Casually, I ask her, “Hey, when’s the last time you babysat?”
“What?” she says, confused, then she must see little Levi following in behind me.
“Coy, what the fuck did you do?” she hisses.
“That’s my kid, since you’re so interested in my life. Surely you won’t mind babysittin’ every now and then,” I say with a grin. “Come on, Levi, let me show you to your very own room.”
Voice trembling, Levi says, “I don’t want my own room. I want to be with mommy.”
“Right now your momma needs rest, and to do that she needs to have some privacy,” I say firmly to him.
“But!” he starts but I don’t stop walking.
“You can see her all you want, but you will have your own room.”
“O… okay,” he says to my back as I walk us through the house with Allie in my arms.
Fuck, I never thought I’d be carrying her through my house in the marriage kind of way. I thought she was dead and gone. I got her back… but she sure as fuck doesn’t seem too alive right now. I swear this better not be some kind of fucking drug thing. I’ll fucking skin her alive if she’s doin’ drugs around my boy.
Nodding my head to the room directly across from my own, I say, “That one’s yours, right across from my own.”
Kicking my door open, I head directly to the bed. To be honest, I don’t think it’s a drug thing, unless she’s shootin’ up between her toes or doing pills. She doesn’t have the meth scratches all over her or any of those other telltale signs.
Setting her sweaty body down on my bed, I wanna slam my fist against the wall. How the fuck is it the first time I get her in this bed, she’s passed the fuck out?
Levi comes up to the side of the bed and frowns at me. “When she going to wake up?”
“Soon,” I say to him and then gently grab him by the hand.
Fuck, his hand is so damn small compared to mine, it’s like a little doll or somethin’. Pulling him as gently as I can from the room, I tug him to the living room where the thermostat is for the house.
Dropping the dial down to low as shit, I breathe out a heavy sigh.
“Fuck, it’s hot as hell,” I say.
“Mommy says you shouldn’t say those words,” Levi says.
“Yeah, probably not,” I laugh and then all but drag him to the couch.
“What are we doing?” he asks as I hand him the cable remote.
“You’re gonna take charge of the remote control. I’m gonna order some Hometown Pizza and check on your momma.”
Levi frowns. “I’m not allowed to have pizza.”
“Why the hell not? You allergic or somethin’?” I ask him, and fuck, I don’t know anything about kids and shit.
“No, Mikhail says it’s for pants,” he says with a bigger frown.
“Pants?” I ask, confused.
He struggles with the word. “No, pa… sants.”
“You mean peasants?” I ask.
“That’s it! Peasants!” he says now that he’s heard the word right.
“Well, fuck Mikhail, he’s a moron. We eat pizza in this family.” I shake my head as I head into the kitchen.
“Peasants?” Darlene asks me as I walk over to the fridge to grab a cold beer.
“Fucking must be a joke, right?” I ask her.
Looking from me to the doorway, she quietly asks, “Is he royalty or something?”
Laughing, I start to shake my head then think about it. “Well yeah, he’s a future Royal Bastard.”
Finishing off my beer, I toss the empty bottle in the trash and start to walk out of the kitchen.
I gotta keep an eye on Allie and make sure she wakes up.
Because if she doesn’t…
Shit.
Turning back around, I grab another beer out of the fridge and nearly finish it off as I carry it into the bedroom with me.
Chapter Ten
Allie
Slowly, almost gently, awareness begins to creep back in.
I realize I’m lying on something soft, something that smells clean.
I’m not too hot or too cold, and it’s tempting to fall back to sleep. To let everything go on without me.
I’m so tired.
I’ve been tired for such a long time…
I deserve a break. I need a break from my life, from everything.
I start to drift off again, strangely feeling like I’m safe. Like someone is watching over me…
Then Coy’s words suddenly replay in my head.
“He’s mine and so are you, Allie.”
I come fully awake with a gasp, my heart racing.
And the first thing I see is Coy’s dark blue eyes staring back at me.
Confused, it takes me a moment to figure out where I am, and the second I realize I’m in a strange bed, with him, true panic begins to set in.
Where am I?
How the fuck did I get here?
I start to roll over, intending to get out of the bed, but as soon as I roll onto my back Coy appears above me.
“Where do you think you’re goin’?” he growls as he positions his body over mine.
His hands come down, sinking into the mattress besides my shoulders. Tattooed arms trapping me in a cage.
And I can’t breathe, not with him above me…
Not with the way he’s looking at me.
He looks like he wants to rip out my throat with his fucking teeth.
I stare up at him, at his stupidly handsome face, and wonder if this is what the gazelle feels like when it’s pinned by the lion.
One wrong move and it all could be over…
Yet, even knowing that, a little thrill of excitement courses through my body.
Oh my god… what the hell is wrong with me?
Beyond disturbed and more than a little freaked out by my reaction, I lick my dry lips and ask, “Where’s Levi?”
Coy’s eyes drift down, locking on my mouth. “He’s safe.”
Fuck… it looks like he wants to kiss me now…
And that possibility terrifies me more than the thought of him killing me.
Resisting the urge to squirm, I take a deep, calming breath, and say, “I need to see him.”
His gaze drifts even lower, brushing against my breasts as I struggle not to pant. I swear I can feel the heat of his eyes burning through my shirt, and my damn nipples tighten.
Then his attention snaps back up to my face.
I watch his nostrils flare and his breathing deepen. I don’t know what it is about it, but an unwanted flare of confused arousal hits me right in the stomach.
He’s not touching me, but I can feel the weight of him pressing down on me.
His huge presence alone sending tingles of expectation across my skin.
Expectation of what, though?
This doesn’t make any damn sense.
Voice deep and heavy with accusation, he says, “You’ve been able to see him every day for the past few years, Allie. Where I…”
Trailing off, his right hand lifts, and I flinch as it nears my face.
Jaw tightening, his expression becomes downright murderous as his fingers wrap around my throat.
And that damn thrill of excitement is back again as his thumb strokes against my skin.