Kissing Her(19)

I try to force myself to sleep but it’s a fight. At some point I must drift off because the next thing I know I’m being jerked awake by the sound of my door opening. I’ve always been a light sleeper, so I’m not surprised the sound woke me as I sit up and try to make out who’s in the darkness.

“Dad?” I ask, wondering if something is wrong. Judging by size of the figure, it has to be him.

“No.” The one word sends a chill down my back as I realize it’s Brandon. I’m so caught off-guard that he’s in my room in the middle of the night that I have no idea what to say or do.

“What are you doing here?” I pull the blanket over me, wanting more than my pajamas between us. He couldn’t have gotten into the house without Melina helping him.

“Your sister said you were looking for someone to break you in. I’m more than willing to take that sweet cherry you’ve been teasing me with.”

My mouth falls open as my hands start to shake. “It’s her wedding gift to me,” he adds, and the horror of what’s going to happen sinks in.

I try to scream, but he moves too quick and clamps his hand over my mouth as he climbs on the bed.

“At least I’ll get one of the Armstrong cherries. God knows your sister gave that shit to someone else years ago,” he grunts, pulling the blanket off of me.

I try and fight him as I push on his chest as hard as I can. I use all my strength and I’m surprised when he goes flying across the room and hits the ground with a loud thud.

It’s then I realize that It wasn’t me who did it. I’m not that strong. I see the shadow over my bed and I breathe a sigh of relief as Ragnar towers over him. I hear my sister screaming, but all I can see is Ragnar.

His coat is gone and I can see the man that was hidden behind it in all his glory. He’s here for me, but this time there’s going to be a new price to pay.





Chapter Twelve





Ragnar





“If you don’t stop screaming, I’ll put you on the floor next to him.”

Melina looks at me and shuts her mouth instantly. She doesn't make a move to help Brandon, who is out cold on the floor. There’s a body-shaped hole in the sheetrock just above his crumpled body, but I’m pretty sure he’s still breathing.

I tried to go home after I told Bee goodnight, but I couldn’t. Something inside of me told me that I needed to be close to her, and near enough that if anything were to happen I’d be here to protect her. She told me that her sister's fiancé made her uncomfortable and I knew even from just the small amount she told me that I needed to stand guard until I could make her mine.

My car was parked at the end of the street with the lights off, but I could see everything happening outside the house. At midnight I saw him pull up and Melina open the front door to let him in. It could have been a simple tryst between the two of them, but I felt the call to go to Bee and make sure that she was okay. I’m glad I trusted my gut because I can’t begin to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t been here. I only caught a few words from him as I rushed in, but it was enough.

“Ragnar.” Bee calls for me and I open my arms for her. She leaps into them.

She’s sobbing against my neck and I can feel her shiver in fear. I want to throttle the motherfucker all over again, but I can’t let go of her—not now, not ever.

I spin around when I see Bee’s parents come rushing into the room and take in what happened. I want to do the same thing to her father that I did to Brandon for allowing this to happen.

“What did you do?” Her mother glares at Bee as she rushes to Melina, who is still standing silent with her back to the wall.

“What did she do?” I say as I grip Bee tighter. “You mean what did Melina do. She’s the one who let Brandon in. Go on, tell them why you did it.” Her eyes come to mine quickly before she looks down at the floor. “Tell them, or I’ll do it myself before I call the cops.”

“Wait, now everyone just calm down,” Mr. Armstrong says as he holds out his hand. I know he’s just worried about his wallet and if this is going to cost him his payday.

I give Melina another chance, but she just leans into her mother like a toddler and won’t admit to what she did.

“Your oldest daughter tried to have Bee raped. He said she gave her to him as a wedding gift.” Bee shivers against me and I squeeze her tighter to remind both of us that I made it in time. “She was willing to do something like this because she was jealous.”

“I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding,” Mr. Armstrong offers. “Melina would never do anything like that, would you, Melina?”

His daughter just looks at him and then at me before she lowers her eyes again. I see the mother wrap her arms around her and there’s not an ounce of regret or disbelief in either of them. I sigh as I shake my head. I don’t know why I expected anything less from these people.

“Let’s go downstairs and have some tea. I’m sure we can all talk about this and come to an agreement,” he tries again, but I’m done with this bullshit.

“I tried to do this your way,” I say, taking a step toward him. “But I’m done fucking around. Bee is mine and she’s not staying another second in this godforsaken house.”