“You came here?” Mystery sounded shocked.
“Of course.” Had she thought he’d simply stay in Dallas with his thumb up his ass and not try to figure out what the fuck had happened between them?
“You came for me?” She looked on the verge of tears, but he couldn’t tell if they were happy or sad.
Was she asking if he’d followed her all this way because she was touched by his gesture? Or did she think he was delusional for imagining they had a relationship that didn’t exist?
“You called her father?” Heath barked, his tone accusing. “I suppose that explains why he tried to call me.”
Why wouldn’t this asshole just shut up, Axel wondered. “Mullins wants me with his daughter. I don’t shirk my responsibilities.”
Mystery gasped. “Responsibility? Is that what—”
“Do you normally barge your way into a paycheck?” Heath demanded, stepping between Axel and Mystery, his stance protective.
He wanted to wring the guy’s neck. Mullins wasn’t paying him; Axel was just concerned for her. “Do you normally behave like a fidiot?”
“Oh, dear. It’s a good thing I don’t live close to my neighbors.” The older woman looked nervous.
Mystery reached back and absently patted the older woman’s hand. “I’ll handle this.”
“No,” Heath assured. “I will. Fidiot, am I?”
Axel nodded. “When someone threatens a target, why would you imagine it’s a good idea to take off and leave the one in danger with less protection?” Axel demanded.
“It is when one of my protectors is a cheating douchebag!” Mystery yelled at him, fists clenched, then headed toward the front door.
“Cheating?” As he charged after her, stepping onto the porch, the truth hit him. Somehow, Mystery had seen or heard him with Misty. He grabbed her arm. “You’ve got it wrong, princess. Sweet Pea and I are friends.”
She jerked her arm free. “So you cuddle all your friends on your lap and whisper words of devotion to them? Right, and I was born yesterday. I suppose you’re going to tell me next that you’ve never had sex with her.”
Axel gritted his teeth. The truth was only going to make everything exponentially shittier, but he refused to lie. “No. I have—more than once. Our relationship is complicated but it’s also over. If you’ll tell me why the hell you ran off yet again, then listen to me, I’ll explain everything.”
She turned her back on him and reached for the front door handle. “Save your lies. After growing up with my dad, I won’t have anything to do with a philandering prick.”
“Yeah?” He grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back against him. “After growing up without my mom, I’m not interested in an unreliable flake.”
Mystery looked taken aback, as if the thought that she might have hurt him hadn’t occurred to her. “Oh.”
Axel gritted his teeth. How did she not grasp that taking off on him twice in less than twelve hours had been hurtful? “Now that we’re done exposing all our inner wounds or whatever, let’s talk in private.”
Heath shook his head. “Leave her alone.”
“She doesn’t need you to speak for her,” Axel spit out.
“Stop it!” Mystery snapped. “Both of you.”
“I would—if he’d stop the verbal equivalent of lifting his hind leg on you,” Axel muttered.
Heath rolled his eyes. “Coming from you, that’s rich. Barmy wanker.”
This asshole really crawled up his back, but Axel refused to keep giving the man so much of his energy. He had to focus on Mystery and figure out if they could have more than an inexplicable connection and great sex. Snipping at her bodyguard wasn’t going to win him any gold stars.
“Axel, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m tired.”
At nearly four in the morning, he wasn’t surprised. “I am, too. But we need this.”
“What’s the point? If you want someone else—”
“I don’t,” he insisted. “I’m willing to believe we’re just having a misunderstanding we can clear up quickly. Aren’t you even curious to hear what I have to say?”
“No.” She hesitated, then sighed. “All right.”
Relief pouring through him, Axel took Mystery’s hand. Her small fingers curled around him, and he clutched her warm palm to his.
He regarded her aunt. “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. Sorry to come in arguing. We’ve got some things to settle if I’m going to protect her. Can we talk somewhere private?”
“Anywhere downstairs, I suppose. I didn’t expect you so late, young lady, and I’m going back to bed.”
“I’m sorry. I called you earlier to let you know,” Mystery explained. “Did Bible study run long?”
The woman shook her head. “Errands in Emporia, then a late dinner with some old school friends. Sorry I missed your call. Make yourselves at home. This old broad can’t stay awake another minute. See you in the morning.”
The trio wished her a good night, and the older woman disappeared up the stairs. On the second floor, a door slammed. No one spoke into the silence. Axel feared it would be a long night.
* * *
THE moment only grew more awkward as time dragged on. Mystery darted into the cozy white and mint-green kitchen. A pewter cross hung above the stove. Not much had changed since she was a kid. She remembered coming here with her mom every summer. The year she’d passed away, they’d visited during spring break. Mystery remembered the snow and being amazed that the white stuff could fall so close to April. That was the first time she’d ever played in a winter wonderland. She and her mom had been sledding, then shared a big mug of hot chocolate afterward.
The ghost of that memory lingered in the air, though now the space would be haunted by a new presence she didn’t think she’d ever forget: Axel.
He entered the kitchen after her, Heath hot on his heels. God, these two needed to back the hell down and stop arguing. Since they weren’t going to do that all by themselves, she had to put her foot down.
“Are you both on your man period or something?” she challenged.
They glared at her, neither deigning to acknowledge her remark.
“No? Then Heath, will you please give Axel and me a few minutes? If you want to go to bed, I’m sure my aunt left some pillows and blankets on the living room sofa or she made up the guest room upstairs. First door on the left.”
He looked ready to hit something and let out a frustrated breath. “I’ll secure the perimeter.”
Without another word, he let himself out the back door, and it rattled behind him.
Exhaustion weighing down her every limb, Mystery turned to look at Axel. He’d curled one hand into a fist, and to say he seemed tense would be a gross understatement.
Mystery sighed, bracing herself for a battle. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure why he’d come. For her or out of a sense of duty to her father?
She spied the kettle on the stove. Craving a warm cup of tea, she grabbed a box of teabags from the cabinet, then turned to him. “Want some?”
“No, thanks.” He sat in one of the small kitchen chairs, upholstered in vinyl with a leaf-and-grape pattern that had been outdated for twenty years. “Listen, Mystery, I am not sleeping with Sweet Pea.”
“By your own admission, you’ve taken her to bed before, so . . .” The thought of him with the little pixie of a brunette stabbed Mystery’s chest like a machete. She had to stop seeing them together in her head and torturing herself. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t! Will you just listen?”
God, she’d heard her parents have this argument a hundred times when she was a kid. Her father had always denied any wrongdoing and he’d always been full of shit. Mystery wanted to believe Axel, but she didn’t want to be gullible, either. How could she be rational when she was so freaking tired? Still, she loved him and had for years. For that reason alone, she would listen this once. If his speech smelled like BS, she’d figure out how t
o move on without him.
“Fine. If you weren’t seducing her last night, then what were you doing? She’s a pretty girl. So I doubt you two were playing a rousing game of checkers.”
“We weren’t playing checkers, but we weren’t fucking, either. Our relationship isn’t about that.”
Of course. She was “just a friend” or “just a coworker” or whatever convenient role Axel could fit her into, the way Mystery’s father always had when conning her mother. Now, she faced the stove, determined not to let Axel see her cry. She’d already shed too many tears over him. Her mother had cried too much for her father, and Mystery didn’t want to repeat the pattern. Maybe she should cut her losses now . . . but her stubborn heart didn’t want to give up.
Axel made his way to her, cupping her hips in his big hands and pulling her against him. The feel of his wide, solid chest at her back comforted her against her will. He felt like a safe haven. She felt as if she belonged to him. What was wrong with her?
Pulling a mug from the cabinet, Mystery tried to sniffle quietly, but nothing made it past him.
“Shh, princess. Here’s the truth about me and Misty. That’s her name, by the way. I am not in love with her. I never have been. She’s not in love with me, either.”
At that, Mystery nearly rolled her eyes. Attractive, smart, funny, protective, damn good in bed . . . “You don’t owe me anything, so you don’t have to come up with an excuse. You have a girlfriend. I barged into your life and threw myself at you. I wish you hadn’t taken me up on the stupid offer if you were in a relationship, but it’s done. I won’t be the other woman, so I’d appreciate it if you stopped touching me.”
“You’re not the other woman because Misty is not my girlfriend. She never has been.” Axel wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.
It was all Mystery could do not to snort. She’d bet Misty didn’t view the situation the way Axel did. In fact, it would probably be news to her that she wasn’t his girlfriend.
“And I’m not going to stop touching you,” he vowed, tugging her away from the stove. “Come here.”
As he pulled her back to the table and tried to settle her on his lap, Mystery balked, jumping to her feet again. “I said I’d listen, but I won’t crawl on your lap like she did. Whatever you have to say, you can do it without your hands or your dick.”
Gritting his teeth, he let her up, then kicked one of the other chairs from under the table. “Then sit. And I want you to fucking listen.”
Mystery started to tell him that he wasn’t the boss of her, but he was used to being in charge in bed . . . and probably out of it, too. A part of her wanted to believe that he wouldn’t bother to talk it out with her if she meant nothing to him beyond a piece of ass. But who knew?
She backed into the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “What?”
“I’m trying to have a conversation with you, face-to-face, the way adults do. You’re making that damn hard when you’re pouting.”
“Well, excuse the hell out of me for being shocked that you could fuck me twice in the last few hours, then look awfully comfortable with another woman on your lap. Do you know how stupid that made me feel? How manipulated and used?”
“And you didn’t use me when you picked me up in the bar to scratch your itch? By your own admission, you had zero intention of coming clean with me about your identity or talking to me again.”
“We discussed this. I never meant to hurt you. I apologized.”
“But I genuinely listened and tried to see your side of the story. Could you extend me the same courtesy?”
His question pricked her with guilt. He had listened. She just kept butting in and sounding like a jealous shrew. “Fine. I’m all ears. What’s with you two?”
“In a nutshell, without divulging Misty’s secrets. She came to Thorpe’s club a few years ago in a very fragile state. She’d been through a lot. She needed a friend, an ear, a Dominant to give her some boundaries and foundation. In short, she needed someone she could count on. But every once in a while, she craved a man to hold her. Because Misty trusted me most and Thorpe asked me to take her under my wing, I did it.”
Mystery didn’t understand. “So . . . you’re saying you just gave her a pity fuck when she wanted it?”
“What I did for her wasn’t about sex. I love Misty. But like I said, I’m not in love with her.”
“Meaning, you don’t love her enough to be monogamous.” She rolled her eyes. “What kind of semantics is that?”
“You’re making snap decisions based on your past experiences, and none of that has anything to do with me. What you’re thinking is wrong. Misty and I have never had an exclusive relationship. I was her Dominant, not her boyfriend. I made her feel safe by checking her locks, installing a security system for her, helping her pick out a dog, and giving her someone to call at three a.m. if she thought she heard something out of place at her apartment. I gave her an ear whenever nightmares overwhelmed her or whenever some dirtbag hit on her too hard and scared the crap out of her. I gave her a pal when she wanted to see a movie or didn’t want to spend a holiday alone. Just like I gave her a spanking when she was too bottled up to cry and I gave her sex when she was desperate to feel like a ‘normal’ woman. Because it was my role as her Dominant, I gave her whatever she needed. Sometimes that was a firm ‘no’ when she reached for that third cosmo. Sometimes that was a long, slow fuck by the lake. I learned her well and took care of her even better because I cared. I wasn’t attached to anyone else, and I’m happier when I’m needed. It was a win-win for us both.”
Mystery gaped at him. She wasn’t even sure how to process his words. “It sounds like you were pretty devoted for not being her boyfriend.”
“It’s hard to explain the concept of Dominant and protector to people who apply the terms through their vanilla filter. I dated other people. She encouraged me to because we weren’t romantically involved. Emotionally, yeah. But not hearts and flowers. More like . . . friends with benefits, but the friendship far outweighed the sex.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “To be honest, Misty would only break down once or twice a year and ask for sex. Only then would she give herself voluntarily.”
Frowning, Mystery digested Axel’s words. Pity smothered her anger. “She was raped.”
He held up his hands. “Her secrets are her own. I care about you, Mystery, and I want to save whatever us we might have, but I can’t betray her confidence. It wouldn’t be fair.”
In a way, she respected him more for it. Yeah, it infuriated her and made her feel a bit like she was on the outside looking in. On the other hand, he stayed true to his friends and his principles. Mystery didn’t exactly understand this relationship he’d shared with Misty. But she also didn’t imagine Axel would be trying so hard to explain their odd, romantically platonic relationship if she wasn’t important to him.
She bit her lip, still trying to wrap her head around everything he’d said. “So she’s your submissive?”
“Not anymore. What you saw tonight was Misty and me moving on. Despite the fact that she’s not ready to be alone, she realized I could no longer be her Dominant in every way. She broke it off so I would be free to go after the woman who could make me happy. You.”
His words stunned her. Sizzled through her. Flattened her. Her cautious side told her not to leap too quickly at his pretty words. The rest of her jumped at them. “Is that why you came up to my aunt’s house?”
“Of course.” He searched her face. “Why else would I pull all kinds of strings to borrow a jet to reach you before you could slip through my fingers again?”
“I’m not just . . . a responsibility?”
“Fuck no. Why would you think that?”
Mystery ducked her head, wringing her hands. “Well, you told Heath that you came because my father wanted you here and—”
“Princess, I’m telling your bodyguard what I think he’ll actually hear because I don’t owe him the truth. You dese
rve to know what I’m thinking and how I feel, so here I am. I hope like hell you’re understanding me.”
She was, and hope welled inside her. Mystery didn’t want to be that naïve girl who believed everything the man she was crazy over told her, but she also didn’t want to be the cynic who let a good thing slip away because she was too jaded to believe. “I was excited you’d come here. Relieved.”
“Because you didn’t want to be alone with Heath? Did he hurt you?”
“No. He never would.” She bit her lip, oddly nervous, but if Axel was being so honest, she had to try, too. “I was glad you’d traveled up here because I figured if you did, I must mean something to you.”