Love and War: Part Two (Shadows in the Dark Book 2)

I grab the door handle and take a deep breath before opening, trying to settle my nerves. I walk in, holding the large box from the donut shop. “I brought donuts. I got them to mix the kinds so there is something for everyone. I already ate mine. Don’t judge me.”

Cassie looks up from the computer and stands. “Thank God you’re here!”

I raise a brow as I set the box down on the counter, suspicious. “Why?”

“Kross came in raising hell. Everything I’ve done is apparently wrong. He’s being an asshole.” She stops herself. “Let me rephrase. He’s being a much bigger asshole than normal. What’s wrong with him?”

I shrug. “No clue. Haven’t seen him today.”

Her eyes grow wide. “Are you two pissed at each other? Delta, fix him! I’ve never seen him like this. I cannot deal with this permanently. He’s making my dad look like a saint. Fix. Him.”

“I can’t control Kross any more than I can control the weather.”

“Have you been smoking? He’s been a much nicer asshole since you started. Again, fix it!”

I turn the box toward her and open it, my nerves only worsening since I walked in. “Sugar solves everything.”

She takes the one with sprinkles and grabs a napkin. “Thank you. Now shoo. I’ve already gotten my ass chewed one too many times today.”

Put your big girl panties on and do it.

I grab the box and make my way to the staircase, opening the door. The fact that I hear nothing upstairs puts me on edge. As I step inside the studio, Kross looks up at me from his station, our eyes locking. His hair is disheveled and standing all over his head. He looks like he’s been up for at least forty-eight hours. He looks stressed. A ping of guilt occurs.

Stop.

I have nothing to feel guilty about. This is what he wanted. Remington snakes his arm around me and takes the box. “Sweet. I knew I liked you for a reason.”

I glance over at him, a smile beginning. “You’re welcome. I hope you had a Merry Christmas.”

“Remington,” Kross says, his voice strained. “Let. Her. Go.”

“Why? Trouble in paradise?” he teases, squeezing me into his side tighter.

The boy is stupid. “Hands off. Now.”

Remington is still smirking, intentionally prodding at Kross. “I’m just going to remind you of a little conversation about relationship drama in the workplace . . . That goes for you too.”

My eyes zone out, mouth slightly agape from shock. I push him off me and slap his arm. “Remington! Shut up. Do you have a death wish?”

“Delta, outside!” he roars, demanding my attention.

“I didn’t even do anything!”

He storms through the break room and pushes the back door open with force, causing me to jump. I look at Remington, narrowing my eyes. “I hate you sometimes.”

He grins. The fool actually grins. “One of these days you’ll thank me.” I growl out when he shoves a donut in his mouth, and then dreadfully, I trudge across the studio and out the back door.

Kross is standing at the bottom of the stairs, palms on the brick with his head bowed between his arms. He looks up when my feet hit the stairs, and then turns and walks through the small parking lot toward his truck. I follow, climbing in the passenger seat as he shuts the driver’s side door. The silence is deafening and the tension is thick, smothering me. “You wanted to speak with me,” I finally say.

He’s banging his fist against the steering wheel in a steady rhythm. “Your phone. It’s off.”

I’ve missed you too . . .

“It’s broken. I dropped it in water and it won’t come back on. I tried soaking it in dry rice. It didn’t work.”

He reaches in the backseat and grabs a white gift bag filled with red tissue paper, and then places it on my lap. “What’s this?”

“Gift.”

I tighten my lips together, fighting against the smile trying to form. When everything else changes, Kross stays the same. I love that about him.

You’re supposed to be angry with him, stupid girl.

I internally sigh. “Kross, I can’t take this. I wasn’t expecting a present from you.”

“You can and will. Open it.”

By the look on his face there is no sense in arguing. I pull the paper out of the bag and look inside. I grab the thick rectangular box and pull it out. “An iPhone?”

“I couldn’t get you. I’ll pay the bill.” The smile happens. There was no smothering that one. My little control freak will never die.

“It’s not messed up because I didn’t pay the bill. I dropped it in water. I was planning to get another one when I got paid.”

“I prefer it this way. My number is already programmed.”

I turn toward him, trying to be serious and adult for one damn second. “Kross, you don’t owe me anything. We aren’t together. I chose to keep it. I’ll take care of it. You made your decision and I respect it. It’s just not the one I can make.”

“We are together.”

“No, we’re not.”

“We are together.”

“Kross—”

“We are together, Delta. I never told you to leave.”

“You told me to get rid of our baby. That means—”

“I know.”

“I didn’t obey you. It’s okay to want different things, but we can’t want different things and be together.”

He pulls at his hair. “I’m trying to want the same things.”

My heart starts pounding, but my stubborn ways take forefront. “You shouldn’t have to try to want the same things. A baby doesn’t need to grow up with a parent that feels stuck. Trust me, I know.”

He growls. “This is maddening. I want you to come home.”

“I can’t come home. Did you not just hear what I said?”

“I want you. That should be enough. I’ll work on the rest.”

My head falls back against the headrest as I die a little inside. I have to stay strong or we’ll end up destroying each other. Those with patience win the race. I have to believe it. I want him more than I’ve wanted anything. I need him more than I need air. “I miss you.”

Fuck, boy, stop making this harder . . .

“I miss you too, Kross.”

“Come home. I’m going insane.”

“I don’t know that I can say no to you a second time.”

He reaches over the console and scoops me up, pulling me into his lap. “Don’t. No is not a word I like to hear. Come home. It’s where you belong.”

Why are you so easy to love?

My heart is racing. This is more emotion than I’ve gotten out of him, ever. I just want to make sure he wants me there for the right reasons. “Why? Why do you want me to come back so bad?”

He stares at me. Just say it. Say you love me. “I need you.”

My shoulders fall. My chest is aching. He’s not ready. This baby needs a family; two parents that not only love it but love each other. “How about we take it slow? We can see how it goes. I’m not saying I won’t come home; I’m just saying I can’t right now. You need time to think, to see if this is really what you want, and not just a reaction because I’m gone. I need stability, Kross. This baby needs stability. I need to know it’s long term before I come back. In ‘trying’, you said you need time to come to terms with the baby, to accept it, to want it. I’m respecting your wishes. I need you to respect mine.”

His hand skates up my bare thigh, moving under my skirt, and then his fingers dip beneath my panties. My breathing becomes louder, more erratic with every inch that he gains, until finally he sinks inside of me. “How long you need?”

“As long as it takes.” His fingers lazily thrust in and out of me, teasing and tormenting me. “Shit,” I whisper.

He pulls my V-neck down, along with my bra, and places his mouth on my nipple. “Still mine.”

I grip his hair. “Still yours.”

He switches to the other side. “Only mine?”

“Only yours.” He flicks his tongue back and forth, forcing me to grind myself against his hand. “Someone’s going to see.”

“Don’t care.” His thumb slips between my lips, pressing against my clit. “Tits are bigger again.”

My entire body feels like it’s on fire, a tingling sensation blowing across my skin. “Fuck me, Kross. Please.”

It takes less than thirty seconds and he’s pressing into me. My hormones drive me. My body takes the ride. And his hands softly love my body—my breasts, my stomach, and my back. He doesn’t force me but lets me lead. Fast. Hard. Back and forth. The instructions are written in my mind, forcing my body to comply. My lips find his, greedily taking them for myself. He pulls back. “I’m about to come. Without you is hell.”

I moan, needing to hear more. “Come in me. You’re the only man that ever has.”

He bucks his hips upward, driving his pelvis against me. I clamp around him to feel the spasms of his dick as he releases himself inside of me.

Without warning, I orgasm, releasing all the aches, the pains, and the sadness from my body. Because that’s what he does to me. He puts me in a state of chaos, but then leaves me in peace.