Desired Read online

  His head cocked in that sexy way, and that slow grin crossed his face. “Then you’re thinking wonderful, desirable things?”

  “Well, of course.” She laughed.

  He chuckled with her, then leaned down and pressed his mouth against hers in a modest kiss. When he broke away, his eyes searched hers. “You’re quiet tonight.”

  Dammit.

  Why did her mind have to be running wild? Here, in his arms, things were better than they’d ever been. Why couldn’t that be enough? Why did he want more of her, and why did she want more of him? Why couldn’t they just be content and have kept things casual and light?

  She shrugged. “Just thinking, I guess.”

  One brow lifted. “About?”

  If this can work between us? I want all of you. You want all me. But somehow we’re just not getting there fast enough. “Just stuff.”

  His gaze drifted over her shoulder, taking in the others within earshot. Then his soft eyes returned to hers. “Now isn’t the time to talk. But, tell me, is everything all right?”

  She wiggled against him, running her hands up his chest, trying to remind them both of this side of their relationship. The uncomplicated part, where two bodies simply yearned for each other. “Yeah, I’m okay.” This passion is real, intense, and perfect. It’s the rest that’s a stinkin’ mess.

  Tension creased the corners of his eyes. “Somehow I don’t believe you.”

  She stilled in his arms as hardness formed in his features. Yet this was different, nothing she’d ever seen before. His eyes blazed in a possessive want. More and more, she saw that side of him. But more and more, she was beginning to wonder if it’d be enough. “For now, you’ll just have to.”

  A frown pulled at his mouth and his lips parted to reply, when a sudden round of knocking sounded at her door. Loud knocking. Every head turned toward the door, and Ella’s blood ran ice cold. Now it wasn’t only knocking, someone was kicking the door and yelling.

  Ella shut her eyes, cursing the damn fool who had allowed Rory into her building.

  Bang. Knock. Bang. “Open the fucking door! You’re my damn wife!”

  She froze, unable to move, as Kyler’s features slowly darkened. Oh, the possessiveness was palpable. The rage heady. Past the shock that Rory was beating down her door, embarrassment washed over Ella as she stepped out of Kyler’s arms.

  Rubbing her hands over her arms, she looked from face to face, as everyone remained statue still. Presley had wide eyes, with her hands covering her mouth. Cora and Kenzie were glancing around, seemingly stunned. And all of the Club Sin Masters were looking to Kyler.

  “Um,” Kenzie finally said, breaking through the thick silence between the loud bangs on the door. “Some crazy dude is at your door. Shouldn’t someone go handle that?”

  The lack of movement in the room was nearly as awkward as the confusion in the moment. Thoughts rushed through Ella’s mind of some way to get out of this, but how could she? Her past and present collided together, and she couldn’t run.

  Now everyone knows …

  Why deny it?

  They all got a firsthand view of how fucked up her life was. She should’ve known that the second things were good for her, something would ruin it all. It always happened. Nothing ever worked out. “He’s my husband,” she barely managed, moving to the door, since it now shook on his hinges.

  Presley dropped her hands. “Wait. You’re married?”

  Before Ella could reply, Kyler said with a stern voice, “Ella, stop right where you are.”

  Her steps faltered and she hugged herself, shutting her eyes. Why?

  For once, she had something good. She had new, amazing friends. She had a great guy in her life that she hoped could forget about Rory and her dark past. Curling around herself, she realized fate was a nasty bitch that for some reason had it out for her.

  When Kyler’s warm body pressed against Ella’s from behind, she opened her eyes, staring at the shaking door. His soft voice came beside her ear. “Go over to Presley.”

  She turned to him, but he wasn’t looking at her. His gaze was transfixed on the door. Doing as he asked, Ella went to Presley’s side. God, what must they all think of me? Every single person in this room seemed so put-together. So happy. So sure of themselves.

  Presley took Ella’s hand, giving her a look. “Why would you not tell us about him?”

  Ella parted her lips to give a reply, when suddenly Rory yelled, “That fucking scar won’t be the last one I leave on you! Let me the fuck in! You dirty cunt!”

  Kyler stiffened.

  All of the Club Sin Masters stood from their seats but stayed where they stood. Everyone remained focused on Kyler as he approached the door.

  Cora sighed, moving to Ella’s side and taking up her other hand. “Okay, I guess that’s why you never told us.”

  Ella couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.

  This cannot be happening.

  Rory kicked at the door again, yelling words that Ella couldn’t make out simply because he was in a rage fueled by alcohol. Her insides shook at the memory of the last time she’d seen Rory like this.

  When Kyler opened the door, a cold fear swept into Ella’s soul as she stared at not the Rory she had once loved, but the drunk Rory who terrified her. Cool and collected as always, Kyler’s voice sounded calm. “I believe I was clear when I told you to go home and to stay away from Ella.”

  In a speed that her eyes couldn’t register, Kyler had a hand wrapped around the back of Rory’s neck and took him down to the ground. She stood in shock, unsure of what surprised her more.

  The fact that Kyler had disabled Rory, pressing a knee to his back in less time than it took her to blink.

  Or the realization that Kyler had confronted Rory as if they’d met before.

  Outside of Ella’s condo, red and blue lights lit up the night sky as Kyler leaned against the police car. Fuck, his thoughts stayed with Ella, and the embarrassment she must have experienced. He never intended for anyone in Club Sin to learn of what happened to her, especially in this manner.

  “He’s something special.”

  Following the direction Porter was looking, Kyler spotted the second cruiser. Rory kicked the window of the police car, screaming obscenities and spitting. He folded his arms and grumbled, “Something special indeed.”

  “I take it you approached him?” Porter asked.

  Kyler nodded, glancing away from the cruiser. “Thought that’d be the end of it and that he would see Ella’s not alone. I thought that by his knowing that I’m a cop it would smarten him up.” He rubbed his exhausted eyes and sighed. “I didn’t expect him to show up tonight and pull this fucking stunt.”

  “Possibly, he felt pressed,” Porter offered.

  “I’m sure he did.” In fact, Kyler surmised that’s exactly what happened and Rory had drunk himself into a craze. Perhaps Rory realized tonight there was no hope left for him and Ella. Part of Kyler was glad he’d been there when Rory showed up. The other part of him felt like a piece of shit for working Rory up enough that he’d caused this to happen.

  He scanned the area, seeing his fellow cops talking to Dmitri and Aidan, while taking notes. It came of no surprise when he made the call that more than one cruiser showed up. More to the point, Kyler didn’t doubt that his father would be asking questions when he saw him next.

  “Poor girl, if that’s what she had to face,” Porter said, staring at Rory, who used both feet to kick at the window.

  Kyler had seen such behavior before, many times. Booze and a certain type of individuals didn’t mix, bringing out anger that looked animalistic. No sane part of Rory lived in him now. But a real man wouldn’t drink, if he knew alcohol made him this way.

  Porter added, “Must’ve been scary.”

  “I’d imagine so,” Kyler replied, which only tugged at his heart, reminding him how little Ella shared with him.

  He’d been trained in how to deal with drunken assholes, and had the muscle mas
s to ensure he kept them at bay. Sweet Ella had none of those things. But why was it so hard for her to tell him how afraid she’d been? He craved her vulnerability like a drug … and yet he doubted he’d get his fix.

  As Rory got in three good kicks on the window, the rookie, Maggie, strode up to her cruiser, then opened the door just as Rory was about to kick it again. She said in a controlled voice, “Do that again and we’ll tie you down, so you can’t. The choice is yours. Make good decisions.”

  Kyler shook his head, suspecting Rory would be put in the restraint chair when they returned to the station. But past all that, he felt sorry for Ella that she had once had to deal with Rory on her own.

  It should never have happened.

  For doing what Rory did to her, abuse to a woman who couldn’t defend herself, Kyler wished death—or something far worse—on the man in the cruiser.

  “All right?”

  Turning to Dmitri, Kyler muttered, “Yeah.”

  Dmitri’s brows drew together as he pressed a hand against Kyler’s shoulder. “Sorry to hear you’ve been dealing with this. I suspected something of this nature was going on with her, but I didn’t know it still affected her.” His gaze flicked to the cruiser, and he frowned. “Or that the problem was so violent.”

  Aidan sidled up to them, and his hands were tucked firmly into the pockets of his jeans. His eyes narrowed on the cruiser, blazing red hot. “So, that’s what this is all about?”

  Kyler inclined his head.

  “Fuck.” Aidan yanked his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. “I wish she would have told me about this. I could have helped her, or at least provided more security for her at work.”

  You and me both. “She didn’t tell me, either,” Kyler replied.

  Aidan’s head whipped around to Kyler, his brows drawn together. “How did you find out about it, then?”

  Kyler scraped a hand over his face and muttered, “Ella called in to the Savannah PD when Rory approached her. A friend of his from Savannah is on the force and wanted us to keep an eye out for him.”

  “Christ,” Aidan grunted. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

  “She doesn’t deserve a lot of the shit that has happened to her.” Kyler pushed off the cruiser and approached Maggie. “Take Rory back to the station. Give him coffee and let him sober up.” He hesitated, considering next steps. “Don’t call your friend in Savannah just yet. All right?”

  She nodded, her eyes searching his. “Anything else I can do?”

  He imagined every cop in the vicinity knew this was personal to Kyler. He couldn’t hide his emotions. Not now. Not with having all of this explode in Ella’s face. All he’d wanted to do was protect her from more pain, and somehow he had failed. “That’s good for now. I’ll be at the station soon.”

  “Yes, sir.” She turned, heading to her cruiser.

  Kyler noticed how quiet Rory was now, which only infuriated him. So aggressive with ones who couldn’t protect themselves, but one statement from a cop had his head hanging.

  Pathetic.

  Strong men don’t need aggression or force to hold power. Weak men need it, because they control nothing. The advice from an older Dom that Kyler had met when he first joined Chains carried through his mind.

  As the cruiser drove off with the other two following behind, Kyler stared after them. He sensed Porter step up next to him. Then Porter said in a soft voice, “You’ve taken good care of her, Kyler. She’ll be okay.”

  “Will she be?” he asked, gazing at the lights fading off in the distance.

  “She has you,” Porter stated.

  Is that enough? echoed in his mind.

  Was this a step forward or simply a huge step backward? He knew what this night would do to her. The embarrassment she’d face having everyone know what happened to her, which was a secret that she’d done her best to keep to herself. And he also knew of her habits of running away when things got tough.

  Tension battered him as he turned to Porter. “You’re right, she does have me.” To make her safe. To remove this threat. To be the cop that she desperately needs in her life.

  All he could do was act and do something to better the situation.

  The rest he’d figure out later.

  Chapter Twenty

  With Rory and all the Club Sin Masters gone from her house, Ella slumped down onto the couch. Her hands shook as she grabbed her lap quilt off the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself. Kenzie was off in the kitchen, making tea, leaving Presley and Cora with Ella.

  She had yet to decide if she should tell everyone to leave or beg them to stay. All she knew, she was suffering a serious state of shock that included part embarrassment and the other part sheer horror at what had happened.

  This was exactly why she never wanted to talk about Rory. For once, her life resembled that of a normal person, one not touched by so much pain. Now everyone knew all her horrible secrets.

  Where is a hole to crawl into when I need it?

  Presley dropped down onto the couch, rubbing Ella’s leg. Her gaze was as soft and sweet as ever. “Jeez, girl, I wish you would have told us about him. We could have been there to help you, somehow.”

  Ella sighed, tightening the blanket around her and fighting off the chills. “Yeah, isn’t that a great start to a friendship. So, I have this husband that pushed me into a table and gave me this scar. Oh, and he also won’t divorce me. Wanna be friends?”

  Cora frowned as she sat next to Ella. “Well, it’s the truth. No one here is going to judge you.” She gave Ella a look. “I mean, he’s the asshole.”

  “You know, it just never felt like that,” Ella admitted.

  “Why?” Cora pressed.

  Ella heaved a shrug. “Because all his friends—who I thought were my friends—turned their backs on me after it happened.”

  “Because you left him?” Presley asked with a gruff voice.

  Ella nodded. “They’ve all known Rory since they were kids. And they know—as well as I do—that it’s the booze that makes him so violent.” She shuddered at the look in his eye when he stood at her door.

  That same look had haunted her for months, until she’d finally stopped thinking about it. “They all thought I should help him get sober and forgive him.” Before anyone jumped on her, she added, “Of course, I didn’t agree, which is why I left. But when you have no one who understands that and simply thinks you should give him another chance, I was left feeling like I’d done something wrong.”

  Cora’s eyes became sad. “I think that’s really understandable. Anyone would feel that way. I’m sorry you had such shitty friends.”

  Kenzie returned with tea and offered it to Ella. “You did the right thing by leaving that sad excuse for a man. What’s the saying? Once an abuser, always an abuser. And him showing up tonight only proves that. Anyone who says you should have stayed with him is fucked up, as far as I’m concerned.” She smiled, warm and without sass. “It’s good Kyler was here to deal with him.”

  “Yeah,” Ella muttered.

  Though would having the abuse thrown in his face make things between them even tenser? She wanted Kyler to forget about Rory—hell, she wanted to forget about Rory. She craved for Kyler to treat her like a woman without the past she had. She didn’t want to be a victim—she’d been that for far too long.

  Presley nibbled on her lip, then finally asked, “Did Kyler know about him? He didn’t seem too shocked to see him tonight.”

  Ella scraped her hands across her tired eyes. Inside, everything ached. “He knew about Rory, but I’ll tell you, it seemed like Kyler had met Rory before or something.”

  All heads nodded agreement.

  Cora asked, “I take it that you didn’t know he planned to approach him?”

  Ella shook her head, trying to rummage through her feelings. Did that touch her or simply anger her? She had yet to decide. “No, and I would have told him not to. I don’t need help with Rory. He would’ve eventually given up and jus
t gone home.”

  Kenzie snorted. “Yeah, but when, after he came to your house and possibly hurt you again?”

  Ella couldn’t deny the statement, but she wasn’t quite ready to accept it, either. Kyler’s approaching Rory had brought him to her doorstep.

  Before she could say as much, Cora said, “You have to understand, it’s just the Club Sin way. It wasn’t like Kyler was being nosy to be a prick. He was doing it because he was worried about you.” She hesitated and then smiled gently. “Kyler is a really good guy. Believe me, if he went to Rory it was because he wanted to help you.”

  “I didn’t want or ask for his help,” Ella retorted.

  Presley laughed without amusement. “Sorry to break it to you, but you signed up for that when you walked into Club Sin. Dmitri was the same way. Our Doms don’t like us being threatened in any manner.”

  Cora agreed with a nod. “Kyler probably wanted to make sure you’re safe.”

  While Ella appreciated it, she also wondered what that protection cost them. Kyler was restraining himself toward Ella before he’d even met Rory, not even hearing the whole story. How would he be now that he’d seen firsthand what she’d gone through?

  Distant?

  Concerned?

  She hoped not.

  Before she could reply to Cora, her front door opened and then he was there. Tall, gorgeous, and damn near perfect. Her world narrowed on Kyler. His eyes were soft, yet hinted at tension. “Ella, come to me.”

  Pushing off the blanket, she rose from the couch. Once in front of him, he slid his hands down her arms. But his gaze was exactly what she feared: focused elsewhere. Not on her.

  He said with a tight voice, “I need to leave you tonight and go deal with Rory, but I’ll be back in the morning.”

  “Kyler—”

  He pressed a finger against her mouth. Not a soft touch, but firm. Stressed. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. Please, for now, just listen to me.”

  The detachment in his gaze hurt, cutting so deeply into her battered soul that she needed to force air into her lungs. No, don’t go. Stay. Don’t be different. But his features weren’t playful and they weren’t focused on her, they were somewhere else. Somewhere so far from where she wanted him to be.