More precious than the bike that took him everywhere. Maybe even more than the big, hairy dog I'd seen at his side the other day.
I stood up cautiously and followed him into his room. I'd halfway expected guns on the wall, or a thousand sharp things sitting around, but there was nothing except an old guitar in the corner, a couple posters of bikes and classic cars, and a big, thick bed with a headboard going halfway to the ceiling.
I had a flash of us laying down together, instead of him putting our son down for a nap, making that headboard rock as I straddled him, hands on his immaculate chest, sinking down onto the only cock I'd ever had inside me.
No. Hell no. There were so many strange, twisted things running through my mind right now I had to fight, but I definitely had to go after this, tooth and nail.
“Make sure you check up on him often. He isn't used to sleeping in a bed like this.”
“We'll only be a little while. Promise.” He laid the boy down and tucked a sheet over him. We both stood there, watching as he drifted off, blissfully away from the tortured hearts and real life killers hanging over us like swords.
“Outside, Summer. Now.” The growl in my ear was almost inhuman. Joker put his thick, rough hands on my shoulders and squeezed.
So much for savoring the small, miraculous heartwarming scene on the bed. I turned around and walked out, leaving his hands on me, stopping in the hall while he slowly pulled the door shut behind him.
Then, he looked at me, and I was completely alone with those feral, angry, beautiful eyes. “Why'd you lie to me, Summertime?”
“What else could I do?” Shaking my head, I swallowed, preempting another stone from forming in my throat.
“That's your defense?” he snorted. “Tell me again. Why'd you fuckin' lie to me?”
Shit.
He didn't wait for an answer. Snarling, he grabbed my hand, and jerked me deeper into the apartment, into the bathroom with him while he slammed the door shut.
“You fucked me over, you fucked yourself, and you fucked our son, keeping him from me. He's really mine, ain't he? Don't even fuckin' deny it!”
His rage paralyzed me. Before I knew it, I was up against the wall, his chest on mine, both his hands planted on each side of my head, caging me in completely.
“Yes,” I said softly, wincing as what was left of my heart ripped in two. “He's yours. He's only two, just had his birthday a couple months ago. We made him that summer, Jackson. The last few happy nights I ever had in my life...”
“Last? I don't fuckin' know 'bout that. But you can be damned sure that every last night you're gonna have is mine now.”
I gasped. What the hell did he mean? He talked like he was entitled to make me his property!
“I'm not your prisoner. I'm –“
“Summertime, shut your fuckin' mouth and listen. Long as my kid's under the gun, he ain't going anywhere with you. You're not taking a step outside this apartment unless I say so, neither. The Deads are coming. I'm getting the club together,” he said coldly. “Murdering every last one of those filthy, sick cocksuckers. It was always personal, ever since they did Freddy, but now they're doubling down on my son?”
I flinched when he shook his head, his hands turning into fists next to mine. My ears heard the faint sound of plaster starting to crack, felt the pressure of the wall behind me caving in.
“They're fully, completely, totally fucked!” he growled, spittle flying through his teeth, landing on my neck.
“And babe,” he said quietly, coming closer, touching his crazed forehead to mine. “So. Are. You.”
He was right about one thing – life as I knew it was over. There was no coming back once I was face-to-face with a raging, handsome psychopath.
Definitely no coming back from the strange, sick tingle that ran through me, being this close to him. Even when he looked like he was about to strangle me on the spot, he was gorgeous, so rough and primal my brain couldn't stop the chemical reaction churning my blood.
My thighs pinched together, trembling, feeling my panties soften with my own wetness. His lips were only inches from mine, lips that cursed me, threatened me, told me they were taking over, and fuck me if I didn't like it.
Yes, fuck me.
Fuck.
“Joker...Jackson...” I said softly, finally at a loss for words. “It doesn't have to be this way. I trust you to protect us. We can talk the rest of this out. We can –“
“Bullshit!” he snapped, his eyes narrowing, boring into mine until my eyelids fluttered, the only defense I had left. My hands went plush against his chest, ready to push him away if I had to, even though I didn't have a prayer of making it happen. “What did I tell you about that fuckin' mouth, Summertime? Said I'd shut it.”
It was the last thing he said before he kissed me.
That is, if a woman could call the savage pressure and teeth sinking into my bottom lip a kiss, rather than an act of total domination.