Destroy You (Destroy #3)

by K. D. Carrillo

  “Okay, let’s get you two settled in at home. Something about all of this feels wrong. I don’t believe in coincidences,” Reed said.

  “You don’t think Miguel is doing all of this, do you?” Toni asked.

  “I’m not sure he’s smart enough, but we’ll watch him and find out,” he replied.

  I turned to Toni. “Come on, baby, let’s do as Reed says and go home. I know I’ll be able to think better with some sleep. I haven’t slept well since the night of the barbeque.”

  Toni smiled. “Yeah, I’m exhausted.”

  She went back into my bedroom to get dressed, and I stood talking with Jeremy and Reed. When the door closed, I turned to them and spoke quietly. “What now?”

  “Now you both go home and get some rest. I’m going to call my former partner and work out some details, and we’ll have coffee in the morning and talk,” Reed said.

  I smirked. “Not too early, though. Toni and I have some lost time to make up for.”

  “Damn. I guess I’ll just have to spend some extra time in bed with my hot wife,” Reed joked.

  “I hate all of you,” Jeremy mumbled.

  “Nah, you’re going to call the guy you ditched to come over here and salvage the rest of your night,” I said.

  “Conveniently leaving you and Toni with a quiet house?” he asked.

  “If the house stays quiet, then my night isn’t going as well as I’d hoped.”

  Chapter 24

  Toni

  Once we were back at my house, I went into my room and set to clearing space for Trent to put his clothes. Besides Jeremy, I’d never lived with a guy before, and that was hardly the same thing. What if he didn’t want his own drawer? What if it symbolized something he wasn’t ready for?

  Trent came into the room a few minutes later and saw me standing frozen over a half-empty drawer clutching one of his shirts to my chest. He chuckled. “Are you hugging my shirt?”

  I dropped it and squealed, and he rubbed a hand soothingly up my back. “Hey, I didn’t mean to scare you. What are you doing?”

  “I…uh…I was just…Look, don’t read anything into it, but I was making some room for you in my dresser.”

  He turned me around and tipped my chin up with his finger. “What if I want to read something into it?”

  I blinked several times. “I don’t want to assume anything. You’re here, but it kind of feels like it’s because you have to be. Would we have made up if Miguel hadn’t come after me?”

  Trent’s expression hardened. “Would you have given me this chance if he hadn’t run you into my arms?”

  “If I didn’t want to be with you, I’d have run to Jeremy.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough. There’s still a lot we have to learn about each other. One thing you need to learn about me is that I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. What I want most is to be with you. Before you, I never wanted to be with the same woman longer than one night.”

  “Why me?” I asked.

  He scrubbed his hand across the top of his head. It was what he did when he had something on his mind. “You’ve consumed my thoughts since the night you walked into my bar on your birthday. I asked you out to dinner, which I never did, and it didn’t even occur to me to try and talk my way back to your place.”

  He shifted back and forth on his feet. “I didn’t know what it was about you that night, but I was intrigued. You always held me at arm’s length, and part of me was afraid I was drawn to the challenge you presented me with, but that wasn’t it, either. The other night with you was the first time I’d ever made love to a woman. Before you, I’d fucked, but it was never about love.”

  My face felt hot. Images from our one night together flooded my mind. If that was his idea of making love, I couldn’t stop wondering what it would be liked to be fucked by him. I hated all the women who knew the answer to that question.

  Trent stepped closer to me, fisted his hand in the back of my hair, and pulled until my head dipped back. His mouth descended on mine. It was a ferocious mating of lips; a dueling of tongues until my body burned and my lungs ached to breathe.

  He pulled back a fraction and spoke against my mouth. “I screwed up the other day, but after thinking I lost you, I won’t let you go again.”

  “Never. Don’t ever let me go,” I practically panted. He growled and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he took a couple of steps until he set me on top of my dresser. “I should be gentle with you, make love to you slowly, but touching you makes me lose my mind. Just…don’t let me scare you away. If anything I do is too much, all you have to do is tell me to stop.”

  My back arched toward him, and I started rubbing myself against him, trying to seek relief. “Don’t stop, please.”

  Trent dropped his hands to my legs and unlaced them from around his waist. I whimpered at the loss of contact until he moved to the button of my jeans. He undid it and pulled the zipper down, and I held on while he pulled them free from my legs. He rubbed the inside of my thigh until he reached the edge of my panties.

  “Off. Take everything off, now,” he grunted.

  I pulled my T-shirt over my head and quickly shed my bra and panties. He stood back, transfixed, his body tense and his gaze slowly traveling over my exposed skin. He flicked his tongue against his lip ring, and I started to tremble in anticipation.

  “Please,” I begged breathlessly.

  Snapping out of his trance, he whipped off his shirt and pulled his jeans and boxer-briefs down quickly. It was my turn to let my gaze travel. God, he was beautiful. I studied his ridged abs and followed the deep V of his muscles down to his erection.

  He stood still and let me gawk at him. “We still need to talk, but I need you first.”

  I smiled at him. “I’m more than okay with that.”

  Judging by his heated stare, I expected him to take me hard and fast. I wanted his touch to sear through me and claim me as his own. My heart thudded erratically as he slowly crossed the distance between us.

  He put his hands on top of the dresser on either side of me. I was practically buzzing with nervous anticipation, but he made no move to touch me. We stared in each other’s eyes, and the temperature between us continued to rise.

  His breathing was ragged, and he closed his stormy eyes. “Toni,” he whispered.

  I reached out to him and ran my fingers across his jaw, enjoying the roughness of his stubble. “Kiss me.”

  Trent started to shake slightly. “I’m trying to slow myself down and be gentle with you. Just give me a minute.”

  I kept stroking him. First the shell of his ear, then the straining muscles along his neck, and moving down his chest. “I want you, just as you are. You don’t need to hold back with me.”

  “God, Toni. I’m hanging on by a thread here. I don’t think you’re ready for how hard I want to take you right now.” His voice sounded pained.

  “Hey,” I said and placed my hands on either side of his face until he opened his eyes. “I’m not made of glass.”

  He exhaled forcefully, and I watched his control snap. He fisted one of his hands in my hair at the back of my neck while he grabbed my hip with the other and pulled me toward the edge. His grip on my hair was just short of painful, and I was surprised how much I liked it. His mouth landed forcefully on mine, and the depth of his desire made me burn for more.

  He let go of my hair and moved his hand to my leg. The calluses on his hands and fingers scratched up my thigh. The light scrape against my smooth skin caused goose bumps to spread across my body while I anticipated how they’d feel rubbing against my clit.

  When he finally reached it, I whimpered. Tiny explosions went off throughout my body, and lights danced in my vision. In the back of my mind, I was embarrassed by the sounds escaping me, but my body was begging him to ease the ache wanting him had created. I was climbing toward nirvana, getting closer every second, and it was just within reach when he suddenly pulled his hand away.

  Befor
e I could protest the loss of his touch, he plunged inside me in one fast thrust. I cried out at the invasion, and he stopped instantly.

  There was a momentary sting and then a marvelous fullness. I felt stretched and invaded in the most wonderful way. For a second, I thought how perfect it would be if we could stay just like this forever. However, my body had other ideas, and I quivered with need. I began to move instinctively, trying to ease the aching desire overwhelming my senses.

  He dug his fingers into my hips, halting my movement, and he rested his forehead in the curve of my neck and shoulder. “Are you okay?” he panted.

  “I’m great, but I’d be even better if you’d move.”

  “Thank God,” he muttered against my neck.

  I felt him everywhere. His breath on my skin, his lips climbing to the sensitive spot below my ear, and the scent of his cologne surrounded me. I was hyperaware of every inch of my skin, and I could feel every beat of his heart with our chests pressed together. It was as if nothing outside the two of us existed.

  I squirmed again, trying to get him to move. He pulled out halfway, and with his hands still holding my hips, he plunged back in fast and hard. In and out, our bodies crashed together over and over with reckless abandon. The room filled with the creaking groans of the dresser scraping across the floor and slamming against the wall.

  Trent moaned in ecstasy and trembled in my arms. I tried to catch his eyes, but his pupils were dilated and unseeing. His head fell back, and the muscles of his neck strained with exertion. Seeing him lose control and knowing I caused it was a heady sensation. I was forced to close my eyes as all my nerve endings sung with the deepest pleasure I’d ever experienced.

  After a minute, I let my legs drop from around his waist, and he helped me off the dresser. Now that I was separated from the heat of his body, the air chilled my sweat-slickened skin.

  Trent extended his hand, and I took it. “Take a shower with me.”

  Inside the bathroom, he started the shower, and we waited until the steam started to fill up the room. When we were finally standing under the hot spray, I groaned with relief. With our passions temporarily sated, we took our time washing each other.

  Trent slowly washed my long hair. I moaned when he massaged the shampoo into my scalp with his strong fingers. His jaw clenched, and he dropped his hands from my head.

  He grunted. “You should, uh, rinse your hair.”

  I giggled when I realized he was getting aroused again. He rolled his eyes at me. “You’re adorable, but I’d like to talk to you, and that isn’t going to happen if you keep making those noises. Let’s hurry up and get out of here.”

  Trent stepped out of the shower while I finished rinsing out my hair. Once I was done, he was dressed and waiting in the living room. I’d tossed on a comfortable pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt. I sank down on the couch next to him.

  He took a deep breath and looked as nervous as I felt. “You said earlier that you didn’t want to assume anything with me being here. I have to tell you, I hated hearing that. You’ve owned me practically since the day I met you. There’s no one else.”

  I looked down at my lap for a moment before I met his eyes again. I licked my dry lips and cleared my throat, which was tight with stress. “I want to believe you, but I’ve seen the looks you get from women at the bar, and I’ve heard them whispering about you in the bathroom. Then there’s Trinity, and I don’t know if I can compete with all of that.”

  He scrubbed his hands across his head, making a scraping sound against his short hair. The expression on his face was sad. “I can’t change my past. Yes, there were a lot of women. I wish I could tell you there weren’t, or that I was a gentleman, but that’d be a lie. And I know I fucked up the other night when I went to Trinity, but I can’t change that, either. I’m here now. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

  Could I put it behind me? I’d like to think so, but we are all products of our pasts. Mine left me a bit bruised, and I found it hard to let people in, but I wanted to let him past the walls I’d built. He waited for my answer, but I couldn’t get another word past my lips, so I nodded instead.

  Trent brushed my hair away from my face. “Is that a yes?” I nodded again. “Good, because I’m not sure I’d have given up anyway. You’re mine. So will you come to work with me tomorrow?”

  I sighed in relief. “You really need my help? I thought you handed over most of the work?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not going to spend as much time behind the bar, but there’s a lot of stuff only I can sign for. I’ll add on a few more bouncers, and there will be someone with you at all times.” I made a face at that statement. “I won’t budge on that one, so don’t give me that look.”

  I huffed. “I hate being babysat, but I won’t be difficult. I just can’t stand all of this, and I can’t see an end to it.”

  His expression turned sympathetic. “I know, but I do need your help. If I’m not going to be there as much, I need someone with your business knowledge to help me streamline my books. As far as everything else, we’ll come up with something, or I’ll take you away from here. Until we do, though, you won’t be alone.”

  “Okay. I hate it, but I know you’re right,” I agreed reluctantly.

  ***

  My alarm blared a shrill reminder that I needed to wake up and get to class. I slipped out of Trent’s arms and started getting dressed.

  Trent sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Why are you getting dressed?”

  “I’ve got to go to class. I missed yesterday, and I’ve got tests coming up,” I replied and pulled a shirt down over my head.

  Trent followed me out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. I could feel the tension radiating off him, but I ignored it and began making coffee. As a Washingtonian, coffee was my religion, and I worshipped it all day long. If he wanted to talk about this, I needed caffeine first.

  “You can’t go to school,” Trent declared.

  My blood felt like it was boiling, and I turned and glared at him. I had a death grip on the edge of the counter while I tried to breathe evenly to fight my mounting anger. “I might love you, but that doesn’t mean you get to tell me what to do. I’m not going to let anyone keep me from reaching my goals. If I stay home, then Miguel has succeeded in controlling my life.”

  “I love you too, and I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he shouted.

  My anger deflated. Fear was written all over his face, and I couldn’t fault him for wanting to keep me safe, even if I didn’t agree with him. “I can’t believe the first time we told each other ‘I love you’ was during an argument.”

  “Well, I do, and it makes me crazy thinking you could be alone and vulnerable,” Trent said.

  Jeremy walked into the kitchen in the middle of our fight and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Can I say something?”

  I raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to go ahead.

  In no hurry, Jeremy brought his coffee cup to his mouth and took a sip. “I agree with Toni.”

  “Of course you do,” Trent grumbled.

  Jeremy set his cup down on the counter. “Let me finish. It’s going to be hard enough on her letting all of us hover over her. She shouldn’t have to give up school along with her independence.”

  Trent groaned. “I’m sure he knows her class schedule by now. It leaves too many opportunities for him to find her without one of us around.”

  “Reed and I have been talking,” Jeremy said. “We need to build a stalking case against him, so Reed talked to his former partner. It took some doing, but together they managed to convince the department to allow off-duty officers to guard her. After the police department investigated Reed, based off the accusations of that psycho Pratt, they agreed they owed him a favor.”

  “She won’t be alone?” Trent asked.

  Jeremy shook his head. “And the best part is that the officers will report if he approaches her.”

  “That’s all well and good, but he’s
going to be attending Central next quarter,” I pointed out.

  “That doesn’t give him an excuse to be up here now, especially if he starts showing up at your classes,” Jeremy dismissed.

  Before Trent could argue further, there was a knock at the door. Jeremy went to open it and let in the off-duty officer, and the moment he entered the kitchen, Trent tensed up.

  The officer walked up to me and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Zack Davis. You must be Toni.”

  I shook his hand. Trent stood up behind me, placed one arm around my waist, and extended his other hand to Zack. “I’m Trent, Toni’s boyfriend. Thanks for volunteering to help.” His words were polite, but it was painfully obvious he was staking his claim. I should be pissed, except I found his jealousy a little hot, but only as long as he didn’t get too possessive.

  Trent’s problem was that Zack was really attractive in a boy-next-door kind of way. He was a bit shorter than Trent, probably close to six feet tall. He had a kind smile that lit up his face and made you notice his sandy-brown hair and deep brown eyes. Zack wasn’t leering at me, but I couldn’t imagine Trent was eager for me to spend a lot of time alone with a good-looking guy.

  “Let me go grab my book bag and I’ll be ready to go,” I said and headed for my bedroom.

  Trent still appeared disgruntled when I reemerged. I guess I wasn’t the only one prone to insecurity when it came to our relationship. At the front door I set my bag down, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him down to where I could reach his mouth. I meant to give him a quick peck as reassurance, but the moment our lips met, we tried to devour each other.

  Jeremy cleared his throat, and I remembered we had an audience. “Right, time for class,” I reminded myself.