Blood Kiss (Savage Security Series Book 1) (11 page)

Mike brought the target down the lane and winked at Alisha. After several boxes of ammo she’d finally started to get most of her shots inside the black silhouette. He figured as long as she could hit the guy she’d be golden. A gunshot anywhere on one’s body hurt like hell and was a great deterrent for continued aggression.

Confidence swelled in Alisha as she studied the target. Most of her shots were belly shots, but a few were even in the vicinity of the heart. That thrilled her. She didn’t need to tap anyone between the eyes. She just wanted to stop whoever was stalking her. “That’s right,” she tilted her chin in arrogance and pointed at the silhouette, “I’m a badass.”

“No kidding,” Mike said. “I was standing right behind you the whole time and I was terrified.”

She shoved his abdomen and was impressed by the wall of muscle that met her blow. “Watch it,” she teased. “Or I may have to unleash my wrath upon you.”

“I’d love to see that,” he laughed. That would be like a Chihuahua taking on a pit bull. “For some reason I don’t think you could be very terrifying. You’re too cute.” Mike loved her smile. It may sound corny, but rays of happiness seemed to shoot from her eyes and zero in on his heart.

“Did you just call me cute?” she asked, flirtatiously biting her lower lip.

“I thought that was obvious.” Mike slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest. She wrapped an arm around him and gently stroked his back. His lips found hers and he breathed her in. The paper target crinkled between them as they kissed and a sharp corner poked her chin. She laughed and pulled away.

“Hey, we’re messing up my awesomeness.” She pressed the target against her chest and tried to straighten it. “Now look what we’ve done. We’ve damaged the proof of my badassness.”

“Badassness?” Mike questioned. “I think you made that up.”

Alisha shrugged and said, “It works. You know exactly what I mean. So yes, my badassness.”

“I like it,” Mike repeated with a smile. He wanted to take her home and spend more time with her in private. He hated that their day was coming to an end. They’d spent a long time at Savage Securities trying to get some information on her stalker, and then they’d had their late lunch or early dinner. He wasn’t sure which.

It would be dark soon. He couldn’t help but wonder what was up with her stalker. If the guy had been at her house last night, he’d probably stop by again tonight, which meant that Mike needed to get himself invited to spend the night at Alisha’s. There was no way he was leaving her unattended, and he really didn’t want to sit in the bushes all night either.

“What are you thinking?” Alisha asked, pulling away from their embrace so she could look into his face more easily. “I lost you for a second.”

He caressed her cheek and enjoyed the softness of her skin against his calloused palm. She leaned into his caress, grabbed his hand, and kissed his fingers. “Let’s go back to your place,” Mike said. “Maybe we could cuddle on the sofa and watch a movie?”

Alisha raised her eyebrows and a blush brightened her cheeks. “That sounds perfect.” Was it too much to hope that a repeat of their make-out session on the sofa earlier would occur again this evening? She wasn’t sure she wanted much more than that tonight. She was pretty conservative when it came to sex. She didn’t do one-night stands or meaningless flings. She was a relationship girl, and she really wanted a relationship with Mike.

Mike took the target from Alisha and rolled it up. “We’re keeping this as proof of your badassness,” he said with a wink.

“I like how you think,” Alisha replied as they gathered their stuff. They said goodbye to some of Mike’s acquaintances as they headed out the door of Iron Sights. 

Alisha sang along with the radio, doing her best to tamp down the tension simmering in her core. She eyed Mike as he drove with one hand on the wheel and an elbow chilling on the door. She liked being in his presence. He gave her security, but she knew that the security was only temporary. Everything would go back to normal tomorrow. She’d have to go back to school and wait for something to happen. Would it be a bizarre note at school, or something even creepier at home?

“Hey,” Mike placed his hand on her knee. “What’s wrong? You stopped singing.”

Alisha slid her fingers in between his and looked at him. “I’ve had a great day with you.” She smiled, and he looked back at the road. “Actually, I’ve had a great two days with you,” she added cheerfully, trying to dispel her concerns.

Mike reconsidered inviting himself over for a sleepover. He could hear the hesitation in her voice and felt the clamminess of her hands. She was scared, even if she didn’t want to admit it to him. “I’m sorry that we met under these circumstances, but I’ve really enjoyed being with you,” he said, and he gave her hand a little squeeze.

“Thanks for being here.”             

“Of course,” he replied. He’d carried the burden of guilt for Amy’s death for too long. Was it selfish to want to redeem himself through Alisha? Probably, but he needed to let the pain go. The weight was killing him. Besides, Amy wouldn’t want him to mourn her passing all of his life. Amy was selfless and caring, which was exactly why she never mentioned the problem with her ex-boyfriend to Mike. She hadn’t wanted him to worry, and that left her defenseless. Mike gripped the steering wheel tighter as he thought about the terror Rob had inflicted upon Amy and Julia. He was glad Rob was dead. He wasn’t worth keeping alive in prison.

Mike pulled into Alisha’s driveway. He scanned the area and pointed to the tree by the garage. “That needs to go. It’s a threat.”

“A tree’s a threat?” She’d wondered about that tree before.
Could someone hide behind it?

“You know what I mean.” His eyes locked on hers.

“Yeah, I do. But I planted that tree with my mother when I was younger. When all this started I debated cutting it down, but I just couldn’t.” She rested her elbow on the car door and propped her head in her hand.

“Then it stays.” Mike nodded. He understood the sentimentality of objects. Trivial things became priceless when lives were lost. “Besides, you may have a hard time getting rid of me. I’ll keep you safe,” he said as if he was joking, but he knew he spoke the truth. He had no intention of leaving her anytime soon, and part of him wanted her to know that.

Alisha slowly slid her gaze over his body. He felt the heat from her eyes and focused on keeping his breathing even, but she was firing him up on the inside. “I guess you’ll do,” she taunted and sent him a seductive smile that went straight to his groin.

Mike couldn’t wait to get her on the sofa and pull her onto his lap. He wanted her sassy mouth against his and to feel her skin heat at his touch. She was just as hot for him as he was for her. And that was a little nugget of truth that he planned on taking advantage of. He watched her get out of the truck, his eyes glued to her backside. He couldn’t wait to feel her ass in his hands.

Alisha disarmed the system and headed straight for Forrest. “Hey, little guy,” she cooed, kneeling down to open the crate. He sprang out and ran in circles around her, jumping up and rubbing his front paws against her legs. “Did you miss Mommy?” she said and picked him up, laughing as he slobbered her with his wet kisses.

Mike set the guns on the counter and said, “You actually let that thing lick your lips?” He smiled at her as he leaned casually against the doorjamb.

Alisha shot a cold gaze at him. “Did you just refer to Forrest as a ‘thing’?”

He held his hands up in defense. “My bad, but you do know where his mouth has been, right?” He laughed and crossed his arms over his chest.

She shook her head back and forth. “Forrest doesn’t do that,” she stated as she set her furry protector down. “See? He keeps his mouth off of his privates.”

Mike slowly nodded, his face lit by a mischievous smile. He knew it was just a matter of time. The dog was male after all.

“Oh, I have a question for you,” Alisha said, changing the subject. She headed towards the kitchen. “Where do you think I should keep my safe? Upstairs seems impractical when I’m on the first floor most of the time. I mean,” she hesitated, “if I need it, I don’t want it locked away in another part of the house.”

He hated that she even needed to ask that question. “First floor may be best. If you have a nightstand, you can keep the gun there when we go to bed.”

She stopped and turned to face him. She couldn’t help but smile at his Freudian slip. “Did you just say ‘when
we
go to bed’?”

Mike pulled his eyebrows together and thought about it. Had he slipped like that? If he had, he was losing his touch. He shook his head. “No,” he denied. “I definitely said when
you
go to bed.”

She eyed him. He did look good, broad chest, muscled arms. Him in her bed had crossed her mind. “I think you’re counting your chickens before they hatch, Mr. Lewis.” She figured if their relationship continued at this pace that it was only a matter of days until he slipped into her bed.

“I think you’re hearing what you want to hear,” he replied, stalking towards her.

“Wow, you
are
arrogant,” she said, placing her hand over his heart. The strong beat pulsed under her fingers. Being this close to him made her lose her mind. All she could think about was their time on the sofa earlier that day, and she was ready to go back for more. She was willing to bet that he’d be up for it too.

“Not arrogant, just optimistic,” he murmured in her ear. He bent close to graze her lobe and tease the tender skin under her ear with his tongue. She relaxed in his arms, and a whisper of a moan struck lust through him like lightning to a lightning rod. He found her mouth and deepened the kiss as he squeezed her ass, pulling her into him.

Alisha knew she was in trouble the moment his lips touched hers. The man was poison. He’d seeped into her system and wreaked havoc on her mind in no time flat. She was unable to think clearly. She could barely stand his onslaught of kisses as they turned her knees to jelly. Incredible sensations and desires flowed through her, so she wisely pulled away. Patting his heart, she said, “I’m going to get changed. I’ll be right back.”

Mike nodded. He’d been struck dumb, so he only grunted a reply. She could come back downstairs in a garbage bag and he’d think she was the sexiest thing alive. He walked over to the sofa and plopped down, leaning his head against the back cushions. He let out a sigh as he sprawled his big arms across the top. He tried to will his body into submission. He couldn’t kiss her like that for very long without wanting it to go a lot farther much faster. Tonight may end up being a long night.

He needed to get his mind focused on the hunt and out of her bed. He had the stalker’s prints and love tokens, but he still knew very little beyond that. He had a feeling that the stalker worked with Alisha or at least saw her regularly at school. His obsession with her had probably grown with time, so Mike’s gut told him that she personally knew her stalker.

A scream, followed by his name, sent him into action. The terror in her voice went straight to his heart. He grabbed his gun off the counter and bolted up the stairs. He stalked down the hallway, eyeing the doorways as he passed them. He found her, standing in her room with her hands over her mouth and tears streaming down her cheeks.

She turned to look at him, her hands trembling. “He was in here,” she sputtered. “Even with the security system he got in. I never got a call from the alarm company.” Anger and fear nearly overwhelmed her, yet she couldn’t decide which emotion was worse. She didn’t like either of them.

Mike looked at the window. That was the only explanation for the alarm not triggering. “He got in through the window,” he stated. Unfortunately, safety is more of a mind crutch than a state of being. No one was every truly safe.

She went to her dresser and pointed to the drawers with her lingerie hanging out. “Look at my stuff.” She pulled open the drawer and touched the intimate articles of clothing. Disgust at the violation sickened her.

Mike was at her side in two steps. “Stop, don’t,” Mike said, taking her hand. “Leave it for the police to see. You shouldn’t mess with anything.”

She closed the bra drawer and opened the drawer under it. Emotions of every kind overwhelmed her. She’d felt safe today while she was with Mike, but she’d been fooling herself. She wasn’t safe. She was playing house, and the game was almost over. The stalker was getting closer whether she wanted to admit it or not.

“He went through these too!” she roared in frustration, her hands in fists at her side. She hated this man, unsure if he really qualified to be labeled as such. Her stalker was a pussy. He hid in the shadows because he didn’t have the balls to show his face.

Mike pulled her to him. He didn’t want to let her go. Things were getting out of hand, evolving quickly. The stalker had taken it to the next level, and he still didn’t know who the stalker was. In an attempt to soothe Alisha, he ran his hand up and down her back.

He looked at the disheveled panties in the drawer and hated that some pervert had rummaged through them. Mike doubted that was all the guy had done. He’d seen some crazy shit, and he didn’t like it coming this close to home.

“You can stay at my place tonight,” he murmured, holding her tight. “You’ll be safe there. He won’t be able to find you.” H kissed the top of her head, hating that she didn’t feel safe.