Page 70 of Save Me

I lay my hand on his arm, feeling the tension in his body. It decreases slightly when I touch him. I move closer and place my lips close to his ear.

“If you let him go, I’ll let you take me home.” I don’t know what compels me to make such a declaration.

A new kind of tension fills his eyes. I’m now the focus of that energy.

“Please,” I say.

Dae finally releases Ardie, who almost falls over. He takes my hand in his, his grip firm. My nipples tighten in a need I’ve never felt before.

Dae doesn’t give Ardie much breathing room, though.

“Apologize,” Dae demands, even as Ardie struggles between coughing for air and gripping his shoulder in obvious pain.

In Dae's opinion, Ardie must take too long because he gets in his face. “I said fucking apologize, or you’ll have to be carried out of here,” he growls.

“I-I’m sorry,” Ardie chokes out.

I tug on Dae’s hand to regain his attention. As soon as he turns to face me, his eyes spark with a new emotion. Suddenly, I realize that Ardie is no longer the one in danger.

That thought crosses my mind at the same time Dae immediately starts striding toward the door, his hold on my hand tightening, leaving me no choice but to follow.

CHAPTER 21

Kennedy

“Where are we going?” I ask dumbly.

Dae hasn’t looked my way since he got behind the wheel of his car. We’ve been driving for ten minutes in utter silence. The waves of anger roll off of him, though. He’s pissed, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s with Ardie or me.

Perhaps both.

“My car is still parked at The Regal,” I tell him. “I drove to work this morning and planned on picking it up after the happy hour.”

He cuts a dark gaze my way and then looks back to the road.

“I need my car. Someone could try to steal it if I leave it overnight.”

The car abruptly stops. We’ve come to a red light.

Dae throws the car in park, and in the blink of an eye, he’s hovering over me. One arm braces the passenger door while the other grips the headrest of my seat. He’s caged me in with his body.

“We both know that’s a fucking lie. Besides, any son of a bitch stupid enough to try to steal your car will have to deal with me. Instead of worrying about that piece of metal, concern yourself with how you’re going to make up for the last two days of your absence.”

He glares down at me, and my nipples harden so much that they become painful. I try to remind myself that I don’t like the caveman act.

Yet, my body isn’t getting the message. Neither is my head because the way I’ve missed Dae over the past two days is ridiculous. I would find myself daydreaming about the sound of his voice while I should’ve been focused on work.

And right now. I could get out of this situation if I wanted. I didn’t have to tell him that I’d leave with him if he let Ardie go. I wanted to, though.

The powerful realization has my eyelids slowly closing as I take a deep breath. Dae returns to the driver’s seat and pulls off once the light turns green.

The silence returns. It’s not a contented quiet by any means, though. I know a quiet storm when one’s brewing.

Ten minutes after our brief stop, Dae turns into a gated neighborhood. We’re in one of the suburbs just outside of Williamsport. He drives through the rows of beautiful homes and finally pulls into the semi-circle driveway of the largest houses in the neighborhood.

“Is this your house?” I ask. Even though he doesn’t answer, I continue, “I thought you said you live in the city?”

I turn from the house to the driver’s seat, but he’s not there. That quickly, he’s gotten out of the car and rounded the front to open my door. Almost automatically, I stretch my hand out to take his. His strong fingers encircle mine and pull me up.

---