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“So you think it was somebody from your past?” I mutter.
He nods. “Yeah, I think so. Jesus, what if that brick had gone through the window and hit you or Bones? Those lowlife bastards. They’ve got no right to put either of you in danger.”
He sits up, as though filling with rage, every part of him expanding. I’m glad the culprit isn’t here. From the way Pearce looks right now, I’d be terrified of what my man would do to him.
And that’s how he looks, like my man, when he’s brimming with fire at the thought of somebody causing us harm.
“We’re okay.” I place my hand on his forearm, squeezing softly. “You don’t have to worry.”
He looks at me briefly, forehead furrowed, eyes narrowed. “I do.”
I try to pick apart his expression, find any sign of primal protectiveness, of the ferocious need to keep us safe I keep hoping to see. I have to remember that, just because he doesn’t want us to get hurt, it doesn’t mean he’s experiencing all the same madness I am.
“I’ll check my security cameras and get the tapes over to my cop buddies. Maybe they can chase this person down. The last thing I need is some bitter prick from my past ruining our lives.”
He rises and leaves the room briskly.
A second later, I realize what he said.
Our lives, not his life.
Does that mean anything, or was it a slip of the tongue?
I remove my hands from Bones, letting him decide who to follow, but the doggy doesn’t move from his place next to me. He lays his chin on my leg and sighs softly, as though he’s as troubled by this as Pearce and I are.
I sit back, close my eyes and listen to the rain hammering against the window, the wind whooshing by every few seconds to make the whole house shake.
It’s the same way I’m shaking on the inside, as I remember what we did upstairs, his mouth against me, his hands buried possessively in my flesh.
The message reverberates through my mind.
Somebody knows what Pearce did. But what, and to who?
Pearce returns around thirty minutes later, shaking his head. His lips still have that savage twist to them, like he’s constantly on the verge of letting out a lion’s roar.
“The footage isn’t clear. The weather… plus he was wearing a mask. But my cop buddies are going to see what they can do. Are you okay, Piper?”
He walks over to me, kneels, and takes my hand.
My heart flutters as I think this is it, he’s going to propose…
Slow down, girl.
He’s just being nice.
“I’m fine,” I murmur, giving his hand a squeeze. “Confused more than anything.”
“Me too,” he says gruffly. “I know there are plenty of people out there who’d want to fuck with me. Friends of people I’ve locked up. Gang members. Criminals with a point to prove. But what I can’t figure out is… why now?”
He sits next to me and I rest my head against his shoulder. It feels like the most natural thing in the world, even if a few hours ago we were nothing to each other. I didn’t even know he was attracted to me, let alone that he’d become so protective if somebody tried to hurt me, to hurt us.
“What now?” I ask softly.
“There isn’t much else we can do,” he says. “Let’s go to bed.”
A chord strikes within me, at his words, tension gripping my body.
Pearce lays his lips against the top of my head, kissing me there. I feel the impression through my hair, sending a tingling sensation through my body. “I don’t think Bones is going to want to sleep alone tonight. So…”
“I want to,” I whisper.
Pearce doesn’t have to ask what I’m talking about.
It’s like he can read me far better than I can read him.
“But Bones…”
It’s a lame excuse, even if it’s a valid one. But it’s not the real reason.
“Exactly,” Pearce snarls. “But don’t think I’m letting you get off that easily. There will be other nights…”
I nod, snuggle closer to him and Bones climbs onto my lap. “Can we stay here for a little while?”
He wraps his arm around me, enveloping me in his warmth and security. “Of course, we can. Whatever you want.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Pearce
We decide to spend the night in my bed.
It would be difficult not to leap on her, let my hands continue what we started before the interruption.
But Bones makes that impossible.
He sleeps in between us, stretching out so much I’m tempted to turn the lights on to make sure he’s still a Jack Russell terrier and not a big burly man. Piper giggles at some point in the night.
“He’s really letting it all hang out, isn’t he?”
I chuckle, even if there’s an edge in there.
Being so close to her is killing me.
“Yeah, he is. He’s the most effective cock blocker ever.”
