Chris was a coward.
How many times had he run from her? The word stuck in his head as he shut the door behind him. He growled as he unlaced his boots and tossed them away. He tore off his socks and threw them in the same direction. He plopped on the couch and used the heels of his palms to rub his eyes.
Nathan wanted her cooperation, her trust. He hadn’t really said how to do it. He could argue, feasibly, that this was the only way to do it. But Chris would know that wasn’t why he was doing it. He was only fooling himself, and not very well. Seducing Abigail Lewis had zilch to do with Nathan and everything to do with his own selfish needs. She woke something in him, something that had been dormant for two years, maybe longer. He wanted her, in every way possible.
The door opened, revealing Abigail clad in his t-shirt and boxers. The shirt hung to mid-thigh, and small, erect nipples pressed out against the fabric. She’d taken off her bra. His cock stirred to life, sending a shudder through his body.
She approached him carefully, like how a mouse might approach a trap. Her pink tongue nervously darted over her pretty, full lips, and his cock answered the call her body made. Her bottom lip rolled between her teeth.
“It’s still a little early to go to sleep,” she said.
His eyes swept to the clock on his Blu-Ray player. He hadn’t even realized the time. It was barely eight.
“Could I sit with you?” She asked.
No. Bad idea. He was fucking dying to touch her.
“Yes,” he said. It seemed like someone else said it for him.
Gracefully, she slid onto the couch, pulling one foot close to her body so she faced him at an angle. She’d sat close, faced him, and still managed to keep distance between them. Maybe she was smarter than he gave her credit for because if she got any closer, he was going to do something he didn’t need to do.
“I need to leave the States,” she said.
“What?” Of all the things he’d expected her to say, that wasn’t it.
“You have the resources to do it. I need like, a fake passport or something and I’ll be all set.”
“Hold on…” He leaned back, putting his index finger up. “What?”
“My father has a long reach here, but in the States. But if I could leave… He might not find me. I might find somewhere safe if I could get far enough away. I might have someone who could help me. In France. Maybe.”
“There’s a whole lot of ‘if’ and ‘might’ in those words, Abigail,” he said. What kind of weird scheme was she cooking up?
“I know, but I think it could work.” Her eyes searched over his, and for a moment he wondered what she saw when she looked at him. For a moment, he desperately cared what she thought of him. Beyond it being a monumentally bad idea for Abigail to go traipsing around Europe by herself, Nathan’s orders were to keep her here. He had to follow orders.
“No way,” he breathed. “That’s insane.”
“What’s my alternative? Sit here and wait for my father to catch up to me?” She shook her head. “For all I know, that car was a setup, to get me into some little town with no witnesses, so my dad can finally make me disappear.”
“Disappear?” Anger collected inside his chest, pooling like hot lava at the thought of anyone or anything threatening the sweet woman beside him.
“That’s what he told me last time. If I didn’t do what he wanted, I’d disappear.” She sighed and leaned back against the couch. “Ugh. This sucks. I never asked for any of this.”
“What did he want?” Chris asked quietly. He was having trouble breathing with the anger slowly suffocating him. He didn’t have room for his lungs to expand.
“Everything always boils down to his career,” she said, spitting out that last word like it was a disease. Her eyes watered to the brim, but she fought back letting them fall. “I’ve held this secret in for a year. I let him manipulate me, move me like a chess piece.” Her voice broke on the last few words, a couple large drops falling from her eyes. “I loved that man. I loved him so much. He was my father. The only one I’ve ever known.” She shook her head as more tears fell, quickly wiping them away as they fell. “I envy your family, Chris.”
Her words sliced right through him. Here she was, wanting a real family, and he had the real family, but he couldn’t see them. What a fucking pair they made.
He held out his hands toward her. She glanced down at them but didn’t move. More tears fell from her eyes, dripping down her forearms. A fiercely protective urge swept over him. They’d barely reconnected hours before, and he could see the hesitation in her. She didn’t fully trust him, and for that, he was proud of her.
Nathan wanted him to seduce or coerce her, but Chris couldn’t do that. He was already putty in her hands. All he wanted was to keep her close.
“Come here,” he whispered. “Please.”
Abigail struggled with it. Her brain was telling her not to trust him, that she barely knew him. But that scared little girl she’d been before, the one he had found in a cage in a South American nightmare, that girl trusted the man who saved her once before. The man that would always save her no matter what. That man had been sleeping for years, somewhere deep inside Chris. She’d woken him up when she arrived in his town.
Slowly, she reached out with one slender hand, slipping it into his. Gently, he pulled her to him, so she sat on his thighs. He slid his arm around her body, so he held her in an embrace while he covered her hands with his. He stared deep into her eyes and sealed his fate. “It’s okay. I’ll help you. I promise.”
She let out a shuddering breath, releasing the built-up tension within her body. Her shoulders visibly relaxed.
“Trust me?”
Her eyes met his, still watery and slightly reddened and puffy. She nodded. “Yes.”
It was another few hours of sitting there together, talking before exhaustion finally hit her. Chris ushered her to his bed, tucked her in, and slept on the couch for the night.