Unexpected Angel (25 page)

(Tasha)

Zeke won’t let me get up from the picnic table. I want to be by Holly’s side, to make sure she’s still breathing, but he tells me to let Tommy do his thing.

The entire time Dylan’s on the porch talking to Nick, I’m holding my breath, praying he doesn’t do anything else to Nick. It’s not that I worry about Nick’s
injuries; I just don’t think I can handle the thought of Dylan facing prosecution because of me.

“Whatever you’re thinking, you need to stop,” Zeke
scolds me without looking at me.

“And how do you know that?”

“I’ve learned a few things about you, Tasha. One of the biggest is that you always try to find a way to pin the blame on yourself.”

I roll my lip between my teeth without a comeback. “But Nick only--”

“I said stop,” Zeke says more firmly.

The moon has shifted behind a cloud causing near total darkness to fall over the backyard. It seems a fitting backdrop seeing as Holly is fighting for her life on the ground, Nick is slowly bleeding on the
porch, and I have no clue if Dylan and I will be able to get past this.

“You know he loves you, right?” Zeke says quietly, draping an arm over my shoulder.

“I know he
likes
me, but I don’t think he loves me.”

“Bullshit. How can you
not
know that he’s head over heels for you?” Zeke turns my body so I’m looking at him. “Tonight, when you pulled that little stunt, the boy came unhinged. Dylan doesn’t lose his shit like that for no reason. What I told you before still stands…”

I stare at him, trying to figure out what in the world he’s talking about.

“He might act tough, but he’s fragile, just like you. If you’re not in this for the long haul, I suggest you break it to him soon. But not tonight, I think dumping his ass after he saved yours would be poor form.”

We both laugh. Leave it to Zeke to crack jokes at a completely inappropriate time.

“I’m not dumping him,” I inform Zeke. “I realized tonight that, no matter how much I didn’t want to, I went and fell in love with him.”

“
All
of him?”

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business,” I scold Zeke. “But yes,
all
of him. Even the parts that used to scare the crap out of me.”

“Good.” Zeke stands, turning back to me
as he walks away. “I’m going to go tell him to get his ass over here, that way he’s not hovering over that prick’s body when the cops pull in. We’ll talk about how pissed off I am at you later.” He winks and I know he’s upset, but not truly angry.

I watch him
push against Dylan’s broad shoulder, urging him to keep me company. It’s interesting to watch the two of them. Dylan has a few inches on Zeke, but the smaller man can definitely hold his own.

Before Dylan makes his way across the yard, I see headlights pull into the driveway. I turn to see the flashing red and blue lights on top of the squad car, followed closely by an ambulance.

For the next hour, two officers question me about what happened. Tommy tried to explain the situation, but they said they needed my statement. Luckily, Tommy had written up reports on all of the text messages, so they had that as evidence that there was a significant threat to me.

The entire time I
stand there, all I want to do is get to the hospital to check on Holly. She was still unconscious but breathing on her own when they loaded her into the back of the ambulance.

When the last squad car
leaves, Dylan walks me to his purple Barracuda. We don’t make it to the end of the driveway before he throws me over his shoulder, ignoring my protests that I can walk. I look up to see Zeke and Tommy following behind us, laughing at how ridiculous we look.

Dylan places me on the hood of his car, wrapping my legs around his waist. “So help me, if
you
ever
do anything that stupid again…”

“You’ll what?” I taunt him. At this point, I don’t think there’s any threat he
can issue that will scare me.

“I don’t know, so I guess you’ll just have to trust me from now on when I tell you to do something.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I just… she wanted to talk to me. I thought we were going outside, and then she wanted to go for coffee. Now, I’m wondering if this was the plan all along but she didn’t want me to tell her I wouldn’t go with her.” I lean my head on Dylan’s shoulder, wishing I could go to sleep but knowing it’s still going to be a long night. “I know you don’t understand it, but she’s still my best friend. I never had a sister growing up, so she was it for me. I know you don’t like her, but I can’t turn my back on her.”

“I know,” Dylan says tenderly. “But you have to trust me. We’re going to get her help once she’s healed.”

I begin to cry again, knowing there’s a chance she might never be the same girl she was just hours ago. She might never wake up. And even though her actions are responsible for where she is now, I can’t help but feel a tinge of guilt for that as well.

“Look at me,” Dylan says firmly.
“I need to say something to you.”

I lift my eyes to his
, overcome by the emotion shining through, even in near total darkness.

“The first night I saw you, I told you that you’re precious to me,” he whispers. “You didn’t believe me, but I saw it in you. Tonight, I thought I lost you and I felt like my world was coming undone. It made me realize that you’re more than precious to me. You’re what I’ve been searching for. You’re the missing piece to my puzzle. I went to the
club that night expecting to observe people I couldn’t stand, trying to keep them from hurting one another. Instead, I found an angel in white and I took her home.”

“Dude, it’s fucking cold out here. You
wanna unlock the doors?” Zeke grumbles. Dylan flips him the middle finger, never taking his eyes off mine. “I love you, Precious. And I never want to lose you.”

The tears start coming faster, this time out of joy. “I love you too, Dylan. I told you that night that I would never be yours, but I was wrong. Once you showed me what claiming me meant to you, I couldn’t imagine a greater gift than to have you
want
to claim me.”

“God, would you two get a
room or something?” Zeke laughs, still bouncing on the balls of his feet, trying to warm up. This time I stick my middle finger in the air.

“If the offer is still on the table, I think it’s time to let go of my house and stay with you.”

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t an offer, Precious,” Dylan laughs. “But as usual, you seem to have issues following orders.” He lifts me off the car, landing a sharp smack on my butt. “Now, let’s go check on Holly and then you’re going home to bed.”

“Is that a promise?” I ask, not sure I have the energy to do anything
, but needing to feel the intimacy of making love with him.

“Yes, angel. I’m taking you home, to our bed, and you’re going to
sleep.
”

“You’re no fun,” I pout.
I reach for my seatbelt once Tommy and Zeke are in the back. “Fine, let’s go.”’

(Dylan)

Tommy insists on going up to the hospital. He wants to make sure someone is guarding Holly’s room until we can make sure no one is trying to hurt her now that Nick and Nathan are both behind bars. After dropping him off, we head home. It’s no longer my home; it’s
our
home and that’s a fantastic fucking feeling.

I follow Tasha into
the shower, wanting to help wash away any lingering memories of that miserable fuck. I pay close attention to her arms as I clean her, knowing there’s no way he was able to keep his hands to himself.

“Precious, look at me,” I say softly. When her soft jade eyes meet mine, I reach for her right hand. I lift it to my mouth, placing a lingering kiss on her wrist and then do the same with her left hand. “He’ll never touch you again,” I promise her.

“I know,” Tasha whispers. “I love you.” She leans into me, the water sluicing over our bodies.

“Let’s get you to bed.” I turn off the water and reach for a towel. My poor girl is dead on her feet and I almost feel bad, but not quite. I know I told her we were coming home to sleep, but knowing she feels the same way I do, I need her. Not to fuck her and not to claim her. Tonight, I’m going to make love to my woman.

(Tasha)

It’s no easy feat to buy a Christmas gift for the man who has everything. As I finish taping down the last flap of snowflake wrapping paper, I issue up a prayer that Dylan will appreciate my gift.

I rush into the bedroom, needing to get ready for the holiday party. From what
he tells me, normally everyone gathers at Dylan’s condo but he told them it was off-limits this year. I appreciate his respect for me not being ready to have a full-on play party in our home.

“Precious, are you just about ready?” Dylan yells from his office. He’s been working hard to make up for the revenue he lost because of an altercation outside the club
that night.
I felt bad for a while, and then Dylan spanked me until I promised to let it go.

“Just about,” I holler back. One of these days, our neighbors are going to get sick of hearing us screaming at one another, even if it is in a playful manner.

I look at the bed, making sure I’m ready for this. “Dylan, can you come and help me for a minute?”

While I wait for him to open the door, I adjust the short silk robe, tying it to hide the fact that I’m naked underneath.

“Angel, you have
got
to get dressed,” Dylan groans as he opens the door.

“I know, but I want
you to open your gift before we go.”

He walks over to the bed, picking up the heavy package, shaking it to see if he can figure out what’s inside. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I watch as he carefully removes the tape.

“We don’t have all night, just rip the damn paper,” I tease. He glares at me for a moment before tearing off one end of the wrapping to slide the box out.

When he lifts the lid on the box, his eyes go wide. “It’s thirty feet, I hope that’s enough.”

I thought Zeke was going to choke when I asked him to help me pick out the right rope for what I wanted Dylan to do to me. But, as always, Zeke was a good sport and showed me what I needed and how much of it. I did slap him when he said he expected pictures for the effort he put in, even though I knew he was joking.

“Angel, what’s this?” He’s holding the coil in his hands, staring at me, waiting for my answer.

I slip off my robe and slink my way to him. “I got you the only thing I could think of,” I say with a smile. “I want you to bind me.”

“Are you sure?” Dylan asks hesitantly. “I promised I would never push you beyond your limits and you’ve made it clear this is one for you.”

I nod. “The rope isn’t your gift; it’s merely a tangible object to signify my gift. I love you, Dylan Giovanni Caprese. I trust you with everything that I am and
that
is my gift to you. I know you won’t do anything that will harm me, so I’m asking you, please, when we get home tonight, promise me you’ll show me that dragonfly harness you keep telling me about.”

“And you expect me to wait?” Dylan asks, almost appalled at the idea that
his naked girlfriend is asking him to tie her up, but making him wait to do it.

I nod again. “It’s our guarantee that we don’t stay downstairs too long.” I wink, turning dramatically away from him to get dressed.

As I touch up my makeup, Dylan walks up behind me. He slides a beautiful pendant around my neck. It’s the infinity symbol with a diamond in one opening and a sapphire in the other. Our birthstones, combined in a stunning necklace.

“I love you, Tasha Lynn Skin
ner. And just like the pendant, that love will never end.”