Page 110 of Damaged Protector

“I have Cam and Shiloh. Their house should be ready by then, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me staying with them for a couple weeks.”

“Huh,” Dad said again. “As long as you’re with family, I guess it would be okay. I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, and I really don’t mind. I’m a big girl and can fend for myself while you two have some fun. You deserve to relax, Dad. You never take your vacation days.”

“I know, and I regret that now. I should have been around more when you were little, but it seemed like you were always gone to some dance competition or training or something. So I threw myself into work. I thought you were having fun.”

“I was,” I assured him. “I did enjoy dance a lot, and I’m starting to again. I’m teaching now. I have five private students, and they’re paying me an exorbitant amount of money. I actually feel guilty sometimes,” I said with a laugh.

“You shouldn’t, baby. You’re so talented, and I’m glad you’re using your talents to do what you want now. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, almost choking on my emotions. I missed him so much.

After we hung up, I reached for one of the bags and pulled out a book, one Megan had bought today and loaned to me. It was a dark romance, and she told me to give it a try to see if I liked it.

Needing the distraction, I opened it and began to read.

“Wow,” I mumbled, “definitely not a slow burn.” There was an explicit sex scene in the prologue, and I quickly fell into the words on the page.

A mafia don, Lorenzo, had a one-night-stand with a woman named Lia, but when she slipped from his penthouse apartment in the dead of night, he became obsessed with her. Had to have her. So he did what any reasonable person would do. He kidnapped Lia.

Before I even realized it, I was a quarter way through the book. When my stomach growled, I put one of my new bookmarks in and went to the kitchen, making myself a plate of leftover lasagna.

After eating and changing into my pajamas, I went straight back to the book. I was as obsessed with Lorenzo as he was with Lia. I guessed it didn’t hurt that he reminded me a lot of Hawk. His unerring dominance. His possessiveness.

I adored Lia’s spunk as well. She threw things at the sexy bastard every time he entered her room to check on her, which he did often. I mean, he was a complete psycho, but much like Hawk, he wouldn’t take her without her consent, and I liked that very much about the character.

Lorenzo had certainly done his homework before he abducted Lia. He’d had her room painted in a soft teal because he knew it was her favorite color, and he’d knocked out the wall between her room and the one beside it so she could have her own personal library. Each day, he brought her a bowl of Skittles because he knew she loved them, but not before having one of his staff remove all the yellow ones because he knew she hated them.

As I read, Lia’s attitude began to slowly shift, and Lorenzo’s obsession turned to love. She saw that. Saw the gentle way he treated her despite his normally brutish demeanor. Then one day, she kissed him.

And that was all the permission he needed. The man went feral on her, tossing her on the bed and burying his face between her legs until she was damn near unconscious with pleasure.

When she awoke from her nap, he fucked her. Ruthlessly and for hours. With his hand around her throat, he drove into her from behind, his body taking what it had been wanting for months.

Shit, that’s hot. Why is that so hot?

As the scene went on for pages, my neck began to sweat, and things were feeling very swollen between my legs. When my phone rang, it startled me so much, I dropped the book on the floor and lost my place. Snagging the device, I saw it was after eleven.

I couldn’t hold back the little shiver that shot down my spine when Hawk’s name appeared on the screen. Whether from desire or trepidation, I wasn’t sure.

“Hey, Bee,” he said when I answered. His voice was deep and low, conjuring memories of the way he spoke when his dick was in my mouth.

“Hey.”

“I just got back to the room.”

“Okay.” I was apparently the master of one-word answers tonight.

“I’m alone.”

“All right.” Wow, two actual words. Progress.

“I know you heard what the guys were saying today, so I wanted you to know that I came back to my room by myself.”

“Am I supposed to take that as some kind of sacrifice on your part?”

His sigh sounded like pure frustration. “No, Bee. I had no desire to bring anyone to my room. Not any of the women here anyway.”

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