Re/Paired (Doms of the FBI Book 2) (21 page)

Kat sidled up to him. She put her hand on his arm, her skin still cool from the air-conditioning in the restaurant. Though she said nothing, she freely lent him the strength of her presence. Suddenly it wasn’t such a struggle to keep a leash on his temper.

“She’s in prison. Second-degree murder. I looked it up.”

“It wasn’t her fault.” His mother waved her hand dismissively while glaring at Kat. “Tell your whore to get lost. This is family business.”

Kat’s hand tightened on his arm, and she placed the other against his chest to hold him back. While she couldn’t hope to have the physical strength to stop him, she provided a different kind of restraint.

Though he should defend Kat, anything he said would only be breath wasted on this woman. He put some more ice in his glare. “You are not and have never been my family. Don’t contact me again. If you see me on the street, keep walking.”

When doing surveillance, especially when he was with the target, both socially and emotionally, he had to go about his business as if he weren’t constantly scanning for the slightest clue that someone might be watching them. In keeping with that cover, he’d run a few errands and window-shopped while his girlfriend had brunch with her relatives.

Dustin wasn’t finished working up a profile of who might stalk Kat, but Keith figured the person was most likely male and between the ages of twenty-five and forty. While he hadn’t been dismissing them, he also hadn’t looked too closely at the women. When this one had approached, he’d stepped out of the way to let her pass.

She’d come at him with a nasty comment. The years had not been kind to the bitch who brought him into this world. She looked tired and used, far older than her fifty-six years. Mama L had just turned sixty-seven, and she could pass for his mother’s daughter.

Putting one arm protectively around Kat’s shoulders, he steered her away from the situation. He didn’t say a word as he opened the passenger door and saw her safely loaded into his car. She watched him thoughtfully, but she didn’t say anything until they were on the road.

“So that was your mother.”

He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t very well lie. “Yes.”

“What’s her name?”

“Starr. Two r’s.”

She nodded, but he had the sense it wasn’t any kind of acknowledgment. “What did she want?”

He shook his head. It didn’t matter what she wanted. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

“You’re not even a little bit curious?”

“My sister’s been calling. I looked her up in the system. She’s been part of it since she was fifteen. Of course, those records are sealed. She’s been in and out of jail for the past seven years. Three DUIs. Possession. Solicitation. Things like that.” He let out a mirthless chuckle. “She used to be so much better at eluding the law.”

Kat made a knowing sound. “Starr thinks you might be able to pull some strings.”

“Probably. I won’t, though. She gets what she deserves.” He didn’t bother to hide his bitterness. Of his two older sisters, one had ignored him, and one had taken pleasure in beating him up every single day. Some of his earliest memories were of searching for places to sleep where Savannah wouldn’t think to look. Even now he couldn’t stand to be touched while he was asleep.

One glance at Kat softened him a bit. Her touch didn’t bring him the same sense of dread. She comforted him with her presence and brought peace with her embrace.

Determined to change the subject, he smiled as he reached into the backseat. “I got you something.” He fumbled around until he found the right bag, and then he deposited it on her lap.

She gave him a glance ripe with cynical understanding that let him know he wasn’t off the hook, but that she’d let him wiggle away for now. Her expression morphed when she peered into the bag. “Ohhh. You bought me underwear.” She lifted out a pair of light blue lacy panties. “These are pretty. Way better than what I had before.”

And they’d look incredible on her. He loved lighter, brighter colors that contrasted with her olive complexion.

“Matching bras. Wow. They’re so soft and sexy. I didn’t know you liked lace this much.” She oohed and aahed some more as she went through his selections.

Her approval pleased him inordinately. Before Kat, he hadn’t cared for lace on a woman. He’d preferred anything that came off easily. It hadn’t been about being sexy. It had been about convenience and control. Kat had asked him to leave that part of him behind. Shedding the false front felt good, like he could finally be himself. No way it could happen with anybody but Kat.

The short drive ended as he pulled into his garage and shifted into park. “You’re a beautiful woman. You should have beautiful things.”

She leaped from her seat and landed straddling his lap. He was less surprised this time, but he was pleased at her excitement. He grinned and pulled the key from the ignition, fully intending to luxuriate in whatever way she wanted to thank him.

She cupped his face between her hands and held it steady. He threw his keys in the console and settled his grip on her hips. She wasn’t wearing panties under that sundress. It would be an easy matter to unzip his pants and slip his cock into her velvety warmth.

But she didn’t lean in for a kiss. A close look at her expression made him groan. His effort to redirect her attention really hadn’t been successful.

“You’re a beautiful man. Inside and out. Nobody can take that away from you.”

He closed his eyes, a feeble attempt at escape. He wanted to be the man she saw when she looked at him, but he wasn’t. The run-in with his mother had underscored the facts. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. A part of him would always be an addict. He could pretend to be the perfect man for Kat, and he would keep her close until she discovered that he had some serious shortcomings she couldn’t fix. And then it would all go to hell. She would move on, and he wouldn’t bother fighting the demons of addiction anymore.

“I know it’s not easy to face the woman who was supposed to love and protect you, but who hurt you instead. No mother who loves her children could ever beat them. I’m proud of you, Keith. You didn’t let her destroy your life.”

What the hell had Malcolm told her? His eyes flew open, and he pinched his brows together. “What are you talking about? My mother didn’t beat me.”

Now her brows drew together, matching his. “But you said she beat you every day.”

He shook his head. “She got drunk and passed out every day. So did my dad. My sister beat me. She’s eight years older. I didn’t stand a chance. I was half-starved most of the time, scrawny as all hell. I didn’t know what it was like to eat regular meals until I joined the military. My mother didn’t lift a finger to stop the beatings, and my father thought it was funny. He’d sit there with a forty in his hand and laugh his ass off. He only got mad if I bled too much.”

Color left her face, turning her skin a startling shade of gray. He’d never talked about his past to her in anything but general terms. She knew his parents were alcoholics and that he’d had to fend for himself, but he’d sheltered her from the true horror of it. He had no idea why he told her those things now.

It was his turn to grip her face. “Breathe, Kat. Inhale. Exhale. Slow breaths, honey.”

Huge tears brightened her dark eyes, and his gut clenched at her raw pain. She held in her tears, not wanting to upset him further.

“It’s in the past, Kitty Kat. Savannah went to jail when she was seventeen, and by the time she got out, I was big enough to fight back. The house was peaceful without her. My parents and my other sister, Leanna, were lazy drunks. It got really quiet once everyone passed out.” He didn’t add that he’d joined them too many nights to count.

He didn’t actually recall signing the papers to join the Marines, and as a teen, he’d learned to function drunk well enough to hide his problem from almost everyone.

She seemed to pull herself together. The wet sheen disappeared from her eyes, and she gave him a sad smile. “My heart breaks for that little boy, but I have no sympathy for the man.”

Now it was his turn at confusion. While he hadn’t wanted sympathy, he’d still thought she would give some. “None?”

“None. You’re a wonderful man. I meant what I said. Maybe your parents didn’t beat you, but they abused you just the same. Neglect is the most insidious form of child abuse there is. And you not only survived, but you’ve managed to thrive. You have a great career, the respect and admiration of pretty much everyone you meet, and an awesome girlfriend. Really, you’ve done pretty well.”

He slid his hands under the hem of her dress and caressed her thighs, pushing the fabric up as he went. “I’m so glad you’re here to count my blessings.”

Truly, he was. He tended to spend time wallowing in the negative. Kat was a bright ray of sunshine on her cloudiest day. He needed her to save him from the darkness. He massaged his way to the apex of her thighs.

With her dress out of the way, he could see the deep rose of her pussy. It was barely damp, but after the topic they’d spent time discussing, he hadn’t expected otherwise.

“I stopped by your house and picked up your briefcase and some clothes for work. I didn’t get my full weekend with you, so you’ll be staying the night.” He didn’t think twice about his high-handedness in making this decision for her, but for the first time it occurred to him that he’d always done things like this to Kat and she’d never once protested.

She’d been his submissive all along.

“Take the bag upstairs. Choose one lingerie combination. When you come down, I expect you to be wearing that and nothing else.”

With a pleased smile lighting her eyes, she darted forward and kissed his cheek. “Yes, Keith.”

She’d replaced his title with his name, but she infused it with the same respect and reverence, so there wasn’t a real distinction. As he watched her disappear through the door to the house, he wondered if she truly objected to the title or if she’d refused to use it in order to protest his treatment of her their first night together. Now that he was behaving toward her with the same consideration he’d always shown, she seemed much happier.

For years he’d fantasized about being able to hang out with her, talk to her about anything and everything, and then tell her to get naked. In a way, she’d insisted on making his dream a reality. He owed her a reward.

He hauled her things from the back and brought them inside. She wouldn’t need her work clothes until the next day, so he hung them in the spare bathroom upstairs. From the sounds of water running in the master bath, he figured she was freshening up.

He liked that she took time with the details, and he didn’t want to disturb her while she was seeing to them. Women could be weird about those things. Watch her masturbate in the shower? No problem. Watch her pluck or shave? Major disaster. As her Master—whether or not she used the title—it was his right to interrupt her at any time. As a man, he knew better than to tempt fate.

By the time he saw her again, almost half an hour had passed. The fourth step creaked as she came down, alerting him to her progress.

“In here,” he called from the living room. Sunday meant football, and he had to at least check out how the preseason prospects were shaping up.

However good the new Denver lineup looked, Kat took precedence. He watched the opening that led to the kitchen, the only way into the room. With all the dramatic flair of a supermodel, she paused in the entryway, one hand on the wall and one hip thrust forward. Straight tendrils of hair brushed her shoulders. It would feel like silk when he ran his fingers through those luxurious tresses. He was glad she’d left it down. Next her long, shapely legs invited his thorough visual caress. The light blue satin made her skin seem to glow. Or was that extreme happiness? He could wish, couldn’t he?

The lacy scraps barely covered her breasts, while at the same time emphasizing their graceful swell. The vividness of her areolas formed circles beneath the pale bra. Matching panties hung low on her hips, just catching her jutting hip bones. A tiny bit of lace covered her mound, drawing his attention to what it hid.

“Simply beautiful. I could spend hours just looking at you.” Smooth words flowed easily, but he meant it. She presented an incredibly lovely vision. He’d chosen her clothes well.

Color rushed to her cheeks, and he was amazed to find her still nervous around him. How could she doubt his desire after the last two days?

He motioned to the large throw pillow he’d positioned at his feet. Her laptop and briefcase were on the low table in front of the sofa. “I know you have work to do. I’ll give you time to research and write your briefs. And then you’re all mine, Kitty Kat.”

“I’m already yours.” She smiled, and he could tell she was pleased that he remembered her need to get some work done before Monday. If he didn’t provide the time, she’d spend the whole night stressing over the things she hadn’t accomplished. She knelt on the floor and dug into her briefcase.

The scene sent a pleasant tingle zipping through his bloodstream. She settled into the position he’d chosen with a contentment that couldn’t be faked. It bothered him that he still looked for evidence she was doing this because it was what he wanted, not what she wanted. He needed to move past his insecurities and trust her a little more.

“Oh, you got my things back from Dustin.” She threw a brilliant smile over her shoulder. “Thanks. You really were busy while I was having brunch. Good. I was afraid you’d spent the whole time watching me.”