Sara spins back to me, surrendering to her mother’s ignorance.
“So, this is your new strategy?” Rage and something darker coils through her. Christ, the thought of bending her over this very table and shoving my cock deep inside of her sends heat through me—though that wouldn’t be polite and, as I mentioned,
I’m a polite man.
“You have some nerve showing up here,” she says.
My voice remains even. “Just making sure nobody’s watching you.”
“Other than you, you mean?” Sara’s lips curl. She stalks to the kitchen, pops the tab on a soda, carbonated fizz oozes over her thumb, and I feel an urge to lick it. She hesitates, breathing deeply.
“Why are you here, Liam?” Her voice trembles with torment as she sits back in the chair across from me.
“You know why,” I say, but she’s oblivious to the turmoil churning in me, the dread settling in my gut ever since she wormed under my skin.
“Humor me, Liam. Please—why is the big bad wolf sitting at my front door?” She sips her drink.
“Big bad wolf is the least of your concern, Sara. I’m more curious about the shit you got yourself into when I should be busy figuring out Joe’s accident.” My jaw clenches. “Why the fuck is someone watching your every move?” I taste anger at her flirtation with danger.
Her eyes widen in question. “What do you mean, what about Joe’s accident? Do you think—?”
“Answer my goddamn question, Sara, I’ve let you fuck around long enough,” I snap.
Her lips flatten. “I didn’t get myself into anything! At first, I thought it was your psycho ass trying to scare me!” She waves her hand at me.
“Me? When did this start, Sara, and why wouldn’t you talk to me?” I feel my patience fraying.
She presses her fingers to her forehead, pinching her brow.
“I’m not sure, Liam, but this isn’t my doing, if that’s what you’re implying. I have no idea who that person is.”
Her grip tightens on her can. “It doesn’t help that I've felt completely helpless these past few months. And talking to you? When? between you slamming me on a wall or ripping my clothes off while I’m soaked in acid?”
Her shoulders tense, and for a moment, the mask she wears fractures, letting her inner battles leak out.
“You have a point.” I confess, remembering her panicked form under my palm. “Sara, I know how this feels and—”
“You don’t know shit Liam, you actually have absolutely no idea what it’s like to be in my head, in my body, and now in my fucking home where, in or out, darkness lurks from every imaginable corner.” A choked sound escapes her throat as she thrusts her chair back, pivoting sharply toward the living room.
In a heartbeat, my hand encircles her wrist, yanking her to a standstill as I rise, pinning her against the table. The heat radiates from her skin, igniting my senses, and I feel the frantic pulse of her heart thrumming beneath my fingers.
“Yes, Sara. Yes, I know exactly what it’s like. That’s why I’m back so you don’t have to face this alone. You’re mine to protect, and I’ll be damned if I let anyone hurt you.” Her gaze falls, and I tip her chin up,
“Look at me, Sara.” Her beautiful dark eyes stare back at me, setting my nerves on edge.
Her breath quickens, a sharp intake that mingles with the charged atmosphere between us, and I’m acutely aware of every inch of her pressed against me, the slight quiver in her body, the way her eyes widen with a mix of surprise and something deeper.
“You have seen too much. If you think I’m letting you go, you’re out of your Goddamn mind.” My voice drops lower, rougher. “I'm going to hunt down that bastard, and I promise you—” I lean closer, my breath against her ear. “You’ll never have to look over your shoulder again. Anyone who comes for you will disappear so completely that their devoted mother won’t know where to leave flowers.”
Her face flickers between terror and solace and before she can slip further away from me. I grip her waist and draw her closer to me and the world outside blurs into nothingness, where instinct reigns and scream for me to claim her, to delve into her.
The collision of our bodies is almost euphoric, and my anxiety dissolves while my heartbeat speeds up for entirely different reasons.
I thread my fingers through her hair, easing her back enough to study her because a part of me hungers to decode the ins and outs of her. With every fragment of herself that she reveals, I uncover parts of her that quiet my own damn noise.
“You talk as if you can protect me from the world.” Her lips tremble, her eyes searching into mine, deeply intertwined, and my soul feels so exposed it burns, “but what if the protection I need is from you, Liam?”
She lays her hand on my face, and I can’t help but lean into her touch. “How the hell are you supposed to save me then?”
