“You have no idea the trouble you invite, little lamb.”
He’d warned me before, told me he was into things that might scare me, that I wouldn’t understand. But I’d thought a lot about it over the last few days, and I’d come to a decision. “I want to know,” I said, leaning forward to kiss his collarbone. “Whatever you’re into, whatever I can do to please you… I want to.”
Tor’s head fell back as my lips moved down his chest, and he sighed. “You think you’re ready for that, do you?”
“Yes.”
Quick as a flash, Tor’s hands were in my hair, pulling my head back to look up at him, and he searched my eyes. I had no hesitation in opening up to him, and I hoped that whatever he saw there would show him that. His forehead creased as he said, “If I tell you what you want to know, that means you have to reciprocate.”
“Reciprocate how?”
“You’re hiding something from me,” he murmured, his hand moving down to massage the back of my neck. “Tell me what it is.”
Instinctively, my eyes left his so he wouldn’t see that he was right, but he steered me back to face him. His gaze penetrated, and if I didn’t open my mouth soon, he’d somehow find a way to see through my secret.
“I, um, ran into someone this week at work. This guy from the den—”
“Who?”
“He calls himself King.” I rolled my eyes. “I doubt that’s his real name, but he’s such a douchebag he tells everyone it is.”
The expression that crossed Tor’s face then was thunderous, and the grip on my neck turned painful. “What did he want?”
“To be annoying?”
“I’m serious. What did he want with you?”
I tried to move my neck, and Tor loosened his grip slightly. “He said he saw us at the gala. That if I was with you then I liked to play hard to get, and he was implying he could do a better job, I guess. He’s creepy as shit, and—” I stopped, not wanting to voice what I’d really been thinking in case Tor thought I was being delusional.
“And what?” he said through clenched teeth. “Tell me.”
Here goes nothin’. “This is gonna sound ridiculous, but…the past few weeks I’ve felt like someone’s been following me. Like I get this feeling in my gut that someone’s watching me, and it’s happened so many times. The night at the den, I felt it the whole way home. At the farmers’ market. Going to work. I thought I was imagining things, but I don’t think I am. I think King’s been following me. He even said he’d been watching me.”
I’d never truly believed Tor when he said he wasn’t a good man. I’d never believed he could hurt anyone, but right then, I was glad we weren’t in the same city as King, because with the way Tor’s nostrils flared and he took two steps back, fists clenching by his sides, he looked murderous.
“But it’s fine. It’s not a big deal, really. I can handle it,” I said, but he looked ready to hop on the nearest ferry and drive back to Westport.
“Did he touch you?” Tor asked, his voice so low and menacing that I could barely hear it.
“No. I mean, he grabbed my elbow once, but not, like, in a sexual way, no.”
Tor stared at me for a long moment, his chest heaving, and when I took a step toward him, he backed away before turning and sprinting back down the hallway.
“Wait…Tor. What are you doing?” I took off after him, and as I rounded the corner into the bedroom, I saw him pulling on his pants. “Where are you going? You’re not leaving.”
“I can’t be here right now.”
“Why? You told me to tell you—”
“And you were right for telling me.”
“But now you’re going to leave?” I blocked his path and put my hand on his chest. “Don’t be mad. Please, Tor. Don’t let him ruin our weekend.”
Tor grabbed my wrist, but didn’t pull my hand away from him. “I’m not mad at you. But I don’t like people touching what’s mine. And you’re fucking mine.”
The possessive tone sent a thrill through me, even as I worried about what he would do with this new information. He wouldn’t leave and go after him or anything, would he?
Okay, change the subject, calm him down…
I brushed my thumb across his chest, trying to soothe the rapid beat of his heart that I could feel against my hand.
“You promised,” I said. “I told you what you wanted to know, and now it’s my turn.”
“Now’s not a good time for that, Jesse.”
“I say it is.”
Tor’s eyes were so hard they could crack crystals. “You want to know what turns me on? The shit that gets me off? That’s what you want?”