He narrowed his eyes, “I’ve known this day was coming. You'd better treat her right, or the consequences will be severe.”
“I’d expect nothing less. I’m heading up to shower, then I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” I put the computer back in my bag.
Ben began opening cases and laying out weapons with calm precision, not bothering to acknowledge me further.
A flicker of heat passed through me then—sudden, sharp, and gone before I could pin it down. I ignored it. I’m sure it was stress or adrenaline. I wouldn’t accept anything else.
I shut the door behind me and headed to the bathroom, passing Taryn’s bedroom on the way. I knew I shouldn’t go in, but I couldn’t help myself. I only let myself get close enough to catch her scent on special occasions. Holidays and birthdays. I had to keep my distance. Otherwise, I’d never have made it until she graduated.
I didn’t always feel this way. It started when I came home a few years ago, intending to see Taryn for her sixteenth birthday. I saw her with some of her friends and was struck by her beauty. Instead of the visit I’d planned, I low jacked her. I know that wasn’t sane behavior, but I didn’t care at the time, and I still don’t.
I pushed open her door and entered the room. I meandered around, going through the things on her dresser, then walked over to her bed and picked up her pillow, bringing it to my face.
The smell of her favorite coconut lotion and shampoo invaded my senses in the best way. I held it for several long minutes before I replaced it exactly as it was. I poked around for a little longer, opening her underwear drawer and bringing a silky purple pair to my nose. I closed my eyes and pretendedthey were still warm from the heat of her pussy. Rubbing them across my lips, I felt my dick pulse, and I reached down to squeeze it tightly.
Taking some deep, calming breaths, I slid her panties into my pocket before reluctantly continuing to the bathroom.
Standing under the spray longer than necessary, I let the heat pound down on my shoulders.
Taryn and I had a complicated relationship that others wouldn’t understand. I’d always held her in great affection, but that shifted over the years from that of a brother to a man who needed her just to breathe.
I grabbed her shampoo and body wash and used both, so I was saturated in her scent.
My dick was hard as stone, but I refused to touch it. It, along with everything else I owned, belonged to Taryn, and she was the only one with that privilege.
I had originally intended to wait until she finished high school and college before sharing my plans with her, but that decision had now changed.
As soon as I got Lucas out, I was coming for Taryn, and I wasn’t planning on leaving her side again.
My wait was over.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ASHFORD SUPERCENTER
Derek Collins had worked at the Ashford Supercenter for six years, and he’d never seen the place like this.
The store opened at seven, and by seven-ten the parking lot was full.
Not a normal full.
Black Friday full.
Cars sat crooked across the parking spaces. People rushed through the sliding doors, pushing carts as if racing each other. Inside, customers grabbed whatever they could reach—cold medicine, bottled water, canned food—stripping the shelves faster than employees could restock them.
Derek wheeled a cart stacked with cough syrup down the pharmacy aisle and stopped short. The shelf he’d filled twenty minutes earlier was already empty again.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
A woman reached right into his shopping cart and grabbed three bottles.
“Hey,” Derek said automatically.
She didn’t even look at him.
Across the aisle, two men were arguing over the last box of cold medicine.
“You’ve got four already!”
