Protecting My Hart (Protectors Series Book 1) (5 page)

“Fall, Tesoro. I’ll catch you. Promise.” Again, his whiskey-rich voice fills my head, my body. He thrusts deep and I fall, holding him tight, face in his neck, breathing him in, crying out softly against his skin. Trembling, panting, the pleasure consumes me; I clench him tighter refusing to let him leave. He manages two, three, four strokes, presses deep once again, body ridged, jaw clenched. He groans. His body shaking, his cock jumping, jerking, twitching inside, filling me with his hot release.

Slyde lowers his body completely to mine, and I hold him close, as close as I can, never wanting this to end. I feel so complete and safe and dare I say cherished. Never has sex been like that before, and sadly I know once this is over, once I wake up in the morning, I know I will never have this again. I will never have
him
again. For this, I let a few tears fall and hold on to him for as long as I can.

My mind clears and recognizes Hartley beneath me; I roll to my back taking her with me. She presses closer, holding tighter almost as if she is afraid to let me go. Truth is, I can relate. I know she said that this only had to be for tonight, but let’s face it, I knew that was never going to be the case. I have belonged to Hartley since the minute I saw her. I have hated the fact that she has belonged to someone else, but that ends tonight. She’s mine now. I just have to figure out how to get her out of here safely and not mess things up. We may have to pretend for a while until I can get her out of here, and that thought makes me sick. I don’t want her with JD anymore, and I really don’t want her in this house with the rest of the scum that lives here. I have to talk to Mack and see what he can do. But for now, for tonight, I will lie here and hold her tight. She relaxes further into me, her lips press against my chest, her grip tightens.

“Te amo, Hartley. Te amo, tu es mi Tesoro. Siempre.” My voice stays soft and I feel her slip off to sleep. My mind continues to work coming up with different plans to get her out and keep her safe. She’s mine now. Mi Tesoro.

I’ve snuck out of my window and am wandering around outside. The house is secluded; we are literally alone out here. There are woods that butt up to the back of the house and a small creek that runs through them. I find myself in my favorite spot. A large tree sits at the edge of the water overlooking a pretty waterfall. It’s peaceful here, and I love coming here to read when I can. Sadly, I don’t get to come here often. JD really doesn’t like me to leave the house alone, although, occasionally he will, and once in a while when he is in a really, really, good mood, he will come with me. However, right now my mind is not on JD. It’s on Slyde. Slyde and I had sex last night.
Holy freaking shit!
I still can’t believe it was real. I mean, I have dreamt and had fantasies about it, but the fantasies never came close to reality. Words have not been invented yet to describe how I felt, how I
still
feel. Never has it been like that before, and I was kidding myself when I thought that I would be OK with just one night. Truth is, I crave more of him. I want more with him but that won’t ever happen. I could never put Slyde against JD, that’s too dangerous. This is all of course assuming that Slyde would want more from me, which he doesn’t. I don’t blame him. I’m really not worth having more of.
Dumb, stupid, fucking slut. You’re worthless like your mother. Good for nothing piece of shit. You’re only good for a fuck. Stupid whore
, my father’s words echo in my head reminding me why nobody would want me.
Fucking hell, Hartley. You’re such a pain in my fucking ass. Worthless bitch. If not for me you’d be trying to sell your pathetic, ugly, self. You’re barely worth a fuck anymore and you’re not even good at that,
JD’s words add to my father’s, giving me an all too familiar feeling of being unwanted, worthless, and alone. Why do I stay here? Oh yeah, because I have no money, no job, no car, no friends, no one to care, and no way to escape. I want more out of life, but how do I change it?

From a distance I can hear the roar of a bike, and as I turn toward the house, I catch glimpses of the bike and my stomach sinks and grows heavy. JD’s back.
Shit!
I race off toward the house—I have to get back inside before he notices. As I round the corner, I literally run into Slyde.

“Whoa, slow down, Hart. Where are you going?”

“I have to get back inside before he notices I’m out alone.”

“Well lucky for you, you’re not alone. Down by the creek?” I nod and he smiles. “C’mon, Tesoro.” He takes my hand and leads me to the front of the house, dropping it to open the door and let me in first. As we walk down the hallway we run into JD coming out of his office.

“What’s going on here?” he demands.

“Nothing, man, Hart has been locked up, and I thought she might like some fresh air so I took her for a walk down by the creek. How was the trip?”

“Trip was fine. We’ll talk later. Here?”

“Things here are fine. Only a minor issue, but I took care of it.”

“What kind of issue?” JD’s gaze shoots to mine, and I know he’s pissed. My stomach gets tighter because I know what Slyde is about to tell him, and I know that JD will think it’s my fault, and I will be in trouble later.

“Well, Tiny and Griz seem to have had a hard time remembering what was yours. They decided to attack Hartley in her room when I went to meet with Ice. I heard her screaming and was able to stop them. They got some hits in and had her mostly naked, but I took care of it. Those two can’t be trusted, and you might want to remind them what’s yours and to leave her alone.”

“Come here, Hart,” JD states quietly. To everyone else his voice would sound nice and concerned, to me I hear the rage and accusations. I take the few steps to him, and I feel like I’m walking to my death. His arms go around me. “I told you not to cause problems. I’ll deal with you later,” he whispers in my ear so only I can hear him and my body stiffens in fear. JD lets me go and nods at Slyde. “Why don’t you go to your room while Slyde and I talk? I’ll be back there soon.” I nod slowly and turn to Slyde.

“Thank you for the walk,” I barely whisper and turn down the hall to my room.

In just the few minutes it took me to leave JD and reach my room, my anxiety and fear has escalated beyond measure. I know by the tone and looks from JD that I am in trouble. I know he is going to blame me and think I did something to provoke the attack, but I didn’t. Hopefully, after talking with Slyde he might calm down and give me a chance to tell him what happened. I hear the roar of a bike and I know that it’s Slyde leaving. My heart sinks, all alone again. I’ve been pacing my room for about twenty minutes when I finally notice another new book on my nightstand. This one has the same blue butterfly from before only this time it’s a tattoo on a man’s arm. There is of course, another note.

Same butterfly?

I have to leave for few days.

Can’t wait to hear about this butterfly.

Slyde

I smile softly and some of the tension begins to leave my body, and my mind begins to settle. I loved the first book; I couldn’t put it down, and I can’t wait to read this one. I notice it’s getting late as I look outside. Since I know JD is done with Slyde and he hasn’t come in here, I hope he isn’t that mad so I change in pajamas and climb into bed with my book.

It’s been almost two days since JD has been home and he hasn’t been back to see me. This has me extremely terrified. I’m not sure if this is a new punishment or what. I haven’t left my room, my stash of snacks is gone now, but I don’t dare venture out of here. Who knows what the hell is on the other side of that door. If this is a game, he is going to win. I don’t want to do anything to upset him further.

I’m watching the stars start to come out to shine when my door slams open making me jump and let out a small scream. Standing in the door is JD, the look on his face is calm, except for his eyes. Chills run down my spine at the bleak emptiness of his gaze. His body looks oddly relaxed, and I’m not sure what to make of that. Normally when he’s angry I can tell by his body language or he just starts yelling. This… I have no damn clue what this is about.

“So this incident,” he states, his voice icy and even.

“I didn’t do anything. I swear I was in here all day.” I’m still frozen, but he steps further into the room.

“Not what I heard.”

“JD, please, I didn’t…” SMACK! the blow lands high up on my face next to my eye.

“Bitch, I told you not to cause issues. You just couldn’t handle that.” SMACK! He evens out the other side.

“I swear, I didn’t…I’m sorry.” I try to choke back the tears, but I can’t. My head feels light and that’s never a good thing. His fist connects with my stomach, causing me to double over and gasp for air. His hands wrap painfully tight around my arms yanking me up like a rag doll.

“I didn’t ask you to speak. I’m tired of your shit, Hart; I told you to behave, and you didn’t. I told you not to tease the guys, but apparently you couldn’t help yourself and when you got more than you bargained for you cried and hid behind Slyde.” SMACK! SMACK! “It’s not his job to babysit you; he has better things to do than waste his time with a slut like you.”

“I-I-I-I I’m sssssorry.”

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth! I don’t want to hear it. You brought this on yourself, now you are going to get your punishment like you deserve.”

I feel more hands on me, and it takes me a few seconds to realize that Tiny and Griz have joined us and that they both have ahold of me. I’m forced onto the bed, crying and kicking the entire time, but I’m no match for them. Thrashing and kicking as much as I can only causes them to laugh.

“Glad we finally get the chance to enjoy her.” Griz laughs as he rips my shirt to shreds. Tiny yanks down my pants, and now I am completely exposed to them both.

“Please don’t. Stop. JD, I’m sorry, please help.”

“You asked for it, Hart, you deserve it.”

“No, please. Please. Stop.” Tears stream down my face. I continue to beg for them to stop, but my begging only seems to encourage them. “Please, no. JD. Please, help me. Stop them. I’m sorry. Please,” I beg, meeting his eyes, which stay cold. My eyes go back to Tiny and Griz. “Please, leave me alone. Please don’t. Please,” I beg, but they just laugh, and I watch as Griz undoes his belt and slips his pants down a bit. Suddenly, Tiny is grabbing at me, kissing me, and the smell of alcohol mixed with the pure filth that is these men makes me feel like I’m going to vomit. Griz gets closer, and I continue to beg and plead for a rescue. JD does nothing but stands against the wall and watches as Griz forces himself inside me. I cry out with pain at the rough, hard attack on my body. I beg and beg and pray for a rescue but nothing comes. I can’t do this. My mind shuts down, taking me to a better place.