Chapter 6

Jamison

Ican't resist from dropping another kiss onto Natalie's lips, seeing the smile that appears on them. She doesn't fight my hold, or argue my words, and that calms the part of me that was worried she'd pull away and reject what I know is meant to be for us. Who I'm meant to be to her, how I'm meant to love her.

Never in my life have I understood why Dad calls Mom his baby girl, why she calls him daddy as much as I do now. The need to see nothing touches or harms Natalie is immense. I want to fuck her hard and at the same time, love her softly to show her she's my world, my heart, an absolute angel that's been given to me to keep safe from other men and their vile thoughts.

"Jamison," she sighs as I lift my lips from hers, cradling her head in my hand as hers lifts onto my shoulder, holding it tight.

"Does that make it easier, angel?" I ask her, needing her agreement to let me handle this. As scared as she is, I know I have to push her on it. She'll never just say yes. Not if she's feeling half of what I am towards her. Hasn't felt she's been anyone's priority in ten years, but sees with me that she can be, will be, and doesn't want to lose it because of the idiot she dated.

"You promise you won't go near him alone, will watch your back if it comes out we're together?" she returns, settling the first rush of worry that she might say no still.

"When we go public with our relationship, you mean," I state, smiling as I tease her chin gently until she smiles just a hint at me in return. "Yes, I'll make sure not to do anything stupid, baby girl. I have absolutely no intention of something coming between us or something happening to me to take me away from you. The private investigator that helped clear Jeffery's name, also helped us find out information on the trafficker that was after Johnnie's wife Carly. He's the one that found the dirt on the quadruplets' father, who'd also fathered at least half a dozen other kids that he abandoned, and helped run him out of town although he had half the judges in his pocket. Not to mention he also helped Adam with the woman that was stalking Cleo when the police brushed them off, so it's not the first time he's been up against them. Between him and Chief Davidson, they'll find a way to make him stop. If there's anything they can legally connect with him, they'll find it. Including any of his past stalking of you."

"And if they can't?" Natalie asks, her eyes growing more worried.

"Then I'll have some of Doug's men assigned to be your security, so they can catch him doing something. If you have anything on your phone—text messages, voicemails, photos, videos, they can use them so we can at least have a restraining order issued. Chief Davidson will know who isn't under his father's thumb to help with the paperwork at the precinct to get it issued. Doug will find out which judge, if any, he's aligned with and take it to another, so they won't toss it out as well," I reassure her. "I won't let you argue it, not when it'll keep you safe, and I'll make sure not to go places alone where he could try to get to me as well, alright?"

"Okay," she says, resting further against me.

I guide her head onto my chest, my hand holding her head gently, keeping her pressed against me, no matter how much it makes me ache physically. I've never felt desire like this before, the depth of it says everything Dad told us was true, that with the right woman, it's deeper, purer, and I'm glad I waited now. In the past it seemed stupid to not give in for even a little taste, but now…I'm damn glad I didn't, forced myself to push past any momentary desires. It didn't feel right to go around sleeping with girls when I was doing my best to keep guys from doing the same with Jasmine.

"You said he was Lieutenant Commander Dennings, so is that his last name? Craig Dennings?" I ask her, getting her nod of confirmation with no hesitation. "And do you have anything on your phone, any records of you going to the police or the school about it that I can send to Doug?"

"Yeah," she says, a little frown appearing between her brows, and I soothe it, not wanting her upset to the depths she was earlier. "I have the emails back and forth with the security office, copies of the reports they did fill out when I called, or when a couple of the other girls on the floor called because somehow Craig got into our dorm, and he was pounding on my door. They just kept reiterating that they couldn't do anything about it, that he hadn't done anything to allow the school itself to trespass him or file a restraining order against him. That they couldn't keep him off the campus unless I had a personal one. I took all of that to the police the second time, but they just shoved me out the door."

That pisses me off even more and I'll make damn sure whoever those cops are, don't get away with letting some jackass terrorize a girl, let alone my girl.

"I have pages of text messages from him, from a dozen different numbers and emails that he set up just to harass me. Some of them included photos he'd taken of me to prove he could find me no matter where I went, on campus and off. It got so bad I started seeing the therapist at school. She gave me a prescription for anxiety meds, but they made me so sleepy I was scared to take them, afraid he'd show up and I wouldn't be able to protect myself," she adds, and I feel wetness against my shirt. I want to stop her tears, but I need to know everything, and don't want her to stop talking if I interrupt her now to brush them away.

"Before I went to my sister's for winter break, I'd almost been ready to sleep with him," she says, and I hate the thought of another man kissing her let alone touching the sweet skin I saw when I first arrived. Think of her bare legs wrapped around another man's waist. Especially some ass that thought he could treat her the way Craig has. "I'd gone on the pill in case I came back and didn't feel the last hesitation any longer. I was so glad I had it, so glad that something deep down told me to wait, to really think about what I was doing because the thought of being with him now…revolts me."

"I shouldn't say it, but I'm really glad too, baby," I admit, pressing a kiss to the top of her head when she lets out a deep sigh.

"I stayed on it thinking the things he'd texted me, said to me while I was out of town were just taken the wrong way, but even after I got back to Oak Grove, they continued. Then started getting more and more unhinged, until I felt I couldn't breathe. So I broke up with him, hoping it'd help."

"But it didn't, only made him try to hold on tighter," I guess, and she nods.

"I was so angry and then it turned into absolute terror when he just kept showing up everywhere. I was petrified to go anywhere alone, did my best to stay where others would be, because I was worried what he'd do to me if he got me alone. I told the therapist about it, and she prescribed the medication but also asked me what I could do to protect myself. At first I didn't think there was anything and it scared me more. It was only when she let me know I was already doing it that kept me from really losing it. She validated me explaining that by not taking paths through campus that weren't populated, by not going out alone especially at night, by staying in crowded areas while in town, that was all keeping me safe because he couldn't easily do something while I was there," she says, and I'm thankful she had someone to talk to about it, wasn't dealing with it entirely on her own until now.

"You told her the police wouldn't help?" I ask and she nods again. "She didn't try to help you with them?"

"She did but got brushed off as well. They claimed that I was the one harassing Craig, and he was just being polite by not getting a restraining order against me. She didn't believe them because of the incident reports the security office did file that showed he was there on campus every night for two weeks straight. After her call with them, I got a message from Craig telling me that no one would ever believe a word I uttered, that I'd simply look like the crazy one. That he could do whatever he wanted to me, and everyone would think I asked for it. That terrified me, made me scared that if he somehow got his hands on me, assaulted me, that he'd manage to make the cops think I was responsible for it."

"Oh angel, no, they wouldn't have," I say gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"My therapist tried to tell me that when I mentioned it to her, it was all just so jumbled in my head though that it felt real in that moment. Then I worried that he'd do it. He would show up, rape me, and I'd end up blamed for it or be completely ignored. Then I started hyperventilating at the idea of it happening and ending up pregnant, tied to him in any possible way," Natalie says, her shoulders shaking, breath stopping in her chest, and I lowered my face, pressing my cheek to hers, holding her tighter.

"Shh, it's okay, baby girl. I've got you, you're safe here. Safe to tell me everything, no matter how bad, how scary," I promise. "Daddy's got you now."

Tears hit my cheek, but I don't move, holding onto her head, my other arm wrapped around her, keeping her close, showing her that she's safe with me. Her emotions are safe with me.

"How can something sound so right?" she whispers to me, her hand wrapping around my arm holding her head, clinging to it. "I just met you, but I want you in so many ways, want you to love me like a…"

"A daddy does his baby girl," I offer when she stops, lifting my face to see the slight flush in her cheeks beneath the tear tracks. "Because we're meant for each other, Natalie. I'm meant to love you for the woman you are now, but also give you the love you lost a long time ago. It's okay to want me to love every bit of you, for me to fill up all of those lost spaces, so when we have a family, there's not a single part of you that's afraid to love them. That's always worried that you'll lose them, because you'll be so loved that's all you'll feel. Know that daddy loves his whole family more than anything, including his baby girl."

"It sounds so good, Jamison. Being with you, loved by you, loving you," she adds, and my heart feels a full tug at the look in her eyes. "Having a family with you…I really want that. Want you to love me. You to be daddy for all of us."

"But?" I say knowing there's more because there's still that worry behind her gaze.

"I don't think I can let myself really believe in it until I know he can't hurt me—us," she says, and I nod in understanding still holding her head, unable to let her go.

"Which is why I'll believe in it for you until then. Won't let you run and hide from what's between us, but also won't try to rush you on it, angel. I'll wait for all of it until you're ready, which includes having that family, putting babies into you," I add, putting a hint of a smile on her lips. "If you're not close to being ready we'll wait. I might hate having to have something between us, but I'll do it because it'll be what you need, and putting your needs before mine is the most important thing here, Nat."

"I…I never went off the pill," she states, a flush in her cheeks still but the little smile fades. "I was going to, figured there wasn't a point in taking it since we'd broken up. Then my therapist reminded me there were precautions I could take to keep things from happening, and she didn't mean just the possibility of an attack. That in a just world, I shouldn't have to be guarding myself, actively protecting myself from dangers. That I should be able to just live my life without fears, but because there was an actual possible threat of violence and danger, I needed to be prepared, know what to do, and it should include the worst possible scenarios. Which included him getting me alone and what might happen then. Whether that was him trying to kill me or rape me, and as horrifying as it was to hear, I needed to hear it that plainly because it was what kept me on the pill, had me keeping pepper spray and a mini-taser on my keyring at all times. I wanted to tell Nick a million times the past few months but…"

"You were scared he'd go after Craig and end up in jail or worse?" I guess and she nods, her chin trembling breaking my heart, but also understanding that she couldn't risk losing one of the two only remaining family members she had left.

"Yeah, I kept hoping that he'd just give up, that when he saw that his attempts to get me back was just pushing me further away from him, he'd stop. It was a pipe dream because I don't think anything is going to stop him, and if he sees me with anyone else…you," she says, sucking in a deep, shaky breath. "I don't know who he might be madder at."

"But you can't live like this, baby, you know that, right? You can't hide or run away, can't hide our relationship forever. That's why I'm going to get in touch with Doug. Send him everything you have, so he can start working on it now, before we get back to town. The sooner he gets started, the sooner we'll have something back to know how to proceed next," I add, getting a nod from her before having her send me all of the information.

I wrap her up in my arms when she's done, walking me through the items so I can easily explain them, keeping her from having to go through it again, especially right now. Her head falls onto my chest, and I press a kiss to her forehead as she slips off into sleep.

I wait until she's deeper under before calling Doug. It might be nearly nine o'clock, but I know he'll answer.

"Jamison, what has you calling me so late? I think the only time you've ever called me was actually Jasmine using your phone when hers stopped working," he says, and I can't say he's wrong. I've never had an issue that I needed his help on until now.

"I need your help on something pretty serious. It's about a girl," I add, pulling a low chuckle from him, but I know what I have to say will kill that amusement instantly. "She's in trouble. Her ex is at postal stalker level. So much so that she's about to break. She's already having panic attacks."

"Damn, I'm sorry," he says his tone pulling back, growing far more serious. "What are the cops doing?"

"Nothing," I answer, the anger flooding my speech, forcing me to take a breather. "I forwarded the information she has to prove the stalking to you, although the cops won't do shit to help. His father is Lieutenant Commander at police headquarters."

"Shit, let me call Chief Davidson," he says and a minute later, they're both on the line letting me fill them in as they go through the items I sent.

"This is a clear open and shut case to approve at the least a temporary restraining order. Hell, it's enough to approve a full order of protection," Davidson states, his tone livid when I fill him in on the multiple times they tossed her out along with them dismissing her therapist as well. "Since this latest message came this morning, we can file a report with all of it tonight."

"She's not in town. Neither of us are," I warn. "She left before four Friday morning and drove out to her brother's cabin near Salway. Nick and I were at tech together. We've stayed friends and we subcontract him to do electrical work for our company. He's been remodeling a cabin and needed new cabinetry made, so I offered to come out this week and get them built. I got here to find Natalie hiding out and well…"

"Took one look at her and fell completely in love with her," Doug guesses with a chuckle.

"Yeah, pretty much. She's scared though, so until Craig is handled, she can't take this further," I admit.

"I'm sure she's petrified about what this guy's capable of doing," Davidson warns.

"She is and I need to know she's safe. I want security for her the second we get back to town. She's worried about my safety so I promised not to go near him."

"I'll make sure you both have security. We can make yours a bit more discreet, but hers needs to be evident. If he sees it's impossible for him to get to her, then he'll either give up, or he'll break. We'll have more men at a discrete distance to keep her safe if that happens," Doug assures me.

"Let me send Detective Taylor out to get a signature on the report and request for the restraining order in the morning. He's solid and no one will know to follow him," Davidson adds.

"Sounds good, I'll let Natalie know when she wakes up," I agree, letting them go.

I have one more phone call to make, and as soon as it's done, I toss my phone aside, pulling Natalie closer to my heart thanking god that I found her before Craig could. I know she's safe tonight and I intend to keep it that way for life.