Defiance (The Protectors #9)(30)

“Fuck,” I muttered as I slammed my fist against the bag one last time and then grabbed it to stop its movement. I leaned against it for a moment as I tried to catch my breath. My watch continued to vibrate, indicating Nathan’s movement throughout the house. I stepped away from the bag and began removing my gloves and wraps. The vibrating on my watch stopped and I glanced at it to see there was no number. Which meant Nathan had left the house. A ripple of worry went through me, and I quickly grabbed a towel and my bottle of water and hurried up the stairs.

I found him standing on the back porch, staring off into the distance, fully dressed.

“Morning,” I said when I stopped at his side. He didn’t look at me.

“Morning. I need to contact my office today,” he said, his voice surprisingly even, though it had a certain emptiness to it.

“What for?” I asked.

“It’s not normal for me not to check in with them every day. They’ll start to worry. My assistant or Preston will go to my house at some point and when I don’t answer the door…”

“I told them you were sick.”

It took him a full five seconds to register what I’d said and then he was turning to look at me. “What?”

“I told them you had the stomach flu and would be out for at least a few days.”

“You talked to them?”

“Not exactly,” I hedged as I wiped at the sweat clinging to me. “You did.”

“What?”

Fuck, this was going to be bad. “Go change,” I said as I motioned to his jeans. “Let’s go for a run and then I’ll explain everything.”

“Explain it now,” he said, his eyes glittering with anger.

Which, of course, only served to turn me on. “You have three minutes to change,” I said.

“Go to hell.”

I hid my smile. I definitely preferred a pissed-off Nathan to an emotionless Nathan.

“Okay, I’ll be back in thirty. Don’t leave the house,” I said as I began to walk towards the few steps that would take me down to the grass.

“Wait!”

I paused and glanced over my shoulder. He was definitely pissed, and I could see he was debating what to do next. “You have two minutes and forty-five seconds.”

I swore I heard him mutter “asshole” under his breath, but then he was turning and going back into the house. He was back within two minutes wearing sweats, running shoes, and a white T-shirt.

Probably because the gray one he’d been wearing last night had cum on it.

I cursed the errant thought and began striding towards the side of the property. I hadn’t had a chance to explain the outside of the property to Nathan the day before so I said, “Your watch will unlock the gates and turn off the electricity to that section of the fence. You’ll know the fence is off because that light” – I pointed to a small indicator light near the security camera attached to the top of the fence – “will be green.”

I showed Nathan that the fence was indeed off and then walked through the gate. “There are eight gates total, one on each section of the fence. Reentering the perimeter is the same as leaving…the watch controls it.”

“What if you lose power?” he asked as I opened the gate on the second line of fencing.

“I have redundant generators. Two of them. They kick in automatically if the power goes out. The generators can only be accessed from within the perimeter, so even if someone manages to cut the power to the fence, the house will still go into lockdown mode.”

I saw him shake his head, but he didn’t say anything.

“Try to keep up,” I quipped as I started off with a simple jog. The run was a cooldown for me, but I knew Nathan needed to warm up.

As we ran, I enjoyed the quiet of the forest around us. I’d bought nearly a hundred acres of the land surrounding the piece of property I’d built my house on, so I was assured that I wouldn’t be stuck with any nosy neighbors anytime soon. I’d see signs of the occasional hiker, but it wasn’t often since there weren’t any public access points nearby.

Nathan managed to keep up with me, but I could tell he was struggling, so I slowed my pace and shortened the run so that we were heading back to the house after a mile. By the time we reached the deck, Nathan was breathing hard and covered in sweat.

And I wanted him more than fucking ever.

I wasn’t surprised when he grabbed my arm, though he didn’t hang on to it for long. I was learning to temper my instinctive reaction to him touching me.

“Now tell me what you meant earlier!”

“Go shower and change and meet me in my office. Coffee is in the kitchen.”

“No! You tell me now!” he snapped, and then he was in my face.

“You really want to do this again, Nate?” I breathed as my body reacted to his nearness.

My words were like dumping ice water on him. He quickly let go of me and took several steps back. I was moving forward before I even realized it, and I barely managed to stop myself from snagging him around the back of the neck and pulling his mouth to mine.

“Shower, change, coffee, my office,” I bit out. “In that order.”

I didn’t wait to see what he would say in response, because I suspected it would just piss me off and I’d either hit him or kiss him.