Page 128 of Arran's Obsession

Arran was home.

Chapter 37

Arran

The blade slashed towards me, stopping an inch from my throat, the knife owner’s arm around my neck. At the same moment, a second man reeled away, pulling his punch.

“Fucking hell. Ye couldn’t knock?” Jamieson said.

At my back, Shade uttered a laugh and loosened his grip.

I was quicker than him.

Grabbing his arm, I yanked him off balance, then bent forward, squatted, and hauled him over my back in one fluid motion. He flew across my shoulder and crashed to the floor with a startled laugh, his weapon miraculously holstered again.

Then he climbed to his feet and embraced me, smacking my back hard. “Good to see ye back, arsehole.”

Jamieson joined him. “I taught him that move.”

“Then you’re an arsehole too,” Shade grumbled in return.

From the sofa, Cassie sat up and blinked owlishly. “You’re back. Cool beans. I’m going to bed.” She picked up the blanket around her and trotted off down my hallway like she owned the fucking place.

I didn’t care. My focus was fully on Genevieve, relief slamming into me that she was safe. In soft leggings and a sweatshirt, all her makeup removed, and her hair in a messy bun, she was the picture of everything I’d needed to come home to, and the emotion in her eyes told me exactly how she’d felt about my arrest.

Closing in, I collected her into my arms, throwing an instruction to the rest of the room. “Give us a minute.”

“Just a minute?” Jamieson queried.

Shade answered with a laugh, “Give him a break, he’s new to it. Stamina takes time to develop.”

In my bedroom, I kicked the door closed then dropped down against my pillows so Gen could huddle against me. She whimpered, and I just fucking held her. Then I found her mouth with mine and kissed her hello.

“You broke the four-hour rule,” she said against my lips.

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry. It couldn’t be helped.”

“Does it mean our game is over?”

My chest tightened. “No. Not at all. I just have to make it up to you.”

She inched back, examining my face, her fingers brushing over my brow. “Are you okay?”

“Perfectly fine. Were you worried?”

“Of course I was. How would you feel if you saw me taken away like that?”

Savage anger flashed through me. “I’d tear apart the world until I got you back.”

Her throat bobbed under her choker. “That’s how I felt, and I couldn’t do a thing about it other than pretend I wasn’t yours. So much happened after you were just gone. Cassie appeared. My brother came here and Shade locked him in his apartment. I just… I needed you so badly.”

She held my gaze, some weird, messed-up shit surging in me. I wanted to hurt something as recompense for the pain she’d suffered. Remove Kenney’s head from his body. Maim myself for being the cause.

Realisation hit me like a brick. Our bond was stronger than I’d even started to comprehend. I was connecting to her, embedding deep hooks. I fought with her, lost myself in fucking her, and unequivocally intended to keep her.

“At the end of the four weeks, you’re not leaving me,” I said.

Genevieve’s breath stuttered. “Okay.”

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