Tame: Carter Kids #3 (6 page)

"Yes, boss," I chuckled before doing just that.

"I don't want you to die."

Dawn was breaking outside. The birds were singing. The sun was rising. And Noah and I were lying on our bed with the blankets crumpled up around us.

We had spent the last five days crammed up in this hotel suite, snacking on unhealthy food, watching crummy movies and not bothering to get dressed.

Not having anyone interrupting us or demanding his attention was even better.

We had spent the night going over everything – and I mean every little detail – from our past and it was only now that I was getting to the core of Noah's issues.

"Nobody's dying, Noah," I assured him.

Stretching out my leg, I used my toes to rub his bare stomach.

He was lying crossways at the foot of the bed, looking stressed out.

His hair was a mess, ruffled from running his hands through it.

All he had on was a pair of black sweatpants.

The moment my foot touched his stomach, I felt the muscles bunch together and tighten.

Snaking a hand around my ankle, Noah caught hold of my foot and pressed it harder to his stomach.

"Famous last words, Thorn," he grumbled, caressing my ankle with his thumb.

"What do you mean?"

"The only people I have ever allowed myself to care about have died at the hands of the Dennis family." His voice was gruff and thick with emotion. "My mother. My father…well, the guy I thought was my father," he laughed humorlessly. "There's only one person left."

He stared pointedly at my face.

"I'm not leaving you," I promised, refusing to allow the fear to overthrow common sense.

"You saw what they did to my mother, Teagan. What they made me do?" Noah covered his face with his huge arm and sighed heavily. "They want to take you from me because you are the only thing I ever took for myself – you are the only living soul I ever took the risk of loving."

"I am
not
leaving you, Noah," I repeated slowly. "JD can kiss my lily white ass. It's going to take a hell of a lot more than bullets, flowers, and stupid notes to take me away from you."

"If anything ever happened to you because of me," Noah squeezed out. "Well, they better have a cell strong enough to keep me locked in because I would burn the fucking world down."

"What if we set up a meeting with him and find out his demands?" Shrugging, I added, "Surely there's something we can offer him to make him go away."

I thought that was a just and rational suggestion, but from Noah's reaction you'd swear I'd asked him to steal the hope diamond for me.

"Are you insane?" he roared.

Leaping off the bed, he began to pace the floor like a caged animal.

"No," I shot back, insulted. "I'm trying to think outside the box here." Rising up on my knees, I began to plot. "If it's money he's after then you have it. Hell, I can sell my half of the gym – it wouldn't be much, but I could get sixty grand for it."

"Jesus Christ, you really are fucking crazy." Laughing humorlessly, Noah ran a hand through his hair. "There's must be something funny in the water over in Ireland because the Teagan I remember wasn't so fucking gullible."

"I am
trying
to figure a way out of this for us."

"There is
no
way out of this for us," he roared into my face. "Your fucking blood is the
only
currency he's interested in!"

Hearing Noah lay it out there in black and white caused my stomach to twist.

"I was just trying to help, Noah," I mumbled, red-faced and trembling.

"You want to help?" he snarled, chest heaving. "Then stay alive. Stay out of harm's way and stay the fuck away from JD Dennis!"

"I wasn't going to go after him myself," I choked out, wrapping my arms around my body. "I just thought that…" 

"Good, because he would
kill
you, Teagan. He would take your life the first chance he got," Noah hissed, as he ran a hand through his thick, black hair. "I will fight for you. I will protect you. Hell, I'd give my fucking life for you. But I will not –" His voice broke off as he stalked towards where I was kneeling.

Cupping the back of my neck with one hand, Noah dragged me forward, leaning down to press his forehead to mine.

"Just…just leave JD Dennis to me, okay?" He exhaled a shaky breath, and then roughly kissed my forehead. "Forget about him. I have everything under control."

"But…"

"No buts," Noah barked, knotting his fingers in my hair. "I don't want you worrying about that prick." He kissed my forehead again, softer this time. "I'll sort everything out."

"Fine," I said in retreat and Noah visibly sagged. "But would you at least teach me how to fight?" 

"What?" Noah took a step from me, brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"So I'll be able to defend myself," I replied honestly. "I want the peace of mind of knowing that I have at least some measure of protecting myself." Stepping closer to him, I reached up and cupped his cheek. "Teach me how to fight, Noah."

"Absolutely not," he said in a gruff tone.

"Noah…"

"No, Teagan," he warned. "I'm not pushing you around. Forget it. It's not happening." Shrugging his shoulders, he let out a sharp breath. "You don't need to raise your fists, Thorn. You've got my fists to do your dirty work."

"And when you're not with me?" I shot back defiantly.

"Then you'll have Lewis," Noah countered swiftly.

"And who the hell might Lewis be?" I demanded.

Smirking, Noah took my hand and dragged me through the suite towards the door.

"Lewis is head of security," Noah announced as he swung back the door. "And your new bodyguard."

My jaw fell open when my eyes took in the huge barrel of a man standing outside our hotel room door. He was dressed in black from head to toe.

Huge was an understatement.

I'd never seen a man so big in my life.

I found myself studying his bald head and the huge scar that ran from his scalp to his jawline.

He was the definition of built like a brick shit house.

"Noah," Lewis acknowledged in a deep timber voice. Turning his attention to me, he nodded curtly. "Miss Connolly."

"Just Teagan, please," I replied, offering him an awkward half wave.

Christ, he was enormous.

I had to crane my neck to look up at his face.

Heck, Noah was 6'4" and this guy was even taller.

Come to think about it, he vaguely resembled one of the doormen from a nightclub back home in Galway. Old Lorry, people used to call him – for obvious reasons.

"Teagan." Lewis nodded in confirmation before returning his attention to Noah. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Lewis," Noah assured him before closing the door.

"How long has he been here?" I demanded the moment the door was closed.

"Since we arrived."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I'm sorry." Noah shrugged sheepishly. "I was preoccupied."

"With what?" I hissed. "And you need to work on your communication skills, buddy!"

"With you," Noah admitted shamelessly.

Taking a step towards me, he snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him.

"I finally got you home," he said gruffly, eyes locked on mine. "You're the only thing going on in my mind right now."

"Okay," I breathed, feeling my resolve melt into a puddle at my feet. "Good answer."

"I was afraid of you."

We were sitting on the floor in the living area of the suite, with a half-eaten pepperoni pizza between us, and a deck of cards in our hands.

Teagan was kicking my ass playing rummy and just like the past two days, we were hashing up the past.

I couldn't hide the fact that I was fucking thrilled I had Teagan back on this side of the Atlantic.

Now all I had to do was keep her here.

Taking a sip from my beer bottle, I smirked. "You hid it well."

"I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" She studied her hand of cards. "Not when the ever so powerful Ellie was sniffing around waiting for me to let my guard down." Scrunching her nose up, Teagan tossed a card down on the pile before picking up another. "She tortured me, Noah."

"I know." Picking up her three of spades, I tossed my seven of clubs down on the pile. "I'm sorry she was such a nightmare."

"You don't have to do that," Teagan said, frowning. "You don't need to apologize for them anymore. They're not your family anymore, Noah. They never really were."

"I guess old habits die hard."

"You hated me in the beginning," she admitted, not looking up from her hand. "And I hated that you hated me, so I decided I would hate you more than you could ever hate me."

"That's pretty fucked up, Thorn."

"I was insecure and friendless," she shot back. "I had just arrived in a new country and had made enemies with the hottest boy on my street – hell, in Boulder. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Back down."

Teagan smirked. "Not in my nature."

"No," I mused. "It's definitely not."

"Rummy. I win. Again." Placing her cards down in front me, she grinned like the cat who got the cream. "Pick your poison, Messina."

"Fine," I grumbled before taking a swig of my beer. "What do you want to know?"

This was a stupid fucking game.

Teagan was a fucking card shark and I hadn't won a hand in seven games.

She was using this winning streak to pump information out of me – her prize for winning.

"I want to know about your mom."

My heart began to race.

My palms started to sweat.

"Teagan, I don't…" I broke off and ran a hand through my hair, forcing down the painful memories and tsunami of regrets. "I don't talk about her."

When I asked Noah to tell me about his mother, I knew it could go one of two ways.

Really good or really bad.

I didn't want to upset him, that hadn't been my intention at all, but I wanted him to open up to me.

We were getting so close.

I wanted to know it all.

Crawling across the carpet to where he was sitting, I placed my hand on his muscular thigh.

"You can tell me anything," I assured him, unsure whether it was a good idea or not to ask Noah to bring up the ugliness of his childhood. "I'm good at keeping secrets."

Groaning, Noah grabbed the tub of ice-cream and spooned a large amount of chocolate chip into his mouth before stuffing the spoon back into the tub.

Flopping onto his back, he rested the tub on his bare stomach and sighed.

"She was always scared," he said quietly, not looking me in the eye. "And paranoid." He covered his face with one of his arms. "She didn’t trust anyone. Not a goddamn soul. She thought the whole world was out to get her." Pausing, he roughly cleared his throat. "She…was a lot like me actually."

"Noah," I sighed heavily. "You're not like her."

"Aren't I?"

"No." Climbing on top of Noah, I straddled his hips. "You are beautiful." Taking his hand with mine, I peeled it away from his face. "You are
good
."

"She was, too," he choked out. "Before…"

"She was sick, Noah," I said, desperate to reassure him. "And she wasn’t given the medical intervention she deserved.

"I know what Kyle and Lee think of her."

"I don’t give a shit about what Kyle Carter thinks about her," I shot back heatedly. "She was a sick woman who got tangled up in something out of her control. She was your mom, and I, for one, am thankful she got stuck up in all that shit. Do you know why?"

I waited until he looked at me before continuing.

"Because she had you." I stroked his face and pressed a kiss to his brow. "You are my life and I'm so thankful you were born. I am so grateful to her for giving me Noah Messina."

"Teagan," he groaned, capturing my hand with his. "You're killing me here…"

"My dad's a raging alcoholic," I continued to say, forcing myself not to give into the desire of kissing the hell out of the man beneath me. "He as good as killed my mom and I've spent years being told not to love him. But you can't turn it off, Noah. They're our parents. The blood runs deep. So screw what everybody else thinks."

"Thorn…"

"So mourn your mom. And don't be ashamed to love her. No one has the right to judge you."

"You have a heart as big as the fucking moon," Noah said gruffly. "Do you know that?"

"You're the one with the big heart," I replied, meaning every word. "You volunteered your future to protect your mother. You risked your life in a burning car when you cut me out first. You buried my name that night, I know you did. You protected me from the Dennis family and the cops and the whole world."

Swallowing deeply, I placed my hand on his stubbly cheek. "You're fierce – like a lion – and you protect what's yours, regardless of how it affects you." Shivering, I added, "And you're doing it again. Still protecting me. Still keeping me safe. Guarding me like a lion."

"Don't be afraid of that piece of shit," he hissed angrily. "I won't let JD touch a hair on your head, Thorn. I fucking promise you that."

"I'm not afraid of him," I told him. "He doesn't have the ability to break me."

But you do…