Stolen Fate (28 page)

It’s been a week since Drayden mentioned the whole marriage shocker. I haven’t been brave enough to bring it back up, and I think he’s so resolved to the fact he doesn’t feel the topic even deserves further attention.

My mind is still whirling with everything those three little words encompass.

Once we’re married.

He’s all over the place with me. First he hates me, then he tolerates me, then he’s chasing me. And once he catches me, he saves me. Now he wants to keep on saving and protecting me.

Declaring me as his and his alone.

He mentioned he wants to marry me.

Me!

Essie Horton.

The woman who sucked him into my world only to have him be the one who pulled me right back out of it.

“Whatcha thinking about, babe?” Drayden startles me, appearing in the bathroom mirror directly behind me as I’m putting the finishing touches on my makeup. “Sorry,” he whispers against my neck when he sees the look on my face.

“It’s all right. But I think I need to get you a bell to wear around your neck. You’re way too quiet.” Glancing at his reflection, I can see the lust blooming in his eyes as he stares back at me. And I know the reason why: I’m only wearing my bra and panties. I usually dress only after my hair and makeup are done.

“I’ll wear a bell, but it won’t be around my neck, sweetheart,” he chuckles as he moves in to kiss my shoulder, his eyes stuck on me the entire time.

“Well, don’t you think it would fall off? You know, when you’re not hard?”

“I’m always hard when you’re around, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

We can go back and forth like this for hours, each one trying to outdo the other. But I’m running late as it is, so I simply say, “Of course you are, honey,” before turning around to give him a quick kiss. But I should know better because the quick kiss rapidly turns into a full-fledged, panty-dropping, searing of my lips.

“I want to take you so badly right now, Essie,” he growls against my mouth. He pins my hands around my back before his mouth latches onto mine again. I entertain him for a couple minutes before I break away, regretting it instantly. There is nothing more I want in this moment than for him to take me, but like I said, I’m running late.

“Dray, I can’t right now.” He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck, slowly licking my skin until shivers run up and down my spine. Damn it, he’s making this so hard for me. I try to unhook my hands from his grasp but he only tightens it. “Drayden Warner,” I mumble in warning, “unhand me or else.” I’m kind of chuckling now but trying my best to keep a serious tone.

“Or else what? What could you possibly do to me?” Oh, he’s so cocky, standing there and holding me captive in his desire. He arches an eyebrow, letting me know he knows I’m not really a threat.

And I guess I’m really not, but it doesn’t stop me from trying to warn him.

I look back at him with such a cherished smile and innocently tease, “Or else I will be very upset with you. Disappointed even, that you thought nothing of ignoring my needs, only to be your usual stubborn self, wanting to get your way and not really caring about me.”

He smirks. “Nicely played, babe. Nicely played.”

“I learn from the best.” He releases me, allowing me to turn back around to finish up.

~~~~

On our ride to the bakery, I mention Dela has invited me out for a quick drink after work, and she’ll drop me off at home afterwards. Apparently, this little scenario does not please him, not one bit.

“No. I don’t like it.” A scowl instantly replaces the look of peace which was previously on his face.

To say I’m shocked by his blatant refusal is an understatement. But the only thing I can think to say is, “Why?”              

“Because…” he hesitates. “I’m not fully over that piece of shit attacking you at the club.”

“You’re
not over it
? What does that mean exactly?” I turn my body slightly to the left so I can better face him for this. I know he’s possessive and demanding when it comes to me, but he has never before flat-out told me I couldn’t do something. Well, not since we got to a good place in our relationship, at least.

“Essie, don’t push me on this. I’m not over it means I’m not over it. Drop it.” His grip on the steering wheel is so intense, I think he’s going to rip it right off. I know he’s still having a hard time with what happened a week ago, but it’s no reason to deny me some time with Dela.

I need to try and talk to him about this instead of being my usual stubborn self and just ignoring him, doing what I want to do anyway. That never solves anything, always resulting in us getting into an argument. But then again, the make-up sex is out of this world.

Hmmm…

I shake my head in order to force me to get back on track.

“Drayden. Baby,” I say as I reach over and place my hand on his thigh. “He’s locked up and will be for a very long time. Plus, it’s not like I’ll be alone. Hell, I won’t even be that long. She only has like an hour or two before she has to get home to the kids. I guess Dex has some work meeting or something. It’s why she can’t stay out long.” Now I’m babbling. “Then she’ll drop me off at home, safe and sound.”

There is a good two minutes of silence before he speaks again. He never looks at me, but instead keeps his eyes glued to the road ahead. His grey suit jacket is straining against his shoulders because he is still tensing. We’re inching closer and closer to the bakery and I want to get this resolved before he drops me off. I don’t want to stew in my anger if he’s going to be a jerk about it and give me a hard time. Yes, what happened a week ago was frightening, and yes, I still thank my lucky stars Drayden was there to protect me. But I’m not going to let that define me or how I live the rest of my life.

“No.” That’s it. One word and my blood pressure shoots right through the roof. I’m about to blow a gasket right here in the front seat of his car. I’m not someone who takes this crap lightly. I’ve never let anyone run my life, telling me what to do, and I’m not about to start now.

I remove my hand from his leg and swiftly place it under my thigh. I’m protecting both of us by doing this. There’s such anger building, I fear me striking out at him because of it. And that’s the last thing I want to do, so I tuck it away to avoid any such scenario.

But my words,
those
I’ll let fly at him.

“You can’t tell me no,” I gasp, my voice increasing an octave with each word. “You
won’t
tell me no.” I fidget in my seat, wanting nothing more than to get the hell away from him.

“Oh, I can and I
will
tell you no, Essie. It. Is. Too. Soon.” He emphasizes each damning word to drive home his point.

As I’m about to let loose and yell at him, he pulls the car over in front of the shop. So instead of getting into an all-out battle, right here in the middle of the street, I choose to get out and walk away.

I’m evolving. The old me would have thought nothing of punching him, screaming and carrying on like a crazy woman. Thankfully, I’m not that person anymore. Although those thoughts run through my mind, I never act on them.

But just when I think I’m free of him, I hear the engine cut off and his car door open and shut. Sure enough, he follows right behind me through the front door of the shop.

I don’t have time for this shit. Dela and I have to bust our asses this morning for a huge company order which was placed last-minute. I don’t need Drayden and his demanding ways causing me to lose focus. Not today.

“Hey, guys!” Dela shouts out as she walks toward the back.

“Hi, Dela!” we both yell back in unison.

“What are you doing?” he asks me as I make my way toward the back, as well. Rolling my eyes to get it out of my system, I turn around and put my hands on my hips, clearly showing him I’m a little more than annoyed. My hands are fisting the sides of my dress, bunching it so I have something to do with them rather than raining down blows of frustration on him.

“I’m going to work. Something you should be doing, as well.” When I make to leave, he’s on me before I can turn around.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you, Essie. I don’t trust everything completely yet, and I’m not taking any chances. Not when it comes to you.”

“But you can’t flat-out tell me I can’t do something. That’s not how this works.” I try to get him to let go of my arms, but he isn’t budging. In fact, his hold is tightening. He isn’t hurting me by any means, but I know he wants me to take him seriously.

“I can if I feel it’s what’s best.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Dela asks as she comes striding toward us with a fresh batch of cookies. The delicious smell is almost enough to make me forget all about the infuriating man standing directly in front of me. God, I’m hungry. I already ate breakfast, but my greedy stomach is rumbling just the same. Thankfully, the smell doesn’t turn my stomach like the batch of raisin biscuits she made yesterday.

“Do you want to tell her or should I?” I ask as I look from Drayden to Dela.

“What? Would one of you please tell me already? You both look pissed, and now you’ve got my curiosity piqued.” She’s trying to make light of the situation, one she doesn’t even fully understand. But she knows him well enough to know that look on his face. He isn’t happy, and she wants to know why.

“Drayden said I can’t go with you tonight,” I blurt out before he can say anything, trying to give his side of things.

“Are you kidding me?” She looks back and forth between us. I think she’s waiting for one of us to start laughing or something. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m deathly serious. I don’t like it. Not yet.”

“What do you think’s going to happen? We’ll be out in public with other people, not shacked up in some alleyway drinking alcohol from a bag.” She starts removing the warm cookies from the tray and putting them in the case. “Seriously, Drayden? Come on.”

“No. Not yet.” And that’s all he says before leaning in to kiss me. I want to turn my head but he’s too quick, catching me off-guard. He strides over to Dela, snatches a cookie off the tray before she can react and saunters out the front door with a fucking smirk on his face.

Jerk!

Turning back toward Dela, I let loose. “There is no way in hell we’re not going after work today. He can’t run me,” I puff out. “He’s not the boss of me.” I’m so irritated I feel queasy, so I lean against the counter and take a few deep breaths, willing my body to cooperate with me.

“You got that right, honey. We’ll still go, don’t you worry.” Then, a few minutes later, Dela’s cell phone rings. She picks it up and greets whoever is interrupting our little girl-power moment.

“What? Are you serious? When?” There’s a long pause on the phone before she says, “Okay, fine.  Love you,” and hangs up.

“Who was it?”

“It was Dex. He said the meeting he has is going to go a lot longer than expected, and tonight isn’t the best night for me to go out. He needs me home with the kids because the sitter can’t stay. Sorry, honey, but we can reschedule, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. That’s fine,” I grumble with disappointment.

But I can’t shake the nagging feeling Drayden coaxed his brother into intercepting our plans for this evening.

Who am I kidding? Of course he did.

It’s now been a full month since the incident involving my past. But still Drayden won’t budge with letting me out of his sight, even going as far as saying if I want to go somewhere, he’ll clear his schedule and accompany me. Don’t get me wrong; I love spending time with him, but sometimes I want to hang out with the girls alone. And there is nothing relaxing about having Drayden splayed all over me when I’m trying to move about and have a drink with Bridgette and Dela. And forget about dancing anymore; that’s just not happening.

I learn from Cal, on the fly, they’re continually checking up on Adam, making sure he stays right where he is: in prison and far away from me.

So, why is Drayden still so crazy about letting me go out without him?

“That’s just Dray, Essie,” Cal says to me. “He goes a little overboard when it comes to protecting you. I’ve never seen this side of him before but compared to how he’s been in the past few years, I’ll take this guy over the other one. Any day.”

Well, try living on the receiving end of this crap.

It’s not fun.

But one day, I have another opportunity to try and talk him out of his paranoia. I make my way to his office to meet him for lunch. I decide I’ll approach him on neutral ground, out in the open, so hopefully he won’t cause a scene.

“Hi, Delores,” I say to his secretary as I pass by her desk. I now have full reign of this place, never having to wait for her to announce me. I walk right up to his office door, twist the handle and walk right in. Just like I own the place.

“Hey, honey,” he says as he looks away from his computer. “Is it that time already? Jesus, where the hell is the day going?” He saves whatever he’s working on, closes his computer and makes his way around to the front of his desk. Extending his legs and crossing his ankles, he leans back on his hands and watches me. His eyes peruse my dress, lingering a bit too long on my breasts before capturing my eyes.

I smirk and shake my head.

Always the horny man.

“Like what you see, sir?”

“You know it.” He crooks his finger, beckoning me to him. “Come here,” he says in that delicious deep voice of his.

Who am I to say no?

His hand circles around my waist once I’m within reaching distance. I slam up against his chest, tingles floating all over my body while I meet his intense stare.

“I missed you,” I blurt out.

“You did? Did you miss this?” he asks as he pushes himself into my belly.

“I always miss that, baby.”

Maybe now is the best time to spring this on him. Right when he’s lost in desire will work perfectly because he’s distracted. He might agree to just about anything right now.

He gives me a tender kiss at first but like always, it turns possessive and bruising. I break away for a split second, causing his head to come forward, searching for my lips again. “Dray,” I whisper softly. “The girls asked me to go out for a drink tonight.” I kiss him, nipping his lip in the process, something I know he loves. He growls. “Are you okay if I go with them? Just us?” I swirl my tongue over his bottom lip, soothing the area I had between my teeth.

He growls again.

When he doesn’t answer me I pull back, breaking our connection once again. He furrows his brow and looks irritated.

“No,” he mumbles before trying to kiss me again.

That’s it! I’ve had it. He’s not going to continue to dictate my life any longer. I was being patient with him before, trying to see his side of things, but no more. This is ridiculous. I’m sure he knows I talked to Cal, and I know there’s no longer a threat. So what’s his deal?

“No?” I screech at him. “Who do you think you are?” I slap his hands away from my body and walk backward until my legs hit the couch cushions. He takes a few steps toward me but I instantly hold my hand up, halting him. “If you know what’s good for you, you will stop right there.” There is no mistaking the dark look in my eyes. He knows how livid I am, so for once, he’s being smart by keeping his distance.

“Stop overreacting, Essie.”

Did he just say that to me?

I advance two steps toward him. Reaching out to fill the gap between us, I shove a finger into his chest. Hard. “If you think for one second I’m going to let you continue to try and control me then you have got to be out of your fucking mind. I’m going tonight. Without. You. It will just be us three girls, no one else. And if you don’t like it, then you can shove it right up your ass.”

I stride out of his office, slamming the door behind me. Delores looks up from her computer, her eyes following me out of curiosity I’m sure.

I arrive home in record time. And as I’m about to call him to start bitching at him some more, my phone dings. It’s a text message from Drayden. All it reads is
‘Have fun tonight.’

I don’t know the reason for his change of heart but I’ll take it, no questions asked. I come to find out later on he called his brothers, and they assured him Adam wasn’t going anywhere. Not for a very, very long time. He isn’t a threat anymore.

Finally, no more drama.

At least, that’s what I think.