Page 26 of Her Keeper
“Perfect. Then let’s go.”
He waited until I got out of the car and then ushered impatiently up the front walk, indicating that I should go ahead of him. I walked, feeling more than a little bit off-balance at the sudden change in his tone, but stopped when he put a hand on my arm.
“Wait,” he said quietly. “I go in first.”
He slid his gun out of its holster and held it up in front of him, finger on the trigger and eyes on the door in front of us. A key appeared out of nowhere and slid into the deadbolt, and Michael turned it with a click. He used the doorknob to open the door and then pushed it inward, moving more slowly than I’d ever seen him move.
“Stay out here,” he murmured.
He disappeared into the darkness inside, leaving me standing nervously by myself on the front step, and I fought the urge to run in after him. We didn’t know who was out here or who might be watching, and I glanced over my shoulder, positive that someone was right there, waiting for Michael to leave me so he could attack.
No one was out there, though I scanned the street several times just to make sure. I didn’t see anything. Just a suburban street filled with cars that looked like they’d seen one too many field trips. No black sedans. No gun-bearing men wearing sunglasses and aiming to kill.
Or if there were, I couldn’t see them.
A hand grabbed my arm and I screeched, nearly jumping out of my skin, but it was just Michael coming back out of the house.
“Everything is clear in here,” he said. “Why the fuck are you screaming?”
I batted at his hand, suddenly furious at the way he was acting. He’d been so sweet and understanding back at Brooks’ house and now he was acting like he actuallywasthe enemy, or like there was nothing to be afraid of, when there wasplentyto be afraid of—including him!
I could feel the tears and hysteria coming, and I didn’t try to stop them. Instead, I leaned into them, needing the outlet after too many hours of being strong and brave. “I’m screaming because someone out there is trying to kill me and you just left me standing out there alone in front of this house, which I don’t even recognize! I don’t know where we are or what I’m supposed to do or who’s searching for me and I’ve never been so scared in my life, Michael! And now here you are suddenly acting like it doesn’t matter and I—”
He yanked me through the door and slammed it behind me, then pinned me up against the wall and stared into my eyes. “You think I’m acting like it doesn’t matter? Would I have gone against my father and put my own life in danger to get you out of New York if it didn’t matter? Would I, Penny?”
He shook me like he was trying to emphasize his point, and I slapped at him again.
“Don’t shake me! Youareacting like it doesn’t matter! You didn’t want to listen to me in the first place, and now you’re all ‘Stay out here,’ like I should be able to just handle myself while you’re doing whatever you’re doing! You think I’m just going to feel better because you say you could already have killed me? I’m starting to think I’d be better off with anyone but you, Michael, if that’s what you really think! Should I just go out there and find the guys trying to kill me? Save you the trouble?”
He reared back at that like I’d physically hit him, his eyes wounded and his brow creased, and I had a split second to wonder why the hell he looked likehewas the one who was hurt, here. He was the one in charge! He’d literally carried me out of Brooks’ house and driven me here, and it was his own fault he’d suddenly decided to start treating me like I was the enemy again!
Then his expression changed again. He went from lost and wounded to furious. “Are you saying you’d rather be out there on the street than here with me?”
I snorted. “I’m saying I might be safer with someone who didn’t want to kill me.” I tried to keep my voice steady, tried to pretend I wasn’t terrified of the idea, but I couldn’t help myself. Tears flooded my eyes and my lip was starting to wobble again.
I would have made a terrible spy. I couldn’t keep my emotions under control for more than thirty seconds.
Michael searched my eyes, his own gaze intense and burning. When he spoke, his voice was a growl. “You think you’d be better off with someone else?”
He didn’t wait for my answer. his lips came down over mine in something so needy, so possessive, so demanding, that my body had no choice but to respond. I fought him for a minute, confused about what he was doing, but then my lips opened to him, inviting him in. And our kiss became a battle, all teeth and tongues and sharp, biting breaths as we tore into each other, both of us so desperate, so scared, that we didn’t have time for doubts. Michael took my hands and pinned them to my side, ravaging my mouth like I was his for the taking.
And I was, I realized. Every piece of me was his. Every thought, every feeling, they all belonged to him. Especially when he was using his entire body to promise me that I was his and he was mine, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
I groaned and melted into him, tipping my head and taking him deeper. He pressed against me, nothing but large, solid need, and his grip on my wrists grew even stronger. I grunted in pain but that didn’t stop him, and by the time he drew back my lips felt swollen and bruised from the kiss.
His hands went to the hem of my skirt—the skirt I’d put on this morning before any of this had happened—and he yanked it up, not bothering to apologize when it ripped in the process. “No one gets you but me,” he growled, his hands gathering my skirt up around my waist and holding it there to keep me steady. “Understand? No one else is going to protect you like I’ll protect you. No one else is going to care for you like I will. You’re mine, Penny Lane. Tell me you know that.”
He pulled one of my legs up and wrapped it around his waist, his fingertips bruising me with their grip as they forced me into the position he wanted.
And God, I was here for it. The sheer power in his voice, the feel of his hands on me, guiding me and controlling me, was overwhelming. It was everything I needed, and I hadn’t even realized it. I was soaking wet for him already, and when his fingers slid between my legs and brushed through the wetness, I nearly screamed.
“Tell me,” he muttered. “Tell me you’re mine, Penny. Tell me you know I’ll protect you.”
“I know you’ll protect me,” I gasped. “I never doubted it.”
He withdrew his hand and went to work on his own belt, using his body to keep me pinned to the wall. “You didn’t sound so sure when you said you thought you might be safer with someone else.”
His pants slid to the floor and he kicked off his shoes and stepped out of them. And now there was nothing between us but the very thing layer of the panties I’d put on this morning.
