5
Patrena
The soft sound of Desiree’s voice broke into my haze after her attempts to shake me awake. I was reluctant to let go of the wonderful dream of Tywin and I on a deserted island, naked and… Dammit!
My eyes snapped open and instead of putting them on Desiree, who was leaning over me, my gaze veered to the man still sitting at the desk. He glanced back in time to catch my eyes on him like he knew he was in my head.
What the hell was wrong with me? I had been in the middle of a war and not only had I managed to fall asleep, but my mind was stuck on Tywin Vallin. Get a grip! I was grown enough to admit that I was lonely, but not desperate and therefore, needed to rein in my behavior.
“Khane thinks it’s best that Tywin takes you home. He says it’s safer for you if you’re away from this situation,” Desiree said, her voice low and cracking. “Are you okay being alone with Tywin?”
“I’m fine. I’m stronger than I look. You know that,” I reminded her.
She gave a nod, and I couldn’t tell if she was agreeing or disagreeing. Desiree worried about me and Mecca like a mother hen when she knew firsthand, the type of training we had gone through.
“I know,” she finally whispered before drawing me into a hug. Khane and Tywin were standing at the front door, likely whispering about killing people. When Desiree decided to release me, I gave her a final peck on the cheek and stepped away to meet Tywin at the door.
“Are you sure it’s safe for her to go home?” Desiree asked Khane before Tywin closed the door behind us.
The first glimpses of night lured us into its dark hold with a light and refreshing breeze. The sensation of Tywin’s big warm hand wrapping around mine when we reached the steps gave me pause, but I didn’t dare pull away. He led me down the steps like a perfect gentleman, revealing chivalrous behavior that I’d rarely encountered in the men I had dated.
“Stay close to me,” he said in a low tone rich enough to tickle my skin and travel as far as necessary to make my nipples pucker.
“Okay,” I mouthed, but I was silently asking, How close do you want me? I shook my head at myself. I needed to get laid and sit the hell down somewhere. I was acting thirsty instead of being more cautious of my surroundings and worried about what would happen to Desiree and Mecca.
When Khane popped into my head, I was as sure as my name was Patrena that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to Desiree. However, the idea of what would happen between the brothers when Arjen found out Khane was in love with Desiree was another story.
The shadow of two SUV’s on the side of the cabin came into focus. Tywin released my hand long enough to use a key fob to release the locks. He turned after opening the door and with the swiftness of a smooth dancer, placed his hands at my waist and lifted me into the truck. A startled gasp escaped me and it took a moment to chase it down and catch my breath.
The grin spreading across my face was all for him. His scent was a mix of freshly-cut cedar wood and spicy vanilla, an exhilarating fragrance that had a hold on my motor functions, because my damn nose found its way to his neck. I didn’t care that he overheard the way I was inhaling him while he was strapping me into the vehicle.
He let his hand linger at my waist before he backed away and closed the door. Damn, I loved the way that man took care of me. My hungry gaze followed him making his way around the front of the vehicle. There was no doubt that he enjoyed picking me up, and I was not about to tell him he couldn’t whenever he wanted to.
Stop it!I warned myself. I was probably never going to see him again after tonight, so why punish myself by letting my imagination run wild?
The ride back to my place was a quiet one. However, the thick tension that filled the cab of the SUV had my face hot, and the pulse points in my neck and lower region were set to a rapid rhythm that wouldn’t slow down.
I aimed my focus on the dark view outside the window in an attempt to stop the images of all I had been through in the last few hours from churning in my head. Desiree would blame herself for what I was caught up in today, but I knew the risk of being friends with her and Mecca and had come to terms with that fact the day I’d met them.
Desiree knew most of my story but failed to understand that I had always been in danger too. My problem: I had yet to figure out the chaos that was embedded in my history. The women I helped at my job brought a serious level of danger to my life also.
In the past year alone, two guns had been aimed in my at face, a few bomb threats had emptied out my place of employment, and my old apartment had been broken into and trashed. The exes of the victims the police were unable to locate was because I had found a way to make them disappear, took serious offense to me getting involved.
I was starting to believe it wasn’t by accident that my mother had not given me all of the puzzle pieces that would connect my life into a full picture. She didn’t want me to know everything, and I sensed it was for my own protection. She would speak in cryptic terms. Most I have forgotten, but the parts I could recall, I still had not decrypted.
“We’re here,” Tywin announced, sounding disappointed.
I hoped that he was disappointed so it would make him stick around after tonight. It had dawned on me that I hadn’t given him any directions to my house. This was my tenth apartment since moving to Denver eight years ago, mainly because of my job. At only two months in this place, it meant that Tywin had dug so deep into my business that he knew the current updates.
He rolled through the narrow roadway of my apartment city until he arrived at my three-story building, one of two at the back of the complex. A thick patch of woods and a deep creek sat behind the six-foot iron fence that offered a small security blanket.
I undid my seatbelt when he pulled into the parking spot that gave him a view of my second-floor apartment. He cut the engine, undid his seatbelt, and exited. My eyes were locked on him the entire time, and I didn’t bother climbing down myself. The man already had me spoiled.
He was one of those fantasy men you wouldn’t mind letting screw your brains out. All manly and muscular, tall and imposing, and strong and confident. Although he was casually dressed, he was still sexy and neatly put together. His smooth, clean shaven face, piercing multi-colored eyes, and perfect, creamy olive skin were weapons he used to draw a woman in so fast that we were helpless against the pull once it had begun.
I hadn’t missed the long, ragged scars up his left arm along with a few others that peeked from under his shirt at his upper-back and shoulder areas. It was logical to believe that scars were a normal part of being a Vallin because I had spotted as many on Khane. I had a few battle wounds myself, but in this one day, I was discovering that the Vallins breathed battles like I did oxygen.
When Tywin opened my door, I turned and reached my hand out for him to help me step down. My hand was ignored, my waist was cupped in his capable hands instead, and he took me down with ease. I bit into my smile, thinking, I could get used to this. Once I was set on my feet, I didn’t move right away.