Possessive Protector: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 61)

by Flora Ferrari

  “I can’t just—”

  “My record,” I say.

  Kaltreider exhales hard. “Listen man. Only because you did something with that little prick. He’s been bugging my sister for months, but no one here wanted to do anything about it and I’m here stuck behind this—”

  “My record!” I say.

  Kaltreider stands up from behind the desk and disappears.

  I’m irate at this point.

  A minute goes by.

  I’m fuming.

  A full two minutes.

  I could break something.

  Three minutes.

  I could put my fist through that wall.

  And then he appears holding a manila folder. Of course. Manila folders are really trying to kick my ass today.

  Not anymore.

  “How many copies of this are there?”

  “Only one. I had to go down in the basement to get it.”

  “You smoke?”

  “Trying to quit. You know how—”

  “Lighter,” I say holding out my hand.

  “Dude, you can’t just—“

  “Lighter!”

  Kaltreider opens the top drawer of his desk and pulls out a lighter that’s lying next to a pack of Marlboros.

  I take the lighter and step outside by the concrete trash bin.

  I light the folder from the bottom and hold it until I smell the hair on the back of my hand burning.

  I drop the file in the can and watch the flames.

  “What the fuck, man?” Kaltreider says as he bursts out of the station.

  I toss the lighter to him backhanded, not even turning around.

  I mount my bike.

  “I’m writing you up!” he says.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  I rev the bike and guide it backward before peeling out in a half circle and I’m gone before he’s done fuming.

  Now that that’s taken care of it’s time to take care of what I really came back here to do.

  Make her mine.

  CHAPTER 8

  Quincy

  The next day

  My communications class ends and I head for the exit. I start to feel the anticipation wondering if he’ll be there today. I’m already turned on.

  But will he talk to me today? Will he look at me? Will he acknowledge my existence other than in a hand gesture, grunt, act of chivalry, or some other form of caveman expression?

  I step outside the door and there he is, leaning against that same bike from last night.

  Not on it. Not looking forward.

  Looking right at me.

  And he’s got a smirk on his face that should put me at ease, but only puts me more on edge.

  What does he have planned? Why is he suddenly acting different? Dare I say…normal?

  Or as normal as you can be for a guy as possessive and stalkerish as he is.

  He nods to the back of the bike and helps me on like a gentleman. He hands me his own helmet as I left mine at home. I wasn’t expecting to get picked up by my knight on his black bike today. Doesn’t he have police work to do? Then again cops work shifts right? But the counter to that would be doesn’t he sleep?

  I get on the bike and we take off down the road. I’m holding him just as tight as last night, but not because I’m scared, but because I want to.

  I want to feel those muscles again. I want the back of his head pressed into the side of my cheek, smelling his scent on my face and watching as his eyes scan the open road searching for possible fallen objects…cars that don’t see us…anything that requires him to protect me.

  I should be scared or weirded out, but I just can’t be. The idea of having your own personal protector is something most girls fantasize about, or at least they would if they’d ever experienced it.

  I’m not just experiencing it. I’m living it.

  We drive for a good fifteen minutes and then he pulls off the road and guides the bike slowly down some kind of dirt trail.

  This is the part I should be wondering just exactly how he’s going to extract my kidneys and where he’s going to dispose of my body afterwards. The forest would serve as a perfect option for both, but I’m not scared.

  If he wanted to do something he could have last night, or all the other times he’s followed me and I didn’t even know. All these years maybe he was out there all this time and I just never noticed him. Never knew until he decided to make his presence felt like yesterday.

  There’s really no way of knowing.

  And know way of knowing where he’s taking me and what’s about to happen next.

  No one even knows where I am. I just got on his bike like a naive idiot in a horror film. I deserve to die. I really do. But I know around him I’m safer than anywhere else on earth.

  The bike rolls to a stop I take off my helmet and he helps me off.

  He offers me his hand and I take it. I want to ask him where we’re going but I don’t want to break the silence, the peacefulness of this moment in this forest.

  We walk for a few minutes and then finally…

  “It’s been a long time,” he says.

  “A very long time,” I say.

  “But I never forgot. I always thought of you. Always remembered the way your nose scrunched up when you smiled…the way you smelled…the way you walked. And I knew I’d see it again one day. And when I did I’d make sure I’d see it forever. I’m never going to long for that again. You’re mine now. My woman and my woman only.”

  I don’t say anything. It wasn’t really a question so there’s nothing to answer. That and who am I to argue with a guy who can track me in the still of the night and when I don’t even know it?

  And more importantly why would I argue with the only guy I’ve ever wanted? The only guy who can make me feel this way. So alive and somewhat scared at the same time. So at peace and so on edge from one second to the next. I like tranquility, or at least I usually do, but damn do I love the excitement that only he can deliver.

  “And there’s nothing your father can do about it,” he says.

  “My father?” I ask softly.

  “You don’t know this, but when they were stacking charges against me after that dodgeball incident your dad decided to pile a few more on top. The icing on the cake for what they needed to get me out of town.”

  “My dad? I honestly didn’t—”

  His free hand comes up and he raises a finger silencing me.

  “I know. It’s okay. I don’t hold it against him and I certainly don’t hold it against you. He thought what he was doing was right. He thought he was looking out for you, but he can’t. Only I can make sure you’re safe…always. Only I can protect you…forever. And even though I was young back then I knew. And your dad apparently knew too.”

  “Knew…what?” I ask. This is getting confusing now. We continue to walk down the trail and I hear the sound of water. Is there a stream up ahead? How come I never knew about this part of the forest just outside of town? It’s absolutely beautiful.

  “He knew I was there. On the sidewalk. In your yard. Across the street.”

  “You were…stalking me?”

  “You can call it that if you want, but I see it differently.”

  “How do you see it differently?” I ask. I’m concerned yet curious at the same time.

  “I heard some of the boys talking in the locker room after gym class. They knew your parents had money and they were thinking of trying something. They were talking about breaking into your house. There was no way I was going to let that happen. It’s not right for them to try and take what your parents worked hard to earn. That’s wrong. But money can be replaced. What I was worried about was what if their amateur burglary attempt went wrong and someone was hurt? What if you were hurt? I’d never be able to live with myself.”

  “So you stood guard?”

  “As best I could. It’s incredible much coffee affects a twelve-year-old’s body. One cup and I’d stay wired all night.
”

  “But the next day at school? How did you function?”

  “I functioned knowing you were there. You were inside those walls and it was safer than when you were home.”

  “You…you…really thought that?”

  “I didn’t think anything. I knew it. Because inside that school I knew where your classes were. I knew where you were. And I knew if anyone tried anything, which they wouldn’t, they would fail. One because there are so many people in the school. Two because there’s nothing valuable for them to take there. You’re not wearing expensive watches or jewelry. And three. Three was because I was there and if anybody tried anything it would be their first and last attempt and it would set a precedent so visible and so violent that no one would ever try something so foolish again.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Knight

  Just thinking about the possibility that she might have been in danger all those years ago has me squeezing her hand more tightly. I ease up my grip, making sure I don’t frighten her. It’s not a squeeze that can hurt her, but it’s one that lets her know how much she means to me…not that it’s a conscious thing. It’s a completely involuntary bodily response. Whenever I think about her safety my jaw stiffens, my muscles tighten, and I feel a rage immediately form inside me and I just want to lash out at whoever might be foolish enough to even think of doing harm to her.

  To my girl. And now my woman.

  But so far this has been one sided. I’m the one talking. I’m the one in charge.

  I need to give her the chance to have her own say. For her to validate what I already know is true. For her to consciously decide she wants me just as much as I need her. For her to feel for me what I feel for her. To choose. To decide for herself.

  “We’re here,” I say.

  “Where is here?” she says.

  We take one more step and the forest opens into a clearing. Directly in front of us is a fifteen-foot high waterfall and thanks to the recent rains it’s flowing perfectly. Sometimes it dries up and sometimes it gushes. Today it’s just perfect.

  “The place where I come and think about what’s most important to me.”

  “And what are those things?”

  “There’s only one. You.”

  I feel her gaze turn from the waterfall to my face, but I can’t look at her yet. If I do I know I’ll devour her mouth with mine and I won’t be able to stop. I need to show her the perfect spot first.

  “Come on,” I say and we continue walking.

  “Where? There’s nowhere to go?”

  “The best path in life isn’t always the most obvious or the most easily seen,” I say, leading her behind a tree and in-between a couple of big boulders.

  “Oh my gosh!” she says.

  I put my hand on her hip and it takes everything I have not to tighten my grip and pull her in close. Patience. I’m almost there. Just a little more patience.

  I guide her behind the curtain of water where we can stand and watch the waterfall in front of us.

  “It’s not too slick back here, but you’ll want to watch your step just in case. But don’t worry. I’ll watch for both of us.”

  “Of course you will,” she says.

  She turns back and squares her body up to me. I feel the mist from the waterfall hit the side of my face and the droplets from the splash find my jeans.

  “What do we do now that we’re back here?” she asks.

  “What I’ve waited my entire lifetime for,” I say.

  I grab her by the waist and pull her into me. Her feet slide on the wet rock and it’s almost like we’re dancing, like she’s gliding across the dance floor to me.

  Her face stops just short of mine and I stare into those big, beautiful, brown eyes of hers. They’re not as dark as mine but much more telling. I look into them and I can see her desire. See her want. I swear I can see her soul.

  And she was meant for me just like I was meant for her.

  I cup the back of her head with one hand looking at her hair, which is getting wet from the mist. It’s so damn beautiful. She’s so damn beautiful.

  My hand comes around to her cheek. I drag a finger along her jawline and admire her perfection, feeling the curves of her face. Wondering how cheekbones can be so high.

  Wondering how eyes can be so brown yet so bright at the same time.

  And wondering why I had to wait a whole lifetime for this moment, but knowing now it was all worth it.

  And I don’t have to wonder what’s going to happen next. What I’ve dreamt about for years. What I’ve thought about so many times in my secret space back here behind the waterfall.

  But it’s not my secret space anymore. It’s ours.

  Just like everything is ours. It always has been whether she knew it or not.

  And now she will.

  And that starts with her. Her lips belong to her, but now they’re about to be ours…mine.

  And I can’t wait any longer.

  I lean in and my lips crash into hers and an entire lifetime of want, need, and desire comes out as I kiss her hard knowing exactly what’s coming next.

  CHAPTER 10

  Quincy

  His lips are so rugged, so masculine, so perfect. Just the way I imagined them last night when I got home. When I told my dad I’d “found” that motorcycle helmet and would find the owner tomorrow.

  Well it’s tomorrow and I sure know who it belongs to now. Me. Forever.

  And judging by the intensity of his kiss and the wetness in my panties, which is trying to quickly match the liquidity levels of the waterfall, the helmet won’t be the only thing that’s mine soon.

  He’ll be mine and I’ll be his.

  His hand slides back around behind my head and grips my skull as he presses my face into his. It’s aggressive, but not too violent and I absolutely love it.

  Love that he’s committed to tasting me.

  Love that he’s so into me he’s losing control.

  And love the knowledge that my first time is about to be so special and perfect…and with him.

  I reach for the bottom of his shirt and grab it, pulling the quickly dampening cotton up and over his head as he extends his arms upward. I go to toss it behind the waterfall in the small cove, but he takes it from me.

  “It will wash up ashore,” he says as he tosses it into the flow. “I used to toss boats I made into the water imagining the two of us were aboard. They always made it down safely and to the shore where I’d gather them and take them with me. Just like I’m going to take you now.”

  “Take me,” I say.

  He grabs my shirt and yanks it over my head just like I did to his seconds ago, but he doesn’t have to be told what to do with it. He tosses it into the waterfall and then grabs me by the waist lifting me up and off the rocks and into his arms.

  The mist thickens and I feel the wetness on my face as I lean into him kissing him wildly, my tongue finding the inside of his mouth and his finding the inside of mine before our lips reunite as one.

  His hand grabs my ass hard, supporting me while his other hand slides up my back, unhooking my bra.

  I slide my hand forward together and he quickly slides my bra off, devouring my breasts with his mouth sending my back arching backwards and more and more water into my face.

  It feels like a dream as he licks around my nipples which are so hard and so tender right now that I can feel the slightest of flicks by his tongue as he teases them before his mouth crashes down on my breast hard sucking my nipple as he presses my chest deeper into his mouth.

  My back arches back forward and my head flips up and I wrap my arms around his head willing my breast deeper into his mouth.

  A moan escapes his mouth as he switches to the other breast before I feel his hand yank at the back of my pants and then my legs unhook from behind his back and slide down his legs finding the wet rock.

  I step out of my pants so quickly I almost fall, but his hand quickly finds my hip steadying me. I look up at him and
smile as we’re both racing to get out of our jeans and get his cock into my wet pussy.

  I reach for his underwear and yank it down to his mid thigh before he has a chance.