Redemption (The Protectors 8)

God had heard me.

He’d actually heard me and he’d helped me.

I didn’t even know what to do with that. Maybe thinking it was divine intervention was a stretch, but I didn’t know how else to explain it. If T had taken that last little piece of me…

“Levi?”

“Here,” I called as I wiped at the tears on my face, but when I saw the blood on my hand, I scrambled to come up with something that would explain the marks T had left on my skin. I hurried over to the dumpster and smeared the blood still on my fingers on the corner of the lid.

“Hey, you okay?” Adam said as he rounded the corner. “Betty was starting to worry about you.”

“Yeah,” I said as I tried to calm myself. I turned around and wasn’t surprised when he gasped at the sight of me. “Had a little accident,” I said as I pointed at the dumpster. “I noticed the lid was open and went to close it and it kind of got away from me.”

“Wow, come on inside so we can get some ice on it,” Adam said kindly.

“It’s really nothing,” I said as I fell in step next to him. My adrenaline rush was starting to wane and the crash was making me dizzy.

“Tell that to Betty,” Adam responded with a chuckle.

I didn’t bother trying to tell that to Betty as she fussed over me for a good half an hour and then insisted on me taking the night off. She even had Adam drive me home.

But home was the last place I wanted to be so as soon as Adam told me to take it easy and left, I went up to my apartment and grabbed my father’s car keys, since I knew he’d be too far gone with his alcohol to even notice they were missing.

More than anything, I wanted to drive straight to Phoenix’s house so I could find the safety I was craving in his arms. But I knew he couldn’t help me. And now more than ever, I knew I needed to end it with him. There was something else I needed to do first.

Chapter 16

Phoenix

The second I opened the door, Levi was pushing into my arms and dragging me down for a kiss. Given that I’d brought my gun with me to answer the door since it was well after midnight, I could only wrap one arm around him as his mouth closed over mine. His body was wet from the heavy rain that was falling outside, but I didn’t give a shit. I managed to put my gun on a small table near the door before wrapping my other arm around him. I kicked the door shut and backed him up against it. He’d started the kiss, but I took it over.

When we were forced to come up for air, I finally saw the bruises on his face.

“What happened?”

But Levi shook his head and put his hand at the back of my neck. “Please, I don’t want to talk,” he said desperately. “I just really need you, okay?”

I hesitated briefly as I took in the desperation in his expression and then nodded and kissed him again.

Him showing up at my door in the middle of the night was the last thing I expected, but it was very welcome, especially considering the shitty evening I’d had. After dropping Levi off at work, I’d gone to my daughter’s rehab center to visit with her and to learn about the latest brain scan doctors had done to see if there’d been any improvement in her condition.

There hadn’t been.

They’d reminded me that she also hadn’t deteriorated, so that was something, but every time they did one of these scans, I always still kept up hope for some small sign that she’d find her way back to me someday. It was getting harder and harder to keep that hope going.

“Tell me what you need,” I said as I let my hands skim up and down Levi’s back. I really wanted to know who the hell had put the bruises on his face, but I could force myself to wait.

Especially if it meant I could give Levi something he so clearly needed.

“Would you…would you touch me?” he asked.

I nodded. “How about we go to my room?” I asked as I gently brushed my mouth over his.

“Yeah,” Levi whispered.

I kissed him deeply and let my hands slide down to his ass. He whimpered deep in his throat, but he didn’t pull away from me. I moved my hands down and gripped the backs of his thighs and then lifted him. He squeaked in surprise, but then his mouth was back on mine, hungrier than ever and his legs went around me. I had no clue what had driven this change in him, but as badly as I wanted to know what he’d feel like wrapped around my dick, I knew he wasn’t ready for that. So once I reached my room and laid him down on the bed, I kept up the kissing while making sure to keep my weight off his body.