by Darcy Dawes
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.”
“I knew he was hardly an innocent guy. I knew about the cars…at least sort of. But I didn’t think he was the sort of guy who people would want to kill!” She lifts her face away from her hands and turns to look at me. “Who would want to kill him?”
I shrug. Many people. Rivals. Cops. FBI. You name them.
“It doesn’t matter. Danny will get them.”
“Will he be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Will we be okay?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Little One. I promise.” I move my hand from her back. If I keep touching her, I don’t know what I’ll do and when I said I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, I meant it. That means protecting her from me too.
I eye her profile. Poor little Gray. She has no idea what she does to me.
“Are you hungry?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think I could eat even if I wanted to.”
“You’d better get some rest then. You can take my bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“I—”
“Take the bed, Little One. I’ll find you something to sleep in.”
Biggest mistake of my life, I know, but I can’t let her sleep in a skirt and top.
I lead her through to the bedroom. It’s almost as bare as the living area. A king-sized bed and a chest of drawers are the only furnishings.
“The shower is through there if you want to take one.” I pull open a drawer and she sits on the bed.
How easy it would be just to push her back. To lift that skirt and run my fingers down the line of her panties. Would she be wet? I’d lick her through the material and get that little clit all swollen just to make sure. Then I’d plunge my dick in her virgin pussy. Christ, I can practically feel it now, tight like a glove around me, new and unused.
Jesus. I draw in a breath through my nostrils and throw a t-shirt her way. What a sick fuck I am lusting after a virgin. And I know she is. She’s never had a boyfriend. She’s completed untouched.
I ignore my clothes. I’ve got a bag packed for emergencies and there’ll be plenty of stuff at the safe house. For tonight, I’m staying dressed in case we need to move quickly.
“V?”
“I’m scared.”
She should be. Stuck for who knows how long with me. A man not good enough for her who can’t seem to remember that she’s practically young enough to be my daughter.
“Don’t be,” I lie.
Grab your copy of Little One on Amazon and in KU.