Chapter 18
Lainey
“What’s with all the other bags?” I asked innocently enough after Nina had secured herself in the room with several of her birthday presents.
“Just a few things I picked up for you.” He gave me a look and crowded my space.
“You don’t like my clothes?”
“Oh, I love them, although I must admit I prefer you without clothes.”
I glanced over his shoulder toward the door. Nina had gone off to call Emily to tell her about the gifts. Or maybe that her daddy was getting married.
Another laugh bubbled to the surface.
“I don’t think it would be appropriate right now. Do you?”
“About as appropriate as you discussing me behind my back with my daughter.” He cupped my face and as soon as he did, I noticed his knuckles were swollen.
“What happened?” I gripped his hand, easing it down. “You’re hurt. You’re bruised.” I knew exactly what the bruises meant. “You’ve been in a fight or your beat the crap out of the intruder.”
“How do you know so much about fights? Your use of baseball bats?”
“Very funny. My brothers used to get into fights all the time. What did you do to him?”
“Put the fear of God into him. Don’t worry, little butterfly. He’s very much alive.”
“Did you learn anything?”
“Nothing useful. Yet. Stop worrying about me. Back to why you were discussing my love life with my daughter.” As always, he was extremely possessive, slipping his hand behind my neck and pulling me closer.
Even though I pressed my palms against his chest, he wasn’t budging. In fact, his hold was even stronger with every push I gave him. Now his fingers were digging into my skin. He lowered his head, his chest rising and falling.
“It seems like you missed me.”
“I did.”
“Then what’s in the bags?” I pushed him hard, able to breathe the connection. Twirling away, I thought I would be able to get away from him, but he sidestepped me and, in a heartbeat, had me in his arms again. This time, he crushed me against the heat of his body.
“You’re not getting away from me that easily, Lainey. You should know that by now. You might as well surrender to me. Body and soul.” He lowered his head again, brushing his lips across mine, his heated breath sending a wildfire through me.
“What about my heart?” I managed.
“Mmm… Since we’re getting married, I guess you should give that to me as well. I’ll carry it around in a box with me. I’ll make certain it’s safe.” He darted his tongue across the seam of my mouth.
“How romantic.”
“You think? I’m not finished yet. As my wife, you’ll be expected to obey me. If you disobey, you’ll be punished.” His ability to tease me was wonderful, but I feared he’d snap back into the darkness with a flip of a switch.
A slight purr slipping from my lips, I wrapped both arms around his neck, rising onto my tiptoes.
“Yes, very romantic.” His words and the thought of his actions were thrilling.
That should surprise me since the last thing I’d ever wanted was a dominating man, but he made the sound of surrendering so sexy that I was breathless.
Maybe even allowing the fantasy to intrude in the moment.
He captured my mouth and for all the times he’d kissed me before, this time was even more incredible. Tiny bursts of fireworks went off and it felt as if I was floating on air. He swept me off my feet and I couldn’t help myself, wrapping my legs around his hips.
The taste of peppermint and the wine he’d consumed was an even more powerful aphrodisiac than the man holding me.
I rubbed my hands along his shoulders, tangling the fingers of one in his thick strands of hair.
As always, he dominated my mouth and tongue, but there was even more of a sense of urgency.
As if deep anxiety was involved.
He pulled his lips away, then lifted my chin with his thumb, dragging the top of his tongue in a methodical dance under my earlobe. Across my chin. Into the shell of my other ear.
Goosebumps tickled my skin and being breathless was becoming too common around him. I loved it. Every heated breath. Every prickle dancing across my skin. With a puff of hot air, he whispered:
“We’re going on a trip.”
It took me a few seconds to realize what he’d said. The beautiful spell was broken and I eased my legs to the floor, gently pushing him away. “What?”
He nodded and took a step back, nodding over his shoulder toward the packages. “One of my men is packing some clothes for you from the house where you were staying, but I thought you might want something… different. More tropical.”
“Whoa. Hold on. I don’t understand. Where are we going and why?”
The darkness in his eyes momentarily terrified me. “We own a house in St. Lucia. No one knows the location as it’s listed in the name of a dummy corporation we used years ago. We’ll be safe there.”
Now I was the one backing away, the fear lingering. Suddenly, my heart was in my throat because I noticed the tension in his muscles. Not only was his jaw clenched, but the thick cords in his neck were pulsing erratically. “What is really going on?”
“Nothing different than what I’ve told you.”
“You’re a terrible liar. Maybe you don’t know it, but you have a telling twitch. The corner of your mouth.”
His eyes immediately opened wide. “No one has ever told me that before.” His laugh was meant to try to push aside his blatant concern in my mind.
It wasn’t working.
“Talk to me, Sasha. What happened?”
He shifted to check that Nina hadn’t wandered into the room.
“There’s a price on my head and given the social media blitz linking us together romantically, I won’t take the chance of putting your life further in danger.
We need to take a few days and regroup while my family discovers who’s behind the various attacks including your house. ”
“But I thought Damien was responsible.”
“So did I. At first. A picture was captured of the person tampering with the security system. We’re running the photograph through photo recognition software, but that often takes time.”
Everything about his words hit me hard. “Photo recognition software. My God. You are used to dealing with danger lurking around every corner. Aren’t you?”
“We learned to be cautious, Lainey. Nothing more. It’s helped our family—”
“Stay alive?” I finished. “I don’t think I can do this. I have a life and a job to get back to. At least I think so. I’m not part of your world no matter how much the girl inside wanted to be. I truly hoped you’d be my knight in shining armor. You have been, but this is…”
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. This isn’t a request. You are coming. The only way I can keep you safe right now is to have eyes on you every moment of the day.”
I couldn’t believe this. He was serious.
He expected me to drop everything and run off to some tropical island with him.
I looked away, forced to realize that even with the understanding of why we’d be leaving the country, I was still tingling all over from excitement.
“How long?” Was I really asking? Was I seriously considering this?
“A week. Maybe two. Long enough to put some pieces into place. Trust me,” he said with that boyish grin that I’d seen only a few times and had fallen in love with. “You’ll enjoy the surroundings. A private beach front house. Turquoise ocean waters. A quaint little town full of delicious food.”
“What about Nina. Isn’t she in school?” I couldn’t go. It was ridiculous to think I could just disappear for a couple of weeks. Well, maybe I could write a few songs. I’d been working on some new material. I could finish it while I was there.
“Well, I happen to know an elementary school teacher.”
Damn it, his grin was driving me crazy, my pussy throbbing. And forget about my core. It was molten lava. How did he manage to make everything sound so exciting? Including danger.
Including…
I wasn’t going to say it.
“That’s crazy. It sounds wonderful, but…”
He was suddenly right in front of me again, gripping both arms and the deep, very intense look in his eyes screamed that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I had to admit I did like the powerful, controlling side of him just a little too much.
I bit my lower lip, processing by stating the pros and cons in my mind. The hard buzz of my phone indicating a message was jarring. I used the sound as an excuse, pulling away. “Let me just check to make certain nothing is wrong.”
“Lainey… We need to talk about this.”
I snagged my phone from the table, still tingling all over. How was it that one man could do that to me so easily? When I noticed the number, all the self-doubt I’d had early in my career rushed into my system.
“Lainey, this is Mark Zimmerman. I’m sorry to call you on a Sunday, but this couldn’t wait.”
As I listened to the message, every sound around me began to echo. As if I was standing in a vacuum. When the message ended, I took a deep breath, holding the phone against my chest.
“What’s wrong?” Sasha asked.
A laugh bubbled to the surface. “My mama told me that everything happens for a reason.”
“O-kay. What?” He inched closer as if the big he-man was ready to protect me.
“That was my record producer. Mr. Big, we call him in the industry.” I lifted my head, darting my eyes across his. “If your offer of being Nina’s teacher still stands, I’ll take the job.”
“I thought you had one.” The tone of his voice dipped into the dark and dangerous level, the same one I’d heard when Damien had been manhandling me.
“Nope. I was just fired. And do you want to know why?”
“Why?”
I smiled before answering because in truth, I wasn’t angry in the least. “You.”
Paradise.
I’d been so lucky to visit extraordinary locations throughout the world in my career. Paris. London. Milan. Canada. Australia. I’d vacationed a few times, even once on a tropical island, but I’d either been too busy or too exhausted to enjoy the time away.