Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 29

Briar

I busied myself around the kitchen a bit more tidying up and nosing around cupboards and drawers to know where things were kept if I ever came over again. That was a stupid thought. I tossed Rosie’s ball a few times after she brought it to me, ok, maybe it was a few dozen before I followed the sound of the TV. I didn’t recall the bottle falling as I came face to face with Creedon’s eyes boring through the screen. That stare gripped my soul. It’s claws digging in as the panic tunneled my vision. I couldn’t hear, couldn’t follow the words his vile lips spat. The only thing I could see were those striking ice blue eyes that promised my death or my enslavement. He’d never stop hunting me.

Suddenly, Creedon’s icy eyes were replaced with a pair of soft, concerned steely blue ones, breaking the spell. The feel of Carter’s calloused hands brushing across my cheeks. I tried to gasp for air but the pain in my ribs protested.

“It’s going to be ok, Briar, I got you. Take it slow, in for three, out for four,” his voice repeated a few times until it registered he was talking about my breathing, as the tunnel was closing in on my consciousness. My heart, still hammering in my chest, I managed one set, then another.

“There you go sweetheart”—he coaxed— “that’s my girl,” he praised, pulling me into him as he held me against his still damp muscled chest. My cheek pressed against his steadying heart. Had I scared him? My arms slipped around him as my knees gave way. He braced me, scooping me up as if I weighed nothing, being careful he moved us to the couch and just held me. I sobbed into his chest, my ribs angry at the movement it caused them to make. However, the emotions could no longer be forced to stay at bay. He stroked my hair as his heavy breathing also came down, I pushed the next sob back trying to stifle it.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, I got you now,” Carter affirmed, again. My racing heart seemed to ease at its sound, my body relaxing, sapped of its energy, everything seemed numb except where Carter and my skin touched.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

“Don’t be, was that him?” I just faintly nodded. What was the point in protecting my abuser? No court of law would believe me. Beck had, maybe Carter would, too. Not that anything could be done. He might be a cop, but he was nothing against the influence of Creedon’s company, a company I had once hoped to be a part of. I didn’t want to trust him, but my heart gave in. I needed somebody. It didn’t mean I’d confide it all to him though. 

I pulled away from his chest and wiped my eyes, wincing as I attempted to sit up.

“Easy, sweetheart, we still gotta wrap you up,” he gently wrapped his arm around me as he bore my weight to help me sit up. Rosie jumped up on the couch, sniffing me with worry, before settling into my lap. I ran my fingers through her fur before a purring Tucker walked across the back of the couch to nuzzle me with his head. Carter brushed some hair from my face, my eyes glanced at his. A storm of emotion resided in his silver blue orbs.

“You ok for a minute, sweetheart?” he asked softly. I nodded as Tucker rubbed his face against mine demanding attention. I scooped the cat off the back of the couch holding him against my chest. Rosie huffed, rolling over to expose her chest and belly, also demanding my attention. Carter cupped my cheek and kissed my hair. I was a bit taken aback at the sweet gesture. “I’m not going far, holler, and I’ll be right here,” he said, before standing. I realized then he was only in a towel. If I had the energy to blush I would have. My eyes followed his backside over the couch as he made his way up the stairs.

He was too sweet, and too goddamn hot, for my own good. My brain told me that was a warning flag, but the rest of me said that made him a green flag. I was over complicating things. He was just kind and worried about my person. It meant nothing.

I was scratching Rosie’s chest softly with my fingernails when he came back in a pair of low slung sweats. Tucker curled up in a wedge of the couch between Rosie and me, his paws kneading into the dog, who paid no nevermind. Carter grabbed a broom and a mop and went to work.

“I’m sorry, about that,” I let him know. I didn’t have the energy to hold my head up, let alone, clean the mess I made. Carter just shook his head.

“Honestly, I don’t care. I imagine that was a shock,” he said, turning his back to me, but I didn’t miss the tremble of his hands.

“He’s not going to stop till he hunts me down.” I pointed out.

Carter paused in his sweeping.

“Then this is the safest place to be.”

“Why’s that?”

He filled the dustpan, “You are Jake’s people, that makes you mine”—his eyes bored into mine, down to my very soul, as he crouched looking over his shoulder— “I protect my own.” His words were concise and deliberate, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to give him the same warning I had given Beck.

Beck’s vow had come from some failure in his past. Some wrong he was hell-bent on making right. Carter’s, on the other hand, was an icy promise that foreboded absolute jurisdiction on his meaning. Who was this guy? Promising a stranger so much, and why did I believe him? 

Carter disappeared with the dustpan and came back with 2 beers and 2 glasses of scotch.

“I think you are staying here tonight, sweetheart.” I just nodded, not having the energy to argue, not to mention, not wanting to be alone. I accepted the glass from him without hesitation. I downed it, a stupid move from a woman recovering from rape and brutality. Carter sat beside me as Tucker crawled into my lap. Carter downed his whiskey, too. Laying his arm over the back of the couch, he rubbed my shoulder, I looked up at him. “You gave me a scare there, Briar. You gonna be alright?” I just nodded, then I paused, and shook my head no. His arms pulled me back to the hard warmth of his muscled chest and I let my cheek rest there against the steady rhythm of his heart as he stroked my hair and I inhaled his calming scent.

“You’re here now, sweetheart, nothing is going to happen to you on my watch.”

“Creedon will find me, eventually.” I murmured, his chest rumbled in discontent, just like Uncle Jake’s used to when something displeased him. 

“Let him find you,” Carter said, coldly. “He don’t know what he’s getting himself into.

I shrugged, “Rich men can do as they please and get away with it. I should have known better.”

“Hey,” he said, lifting my chin. “What happened to you is not your fault. He comes for you, mark my words, his days are numbered.” It was a pretty vow, and while it gave credit to his character, it was a promise I knew he couldn’t keep.

“I shouldn’t have dumped him in front of everyone, his ego is apparently very fragile, but I never saw this coming.” I gestured to my body.

“You dumped him?”

“I was just an accessory, not even his breed I heard them talking in the council room, and woke the fuck up to what had been going on the entier time we had been seeing each other, I lost it. I should have just walked out and sent in my resignation without throwing everything in his face in front of everyone. I don’t think that would have stopped him though.” I rambled.