"Get your motherfucking hands off her." Parker is standing between us in a flash, his eyes burning with a fire so intense it puzzles Raphael. "Are you deaf, you fucking jackass? Hands. Off. Her. Now."
"Jesus, okay." Raphael raises his hands in the air, glaring at me as Parker leads me away. I feel his and Elise's eyes on us as we make our way around the corner.
"That guy's a piece of shit," Parker mutters under his breath. "You dating him?"
"I don't know," I manage.
"Well, it's over now. You won't have time for him anymore, so unless he catches on fast, you'll need to tell him it's over."
"Why do you think you suddenly control me?" My cheeks are burning up and I'm feeling pissed off with how proprietorial he's being, even though it turns me on at the same time. Not that I'd ever admit that, of course. "You think you own me or something? I'll never do what you want. I'm only humoring you because –"
"Shut up, Dove," he stops me in my tracks. "You're embarrassing yourself. Keep that pretty mouth shut and keep walking."
I don't know what compels me to obey, but I do. I follow in his footsteps until we reach a bike and he pulls out a helmet, holding it out for me.
"Put this on."
I obey, and he snaps it closed under my chin. The intimacy between us is thick and heavy with anticipation. My heart has never beaten faster. I've never been this excited. Not since the last time Parker appeared in my life.
"Don't you have one?" I wonder out loud as he gets on the bike in front of me.
"Don't need one."
"Oh, you're suddenly invincible?"
"I survived Hawaii, didn't I?" He grins at me, revving the engine. I hold on to his waist, pressing my body close to his as he pulls away. He asks for my address and I whisper-yell it in his ear. We keep moving to my house, and when he parks twenty minutes later, I regret having to leave the warmth of his body. I nervously chew my bottom lip as we get off the bike.
"What now?" I ask.
"Now we go inside," he shrugs. "You offer to make me a coffee and I fuck you on the countertop."
"You aren't going to fuck me."
"Says who?" His brows shoot up in amusement.
"Me. Don't I have a choice?"
"No." He laughs at me, pulling me across the street. "Come on. Which one's yours?"
I guide him to my house, unlocking the door despite my best judgement and letting him inside. Everything I've done tonight feels utterly surreal. I can't believe this is real. That Parker Miller is now Nox and he's somehow back in my life. My mind knows I won't outrun him this time, and it's not because he won't give up – it's because I want this. I crave it.
I want him hurting me.
I long for him to do more, to mark me again, to prove that I'm the one he's been obsessed with all these years.
As I make the coffee, I guiltily remember I haven't thought about Robin since Parker walked back into my life. I cling to the memory of my brother, but the moment I walk back into the living room and see Parker standing there with one of my picture frames in his hand, my thoughts go out the window again.
"Put that down."
"Who's this?" He points to the man in the photo, holding me close.
"My brother," I manage without breaking down. "His name was Robin."
"Was?" He raises his brows again, contemplating my words.
"Yes, was," I reply firmly, setting the mugs down with such force brown liquid sloshes over the edge. "Now are you going to tell me what the fuck you want from me?"
Chapter 18
Nox
I put down the frame that upset her. Approaching her, I notice with a smirk that she still flinches when I'm near her. I resist the urge to touch her, to taunt her by running my fingertips over the puckered scar. Instead of doing just that, I sit down on her couch, making myself comfortable. It's fucking weird being in here after watching her in the house for so long. Finally, I'm a part of her inner circle. Now it's time for me to sink my teeth into my delicious victim.
"So, what are you doing here, Parker?" Dove demands. "And what's with the weird new name?"
"Do you know what Nox means?" She shakes her head no. "It's Latin for night."
"So ominous." She actually smiles when she says that, and it's beyond fucking adorable. The urge to make her mine is uncontrollable. I'm going to go fucking insane if I don't sink my dick into her. Right now. But instead of showing her how much I want her, I return the mug to her coffee table, leaning back on the sofa. "You still haven't answered my other question, Nox."