My breath quickened. Remembering the night of the carnival when we’d fought right up until the moment he was inside me, and then even our sex had been combative.
Deliciously combative.
“The only thing I’m sorry for is the how it all ended when you left. The shit with the senator. That’s all on me. I was fucked up after prison, after Preppy. I thought it was the only way to get back the only blood I’ve got.” King ran the back of his hand down the side of my face and leaned in closer. “It was a mistake, because this thing here, between us? It’s not the kind of thing that can just go away.” He brushed his lips against mine and I leaned forward, seeking more contact, but he held me in place by my shoulders.
“What?” I asked.
Hard lines appeared between his eyes. “I told you what you needed to hear. What I needed to tell you. Now you need to tell me what I need to know.” King’s tone grew harsher. “You got ten seconds to tell me why that fucking kid was in your room. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want.”
“I don’t?” I asked, suddenly feeling very confused.
King shook his head. “No, you don’t. But just know that if you chose to go that route that I’m killing the little fucker regardless,” King seethed.
“Jealous much?” I cocked an eyebrow at him. I was baiting him, but the fucker deserved every second of uninformed agony after what he’d put me through.
“Very,” he admitted, much to my surprise. “So don’t push me, little girl.” His hands tightened on my shoulders, reminding me that King wasn’t someone who liked to play games.
“He wanted to talk,” I explained. “And then…”
“And then…what?” He said through his teeth.
I bit my lip. “He asked me if I loved him, and I told him the truth. He made it seem like I was breaking up with him.”
“He didn’t try to touch you?” King asked again, a shimmer of relief in his voice.
“Nooooooo!” I said, drawing out the word to drive my point into that thick skull of his.
King looked almost disappointed. “Kid gets to live after all,” He said. “For today.”
“You still haven’t told me how you are even here,” I said. “How did you get out so quickly? Did you post bail or something? I don’t really know how that all works.”
King sighed. “Always with the questions, Pup.” He tucked my wet hair behind my ears in a move that was both soft and intimate. “I missed your annoying ass questions.”
“I thought I might never see you again,” I said, burying my face in his neck, willing the tears away that threatened to spill onto my cheeks.
“That was never going to fucking happen. Even if the senator hadn’t crossed me. I will always find my way back to you, baby. Always.” King traced his fingertips over my eyelids.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked, sensing his hesitation.
“The detective that arrested me wasn’t a detective and he wasn’t taking me to jail. He was a contractor.”
“I don’t understand…”
“He was hired to take me out.”
“Holy shit,” I said, feeling foolish for fighting him like I had when he’d been so close to losing his life.
“Thank fuck I realized it before it was too late.” The rain stopped instantly, like a faucet being turned off. Immediately, a mist started to rise from the water around us, cloaking us in white cloudy wetness.
“What did you do? How are you still alive if he was hired to kill you?” I hung on to him tighter, grateful that he was right in front of me. The question made me feel sick to my stomach to even ask.
King shrugged. “In my world it’s kill or be killed, baby.” He set his mouth in a hard line. “So I killed.”
It should have bothered me that King had just admitted to killing someone but strangely enough it didn’t.
I was glad.
Then it hit me. “Fuck, it was the senator wasn’t it? He hired that guy to kill you!”
“That’s what I’d thought at first. That maybe your father didn’t view sending me back to prison as a permanent enough solution to keeping me away from you,” King said. “But as it turns out we’ve got even bigger problems. There is this guy, Eli. He was Isaac’s main supplier and he’s not taking kindly to the idea of his gravy train running dry. And all signs of the reason for that happening, and Isaac ending up as worm food, point right back to me and Bear.”
My eyes widened. “And he’s coming for you.” I whispered, my heart hammering in my chest.
King nodded. “Yeah, Bear’s guy, Rage, his intel is as tight as it comes. When he says someone’s gunning for you, you shut the fuck up and listen.” He seemed to be thinking about how to phrase what he was going to say next. “This guy Eli? He’s different. Worse than Isaac if you can believe it.”
I felt my face pale as the blood rushed from it. “What are you going to do?”
King kissed me on the temple. “Same thing I did with the fake detective. Get to him before he gets to us.”
“Why the hell are you even here when your life might still be in danger?”
“I had to come tell you myself,” King said.
“But it’s too risky. You shouldn’t have come!” I tapped his chest with my closed fists.
King snarled. “You don’t seem to get this shit yet, Pup, so I’m going to make it real fucking clear. You are mine. If I had it my way, I would have already tossed you on my shoulder, carried you to my bike, and been halfway home, but it’s not safe there now. And as much as it fucking kills me, the safest place for you right now is probably right here.” King looked like he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “I won’t have you in the crosshairs of that shit. Not again.” He looked off into the distance, collecting his thoughts, calming himself down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said. It was my turn to force him to look at me. “I don’t blame you for any of it. I may have a shit memory, but I’m not a child. I can take care of myself. I can take responsibility for my own actions. I know that being with you comes with certain risks” I pressed a soft kiss to his jaw.
King pressed a soft kiss to the inside of my wrist. “Look, about what happened with Isaac, I know we never really talked about it after that shit went down with Preppy, but you need to know that I won’t ever let something like that ever fucking happen—”
“Stop.” I raised my hand to cut him off. “I refuse to be a victim, so don’t fucking treat me like one. I escaped with my life, but only because of you. That is how I see it, and that is how I want you to see it. I will not be pitied, Brantley King, so don’t you go pitying me and treating me like a victim, because I sure as shit don’t feel like one.”
“Where did I get this amazing strong girl from?” King asked, gazing into my eyes as if he were searching them for his answer.
“You got her from a party. She tried to whore herself out and failed miserably.”
“Ray?” a voice called out.
“Shit, that’s Nadine.” When King shot me a confused look, I clarified, “The housekeeper.”
“Fuck!” He pushed us in closer to the mangroves so we wouldn’t be seen. “I got eyes on you here. You’ll be safe, I promise.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that. Who?”
King shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, just know they’re on you.” He pressed his lips to mine and softly sucked on my bottom lip. He pulled back. “I’ll come back as soon as I can, but I don’t know how long that’s going to be. Whatever you do, don’t try to reach me. Eli looks for shit like that. Feeds on coming after the people close to his target so it’s easier to take them out. I can’t have him coming after you. I won’t have you in harm’s away again.” He kissed my forehead. “I can’t.”
“Ray, are you out here?” Nadine called out again, her voice was louder now. She was closer.
“Shit!” King hissed. “There is one more thing I need you to know.” His lips hovered just above mine. “You need to know that I don’t give a fuck if your memory returns while I’m gone, cause it doesn’t change shit for us. But from this point out there is only one thing I need you to remember.”
“What’s that?”
“This.” King gripped the back of my neck and pulled me into him, crashing his lips to mine in a kiss that had me trembling with both desire and fear.
An angry passion.
A possession.
And he was right. There was no way I would ever forget it. He pulled back reluctantly pausing to look into my eyes as we both caught our breaths. I touched my bottom lip, swollen from his kiss.
“There are so many things I still have to tell you. Things I can’t even wrap my head around,” I told him.
Things like having a son.
“We’ll figure all this shit out. I promise. No matter what it is.”
“But what if my situation here is more complicated than just picking up and leaving?” I wanted to tell him about Sammy, but there wasn’t enough time. I hadn’t even had enough time to truly process the fact that I was a mother for myself just yet.