“You’re mine and I’m yours,” he said, wiping the tears off my face, our foreheads still pressed together. “Nothin’ that happened or ever will happen changes that.”
“I missed you so much,” I whispered back, my chest heaving as I tried to control my tears.
He closed his eyes and sighed, his body leaning into mine.
The knock at my front door was an unwelcome intrusion.
“Ignore it,” he said softly, his eyes still closed.
Another knock. Then a familiar voice.
“Eugene Police!”
Draco’s eyes shot open. “What the fuck?”
“Let me handle it,” I said, grabbing the bottom of his cut as he turned toward the door.
“Like hell,” he spat, dragging me along as he threw open my bedroom door.
“Please,” I said desperately. “Please. I’ll just send him on his way.”
Draco stopped so fast that I smashed into his back.
“You got somethin’ else to tell me?” he asked in disbelief.
“He hassles me. He’s pulled me over like five times. Stopped me on the street. But that’s it, I swear,” I replied. Hating that there was more I hadn’t said and he was finding it out this way. I’d planned on telling him, but we hadn’t gotten to that part yet and now it looked like I was still keeping secrets.
“He makes you uncomfortable,” Draco said. It wasn’t a question.
I nodded.
“That stops now,” he said flatly.
I wiped off my face as we moved toward the door, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stop him.
“What’s up?” Draco asked as he opened the door. I stopped a few feet back, letting him handle it even though I wanted to physically block him with my body. My hands were clenched into fists as I struggled to trust that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen.
“Neighbors heard yelling,” Officer Park said, looking past Draco at me. “You alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“She’s fine.”
“Why don’t you step outside, miss?” he asked firmly.
I took an involuntary step forward, years of enduring had conditioned me to just deal with him and get it over with, but I caught myself before I took another step.
“No, thank you,” I said politely.
“You wanna take a step back?” he said to Draco, his hands braced on his hips as his eyes slid over Draco’s cut.
“I’m good where I’m at,” Draco replied. He was steady as an oak.
Officer Park stood there, staring for a long moment before finally realizing that there wasn’t much he could do. He’d been out maneuvered because we weren’t playing into his bullshit.
“Keep it down,” he ordered, his gaze centered back on me.
The words made it clear that he hadn’t shown up to make sure I was okay. I had no doubt that the neighbors had called, we had a few shitty ones and there had been a lot of yelling, but he wasn’t there because he thought there’d been some sort of domestic dispute. He’d heard my address and used it as an excuse to fuck with me and we all knew it.
Draco closed the door as Officer Asshole walked away.
“See?” he said through his teeth. “I didn’t kill him.”
“I saw that,” I replied, trying not to laugh in relief.
“I wanted to,” he said. “And seventeen year old me would’ve told him to go fuck himself.”
“I know,” I said softly.
“It’s not in me to ever let you deal with that shit on your own,” he warned. “That’s not gonna happen.”
“I know,” I replied, my voice still soft.
“But I’m not gonna fly off the fuckin’ handle,” he continued. “I’m not fuckin’ stupid.”
“I know.”
“I’m not goin’ back to prison.”
“I know.”
“And I love you,” he said almost angrily.
“I know.”
“Then why the fuck are you still standing over there?”
A watery laugh escaped me as I ran at him. He caught me and boosted me up until my legs were wrapped around his waist and my face was pressed against his neck.
“I know him from somewhere,” he said, walking back toward my room.
“He was there when they arrested you,” I mumbled against his throat. “I saw him through the window.”
“And he saw you,” Draco said, his voice vibrating with anger.
“And he saw me,” I confirmed.
“He’s not gonna fuck with you again,” he said as he laid me on the bed. “No one’s gonna fuck with you ever again.”
“Don’t—” I started to say, stopping when he shot me a look. I needed to trust him, no matter how hard that was.
As he pulled off his cut and his t-shirt, I relaxed into the bed. That was a worry for another day.
“Don’t,” he ordered when I reached for the button on my shorts. “I’m strippin’ you tonight.”
Chapter 18
Draco
Kara’s eyes lit up as I stripped. My movements were jerky with leftover adrenalin and my heartbeat was pounding in my ears, but I didn’t give a shit. After the revelations of the past few hours, I was dying for her.
Once I was down to just my boxers, I climbed onto the bed, unsure what I wanted to unwrap first.