Page 15 of Protective Phlox

“I don’t know what I am other than so enraged that I want to fuck you and kill you at the same time.”

Words that should’ve terrified me if I’d been sane only made me hot all over. As soon as the zipper was down on my pants, Nathan pushed my thong out of the way and slid a finger into my pussy. The logical part of my mind said we shouldn’t do this again. At least not until we had shit sorted out between us. It would only make a complicated situation more complicated.

Even as I thought the words, my body refused to agree. My hips wiggled as he teased me until I was panting. Nathan nipped along my collarbone, and I knew what he was going to do before he started to suck and mark me.

“Nathan, stop. We can’t do this. Cutter is like ten feet away. What if he wakes up looking for me?” Nathan froze, the toxicity rising to new levels in his eyes.

“Looking for us,” he growled low. “What if he comes looking for us.” He jerked me away from the wall and tossed me on the small bed. I couldn’t tell what he was going to do, and that unnerved me more than anything else.

“You’ve changed, and I’m not sure it’s for the better.” I knew that I was taking my life in my hands, but I’d never been one to hold my tongue.

“And whose fault is that?” Sliding open the door, he stormed out, and I slumped back on the bed, taking a deep breath. Holy Jesus. If I thought Nathan was dangerous and all-consuming before…I hadn’t seen anything. What scared me more was that it felt like he was holding himself back from doing what he really wanted.

Nathan might have saved my life and put a metaphorical ring on my finger, but there was no doubt in my mind that if I gave him any reason at all, he would put lead between my eyes. With a snap of his fingers, I became the mouse coiled up by a snake, and I could already feel him constricting around my throat.

Chapter

Seven

NATHANIEL

The crystal decanter disintegrated into a million pieces as it smashed against the wall.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” It was the only thing my father seemed to be able to say as he threw things across the room.

I looked at Ronan, who gave me the ‘Don’t bother to look at me to save your ass’ stare. Titus at least seemed amused by the situation, his lip curling up, but that was the only indication I got that at least one member of my family was on my side.

“And what exactly would you have had me do?” My father whipped around, his face red with fury.

“I wouldn’t have stuck my cock in an FBI agent to start with. I warned you. I shouldn’t have let you talk me into letting her live. I should’ve shot her myself.”

That had my feet moving. My father could threaten me all he wanted, but he wasn’t going anywhere near Savannah and my son. Ronan stood from his chair as I closed in, but he wasn’t going to stop me, not this time.

“Fuck,” Ronan yelled as I punched him in the face, knocking him back into the chair.

My father’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed for the gun on his bookshelf. I grabbed him before he could get to it and did what I’d craved to do for years—slammed him down on top of his office desk. My fist cracked across his jaw, drawing blood as my ring cut open his lip. I pulled my gun and pressed it to my father’s forehead, so tempted to pull the trigger.

“Nathaniel, stand down,” Ronan barked out, but he was nothing more than background noise to the violence brewing inside of me.

“Brother, don’t do this,” Titus said softly, walking around the desk and getting down to look into my face. “You have to think about your family now, and this is not going to help anything.”

“Trust me, I am thinking about my family and how much safer they will be with him in the ground.”

“Do it, son, do it and end up pushed out of the family,” Father said, his tone far too arrogant for someone with a gun to their forehead. I flicked the safety on and took a step back from the desk, holstering my weapon. My brothers stayed close, waiting for one of us to erupt all over again.

“What’s done is done. Savannah is my wife, and Cutter is my heir. You don’t fucking go near them, or I won’t hold back next time.” I looked at my brothers. “That goes for either of you as well. You touch her or do anything to her, and I will come for you. I won’t stop until I’m dead, but I promise you will be too.” I flicked my suit jacket over my gun and marched for the door, sick of this conversation.

“You’ve not only shamed our family, but you bring trouble under our roof, Nathaniel,” my father spat at me.

“No more than you have with all the scandals you’ve brought to our door. Any of you go near my wife, and you will taste the steel of my gun.” Opening the door, I walked out and slammed it so hard that the pictures on the wall in the hallway rattled and slid sideways on their hooks.

My father didn’t understand. Savannah consumed the very fabric of my being. No matter how enraged I was, I needed her, and I was never letting her go.

“You good, Boss,” Goran asked from where he was standing guard across from the door. I shook my head. “Would it make you feel better to know that Savannah asked you to come see her when you’re through?”

“Why? What could she possibly find wrong already?”

Goran walked beside me as my strides ate up the ground, heading to the far wing of the mansion. I wanted my family as far as possible from everyone else, and if need be, we’d move into my condo, but this was still the safest place to bring them. You couldn’t spit without hitting another guard.