Chapter 3
Dallas
I didn’t plan this. Any of it.
I came here today, like every other day, to research the town’s archives. Sure, Arianna has consumed my thoughts ever since the first time I stepped into this library, but I’ve never let those thoughts take up permanent residence in my head.
I’m not in the market for a woman. I’ve spent the past three years keeping women at arm’s length. I could have gone the rest of my life happily single. It’s safer. It protects my heart and my wallet.
I didn’t seek this out, and it’s not a particularly welcome emotion, but Arianna is definitely mine. The sooner I accept that and she understands it, the better.
Tiago joked last week that there must be something in the water, and now I’m inclined to agree with him. I’m feeling toward Arianna the same way Tiago and Ryder feel about Reagan and Claire respectively. Possessive, greedy, jealous, and urgent.
The jig is up. I’ve been strutting in here every day because I couldn’t breathe right when I wasn’t in her presence. Watching another man— boy —flirt with her was the last straw. She needs to know she’s mine so there’s no chance she will ever again fall for the attention of another man.
I lower my gaze from her stunned, wide eyes to her full lips and continue stroking her bottom one with my thumb as I repeat myself, “You’re mine, baby.”
She’s not breathing, so I lower my hand to cup her neck and stroke the front. “Take a breath, Arianna.”
She drags in a deep lungful of air.
“Good girl.” I have a lot of questions, and it’s time for answers. “Now, tell me what you’re running from and who you were before you changed your name to Arianna Blythe when you turned eighteen seven years ago.”
My girl’s face turns pale, and her knees give out. I have to grab her hips to keep her from sliding down the wall to the floor.
I press my torso against hers to steady her before moving my hands to her biceps. She’s not looking at me anymore. In fact, her eyes are squeezed shut as though she can avoid me by not seeing me. She purses her lips. It’s cute, but it’s not going to work on me.
Even though I’ve told myself over and over that I couldn’t, shouldn’t, and wouldn’t fall for Arianna, that didn’t keep me from doing a bit of digging into her past. I figured I could be curious and concerned without actually allowing myself to care. I figured wrong, of course.
I called my PI, Jason, in Texas and had him do a bit of investigating. I was rightfully suspicious about my girl. Nothing about her seems real, starting with the bun in her hair and those horn-rimmed glasses and reaching all the way down to the pantyhose and practical, old-lady pumps she wears.
Sure enough, I now know that my girl has secrets. Lots of them. It’s not going to be easy to get her to talk, which doesn’t surprise me. But I do need to make certain she’s not in danger. “Are you hiding from someone in particular, baby?”
She swallows hard and shakes her head.
“Do I need to worry about someone coming after you?”
She shakes her head again.
I reach up and tip her chin back, forcing her to look at me, narrowing my gaze so she knows I’m dead serious. “I won’t make you talk to me this morning, but I do insist you not lie to me, Arianna. I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me the truth.”
She finally opens her mouth. “No one is looking for me.”
“Good girl. If I catch you lying to me, I will turn you over my knee and spank your naughty bottom until I’m certain you won’t do so again. Understood?”
Her pretty brown eyes widen to saucers as her jaw drops. I’m coming on fast, hard, and strong. I know it, but this is important. Her safety is my primary concern.
“The answer I want to hear is ‘Yes, Sir,’” I tell her.
She draws in oxygen through her nose.
I lift a brow, waiting while she trembles in my arms.
“Yes, Sir,” she finally whispers, her entire body shivering.
I smile. “Good girl.” I slide a hand down to the small of her back and guide her to one side so I can open the door. I don’t want to embarrass her by having someone come into the library and catch her in the archive room with the door closed.
She stands still, staring at me, dazed, a bit wobbly still.
I keep one hand on her hip. I don’t personally give a fuck if someone comes into the library and catches us in an embrace.
She’s mine. I welcome someone finding out and spreading the news like wildfire.
It will make my life easier. I wonder how much slower the library will be if every man and boy in town finds out she’s off the market and stops coming in for no reason.
“I…I should get back to work,” she mumbles as she turns and exits the room.
My fingers slide away from her, and I miss the contact instantly. I think she does, too, because she hesitates a moment when we lose the connection. Taking a deep breath, she continues toward the desk.
I watch as she straightens things, moving a pile of check-out cards from the left to the right, adjusting a pen, and swiping at nonexistent dust. I grin, loving how flustered she is.
I can’t wait to get more answers. I know she changed her name when she turned eighteen.
She’s hiding in this one-horse town. She’s even disguised herself behind unnecessary glasses and old-lady attire.
It’s eating me alive, but I think it’s best if I give her time to think about everything I just told her.
I shocked her with my revelation. Her mind is probably reeling from my unexpected bombshell.
Yes, baby, I know you have secrets, and I intend to hear about them . Sooner rather than later.
I haven’t moved. I stand in the doorway, looking at the back of my girl.
I wonder if she can feel my eyes on her.
I suddenly want to know everything about her.
What’s her style when she’s not dressed like someone’s grandma in a dark, demure polyester skirt and buttoned-up blouse?
How long is her hair when not in a matronly bun?
What will her pussy taste like? What will her ample breasts feel like in my palms?
I grab the doorframe and white-knuckle it as I linger on that last thought. How much bigger will her breasts get when she nurses our children? Will she tremble in my arms when I wrap my mouth around the swollen tips and suckle her myself?
Arianna suddenly spins around and glares at me. “Stop staring at me.”
I draw in a breath and smile at her. My cock is harder than a rock. There’s no way she hasn’t noticed.
She points past me into the room. “Don’t you have some boxes to dig through?”
I chuckle and find the strength to push off the frame and go back into the room.
I love how frazzled she is. I can’t wait until she gets off work so I can take her upstairs and get to know more about her.
I won’t disturb her with any more revelations while the library is open, but for the first time since I met her, I’m going to be on this side of the door when she locks it later this afternoon.
Arianna and I have a lot of ground to cover, and I intend to make a huge dent in that this evening.