As if sensing her intention, he pitched her over an edge that she was unaware was there until it was too late, sending her body hurtling into an overwhelming passion that she didn’t know existed.
When she came to awareness, Stump was lying on his back and she was draped over his chest, as he spoke in a hushed voice, telling her how beautiful she was.
She lifted tear-filled eyes. “You don’t have to keep saying that.”
“Do you believe me when I do?”
“Not really.”
“Then I’m going to keep saying it until you do. And even then, I probably won’t stop because you are.”
“You’re a very persistent man.” Her gaze skittered away from his. “I don’t imagine many women are able to resist you.”
“Zoey, I’ve dated a lot of women; probably too many considering your high standards. I’ve never been serious with a fucking one of them. I can’t say a few of them haven’t wanted more than I was willing to give, but I can say I never led them on to believe anything else. I’m being real with you. So, when I tell you I love you, believe it, because it’s the truth.”
Searching his eyes, she nodded. “Okay.”
She had never seen her father look at any woman the way Stump was staring at her.
“Good. I need a shower. Want to take one with me?”
She rolled off him, tugging the blanket over her. “You go first. I’ll take one when you’re done.”
Leaning over, he gave her a quick kiss before standing up brazenly.
When she made sure he was in the bathroom and the water was running, she giggled out loud, falling to the mattress. Stretching out her sore body, Zoey marveled at what had just happened. She wanted to do it again, but she didn’t want to appear too eager.
She didn’t know the etiquette of couples after they had sex. She could text Penni or Grace and ask them, but she wasn’t ready to open the door for them to discuss her private life. She knew girlfriends shared their secrets, but her father had drilled into her since childhood that she needed to keep her mouth shut about what happened behind closed doors.
Hearing the water shut off, she stuffed a pillow behind her back, sitting up straight in the bed while modestly covering her body.
Stump came into the bedroom with a towel tucked around his hips, drying his hair with another towel.
She swallowed at the newfound intimacy of the situation she found herself in.
When his teasing expression went grim, she bit her lip. Should she have gotten dressed when he had left the room?
“You should throw your dress back on. I ordered a pizza before I took a shower. I was getting hungry.”
“I could have fixed you something.” Not releasing the blanket, she slipped to the side of the bed as Stump tossed the towels aside before putting his clothes back on.
“I needed something more substantial than yogurt. Hurry up, it’ll be here any minute.”
“I’m hurrying.” Rushing, she maneuvered the dress over her head, still holding the blanket to cover her lower curves.
Laying the blanket back on the bed, she hurried toward the door as Stump was jerking his boots back on.
“What’s the hurry? The driver isn’t here….”
When she would have gone toward the kitchen to make them drinks, Stump caught her hand, jerking her toward the door. “Slow down.” Bending down, he grabbed her shoes, giving them to her. “Put them on,” he muttered in a low voice, looking toward the bedroom. “Hurry.”
Becoming frightened at his expression, she grabbed his arm as she slipped her shoes on while he quietly opened the front door. As soon as her shoes were on, he jerked her out into the night, placing a shushing finger over his lips.
Instead of heading to his motorcycle, he turned toward her neighbor’s yard. Staying silent, she meekly followed beside him, trying to keep up.
At Kent’s door, Stump knocked loudly, banging his fist on the door.
“Stump, what’s going on?” Trembling, she tried not to become terrified at the expression on his face.
“Someone was in your closet.”
“Wha—”
He smothered her loud yell with his hand over her mouth as Kent opened his door.
“Give me one of your guns,” Stump ordered him, pushing her through the door.
Expecting Kent to be afraid and shocked at the demand, he instead went to a shelf along a wall, pressing a finger to the top corner. The self-spring opened, showing two guns. Giving one to Stump, he took the other one for himself.
“Call Ice,” Stump said, turning back to go outside.
“Call the police first!” Zoey again tried not to become too hysterical, but the thought of someone being in her bedroom was freaking her out.
Trying to catch Stump when she realized his intention to go back to her house, she reached out, wanting to stop him. “Wait for the police!”
“Go ahead,” Kent told Stump. “I’ve got a lock-down room I can put her in. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Stay with Zoey and call Ice.”
Kent picked her up around the waist when she tried to stop him again.
“Stump knows what he’s doing. You’ll get him hurt worrying over you.”
Zoey didn’t have time to be amazed at the expensive furnishings of Kent’s home as he carried her through the living room, taking her into a room off to the side of the kitchen. In her home, it was a small pantry, but in Kent’s home, it was an office with a large desk and bookshelves skirting around leather armchairs and a coffee table.
He slid one of the bookshelves to the side, exposing a room within. Motioning her to go inside, he took out his cell phone.
“Ice, Stump needs you at Zoey’s house quick. He needs backup.”
“You have Ice on speed dial?” She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling as if she was Alice and had fallen down a rabbit hole as she stared at the weapons spread across a table along one wall and the other equipment that she had no clue what they could be or their use.
“Zoey, I’m going to lock you in. No one can get inside but me. I want to—”
“Go. I would rather you help him than stay with me.”
Kent stepped out of the room, snapping it shut behind him.
Zoey stared at the door, realizing it was made out of steel and she was trapped inside. Taking a shaky breath, she nervously took a seat on a chair. There was another chair and a small bed along the other wall. There was also a table that had bottled waters and a coffee pot. Kent seemed prepared for any disaster that could strike Queen City.
She was amazed the seeming yuppie wasn’t what he had been portraying himself to be when he was around her. Instead, he was a man who kept a gun within reach when he answered his door.
That sent goosebumps down her spine. If anyone told her that Kent had a gun, much less a whole room filled with them, she would have laughed in their face.
Each minute that slowly ticked by had fear climbing higher, petrified that Stump would be hurt by the person who had been hiding in her closet.
She buried her face in her hands as she tried to figure out how he had known someone was in there. Then she raised her head when Kent opened the door.
“You can come out, Zoey.”
Kent’s grim expression didn’t reassure her, but seeing Stump standing behind him did.
She rushed toward him. “Are you okay? Did you find who was in the closet?” Throwing herself into his waiting arms, she didn’t feel safe until they closed around her.
“I’m fine. Whoever it was, was gone when I got back to the house.” Releasing her, he led her into Kent’s living room.
“Creed didn’t see anyone—”
“Who’s Creed?” Zoey looked at Stump then Kent as she asked, thinking it was a police officer or another member of Ice’s club.
She was surprised when Stump raised a brow at Kent.
“I am.”
Zoey stared at Kent wonderingly. “You’re Creed? But your name is Kent—”
/> “Creed is a nickname.”
“Are you a Predator, too?”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t own a motorcycle.” Zoey tried to remember if she had seen him riding one and came up blank.
“I keep it at the club. It pays to be inconspicuous.” Kent gave her a crooked smile.
“It does for you, that’s for damn sure.” Sarcasm poured off Stump in waves.
“I thought you knew each other. You two disliked each other too much not to be acquainted. You didn’t see anyone near my house?”
“No. I would have seen anyone coming from the front. I’ve been keeping an eye out since Stump told me someone has been trying to hurt you.” Kent inclined his head toward the windows that were in the far side of his living room.
“Stump is going to take you outside. They want you to give a statement and do a walk-through of your house to see if anything has been stolen or moved.”
The two men shared stony glances before Stump looked down at her.
“He left you a note and tore up a fur pillow in your closet.”
Zoey frowned in confusion. “I didn’t have a fur pillow.”
As realization dawned, she tore herself from Stump’s arms and took off at a dead run.
“Zoey, slow down! You’re going to hurt your knee!”
She flung the door open, running across her lawn, not caring that Ice, Max, several other bikers, and some police officers had stopped talking at her frantic run to her house.
Shoving a uniformed officer aside, she ran inside, jerking away from a hand that tried to stop her. Involuntary whimpers fell from her lips when she came to a stop at her closet door, and the destruction she saw there.
Falling to her knees, Zoey helplessly cried at the mess on the floor. Stuffing was strewn everywhere. There was nothing left that could be sewed back together.
“Zoey…?” Stump squatted next to her. “What was it?”
“My rabbit… It was the only thing I had from my mother. She gave it to me on my first birthday.” Giving a sobbing breath, she sank down onto the carpet, pushing the scattered remains into a pile.
A hysterical laugh tore from her throat. “He could have destroyed anything in my house and I wouldn’t have cared. I know I’m being silly—”
“I don’t think you’re being silly at all. But quit crying or you’re gonna make me cry, too.” Sitting down next to her, he placed her on his lap, and then rocked her as she cried into his chest. “Where did you keep it?”
“On my bed, under my pillow….” Terror had her lifting her head. “Stump, if you hadn’t stayed… I would have fallen asleep with him in my closet! He would have….” Images of what could have happened made her tremble in fear. “We have to find out who it is!”
“We will.”
His promise fell on deaf ears when she spotted the note. Reaching out, Stump drew her hand back before she could touch it.
“The police are sending for a team to come. They said not to disturb it.”
“What does it say?”
“We’ll talk about it later, once they leave it.”
“Stump, what does it say?”
“It wasn’t for you this time. He left the note for me.”
She had to bite back the hysteria that was quickly working to undermine the calm she was trying to regain with Stump’s support.
“Stay away from her or you’ll be next.”
“Have they all left?” She tiredly looked up at Stump as he came back into the living room. Ice and Max were there, drinking the coffee she made them as the police took fingerprints and tried to figure out how her house had been broken into.
“Yes, they think whoever it was climbed through your bathroom window.” Coming behind the kitchen counter, he placed an arm around her waist.
Leaning against him, she let his strength soak into her drained body. “I opened it to let the steam out when I showered this morning. I must have forgotten to lock it back before I left.”
“He won’t be getting in again so easily. First thing in the morning, Kaden’s security team is installing cameras and alarms,” Ice grimly stated, setting his coffee cup down on the counter.
Zoey took the cup, setting it in the sink. “Let me know how much it is, and I’ll pay him back.”
“I’ve already taken care of it. Pack an overnight bag; you’re coming home with me.”
Zoey shook her head at Ice. “I’m staying here. I’m not letting whoever this is trying to scare me win.”
“I’m going to stay here with her. This time, my gun won’t be in my saddlebag.” Stump went to the coffee pot to pour himself another cup.
“You’re not bringing a gun into my home,” Zoey protested.
“You didn’t mind when I brought one in to search the house.”
“That’s different. I was worried about your safety.”
“That’s why I’ll be packing one from now on. I have a license, and I’m just as worried about your safety.”
Too tired to continue arguing, she decided it would be better to fight in the morning when she had some sleep and was more clear-headed.
After Ice and Max left, she went to the hall closet to take out a blanket and sheets, feeling Stump’s eyes on her as she made the sofa into a bed.
“There’s no way both of us are going to fit on there.”
“I’m sleeping on my bed. You’re sleeping here.”
“Hell no, I’m not—”
“Then you’re not staying.” She brought her hands to her hips when she could tell there was another argument brewing.
“We can sleep together on your bed.”
“No, we can’t. Just because we made love doesn’t mean we are going to make a habit sleeping together.”
“We aren’t?”
“No, we aren’t,” she repeated firmly.
“Why not?”
“That’s obvious!”
“Not to me.”
“If you sleep with me, you might get… we might … have sex again.” She twisted her hands together, embarrassed about talking about what had taken place in her bedroom.
“What’s wrong with that? I thought you enjoyed it. Hey, it was your first time; it gets better. A lot better….”
Blushing, she would rather melt into the floor than discuss why she didn’t want to make love with him.
“It doesn’t matter how much I enjoyed it. I’m never doing it again.”
“Then we have a big problem, because we are.”
“No, we’re not!” Bursting into tears, she tried to run out of the room, but Stump caught her before she could reach her bedroom door.
Trying to sidle away from him, she found herself pinned to the wall in the hallway.
“Tell me.”
“He watched us!”
“No, he didn’t. The closet door wasn’t open when we were having sex.”
“You don’t know that for sure!”
“Yes, I do. I was staring at it when we were on the bed. I only saw it open a crack when I came out of the bathroom.”
“He still heard us.”
“We made love quietly.”
A low laugh had her shaking in his arms. “No, we didn’t.”
“We did. You just don’t remember.”
“You’re lying to make me feel better.”
“Is it working?”
“A little,” she admitted.
“Good. Can we go to sleep now? I’m exhausted. If I promise to keep my hands to myself, can I sleep with you?”
“No. He threatened you. You should go home. He could be watching and know you’re still here.”
“He’s not watching.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Yes, I do. Creed is keeping an eye out from his house, Max is behind your house, and several of the other brothers are staked-out throughout your neighborhood. No one is going to move tonight unless we know about it.”
“It will be safer for you if you leave. I’m not going to jeopa
rdize your safety.” She tried to duck under the arm that he had braced against the wall.
“I’m not the one in jeopardy. The fucker who broke into your house is. When I find out who it is, I’m going to carve my own message into him… with bullets.”
Zoey winced at the graphic image. “I don’t want anyone hurt, Stump. Whoever is doing this is sick. They need help.”
“Whoever did it needs more help than I’m willing to give. They need putting down. They destroyed your stuffed animal because he couldn’t get to you. If I hadn’t come out of the bathroom when I did, or if you were alone, he would have taken his frustration out on you.”
“I know.” She shuddered. “I keep trying to think who it could be. I can’t think of anyone capable of doing this.”
“I could look through the recordings of your clients and see if anyone stands out to me.”
“No! Those videos are for my clients. I promised them no one would see them.”
“Calm down. It was just a suggestion. Whoever is doing this already made one mistake, and he’ll screw up again.”
“What mistake did he make already?”
“He chose you.”
23
“Are you taking Zoey to the Kaden’s concert tomorrow night?”
Stump turned in his computer chair at Penni’s question. “I’m taking her. Why?”
“I was going to get you to babysit if you weren’t going.”
“Sorry, you’re out of luck.”
“Darn it! You were my last choice. Jackal won’t be able to go with me if I don’t find someone. All my friends are going.”
“Have you asked Gert?”
Gert was the oldest female member of the Predators. Stump hadn’t seen her around the club lately, but then again, he had spent most of his time at Zoey’s house since the break-in three weeks ago.
“No, I didn’t want to bother her. Jackal said her cancer treatments have taken a lot out of her.”
“Call and ask. If she can’t, Gert will tell you.”
“I will.”
Stump quickly got out of his chair when he heard Zoey’s door being opened, starting to close the door to Penni’s private office.
“Hey, leave the door open,” Grace protested as both women craned their necks to watch the hallway.