Safe With Him (13 page)

“So your mom really didn’t know?” she asked him, but he could hear the disbelief obvious in her question.

“No, I know she didn’t because when I did tell her—not everything, not even most of the things I had witnessed either by my father or one of my uncles or cousins, my
male
cousins—Mom was pissed, hurt, embarrassed, ashamed for not knowin’, for lettin’ somethin’ like that happen to her son. But, most importantly, not twenty-four hours after I told her, me, Marco, and my mom…we disappeared. She packed what we needed most, emptied out her bank account and we took off, headed south, and just kept goin’.” He realized they were parked in the lot at the campus, and she was turned in her seat, watching him. When he looked at her face, he could still see the unshed tears in her eyes and the wobbly smile on her face.

“You never went back,” she stated, not asked, and he felt that in the center of his chest also.

“No, I never went back. We moved around a lot. Never did stay in one place very long. Not until Marco turned seventeen, and even then they moved a few more times.”

“They? Where were you?”

“The day I turned eighteen I joined the army. My intentions were to take Marco and my mom with me after boot camp, wherever I got stationed.”

“Your intentions? That’s not what happened?”

“No, Marco wanted to finish high school where they were living at that time. We had moved around so much, went to so many different schools, that we hardly ever completed a full year at one school. He was a junior that year and over halfway through the school year and all he asked was to graduate from that school. My mom gave in, but I was already enlisted, so I had no choice. By the time Marco was ready to graduate, Mom had decided that she didn’t want to move again. A year and half in one place had given her that time to settle. After Marco had graduated he also wanted to join the army, but he also didn’t wanna leave Mom, and she was so set on not movin’ again. After finally livin’ in one place for almost two years, and both her boys over eighteen she said she was done runnin’. So we, me and Marco, came to an agreement. First we would move Mom out of the shitty rundown apartment she was currently livin’ in and into a house. The first house she’d had since leavin’ everythin’ in New York. And second I would finish my four years, I had two more left, and then I would get out if he waited, so he did.

“Is that when you became a cop?”

“It didn’t quite work out like we had planned. Shortly after Marco turned nineteen, and before my term was up, our mom died. The doctor said it was her heart. Come to find out, she’d always had a weak heart. She just never said a word to me or Marco about it.”

She reached out grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’m so sorry, Draco.”

He moved his eyes from her, looking at some point over her shoulder. “Me too,” he whispered softly. He felt her hand squeeze his again. “So after I was granted compassionate leave to…take care of things, I went back, ended up re-upping for ten more years before I was voluntarily honorably discharged.

“To become a cop?”

“I was already an MP, so figured that was my next step.”

“An MP?”

“Military Police, Army.”

“Oh,” she said with a smile.

He leaned over and kissed her lips lightly. “Don’t you have a class to get to?” he asked as he smiled back at her.

“I can skip it,” she stated. He didn’t like that. He did not want her missing anything, not even one class, because of him.

“The hell you are!”

“It’s one class, not even—” she started to explain, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

“Bree, you are goin’ to class, if I have to drag you there kickin’ and screamin’.” He didn’t give her time to argue as he undid his seatbelt, got out of the car, and started walking around to her side. He was just about at her side of the car by the time she had gotten out and had her seat back pushed up and was bent over getting something out of the back. He had noticed the small group of guys about fifteen feet away. He also didn’t miss the fact that they stopped and watched Bree’s ass. He stepped closer to her as she was turning around and pinned her up against her car, careful of her bruises, leaned in and kissed her, but this time it sure as hell wasn’t light and playful.

Bree saw the fire in his eyes only seconds before his lips touched hers, his tongue pushed between her lips, demanding entrance. She could do nothing other than comply and at the moment she didn’t want to deny this man anything. She couldn’t; her own body wouldn’t allow it. She surrendered her mouth to his as he kissed her with a fierceness she had never known. He possessed her mouth, owned her body in a way no other man had, in a way no other man had ever tried. She grabbed onto his forearms, could feel the tight muscles under her fingers as she gripped him tighter, just to try and hold herself up. Her legs could no longer support her, and she knew if not for Draco’s arms wrapped around her she would no longer be standing. He broke the kiss with a jerk, both of them breathing hard.

“Fuck me.” She heard him wheeze out. Those dark eyes were now completely black, staring back at her in…astonishment? She wanted…what? To run as far and as fast as she could? To continue the kiss? To do more than just kiss, if you could call what just happened “just a kiss?” Before she could even wrap her brain around it, he bent down and picked up her bag, that she didn’t even realized had fallen to the ground, then took a step back. “This sure as fuck ain’t junior high, but I damn well will be totin’ your books, or whatever the hell you got in here.” He tugged her from the car, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and started to walk her toward the campus.

They were almost at the main building when the daze she had been in since his lips touched her finally lifted enough for her to realize that yes, he had pinned her to her car. Yes, he had most definitely kissed her senseless, but not once did he cause her any pain, being careful of her bruises. “Maybe his superpowers extend beyond his cockiness.” She thought she mumbled only to herself, then turned to him when she heard him chuckle low.

“Superpowers?” he said around his laughter, then kissed the tip of her nose, grinning that damn sexy grin. “Where’s your class, baby?”

Bree sat at the table and tried to concentrate on what the professor was saying, all the while she
knew
Draco was standing at the door just
watching
her. He had walked her to class all right. What he failed to mention was that he would be staying, as
‘her bodyguard.’
“Yeah, like I need a bodyguard,” she mumbled. She just about fell to the floor when he walked into the classroom with her and announced, loudly, to a room full of people, including her professor that he had orders to protect Miss Winters.
I know, right?
Then through the entire class time he just stood by the door, and she could just
feel
his eyes on her. She should have just skipped the class like she had suggested in the first place. After all, she could practically do the same thing online. The only reason she attended a class on campus once a week was to have the extra ‘class time’ added to her degree. And she really did try her hardest to concentrate, but between her classmates’ whispers and murmurs that she
knew
were about her, and Draco’s watchful eyes, she could forget concentrating on anything.

Now class was ending and she couldn’t remember one thing that the professor had said the entire hour and fifty-five minutes of class. She was packing her bag when one of her classmates stepped up to her. “Hey, Bree,” he said, and she could feel his eyes on her bruised face. “Is, uh…everything all right?” he asked as she slightly turned her bruised side of her face away.

“Hey…uh.”
Oh crap, what is his name?
“Oh yeah, everything is fine. Why?” Like she needed to ask.
I mean, seriously, who has a bodyguard walk them to class, just because of a little bruise.

“You need to move along.” She heard Draco say from really, really close behind her, right before she felt his hand rest lightly on her lower back.

“Detective Vittore, everything is fine. This is…”
Crap, how do you introduce someone if you can’t remember his name?
“A classmate of mine and sometimes my project partner.”
At least I remembered that much
, she thought, as she turned to face Draco.

Draco’s not-so-happy eyes found hers. “He still needs to move along, so you can proceed to your next destination,
Miss. Winters,
” he informed her, his jaw tight. Yeah, he was not a happy camper at the moment. Why? She wasn’t sure.

When she turned back to…
hell, what is his name?
He was walking away. She turned back to Draco. “What the hell was that all about?” she spoke low but sharply.

He raised an eyebrow and just looked at her like she had just asked the dumbest question in the history of dumb questions. When he said nothing, only continued to stare at her, she whipped back around to the table, gathered her things and without speaking she flung her bag over her shoulder and proceeded to her…
next destination
.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Draco groaned low to himself, as he followed Bree out the door.
How in the hell can one woman turn me on one minute then piss me off the next, all the while keeping my dick in a constant state of stiffness?
The entire time he stood by the door watching her with the taste of that sweet mouth still on his lips from that kiss, that fantastically amazing kiss. He wanted her. Wanted her so bad he could feel the beat of his heart in his dick, but he wanted more from her than just sex. He wanted, no, he needed her trust, needed to know that she believed in him. What he didn’t know was the ‘how’ to accomplish any of that.

He silently followed her back across the campus, the parking lot, and back to her car. She never said a word or even looked at him.
Hell, I might as well have still been in Mt. Eve as far as she is concerned
. Did she even know the danger she was in? The attention she had drawn to herself? Granted, she didn’t seek it out, but nevertheless, she was on their radar and he’d be damned if he was going to let anything happen to her.

“You done?” he barked, gruffer than he had meant to be.

She whipped around, eyes narrowed. “Yeah, Mr. Body…” her eyes scanned him up and down, “…guard,” she finished on a sneer.

He moved around her, positioned them with her back to the car and him standing in front of her, but not touching. He couldn’t touch her, not yet, not in this moment. That sexy as hell scowl on her face, yeah, he knew she was pissed, but damn! Even pissed she was sexy and if he touched her he would lose focus on what was important…those soft lips against his, her sweet scent surrounding him, his hands cupping…
Fuck, her safety! That’s the most important thing
, he scolded himself. “You said you would give me twenty-four hours to keep you safe. You gave me that just a few hours ago. Now you’re pissed at who-the-fuck-knows, and you’re tryin’ to take that back.” He leaned down, his face close to hers. “That’s not gonna-fuckin’-happen, sweetheart,” he snarled.

“You’re a jerk! I don’t even know why I like you. One minute you’re all Casanova-ish kissing, the kind that makes your knees weak, your belly tingle, and you become so senseless you can’t even remember your own name. Then BAM! You’re all like…” She dropped her voice, deepening it. “
I have orders to protect Miss Winters
and
you need to move along
.” She again spoke in her normal voice, “Like you’re just some random cop off the street that just met me two minutes ago. That’s just…just…just being a jerk! And that crap you pulled with ‘what’s his name’ wasn’t very nice either,” she finished in a huff.

“What’s his name?” He managed to say right before he busted out laughing. “Baby, you don’t even know his name, do you?” he said, still chuckling, and with that all his frustration, at her
classmate
, the same damn classmate that was part of the group of guys who had been staring at her ass in the parking lot earlier, melted away.

“I do! He told me, but just at the moment, I can’t remember,” she said the words sternly, but he could also hear the embarrassment in her voice and see the slight blush on her cheeks.

He moved his body closer to hers but was still not actually touching her. “That’s okay, baby. Want me to make you not remember your name?” he whispered, leaning close to her ear.

“No,” she breathed.

He moved a little closer. “Want me to make your belly tingle again?” he whispered.

“No,” she repeated breathlessly.

He leaned his body onto hers, his hands braced on each side of her on the car, holding most of his weight off of her, careful of her bruised back. “Want me to make your knees go weak?” he whispered, his lips so close to hers that when she licked her lips, her tongue touched his.

“Draco,” she breathed and his name had never sounded so damn sweet. She closed that fraction of a space between them. Her lips softly touched his, then he felt her tongue slowly slide across his bottom lip, to the corner of his mouth, then across his top lip. He opened his mouth to her, for her, only to have her nip his bottom lip between her teeth and then suck his lip into her mouth. Each pull on his lip, he could feel his dick jump. She was destroying him with just a few strokes of her tongue. He pushed himself against her, knowing she could feel what she was doing to him. She let go of his lip and stabbed her tongue into his mouth at the same time she rocked her body into his. That was it. He was completely lost in her. He moved his arms, one going to her head to tilt for a better angle to kiss her deeper, the other going to her ass to slam that sexy body to him. He had just touched her ass when she jerked her head back, breathing hard.

Bree placed her hands on his chest and pushed, and thank goodness he stepped back. “Stop! Oh my God! I
am
a slut. I can’t believe I did that. Here, in a freakin’ parking lot, for the world to see.” She shook her head. “I’m such a slut,” she repeated. What was she thinking, acting like that, kissing like that? She had, she knew it. She had totally and completely lost her mind.

“Bree, you’re not a slut. You—”

“Oh, no? Then what would you call it? Huh? Kissing like that, being like…like…like
that
!” she said, waving her arms between the two of them, her voice rising with each word.

“Calm down.”

“Calm down? Calm! How am I supposed to be calm when I’m…I’m…I’m a slut,” she finished. She was so embarrassed. What if someone had seen her? What if her professors had seen her?

“Stop,” he voiced firmly, as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her to his chest. “You’re not a slut, far from it. And we only kissed. It was a un-fuckin’-believable kiss, but…” he stepped back, “baby, it was only a kiss,” he finished, sounding as if he wanted nothing more than to soothe her unease with herself.

“But you,” she started to say more calmly, but lowered her voice even more, “touched my butt in public and…and—” Before she got the entire thought out, she was interrupted by his laughter.

He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Let’s go home.” He started to turn her toward the passenger’s side of her car.

“Uhmm…what are you doing?”

“I’m gonna’ drive cuz I got some questions that might upset you and I don’t want you drivin’ while you’re upset,” he proclaimed, still walking her around the car.

She didn’t have a problem with him driving her car, but she did have a problem with him not asking her if it was okay. “You could, oh, I don’t know, maybe…ask first!” she stated just a tad sarcastically.

“This is me askin’.”

“No, this is you
telling
me what you want, or, rather, what you don’t want!”

“Bree.”

“Dra.”

They had made it around the car, and he was opening the door for her when he jerked his head around to look at her. “Did you just call me Dra?” he asked, surprised.

“Yeah.”

He shook his head at her then, turned his body to face her, and kissed her lips lightly. “Baby, can I drive your car please?” he whispered softly.

That was sweet and dang it, she had tingles in her belly and her knees went a little weak. “Okay,” she breathed, and watched a big sexy—and a little cocky—grin spread across his face. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t think that whispering soft crap will work all the time.” She huffed righteously, and he busted out laughing…at her! And damn it that sounded good too.

She stepped around him, got in the car, and reached for the door when he bent down his face to be even with hers. “You’re so damn cute,” he said right before he kissed her hard, but quick, then stepped back and shut her door.

She watched him walk around the car, get in, then grunt at the cramped space as he was readjusting the seat. “Tight squeeze there, huh, big man.” She giggled, teasing him. When he shot her ‘the look,’ it was her turn to bust out laughing.

“Damn, baby, you’ve got a great laugh,” he told her right before he hooked his hand behind her neck and brought her head to his and kissed her again, hard, but quick. “Sexy as hell.” He finished, then let her go, and started the car. “Seatbelt,” he stated as he was fastening his own, then winked.

“Gonna keep you safe.”