Page 10 of The Santas Who Stole Me

A warm hand wraps around my neck, and Georgie’s leg is thrown across mine. She started kicking in her sleep, her demons threatening to come to the surface, so I pulled her close, and she settled without waking, melting into my body. She’s so tiny and soft, the contrast of how she feels next to me overwhelming, but a perfect fit. Images of her last night flash in my head, her face painted with terror. She was lost in it, and I was desperate to bring her back. All of her fight from the first time we met was gone. I was going to kill that asshole before, but after last night, that’s not going to be enough. I know he was the reason she was panicked and sick.

Georgie’s breathing kicks up, and I realize she’s awake. She doesn’t pull back or jerk away like I was expecting. Instead, her fingers draw tiny circles on my chest. “No more Santa suit?”

“Did you like it?”

She offers a ‘hmm’ in response, and I feel her breath against my skin.

“This is my favorite time of year.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

“About last night…”

I hold my breath, bracing myself for the truth she might bare. I have no idea why she would share anything with me, but I want her to. I am desperate to see everything inside her and cover it up with my protection. Seeing her last night, it’s easy to put together that something fucked her up. Or someone. If she wants to tell me, I’ll listen. If there is a way for me to take some of her burden, I’ll do it. My hand runs over her hair and cups her face, and when she glances up at me and our eyes meet, she casts them back down before she begins speaking.

“The first time I escaped Chad he found me. I had already tried all the legal options to get away before that. I couldn’t get anywhere because of his position at the bureau. He has a lot of friends. Or enemies he blackmails. He claimed I was crazy, depressed, whatever to make it look like he was helping me, and no one believed me. When he found me, he stuck me in a dark closet in his house for a week. I think, maybe longer, I couldn’t tell the time. It was pitch black. I only had a bucket, some water, and crackers. Of all of it, being locked alone with my thoughts for so long was the most awful. I lay there waiting for him to come kill me and half-praying he would. It caused the night terrors. Not every night, but often enough. The darkness of the room set me off, too, I don’t like the dark.”

I clench my jaw and blink the red out of my vision. He is dead. But I shove my rage down. This isn’t about me; it’s about her, and I want to make her feel safe. “And I put you in a dark trunk and chains. Kitten, please forgive me, I didn’t know. I’ve been doing this so long I got caught up. Fuck.” My voice wavers at how much hurt that caused her.

“I’m fine. I’m always fine,” she says, hushing me like I’m the one who needs consoling.

Her words land in my gut like a sucker punch. She shouldn’t have to be fine; she’s precious and deserves love and safety. Everything should be more than fine.

“I’m so fucking sorry. We will make sure he won’t ever touch you again.” From the moment she stepped toward me and accepted my help, she was mine. Whether she wants to be or not. “I’m proud of you,” I tell her, nuzzling my face into the top of her head. Not giving a shit that I inhale her hair. It’s a mix of my shampoo and her sweet scent.

“Why?”

“Because you kept fighting, kept going. You could have given up, but you didn’t.” She looks at me and I love her attention as she considers my words. The truth is I saw something in her on that rooftop. I fucked up with the trunk move, but I was desperate to keep her. I shouldn’t have taken her, but I’m selfish enough not to say that out loud. I honestly don’t know if she would run the second she’s alone, but I want her to stay.

Her head burrows deeper in my chest. I don’t want her to hide from me. I lift my hand to tell her she doesn’t need to worry about anything. She flinches and rears back from my touch. Georgie squeezes her eyes shut. My hand pulls away from her face, and I freeze. Fuck, she’s scared of me. Of all the terrible things I’ve seen in this life that flinch tops the list of things that churn my gut.

“Look at me, Georgie.”

She exhales and reluctantly peeks at me under her dark lashes.

Suddenly, in this moment, my obsession for her grows tenfold. The clench in my chest takes me off guard. I take a deep breath, imagining this pain is what you feel when you are having a heart attack. I ignore the pounding knowing her closeness is worth my heart giving out.

“My hands will never hurt you.” I trace her lips with my fingertips wanting to cover them and suck them. Would she let me? She shared part of her past. I have so much more to learn about Georgia Davis. I don’t want to scare her, but the need to make her safe takes over. I can do that; make her feel so good she never questions her safety here.

“I won’t hold my breath.” The soft tone she uses doesn’t match her words.

I know what Georgie needs before she does.

Her eyes twinkle with a challenge, and my mouth is on her before I can think of the consequences. She tastes like mint and citrus, and it’s what I’ve been looking for. I shouldn’t push her, but our kiss is fueled when she moves her tongue. Kissing me back with the fire I know is under her skin even if it’s hidden from her past. When she all but practically dared me to steal her off the rooftop, I saw it then, and it radiates from our connection now. Rolling her onto her back I break our kiss. She’s heavy lidded and her chest is rising and falling beneath mine.

“Kiss me again, Keeper.”

The rough and sexy sound of the way she says my name makes me want to burst into tiny pieces all over. Shifting her legs out, she settles them on either side of my body, and my hard-on pushes into her. Her nipples pebble through the thin shirt, and she wraps her hand around the back of my neck. I take it as an invitation to press closer. Our teeth clash, and I claim her mouth with my tongue, silently vowing to claim the rest of her body and taste every inch of her. I’ll show her how good my hands can make her feel. I know whatever it is now, or in the future, I won’t deny her. Whatever she needs is hers.

She grinds her pussy into my dick, and her wetness seeps through my gym shorts.

“Tell me what you want?” I say, studying her face. I want her more than anything in my life. But that prick did a number on her, and I don’t want to add to it. I need to tread carefully with my little kitten.

She nods.

“Say it.”

“I want you.” Her finger rubs a circle on the back of my neck where her hand is still resting and she rocks her hips into me again, all I can do is groan.