Page 62 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

I blew out an exasperated breath. “It was definitely a job. I heard him talking to her before I showed myself. He said he was told she was a hot piece of ass, and that he had to cover his tracks and kill her.”

I didn’t need to pretend to be pissed off. Just remembering it was Aaron behind it all, and the way that piece of shit had looked at her had me seeing red.

I watched TJ’s eyes narrow. “A connection to Ken?” he asked.

I didn’t want to lead TJ to Aaron too much, but he wasn’t stupid. There had to be some truth in there or he’d see through it. “Not Ken, I don’t think. Maybe his son though. He’s made some connections over the last couple of months and could’ve mentioned the girl’s involvement when he was wasted or something…”

TJ nodded. I could see the wheels turning inside his head. “Yeah, I could see that.”

He fell silent for a little while as he thought it over then huffed. Looking over my shoulder, his eyes zeroed in on Kaeli and he smirked.

I automatically turned to see what he was smirking at and almost flinched. Kaeli was cowering against my bed head with the covers clamped tight to her chest, looking like she’d been well and truly used and abused. My stomach twisted at the sight.

“You better get used to it, sweetheart,” TJ said. “You’re going to be here for a while.”

Kaeli’s eyes widened and she jerked up straighter, the sheet still clutched to her chest. “What? No. I can’t stay here. My Mom…my mom will get worried. She’ll call the police…”

I rolled my eyes like she was being dramatic and gave TJ a pointed look. “Maybe you should get a message through to Ken to smooth it over with her old lady.”

He stepped back from the door and laughed. “Yeah, if she’s anything like her daughter then I think that might be best.”

With that, he turned and disappeared down the hall.

Closing the door, I quickly locked it and rested my forehead against the frame. I was doing a really poor job of keeping her safe. Steeling myself, I turned to gauge how she was taking the news.

Her troubled gaze pinned me the moment I turned. “Do I really need to stay here?”

I hated how small her voice sounded. I sighed. “Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s one of TJ’s rules if there are cops hanging around.”

She nodded in understanding, which honestly blew my mind. It didn’t matter what she had thrown at her, she always just dealt. It amazed me. She amazed me.

“Mi-” she started before clamping her mouth shut. “Um…I…” she sighed shakily. “Do you think it’d be alright if I asked you to hold me?”

Again, her voice sounded so small. It was the opposite of the strong girl I saw most of the time. Without thinking, I went to step forward but caught myself when I saw her bare shoulders. I closed my eyes. Fuck me. She was only in a pair of panties.

A deep ache surged through my gut. With effort, I smothered down a groan, but I couldn’t stop the thoughts of what it’d feel like holding her naked chest against mine.

Bending down to pick my shirt up off the floor, I threw it over to her. “If you put this back on.”

She blushed a little, but she quickly slipped it on over her head, thankfully managing to hold the sheet in place until my shirt covered her.

When she was done, she sank back down under the covers and looked up at me with her big doe eyes. My stomach clenched again.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to step forward until I reached the edge of the bed, then I hesitantly slipped between the sheets. I took a minute before turning on my side to look at her, but when I saw how scared she looked, I stopped thinking.

Sliding closer, I slipped one arm under her head and wrapped the other one around her waist, pulling her into me. She wriggled against me to get comfortable, her hands smoothing over my chest and her legs tangling with mine.

It was pure agony.

After a little while she settled in and sighed contentedly, but I was anything but. Every part of me was hypersensitive to the pleasure she was giving me by simply being in my arms. And it was almost a fucking overload.

Between the sensation of her breath against my bare chest sending tiny ripples of electricity over every inch of my skin, and the scent of her hair sending a weird signal straight to some unknown place in the center of my chest, making it all fucking warm and fuzzy, I was quickly losing control.

When her fingers started drawing slow, soft circles on my chest, I reached my limit. “Kaeli…” I breathed. I barely recognized my own voice, it sounded so strained.

She flattened her hand against my chest, but it didn’t help. If anything, the way it rested there made it so much worse. She tilted her head back to look up at me. I was pretty sure what she could see in my eyes, because the instant she looked at me, her own eyes darkened with lust.

I was so fucking screwed.

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