Chapter 4 #2
Good manners have me extending my hand, but the chick clicks her tongue and pops the gum in her mouth instead. “Damn girl! And I thought I got into paintball tag.” Chloe’s granddaughter comes over and passes a finger through the red “paint” on my shoulder and winks.
My heart stops.
Oh, God.
I quickly grab her finger and clean off the blood before she can look too closely.
I plaster on a fake smile and hope I haven’t scarred the poor girl. “Yeah, sibling rivalry and all that,” I urge adding in a huge eye roll. “Hey, would you mind grabbing the bags for me while I speak with your grandma? We gotta go. I forgot I have a meeting in the morning and we gotta get back.”
“Yeah sure. Come on Kaylee. Let’s go get your toys.” My two-year-old wiggles free and runs off with her new bestie. The girl makes friends with everyone.
As soon as they are out of earshot, I start talking.
“Chloe, my father is moving major amounts of drugs through here. He has Russians, his men and those fuckers the Vultures all working to push that shit. I got it on video and it won’t take him long to hear about it and start pushing for information.
I know he will come here looking for answers when he finds out it was me. And he will. You have to come with me.”
Chloe calmly listens to my frantic pleas but when I pause to take a breathe all she does is pat my hand.
“He won’t do anything to me. You go and protect that sweet baby girl of yours. I’ll be fine. Your father and I go way back.”
I fight to keep my shoulders from locking up with tension, but it’s not working.
I try again.
“Please. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I check the time. If we leave now, I can grab a go bag I left in a locker a few parishes over. I can leave them both with family on the other side of the state. After that, I can make me and Kaylee disappear again. I’ve done what I can to fight against my father.
The smooth rumble of an expensive motor outside draws me up short.
Chloe and I both turn to the front window in unison. My heart is in my throat but when I turn back to look at Chloe, she has an odd look of recognition in her eyes.
Then again, she would know my father’s SUVs.
“Protect Kaylee. If this goes bad, you know who to take her to.”
Like I said, Chloe knows all my secrets.
Thankfully Chloe doesn’t fight me on this and quietly fades into the back rooms with Kaylee.
I ease open the glass door to Chloe’s china cabinet and palm the beretta I know she keeps tucked in behind her Christmas porcelain.
I check the clip and flip the safety off just as I see a shadow move across the porch.
I raise my gun, finger hovering over the trigger. I hesitate only a slight second before pulling, but that one second costs me.
The front door flies inward and out of the darkness steps a man dressed in black with a dark set of gray eyes pinned on me.
“I told you I would catch up with you.”
My insides do a quiver and I honestly can’t tell if it’s out of relief or fear.
He steps into my personal space and tips the end of my weapon away from his heart.
“I think you’ve done enough damage to my heart without putting a bullet through it.”
And just like that my ire fades.
“You need to leave, Phantom. Unless you’re ready for round two with my father, that is. I have no doubt he’s coming this way sooner rather than later.”
I shuffle away before I let the heat of his body make me do something irrational like throw myself into his arms and beg for his forgiveness. Now that I don’t have bullets flying at my head, I am a little less stressed about dying and more freaked out about wanting what I can’t have.
Him.
My eyes drop to the guns in their holsters under either of his arms. “I hope you reloaded, but I’m heading out now and–”
A rush of energy washes over me right before Phantom is across the threshold and hauling my body up against the nearest wall. Porcelain plates rattle and snowflakes drift in behind him.
I gasp as he pushes me against the wall with his massive weight pressing against my body. From nipples to hips, everything touches. It’s decadent and what all my dreams are filled with since the day I walked out on Phantom.
My pulse roars in my ears. The dark, decadent, gorgeously dominant older man who stole my heart when I had no right to love the enemy is finally touching me again.
There’s a dark hunger in his eyes and this time, I can see every glittering shard of it reflecting at me through those perfectly gray eyes.
He works quickly to unzip my borrowed coat and slips his hands inside to wrap around my waist.
“I missed you.”
I inhale sharply at the pain in his voice. The utter heartbreak drips from every vowel and consonant.
I did that to him, yet he looks at me with love in his eyes.
He slips his hands over my hips and under me, lifting effortlessly. I wrap my legs around his middle and just breathe him in when he presses his forehead against mine.
“Stop trying to run,” he whispers when he pulls back to look me in the eye.
Soft light from a nearby fire glows in the corner. Chloe’s Christmas tree gives off a cozy vibe and the overheads are dimmed low. If I try I could easily pretend this was our house, our tree and my husband had me pinned to the wall with desire in his eyes.
But that is a dangerous fantasy I have no business or right to entertain.
The masculine scent of him teases over my senses. I didn’t get to appreciate everything I missed about him earlier, but now that it’s just him and me it’s hard to miss the way winter clings to him. Fresh snow, gunpowder and danger create a powerful aphrodisiac.
Or I’m messed up in the head, which is entirely possible.
I cock a brow. “And if I say no?” I breathe out. I don’t know if I want him to stop me or test me.
He doesn’t answer. Phantom simply shakes his head in a slow-motion like the powers of all things will obey his silent command.
“You’re a man who always gets what he wants, after all.”
Phantom only nods. The movement draws my eye to the way the tips of his thick black hair play over his broad shoulders. It’s not long enough to pull back but perfect for running my fingers through.
And I do just that. I can’t resist. He growls and rubs his cheek against mine as my fingers comb through his hair. It’s one of my favorite pastimes way back when our lives were easier.
“Mm. I’ve missed your touch, baby.”
The burn of his scruff over the softness of my cheek sends a wave of heat through me I’m not expecting. I lean forward and press my lips to the sexy dip in his chin. Something I’ve been dying to do since he shoved his face into mine back at the old railway station.
I don’t anticipate the way he hungrily growls or the way he takes my mouth with his.
Nor do I expect to feel the full length of his arousal pressing against the seam of my pussy. The spandex pants I thought would be great for flexibility while out gathering incriminating evidence against my father have turned into the weapon of my destruction.
Because I can feel every hard inch and I don’t know if I can walk away from the tenderness I feel in him. Not again.
I press my heels into him and moan a little too loudly.
I tremble in his arms when his lips brush against my cheek, his hands gripping my ass.
I inhale deeply, drawing in fortification for what I have to do next.
But his scent works over me again and this time I get the full force of his raw power.
It leaves my body tingling and heat brushing against parts of me I don’t have time to explore.
“Phantom, we can’t do this. Not again. Too many people can get hurt.”
Again he ignores my pleas and those seeking lips of his move from my cheek to tease over my lips. He sucks at my bottom lip, drawing the tender flesh between his teeth. I suck in air and moan into his mouth. Which was his sneaky plan all along.
He slips his tongue in and caresses the tip over mine. There’s nothing I can do but give in and kiss him back. My entire body strains against his. I arch into his hold and swirl my tongue over his, tasting, remembering. Wishing…
“Mommy.”
Whirling memories about what could have been instantly fall away.
Phantom kills the kiss and pulls back. Eyes full of gray fire pierce mine. “Mommy?”