Page 15 of Wizard

She sighed and pushed up to her feet. “I guess it’s time to take this to the police.”

“Not going to the cops,” I informed her as I snapped my laptop closed and slipped it into my satchel. “Go pack a bag, baby. Make sure you have enough shit for a couple of weeks.” I added the most recent letter to the envelope with the others and stuffed it next to my computer.

“Excuse me?” she uttered in a bewildered tone.

I stood to my full height, and once again, I moved close enough that she had to drop her head nearly all the way back to meet my gaze. “You heard me.”

She shook her head. “Why do I need to pack a bag? And why aren’t we going to the police?”

“Taking you back to the Hounds of Hellfire compound. Nowhere safer, and we’ll do a hell of a lot better at catching this asshole.” My smile was wicked when I added, “And we’ll be the ones meting out his punishment.”

Her eyes were heated and her cheeks ruddy when she hummed, “Ummm…I don’t think…that’s not…”

I grinned. Seemed my girl liked it when I was tough and growly.Something to keep in mind.

“Don’t worry about it, baby. Now go pack a bag before I drag your sexy ass outta here without any of your shit. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

She opened her mouth, most likely to argue with me, so I covered her lips with my own. The kiss was insistent, drugging, and I was close to losing control when I finally pulled back.

“Do as you're told, baby,” I muttered, then I turned her around by her shoulders and patted her ass to get her moving.

Dazed, she slowly walked away, her hips swaying. I kept my eyes glued to her ass. Damn, my woman was hot as fuck.

Ten minutes later, she hadn’t come out of the bedroom, so I stalked down the hall to see what was taking her so long.

She was sitting on the bed, a medium-sized suitcase open beside her. Noting that it was filled to the brim, I decided we could talk about whatever was on her mind later. Right now, I wanted her in my room at the clubhouse where I knew she was safe. And I was done trying to talk her into the plan.

I closed her bag and zipped it up, then set it on the floor.

Bracing my feet apart, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at her. “Your ten minutes are up, baby.”

“Baylor…I think—” She yelped when I bent down and picked her up, gently tossing her over my shoulder.

I grabbed her suitcase and marched out to the front door.

“What the heck?” she squawked.

“Gave you plenty of warning, baby,” I growled. “Doing things my way now.”

Once we were outside, I locked and shut her door. “Need a fucking alarm system,” I grumbled as I made my way to thetruck. Although she didn’t need one in this place anymore. Now that she was living with me, I wasn’t about to let her go.

When we reached the truck, I opened the back door and tossed her bag onto the bench seat in the extended cab. After slamming it shut, I opened the front passenger door and gently set Thea in the seat. She still seemed to be in a state of shock because she didn’t speak or try to stop me from buckling her in.

The sound of the belt clicking into place resonated in the quiet of the truck. I was about to move away but stopped and grasped her chin, making sure we were eye to eye when I spoke again. “No more pushing me away, Thea,” I told her. “You’ve got no choice but to have me in your life now. And not just because of the stalker. I’m done being patient. We are happening. End of story.”

6

THEA

Ishould have protested more, but something about Baylor being all growly and possessive made me more agreeable than I should have been. Probably because it made him even sexier than usual. Which was saying a lot since he was the hottest guy I’d ever met, and I’d been around many male cover models that readers swooned over.

And if that wasn’t enough to sway me, the swarm of butterflies in my belly at being told we were happening would’ve gotten me to agree.

As he backed his truck out of my driveway, I grumbled, “Maybe I was wrong.”

“About what?”

I crossed my arms over my chest with a huff. “I thought that you reading my books was a really good thing…until you acted like one of my heroes, right down to what he’d say in a situation like this.”

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