Chapter Twelve
They’d gotten Chloe home without a hitch.
When she’d run out of the opera house looking pale and distressed, Erik had wanted to follow her, but Danny Drayton had beaten him to it.
Not only that, if Savoy was watching, he didn’t want to risk giving their association away by chasing after her.
So, he let Jayla know Chloe was on the move and trusted his partner to keep an eye on her.
According to Jayla, Drayton had managed to cheer Chloe up.
Good. As for Savoy, there’d been no sign, but there was a wooded area along the left side of the opera house, plenty of cover for the bastard to hide in.
The important thing was, he hadn’t made a move.
Not surprising considering the number of people there.
He wouldn’t want to cause a scene, and the meeting had broken up soon after.
As soon as they got back to her apartment, Chloe mumbled, “I’m sorry, but I need to be alone,” and shut herself in her bedroom. Erik wanted to remind her that she didn’t need to entertain them. They might be temporarily staying in her home, but they weren’t guests.
“If you’re good for a little bit,” Erik said to Jayla. “I’m going to go grab my gear and close up my apartment.”
She nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on things here.”
Packing up didn’t take long, considering he hadn’t fully unpacked to begin with, but he made sure the place was clean for whoever needed to use it next. As he was shouldering his duffel to leave, a text came through:
Kong: Game night at your place tonight?
Game nights at Black Bay were something Kong had started.
He’d gotten the idea from his wife, Katherine.
A group of them would get together every week, rotating who hosted, and they’d play a board game or card game – the host’s choice.
It was something that, normally, Erik would’ve avoided, but he’d been attending, forcing himself to be more sociable, at least with the other Beasts, and he had to admit, those nights were fun.
But Erik was on a mission. Kong knew that, so Erik should have been taken out of the rotation until he returned. Frowning, he typed: No, and received a crying emoji in reply.
Erik huffed a laugh and shook his head. Kong.
The guy was nearly seven feet tall and packed with muscle.
He’d been created with primate DNA, primarily gorilla, and there weren’t many who could go toe-to-toe with him and hope to win unless they took him by surprise.
He could easily rip someone’s head off with his bare hands, and yet, of all the Beasts, he was the best-natured.
Happy. Outgoing. Optimistic. He’d also managed to fall in love, marry the woman of his dreams, and they were now thinking of starting a family.
Kong had managed to put his past behind him.
Other Beasts had too. Jace had found his wife, Paige, while he was out on a mission, and because of that, Lark had met Paige’s brother, Grady, and they’d fallen in love.
Erik envied them for that.
Driving back to Chloe’s place, Erik kept his eyes peeled.
He wanted to finish this with Savoy. A dream had begun to form last night as he’d sat in Chloe’s dark room, holding her hand as he listened to her breathing.
One where he found Chloe again after his face was fixed, and they’d go out for that coffee.
Then, another night, maybe dinner or a movie.
And maybe someday, if he was lucky, she’d look at him like Katherine looked at Kong.
Like Paige looked at Jace, and Lark looked at Grady.
Unfortunately, Savoy wasn’t nice enough to be standing on a street corner waiting for Erik to take him down.
When he returned, Chloe was still in her bedroom, the door firmly shut.
“All quiet?” he asked Jayla.
She nodded. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to grab some rack.”
“That’s fine.”
Jayla waved her phone. “Call me if you need me.” Then left to go to her apartment, so Erik settled on the couch with his sketch pad, the surveillance feed on the laptop within view so he could still keep an eye on things.
An hour later, when he got up to stretch and get something to eat, Chloe’s door finally opened. She looked tired, and by the redness of her eyes, it looked like she’d been crying. Erik wished there was something he could do for her, but until they found Savoy, his hands were tied.
“I was just about to grab some food,” he quietly told her. “Do you want something?”
She shook her head and mumbled, “I’m not hungry.”
With a nod of acceptance, he left her be and headed into the kitchen. Chloe’s voice followed him. “Where’s Jayla?”
“Getting some sleep in her apartment.” Would it bother her that she was alone with him right now? “I can leave, too, if you want.” He could keep an eye on things from Jayla’s apartment as easily as he could here.
“No. I’m glad you’re here.”
There was that warm feeling in his chest again, that only Chloe seemed to bring out, and he felt a smile twitch at his lips as he grabbed the Panera leftovers out of the refrigerator.
Heading back to the living room, he saw Chloe holding his sketch pad. “This is incredible,” she said, her voice laced with awe.
He’d drawn Lattimer Wilkes. Not as he’d been today at the meeting, but how he’d looked the day Erik had met him. With an impish twinkle in his eyes and roses in his cheeks.
“Will you teach me?”
Leaving his food on the coffee table, he went over to his duffel and pulled out a new sketch pad as well as an assortment of pencils for her. Offering them to her, he frowned in confusion as her eyes immediately welled with tears. Did he do something wrong?
Swiping at her eyes, Chloe sniffled. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” She hadn’t done anything she needed to apologize for.
She sniffled again. “I can’t seem to stop crying.”
“Then cry. And when you’re ready, we’ll draw.”
With a choked sob, she was suddenly against him, her arms wrapped around his waist and her head against his shoulder. Dropping the sketch pad and pencils, Erik hesitantly put his arms around her, and when she didn’t balk, held her more firmly.
“Thank you,” she uttered, as her tears dampened his T-shirt. “I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”
“You’re a survivor, Chloe. Don’t for one second believe any different.”
Rising on her toes, she shocked the hell out of Erik when he felt her lips caressing the line of his jaw.
His cock responded immediately, growing painfully hard until he almost groaned.
For a moment, a heartbeat in time, he sank into the pleasurable sensation of her mouth on his skin, wondering if he’d fallen asleep and this was all some sort of beautiful dream.
His name was a whisper of warm breath against his neck, and he suddenly stiffened as he recalled himself and stepped back. His voice was harsh, choked, as he said, “Stop.”
Before Chloe ducked her head, he caught her expression and could have sworn she looked almost disappointed – but that couldn’t be right. She couldn’t have wanted to kiss him of all people. Her emotions were running high, that’s all, and he didn’t want her to think back on this later with regret.
“Right,” she said, nodding. “You’re with Jayla.”
With Jayla? Whoa. Somewhere along the lines, Chloe had gotten a way wrong idea about them. “Jayla and I grew up together. She’s a sister to me.”
“A sister?”
Was that hope in her eyes? No, he had to be misreading her.
“Then why…?” She frowned as she cut off that question, staring down at her sock feet. Suddenly, she nodded again, as if she’d figured out the answer. “Oh. I forgot. I’m your job.”
The hint of bitterness in her tone had him reaching for her before he could stop himself. “You’re not just a job to me, Chloe.”
She looked up at him with meltingly soft eyes and stepped a bit closer. “I’m not?”
“You’re not.”
She leaned toward him, looking for all the world like she wanted to kiss him again, so he quickly reminded her, “I’m ugly.”
Her eyes met his, and softly, so softly, she told him, “Not to me, you aren’t.”
His heart wrenched painfully as an unfamiliar burning sensation prickled behind his eyes.
Almost like he might cry. He hadn’t cried since he was a baby, yet he could feel it, the moisture building on his lower lashes.
He dropped his head and stared hard at the floor. He wanted to believe her so badly, but…
His voice was gruff, choked, as he said, “My scars…”
A gentle hand cupped his scarred cheek, and he couldn’t help but flinch.
“These are the mark of a warrior,” she told him almost reverently. “A badge of strength. You called me a survivor, but Erik, you’re a survivor too.”
A tear dripped from his lashes when he blinked and landed on the toe of his boot, but he didn’t see it, too lost in his thoughts. Did he dare to believe her?
There was gentle pressure on his face as Chloe murmured, “Look at me.”
Raising his head, he did as she commanded, and she offered him a soft smile as her fingers stroked over the ridges and grooves of his scars. “To me, you’re beautiful.”
He could see it reflected in her hazel eyes. She meant what she said, and now…
Stepping back with a fierce frown as too many emotions collided inside of him, he broke their connection to shake his head. “I don’t know what to do with that.”
Chloe grabbed for his hand, and he let her take it. “You don’t need to do anything with it right now. If you want, we can draw.”
“I’d rather kiss you.”
Her smile was a thing of beauty as she tugged lightly on his hand. “Then kiss me.”
Erik didn’t have to be told twice. Pulling her into his arms, his mouth met hers as her arms wrapped around his neck.
His hunger for her was a beast inside of him that he kept tightly leashed.
Chloe had given him a gift today that he never thought he’d receive.
He wouldn’t spoil this moment by overwhelming her with his need.
Carefully, paying attention to her responses in case she wanted him to stop, his hands stroked over her back above her sweatshirt before sinking into the silky-soft mass of her hair.
Chloe moaned against his mouth as she stepped closer to him, fitting her body tightly to his.
Erik wanted to growl. His cock was so hard it was like he had an iron rod trapped in his pants.
He wanted to free it, ease the pressure, but he knew he couldn’t.
That would be too far, too fast. This had to be a careful dance because he refused to risk scaring her away.
Her tongue licked at his lips, and without thought, he opened his mouth to her, allowing her in. Too late, he realized his mistake as Chloe’s tongue encountered one of his fangs, and she stiffened slightly in his arms before she broke their kiss.
“What…?” She looked at him in confusion, and Erik wanted to rage at the unfairness of it all. He’d messed up, and now, like every beautiful dream he’d ever had, it was time to wake up.