms locking tight, and I held him just as tightly, my head on his chest.
“I’m sorry, Firefly,” he breathed into my hair.
“Stop saying that. Just tell me everything.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, Thor’s head on my lap, and listened in shock. I’d wondered why he’d been in such a rush to leave after Dylan’s party. I never imagined it was because he had information about the rapist.
“I could’ve prevented her rape. Could’ve kept you from danger. And you’re still in danger until we find him. I’m s—"
“Do not apologize again. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known. At least you saw him. I’d seen him before, and I didn’t even notice. Maybe it can still help.”
“I need to call Quint, and we need to figure out a plan to keep you safe.” Liam sat and tucked me against his side. “I will keep you safe, I promise.”
“I know you will.” Probably. Hopefully.
“After we talk to Quint, we need to talk about how badly we fucked this up by hiding it from each other.”
I nodded, my cheek rubbing against his chest. “Do you think…did he see us by the lake?”
His arm tightened around me. “I don’t think so. I looked around to make sure we were alone, and when we got to the car, he was already sitting on the bench.”