Chapter 16
Mace
Ishove another fry into my mouth as I watch the taillights of Lily’s Audi disappear down the highway. Well, this just got interesting. I should feel bad. I know I overstepped, but who am I kidding? I was already way beyond that point. And now Lily knows exactly how far I’d go for her.
Was it worth it? Fuck, yes.
I’ll admit there was a moment where I seriously doubted my sanity.
Her ex might be a creep, but he wasn’t the one who planted trackers on her phone and car, he hadn’t listened in on her private conversations, or private thoughts.
What if Lily decided it was better the devil she knew than the one she still couldn’t put a name to?
I might have reconsidered my life choices if the microphone on Lily’s cell hadn’t given me a glimpse of the way Connor behaved around her. When the bastard touched her, his fate was sealed. He was getting more than a verbal warning.
I’d been lying in wait when Connor reached the diner, and guided him at gun point around the side of the building. I know Lily was horrified when she found out I’d broken his arms, but seriously, I thought I’d gone easy on him.
Her parting words come back to me as I finish off the fries. She might not realize it yet, but this is me doing better. I have a mountain lodge waiting for us, and we’re spending the weekend together, whether she likes it or not.
I go to check her location on my phone, but I can’t connect to her cell.
She’s switched it off. Clever girl. The tracker on her car is working fine, however, so I slide out of the booth, pay the bill and resume the chase.
I’m ignoring Lily’s ruling – it’s not null and void.
If she thought that, she’d be heading straight back to Chicago, but my little slayer is traveling towards the next town over. It’s like she’s waiting to be caught.
I screech to a stop outside a rundown motel. The lights are on in reception and I laugh when I see her. My arrival wasn’t quiet, and deliberately so. It’s made the receptionist turn her head, but my girl keeps her back to me as she raises an arm and gives me the finger.
Climbing out of my SUV, I round the car and lean against the passenger door, arms folded as I wait for her. She comes out armed with a key and a glare that burns hot enough to ignite every wicked thought I’ve been harboring since leaving the diner.
“You stole my overnight bag from my car,” she says, coming to a stop in front of me.
I’d taken it while she was distracted with the ambulance. “I thought it would save time.”
“I want it back.”
I stay where I am, leaning against the SUV. “Are you mad at me, Slayer?” I ask as if the thought had only just struck me.
Her face creases in fury. “Am I mad at you?” she seethes, taking a step closer. “Yes, Shade, I’m fucking furious.”
She thumps her fist against the side of my arm. I think it hurts her hand more than it hurts me.
“Feeling better?”
Her scowl suggests not. “Give me back my bag. Now!”
“No,” I say simply. “You’re not staying here. It’s a dump, and it’s not safe.”
She takes a step back. “And I’d be safer with you, I suppose?”
I straighten up and close the distance fast. Lily has no time to retreat, but she whips her head to the side. I grab her ponytail and position her head so she’s forced to meet my gaze. “You’re always safer with me.”
She’s too angry to agree, but there’s a hesitation that’s close enough. Her hands go to her hips. “Let go of my ponytail.”
“I will if you get in my car.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Then we’ll just have to agree to disagree.”
Letting go of her ponytail, I keep one arm around Lily’s waist as I turn to open the passenger door. When she tries to escape, I lift her off her feet, her back pressed to my chest.
She fights the arms of steel binding her to me. “Put me down!”
“Sorry, Lily, but you’re not going to win this one,” I warn.
“I’ve always respected your right to choose, but if you say no to me this time, I might just have to ignore you, so don’t test me.
You wanted a night together, so this is your chance.
Just not in this fucking dive.” I wait a beat, then two.
Lily stops beating her fists against my forearms, and digs her fingers into my shirt sleeve instead.
Her shoulders relax in submission. “You can’t just take me, Shade.”
I rest my chin on her shoulder. “If, by that, you mean I can’t fuck you whenever I want, then yes, you’re right. I wouldn’t dare to presume,” I promise. “But neither should you presume that I’ll fuck you whenever you want, even when I have you begging for it.”
“Huh, you’ll be waiting a long time to hear me begging after the stunt you pulled today.”
My laugh rumbles up through my chest. “Challenge accepted.”
There’s a dusting of snow on the road that grows deeper as we drive further up the mountain.
“Shit, I hope this place has electricity,” I say, peering to where the headlights pick up snow drifts.
Lily’s head snaps towards me, but she simply glares. She hasn’t spoken since I bundled her into the car, and I’ve made do with a one-sided conversation interspersed with her huffs and sighs.
“Don’t worry,” I continue. “I think there’s a spare blanket in the back. I like to carry emergency supplies in case I ever get stranded somewhere. It does happen. I got stuck in the desert once. At least here we can melt snow if there’s no running water.”
Lily slams her head against the headrest and released a frustrated sigh.
“I might have to leave you up here tomorrow morning while I go out and get supplies,” I continue. “You can pretty up the house while I’m gone.”
“Shut up.”
“Oh, you are listening,” I say in feigned surprise.
“I know you’re only trying to piss me off to get a reaction, but in case it’s escaped your notice, I’m already pissed at you, Shade.”
“Maybe you should have taken Connor up on his offer to give you a massage.”
“I don’t imagine that’s going to be easy for him to do with two broken arms and a death threat hanging over him.”
I take my eyes off the road and let my gaze travel slowly down her body.
Her suit and sweater cover every inch of her body, and I know she chose the outfit to deny Connor sight of her.
And all the while she was worrying about how I might react to her being away with him.
That thought alone makes my cock thicken.
“Fuck, Lily. You’re so beautiful when you’re angry. ”
She responds by raking her slate grey eyes over me too. Her expression heats up when she notices my arousal. Her gaze snaps back to my face. “And you’re so annoying when you’re acting like a neanderthal.”
I hear the catch in her voice. “You’re not sounding annoyed right now,” I muse. “You’re closer to begging than I thought.”
Lily rolls her eyes. “Can you watch where we’re going,” she says, forcing my attention back to the road.
“I think we’re here,” I say, following a bend through the trees to a clearing.
The porch lights around the lodge highlight a rustic exterior, but this is not the abandoned hut I’d led Lily to believe.
There’s a two-car garage, a log store and an oil-fired generator, two bedrooms, and all the modern conveniences to make our stay warm and cozy.
Tendrils of smoke billow from the chimney, rising up towards a starlit sky.
“Damn, I hope it isn’t already occupied,” I say, jumping out of the car as Lily mutters something about hating me.
I trudge through deep snow to open Lily’s door. She’s unbuckled her seatbelt, but she’s still being obstinate.
“I’m in my work clothes,” she complains. “I would have packed outdoor gear if I’d known I was being dragged into the wilderness.”
“My plans don’t involve you being dressed – at all. Or they didn’t,” I say as I grab her knees and twist her around. When I tug her out of the SUV and into my arms, she wraps hers around my neck. “Am I going to have to fuck your sour mood out of you, Lily?”
“Only if you beg.”
Snow crunches underfoot as I carry her up to the porch before setting her down on the snow-free timber floor. I unlock the lodge door and swing it open so she can go inside first.
When I follow, I’m hit by a wall of heat. There’s a fire crackling in the fireplace, and from the well-stocked kitchen, there’s the smell of beef casserole bubbling away in a crock-pot.
Lily stands in the center of the open-concept living room. “We are alone, aren’t we?” she asks, her eyes darting to the closed doors that lead off to the bedrooms.
I slide her suit jacket off her shoulders. “I don’t ever plan on sharing you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Lily turns so we’re facing. “You make my head spin, Shade.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, leaning in to kiss her nose. “If it makes you feel any better, my head’s been spinning for weeks. If I fucked up, it’s because I can’t think straight when I’m around you.”
“If you fucked up?”
“OK, I fucked up. I’m sorry,” I say. “Now, can I kiss you?” When I receive only a scowl, I add. “Lily, I’m going to kiss you so if you’re going to say no, do it quickly.”
Her hands whip up and she pulls my face to hers. Our mouths crash together, and she lets out a little groan as I suck on her lower lip. As our kiss deepens, her tongue pushes into my mouth and I let her steal my breath.
My cock strains against my zipper, and my balls ache for release. I don’t know how I’m going to hold back long enough to ever stand a chance of making her beg. She has me already. My hands rest on her waist and I go to lift her sweater.
Lily knocks my hands away as she breaks the kiss. “You’re not getting me naked, Shade,” she argues. Her eyes narrow, her half-smile a warning. “Not until you are.”
OK. I like this game. “Do your worst, Slayer.”
We hold eye contact as she unbuttons my shirt, neither of us blinking until she’s sliding it over my shoulders.
I keep my hands by my sides as she tugs down the sleeves.
The shirt drops to the floor, and her hands explore my exposed torso while her focus remains on my face.
When she smiles, I try to remain impassive, but it’s not easy when I know something she doesn’t. I point down with my eyes to my chest.
It's only a small tattoo, but Lily sees it immediately, and takes a step back for a better look. The pad of her fingertip gently traces the outline of a flower over my heart. “It’s a lily,” she says, her voice full of awe just as I’d hoped. “For me?”
“For you, Lily.”
When I’d gone with Reid to the tattoo artist in Las Vegas, I might have been more than a little drunk, but I already knew what I wanted. The alcohol just made it easier to decide to place it where it felt right. And I don’t regret it.
A laugh tickles her throat. “Hold on,” she says, tracing the stem of the flower. “Lilies don’t have thorns.”
I hook my finger under her chin and lift her gaze back to mine. “This one does. I think today proved that.”
Her lips roll inward as she fights the smile. She shakes her head. “If you’re trying to distract me from my task, it won’t work,” she says as her hands reach for my belt buckle. When she looks down, she glances at the lily again and swallows hard. “I love… it.”
She unbuckles my belt, but then her hands move lower and she traces the contours of my erection.
Her soft touch isn’t nearly enough. I want her gripping my cock, and I have to resist the urge to take over.
My girl needs to take back some control after what I did today, and I’m going to give her that even if it kills me.
I tip back my head and clench my jaw to tamper down the groan as she pulls my belt through the loops of my jeans with a snap. The belt drops to the floor with a loud clatter.
“You could help by kicking off your boots,” she suggests while she tugs down my zipper.
I hook the toe of one boot against the heel of the other, and as my foot slips free, I kick it into the air. The other boot follows just as Lily pulls my jeans down over my thighs. She drops to her knees and even as I’m contemplating grabbing her by her ponytail again, she looks up at me.
“Don’t go getting any ideas,” she says, reading my mind. “You’re not even close to deserving your prize yet.”
My jeans are at my ankles and she helps me step out of them. Then she’s tugging at my socks.
“I was hoping the tattoo might have softened those barbs of yours,” I say.
She rises up on her knees and her fingers hook inside the waistband of my only remaining item of clothing. “Sorry,” she says. “I’m still feeling very thorny.”
I manage to cover my laugh with a cough, but it’s raw need I choke on when she sets my cock free and my boxers drop to my ankles. I can feel her warm breath as she brings her mouth closer. And then she fucking blows on the beads of precum.
“Jesus, Lily,” I hiss, but as my hips thrust forward, she pulls back.
I kick off my boxers as she rises to her feet. In all my fantasies, I’ve never pictured Lily standing in front of me fully clothed while she inspects my naked body, but it’s one I’m going to replay over and over again.