by Honor James
“You adore me. It’s okay, you can admit it,” he said with a laugh. Pressing a kiss to her lips in return, he straightened up and looked to the new doorway that had messed up her paint job a little. “I’ll go in first, take a quick look around. I mainly want to check the structural integrity before you get in there. Also, make sure the office door is locked, and maybe use a piece of furniture to block it. I really don’t want the asshole after you sneaking up behind us and locking us in there.” At her look, he sighed. “Okay, it’s a bit of a long shot, but I’ve been trained to think up as many unlikely scenarios as I can. In case they come to be.”
“I didn’t think that it was possible, but you are even sexier now than you were two minutes earlier.” She was toast. She was so head over heels for this guy that it wasn’t even funny. It had been a week since she met him, a week of getting to know the real him. A week spent as close to him as two people could be while he and Yoshi pored over the blueprints and worked in her bar. She had known that he was different, had known that he was important to her within moments of meeting him, but now she knew that she couldn’t live without him.
“Okay, let’s go and see what we can find. If we find any dead bodies, though, you are so cleaning up that mess. If we find treasures, or old booze, I will flip you for them. Deal?”
“Old booze is possible,” he said. He was standing in the opening now, shining his flashlight over the interior space. It was dusty; a few cobwebs were dangling, but what he seemed to really focus on suddenly was the floor. “Shit,” he muttered. Turning his head, he stared at the door/wall that was standing open. “Mother fucker,” he cursed.
“What?” She didn’t know what he was cussing about because he wouldn’t let her closer.
Aeron threw her a look, and with definite reluctance pointed to a spot on her wall. “Someone drilled a hole through here to watch you. Given the markings through the dust, and dirt on the floor, I’d say the last visit was a few days ago. Your stalker’s been here and spying on you, Piper. I’ll get it filled in, maybe put a metal plate up so he knows he’s been found out, and so he can’t fucking do it again. I’ll also be finding a way to ensure that none of these doors open up from the inside.”
She flushed as she thought about what she and Cutter had done in her office a few days ago, and every day in between. “Oh God,” she whispered and swallowed, hard. “I wonder how long they, he or she, has been watching me.” She didn’t think she was ready for that answer but had to know. She needed to know the truth. “Aeron?” She touched her hand to his massive arm and gave him a squeeze. “Are you sure that it’s safe for us to go down there without backup or whatever?”
He did a double take her way before glaring. “Are you seriously questioning my ability to keep you safe, sweetheart? Because if you are, we will be having some words later. Puh-lease,” he muttered. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the passage, and then stepped inside, shining his light around. “I’m armed, Piper. I also have zero issue drilling anyone dumb enough to be in here that confronts us and intends to cause you harm.”
“I just don’t like the thought of you killing someone for me to sit on your conscience. I know what a silly and crazy thing that is for me to say, but it’s the truth. I don’t want for you to have to kill for me.” She moved in closer to him, her hand on his chest now, and looked up at him. “I trust you to keep me safe, Aeron. I just hate that you might have to harm another for me.”
“I seriously doubt anyone’s down here, but if they are, I will do what’s necessary. More than likely I’ll only need to disable, not kill. I’m prepared to do whatever’s necessary though. Look,” he said softly. Cupping her face in his hands he leaned in, his forehead coming to rest against hers. “I’m not going to do anything that might put you at risk, Piper. Which means that if it comes down to someone wanting to hurt you, I’m going to choose you each and every single time. For now, don’t worry about the possibility. I am not getting any weird vibes, and I always trust my gut. I’m ninety-nine percent sure we’re completely alone right now.”
“Okay, then we will do this.” She moved her hands up so that she could wrap them around his neck and pulled him closer so that she could kiss him again. “I more than adore you, Aeron Cutter. For now though, let’s go and explore?” Her nose brushed against his and she kissed him another time for good measure simply because she could.
“Later you and I will be exploring that bit about you more than adoring me. I really want some expansion on that thought,” he said. Smiling at her, he caught her hand in his and pulled her a little deeper into the passage. Then he left her to move ahead about ten feet before waving her forward. They went like that for a time. She knew he was checking the walls and ceiling for any troubles. Finally they reached an intersection. Down a short corridor there was a stairwell that went down. The other corridor looked to run the rest of the length of the building before making a turn, or possibly dead ending. “We might as well head down and see what’s under us,” he suggested.
“Should we mark our progress somehow?” She looked around and then frowned, her flashlight shining on the floor now instead of the walls and ceiling. “I would have expected a lot more dust. You don’t think that whoever it is that’s stalking me is using this for their hideout, do you?” It looked as if someone had tried to sweep the floors. She didn’t know if it was to cover their tracks, or to clean up their home, so to speak.
“Likely just trying to clean up his tracks in case you ever found this place. Which, if he’s been spying on us, he’d know we’ve been discussing.” He went to the top of the stairs, pointing his light down. “Damn, these are narrow treads,” he said. “We’re not going to mark our progress, sweetheart. There’s no need, it’s not like it’s a catacomb of tunnels. We’ll be fine. But let’s not take too long either, especially since you’re starting to get nervous.”
“Yes, please. I really don’t like being in closed spaces for long at all.” This really wasn’t a closed space, but the longer that they were in there the more it felt like one. “Since I was small, I never cared for tight spaces. Surprise?” She tried to sound all sly and everything about it, but as they walked down the narrow stairs she couldn’t help the fear that jumped into her voice.
“It opens up down below,” he said quietly. He reached back to take her hand, giving her fingers a light squeeze. “I’m going to have to keep my head down I think, though. Looks like the room wasn’t built for anyone of my height.” Something that was proven when they reached the bottom, and the ceiling kept him bent over a bit once they were off the stairs.
She was thankful that she wasn’t as tall as Aeron was. She was able to look around the room and gasped. “Oh, hell,” she whispered as she caught sight of little things that had gone missing from here and there at her home, small things of her father’s, things of her mother’s. “I don’t understand.” She moved to the portrait of her parents holding her when she was a baby, a painting that had been missing since just after her mother died. Her mother and father had both been cut out of the painting and baby Piper had a red dot on her forehead. “How? Why?” she asked with her voice choking with tears. “What did I do to this asshole?” she demanded.
“You didn’t do anything, Piper. But this answers one question. He’s using this place as a base of sorts. Keeping all his trophies here.” He moved to a few of the pieces, but didn’t touch them. Leaning in, he blew a breath out over a shiny trinket, and then shot her a look. “I’m going to call the general and have him send in a team to go over everything here. It looks like there are some prints, hopefully some are his. Maybe we can get an ID on this guy.” Aeron shook his head as he straightened as much as he could.
“That would be wonderful.” Once more, Piper slipped her hand into his and gave his hand a squeeze. “Okay, can we go back upstairs? I don’t think that the appeal of a speakeasy is enough to keep me down here,” she said as she took in the missing items from her home, office, and car. “This guy is seriously nu
ts,” she said with a frown. “I mean, seriously nuts.”
“Yeah, let’s get back upstairs,” he said. He didn’t move right away, was panning his light around the room. “Looks like the only way down here is the stairs, no other doors I can see right off. But I need to come back and check to be sure. Will you be all right in your office, alone for a time? I need to ensure he can’t get back in here and move this stuff before the guys get here to go through it all.”
“I will be fine. As long as you come back to me quickly. I can get back to the office on my own if you want to look around now?” She wasn’t keen on that idea, but it wasn’t like she would be a long way away from him, so it was totally doable. “Once we get to the floor above us, that is. I don’t really want to go up there alone unless you are close.”
“No, I’ll get you back to the office, and then come back down. I hate the idea of leaving you alone even for a minute right now, but I have to ensure this room, and any other way in is sealed off. He’s getting in here around your security system. Which means there has to be another entrance. Likely it’s down here,” he told her. Taking her hand in his, he led her to the stairs, and then let her go in front of him.
“I will be okay. You will leave me with a weapon and then you will come down here, do what you need, and then come back to me,” she had told him as they walked up the stairs, her in front of him.
“Absolutely I will, as long as you promise not to use it on me,” he said with a chuckle. “I want to know that you’re okay up here. Especially since this place isn’t exactly secure at the moment. Damn, this pisses me off, sweetheart. You should be safe no matter where you are. Creeps like this really get under my skin.”
“I will be safe. I know you will keep me safe, and when you are away from me I will keep the weapon cocked and ready, and no, I won’t shoot you. Promise.” She walked hand in hand with him toward her office, silent because in those moments there was no need to speak.
Once back in her space, Aeron looked around the room. From under his shirttails he pulled out a gun. He popped the clip, checked the action, and then slipped the clip back in. He handed it to her, butt end first. “The safety is on, and there’s one in the chamber. It needs a bit of pressure on the trigger, so you won’t accidently have it go off. But still be careful, will you, please?”
“I will.” She laughed and looked up at him. “Cutter, I am fairly good with a weapon. Don’t you recall a couple of days ago you and Yoshi making me go shooting with you because you were sure that I was going to injure one of you by accident? I can shoot and keep my head on my shoulders. Promise. Now go and do what you need to do because I want to go home. I will leave the bar in the manager’s hands. I just want to go home and curl up with you on the couch.”
Nodding, he stared at her for long moments, indecision dancing over his face. Then he turned and stalked back through the wall into the passage. In seconds he was out of sight, even the glow of his light was gone, which likely meant he was heading back down the stairs.
Piper held the weapon at the ready while he was gone, lifting it slightly when she heard movement and saw a dance of shadows and light. Seeing Cutter peep in through the door had her grinning and lowering the weapon. “Aeron.” She whispered his name reverently, lovingly. “Heavens, I was getting worried. You were gone longer than I thought you would be.”
“I had to seal up a couple different doors, including ones into the bar proper. There’s even one that opens into the hallway that goes out to the back door. This place was designed to get booze in and out without any notice. I don’t know where the one tunnel goes, but it looks like it covers a few blocks. I jammed wedges under the doors so they can’t open in. The others, I disabled the switches so they can’t be popped open. This is the only way in right now, and before we leave I’m going to disable the switch to be safe. We’ll be able to get back in later, but until I can get someone in that knows how to collect the evidence down there, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“That sounds like a very good plan of attack.” She passed him the weapon back and watched him as he released the bullet that had been in the chamber and put it back into the back of his pants. “Maybe another time we will get cleaners down there to clean it up and put in new lighting. We might see what’s down there then.” That was another time. Right now they had to focus on catching the asshole that wanted her dead.
“One day, once we have this guy out of your life and we don’t have to worry so much. For now, though.” Turning, he stepped into the corridor and reached up. He was working on something out of sight for a moment before dropping his hands. Tucking something into his pocket, he eased the door shut until there was a click. “All right, no one can get through there now. It’ll be a bitch to get back into later, but it can be done. It will demand a small chunk of sacrificial wall to be removed, though. Don’t worry, I’ll get it repainted, promise.”
“Don’t worry. If that’s what it takes then we will do it. Thank you, by the way. I know that it’s one of those odd things to be thankful for, but thank you for all that you do for me and because of me. For being on my side.”
He walked to her, taking her hands in his, and pulled her closer to his body. “I will always be on your side, sweetheart. No matter what, you’ve got me in your corner for good.” Smiling at her, he slipped his arms around her and wiggled his eyebrows. “Now, I’m thinking we need to blow off this Popsicle stand, get back to your place, and get naked. Are you on board?”
“Well that’s a silly question,” Piper said with a grin. “Besides, we still have two boxes of condoms that haven’t been opened, so I totally think that we need to go home and make good use of them so that we can give the grocery store clerk something more to gossip about in the next couple days.”
“Maybe we should stop and pick up some more. I’d really hate to run the possibility of ever running out. Besides, we do need to pick up eggs and some more milk. Otherwise your whole cereal breakfast plans will just crumble.”
“Yes, and I don’t want that. I happen to really enjoy my whole cereal breakfast idea a lot. Mostly because you let me eat cereal in bed and, while I’m eating it you are harping at me about calories and how you have to ensure that I work them all off so that I stay, what was it?” She was giggling now as he tossed her a dirty look. “That’s right, the perfect handful for you.”
“You had the box there with you, refilling the bowl right there in the bed. Come on, woman, I was teasing you. I love your curves, and don’t want you to change a bit.” He slid his hands down to give her ass a squeeze. “The fact you eat naked while in bed is the only reason I’m not really getting on your nerves about that habit. You distract me with all those delightful curves, so that all the blood stays well away from my brain, and in other parts.”
She snickered and moved in closer to him. “I know you were teasing. I happen to love that you tease me as you do.” She just plain was falling in love with him, if she wasn’t already. “So grocery store and see what we can do about getting more food, drink, and condoms, and then we will go home.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a nod. Lifting her up against his body, Aeron pressed a kiss to her lips. “Grab what you need to grab, tell whomever you need to tell we’re departing, and let’s get out of here. I’d like to have you naked within the next hour.”
“Deal.” She grabbed her bag and walked in front of him out into the hall and then to the bar. After a short conversation with the bartender for the night, she passed off her keys and then walked back to his side. “She will lock up and put the keys into the drop box. I will pick them up in the morning. Now, let’s go home, shall we?”
“And just how exactly are you planning on getting into your house?” he asked with a grin. “Babe, I recognize that mass of keys. Did you remember to take your house keys off that loop before handing them over by chance?”
“Crap.” She turned around and after a quick laugh with the bartender, she took her key and the key to the dro
p box back. “Sorry about that.” She passed the keys to him. “Will you put those onto your keychain so that I don’t lose them? I can’t believe that I forgot about them.” She was blushing scarlet because of her forgetting something as important as keys to her home.
Chuckling, he took the keys and worked them onto his keychain. “You have been a little distracted, sweetheart. Don’t worry about it so much. I was here, kept you from getting stuck standing outside the house all night, and life is just fine once more.” Slipping his arm through hers, he walked her toward the door.
It was nice to have someone there to keep her straight. She happened to love that he was the one that was there for her. “Besides, I’m sure that if we had to you would be able to get us into the house. Right?”
“I could, if the need arose. Though it is highly illegal, and with your neighbors not exactly the brightest of plans. We’d have the cops there before I even got halfway through what needed to be done,” he said. “Though they’d likely let you off easy, being as adorable as you are. Me they’d probably lock up and throw the key away.”
“Oh whatever, you big drama queen.” She was teasing him, bumping her shoulder to his. “I wouldn’t let them take you away, and being that the home is mine I think that they would let you off, too. Although the thought of a strip search does appeal to me,” she added thoughtfully.
A low growl had her glancing his way as he got the truck moving. “I’d rip their throats out if they touched you like that,” he said in a cold tone. “No one touches you like that, ever.” His knuckles were turning white on the steering wheel he was hanging onto it so tightly.
She reached out and put her hand on his. “Aeron, I meant, you sweetheart. You strip searching me, not anyone else. I don’t want anyone else touching me like that. Ever. I only want you. You worked your way into my life and heart faster than I ever thought was possible,” she admitted to him quietly.
His hands loosened on the steering wheel as he shot her a look. Next he caught her hand gently in his and squeezed. “Sorry,” he said softly. “The thought of anyone touching you like that.” He cut himself off with a hard shake of his head and another low growl. Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers.