“Please,” I whimper, “I won’t say anything. Just let me go.”
“What’s wrong? You’re acting crazy. You had a bad dream, so I came in here to make sure you were okay and laid beside you to keep you company.”
His words are sincere, but what he’s saying is so… messed up that it stops me in my tracks. The minute I cease kicking and fighting, he lets me down. Whirling on him, I place my hands on my hips.
All fear is forgotten as my temper flares. My mother comes partly from old American money and is icy cool, but when pushed, she has a sudden, fiery temper. I didn’t inherit her looks, but I sure got her temper. Most of the time, I push it down like the good girl I am, but every now and then, it comes roaring out in flashes of defiance.
I stare at him. “You thought,genuinely, that it would be a good idea to slide into the bed of a girl who was assaulted this very evening?”
His eyebrows draw together, and the happy-go-lucky guy is gone as his features morph into something much darker. “I didn’t get in bed. I stayed dressed on top of the covers. You were upset in your sleep. Isn’t that what girls want when they’re upset? Someone to hold them in the dark?”
“You’re crazy,” I screech. “Get out.”
“Hey.” He holds his hands up in defense as if I’m going to hit him. “I just wanted to comfort you.” He seems to think of something, and his face brightens again. “I have kittens!”
What the?—?
The door bursts open, and I whirl around to see Jack framed in the doorway like a tank.
“What in the actual fuck is going on in here? Ace, why are you in her room?”
There’s real murder shining in Jack’s gaze, and I suddenly fear Ace might be about to lose his head.
“She was having bad dreams,” Ace says as if that explains it all.
Oh, he’s really going to get his ass kicked.
Jack’s jaw ticks, and I can see the Herculean effort he’s making not to murder Ace where he stands.
“Which one of you fuck-ups let him in?” Jack turns to the two men lurking on the porch outside.
They both shake their heads at the same time. “We didn’t,” one says.
“They ran off up the hill and left her.” Ace points at the two men as though he’s a kid telling on his two big brothers.
“We thought there was a threat, asshole,” the second man snarls at Ace.
“Whatever. There wasn’t, clearly, and you left her unguarded. I came and watched the door, but I heard her having bad dreams, so I came inside to keep her company.”
“Did you fuckingtouchher?”
The way Jack asks the question is terrifying, but it also makes me ache between my legs. There’s a possessiveness there that I’m sure he’d deny, but it’s clear as day.
“God, no.” Ace sounds as if the very idea is an affront to his entire manhood, and for a moment, I’m offended.
Jack scrubs a hand over his weary face. “Ace, you’re… fuck my life, you’ve got to be more fucking normal, man.” Then his face softens, but only a touch, as he looks to me. “Are you okay?”
I huff out a breath. “Yes, I’m fine, but I’d really like him to leave.”
I turn to Ace and raise a brow.
He sighs and looks so crestfallen a part of me feels bad.
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” he tells me. “I only wanted to help. What do you like? Jewels? Shoes? Perfume?” He smiles a little, lopsided and so gorgeous. “Muffins?Kittens?”
Okay, Ace is not right in the head. Not right in the head at all.
“Kittens?” Jack asks suspiciously.
