Page 5 of Closely Guarded

“No! Nick please, I don’t want them finding out about this!” She reaches out and grabs my hand. Her grip is tight but her fingers are icy cold.

“Okay, I won’t call them,” I soothe her. “You don’t have to tell me anything until the police get here.” Even now, I can hear the sirens in the distance. “Do you mind if I wait here with you until I know that you’re okay?”

“Yes, please stay.”

I see two uniformed police officers walking towards us, so I squeeze Claire’s hand in silent support.

The next hour or so is… I don’t know how to describe it. It’s scarier than anything I’ve been through in the Air Force, that’s for damn sure. Claire has a stalker? And she never told anyone? It makes me regret not hitting the asshole harder.

The more Claire tells the officers the more upset I can feel myself getting, and that just isn’t me. In the field I’m calm and careful. I examine all the options before making the best decision in any given situation. But right now? In this situation? Yeah, calm’s out the window. I want to scoop Claire up and hide her away somewhere she’ll be safe… and kick this guy in the balls as I go.

The officers drag the guy—Lenny, that’s the asshole’s name—away and put him in the back of their cruiser before he’s even fully regained consciousness. For Claire’s sake, I’m glad they did that as soon as they got here and we told them what happened. I doubt she would have been comfortable telling the truth with him right there.

While one officer takes her statement the other runs Lenny’s name through the local, state, and national databases to see if he has any charges against him or warrants to his name. As it turns out, he does.

About a year ago, he spent a few months in Oklahoma and is thought to be responsible for a string of burglaries, robberies, and other monetary crimes. Claire pales even more when she hears this, so I wrap my arm around her waist to prop her up. If she keeps this up, I’ll have the officers call paramedics to treat her for shock.

“It’s my fault,” she whispers, “that he did all that. He must have needed the money because of me.”

Claire had told the officers how he kept leave “gifts” at her doorstep and seemed to get information that he should not have been able to… at least, not without bribing someone. The idea of him showing up at any time of the day and leaving things at her doorstep, even something as seemingly benign as a candle, is unsettling to say the least.

When she told the officers that he had escalated to lighting the candles, they had shared a glance and one had muttered something about Lenny’s potential to become a “firebug”. I wonder if they can add attempted arson to his rapidly developing rap sheet. I sure as hell hope so, this guy deserves to rot for years for what he’s put Claire through. She doesn’t deserve any of this! All she did was go out on one boring date with the guy!

The worst part of it is, she thinks that’s why he did this. Claire thinks that this is her fault, that she somehow led him on. The officers and I know that is not true. If it wasn’t Claire, it would be some other poor girl who grabbed this guy’s attention.

“Claire, you can’t blame yourself for this,” the female police officer reassures her. “We’ve got your preliminary statement but you’ll probably have to come down to the station in a few days to talk to us more. With this guy’s out of state charges to boot, I’m pretty confident he’ll end up serving significant time. People like this… there’s something wrong with them. It’s never the victim’s fault. You did everything right, even if I do wish you would have called us before he got physically violent with you. I’d like to give you my card, in case you have any questions for me. We probably will have to be in touch with you in a couple of days, so just take it easy until then. The threat is over; we’ve got him locked up and something tells me that he won’t be able to pay his bail, not when all of his money comes from crimes. Do you need us to drive you home or are you okay with your friend?”

“I’m safe with Nick,” Claire says and tentatively smiles at me.

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side as the police officers leave with Lenny. “Can I take you home?” I ask Claire. She nods and murmurs her address, so I tuck her more firmly against my side and guide her out of the park.

Chapter 6- Claire

As a young child, I loved fairytales. The beautiful princess saved from the evil dragon by a handsome knight—it had all seemed like such a romantic adventure. As an adult, I’ve realized that I would have happily gone without the evil dragon part of the experience… but I was still feeling a little bit like a princess. Nick is my knight in shining armor. He showed up exactly when I needed him and saved me from Lenny.

Nick follows me into my small apartment and as soon as he slides the deadbolt closed behind us—how did he know that, despite it being the middle of the morning and Lenny locked up, I’d need the reassurance?—and I start babbling my thanks to him.

It all comes out in a bit of a jumbled rush, but he seems to understand, wrapping me up tight in his arms and cradling the back of my head with a strong hand. He comforts me gently, not saying anything but stroking my hair and humming occasionally. It just makes me fall in love with him even more.

As much as I want to stay in his arms forever, I disentangle myself and take a step back, working to compose myself. I feel that if I stay too close to him, I’ll blurt out how I feel about him. Somewhere in the jumbled mess of what I’d said was a thank you, how grateful I am to him for saving me. Calming down, I step back and look up at him.

Nick reaches out and wipes the remnants of tears off my face and leans in close. I think that he’s going for another hug but he kisses me. Right on the lips.

The kiss is slow and gentle. Nick’s hands are light as he frames them against my face. My eyes flutter shut, and I can’t contain the sigh of contentment that escapes as he drifts back. “I know I shouldn’t have done that,” he whispers. “But how could I not?”

Nick doesn’t wait for me to respond before bending and kissing me again. I melt into his arms and open my mouth to his. The feel of the wall against my back surprises me. I was so caught up that I didn’t even realize that he was moving me. It’s such a contrast to how Lenny threw me back against the tree this morning.

He pulls his mouth from mine to mouth along my jaw. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he moans softly.

“Why?” I gasp. As his dark eyes bore into mine, I reach up and card my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. It’s so much softer than I imagined—and I’ve imagined a lot.

“Zach would kill me if he knew the things I’m thinking about doing to you.”

“He doesn’t have to find out.” The thought of keeping this a secret between us, something that only we share… it’s strangely thrilling to me.

“Thank god,” Nick mumbles against my throat. His hands dip under my t shirt to palm the sensitive skin of my waist. His fingers press up my spine until he finds the clasp of my bra, quick fingers unhooking it. As Nick works my t shirt up and over my head, I tear out of my shoes and socks before peeling off my shorts and under wear.

When I’m standing in front of him, naked as the day I was born, Nick steps back and gives me a long, hot once over. I’m not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be. Deep down, I had always hoped that my first time having sex would be with Nick. I can feel his hot gaze roaming over my body and my skin prickles with awareness. His eyes finish their exploration of my body and meet mine. The deep chocolate brown is gone, replaced by an aroused black.

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