Jaxon cut the engine. The sudden quiet wrapped around them like a blanket, leaving only the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. He shifted in the cramped seat of her tiny Goth-mobile and fixed his gaze on the woman beside him. “Do not touch your seatbelt or the door.”
Tazzy rolled her eyes in that way that always made his palm itch.
He kept his voice even. “Keep that up, and you will add to the butt-busting you already have coming.”
He meant every word. As he pushed open the driver’s door and unfolded his big frame from the car that had tortured him the entire drive, determination settled heavy in his chest. He’d tried every single day for the past week to explain why he’d ended things. She’d cut him off each time. No matter what he tried, she slammed the door on every attempt he made.
He was done with her games and pretending he was not her Daddy. She could fight him all she wanted, but the truth sat between them like a live wire. She had tried to climb down the side of a two-story building on a fucking rope. If she’d fallen… if he hadn’t reached her in time… she could have died right there in front of him.
The image still clawed at his gut. He did not care if she hated him for what he was about to do. By the time the sun went down, shewould never pull a stunt like that again. The thought of losing her scared the shit out of him.
There was no time and no place in the universe where he was not her Daddy, and deep down she knew it. She was hurt. He understood that better than anyone. He hoped that once she heard the full truth about why he had stayed away, why he had shut her out, she would let him back in. Her refusal to let him back in was not an option. He refused to give the General one more second of control over their lives.
He rounded the hood in three long strides. Through the windshield, he saw her hand hover near the seatbelt buckle, then freeze when she caught sight of his face. Smart girl. She changed her mind and left the belt clicked in place.
He opened her door with a deliberate pull. The scent of her, that familiar mix of vanilla and something uniquely Tazzy, still made his blood run hot. He leaned in close enough that his breath brushed the shell of her ear as he reached across her body and released the buckle with one smooth motion. She shivered, and it ran straight through him. Dropping his gaze for half a second, he noticed the way her nipples peaked against the thin fabric of her shirt.
Good.
At least her body still reacted to him the same way. He took her hand in his and led her toward the house without a single word. Tension rose with every step. He felt it in the way her fingers tightened around his, in the way her breathing grew shallow. The porch steps creaked under their combined weight, and she jumped at the noise, but he did not slow down. This ended today. All of it.
The moment they stepped into the living room, she yanked her hand free and whirled on him. “Have I told you you’re a jerkwad today?”
He felt the corner of his mouth twitch up into a smirk before he could stop it. “We have been a little busy today, so no. At least not since we’ve been home.”
Her eyes flashed pure fire. “See, it is things like that. This is not your home. It’s mine.”
He kept his face calm even though the words landed like a punch. “My home is wherever you are, Sprite.”
“Don’t call me that.” She jabbed a finger at his chest. “Sprites are cute, mischievous creatures who trick people. I am a badass now, in case it’s escaped your notice.”
“Oh, I have noticed.” He let his voice drop lower. “Hence the spanking you’ve got coming.”
He understood how hurt she was. He could see it in every line of her body, in the way she held herself rigid, baiting him, trying to anger him. She was looking for a reason to push him away. If she would just listen to him, he could make all that hurt disappear.
But she wasn’t ready to listen yet. No, she had a quiver full of sharp arrows she wanted to shoot first.
“You wasted your time rescuing me from the roof. I’m just going to do it again. You are not the boss of me.” She pointed a finger at him, “Because of you, I might just have to learn how to do it at Mammoth Cave. That’s a much more dangerous environment. If something happens to me there, it’ll be your fault.”
It was almost as if she thought the best way to punish him was to get herself hurt. And that was one step too far.
Something snapped inside his chest, sharp and hot. She was not the only one who had spent every day of the past eight years in pain. He closed the distance in one stride and wrapped his hands around her upper arms, barely restraining himself from giving her a shake.
“Do not play with me, Tazzy. Not today.” His voice came out rough. “You think my heart didn’t stop at the sight of you hanging from that damn rope twenty-five feet off the ground? You think I didn’t picture you crushed and broken on the ground if I couldn’t get to you?”
Hurt and confusion stared back at him through her eyes. With monumental effort, he forced himself to rein in his temper. “There are things you don’t know. Things I couldn’t tell you at the time, and you haven’t let me tell you since I’ve been home. That stops right now. You are going to sit your ass down on that couch while you still can and listen to what I have to say.”
When he let go of her arm, she stepped back, rubbing her wrist where he had grabbed her. He hadn’t hurt her. Her wrist wasn’t even pink, much less red.
But she looked back and forth between him and her wrist, surprise and hurt in her expression. “Fine. But it’s not going to change anything.”
She stalked to the couch and dropped onto one end, arms crossed tight over her chest and jaw set like stone. She looked away from him toward the window.
“Okay, I’m sitting. Go ahead and give me all the excuses you have for destroying me. Destroying us.”
Her voice broke on the word us and it damn near killed him. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to wrap her up and comfort her until the pain drained away. But she would not let him. There were some things even a Daddy could not force.
This was going to be hard for her to hear, but by God, she was going to hear the truth. He took the seat at the opposite end of the couch so he could face her fully. He kept his posture open, hands loose on his thighs, even though every muscle in his body felt coiled tight. He started slow, voice steady and low.