Page 103 of Indigo Sky

I had gotten up from the bed so fast and stalked after her until the back of her head was pressed against my chest. My hands tight against her waist.

“Youare my business,” I said through gritted teeth, my voice coming out as a growl. “Yoursafetyis my business. It’sliterallywhat I’m paid to do.”

Her hands stilled on the hangers as her breath escalated, her pulse thrumming and her throat working with a hard swallow.

“Iwon’tget in the way of what you have to do to make your money. But I swear to you, I will know every move you make, everywhere you go, and I will not be more than a single fucking breath away. Because if you ever needed me and Iwasn’tthere? I wouldn’t ever forgive myself for that. Do you understand me? I would cease to fuckingexistif something happened to you.”

Kate swallowed again, then turned her head to face me. Our eyes met, our lips a shred of breath away from touching.

"Okay," she whispered, and I closed the gap between her mouth and mine.

I lifted one hand to grasp her chin and jaw, maneuvering her head exactly where I needed to deepen the kiss, tongues intertwining. Her arm rose to wrap around the back of my neck, her body relaxing against my chest like clay, soft and malleable. With my other hand, I moved from her hip to slide beneath the waistband of her sweatpants, remembering she hadn't bothered to put on underwear, and a strangled groan scraped along my throat when my fingers moved lower and found her wet.

"So, tell me something," I murmured into her mouth as I moved one finger to just the edge of where her body pooled with the evidence of her need and desire.

She exhaled sharply, leaning her head back against my shoulder. "What?"

"How long have I done this to you?" I asked, moving that finger further upward, not quite touching where she wanted—needed—it most. "When did you start getting this wet just by being near me?"

That finger moved lower once again, slipping inside as I kissed her throat. A guttural moan was torn from her mouth, and it vibrated against my lips.

"Since … since the first day I-I met you," she answered, breathless, as she tightened around me. "I wanted you so much. I … I never stopped thinking about you … oh fuck …"

I thought about that night as I worked that finger in and out of her body, licking and sucking her throat as she writhed against me and my rock-hard erection, pressed to her back.

I thought about that first kiss. My first kiss. The one I'd later hold every single kiss up against, the one that had made every other pale in comparison.

I thought about the need I harbored for her and only her, a need that had only grown over the course of years. A need I’d thought I'd never be able to satisfy.

I thought about watching her walk away, how badly I'd wanted to reach out and ask for her number. To hold on for just awhile longer, but I'd let her go to keep her safe from the situation I knew I'd put her in by simply knowing Nate.

And then I thought about the situation we were now in.

I was convinced there wasn't a safer place for her than with me, nestled against my heart. I was so fucking certain, and it was that drive and determination that brought me to my knees. Gripping her hips, turning her around, yanking those pants off until I could spread her legs and make a meal of her right in front of the closet that housed every one of the outfits she wore to strip for other men.

Maybe even the one who hunted her now.

But she was mine to protect … andonlymine to devour.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

As it turned out, Saul didn’t mind my demands to keep an eye on Kate. I’d go so far as to say the guy was glad for it, but far be it from him to crack a smile about anything.

So, I gave Indigo Sky her space to do what she did, but I made my presence known to her and no one else. I was in the front row when she worked the stage and the pole. When she was on the floor, giving lap dances and doling out drinks, I stood toward the back of the tables, not only watching her, but everyone else. The guys who grabbed her. The ones who called for her attention. The ones who watched, but did nothing at all.

And then the two times she gave a private dance, I stood outside the curtained door, my back to the wall. When the customers asked about my presence, she simply said it was club policy for security to watch the hallway. They accepted it, though I couldn’t say they seemed all that thrilled, and that made me wonder …

What would they try if I wasn’t there?

As it was, the first guy demanded another song he hadn’t paid for. Said she had half-assed the first one and he wanted a do-over. I was about to step in to intervene when she agreed to a short one.

When he left the room, the fucker smirked at me like he’d just gotten away with robbing a bank, and it took everything in my power not to wring his neck.

The second guy was less of an asshole, but more like me nine years ago.

His buddies had gotten him a private dance for his twenty-first birthday. Kate led him into the back room and closed the curtain without so much as a glance in my direction, and I manned the door with crossed arms pressed to my chest.

From outside, I listened as the kid encouraged Kate with awkward dirty talk.

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