Page 4 of The Ties That Bind

Hesitantly, her lips began to move. As if she didn’t know what to do … or couldn’t believe what was happening. I stroked my tongue along the seam of her lips and when she gasped, I licked my way inside her mouth where her tongue danced tentatively against mine. Taking the kiss deeper, I stepped into her, the hard length of my cock pressing against her soft contours. When I rolled my hips, she whimpered into my mouth and her hands glided up my chest to lock around my neck.

Time stood still as our kiss continued and I forgot about everything and everyone around me—who I was, the things I’d done, the horrors I’d commit in the name of my family—and simply focused on the pleasure I found in this girl’s arms. I didn’t know if I’d ever felt such … peace … as I did in that moment, but like all good things I’d ever known, it too had to end.

“Arabella! Arabella! Quick, he’s coming!” A hand clutched at my shoulder and tried to yank me away.

With a growl, I locked my angel against me and—as if by instinct—turned to fight off the intruder. Her friend jumped back but didn’t retreat.

“Quick, Arabella. We have to go.” She reached around me and grabbed her friend’s hand and tugged. “If he sees you with him—” the brave girl notched her chin my way “—we’re all dead and you know it. We shouldn’t have even come here.”

The girl’s words managed to claw their way through my lustful stupor and when I realized what I’d heard, my heart stopped, plummeted, and then surged upward into my throat. My fight-or-flight instincts kicking in, a surge of adrenaline coursed through me and ignited my rage. Swiveling back around to face the girl I’d been kissing for dear life just moments before, I leveled her with an angry glare. Undaunted by my fury, she raised her chin and glared back.

“You said you knew who I was. You didn’t say how.”

“You didn’t ask,” she volleyed.

“No, I didn’t,” I agreed through clenched teeth, incensed at the both of us. Her for playing coy, and me for not pressing the issue further before I lost myself in her.

“You should have told me Arabella.”

“If I had, you wouldn’t have kissed me.”

“You’re right, I wouldn’t have. I would have walked away and never looked back.”

“Arabella!” her friend whisper-shouted from behind me. “Come on. I mean it, we have to go.”

“Whoever’s coming, stall him,” I bit out.

I wanted answers and Arabella wasn’t leaving until she gave them to me. If that meant coming face to face with her goons, then so be it. I’d dealt with worse in the past, and would likely do so again in the future.

“I’ll try,” her friend answered hesitantly. “But I’m warning you, this could get ugly.”

“Life is ugly,” I replied, never taking my eyes off Arabella. “The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be.”

Arabella leaned around me and spoke to her friend. “Tell him I’m in the bathroom. Try to get him to go to the video game store. It’s the only thing that’ll distract him. Tell him you want to buy your boyfriend a game but you’re not sure which one. That should give me a few minutes. I’ll come find you as soon as I can. I need to talk to Xander. I have to explain.”

I watched her face as she delivered her message, looking for signs of deceit or treachery. When I didn’t detect them, I relaxed my stance and waited for her friend to leave. I wanted to believe what Arabella said, but I didn’t know if my intuition could be trusted. I’d already behaved stupidly where this girl was concerned and it could have gotten me killed. Fuck, it could have gotten us all killed.

I needed to be on my guard now because I was coming to realize where Arabella Wilson was concerned, Icouldn’t be trusted to do the right thing. The smart thing. The safe thing. She was in my blood and like a junkie I wanted more and I worried that I might be willing to do just about anything to get it. Including standing here, with my back turned, while I knew her bodyguard was searching for her. Every part of me wanted to turn and face the open expanse of the mall, but I stayed planted where I was, almost like I was daring him to come at me.

“It’s okay,” she said, leaning back against the wall and staring up at me. “I’ll let you know if I see him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I grunted.

“Sure you do,” she answered. “It’s written all over your face.”

Like hell it was. If there was one skill I had above all others, it was keeping my emotions locked away so no one ever knew what I was thinking or feeling. She would see nothing I didn’t let her. And I certainly didn’t want her knowing I was at war with myself over whether or not to trust her. To trust myself.

“You know that leaving your back exposed to the enemy is the stupidest fucking thing you could do, and yet you haven’t turned to scan the area. Not even once. You want to, but you want to know why I let you kiss me more—why I kissed you back—and you’re willing to risk your life to find out. That’s brave, Xander. Or very, very stupid.” She tsked. Standing tall and proud, she finished, “But like I said, I’ll let you know when it’s time to run.”

Clenching my large, calloused hands around her bare upper arms, I shook her just enough to rattle her. This was serious fucking business and the sooner she understood that, the better off we’d both be. “You better start explaining yourself Arabella. What sort of game are you playing?”

Her eyes glinting with steel, she took a step forward, crossing the space that separated us so that our bodies were practically touching. “Get your hands off me and I’ll tell you,” she ordered.

As if her skin was on fire, I unleashed her and stepped back.

“That’s better,” she gloated. “I liked you better when you were looking at me like I was some sweet treat you’d like to gobble up.”

“And I liked you better when I didn’t know who you were.”

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