Love and War: Part Two (Shadows in the Dark Book 2)

I stare out the window, remaining silent. I’m angry, sad, and a little embarrassed. I’m angry that he would jump to a conclusion such as that one just because I asked for help. I’m sad that having friends is so hard. And I’m embarrassed that Remington was right the entire time. “You going to be pissy the entire ride?”

I glance at Kross as we continue down the highway, his comment sparking my temper. I stare at him, dumbfounded. “Why wouldn’t I be? You basically accused me of cheating on you. With a coworker!”

“You should have called. You know the rules about being late, Delta, just like everyone else.”

“My car wouldn’t start! I handled it in the quickest way I knew how. When are you going to give me some fucking credit instead of finding something wrong in every damn thing I do? You want me to be at work on time. I call Remington to eliminate more time instead of calling Cassie, having her get you because you don’t pull out your cell gloved, and making you leave when you’re in the middle of working. In the midst of all this, I ate my breakfast so that I didn’t throw up everywhere. I did not have time to call you! We take one step forward and two steps back, Kross. Fuck. It’s exhausting.” I take a deep breath, my eyes pouring tears once again. “My car wouldn’t start,” I repeat.

He glances between the road and me. “We’re about to deal with your car. Why are you so emotional?”

I start crying harder, and then without stopping begin laughing manically, my face wet to the point my eye makeup is smudging. “Oh, I don’t know! Maybe because I’m pregnant and my hormones are all over the damn place and I love you so fucking much but you make me absolutely crazy. I’m losing my damn mind.”

I close my eyes, trying to get a grip. My fingers become laced with his warm ones, catching me off guard. My eyes pop open, honing in on our connected hands over the center console. Instantly, I calm. “It’s making you weird.”

“Yeah . . . I guess growing a human will do that to you.” I stare at our hands, shocked he’s holding mine. “Do you really think I’d cheat on you?”

His hand clenches around the steering wheel. “Trust doesn’t come easy for me. And you’re not home. I’m used to you being with me all the time.” He pauses, and for a moment I think he’s done. “I’m trying, Delta, in the only way I know how.”

My heart breaks, and the guilt flows through my veins freely, reminding me of everything I had temporarily forgotten. I shouldn’t have gone off on him like that. “I would never let someone inside of me while I’m carrying your child, even if we weren’t together. And I definitely wouldn’t cheat on you.” He’s staring straight ahead. “Kross.” He glances at me. “I would never cheat on you. At some point you have to trust me until I give you a reason not to.”

He turns back to the road, and then he squeezes my hand. My heart mimics the action. I glance back out the window. It suddenly dawns on me. “Where are we going? We’re nowhere near the coffee shop.”

“Dealing with the car situation.”

My brows furrow. “Are we going to a parts house? I don’t understand.”

He pulls into an Infinity dealership. “No. You’ve been driving that piece of shit long enough. I’m done.”

He stops off to the side of the lot and throws the truck into park, shutting off the engine. I look around at all of the shiny, brand-new vehicles sitting side by side in rows, all different shapes and colors. The words manage to come out just in time to hit the lock button as his hand goes to pull the door handle. “You are not buying me a car!” I start breathing hard. “I can do this on my own. I can deal with car trouble. We just need to figure out what part it needs.”

My hand starts shaking, hovering over the lock button in case he tries to open the door again. I won’t be my mom. I won’t expect a man to support me while I play with my money. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, then looks at me with a smirk on his face. “What’s so funny?”

“You done?”

“This isn’t a joke, Kross. I’ve been saving my paychecks aside from food and my cell phone bill. Now, thanks to you, I don’t even have that. Just figure out the part and I’ll buy it.”

“Why are you so against having help?”

“Because I won’t be that girl. That girl—”

“Like Lux?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you were thinking it.”

“No. Don’t put words in my mouth. Lux has her reasons. She was upfront with Kaston. She never lied about her initial intentions. I have my reasons for wanting to do it myself. I can support myself.”

“I’m no expert on being a couple, but what I keep hearing is self. We’re either together or not. I already told you we’re together. You agreed. I thought you wanted me to want this baby.”

I rear back, trying not to overreact. “I want you to want it if you want to want it.”

He pulls at his hair. “Delta, stop being so fucking complicated. This pregnancy wasn’t planned. Quit acting like I’m a dick because I’m not overly happy about it. Just because it takes time to want something we didn’t try for doesn’t mean I never will. This is me starting to want it, because I want you. Your car broke down. It was long overdue. We both knew that rusted piece of shit wasn’t going to last much longer. My kid isn’t riding around in something that can crumble upon impact like someone crushing a soda can. That thing is unsafe. I’ve never wanted you in it either, but now I have a reason to get my way. You want me to trust you, then give me the same respect. I knocked you up. There is no reason to do it alone. I can take care of you and my kid. Next time you may not be lucky enough to be parked in a public parking lot during daylight. Let it go.”

My shoulders fall. I feel defeated. Every point he made makes sense, as much as I don’t want to admit it. I said I was going to put this baby first and that means in every way. I look around again. “Why Infinity? I don’t have to have something this expensive.”

“You remember that conversation we had in Chicago where I said I’m not hurting for money?”

“That doesn’t mean it has to be unnecessarily spent.”

“If you’re going to bitch every time I spend money on you, then it’s going to last a fucking while. And that guy walking over here . . .” I glance up, and sure enough there is a guy covered in neck tattoos wearing a baby blue button down and khakis walking over. He hasn’t even looked away from me, so I have no idea how he knew he was coming over. “I help those that help me.”

“Help you, as in . . .”

“Yes.”

“Do you have people everywhere?”

“Yes. Just because we’re having a baby doesn’t mean that’s going to change. We amend.”

“I’ve never asked you to change, Kross.”

“Then get your fine ass out of this truck, introduce yourself, and go pick out a damn car, because I have a full day of clients and we aren’t leaving here without one.”

“But.”

“Out.”

I growl, internally happy and frustrated at the same time as I open the door, letting one leg fall over the seat. “Are you not coming too?”

He glances at a phone I don’t recognize. “After I make a call.”

I step to the ground and face him. “Will you at least tell me the budget?”

He taps the keys on the old school flip phone, not looking at me. “Whatever the price is on the sticker of the one you choose. I’ll deal with the rest later. Give me five minutes. It’s business.”

I dramatically slam the door, before waltzing in front of the truck to meet the dangerous looking guy waiting a few feet away as if he knew to wait on Kross before getting too close. I scream when he blows the horn at me, my heart speeding up. And when I give him my best ‘go to Hell’ look, he smiles. God, I love that stubborn man, even when he drives me nuts.

Kross

I pull into the back parking lot of the shop and park behind the new black Infinity Q50 two hours later, with only fifteen minutes to spare before my next appointment arrives. I’ve carried the phone around, trying to decide on the job.

Today, finally, I made the decision to decline. Truth is, I have too much shit going on in my life right now to take that kind of risk and use that much time. I need my girl back. I want her home. I have to come to terms with the fact that I’m going to be someone’s father, whether I want it or not. It’s the only thing I can’t control if I want her.

I’ve never turned down a job when we’re talking millions of dollars being wired to an offshore account, but for the first time, something is more important than money. She’s more important, so when she got out back at the dealership, I made the call. I turned it down and gave him a contact for another dealer.

I place the cell phone and the folder with the details of the job in the manila envelope and seal it, writing the name of the pickup on the front so that I can drop it later.

I get out, locking up behind me, and walk to the driver’s side door. Three taps to the glass with the knuckle of my forefinger after a few seconds of standing here, she lets the window down, her hand clenched at two o’clock around the steering wheel.

Her head slowly turns until her flushed face is looking at me. I bend over to her height, leaning on my forearms on the door. “Fuck, that was so much fun.”

I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, trying not to laugh. Her light blinds my darkness on days like today. “Fun, huh? So, I guess you’re over being pissy about me buying you a car then?”

She pushes her lips out into a kissing position, and then breathes out. “I’m still not happy about how much it cost, but there were a lot worse price tags on that lot that I stayed away from. And I’ll admit, it’s hard to be mad when you go from driving the ole punch bug to this fine metal specimen.”

“Punch bug?”

“Ya know what? Never mind. This thing even has Bluetooth!”

I laugh. “Aren’t we years past being excited over that invention?”

“Not when you’ve never had it in your car before!”

Her excitement is contagious. I reach in and touch her face, running my thumb over her smooth cheek. “I like seeing you happy.”

She grips my wrist softly, closing her eyes under my touch. “It’s you, Kross. You’re the difference.”

When she opens her eyes, they’re brighter, a mischievous gleam in them. She brushes her hand up my arm until it’s holding onto the back of my neck, pulling my head inside the car. “Can we christen the backseat?”

My dick hardens. “You want to fuck in the backseat of a car? Like two teenagers?”

She smirks. “You bet your ass I do.”

“My client will be here in like ten minutes.”

“I can do it in five,” she says, her voice changing, causing my dick to strain against my jeans. She pulls me closer, before swiping her bottom lip over both of mine. “Come on, baby. I’m wet.”

I grunt. Damn. I straighten and move to the back door, then open it and stuff myself in the small backseat. These cars weren’t made for big men. I don’t know how in the hell this is supposed to work. My knees are shoved into the back of the seats and my head is pressing against the headliner. Uncomfortable. This is fucking uncomfortable.

The window slowly ascends, leaving us on the other side of the tint. She presses a few buttons on the radio until the local rock station is playing. Her eyes meet mine through the rearview mirror. They’re different than normal: confident, seductive, and happy. Fucking sexy is what she is when she’s like this, that’s for damn sure.

Then, without a word, she gets out of the front and walks to the back, glancing around as if she’s trying not to get caught doing something wrong. She quickly opens the door and jumps in, shutting us inside. Before I can process, she’s removing her winter boots and pushing her jeans down her legs, disposing of them on the floorboard.

She looks up at me, pushing the last of her pants off her feet, a smirk on her face. All I can focus on is a bare pelvis, the top crease introducing what’s waiting for me the second she spreads her legs. “What are you waiting for, baby? Let me see the D.”

God, she’s fucking beautiful. I robotically unbuckle my jeans and push them down, baring my lap. Her eyes fall on my erection and the quietest moan slips, making me harder, also motivating her. She straddles me, her lips instantly finding mine in a heated entanglement.

I push her sweater up her body and remove it. “I want to see tits,” I mumble against her lips as I remove her bra. My lips trail down her chest until they find a nipple, sucking the ring into my mouth. She arches against me, and then grinds her pussy on me. A hand grips each ass cheek as her wet center rubs against my length, holding her firm.

A thud sounds as I attempt to move my foot. “I can’t move.”

She kisses me. “Don’t worry, baby. I got you.”

That smirk. Why the smirk? Then she turns around, facing toward the windshield. “Someone is going to see your tits. Those are my tits.”

She grabs my dick in her hand and aligns it for entry. “I don’t even care right now,” she says through shortened breaths, and then she sits down on top of me, her tight pussy gripping me the entire way. She pumps. Up and down. Up and down. Hot and wet. Shit. I roughly grip her ass, opening her to watch as she takes me inside her.

She’s holding onto the headrests, speeding up and moaning so loud it’s making my dick jerk inside of her. Her spine rounds, her shoulder blades moving as she rides me.

I’ve never fucking known anything like her. I grip her ponytail holder and pull her hair down, her black hair falling over her back. She speeds up. My palm anchors on her stomach. She slows on an intake of breath, and then she lays her hand over mine and laces our fingers.

I pull her back against my front, my free hand harshly squeezing her breast. She rocks against me, the pace no longer bursts of quick aggression. She breathes heavily, rocking harder as she finds the target. I thrust up at the moment she comes.

Her head falls back against my shoulder as she rides out her orgasm. Seconds after she’s done, she increases speed until she’s pumping up and down on my dick so fast I can no longer last, spilling my load inside of her.

Spent, I press my lips on the top of her shoulder. She turns her head toward me, her lips at my ear. “I love you, Kross.”

I freeze. Hearing her say it, not overhearing it, or reading it, is so much more profound. I wrap my other arm around her, my palm still pressed against her flat belly, and pull her closer. “If I knew what that felt like, Delta, I can guarantee I’d love you too.”

She pulls off of me and turns around, gripping my face in her hands, tears in her eyes. “We’re gonna make it. I know we are.”

I breathe in, and breathe out, and for the second time in the last five minutes I let the thought in my head out. “I hope you’re right, because I’m fucking miserable with you gone.”