Page 27 of Collars & Kittens
“Are you bothering my girlfriend?”
Dalton’s presence and protectiveness overwhelms me, and it’s hard not to burst into tears. I swallow and fight to sound steady and confident.
“He was just leaving. Weren’t you, Ben?”
Dalton steps close to Ben, crossing his arms and glaring down at him. “Ben has 10 seconds to get into his car if he knows what’s good for him.”
A look of fear crosses Ben’s face as he stands up straight. He’s still cradling his injured goods. “Uh, yes. I’m going.”
When Ben doesn’t move, Dalton points at the driveway and starts counting. “One.”
Ben jumps in fright.
“Two.”
“I’m going.” Ben flinches and holds his crotch tighter, as if he’s remembering the pain. “I don’t need this crazy bitch in my life, anyway.”
Crazy bitch. Fucker. I should kick him in the nuts again and make sure he’ll never reproduce. I say nothing and glare at Ben as he speed-walks to his car. Before he gets in, a cop car slows down in front of my cottage and rolls down the window.
“Everything okay? Got a call to check on you.”
Oooh, Sierra’s wonderful, and she’s probably panicking. I remind myself to give her a call once this is over.
Ben dives into his car and starts it, as Dalton calls out to the sheriff. “Yeah, we’re fine. The asshole is leaving.”
“I’ll follow him and make sure he leaves.”
I smile my thanks at the sheriff as he rolls up his window and waits for Ben to pull out. When the sheriff drives off and the taillights of Ben’s car fade, I start shaking. The adrenaline is making it hard to think. Dalton wraps his arms around me and pulls me against him. A warm feeling settles in my gut.
As he leans down to whisper in my ear, “Are you okay?” tears form in the corners of my eyes.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak, afraid that I’m going to start bawling any second.
“Let’s go inside,” he murmurs. “It’s okay. Everything is fine.”
He leads me into the living room and pushes Glacia Pawsicle aside so he can sit down with me in his lap. As he rubs myback, his voice is soothing. I don’t know what he’s saying, because I’m shaking so hard and all I can think about is how scared I was.
When I finally crack, I can’t hold in my sobs. I bury my face against him, and tears leak down my cheeks and onto his shirt. That was so fucking scary.
Chapter 13
DALTON
Wrapping my arms around her, I can feel the tension and stress from the last few minutes flowing out of her. It takes all my focus to calm my rage so I can take care of her.
As she clings to me, sobbing, I find myself whispering comforting words into her ear, tenderly rocking back and forth, my hand tracing soothing patterns on her back.
“Kitten, it’s okay,” I murmur, hoping my presence is helping. “Teddy is here.”
Her sobbing intensifies, and the rush of emotions makes her limp in my arms. After a few minutes, I can’t help but appreciate how vulnerable and trusting she is in this moment.
When I pulled up to her house and saw her out front with Ben, it sent me into a protective rage. He’s lucky I didn’t get here earlier, or he really wouldn’t have had his nuts when he left.
But Olivia’s had a rough time, and all my focus is now on making her feel better. Holding on to her is helping me come down from my high, and I need her just as much as she needs me right now.
After several moments, her tears slow and she’s no longer trembling. “I’m sorry.”
I gently tilt her head up to meet my gaze and ask, “Are you okay?”
