“I’m not taking you back to Safe Harbor. It doesn’t even exist anymore.” I thought my words might calm her down, but, of course, I get no such luck. Her whole body is still tense, like she is ready to attack at any second, and I know I made the right choice by leaving the cuffs on her. I tie the knot in the last suture and gently place a large band-aid over the wound. Caring for others isn’t my strong suit. I work as a one-man team, but for my sweet Gracie, I’ll make an exception.
“Then why else are you here and how the hell did you even find me? And what do you mean it doesn’t exist anymore?” I don’t answer her questions, mostly because I don’t want to tell her the truth yet, and answering those questions are just going to lead to more questions. The less she knows the better off she’ll be.
“Uncuff me!” She orders, when I don’t say anything. Her eyebrows pinching together in anger. The look is adorable and makes me smile, which is a bit of a foreign feeling on my lips. It’s been a long time since I smiled the way Grace makes me smile.
“I don’t think so, Sweetheart. You’re just going to try and fight me, plus I kind of like you like this.” She rolls her eyes, but a blush creeps up onto her cheeks, and I know she’s feeling the instant attraction that once consumed us.
“At least pull my shirt back down.”
“Why? So I don’t see how hard your nipples are?”
“It’s cold in here,” she murmurs angrily.
“Should I warm you up, Gracie? Rub my body all over you, sink deep inside you, the way you like it?” I ask, with a wink.
“Don’t fucking touch me!”
“Don’t be so loud or I’ll gag you,” I warn her, while pulling her shirt back down, brushing my knuckles against her stomach on purpose. “Although, I bet you’d like that too.” Her cheeks blush a deeper red and goosebumps spread across her skin. I smirk knowing that I still have the same effect on her. Even after everything, she still welcomes my touch, even if she won’t admit it right now. I bet she wouldn’t feel the same if she knew how many men I’ve killed with these hands, how much blood has coated my flesh.
“I hate you,” she tells me through her clenched teeth, her eyes burning with fury and the words slam into me like a freight train. I stare down at her. I know she is lying; she has to be. She can’t really mean that. She might not love me anymore, but hate is a strong word.
Can you really hate someone you loved for so long? How can you hate someone you are meant to be with? And fuck me, if Gracie isn’t meant to be with me. We’re soulmates. Her heart is my heart. They beat as one.
I’ve watched her, protected her since she left, made certain she had a good life, but, of course, she doesn’t know that, not yet. Swallowing down my emotions, I shoot her a glare.
“It’s three in the morning. Get some sleep.”
She lifts her head and scans the room, probably looking for another bed. When she doesn’t find one her gaze collides with mine again.
“I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you.”
As much as I dislike her attitude toward me, her fierceness makes me hard with need. I wonder if she would be this feisty with my head between her thighs.
“If I remember correctly, you used to enjoy sleeping in a bed with me…a lot.” I start getting undressed, purposefully standing where she can see me. Her gaze roams over my chest when I pull my shirt off and down my legs when I step out of my pants. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly and the blush on her cheeks has spread down her neck.
Only when I’m down to my boxers and I take a step closer does she look away, suddenly pretending she didn’t enjoy watching me undress. I’m not a boy anymore, not by a long shot. I’m all man now, from the things I do, to the way I fuck. Grace has no idea the kind of person I am now. I grab the handcuff key from the nightstand before I unlock one side of the cuffs and pull her arms above her head and cuff them to the headboard.
“Seriously?” She exclaims, disbelief coating her words.
“Yes, seriously, you should be glad I did that. Your arms would have hurt like hell tomorrow being pulled back like that all night. You’ll be much more comfortable like this.”
“How nice of you,” she says sarcastically.
I slip into the bed beside her and cover us both with the blanket. She tries to scoot away from me, making me smile yet again. If she thinks she’s getting away from me she has another thing coming. Sliding one arm under her, I pull her closer to me until her back is flush to my chest and my hard cock is nestled against her soft ass cheeks. Fuck. This is what I’ve waited for, for the last two years. To touch her like this all over again.