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“And you are safe with me, Taylor. Now arms up.”
I kept my arms locked around my chest, pinning the bra in place. “No.”
“Taylor.” The first edge of anger tinged his voice, and I shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold air and everything to do with who and what he was. A dangerous man. A killer.
A killer who had me half undressed in his bed.
“I don’t want to do this.”
The fingers on my ribcage stilled. “You don't want to do what, Taylor?” His breath brushed against my shoulder as he leant over me.
“Be intimate – have sex with you. He said you just wanted to talk.”
A sigh rattled his chest. “As much as I would love to lay you down and remind you how untrue those words are, I don’t like my women pass-out drunk and covered in their own vomit. It’s a turnoff for me.”
“Oh. So, you're not about to–” I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word.
“No, Taylor, I'm not big on an unwilling bed partner. I am trying to get you into something you can sleep in. Now arms up and stop covering yourself like a child. I've seen your breasts before.” He laughed. “And the rest of you as well.”
Slowly, with trepidation, my arms lowered. “You mean you really don’t have any untoward plans for me?”
“Oh, I have plans for you, Taylor, make no mistake about that, but you need to sleep and then we need to talk and–” his breath hitched as I lowered my arms, letting the bra fall onto my lap. ”Arms up so I can get you changed.”
I did what he asked because what other choice did I have? I didn’t think he would hurt me. For some unknown reason I trusted him. Something soft and well-worn was placed over my head, blinding me for a second.
“God, you have the most beautiful body.” He mumbled, but instead of touching me like I half expected him to, he helped me push my arms through and settle the soft fabric against my flesh. “Now lay down and get some sleep before I change my mind and touch you, Taylor.”
Reluctantly, I laid down where he motioned me to. I needed to sleep; he was right about that, but falling asleep in this man's bed was dangerous. He was a killer, and I was on the jury to put him away for a murder that would see him spend the rest of his days behind bars.
Except maybe he wasn’t a killer. Maybe he was innocent. They had adjourned the trial because of new evidence, after all. Maybe he was just misunderstood.
And maybe I was a damn romantic fool. He had ties to some very powerful people. The fact I was even there was testament to that. He had known who I was when we had first met, which meant he had been watching me. How long he had been watching me I had no way of knowing, but it had to be awhile.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He smoothed the hair from my face and for the first time since I had opened my eyes, I saw him face to face.
And he was still as darkly gorgeous as he had been the night I had first met him. Like some dark angel out of one of my books. Except I knew Judge wasn’t a hero that had come to rescue me. He wasn’t a good man, no matter how many times I tried to tell myself he could be. He wasn’t my prince.
Wishing myself into a romance story wouldn't make it reality. This was real life and not fiction. And I was in real danger from him and the people he worked for.
“You’re a bad man,” I mumbled. “You shouldn’t be like this.”
“Am I a bad man, Taylor, or am I just a man that has done bad things?” He pressed his lips to my forehead in a strangely comforting kiss and my eyes closed before I could help myself. “Now be a good girl and let me take care of you.”
JUDGE
Ihad never slept next to a woman before, although plenty of them had shared my bed for a few hours of mutual pleasure. But having one snoring softly next to me was completely foreign to me. Not that I didn’t like it because I did. Taylor’s body was warm and soft against mine, but it would take some getting used to.
I was betting it would be better if she didn’t smell vaguely of vomit, but even with it, there was something oddly comforting about hearing her breath in the darkness.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure if sliding my body in next to hers was the right thing to do. She had been rightfully freaked out when she realised whose bed she was in for the first time. What would she do if she woke up to me curled around her body?
Staring straight up at the low ceiling, I held my breath, my mind whirling with a million different scenarios. No matter how I played this, Taylor would, at some point, when she woke up, freak out. She would realise that this wasn’t one of her fairytales. So, it really didn't matter what I did now.
With that thought ambling around in my head, I turned on my side. My arm encircled her waist so I could pull her against my chest, and it felt alien to have her sigh happily in my arms. Would it feel like this always, or would this weird feeling in my chest fade? Did Gio feel this uncomfortable when Keeley was asleep in his arms?
No. I already knew the answer to that. Gio had never had a problem with real intimacy with Keeley because she was always meant to be his woman. And he didn’t have the hang-ups that I did. I was the one with the problem. I had never let anyone get close enough to even share my bed.
