Ten Thousand Words (45 page)

The bitter cold stung my eyes, and the panic I felt didn’t keep them from watering.

“Oliver!” Trey cried out.

“Fuck!”
I screamed, startling several people around me into clearing a path so that I could increase my speed. My phone was clutched in my hand. I hadn’t hung up, but I couldn’t listen and sprint. “Love! I’m still here!” I shouted, hoping she was still on the other end.

That motherfucker! If he fucking touches a single curl on her head, I’ll fucking kill him!

I wanted to do some damage, make him bleed. Never in my life had I wanted to do so much harm to a person, but I was ready to unleash the wrath fueling my fear.

It had happened. She had left my side, and that son of a bitch had shown up.
I knew it.
I had known that if I wasn’t around, he’d fucking crawl out from that rock he’d been hiding under.

Lungs burning, I made it to Wurther’s within minutes. Throwing open the door, I exploded into the bar like a raging bear. My eyes found Xanthe, Jaime, and Rex at their favorite corner booth. The few patrons in the place were watching them.

Rex had his arms around a flailing Jaime, who was red-faced with veins bulging in her forehead, while Xanthe—

My God.

My woman was standing
in front
of both of them, her finger in the bastard’s face, giving him a verbal smackdown.

Charging up to them, I shoved the motherfucker into the booth and grabbed my woman around the waist. Wrapping my arms around her, I tucked her face into my chest and stared down the douche bag who had the bollocks to breathe the same air she did.

Once, this man’s face had taken a brutal beating from Xanthe’s avengers. His nose was squashed and crooked, and he had a massive scar from the corner of his left eye to his mouth.

“Is this him then?” I asked, turning to Rex.

“Who the fuck are you?” George snarled as he got back to his feet.

He looked at me hard, and then his eyes widened. His eyes…there was something about them that just wasn’t…
right
.

“I know you. You’re the guy on the cover.”

“I’m the motherfucker who’s going to rip you limb from limb if you ever come near my woman again,” I snarled.

His stunned look turned to blazing anger.
“Your woman?”
He laughed viciously. “What is he talking about, Elaine?”

Xanthe gasped and struggled to free herself.

“Her name is Xanthe,” I stated, an uneasy feeling creeping its way through my vitals.

He completely ignored me. “Elaine, I need to talk—”

“Holy shit, someone shut him up!” I roared. The unease was changing into fear, and at first, I couldn’t understand why. But then it hit me with full force.

The man was truly insane. This was what my love had been talking about. When I had carelessly questioned Elaine Ford’s sanity, this was what Xanthe had compared herself to.

Xanthe twisted in my arms, and I pushed her behind me. I was going to take him down myself. Taking a step forward, I raised my arm to wail on the motherfucker, but Xanthe grabbed my fist.

“No,” she told me.

Surprised, I turned to face her. All I saw was her blank mask, showing nothing that was churning behind her eyes. She was trying to help me rein it in. She didn’t want me to get involved.

“I can’t—” I started to protest.

“It’s not for you to handle.”

What the fuck is she saying? She’s my woman, damn it! I have the fucking right to protect her!

“Let it go.”

I lowered my arm. “All right.”

Turning back to George, about to tell him to get the hell out, the son of a bitch sucker-punched me in the jaw. My head snapped to the side with the force, but other than that, I’d hardly felt it. I looked back at him and started laughing.

He didn’t like that. But he didn’t have much time to not like it because Xanthe dropped my fist, walked up to him, and kicked him so hard in his man parts that he dropped to the ground.

Rex shoved something in my arms—Xanthe’s knapsack and jacket. “Get her out of here!”

With my free hand, I grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door where Trey was waiting with my coat.

On the sidewalk, Xanthe and I shrugged on our coats, and the three of us walked in the direction of her house.

Shaking with fury and an ebbing adrenaline rush, I wanted to go back and tear into that fucker to rid myself of this savagery.

“Where the fuck were Ricki’s boys?” I snapped at her.

Her face was stony, and she refused to say anything. Her phone went off in her pocket, and she took it out.

“Yeah?” she answered. “Home. See you then.”

“Was that Rex?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Fuck, Xanthe. I
told
you—”

“Not here!” she barked at me, her glasses flashing from the streetlights.

Silently, Trey followed us.

We made it to Xanthe’s house where she glanced around before taking out her keys and unlocking the door. I shoved her past the threshold just to get her inside, the violence still in me, needing an outlet. Manhandling her made me feel better, and she didn’t seem to mind too much. She glared at me as she kicked off her trainers, which was good. I didn’t want her to feel frightened.

I opened my mouth, intent on unleashing some verbal fury at her, but she pulled out her phone and called someone.

“We made it. Let him go.”

“What?”
I shouted.

Trey quietly took off his coat and slipped by us, heading down the hallway into the living room.

“Hush,” she told me, hanging up and stowing her phone before taking off her own jacket.

My eyes were going to pop out of my head. “Woman, I swear to fucking God—”

“It was too public. Too many witnesses. We have to wait for Ricki, all right? Rex just wanted to make sure we made it home before he let George leave.”

There was a fire below my heart, ready to combust into atomic levels. “Do you think it was a coincidence that the second I wasn’t by your side, this motherfucker showed himself?”

She shook her head. “No. He had to have seen us together.
Your
face is on
my
book. He might not have known we were
together
—”

“He calls you
Elaine
,” I spit.

She nodded. “I told you, the man is delusional. At first, I thought it was because that was how he met me—at the author signing, you know? I figured he couldn’t switch it off. He met me as Elaine, so that’s what he calls me.”

“Do you know what he wants to talk to you about?”

“No.”

She turned on her heel and walked into the living room. Behind me, the door opened, startling me. Rex and Jaime walked in, and I was ready to go to war.

“Where were Ricki’s boys?” I snapped at Rex. “I was under the impression she was being watched at all times! How the fuck did that motherfucker just
walk
into your bar and—”

“Ricki’s on a job,” said Rex. “He had to take a few of the guys with him.”

I turned away and stalked toward my woman with that bit of information.

She knew there was less security!

Pointing at the stairs, I snapped at Xanthe, “Go. Now.”

“Excuse me?” she huffed, offended.

“Get the fuck upstairs, or I’m going to lose my shit in front of fucking everyone. Right now.”

“Oh, damn!” Jaime said in an undertone.

Xanthe marched her sweet arse up the steps with me following close behind.

“That was so hot,” Jaime whispered loud enough to hear.

I would have smiled if I hadn’t been so incensed.

Up in her room, I slammed the door behind me.

“Oliver—”

“No,” I said. “You knew there weren’t as many people looking out for you, and you wanted to go out without me!”

“I didn’t find out about that until we were at dinner,” she protested. “And seeing as I was with Rex, I sure as hell didn’t think George would just traipse in, wanting to converse!”

Saying the fucker’s name was like tossing gunpowder on my fiery rage. I understood the term
bloodlust
for a whole other reason now. My cock swelled painfully as I marched up to her and tossed her on the bed.

“What the—”

“Either you let me fuck you senseless, or I get to go out and kill him, Xanthe. Your choice.”

Her hands went straight to her jeans and undid the button and fly. I yanked them off her and tossed them aside as she removed her underwear.

“Turn over,” I commanded.

She flipped onto her belly. Fuck, the sight of her arse was about to do me in.

“Are you wet enough?” I asked, unbuckling my belt.

My woman lifted her bum in the air and slipped her hand between her legs to check. My jaw dropped—
shit, shit, shit
—and I scrambled to get out of my jeans.

“For you?” she asked, sliding her fingers back and forth. “Yeah. Always.”

Ripping off my pants, I pounced. “Holy shit, you drive me right out of my head.”

Cock in hand, I rubbed the head of myself along her seam—
definitely wet enough
—and thrust all the way in.

I shoved her flat with a hand between her shoulder blades and straddled her thighs. She moaned, and my spine tingled, making my back arch, pushing me in deeper.

Fucking ecstasy.

Raising my right hand, I brought it down with a hard, loud
smack
.

“Augh!” she cried, outraged.

“You took a fucking risk today, Xanthe,” I told her. “You put my heart in danger.” I smacked her arse again, adoring the blooming red handprints rising to the surface. “You will never, ever, ever do that again.” Another smack wrung a gasp from her lungs. “Promise me.”

I pulled back and pressed in. I had to bite my lip to keep control. The pain of it centered me.
Fuck, she’s really turning me depraved in the sack.

“I can’t live my life in fear,” she heatedly told me.

I delivered another blow to the opposite cheek.

“Ah!” she squealed, squirming.

“You little freak!” I hissed, smacking her flaming arse again. “You fucking like that too much.”

“If I promise you I won’t ever, ever do it again, will you promise not to stop?”

Oh my God, she was trying to kill me—or make me embarrass myself.

I bit down on the inside of my cheeks—
who the fuck am I?
—finding focus. “I’m not up for negotiating, love.”

She rose up on her elbows and nudged her bottom against me. “Please?”

Willing myself to be still, reaching out with my left hand, I gently pulled down her hair. My woman wanted it rough. I had to punish her somehow. Twisting the length of it around my wrist, I tugged, making her neck arch.

“Promise me, Xanthe.”

She swallowed loudly. “I promise.”

I smacked her rump again, nice and hard, loving the sound of her gasp. I had to close my eyes and breathe deeply to find my bearings. Slowly, I pulled her head back, so she had to go up on her hands. Curving forward, I planted a forgiving upside-down kiss on her lips.

“Thank you,” I told her.

Releasing her hair, I shoved her back down and started riding into her, long and deep. Beneath me, Xanthe was pushing back, trying to make me go faster.

I laughed at her efforts. She was just so damn adorable.

“Ohh, God!” she groaned. “Harder!”

Keeping the same pace, I slid my hand into the hair at the back of her head and tugged. Bracing myself on my other hand next to her face, I leaned down until my mouth brushed her ear. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I want you to!”

“I wanted to be with you while you were out. You didn’t give in to me. Why should I give in to you?”

My poor woman whimpered. “Because I need you to.”

“I needed to be with you. I needed to know you were safe. You didn’t give a shit about that, love.”

She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I’m sorry.”

“I bet you are.”

“Please…don’t be mean.”

“Tell me why I should give you what you want, Xanthe.”

“Because I love you. And you say you love me—”

“
Say
I love you? You can’t fucking feel that I do?”

Xanthe let out a frustrated sigh and went limp. “I give up. Do whatever you want.”

“You’re so good with words, love. How is it that the ones that fly out of your mouth just push all my triggers?”

“I don’t get to edit what flies out of my mouth!” she snapped.

That made me bust out laughing, which only infuriated her further.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough!” She struggled under my weight.

“The fuck you have,” I replied.

Pushing myself up, I let go of her hair and ground into her, hard and so very deep. She moaned and relaxed back onto the bed once more.

“See? You should listen to your man more often, woman.”

“Shut your mouth.”

Smoothing my right hand up under her shirt, I grabbed the back of her neck and squeezed. I braced myself on my left hand and began pounding into her tight, hot body until she stuffed her fist in her mouth to muffle her cries. I loved every second of watching her fall apart at my hands.

She snuck her other hand between her legs again, and I nearly lost it then. I could feel her working her fingers over her clit, felt her tightening around me like a vise, as she grew closer to orgasm.

She’d better hurry the fuck up. I can’t hold back much longer…

In a sweet implosion, she cried out as she began pulsing around me in hard, wet bursts.

“Oh God…” I groaned, thrusting deep and holding myself there, just feeling all of it.

When her pulse softened, I pulled out and flipped her over. Spreading her wide, I sank in, loving the feel of her legs wrapping around and squeezing my waist.

Our eyes met, and her emotions were positively dancing. Love and joy blasted through me. Lust, need, want—it was all there, reflecting back at me in her hazel eyes.

“Xanthe…” I managed to breathe her name before I took possession of her lips and tongue.

She sighed into my mouth, her body clinging to me, as I rode higher toward my peak. I wanted to feel her skin against mine, but it was too late. White starbursts dazzled behind my eyelids while I exploded inside her with a deafening roar.