Page 25 of Ours (The Possession Duology #2)

“NO! Get off me!” she screamed, her voice raspy and broken.

“Lexi, stop! Lexi! It’s me! Don’t fight!”

Stilling her jerking body, she blinked in disbelief. Turning in his arms, she eyed his concerned face critically. The differences were minute, but there. Had she not experienced a switch firsthand, she wouldn’t have noticed them.

“Kade?” she asked wearily, her bloodshot eyes welling with tears.

Lifting his hands to her red face, Kade searched for any signs of acute harm. He was livid at himself for letting Demetri manipulate him, the fucker almost killed her. What the hell was he thinking letting him take control?

“It’s me, Sweetheart! I’m sorry! I’m so very sorry!” he offered, his voice dripping with regret.

Unable to hold back her tears, Lexi sobbed uncontrollably. A myriad of emotions came crashing down upon her. Relief, joy, frustration, fury, they bled together, leaving her a shaking, blubbering mess.

“Shhh...you’re safe…you’re safe, now,” he said, trying his best to soothe her.

Shaking her head, she tried to push herself away from his grasp. Clenching her hands into tight fists, she pulled back before aggressively punching at his bare chest. “NO! I’ll NEVER be safe!” she spat. “NEVER!”

Holding his large body still, he allowed her to pummel his bare pecs.

Wincing slightly with every hit, he patiently waited for her to lose her energy.

He deserved her punishment, and he deserved her wrath, but he wasn’t about to let her shut him out.

She needed to realize that what he said was true.

She was safe. Demetri would never come close to harming her ever again.

Crying out into the stale air of the room, she continued her physical onslaught; punching and slapping at any part of his torso she could find.

With every swing of her arms, she felt herself growing weaker and weaker.

Her mind and body were spinning out of control, but she didn’t know how to stop. All she wanted to do was rage.

Growing increasingly worried about their daughter, Kade grabbed onto her arms and tried his best to still the spitting hellcat. He understood her anger, but she needed to calm down for the sake of their baby girl.

“Lexi,” he said softly, “please stop, Sweetheart. I know you’re angry, but you need to stop. Please don’t hurt our daughter.”

With her pregnant body heaving, she set her fuzzy gaze on his concerned face. She wanted to laugh at his plea, but didn’t have enough air in her lungs. She was the one in danger of hurting their daughter? What a fucking joke.

“Please, Lexi,” he begged.

Slumping her heavy shoulders, she dropped her head in defeat. She hated that he was right. Their daughter had been through hell and back in just the span of twenty-four hours. She couldn’t put herself under any more stress.

Easing his hold on her shaking arms, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. Pushing out a small sigh, he whispered an apology. Repeating it over and over, to both his love and their little princess.

“Quit! Quit saying that you’re sorry! It doesn’t fix anything. Tell me, why...why the hell did you let him out?” she croaked, her voice raw with pain.

Sinking his sharp teeth into the flesh of his inner cheek, Kade carefully mulled over his answer. He needed to be diplomatic and careful, only offering enough information to skate by. “He promised me that he wouldn’t hurt you.”

Pulling back her face to create distance, she openly scoffed. “And you took the promise of a serial killer seriously? With my life at stake? With our daughter’s life at stake?” she spat.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, he pulled himself into a sitting position. Raking his fingers through his dark hair, he fought to keep his own frustration under control. It was stupid to take Demetri at his word, but he was desperate.

“I just wanted you to feel loved tonight, Lexi. Demetri knew that and he used it to twist my insecurities. He made me believe that he could give you what I couldn’t,” he said, his intense gaze moving from her swollen face to her belly and back again.

“You and our daughter are my only weaknesses. He saw an opportunity and he took it...but he never stood a chance. Believe me when I say that I won’t ever let anything happen to either of you. ”

Staying silent for a long moment, she clumsily sat up.

Wiping her tear-stained face, she found herself at a loss for words.

There wasn’t enough time for them to rectify this.

They would circle back to this conversation once he had returned from this meeting.

Until then, she needed to take his words at face value.

Searching her blank face, Kade lifted his hand to grasp her rounded chin. Making her meet his eyes, he softened his features to try to convey to her how much he loved her. He wouldn’t lose her. Not now, not ever.

“Say you believe me,” he urged.

Furrowing her brow, she struggled internally. She felt like he truly loved her, in his own sick and twisted way. But did she believe that he would protect them? How could he possibly do that from thousands of miles away.

“Don’t leave us,” she said.

Pushing out an agitated sigh, he shook his head. How dare she change the subject. “We’ve discussed this, Lexi. I have to go. You, and our daughter, will be safe here until I return,” he said, dropping his hand from her chin. “I won’t be gone for more than a w—”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was rudely interrupted by the sound of the front doorbell.

Hissing an obscenity, he yanked himself from the bed and reached down to the floor for his jeans.

Fucking hell, could he just have a few minutes alone with her?

It pissed him off to no end that they were always being disrupted by someone or something.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked, watching wide eyed as he threw on his jeans. “Are you expecting someone? You aren’t leaving right now, are you?!”

Buttoning up his pants, he tossed her a harsh glance in warning. Balling his hands into tight fists at his side, he stalked towards the door of the master bedroom. She had better stay put, no one needed to see her in her current state.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he ordered while crossing the threshold into the hallway.

Plastering a deep frown on her face, she shivered as a ball of apprehension settled into the pit of her stomach. She didn’t care for the way he had looked at her, it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Whatever was going on, he clearly didn’t want her to get involved.

“Stay here, my ass,” she grumbled to herself.

Sliding her body towards the edge of the bed, she eased herself from the mussed mattress. Gathering her shirt and panties from the ground, she suddenly froze as she felt a series of sharp kicks to the right of her belly button. The movements filled her with relief, drowning out all her anxiety.

“Oh, thank God,” she whispered, placing her free hand on her abdomen.

Comforted by the movement, she apologized to her daughter in the same way Kade had only minutes prior.

Happy tears filled her eyes as she counted the various kicks and flutters.

They were strong and true, letting her know that everything was as it should be, and for her not to give up.

It was the reassurance she desperately needed.

“We’re survivors, aren’t we?” she said softly. “Now come on, we’ve got a visitor.”

Taking in a cleansing breath, she used her newfound burst of energy to step into her panties and change into Kade’s wrinkled shirt.

Moving as quietly as possible, she walked towards the doorway.

There was no way she was going to stay hidden away in the bedroom.

She deserved to know what was happening.

Tiptoeing down the hallway towards the mansion’s foyer, she kept her ears perked.

Off in the distance she heard Kade’s deep voice rising in agitation, and another male’s that seemed just as annoyed.

While she couldn’t make out the words, she knew they were having an argument.

Wanting to know more, she continued further down.

Padding her bare feet over the mahogany wood floor, she swallowed hard as she noticed Kade’s foreboding form at the end of the corridor.

Even with his back turned, he was clearly in Alpha mode, with his shoulders hunched and his strong legs spread in a grounding position.

He looked poised to strike at whoever stood before him.

Sensing that something was clearly wrong, she took a step backwards in retreat.

Without realizing, her heel landed on an old plank.

As the weight of her body fell on the already damaged piece of mahogany, a loud ‘ CRACK’ echoed through the hallway.

Alerting everyone within earshot that she was waiting in the wings.

“Fucking hell!” she hissed.

Before she had a chance to react to the situation, her eyes widened in fear as she noticed a large German Shepherd bounding out from Kade’s shadow.

Barking and snarling, the beast lunged down the corridor towards her.

Flinging her arms outwards, she screamed in terror.

Unable to run, her body froze in place as the hellhound raced closer.

Whipping his body around, Kade’s dark eyes narrowed as he noticed Lexi pressed against the wall. He should have known she would follow. Why the fuck didn’t she ever listen to him?

“HALT!” he exclaimed.

Within a blink of an eye, the shepherd stopped dead in its tracks three feet away from where Lexi stood. Obeying Kade’s word, the foreboding dog sat on its hind legs and let out a sharp bark in response.

“Guter hund,” offered the mystery guest standing behind Kade.

Breathing heavily, Lexi moved her gaze from the dog to the man now standing side by side with Kade. She recognized him as one of the Skulls. The one named Maddox that she wanted to gut like a fish at The Wilde. Why the hell was he there?

Giving Lexi a scathing look, Kade slowly dragged his eyes from her to Maddox, and back again.

Not only had she disobeyed him, but she dared to leave their room clad only in a threadbare shirt and panties.

It made his left eye twitch in exasperation.

They would definitely have a conversation about this.

“I told you to stay in bed,” he growled.

Straightening her posture, she tugged on the hem of her shirt to cover her underwear from Maddox’s prying eyes. Staying mindful of the fierce looking dog, she raced to think of something that would soften the blow. Not that it would really matter, she already knew that she had royally fucked up.

“I, uh...I heard you call my name,” she said, clearing her sore throat. “So... I, uh...I thought you wanted me to come say hi to our guest...uh, hi Maddox. I... I trust you’ve been well?”

With a cocky smirk on his bearded face, Maddox allowed his blue eyes to take their fill of her barely clothed body.

He wasn’t sure if Kade had roughed her up or sexed her up.

Knowing his boss, probably both. He couldn’t blame him; he would do the exact same thing if he had that pretty little thing in his bed.

“I have, thanks Miss Curtis. It’s good to see you again,” he said.

Plastering a fake smile on her face, she nodded her head cordially. Yeah, she was sure he enjoyed seeing her in all her disheveled glory. It made her skin crawl. “And uh...who do we have, here?” she said, motioning to the German Shepherd.

Etching a deep frown on his face, Kade bristled with annoyance. He didn’t appreciate her little naive act, but he had to save face. He couldn’t treat her like a subordinate in front of his Skull. Maddox couldn’t think that he and Lexi were equals within the hierarchy.

“This is Cupcake. He’s going to stay with you while I’m gone,” he answered, walking towards the dog.

Lifting a brow, Lexi focused on the black and brown canine. It still looked like it wanted to tear off her face. Cupcake was too sweet of a name for the beast. Diablo or Demon seemed much more appropriate.

Standing next to the dog, Kade snapped his fingers once and pointed at Lexi. “Hier! Riech!” he ordered in German.

Springing into action, Cupcake jumped towards Lexi. With his pink tongue hanging out, the shepherd made a beeline for her naked legs.

Unsure of his intentions, Lexi instinctively recoiled. She was a dog lover, but this particular canine made her nervous. He certainly wasn’t Leo’s sweet little corgi.

“It’s ok, Lexi. He’s just going to smell you,” Kade said.

Muttering something under her breath, she made herself stand as still as possible. Watching the shepherd intently, she shivered as his cold nose moved from her bare feet, up her legs, towards the edge of her panties.

“Does he really need to get this close?” she squeaked as the dog began to smell her intimate areas.

“It’s just what dogs do,” Maddox said with a lewd grin on his face. “He needs to memorize your scent .”

With an exasperated sigh, Lexi waited for the shepherd to finish his nasal interrogation. After a long minute, the dog finally seemed satisfied. Turning to look at Kade, Cupcake barked loudly twice to alert his master that he was done with his task.

“Guter hund,” Kade said, taking a single step towards Lexi and the canine.

Quirking his head to the side, Cupcake wagged his long tail as Kade came closer. Obviously pleased with his performance.

“He seems...friendly,” Lexi said, toggling her attention back and forth between the dog and Kade.

Maddox chuckled, the deep sound giving Lexi the ick .

“Well, he will be to you,” Kade replied, before snapping his fingers once again. “Cupcake, fass!”

With another sharp bark, the shepherd quickly moved to Lexi’s left side and plopped his hind legs down on the ground. Sitting proudly, the dog looked to Kade for acknowledgement.

“So, what did that do?” Lexi asked.

“You’re under his protection. He won’t let anyone touch you,” Kade answered.

“Unless you want them to,” Maddox snickered.

Glancing over his shoulder to Maddox, Kade clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. His Skull seemed way too comfortable. It was apparent that he would have to assert himself during this trip.

“We’re done, here,” Kade said gruffly, heading towards the front door. “Come back at ten, Maddox. I’ll be ready.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Maddox walked to the door with a swagger in his step. He wanted to leave, anyway. Callie was waiting for him back at the safe house. Bloodbayne sure did know how to treat his employees right. Kade would be a lot more effective if he did shit like that.

“Cupcake is a very loyal dog, Miss Curtis. He will be good to you. I should know, I trained him. Oh, and don’t worry,” he said, lowering his baritone voice so that only she could hear as he walked past. “It’ll all be over soon.”