Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-nine
Bennett
It’s still dark when her alarm goes off, Peyton’s on an early shift this morning.
She hits the stop button on her phone and snuggles back into my arms, there’s not a part of me that’s not touching her.
Last night was perfect; taking her when she’s bleeding was a new level of intimacy that I’m going to crave every damn month.
“How do you feel?” I rasp in her ear, my voice still gravelly from sleep, or the lack of it.
“Like I got railed in the shower twice last night,” she sleepily mumbles. My body shakes as it’s wrapped around her, my laughter bubbling out of me.
“That you did, and if you keep reminding me of it, you’ll get railed again now. But, I meant how do you feel about what we talked about?”
“I’m not sure, you’ve not really given me much to go on.”
“You’ve got it all, sweetheart, you can work it out.
If anyone can, it’s you.” She just grunts in response.
“Why don’t you jump in the shower and I’ll make you a coffee before you have to leave?
” I loosen my grip on her so she can climb from the bed, my eyes following her every move.
I’m not sure how long she’ll accept what I’ve given her, which if I’m honest, isn’t much at all.
But, I know she can work it out. The timings of my outings, the blood, the secrecy, my need to protect, to keep her safe; I know she can do it. She just needs to connect all the dots.
Little D winds himself around my legs while I’m making the coffees, his tiny little body remarkably strong as he pushes himself into me.
“Yeah, yeah, I missed you too, little man. Just don’t tell your mommy, okay?
” His little chirps and meows make it sound like he’s having a conversation with me.
Never in my forty-two years did I think I would be making my girl, or any girl, coffee while talking to a cat.
A lot’s changed since Peyton walked into my life.
I’ve got the news on the TV in the hope that there’s a report on the vigilante; I want to give Peyton all the help I can. Just as luck would have it, they start their discussion about him — me — as Peyton walks in.
“Here you go, sweetheart.” I pass her coffee to her and place a kiss on her forehead. “You can find out a bit more about Barclay now,” I say nodding towards the TV.
“We both can,” she responds and I just hum back at her, neither confirming nor denying anything.
The reporters mention how countless women have come forward since his death, confirming they were victims of that scumbag.
I’m glad I made him suffer, every scream, every cry replays in my mind, every moment of his torture was for them, for his victims. Something the angel next to me would have been had I not stopped him.
“Do you think — I mean,” she stutters around her words. “Do you think I could have been a victim had he not been killed?”
“He was never getting to you,” I vow. “Never. I told you no one will ever hurt you.” I pull her into my arms and stamp my lips to her own, my tongue sweeps inside her mouth, tasting coffee, tasting her.
The kiss goes on forever, like two people whose sole survival revolves around this kiss.
Like it’s our lifeline. Finally, she pulls back from me, licking her lips as she does and making me groan and adjust my dick in my pants, my very hard dick.
“I have to go,” she whispers, her eyes glued to the outline of my cock. “I’ll take care of that for you later.”
“You’re fucking right you will.” I pause before the next words leave my mouth. “I’ll be later tonight, I’ll be back for dinner but I won’t be home when you get there. Do you understand?” Her eyes narrow on me.
“Yes, I understand I have to work it out. You’ll have to come here after though. I’m not moving back into yours; this is my home.”
“The fuck it is. Your home is with me, at the house we both live in.”
“No, Bennett. I never moved in with you, I stayed with you temporarily. I won’t be moving in with you, not yet anyway, and definitely not before I know the truth.”
“Damn it, Peyton. Don’t do this, don’t punish me,” I bite out.
“I’m not punishing you, Bennett, but I’m also not rolling over like you seem to think I will. There are things we need to work out before we take this any further.”
“If you think I’ll be spending a night without you, then you’ve got another thing coming. If you’re not at High Tides then I’m here. Every damn night.”
“You can’t just invite yourself into my house, into my bed.” She stamps her foot as her anger mounts.
“Watch me.”
Peyton
Hours later and my blood is still simmering. No one pisses me off like Bennett Miller, that man is on a whole other level. I’m also replaying his words in my head constantly, over and over again, trying to piece together what it is he’s trying to tell me.
“Oh, Peyton, you treated him as well.” Sally, our registered nurse, calls out to me as she gestures me over to the small group.
“Who?” I ask as I approach them, Derek walks up just as I do.
“Barclay Davis, he was the one I got you to continue the stitches for. Do you remember? It was the same day your hunk of a man came in.”
“Yes, I do. I remember at the time he made me feel uncomfortable. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him on the news.”
“Well, if you ask me, I personally want to thank the vigilante, everything he does is to keep us safe.” Something makes me pause as her words register with me. Keep us safe. Why do I feel like that should mean something?
“Well, I’m just glad none of you were ever alone with him. It doesn’t bear thinking about.” Derek murmurs next to me. “Peyton, can I borrow you on something? I’d like a second opinion on a case I’ve been looking at.” He turns to me as the rest of the group continue discussing the Barclay issue.
“Of course.” Being asked anything by Derek is a big deal, I dont’ think he realizes how much I truly admire him.
“I think I know what it is,” he says as he leads me towards the treatment rooms, “but I’ve seen it once before, so I want to make sure my opinion on this is not biased.
I’m not going to give you anything before you see him, I want you to view it with a completely open mind.
” This is one of the many reasons I love working for him, there’s no power trip with him, he will always put the patient first, something far too many people don’t do.
“Color me curious.” As we walk through the door of the room the patient is currently in, something is still niggling at me with Sally’s words. I need to work out what, though.
Derek was right — which of course he was, the man’s a genius — but I appreciated him bringing me in and asking my opinion. I’m just about to leave when a member of our reception team walks in.
“Peyton, I’m so sorry to interrupt but a man has just come in saying he’s backed into a car, it’s yours. He asked if you could go out and check the damage and swap insurance details.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” I mutter under my breath. How can someone hit a car in a parking lot? “I’ll go now, thanks for letting me know.”
“Let me come with you,” Derek says as I turn to leave.
“Don’t worry about it, Derek. I won’t be long.”
“You sure?” I just nod at him. “Okay, come find me when you’re back, let me know everything’s alright, okay?” I can’t help but chuckle at his words, what is it with men worrying about me at the moment?
“I will do, Derek. You’re almost as protective as Bennett,” I laugh again as I turn towards the door, but I freeze as my own words register with me. Protective. Bennett would burn the world down to protect those he loves. Sally’s words from earlier hit with new meaning.
“I personally want to thank the vigilante, everything he does is to keep us safe.”
No, surely not. He can’t be, but everything he’s said replays in my mind.
“Just know that everything I do is to keep you safe.”
“I can’t tell you. Sweetheart, I can’t put that on you, I’d do anything for you, but don’t ask me to do this. This I can’t do, not to you.”
“You’re the only one that could know.”
“He was never getting to you. Never. I told you no one will ever hurt you.”
“Oh my God,” I gasp.
“Whoa.” Derek lays a hand on my arm. “You okay?” I just stare at him, I can’t find the words, I’m not sure I have any words at the moment; my brain is still trying to process what I think it’s pieced together. “Hey, Peyton, what is it?” He lightly shakes my arm, bringing me out of my trance.
“Nothing, sorry, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“You sure you’re okay?” he asks again, a concerned look on his face. I smile at him, he’s one of the good ones.
“Honestly, I’m fine. I’ll be back as soon as we’ve swapped details. He can’t have done too much damage, right?” I laugh. “It’s a parking lot, everyone’s pretty much stationary.” I leave the room quickly, before he can question me further, question me on something I still can’t quite believe.
I walk out into the afternoon air and head towards the corner where I parked, I see him straight away, he’s a little taller than me, lean, almost skinny with sandy hair and wire framed glasses.
“Hi,” I say as I approach. “I’m Peyton, I understand we’ve had a bit of an accident.” He doesn’t speak for a few seconds, just stares at me, a strange look on his face. “You okay?” I ask. “Did you hurt yourself at all?” My eyes scan his body for any visible injury, but I don’t see anything obvious.
“Forgive me,” he says, “I wasn’t expecting someone so attractive.
” I just smile awkwardly at him. Please don’t make this uncomfortable.
“The damage is round here.” He leads me to the passenger side of my car.
How did he damage there? A tingle of awareness runs up my spine, but before I can act on it, he’s on me.
“Get in the car,” he whispers as something sharp prods into my side.
“Get in nice and carefully, I don’t want to have to hurt you.
” I click the unlock button on my keys and open the passenger door, I take a quick look around, but there’s nobody here to help.
There’s a few people nearer the hospital doors.
If I shouted loud enough they would hear me, but they wouldn’t get here before he’d have a chance to use the knife currently pressed into my side.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” he snarls menacingly. “I will kill anyone that tries to stop me.” Oh God. My hands tremble as I lower into the seat, I feel a prick in my neck and quickly turn to see him pulling a needle out of me.
My last thoughts are of Bennett before everything goes dark.