by Darcy Dawes
He smiled slightly. His eyes looked tired; for a moment I wondered when he last slept, then I remembered I didn’t care.
“You were never supposed to hear me talk to the guys like that, Callie,” he began.
“Oh, that makes what you said so much better,” I muttered.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Desmond said, shaking his head in frustration. “I meant that if I’d known you were around I’d never have said it in the first place.”
“You’re just digging yourself a deeper hole, Desmond. Did you enjoy stringing me along while I was blissfully unaware of how you actually felt?”
“You know it was never like that, Callie,” he said. His blue eyes were unwavering as they locked on mine. “I never, ever thought of you the way I spoke of you to the guys.”
“So why did you say those things?” I asked, exasperated and furious. Desmond wasn’t making any sense whatsoever, and he was successfully riling me up. I was about three seconds away from demanding he leave.
Desmond took a step towards me. “Callie, did you hear what David and Jason were saying before I spoke? Did you hear the way they were talking about you?”
I made a face. “Of course I did. Do you think I’m stupid? Naïve? I’ve heard them talk about me like that all summer. Jason was just as bad in high school, after I turned him down a dozen times. You think I don’t know how to handle guys talking about me like I’m a tease, or a frigid bitch, or a slut, just because I turn them down? Give me some credit.”
“But I can’t handle it!” Desmond roared, surprising me with his outburst so much that I took a step backwards. “Every day they talked about you like that, and it was getting worse. Just how much do you think I could take of them insulting you, and objectifying you, and planning to get you wasted so they could do what they liked? You really believe I could listen them saying all of that about any girl? Except you’re not just any girl, and that made it a hundred times worse.”
I hesitated. “So why did you…why did you join in? Why did you tell them I was just—”
“A silly, worthless distraction who’d be gone soon?” he finished for me. Desmond laughed, though it was dark and humorless. “I snapped. I said the only thing I could think of that would make them back off. If they believed they were better than you—that you were beneath them—I hoped that, finally, they’d back the fuck off. But I was wrong to say it, even if my intentions were good. They were the ones at fault, not you. I should have berated them, or reported them to your dad. But I didn’t and I’m sorry.” Desmond took another step towards me. “Callie, I’m so, so sorry.”
I held up a hand to stop him getting any closer. I was so confused. “So, you…you really don’t think I’m stupid and an annoying distraction and not worth anyone’s time?”
“Of course not!” Desmond’s face was earnest. “I’ve never once thought such things about you. The only thing that I said with any truth to it was that you’d be gone soon, and that just breaks my heart into pieces. I hated admitting it with my own lips.”
I put down my hand, allowing him to close the gap between us. The late afternoon breeze gently lifted my hair around my face; Desmond tucked an errant lock of it behind my ear.
“Callie, I love you,” he said, in such a way that I had absolutely no doubt that he was telling the truth. “I love you, and I don’t want you to go. But you’re too talented to stay here, working with men who don’t respect you. I love you so much that, crazy as it sounds, I’d happily relocate to New York just to be with you. That is crazy, isn’t it? It’s so stupid, but—”
“It’s not stupid,” I smiled, slowly lifting a hand to place it over Desmond’s. I cupped my face to his fingers, closing my eyes as I sighed. “It’s not stupid, but it’s not necessary.”
When I opened my eyes I saw that Desmond’s face was crestfallen, and I immediately set about to correct that. “I don’t mean because I don’t love you!” I said, stumbling over the words. “It’s just that I think I really do want to take over dad’s business once I graduate college, so there’d really be no point in you moving to somewhere so expensive when I’ll only be there for two years—well, really only eight or nine months of each year, so—”
My incoherent rambling was interrupted by Desmond’s lips upon mine, crushing me beneath them. His kiss was fervent, desperate and needy—everything I’d sorely missed for days.
“You love me,” he breathed, when we finally parted long enough to speak. I gazed up at him and nodded.
“Of course I do. Do you really think I could have pursued you for so long if I didn’t?”
“I thought…I don’t know. That I was a childish crush, or a challenge, or something like that.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe a long, long time ago. But my feelings changed somewhere along the way, though I wasn’t aware of it myself, at first. I only truly realized I loved you when your words broke my heart.”
Desmond wrapped his arms around me, encasing me in all my favorite smells—motor oil, petrol, sawdust, and lemon from his shower gel. “I’ll never say anything like that again, even if a wayward attempt to protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting,” I mumbled against his chest, though I had to admit that the idea of Desmond Rivers defending me at every turn sounded very appealing. “I just need you, here with me.”
When Desmond released me he had the gentlest smile on his face I’d ever seen. His blue eyes twinkled with it. “I love you, Callie. All I want is to be with you.”
I quirked an eyebrow “You may live to regret that.”
“How could I possibly live to regret being with a woman who takes risqué photos for me to enjoy at work, or gives me blow jobs in the back of a Mustang?”
“Oh, so it’s all about the sex, now?”
He ruffled my hair as he laughed. “You know fine well that it’s not. And speaking of…”
He laced his fingers between mine and squeezed.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Since we’re already at the fanciest hotel in town, how about we finally have that first date?”
I grinned. “It’s about fucking time.”
THE END
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READ ON FOR SAMPLE OF LITTLE ONE
Chapter One
Valentine
I keep my gaze focused on the road. The leather steering wheel stays steady in my hands. The traffic is light, the road cast under golden beams of light. I’m travelling fast—too fast I suppose—but not fast enough for my liking. A car swings out of a junction and I swerve around it.
A squeal from next to me draws my attention.
To her.
The reason I’m driving like a maniac. Not that you’d ever know it from my expression. I know Gray probably thinks I drive like this every day, like a fucking getaway driver racing from the cops. But I don’t have the most precious cargo in my car every fucking day.
I risk a look at her and regret it. Against the large leather seats, she’s so damned vulnerable. All pale skin and shaking limbs. She’s not even dressed for a cold night like tonight, wearing a strappy top and short denim skirt.
“There’s a jacket in the back,” I grunt.
I hate speaking to her. In the ten years I’ve worked for her brother I’ve kept talking to a minimum. We both know I’m not worthy of a second of her time. Not a criminal asshole like me.
She remains curled up in the seat, her arms wrapped around her legs. Those goddamn legs that make me forget everything. Even now, when I’m meant to be concentrating on getting her to safety, I can’t resist stealing a look at those endless limbs.
I hate her sometimes. Hate her for growing into a woman. If she’d have only stayed that young, sweet little thing, I’d never have these thoughts. Never think about those thighs and how fucking perfect for wrapping around my hips they are. Or wonder about the scent between them. I�
�d never imagine the sounds she might make as I nipped my way up the soft flesh of her inner thighs.
Even now…even fucking now, when our lives are on the line, I’m getting hard. This is what she does to me. This is how she tortures me every day of my life.
“Little One, get the coat,” I order gruffly.
Gray remains still, her gaze fixed on the road ahead.
I sigh, reach into the back with one eye on the road and fumble for the coat. I pull out the battered leather jacket and fling it at her. She jolts and unfurls slightly to drape it over her shoulders.
Another shudder wracks her. A pang of sympathy strikes me in the gut—or maybe not sympathy. Maybe regret. Maybe something more. It’s painful, pulling tight at my stomach. I hate that she’s involved in this life. She shouldn’t be. She should be out with her friends, doing whatever it is young women do. Shopping and gossiping and dating boys.
No. Not dating boys. I can’t stand the thought of those horny motherfuckers near her. Thankfully Gray has never seemed interested in any boys or else I might have to make a few threats. The gossip surrounding her brother probably keeps them all at bay, the fucking pussies.
Nothing would keep me away if I had a chance with her.
Not that I do. Not that I want one. She’s a sweetheart. An innocent woman—just. She’s too young, too kind, too everything. And I’m not enough.
I reach out to touch her arm. Fuck knows, I don’t know how to comfort someone. The last time I held a woman was years ago. When the last one ratted me out to the cops, I gave up on them. Not worth the time or the hassle. After Danny set his lawyers on the cops, everything was forgotten, along with the idea of me ever having a woman I could love.
Gray flinches at the touch. I glance at where I touched her and curse aloud. I lift my palm and see the sticky blood there. Finn’s blood. I smack my hand against the steering wheel, making Gray jump again.
She leaves the bloodied fingerprint there, in too much shock I think to even move. I can still feel the heat of the blood under my palms, how it pulsed out of Finn until he faded. Poor kid. Barely twenty and gone. He sure as hell didn’t deserve any of this.
Gray’s brother will sort this. He’s ruthless. It’s why he has enemies. Though they’re fucking idiots if they think killing Finn and nearly wiping out the rest of us including his sister would make him give up. No, Danny will scour the earth until he finds the guys responsible for Finn’s death and he’ll make sure they pay.
In the meantime, I have to keep Gray safe. That means not touching her and not scaring the shit out of her.
I’ve done a crappy job of both of those so far.
I wipe my hand down my jeans and clear my throat. “It’ll be okay, Little One.”
The nickname I’ve always used for her makes her snap her head around. I’ve known her since she was seven. I might not have had deep, meaningful conversations with her, but I’ve been there, watching her grow into a far too beautiful woman. Even now, with her face pale from shock, just looking at her hurts.
It hurts because she’s so stunning and it hurts because I shouldn’t even be thinking of her that way. She’s Danny’s little sister. She’s everything I’m not. I don’t even feel worthy of being in her presence most of the time. And I know Danny wants to keep her as she is. Young, innocent, with a whole life ahead of her. Danny might be a scumbag criminal, but he’s always made sure she never got wrapped up in this shit. Until today.
But I’m going to take her away from it all. We’ll hide out until I get word that it’s over and then Gray can go back to her sweet little world of looking forward to college and becoming whatever the hell she wants to.
Whoever shot Finn and tried to take out the rest of us at Danny’s garage will pay. I know Danny will make sure of that.
“V?”
That one syllable is shaky and like a knife to the gut. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to hear my full name on her lips. A name she doesn’t even know. V. That’s what they all call me.
“What is it, Little One?”
“Where are we going?”
“My place.”
I keep my attention on the road and swing a right, tearing through a red light. The sooner I get her away from the danger, the better.
My neighborhood is a far cry from the one she lives in. I’ve got money but I don’t use it. I’m better off in a place like this anyway. A girl like Gray, however, wouldn’t stand a chance.
Prostitutes gather on the street corners, there’s derelict buildings everywhere. Gangs hang out in the alleyways and methheads are found too often dead in the gutters. It’s a place for assholes and losers. Suits me just fine.
I hate that Gray is here, though. Innocent, naive Gray. I can see her body stiffen as we drive deeper into the neighborhood. She knows her brother’s involved in some shady stuff but he keeps her shielded from it as best as he can, locked up in his high-security mansion and sent to the best private school. Gray’s life is one of privilege and protection. She’s Danny’s best achievement in life. And she sure as fuck doesn’t belong anywhere near me.
I park on the street and scan the road. We weren’t followed, I know that much, but whoever has it in for Danny would love to take a shot at Gray. What better revenge than to kill his baby sister?
Not going to happen, though. I’d take a thousand hits for her.
“Stay there,” I order, not that she looks like she’s going to move. She’s still motionless in her seat, all wide eyes and long limbs tucked under her arms.
The gun nestled in my back pocket provides some comfort as I climb out the car and move to her side. Yanking the door open, I jerk my head toward the building.
“Come on.”
She hesitates so I take her arm. Not roughly but with enough force that it gets her moving. The horror of everything she’s seen has frozen her and as gentle as I want to be, there’s no time. I have to get her to safety.
Checking behind us, I lead her into the building and up the stairs. I check for any forced entry into my apartment but all is clear. I’d say that whoever is after Gray and Danny would have to be suicidal to come near me but anyone coming after Danny must be fucking insane. I’ve been at his side for ten years, since I got out of the special forces. I know what he’s like. Revenge comes easily to him. In fact, he enjoys it. No one with any sense messes with Danny.
My apartment is as I left it. Blinds drawn, spotless, and barren. I’ve never been one for owning much shit. Aside from a couch and a coffee table, there’s nothing else in the living area. And I’ve never let any woman get close enough to try to change that.
Truth is, Gray is the first woman I’ve ever let in here.
Arms wrapped around herself, she stands in the middle of the barren room and eyes the bare walls and empty space. The strappy yellow top she wears is like a splash of sunshine that illuminates the dingy shadows of my apartment.
I curl a fist. She doesn’t fucking belong here. Danny better make whoever forced her into this situation pay.
My leather jacket still hangs from her shoulders. Her chocolate hair is spread over the leather, a little wild but shiny. That jacket is going to smell like her and I don’t know how the hell I’m going to cope with that. Maybe I’ll have to burn the fucking thing. I’d recognize her scent anywhere and it’s like a trigger to me. One sniff of her coconutty fragrance and I’m thinking of those long, golden legs, those high little tits that are probably going to grow still and that slender waist that I could practically wrap my hands around.
“This is your home?”
I nod.
She tucks her lip under her teeth. “I’m not sure what I expected but…”
I lift a shoulder. “I’m never here. Doesn’t seem like much point in furnishing it properly.”
Not to mention I have no intention of settling. Ever. I know what happens when you get comfortable. Everything gets fucking ripped away from you.
“Sit.” I motion to the sofa.
A
tiny tremble runs through her body but she does as she’s told. I like that. No arguments, no fighting me. She knows she’s in danger as much as I do and thank fuck she isn’t being some stupid woman who thinks she knows how to keep herself safe better than I do.
Of course her obedience would be useful elsewhere too. In bed perhaps. Or on the couch. I could get her to spread her legs. Pull down her panties. Show me that pretty cunt.
I draw in a breath through my nostrils and turn away into the kitchen. Pulling out a bottle of whiskey, I pour myself a generous glass and a small shot for Gray. I take it over to her and she wrinkles her nose.
“It’s good for the shock.” I force it into her hand and watch until she sighs and throws it back.
She shudders and makes a face. “Yuck.”
“You’ll be thanking me in a minute.”
“What happens now?”
“We’ll stay here for tonight then I’ll take you to a safe house out of the city.”
“There’s a safe house?”
“Of course.”
She peers up at me. “Can’t you sit down? This is hurting my neck.”
And I’m probably still scaring her. I’m not exactly a small guy. Six foot two and built. I sit hastily, feeling like a monster next to her. She’s so damned petite and beautiful. Everything about her screams innocence from her dark, curly lashes, her big, almond shaped eyes, and the few freckles across her nose. I’ll be damned if I haven’t wondered if there are more freckles on her body.
“I didn’t know my brother had a safe house.”
“He has several.”
She places her head in her hands. “I had no idea.” The words are muffled. “I didn’t know anything. God, I’m so stupid.”
I put a hand under the jacket and rub her back gently, feeling the notches of her spine and the warmth of her skin through her top. I grit my teeth as that usual fight for control burns through me. Why the fuck did she have to grow up to be so beautiful, so appealing? I’ve never wanted anyone like I want Gray. Never. And I’ve had enough sexy women throw themselves at me but none of them compare to her.
“Danny did his best to keep you away from all that shit,” I tell her. “What happened tonight was the reason why.”