Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Michael

Lara is hiding in the bathroom. I glance at my watch again for the second time in as many seconds. Her first class of the day starts in an hour.

I glance at the open laptop. She really should have a password to keep strangers out. Anyone could open it and access her schedule, not that I need it to know she's a liar. The woman's terrible at it.

The bathroom door finally creaks open.

Alarm and relief play out on her pretty face when she sees me sitting on the edge of her bed.

Her robe dips, leaving a tantalizing vee of skin for my eyes to devour, which of course I do.

"I laid your clothes out for you." I nod to the small pile beside me .

Lara hesitates. "Are you going to shower?"

I hold my arms out in invitation, creating room for her between my knees. When she's close enough, my hands settle onto her hips. "No." I shake my head. "I want to smell you for the rest of the day."

A cute gasp fills the air. I find it adorable that that's what scandalizes her.

Another flash of flesh draws my eyes lower, and like a man starved, I dive in.

My nose brushes her soft feminine flesh, and my tongue reaches out, searching for her moist lips. So caught up in getting another taste of her, I don't see her hands move until it's too late.

They feel heavy like bricks settling onto my shoulders. She doesn't have to push me away because I practically dive back onto the bed.

Eyes wide, gasping for breath, I crawl backward into the middle of the bed, needing distance between us.

"I'm sorry," she croaks, her hands raised like I'm a wild animal. If only she knew . . . last night was just the tip of the iceberg.

I can't speak. Instead, I just nod toward the clothes.

Out of guilt or maybe it's fear, Lara loses her robe quickly.

Taking a deep breath, I inhale her body. Red marks litter her pale, creamy skin, acts of last night branded on her skin for a few more hours .

The sight makes my balls ache with the need to fill her and brand my girl in another way. My eyes zero in on her smooth flat stomach. Other than Lara herself and peace for my brother, I've never wanted anything more.

Smoothing the dress down over her breasts, Lara glares, probably over the fact that a bra was not supplied.

One less item to take off.

My thought must be written all over my face because Lara scowls. "Really?" she asks, holding up the thick pantyhose.

"It's cold out," I explain.

She rolls her eyes. "So give me panties." After a brief pause, she adds, "Or pants."

I laugh, my smile wide and genuine. All traces of panic gone. This girl.

"Quicker to get inside you."

"Yeah, for you and everyone else." Her words are low, mumbled but not quiet enough.

"Repeat that," I dare her.

That kissable mouth of hers drops open. I climb off the bed, intending to use it. My hands pull at my belt when a solid knock on her bedroom door interrupts us before her lesson can start.

"Put the panty hose on," I order, heading to the door. One deep breath, then another, fails to calm my blood.

I'm not mad. Lara's just pushing boundaries, fighting in any way she can. But I need her to learn that there is no fighting this.

I would know, I tried. But the bond we have, the connection, is just too strong.

She's mine, and I'm hers.

Nothing and no one can change that.

Adjusting the front of my jeans, I wait by the door, my hand flat on the surface just in case, while Lara finishes dressing.

Satisfied she's covered, I gesture to her brush with my chin. "Braid it for me?" It's a question, not a demand.

The clothes are a way for her to follow an order, the hair . . . I just want something to wind around my wrist when I take her tonight.

She thinks her little kitty hurts now; I'm nowhere near done with her. I don't think I ever will be.

That woman owns me.

I debate whether to wait for her to finish as the brush glides through her long, thick tresses after the asshole on the other side of the door knocks again. If you can call that bang a knock.

Ripping the door open, I startle the pricks on the other side.

A laugh booms out of me. God, I wish Kaleb was here. What are the fucking chances?

Mr. I Used to be Someone Cooper, as Kaleb now calls him, stands with his arm raised, ready to knock again, mouth open, his eyes growing wider with every passing second .

The girl I saw exit my family's camp cabin with Lara last night stands a few paces behind Cooper with the dead kid's friends.

I can't quell my grin. I knew someone would come looking today after all his friends helped him get in here, but Cooper, he's a nice surprise.

"Is there a reason you're attacking the wood of my girl's door?"

He tries to peer around me, but I'm too broad, and he's too short. But at six foot four, most people are short to me.

"Your girl?" he stutters.

I don't answer, just stare like I think he's a moron.

"This is your girlfriend's room?" he asks again.

This time, I do answer but not for him. Opening the door wide, I give him a clear view into the recently cleaned room.

Standing from where she knelt to tie her sneakers, Lara takes my outstretched hand. My fingers flex, the feeling of holding someone's hand still new and foreign.

"Fiancée, actually."

I hear rather than see Lara's sharp intake of breath, but I don't trust Cooper enough to look away from him. If I'm being honest with myself, I keep my gaze away from her so I don't see disappointment or her rejection.

I'm not asking, I'm telling.

"Since when?" her friend demands.

Lara tugs at her hand, trying to break free of my hold, but I don't let her. I'm never letting go. Spreading my fingers, I wiggle hers to interconnect them.

"It's complicated," Lara whispers.

Cooper's eyes drop to our fingers.

He smirks. "Another one of those, is it? You Cromwell brothers just can't find someone who wants to fuck you willingly, can you?"

Lara wanted last night; I know that, but his words hit their mark. But cool and calm is my thing. I'm not giving him what he wants. My face doesn't react, even if my heart does.

Why did I ever stop Daniel or Kaleb from killing this motherfucker?

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be out job searching? I hear no one in this town wants your has-been ass?" Okay, so I can't hide my annoyance completely.

Michael, I warn myself.

No good comes from me losing control. Images of last night and how I filled Lara argue with me. Okay, so maybe losing control has its advantages, but murdering Cooper in a hall full of witnesses gets me nowhere but locked up and away from my soon-to-be wife.

The kids behind him shuffle, looking between themselves. They don't know he's a loser.

"I'm searching for my nephew!" he growls flustered.

"And that's supposed to mean something to me? "

I know what's coming, but this is Lara's first time, so I try to soothe her by brushing my thumb back and forth over the back of her hand.

She remains quiet, a step behind me.

"He came in here last night," the shorter boy yells, unable to contain himself, earning a glare from Cooper.

"No, he didn't." I shake my head.

"The kids say he did."

"And I'm saying he didn't. I was here all night with Lara. Why would another man come in here?"

Cooper doesn't have an answer.

"You're sure Darrell went in?" he checks.

The two little shits nod. "We helped him get in," admits the one with a bruised nose. You'd think he'd have learned his lesson from Kaleb the other night at the fire alarm. He'd be dead if Daniel had punched him.

Un-fucking-believable.

"You heard them," Cooper challenges, like his words mean anything.

"I did."

Leaning against the doorframe, I squeeze Lara's hand. So far, my girl has stood quietly while worrying her bottom lip. I'd like to keep it that way.

"Well then, move so I can look inside."

"No." I shake my head.

"No?"

"I know you're not too bright, Cooper, and it sounds like your nephew inherited that, but what about me makes you think you're getting inside this room?"

I see it, the moment he realizes. This time, I do fight my smile. It's one thing to beat his nephew to death because he deserves it. It's another to gloat to his face . . . maybe when we finally kill him.

"Your perverted nephew isn't my problem."

"You've met him! Ha!" Cooper points his finger a little too close for my liking.

My right hand releases Lara's to snatch his hand before he can make contact, not too gently shoving his hand away, disgust etched on my face.

"His friends just said he broke in here last night, which he didn't, but if he did, it wasn't for a good reason," I stress. "Aren't you Darrell's girlfriend?" I ask the girl he'd been all over last night.

She looks at Cooper, then nods.

"He's been missing all night," she tells Lara, her worry clear.

"Maybe he found someone else for the night. Doesn't sound like he was a good boyfriend," I suggest.

"Was?" Cooper's eyes grow three sizes. "You did it, didn't you? You killed my sister's boy."

Lara steps away, backing into the room slowly like I won't notice. She's at her limit. Giving her as much of a break as I can, I pull the door close to my side, hiding her in the room .

"I don't know what you're talking about. It's outrageous accusations like that, that cost you a career, Cooper. I said was because your nephew's friends just ousted him as willing to spend the night in someone else's room. I'm sure that . . ." I pause, waiting for her to give me her name.

"Cassie."

"I'm sure that Cassie can find someone else."

Cassie nods. "He's kind of a shitty boyfriend."

I gesture as if to say, there you go then .

"He's out getting his dick wet somewhere or recovering from a night of drinking."

"How do you know they were drinking if you didn't see them?"

This man really thinks he's slick.

"Because I spent the night in here, with a party going on out there. Anyone within a five-mile radius knew there was a wild party here last night." I smirk. "Besides, it was Halloween. Who doesn't party on Halloween?"

The bedroom door slips from my grip. I hadn't expected it to open from within. Lara rushes past, her book bag in hand.

The crowd in the hall parts like the Red Sea as she whizzes through them.

"Lara," I call, a warning in my voice. She can't outrun this. Outrun me.

Cooper blocks my way as I try to follow her, so I can't pass him without touching him. Grappling to the death is different since I don't have to hold back. At that moment, I'm free to let the pain fuel me.

Fuck!

I track her with my eyes until she's out of the hall. Her keys still sit in the pot on the shelf next to me. I can't leave her room open for Cooper to snoop through.

There's nothing for him to find, but if he touches her belongings, her clothes, her delicates . . . Then I really will have to murder him today.

Keys in hand, I shoot a quick text to Daniel. I'm going to need him at the campus. Having a brother that's head of security for all of my family's businesses is about to come in handy for the millionth time.

I need to leave. Time to end the fun.

"Boys, did you help your friend break in to a female student's room so that he could attack her while she slept, or were you drunk and mistaken?"

"Ignore him, boys. We'll go down to the station and make a report."

That got their attention.

"We thought you were going to take care of it, Kyle?" Bruised nose may have the balls to go against Kaleb with his friends there, but it seems he's not a complete moron.

The two young men share a look. "Maybe we made a mistake." He shrugs. "Maybe he met a girl and went back to her room instead."

"Yeah," the other agrees. "We were pretty wasted last night. Sorry to bother you, man. "

"We're done here," I tell them all, stepping out and locking the door.

"You won't get away with this one. This is personal. Darrell's family."

I turn my head and survey him head to toe. "Then you should have taken better care of your family."