Page 8

CHAPTER 8

E ach second felt like an hour, at least that was how it seemed as Lovie strained to hear any sound that would give her a clue about Law’s whereabouts. To be a marauding Viking warrior, he moved with the silence of a ghost. If they were going to play games like this often—and she hoped they would— she needed to learn that trick.

While she waited, holding her breath to avoid detection, she used the time to search for her next hiding place. Facing the woods, the obvious choice seemed to be to run in that direction. She would be much harder to spot, lost among the dense trees and underbrush.

Only, as she looked more closely, she noticed there wasn’t much underbrush. The close-knit trees remained, but Law had cleared the ground between them to make walking and running easier. The roots, fallen branches, and hazardous plants had been removed.

That must have required a lot of work. He couldn’t have done it in preparation for their game. Did he play these games with many people? Just how many Little girls did he regularly chase through the woods? Suddenly, she didn’t feel so special after all.

“I’m not sure you understand the main premise of hide and seek, kitten. You’re supposed to hide.”

Lovie let out a muffled yelp when a large hand covered her mouth, pulling her back into a solid chest. Slowly, he turned her to face him, and she lost her breath as he smiled down at her.

“I was hiding,” she protested. “Do you chase girls through the trees often?”

Her question surprised him. Good, she liked the fact she’d caught him off guard. Maybe now he understood how she felt. Crossing her arms over her chest, she struggled to keep from tapping her foot. “Well?”

“Why would you think that?”

She pointed to the forest. “I just noticed the grounds around here are cleared so they’re easy to navigate. Why is that? Do you invite girls to play games so often it keeps the forest floor clear?”

His eyes narrowed. And why wouldn’t they? She was acting like a crazy person. Where was this jealousy coming from? She had no right to feel that way. She’d just met the man. He didn’t owe her anything at all.

She should be grateful for all he’d done for her. And she was. But whether it was the stress of the day, the fact that he’d saved her from the General and all his various henchmen, or just the fact that they seemed to fit somehow… she wanted to scream at the thought of him running after any other woman.

He was her Viking. Before she realized she had moved, she stepped closer to him. Wrapping her hands around his neck, she pulled down. He bent over, and as soon as he was close enough, she ran the flat of her tongue along the artery pulsing down his neck. She paused behind his ear before pulling away. A wave of self-satisfaction filled her. He tasted of salt and spruce and heat. “There. ”

When she loosened her grip, his eyebrows nearly brushed his hairline. Yet his eyes burned with intensity. “Did you just lick me to mark me as yours, little fairy cat?”

The gravel in his deep voice shot sparks straight to her core. The ability to speak deserted her, so she opted for a slow nod because that was precisely what she’d done.

The flames in his eyes burned brighter. He lowered his face so close to hers that his breath caressed her skin as he spoke. “Well then, babygirl. Allow me to return the favor.”

Before she could process what he intended, his lips slammed down onto hers. Warm. Firm. Insistent. Wonderful.

He twisted his fingers in her hair, tugging her head to the side, exposing her neck. “If we’re claiming each other, let me show you how I mark what’s mine.”

He nipped the lobe of her ear, causing her to gasp. Closing his lips over the mark, he lapped the spot with his tongue, easing the twinge of pain.

She arched against him, her nipples hardening and pressing against his chest. A throbbing need settled in her core. What was he doing to her?

He ran his tongue down her jugular, controlling her movements and position with her hair. He set her on fire. She’d never had anyone ever take such complete control over her.

When he reached the base of her neck, he bit her right above the sensitive slope from her neck to her shoulder. Not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to leave a mark.

As if that might not be enough, he closed his lips over the mark, sucking and licking until she knew it would leave a branding anyone would be able to see.

She should be ashamed. She should be outraged. Instead, wave after wave of satisfaction and pleasure crashed over her as he kissed his way back up to her lips.

Finally, he took the same control of her mouth. His tongue would not be denied, demanding entry which she willingly gave. He explored her mouth, sliding his tongue deeper and groaning as she met his intensity with her own.

Her mind fuzzed, losing the control it normally exercised over her every thought. There were no thoughts, no worries, only feelings of desire and need.

She’d been kissed before, or so she thought. Law made her realize she hadn’t known until this moment what a kiss was. What it could do. How it could make her feel, until all she wanted was more.

More of everything. His kisses. His touch. Him.

She ran her hands over his chest. Even through the thick sweater he wore, she could feel the muscles flexing and bunching as he held her.

Was this really happening?

She ran her fingers through his hair, her nails scraping his scalp. Groaning into her mouth, he rocked his hips into hers. His hardness pressed against her. Oh yes, this was definitely real.

Sliding his hands down her body, he squeezed her bottom and pulled her harder against him. Suddenly, he broke the kiss and took a step back.

She would have followed him if he hadn’t held her in place. Sucking in several deep, measured breaths, he slid his hand from her hair. She almost cried out at the loss.

The woods around them came back into focus. The scent of evergreens and acrid smoke from the chimney once again reached her senses. Birds chirped in the cold afternoon air.

Her face heated at the realization of how far she would have allowed him to go if he hadn’t stopped. She would have let him do anything. She’d lost herself in him and what he was doing to her.

She’d felt perfectly safe, knowing if she’d told him to stop, he would have. But she hadn’t wanted him to. Did that make her a bad person? Would he think she was bad ?

“Whatever you’re thinking right now, just stop. I’m telling you right now, I stopped that kiss because it was the right thing to do. I needed to stop to protect you from making an impulsive decision that you might regret. I don’t ever want you to look back on anything we do and feel like you were pressured or tricked. That’s not going to happen.”

“Do you regret kissing me?” The words were out before she could stop them. She’d give anything to have them back. If he regretted it, she didn’t want to know.

He took her hand and pressed it to his lips. “No, babygirl. That was the closest thing to perfect I’ve ever experienced in my life. I don’t regret kissing you. And I don’t regret marking you. I know this is insane, but we fit. In ways you don’t understand yet, but you will. But I don’t want to rush you. If we make it to where I hope we do, it has to be because both of us want to be there. And that will take time.”

He thought their kiss was perfect?

His admission warmed her from her chest to her core.

A gust of wind sent a shiver racing down her spine. Of course, her Viking noticed.

“What do you say we go back inside now. I’ll run you a hot bath to warm you up. After that—” An alarm interrupted him.

With a frown, he pulled out his phone, his expression shifting to a scowl. He took her hand and led her in. “I want you to stay here.” He brought her into the main room. “Wait here for me. Do not open the door to anyone except me. Do you understand?”

Tension coiled in her stomach. Something was wrong. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing I can’t handle, fairy cat. Your job is to do what I tell you. I’ll explain everything when I get back.”

Tension grew into dread. “Get back? Where are you going?”

“Not far, but I need to go now. Wait here and do what I told you. ”

She nodded as he ran to his truck. His stomping on the gas caused the back of his truck to fishtail while he sped down the dirt lane, pushing her dread to terror. Her Viking wouldn’t leave her behind unless it was something dangerous.

She paced the room, battling the urge to vomit. What could it be? How long would he be gone? What if he got hurt? She’d just be waiting here while he lay in a ditch somewhere, injured and bleeding.

Then her mind kicked into gear, conjuring a horrifying scene. It wasn’t the first time her reality blended with her imagination, and when it did, her thoughts felt as real as the air she breathed. They consumed her entire being. Her body couldn’t distinguish what was actually happening from what she had imagined.

She kept her word by staying safe indoors, even though everything within her urged her to go to him. He might live in his glass fortress, but even a Viking wasn’t Superman; he could be hurt.

What would those Sabre brothers of his —the ones who’d helped Law rescue her and Zane— say if, after all they’d done for her, she sat at home while Law rode into danger? They would hate her. She would hate herself even more.

A gunshot shattered the quiet of the late afternoon. Screaming, Lovie fell to the floor. Oh God! Were people shooting? Had they shot Law?

She couldn’t just sit there while people were firing guns at him. She had to help him. At the very least, she had to try.

Racing to the kitchen, she grabbed a long sharp knife from a drawer and headed out the front door. Rather than running down the lane, she ducked into the trees and ran toward the front gate. She’d only made it fifty yards or so when the rumble of a vehicle froze her in her tracks.

Dropping to the ground, she held her breath until it passed by her, heading toward the house. Law skidded to a halt in front, barely stopping before he jumped from his truck and ran toward the front door.

She sprinted back toward the house as fast as she could. He had just gone inside seconds before her name echoed through the trees. “Lovelyn!”

Uh oh. How could a voice sound both panicked and furious at the same time?

Her steps faltered as he called her name again. “Lovelyn! Where the hell are you?”

She cleared the tree line and crossed the open area in front of the house, while he burst back out the front door and headed for his truck.

He skidded to a halt when he spotted her. His body stiffened, and, if possible, seemed to grow even larger. The outrage on his face as he glared at her made her stumble. She would have fallen, but he caught her before she hit the ground.

He looked furious. No, more than furious. He looked irate. “I told you to stay inside the house.”

With his hands under her arms, he lifted her off the ground and held her dangling in the air before him. She shivered, and not from the cold this time. The man’s strength was unlike anything she’d ever known.

If her feet could touch the ground, she would have darted back into the trees. Round two of hide and seek sounded good to her.

She’d dropped the knife somewhere along the way, so she had no way to defend herself. And by the look in his eyes, it might come in handy.

Through gritted teeth, he demanded, “Did you or did you not understand Rule One?”

Her vocal cords froze just like the rest of her. Apparently, it was more of a rhetorical question anyway, as he didn’t wait for her answer.

“I suppose I’ll need to find another way to explain it.” The earth tilted as he tossed her over his shoulder and strode purposefully toward the house, reaching the front steps more quickly than she’d hoped. If he continued moving at this speed, he wouldn’t have much time to calm down.

“I was inside,” she tried to explain. “But then I heard the gunshot, and I knew you needed me.”

He cleared the steps two at a time. “There wasn't any gunshot, Lovelyn. One of the cars backfired as they drove away.”

“Oh.” Well now, in addition to his anger sending her nerves into overdrive, she felt stupid. So much for being needed.

He set her on her feet in the main room. She didn’t know him well, but the glint in his eye as he glowered at her wasn’t a good sign. Trying once more to explain, she opened her mouth, but only a yelp escaped when he planted one foot on the coffee table and hauled her over his knee.

All those books that claimed jeans dulled the sting of a hand swatting a girl's backside were dead wrong. Whether due to the size of his giant hand or the strength of his muscular arm, her jeans didn’t dull anything at all.

He delivered a long round of firm swats to her derriere that robbed the breath from her lungs. He didn’t lecture. Instead, he let his hand do all the talking. It was a very effective communicator.

At first, she didn’t say much either. All she could manage was to squawk, yelp, and squeal.

He was not fooling around, conveying a message he didn’t intend for her to miss. He hadn’t told her how many swats to expect, but he must be shooting for a million. Her bottom was on fire.

It seemed his only thought was she understood the lesson he was determined to teach. It only added insult to injury that she recognized she’d earned every swat. After all, he had given her only one rule, and she hadn’t been able to follow that for more than a few hours .

But did his hand have to be so broad and hard? It was like he was smacking her with an oak paddle.

Soon, all thoughts of explaining or making excuses vanished beneath his unforgiving hand. The pain from his deliberate swats eclipsed everything else in her world.

Her yelps turned into shouts, which eventually evolved into pleas of “sorry,” and “stop,” and “please,” mixed with tears and wails.

When words didn’t appease him, she kicked and thrashed, doing everything she could think of to dislodge herself from her position over his knee, but nothing worked. He kept her securely pinned over his thigh, not missing a single smack.

Finally, she grabbed the leg of his pants and tried to find traction on the floor with her toes, but she was too high off the ground. When she kicked harder, he delivered several slaps to the back of her thighs, increasing her howls tenfold.

Smack after painful smack landed on her bottom. He spanked her until she felt as if she couldn’t have any skin left on her rear. It was dreadful.

And yet, at the same time, it was strangely reassuring. That made no sense, and she had no explanation, but the feelings were there. Even though it hurt worse than anything she had ever known, she found herself hoping he didn’t stop too soon.

She had broken her one rule and put herself in danger. She hadn’t even seen Zane yet. If something had happened to her, she never would have.

She had no reason to worry about that. Law seemed committed to teaching a thorough lesson, and she was eager for it to be delivered. She wanted, no, she needed to feel accountable for her actions. And right or wrong, the fact that Law took the time to provide that accountability indicated he cared about her, at least in some small way.

After one more round of sizzling swats to her sit spots that had her speaking in Klingon, Law released her and stood her back on her feet.

Still sobbing, she grabbed her thoroughly scorched backside with both hands and stomped on the floor as if that would somehow extinguish the flames torturing her bottom.

“You had no right to do that!” she cried, tears streaming down her face. “You aren’t my Daddy. You’re my Viking.”

“Semantics, little girl. I’m the one in charge of your safety, and that gives me every right. If the men at the gate had made it through and seen you, you could have died. I can’t protect you if you don’t obey the rules I give you.”

“I wouldn’t have let them see me. I thought you needed me. I thought… I thought…” She couldn’t continue because her voice gave way to more sobs. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter anyway. I was wrong.”

Her words somehow seemed to soothe him, if only slightly. His eyes softened. Taking her hand, he led her to her bedroom and sat on the bed, scooting toward the top. He propped her pillows against the window, leaned back, extended his legs, and pulled her onto his lap.

She hissed as her backside made contact with his thigh, but he pulled her closer so she could transfer her weight more onto her hip. She struggled against his embrace when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, but they felt so warm and comforting that her struggles didn’t last long.

Her breaths were broken and hitched, her lungs spasming from sobs as she tried to calm down. His arms were nice. He reached behind her to pick up Buzzy and Owlbert, placing them in her lap. She grabbed them and held them tightly.

As her breathing quieted, he began to speak. “You aren’t wrong about being needed, Lovelyn. But if you don’t listen to me and help keep yourself safe, you risk getting hurt or worse. That’s why rule number one is so crucial. You must be safe, because Zane needs you.”

Her shoulders slumped as she fought against the sense of rejection his words caused. Of course, he didn’t need her. He barely knew her, and she’d been nothing but a pain.

He shook his head. “Zane needs you, but so do I. It’s only been a day, but I’ve felt more alive since meeting you than I have in years. No, it started even before that. I’ve been watching you for days, planning the operation to get you and Zane out of the Society’s compound. You are an incredible woman, Lovelyn. Even locked in that room, despite everything you’ve endured over the past four years, you refuse to let the world affect you. You were in that room, still trying to make friends, still finding joy in the present moment. So, yeah. I want you in my life.”

“You want me?” It felt impossible. It had only been a day, yet she wanted him, too.

“I really do,” he said.

A comfortable silence settled between them. The day had been overwhelming. Her life had changed completely in a matter of hours. She left the control of Ravage, the Warriors, and the Society behind. The General could no longer threaten or manipulate her situation. She was living with her dream Viking, at least for now.

He was right. What she called him didn’t matter. She could call him her Viking; he obviously liked it. But that wasn’t who he was. He was a Daddy to his core. That was why he’d been so protective of her and so upset when she hadn’t minded him. He knew what could happen if the men who came to the gate saw her.

He hadn’t told her what happened at the gate, and suddenly she wanted to know. “Who were the men at the gate?”

He sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to talk about them, but I think we do. There’s something I’m missing. They want you back, but they didn’t say anything about Zane. Why do they want you so bad? ”

“I told you. I read all their private documents before I burned them.”

“Right. But you burned them. It’s not as if you took pictures of everything.”

“Actually, it is. I have a photographic memory. Some people don’t believe in it, and that’s fine. All I know is it’s true for me. And somehow, the General found out. For the past four years, he has forced me to read things that could help him get away with all the illegal things he wants to do. He threatened to hurt Zane if I didn’t help him. He’s a bully, and the thought of him gaining even more power is terrifying. Then he was arrested for trying to kill Suzi Daily. Since then, he has had me read court cases for legal precedents that will help him get away with it. He needs to be in jail. He is truly a bad man.”

Law’s arms stiffened around her. Looking over her shoulder, his expression slid chills down her spine. She recognized the expression on his face. He was trying to decide if he believed in her abilities. Or if she was stretching the truth. She got it. It was how most people reacted, that’s why she usually didn’t tell anyone.

The fact that he might think those things hurt way more than it should. She was human. She made more than her share of mistakes. But she wasn’t a liar.

“Are you telling me that since you read those documents, you remember everything in all those files?”

“Pretty much.”

“Unbelievable. And the General’s been exploiting your abilities to get away with all the shit he and the Society have been doing?”

She shrugged and repeated, “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Did you ever see any documents about a man named Jaxon Ruiz?”

Lovie’s heart hurt at the mention of Jaxon’s name. It made sense that Law would know Jaxon since both men grew up in Darling. Law was a lot older, though, so they couldn’t have known each other well. Law’s name had never come up in the court cases, though he was one of the men who visited Jaxon in prison at least once a month, according to the prison visitor logs.

“I’ve read about the case made against him. I know it was false and, reading between the lines, I know that Jaxon was the fall guy for things the General did.”

“Holy fuck. No wonder they want you back. Do you know where all the bodies are buried? Figuratively speaking.”

Wait. She hadn’t expected him to say that. “You believe me?”

He gripped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I believe you.”

The relief that swept over her was hard to contain. She wanted to kiss him. Instead, she pulled away and stared down at her stuffies for a minute before meeting his gaze. “I’m glad you believe me. Not many people do. But, yeah, I know where all the bodies are buried.”