Taste (Take It Off #9)(30)
Author: Cambria Hebert

My lips parted. “Most men don’t want anything to do with another man’s child.”

“I’m not most men,” he replied. “And Jack isn’t some other man’s child. He’s yours.”

Emotion welled up inside me, causing my chest to feel tight. I didn’t know what to say. I was so overwhelmed.

He leaned down, hovering just above my lips, his eyes seeking something in mine. I closed the distance and kissed him, hoping he understood everything I was feeling.

“Go shower,” he said when we broke apart. “I got this.”

“You’re sure?”

He reached around me and grabbed my ass. “I’m sure. Save me a spot under the spray.”

I grinned. “‘Kay.”

I left him to clean up the mess from our “snack” and went into my bedroom to get some clean clothes to take into the bathroom with me. On my way out of my closet, clothes clutched in hand, an eerie feeling came over me.

I glanced over my shoulder at the window.

It was open.

It hadn’t been before.

Spencer and I weren’t alone in this house.

16

My clothes hit the ground soundlessly, and I looked around with a powerful sense of fear. I knew for an absolute fact that window had been shut.

And locked.

Since all this started, I was obsessed with checking and rechecking the windows and doors.

I stood stock still, listening for any kind of indication of where the intruder might be. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own ragged breathing.

Flashbacks from the night they first invaded this home rendered me petrified, and all I could think about was getting the hell out.

Not taking another second to think about it, I crept toward the bedroom door and peaked out into the hallway. When I saw no one was there, I rushed to the stairs and crept down.

I heard a sound coming from somewhere behind me, and it was all I could do to not scream. Instead, my heart leapt into my throat, and I rushed down the stairs at warp speed, afraid to look behind me. I rounded the banister and shot forward, running toward the kitchen.

I collided with something hard and gasped.

Spencer grabbed my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s someone in the house,” I whispered.

His face grew angry and dark. My fear increased tenfold. What if Spencer got hurt?

Without another word, he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me off my feet, hauling me back into the kitchen. He grabbed his gun that was lying on the counter (the first time I’d noticed it since he’d arrived, but then again, I was busy) and put a finger up to his lips.

I rolled my eyes.

Did he really think he needed to tell me to be quiet?

He leaned down and spoke low in my ear. “Stay with me.”

Wait a minute. Was he going up there? Shouldn’t we be getting the hell out?

I grabbed hold of his hand and gave it a hard tug. He turned back, holding the gun at his side. I pointed to the door, motioning for us to use it.

He shook his head and held up the gun.

My eyes widened. Was he crazy?

A thump echoed from upstairs, and Spencer started to move. I could only rush after him, unwilling to leave him here alone.

The noise continued as we slowly went up the steps. Spencer kept his finger on the trigger and moved with purpose, using his body as a shield for mine. Whoever was up here seemed to be shut in the small third bedroom at the end of the hall.

I kept all of Jack’s toys in there. Sort of like a playroom. Of course, Jack only ever dragged his toys out of there and into one of our bedrooms or downstairs, so maybe it was more of a storage room.

And now it was harboring a criminal.

As soon as we cleared the top step, both of us stood in the hall, staring at the door I never closed. Suddenly, the sound of high-pitched laughter rang out. I jumped, nearly having a freaking heart attack as this creepy-crawly feeling skittered over my nerves.

Hahahahah. Heehehehehe.

The sound echoed through the quiet house.

I knew it was one of Jack’s toys, but it still scared the shit out of me. I felt my arms shaking and tried to ignore it.

The laughter stopped.

Spencer motioned toward the door and for me to stay where I was. I wrapped my arms around my middle as he crept toward the door, gun drawn and muscles bunched.

He reached out to turn the handle.

I held my breath.

The metal of the round doorknob rattled in his hand as Spencer tried to open the door. He glanced at me with raised eyebrows. I shook my head. I never locked that door. Why would I?

Another thump and more laughter went off from inside.

Hahahahah. Heehehehehe.

I was so throwing that toy in the trash later.

I had one of those key things that opened all the doors in this house. It was like a piece of straight metal with a handle on the end that one could insert into the lock and pop it out to open the door.

I rushed into my room and pulled open my top dresser drawer. After a second of fishing around, my hand closed around it and I rushed back into the hallway and held it up.

Spencer nodded and held up his hand. I tossed it to him and he snatched it out of the air.

Keeping hold of his gun, he moved forward to pop the lock.

This odd feeling, like being watched or of something not being right, came over me. I turned to stare back into my room.

Something was off…

I walked back into the room, staring at everything, trying to understand exactly what felt wrong.

A dark figure came out of nowhere, appearing soundlessly behind me. I didn’t have time to react, to do anything at all. He slapped a hand with a rag over my face and jabbed me in the kidney with his fist.

I hunched over in pain as he dragged me backward into my closet.

Out in the hall, I heard the lock pop and Spencer burst into the other room.

A man wearing a black ski mask and dark clothing shoved me against the wall, pinning me by the throat. The rag he held over my face and mouth was doused in some kind of chemical, and it smelled incredibly sweet.

“This is your last warning, bitch,” the intruder growled. “If he’s not dead by the night of the dignitary dinner, then you will be.”

My brain became fuzzy, overruling the intense fear in my body. I couldn’t struggle. I couldn’t fight back. All my air supply was cut off, my lungs were seizing, and the pain in my throat radiated over my entire body.

Yet, I felt somehow detached.

Unfocused.

Far away.

“You understand?” the man growled, tightening his grip.

From somewhere far away, I heard a cat hiss and meow.