Chapter 8
Eight
Kayden
Dani peers up at me with her big doe eyes and I’m instantly transfixed within their emerald depths. “No, I guess not. These are my favorite heels. Well, my only heels really,” she stammers, blushing under my gaze.
“It’s the least I can do,” I reply, keeping my hand on her elbow to steady her.
I feel the slight lean she puts into my touch and the darkness within me wants nothing more than to possess her.
Own her. Rip that dress from her and lick my way over her entire body.
Before I can so much as move an inch closer to her, I’m interrupted from my thoughts.
Melody stands in front of Dani, her hands on her hips. “When were you going to tell me about the daisy, Dani? You know what happened to me. This is serious.”
Ohhh, this is going to be good.
“I don’t know, Melody. I’ve been trying to ignore it, honestly,” she says, glimpsing over at me from the corner of her eye. Melody catches her look and pegs me with a raised eyebrow.
“At least text me when you get home, so I know you made it safe and no creep is in your apartment. Please?”
“I will,” Dani responds, looking down at her feet.
“Say, Kayden. You wouldn’t mind giving Dani a ride home, would you?” Jax asks a bit sheepishly from behind me. It’s clear he’s trying to change the subject. “I swear I completely forgot Dani was with Melody and I was already in the area, otherwise I would have brought the other car.”
I turn around and narrow my eyes at Jax.
It’s very unlike him to forget something like this.
I see the nervous tells that Melody lets slip, the fidgeting and wringing of her hands.
I know my sister-in-law pretty well, and the more the wheels in my brain turn, the more I’m thinking this was orchestrated by Melody herself.
Giving a pointed look at Melody and Jax, I turn around and peer down at Dani.
“I wouldn’t mind at all, if that’s what you want.
I can get one of my drivers from the club to give you a ride home, too.
They could even do a sweep of your apartment if it would make you feel better.
Whichever you prefer.” My club employs numerous drivers, all with in-depth background checks to give our VIP guests rides home if needed.
While I did the gentlemanly thing and offered her a choice, I’m selfishly hoping she’ll have me give her the ride home.
Dani looks down, chewing her lip while debating my offer. “I don’t want to bother you… a driver would be great.”
Before I can let my disappointment show, I school my features and turn around back to Melody and Jax.
They aren’t as quick to hide their own disappointment, however, and I make a point to raise my eyebrow at them.
They both look away nonchalantly and say their goodbyes to Dani before getting into the Lamborghini.
Once Melody and Jax leave, I turn toward Dani, looking her up and down appreciatively.
“You, Dani, could never be a bother,” I say, peering into her eyes, daring her to change her mind.
Her eyes widen a fraction and she bites her lip in a way that has my cock straining against my slacks.
There’s tension between the two of us, as hot as a live wire, but eventually she breaks my stare.
Dammit. Admitting defeat, I take out my phone and send a quick text to my driver to meet me out front.
Part of me was hoping Dani would have wanted me to drive her home, and the other part of me says it’s probably for the best. Who the hell knows what I would have done otherwise.
Plus, now I’m free to call Franklin on my way home regarding Derek.
I didn’t think he’d become such a problem since there has been no contact between the two in weeks.
A part of me wonders if he followed her to the club or not.
The thought alone makes me want to tear him limb from limb.
Either way, he’s a chess piece that I need to take off the board.
If Franklin can dig up something bad enough on the guy, it’ll allow me to play for a bit.
Eliminate the threat to Dani while also satisfying the darkness within myself? Perfection.
Minutes later, Roger pulls up, exiting the car to hold open the rear passenger door for her.
“Just give Roger your address. He’ll make sure you get home safely,” I say to Dani, leading her over to the car with my hand hovering over her lower back.
As we stop at the car, Dani turns toward me. “Thanks, Kayden.”
She looks like she wants to say something else, but instead she bites her lip, toying with her lip ring before turning and lowering herself into the vehicle.
Thanking Roger, I take a few steps back from the curb, watching as he enters the vehicle and pulls away into the night.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, my mind thinks back to the issue at hand—Derek. He’s a problem that needs to be dealt with.
As the club shuts down for the night, I make my way up to my office to give Franklin a ring.
There’s a chance he won’t answer at this hour, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
The sooner we can get more info on Derek, the better.
Not only that, but I want cameras outside Dani’s apartment building and the diner now.
I’m not taking any chances with my little spitfire.
When I said she was mine, I meant it. She might not realize it yet, but she will eventually.
Once I’m off the phone with Franklin, I pull up the camera feeds at Dani’s apartment to make sure she made it home safely.
As the living room feed pulls up by default, I immediately switch to her bedroom and let loose a breath of relief when I see her cuddled up in bed, deep asleep.
Her foot hangs out from the edge of the blanket and I notice she still has her heel on. That just won’t do.
Backing out of the live feed and going through the recordings, I watch as Dani gets home and goes straight to the bathroom for her medication.
Cursing her, I stand up from my desk and stride out of my office.
Dani should know better than to mix her sleep medications with alcohol—even I remember seeing that on the side of her bottle.
The wiser choice would have been to skip the meds, but dammit all, she had to go and do this.
.. I swear the woman has no sense of self-preservation, unless…
no, I refuse to think she did it on purpose.
Quickening my steps as fear grips my heart, I make my way to the underground garage at the club. Damn this woman.
Firing up the Lambo, I floor it out into traffic. It doesn’t take me long to get to her apartment, maybe fifteen minutes, thanks to numerous traffic violations.
I make my way into her home, moving as quiet as a ghost before slipping into her room.
I immediately put my fingers over her neck to check that she has a pulse.
Satisfied that she is in fact alive, I let out a pent up breath as I run a hand through my dark hair.
Fucking hell, this woman has a grip on me.
I sneak my hand under her covers and take off her heels before dropping them to the floor.
Temptation has my hand plunging back beneath her silken sheets and over her smooth legs.
Dani stirs, letting out a contented sigh before rolling over to sleep on her side.
Pulling my hand back, I curse myself before striding over to the oversized blue plush chair in the darkest corner of her room.
Sitting down, exhaustion weighs heavily over me as the adrenaline leaves my body.
Dani is a treasure, one that I fully intend on keeping for myself. The rational side of my brain knew Dani didn’t mean to take her sleep medications with the goal of never waking up, but damn if the irrational side of my brain is loud as fuck.
Frustrated, I rub my temples thinking of the ways that Derek can be handled.
Tossing around ideas, I keep coming back to every plan that involves his blood on my hands.
I would do anything for her, including killing in her name.
I’m not the golden hero in her story, despite whatever notions she has from that living nightmare I rescued her from years ago.
Do I want to see Dani safe and unharmed?
Absolutely. But I also have twisted thoughts about marking her as mine, watching her blood drip so beautifully on the edge of my knife as I carve my initials into her flesh.
Dani makes me feel things I haven’t felt in a very long time—emotions that I all but blocked from my heart.
Some might call it love, but it’s obsessive, possessive, and all consuming.
I want to own her in every way imaginable—to put my hand around her delicate neck and feel her pulse pound with pure need.
I want her submission while also feeling the fire within her gaze.
For now, I make myself content with imagining all the delicious ways I can please her… own her.
Hours later, the sun begins to cast rays into the room and Dani begins to stir.
Knowing she is on the cusp of waking, I make my way past her sleeping form, only stopping long enough to get one last look at her.
Resisting the urge to wake her with my face between her legs, I turn and make my way out of her apartment.
My little spitfire owns every waking thought and every darkened dream. Soon, she’ll be mine—soon, she’ll find there’s no escaping me.
My wicked desires won’t allow it.