Page 43 of Arran's Obsession
At first, we ran apace, neither of us leading or trailing much behind. If the path narrowed, I’d let her go ahead, enjoying thesight of her backside in her tight shorts. When we ran through a short area of pitch-black woodland, she kept closer.
For some reason, that act of trust did something to my brain.
I was ultra aware of her, my skin fucking prickling. The exit to the woodland appeared ahead, and we flew out of it into a meadow. In daylight, this would be full of flowers. Now, it was ghostly strands of long pale grass that moved in a barely there breeze.
Genevieve scanned our surroundings. I was about to speak when she stumbled. I caught her, but her foot came between mine, tripping me. I rolled backwards into the long grass, and she fell, too, with a gasp of breath, landing astride me on the ground.
Right on my lap and directly over my dick.
The woman shot her shocked gaze down my body. “You’re hard.”
“Seems to always be the case when I’m around you.”
“That can’t be comfortable to run with.”
I breathed a laugh, my hands at her hips. “I’ve known worse.”
For a moment, she didn’t move. The rigid length of me was right at the apex of her legs, only the thin material of our shorts separating us. She was mine. My claim. The need surged in me to roll her underneath me and take her.
It hit the brick wall of the fact I’d never touch an unwilling woman. Even a matter of days ago, I hadn’t intended to touch any woman at all, but she’d strode straight through that boundary and smashed it to pieces.
I’d broken my vow for her. It pissed me off.
Ducking her head, Genevieve climbed off me. “Sorry for tripping you.”
We set off again, my dick even more uncomfortable. I didn’t fucking care.
We’d circled the mansion, and the path turned us back towards it.
Genevieve spoke fast. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but it’s important to me that you hear my side of things when it comes to how I got into the basement.”
I shrugged, keeping my pace steady and matching hers. “That’s fair. I’ve asked you to believe the apparently unbelievable. It’ll make things easier if there’s some understanding between us.”
She shot me a dubious look. “I last saw my father nearly two weeks ago. He’s been missing and won’t answer my messages. The night I ran in front of your car, two men had been around to our flat and posted an eviction notice on the door.”
“That’s why you were distracted?”
“It was part of it. After the accident, I went to find my brother. His girlfriend said that Dad has been hanging out with a woman who’s a stripper. The reason I came to your club was to trace her, and therefore my father.”
I frowned, and she continued speed talking as if needing the words out.
“I asked a few of the people who worked there and peeked at the rota outside the dressing room. No luck.”
“So you came back and lied to get inside for a second go?”
“Exactly. I needed to reach the other floor.” She bounced as she ran, her eyes bright. “Nothing to do with you or your game. I didn’t know anything about it. So you believe me then? I just wanted to find my father. Without him, I can’t negotiate with the landlord about the money he owes. And I don’t even know what he’s done with the rent money because Riordan and I paid it to him.”
“What’s her name?”
“The stripper? Sydney.”
My stomach tightened. I stopped on the path.
Genevieve halted, too. “You know her?”
“She used to work for me, right up until about a month ago when she joined another gang.”
Sydney had stolen the other women’s cash tips and run for it. I’d had confirmation of where she’d gone from a snide message from Red, the leader of the Four Milers, a rival gang. He’d once vowed to take every one of my women.