Page 17 of Hap

I swallow. “She’s doing fine. It’s just me she likes to torment,” I answer truthfully. He takes my hand in his, and as he turns it palm side up, he squeezes a drop of body wash on to it.

“Wash yourself,” he instructs, changing the conversation. I tilt my head to the side to look at him, and as his eyes meet mine, he sees the question on my face. “If I touch you between your legs, baby...” His voice is deep in warning, and he pauses, as if trying to regain some composure. My eyes immediately lower to his lips, remembering how they felt.

“You said it wasn’t sexual,” I cut in, repeating his words back to him.

His hand cups my face, and he leans in close, his lips brushing against my ear. “Baby, wash your damn pussy,” he orders before leaning back.

My hand moves by itself, and I refuse to turn away from him. Keeping my eyes on his, I move my hand over myself. His eyes burn with desire, and I fight the urge to smile in victory. Instead, I move my hands to the side of the tub and push myself up to stand before I carefully climb out of the tub beside him, not giving him another glance. I grab a towel and wrap it around my body, but as I turn to face him, he gets to his feet and takes a step into my personal space. For a moment, I think he’s going to kiss me, but he doesn’t.

“Get dressed. We leave in 30 minutes,” he stated before he walked out of the bathroom.

CHAPTER NINE

HAP

“Get in the damn truck,”I sigh.

She folds her arms across her chest defiantly. “No, I don’t want to go to your house. I have a job, and I have commitments. I can’t just up and leave,” she argues.

I’m surprised she hasn’t fought me more. When I’d told her to sit and eat, the fire that hit her eyes… Fuck, I thought she was about to tear me down, even being as sick as she was. I know the only reason she hadn’t was because she was so fucking hungry. I’m still pissed at myself and at her for not calling me to tell me she was sick and struggling, but it’s more on me than her. I should have checked in with her sooner, but I wanted to make sure the house was ready. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had to prove myself to her. She was a beautiful, smart woman, and if I wasn’t careful, I knew she could take my kid and herself away from me to go and live the perfect life with some other successful guy. Fuck, just the thought of that pissed me off. I wasn’t sure what it was I felt for her, because at this moment in time all I felt was fucking frustration because she wouldn’t do as she’s damn well told.

“If you don’t get in the fucking car, I will pick you up and force you in there myself,” I threaten.

“You’re threatening to kidnap me?!” she screeches. She glances past me towards her neighbour. “You can’t. There are witnesses,” she snaps.

I shouldn’t have fed her. What I should have done was just put her in the damn truck when she was sleepy and weak, then fed her at mine. I arch my brow at her. “Does it look like I give a shit about witnesses?” I counter.

“Well, Gill would call the cops on you,” she huffs. I hear footsteps approach, and as I glance to my left, I see Gill, the fucking nosey neighbour that can’t seem to mind his own fucking business, coming over to see what the commotion is all about.

“Er, Alina, is everything alright?” he asks, clasping his watering can like I’m about to steal it. I look him up and down. The guy has to be in his forties, and he dresses like a fucking sixty-year-old librarian. He pushes his glasses up his nose, his eyes flickering back and forth between Alina and me.

“No, Gill, it’s not. He’s trying to force me to go with him,” Alina states firmly with no hint of fear in her voice.

“Do you want me to call the police?” he asks, his voice cracking with nerves.

Sighing, I step into his space. I have at least a foot on him as I glare down at him. “Listen Gill, she is coming with me. You are going to scuttle right on back to watering your fucking flowers and back to minding your own fucking god damn business. You will do it without calling the police. I do not hurt women, but I do hurt interfering, nosey cunts like you. Now fuck off,” I growl in warning.

He practically pisses his pants and runs back to his house.

I smirk and turn around to face Alina. “Get your ass in the car,” I demand.

Surprisingly, she does it without a word of protest. Although the look on her face has me thinking I will be on the receivingend of her anger at some point. I get in the car and look over at her. She has her arms crossed, and she’s busy staring out the passenger window to avoid looking at or acknowledging me.

I smile wide. Fuck, this shit’s going to be fun.

On the drive to the house, she pulls out her phone and places it to her ear. “Becky, I need you to cancel all my meetings and get Lance to fill in for, well all of it. I won’t be coming into the office for a while.” She sighs, pausing. “I’m fine,” she says quietly. “Remember the biker?” she whispers. “He’s kind of kidnapped me. I don’t know where I will be!” she hisses.

I reach over and snatch the phone from her ear, placing it to mine.

“Hey!” she protests.

“Becky, this is Hap. How are you darlin’?” I ask smoothly.

Becky clears her throat. “I’m good, thanks. Er, where are you taking her?” she asks.

“I bought a house, and I’m taking her there. She has an office set up, so she can still work, just remotely. Can you make that work?” I ask.

“Yeah, of course, that’s no problem,” she states.

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