We exited, holding hands. Just as I predicted, the stupid drunks were hanging around at the closest corner, waiting for her.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, tucking her against my side. Meeting the gaze of the first man who sneered at me, I kissed the top of her head. At the same time, I moved my jacket open enough that they’d see the gun in my holster.
“The hell?” one complained.
Natalie trembled, almost tripping over her own feet at the man complaining that she was taken.
“You got a problem?” I growled as we moved past them.
A couple of them looked like they wanted to jump me, but the other one shook his head, warning them to forget about it. Maybe he recognized me as a member of the Orlov Family.Perhaps he realized I was someone they wouldn’t survive messing with.
Whatever the reason, I was pleased when they all backed up.
“They’re not following, are they?” Natalie asked once we walked a block away.
“Just in case they are”—I guided her toward the exterior wall of a building until her back was flush with the brick surface—“we can give them a show to dissuade them from interfering.”
Before she could do anything more than gasp in surprise and gaze up at me, I lowered my head to steal a kiss. Then another. One more. And another. Her soft lips parted beneath mine instantly, submitting to the hunger I was losing a war with. Her hands clutched my suit jacket as she clung to me. But it was the soft whimper of need she gave me that had me growling and angling my head to deepen the kiss. It was the urgency and impatience that she showed me when she reached up to loop her arm around my neck that tempted me to take her here and now.
Time ceased mattering. The city still moving around us faded away.
Treasuring her sweet submission and her cautious surrender, I kissed her until my dick ached and my lungs screamed for air.
“A show?” she asked, still clutching my jacket as I rested my brow against hers. “You call… that ashow?” She panted as she sagged against me.
I almost smiled, addicted to this reward of making her relaxed enough that she’d be playful.
“That was just a preview,” I replied.
Stepping back was the most heroic and difficult decision I’d made in a long while. Heroic because I was saving her from the feral need that would rule me if I kissed her again. And difficult because I was desperate for more.
It was impossible to miss how bewildered she was, and as we both glanced in the direction of the bar, we saw that the men were already long gone.
Hell, maybe it wasn’t a “show” for anyone but ourselves. That was fine by me.
I was also fine with her holding my hand again as I walked her further in the direction of her apartment.
“This is far enough,” she said, blushing as she looked up at me.
I cupped her face and kissed her forehead, aware that she was maintaining distance from me. I wished she’d let me see her all the way home so I could know she was safe, but I was proud of her for not being too trusting. I wanted her to trust me, but she really didn’t know me yet. I wasn’t ready to let her know who I really was. Her insistence on privacy was wise.
“Have a good night, Natalie,” I said before releasing her and stepping back.
She smiled, dazzling me with her sweetness. Her delicate goodness. With a little wave, she turned and kept walking.
I hung back, waiting until she wouldn’t realize I was tailing her. Then, because I’d be damned if anything happened to this woman who’d become a ray of brightness in my dark life, I stalked her home and made sure she safely entered an apartment building without anyone bothering her.
Good night.
Staying put on the opposite side of the street, I waited for a few more moments to scope out the area. Just in case anyone was lurking with the intention of hurting her. Someone had to have made her scared of the world. But were they still around? Were they still a threat?
I left when nothing looked suspicious. As I headed home, I wondered how far I would let this game go on. How long it would be before I might need to step in and really protect her from whatever demons she had that still kept her so skittish and nervous.
8
NATALIE
Iwalked up the steps to my apartment hoping that Maisie would be asleep. My daughter wasn’t too fussy about bedtimes. Despite all the changes in her life, like her father dying and my having to work so much and not be her sole companion, she was a reliable sleeper. I was grateful for that, but sometimes when I was lonely and missing her when I was at work—convinced that I was a terrible mother to not be home as much—I sometimes wished that she would wake up for a moment when I came home so late. If she wasn’t, I would often stand at the door to her small room and watch her sleep, peaceful and content. Well, I hoped she was peaceful and not wanting for anything.
