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“When did you leave home?”
“Home alludes to somewhere being safe, Zeke. I wasn’t safe there unless mom was home, and the more Jared smoked and drank, the longer hours she worked to keep the money for rent and utilities coming in. I ran when I was sixteen. Created my own fake I.D. and added a few years to it. Mom wasn’t happy, but we kept in touch.”
“Then she got sick?”
“Yeah, terminal cancer.” Her throat burned with unshed tears. “Two years of hell spent dodging Jared. I stayed with mom almost constantly, only going home when I knew he was getting shit-faced at a bar or down at the track. After she died, there were the arrangements to make for her funeral, so I slept in my own room, with the door locked, and I hightailed it back here as soon as I could.”
He made a thoughtful sound deep in his chest. “Did youalwayslock your door, no exceptions?”
“None. It was the first thing I did when I shut the door.”
“Did you ever wake up and find it unlocked?”
An uneasy feeling trickled through her. “No. What are you implying?”
“Nothing. Just mulling things over.”
“Zeke.”
He sighed. “You might not want to believe it, but you really do sleepwalk, Livvy. Several times a night if you’re not restrained. If I retrieve you and put you back to bed, five minutes later, you’re up and on the loose again.”
Cogs started turning in her brain, following the direction he was pointing toward. Sickness churned in her gut as she realizedexactlywhat he was thinking. “There’s no way I’d sleepwalk out of a locked room,ifI did something as stupid as that.”
“You do,” he assured her.
“I’d know if I had, right?” There was a pleading quality to her tone, one she was powerless to stop. “Hypothetically, if I sleepwalked into… that situation, I’d be feeling the way I do now. Sore and bruised, and there’d be signs.”
“Yeah, you’d know. Was his interest in you alone, or were there others he had his perverted eye on?”
Olivia bit her lip. “I don’t know. He liked to watch the neighborhood kids, especially in summer.”
“Hmm. Have you any particular preference as to whether he remains breathing?”
Thinking he was joking, she snorted. “The world would be a nicer place without him in it. Even if you take away his predilections for ogling young girls, regardless of whether he touches them or not, he’s just an abusive asshole in general.”
“Tabitha likes assholes,” he said contemplatively. “Particularly the predatory ones.”
Her jaw dropped. “Tabitha as inTabitha?As in Jasper’s sister, Tabitha?”
“As in tiny, bloody ninja, yes.”
“She’d kill him.”
“And take great pleasure in it,” he agreed, his tone dark and cold. “She might be insane, but she loathes anyone who bears a resemblance to her father. Jared sounds like he’d be her favorite plaything for a while.”
“But that would be murder…”
Shifting, Zeke rolled her onto her back beneath him, his eyes boring into hers as he covered her with his body. His cock appeared thrilled by the change in positions, the erect shaft resting against her thigh. “This is where I make one point absolutely clear. You aremine,” he told her in a no-nonsense tone. “Jared’s interest in you hasn’t abated, which means he’s a threat to you. I protect what’s mine, no matter what lengths I have to go to. If he hasn’t already started preying on the neighborhood girls, it won’t be long before he needs his fix. Tabitha will kill two birds with one stone.”
Hoping he’d let the subject drop, she asked, “So sex equals ownership?”
“A love letter, a very precious gift, and the fact you’re under my skin like the ink of a goddamn tattoo,” he explained, “don’t equate to ownership, Olivia. They do, however, rouse an undeniably strong desire to possess you, any which way you’ll allow.”
“Oh.”
“We’ll talk about this more when I’m not dyin’ to be inside you again. Seems unfair to discuss matters when you’re distracted.”
Huh? Olivia lifted her eyes to his, surprised to discover they’d drifted down to take a sneak peek of the brute that took her virginity. Not that she hadn’t seen it in its full glory, but maybe it wouldn’t look as intimidating in the daylight. “I’m not distracted.”
