I lifted the gun and pointed it at him.
The door to the club slammed open. The sound of the metal hitting against the wall made everyone in the room jump.
“Roxie!” Adam roared. Seconds later, I heard a string of curses and his footsteps crunching over glass.
“I’m here,” I said weakly, still pointing the gun at the cameraman.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Adam roared. The camera was pulled off of the man’s shoulder and hit the ground with a sharp crack. Adam spun him around by the shoulder, and I heard bones crunch as he plowed his fist into the man’s face.
He too crumbled to the floor with his bleeding friend.
Adam looked at me and his face went white. He swayed a little on his feet and stepped over the body of the cameraman. I was still holding out the gun, my arm shaking uncontrollably, and my teeth beginning to chatter.
Adam approached me warily, slowly. “Oh, sweetheart. What happened to you?”
“I shot him,” I said, feeling numb.
Adam didn’t even glance at the body on the floor. “I’m sure he deserved it.”
The desk was still between us when he stopped walking. “Can I have the gun, sweetheart?” he asked, glancing at it pointed toward him.
I knew I didn’t need to point it at him, but I just couldn’t make myself lower my arm. I nodded as my teeth slammed together, creating a loud clicking noise.
“I’m going to come over there,” he said gently and moved around the desk. Slowly, he reached out and peeled the gun from my hand, lowering it to his side.
When the gun was gone, a sob ripped out of my chest.
“Oh, love,” he crooned. “Oh shit.”
I’d never seen his sun-kissed skin look so pale. His eyes were red-rimmed and the pain on his face was raw. “You’re bleeding,” he said.
I glanced down at my breast at the blood smeared on my skin. “He bit me,” I replied, my voice hollow.
Adam made a strangled sound and began unbuttoning his shirt. He stripped it off quickly and then took a step toward me. “Let’s get you covered up,” he whispered and pulled it around me.
I pushed my arms through the oversized gray dress shirt as I shook almost uncontrollably. Adam buttoned it up and then glanced at me. “Can I touch you?”
I nodded.
He pulled me into his warm, bare chest. A sob ripped from my throat and they didn’t stop. I cried and cried. The sounds leaving my body were almost inhuman. I’d never been so afraid or violated in my entire life.
The man who tried to rape me moaned from the floor.
I jerked and whimpered.
Adam shot him.
He wouldn’t be making any more sounds.
I started crying again, and Adam picked me up, cradling me into his chest, and turned to leave the room. The cameraman was sitting against the wall, staring at Adam warily.
“I swear to God,” he intoned, “if you so much as move, I will fucking kill you.”
I didn’t look to see what the man’s reaction was, but since I heard nothing at all, I assumed he listened.
Juggling me, the gun, and a cell, Adam dialed 9-1-1. A sound from across the room brought both our heads up.
Craig was up on the stage, having rushed out from behind the curtain where I assumed he was hiding.
He was holding a gun pointed directly at us. “I’m leaving. Don’t try and stop me and I won’t shoot.”
“You fucking piece of lowlife scum,” Adam growled. He sounded more animal than man, and it scared me. “The only place you’re going is jail. Where little boys like you become toys. I hope you enjoyed whatever the fuck you tried to do here today because worse than that is waiting for you in the slammer.”
Craig shouted and leapt off the stage, his shoes making a slapping sound on the floor. I screamed as he raised the gun once more at Adam.
“No!” I screamed as gunfire erupted.
Police sirens cut through the silence that followed the shots.
“Adam!” I screamed, trying to get out of his arms, trying to see where he was shot.
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” Adam said, picking up a chair and sitting in it with me in his lap. “He didn’t shoot me.”
“Then…?” My voice cracked.
“He tried.” Adam grunted. “My aim is better.”
I tore my eyes from Adam and looked across the room at Craig.
Adam shot him.
I was pretty sure he was dead.
I was sad and relieved all at the same time. I collapsed against Adam’s chest. My entire body hurt and I felt so incredibly dirty.
Police rushed through the door, scattering into the room like red ants on a disturbed anthill, all of them with weapons drawn.
“All’s clear,” Adam called and set the gun down on the floor beside us and lifted his hands where they could see them.
Adam held me while several officers with drawn weapons scurried through the building, looking for more intruders. After several long minutes of searching, they met back in the bar.
“Scene is clear,” one of the men said to another man who was stepping through the door.
“Lincoln,” Adam said, relief in his voice. “Am I fucking glad to see you.”
“When the 9-1-1 call came through with no response and this address, I was afraid I’d find something like this,” he said, his eyes focusing on me. I guessed my attempt to call for help had gotten through. Thank God.
“Ma’am.” He bobbed his chin toward me.
Lincoln was Adam’s friend on the police force. He was at the station when we filled out the protection order paperwork.
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I just buried my face in Adam’s neck. His arms tightened around me.
“Looks like we have some casualties,” Lincoln surmised. “Get the coroner over here and this place cordoned off.”
When men started shuffling around the room, Lincoln spoke to us again. “I’m going to need some statements.”
“Can we do it later? She needs medical attention,” Adam said.
I lifted my head. “No,” I replied. “Let’s do it now. The past has haunted me long enough.”
Adam pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “You sure, sweetheart?”
“I’m sure,” I told him. “Will you stay with me?” I asked.
The question sounded innocent, yet it was anything but. Yes, I wanted him to stay while I recounted the nightmare I’d just endured, but that wasn’t all.
I wanted to know if even after all of this, was he still willing to love me?
Adam looked at me like we weren’t sitting in the center of a crime scene, like there wasn’t a cop waiting to take our statement. He looked at me like I was the only girl in the entire room. His eyes held no disgust for how he found me and the fact there were teeth marks on my breast. He didn’t seem to be appalled I’d shot someone.
And I didn’t care that he’d literally just killed two men.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured, brushing the hair out of my face. “Not ever.”
“I love you, Adam,” I whispered. “I love you so much.”
He sucked in a breath and his chocolate eyes fastened on mine. “You’ve been through a lot,” he murmured, stroking my hair again.
I caught his wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I mean it. I do love you, and I’m never going to stop.”
“I love you too, Roxie,” he said, and I could see it in his eyes.
“I’m ready,” I told Lincoln, who was pretending not to listen to our conversation. He pulled out a pen.
When I was done recounting everything that happened just moments ago, I was exhausted, shaky, and in pain.
But for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t scared.
I knew I had a long road of healing ahead, but with Adam by my side, I knew it would be okay.
And my past?
I was finally able to let it go.
EPILOGUE
Adam
I h
eard her keys in the door all the way into the bedroom. She wasn’t really being loud; I was just so in tune with her I couldn’t not hear her enter the condo.
I stepped out into the living room in time to see her at the kitchen island, dropping her keys and what looked like a bunch of paperwork and some kind of booklet.
Her dark hair was hanging down her back, and the boots that rose to just below her knee totally turned me on.
“Hey,” I said, and she looked up.
Her smile was almost blinding when she turned it on me. “Hey.”
She crossed the room, and I opened my arms to her and she came into them willingly. “I like your outfit,” she said, letting her fingers travel over my lower back to tug at the towel I had wrapped around my waist.
“I just got out of the shower,” I said as she pressed against me a little closer.
I closed my eyes and willed my body to keep it cool, but my cock had other ideas. She felt so damn good up against my skin, and the way she was plastering herself against me was totally testing my self-control.
Who was I kidding?
The past couple weeks had been testing my self-control.
It had been almost two months since I made love to Roxie, since before she was assaulted and almost raped at the club. Because of the violence with which she was attacked and the injuries she sustained (broken ribs, bruises, puncture wound due to bite marks, a concussion…), we took sex off the table.
I still wanted her more than ever, but her body and mind needed time to heal. Her bruises were faded, the bite marks on her chest were healed, and the concussion had long since passed. Basically, her physical injuries were mended, but her mind wasn’t quite there yet. I think at first she was worried I might be upset if she wasn’t ready to have sex, but just having her in my life was enough for me.
She still stayed here most nights, and she always curled into my arms, sometimes our make-out sessions got a little heated, and some days she seemed like she needed more space. I never pushed, but I was always here when she needed me.
She still had nightmares sometimes. They were becoming less and less, but there were still times she would wake up screaming or I’d have to wake her because she was crying.
It made me glad I killed the son of a bitch who tried to rape her and the asshole who set it up.
No charges were pressed against me for shooting and killing Craig and the rapist because it was determined it was all self-defense. Craig shot at me, which gave me the right to shoot back. Plus, he was on property he’d been legally ordered to avoid.
The man I didn’t kill, the one with the camera, was currently sitting in jail, charged as an accessory. I hoped he rotted there.
After the investigation, it was strongly suggested that Roxie and I seek counseling for everything we went through. I encouraged Roxie to go, but I didn’t go.
The thing was I didn’t feel sorry for what I did. Maybe that said something dark about my character, but it wasn’t as if I killed two innocent bystanders. One was a rapist. I mean, his dick was literally hanging out when the coroner carted him away. And I had to look at his teeth marks on Roxie’s flesh for weeks.
And Craig…
Well, I kept my word to Roxie. I didn’t go after him. He came after me, and I finished it. The end.
In my mind, I took two lives, but they were lives that did nothing but create misery. And at least this way, Roxie wouldn’t have to look over her shoulder every time she left the house.
I pulled back and looked down at her. “How did registration go?”
“It was good,” she said, going over to the window to stare out. “There were a lot of people there and I was nervous, but I did it.”
“Yeah?”
She looked over her shoulder and gave me a big grin. “Yep. I’m officially a college student. In two years, I’ll be a registered nurse.”
I scooped her up and spun her around in a circle. “Damn, you are gonna look so hot in a nurse’s outfit.”
She threw back her head and laughed.
“I’m proud of you, sweetheart,” I told her when her laughter died away.
“I’m proud of me, too.”
“And you’re sure you want to keep working at the club? Think you can handle both the class schedule and nights at the Hatter?” I asked. It still amazed me that she even went back there to work. It took her a couple weeks, but then she faced her fears and went back to the club. She said she wouldn’t let one bad incident take away all the good memories she had there.
Of course, I had security out the ass now. She was never alone there. Never.
“I’m sure,” she said. “If I change my mind, I’ll have to put in a call to the boss.”
“Hmm,” I said, lowering my head. “You can call him anytime.”
I captured her lips in a slow and sensual kiss. I kept it light and undemanding, I never wanted her to feel smothered. But this morning, Roxie wanted more. Her fingers dug into my waist and she pressed herself closer, deepening our kiss.
I groaned in the back of my throat as emotions and desire swirled up inside me.
I licked into her mouth, caressing her tongue with mine and nipping at her lower lip. In the back of my head, I willed myself to cool down, but it was so fucking hard.
Her kisses had increasingly become a little more demanding every time. Her touch seemed to burn me a little more, and it was getting harder and harder to pull back.
Roxie slid her hands down my waist and delved her fingertips in the towel at my waist. I stilled and waited for her to pull away.
She didn’t. In fact, she gave the soft material a little tug.
I lifted my head and looked at her.
Her fingers continued to tease the edge of the fabric. I put my hand over hers. “Sweetheart, are you trying to drive me crazy?”
“I’m trying to make you want me,” she whispered.
My hand jerked over hers. “I always want you. You don’t even have to try.”
“Even since…?”
“Oh, sweetheart,” I drawled. “Nothing could ever make me not want you. You know I’m just giving you the space you need to heal.”
“And I love you for it,” she said.
I smiled. I never got sick of hearing her say that. It felt like I won the lottery every single time she said those three little words.
“Adam?” she said, stepping a little closer. “I don’t want space anymore.”
My chest rumbled with the growl that ripped from deep within me. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent,” she replied.
Anticipation zapped my nerve endings as she led me into the bedroom. The bed was still unmade from this morning, and she stopped at the end.
I lowered to help her tug off her boots, but when she reached for the button on her jeans, I sat on the end of the bed because I wanted her to set the pace.
She slid them off inch by delicious inch, and the towel wrapped around my hips turned into a tent. Her eyes heated when she saw how badly I wanted her, and she quickly pulled off her top and bra.
Her body was perfect. Smooth, creamy skin, curves and full breasts, my hands itched to touch her.
She stepped up in front of me and took my hands, lifting them to her body. I was all too eager to touch her. It seemed as if it had been forever, and I relished the moment and the trust she had in me.
Unable to stop myself, I leaned forward and licked down the center of her abdomen, trailing kisses across her middle. Then I moved over and paid special attention to the tattoo she’d gotten.
“I love this,” I murmured, tracing the heart outline with my finger. “I never get tired of seeing this on your body.”
Her hand palmed the back of my head and pressed me into it just a little bit harder, and I sucked at her flesh.
The day of the attack, she’d gone to a tattoo parlor before work and had the fading note I’d casually drawn on her made permanent. The word beach, had faded away worse than the heart, so she didn’t have
it put on, but the heart and the xoxo were there forever.
She was disappointed she didn’t get to surprise me the way she wanted to. Instead, I saw it at the hospital when she was getting treated for her injuries.
But no matter how I first saw it, I loved it. It was a permanent mark between us. The proof that she’d totally become mine.
She told me later that when she’d gotten out of the shower that morning and saw it would disappear soon, she had to do something to save it. She wanted my writing on her forever.
And so it was.
“I love you, Adam,” she whispered as I kissed over the heart one more time.
“I love you too, sweetheart,” I said as she pushed me back and pulled away the towel.
She climbed over my body and straddled my waist. Her naked torso arching up over me was one of the most beautiful things I would ever see.
“I’m going to drive today,” she said as she wrapped her hand around my throbbing cock with a wicked gleam in her eye.
“I’m all yours.” I grinned.
“Forever?” she asked.
“Even longer,” I vowed.
It was the easiest promise I ever made.
THE END
Ready for more of the Take It Off series?
Look for TRACE, coming fall 2014
I was a girl who vanished without a trace…
I grew up on a tree-lined street, tire swings in every yard and rose bushes lining the white picket fences. As an only child, I was spoiled and the center of my parents’ universe. They loved me and I loved them.
Then my dad got sick. He needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. Like any loving daughter, I got tested, knowing deep down I was going to be a match. Knowing I would be the one to save his life.
The day the results came in, I learned I was wrong. I wasn’t a match.
But that isn’t all I learned.
I also learned he isn’t my father.
On his deathbed, he made his confession. He told me who I really was.
I was a girl I’d never met. A girl I didn’t know. A girl I now wanted to discover.
Trashy Page 20