D O V E 

My head was pounding like someone was banging on it with a hammer. The last thing I remembered was the group of shirtless men coming out of the woods before the world turned to darkness. I didn't know how long I had been out of it, or where I was currently. The only reason that I was awake at the moment was due to the angry whispers echoing around me. These people didn't understand the definition of whisper because it was like they were screaming in my ears.

I found myself tuning into one voice, specifically. His voice. A voice I was certain I would know anywhere for some strange reason.

"You're all a bunch fucking idiots, you specifically." I knew he must have pointed at one of the men who had startled me. "What were you planning to do with her if I hadn't shown up?" Rhys questioned in a low voice that had the hairs on my arms standing on end.

"I was only trying to scare her a little so she'd leave. She was the one that knocked herself out." Someone replied with amusement and no remorse. My cheeks burned as I recalled the fact that I had tried to run away, only to slip and tumble down the stairs, knocking my head against something.

"And now she's inside the house, passed out on my couch. Good fucking plan." Rhys remarked, not impressed. I repressed the urge to shiver at the harshness of his tone. I shifted on the couch as there were a couple more words murmured softly around me in response.

I blinked my eyes open, taking in the world around me. I was laying down on a leather couch that smelled like clove cigarettes. Above me stood several men, staring down at me with varying expressions of interest. I pushed back deeper into the cushions as I met the familiar green-eyed stare. Another shiver rushed through my body, heat pooling in my stomach as it had last night.

"Can you please stop staring at me?" I asked as I licked my dry lips. Rhys cleared his throat, casting his glare around the small group of men, which seemed to do the trick. They all scurried from the room like they had found out that I was infected with some kind of skin eating bacteria. I let out a small sigh, feeling a little bit more at ease. "That really is quite the talent you have there."

I made a move to sit up, but when I pushed up, the pain in my head intensified. "Ow!" I winced, closing my eyes again.

"I wouldn't move around much. You probably have a concussion," Rhys said. I opened my right eye to chance a peek in his direction and found him staring down at me with a weighted look. I knew that look, I had gotten it a number of times in my life growing up. It was the look that said I was in trouble but a suitable punishment had yet to be decided.

I sighed in annoyance as I reached up, cradling my aching head in my hand. "Do you think you could spare something for my head? It's killing me," I murmured, hoping that he would take some more pity on me before he got into whatever lecture and punishment he wanted to deliver. I heard the sound of him leaving the room – heavy footsteps growing distant to be followed by cupboards opening and the rush of water escaping a tap. He returned a moment later with a glass of water and a Tylenol bottle in the other. He held them out towards me and I took them with a sigh.

I sat up a bit and popped the pills onto my tongue before swallowing it down with a large gulp of water. I held the glass back to him and he took it. I prayed silently that the medicine would be fast acting as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the sofa.

I could feel the heat of Rhys anger. His eyes branded me with it. I opened my eyes slowly to meet his narrowed gaze. "Just what the hell are you doing out here, Dove? Do you not have any common sense? Did any part of you think that maybe there might have been a good reason for the large locked gate and the 'no trespassing sign'?" he growled, making me flinch back.

My cheek blazed with embarrassment and anger. How dare he try to call me stupid! The only reason that I was out here in the first place was because of his issue with respecting other people's boundaries. I turned my face away from him, not wanting to meet his burning gaze. "Don't yell at me. I have the headache of the century and you're not helping." I wasn't going to put up with anyone talking to me like that.

He sucked in a breath between his clenched teeth. "I apologize. Please explain to me why you were wandering around the property? How did you get here?"

I peered over at him, though I kept my body angled away from him. "A man at the post office gave me your address. I had to tell him you knocked me up, though, before he would give it to me." I felt my cheeks heat up again as I revealed that tidbit of information to him. His lips twitched, the suspicion in his eyes turning to amusement which helped ease the tension in my body.

"Just so you know, I wasn't wandering around. I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about the 'protection detail'," I remarked, lifting a brow as I waited for him to try and deny it.

"What about it?" He didn't seem all that remorseful – as if this was a normal thing that happened between two strangers all time.

"What about it?" I questioned back in stunned confusion. "Well let's start with everything."

He blinked – slow and bored. One would think I was some simpering female from his reaction. It only made my anger burn hotter. I clenched my hand into a tight fist.

"I don't know you and you don't know me. It was completely inappropriate. I wouldn't like it if someone I did know, did something like that...let alone a complete stranger." I was breathing a little heavier as my emotions about the situation got the better of me.

"You weren't supposed to know anyone was there," he replied with annoyance.

I wanted to scream. "That's not the point. The point is that no one should have been there in the first place – no one but me." I spoke through clenched teeth.

Rhys frowned and turned his face away. I watched as he reached up and rubbed his neck. "You seemed rather nervous the other night. I thought maybe you were in some kind of trouble. I was only looking to help you rest easier." He formed his words carefully as if he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. He turned back to me eyes narrowed. "Did Dace do something to upset you?"

"No, he...he didn't do anything." He obviously didn't see what he had done as wrong, and I doubted that he would from the way he was talking. What a clueless man. "In the future – if a woman seems distraught, ask her about it. Don't just run off making rash decisions when you have no idea what is going on."

"If I had asked you what was wrong last night would you've told me?"

His question took me by surprise, along with the intensity of his stare. I wet my lips. "No."

"You are in some kind of trouble then."

My eyebrows shot up. He had trapped me with his words and I'd had fallen right in. I quickly turned my face from his. "I never said that."

"You didn't need to."

I frowned. I didn't like that he could read me so easy. I didn't like that I lost control of myself when I was around him. I forced myself to turn back to him and meet his gaze. I'd come here to make him understand and I could tell I was failing. He seemed more agreeable when he had a drink in him – and I liked him more when I had one in me.

"Won't you at least apologize for what you did?"

"Why should I apologize? All you've done is proved that I made the right choice." He crossed his arms over his chest. And my frown deepened at the way his jaw set in stubbornness. He was a man who got his way – more often then he should.

"I would like to leave, please. Now," I rasped out in a small demand. I was definitely over being in this house – I was over having this conversation. I didn't have the energy at the moment to deal with this.

He scanned my face silently for a moment. "You're obviously not fit to drive yourself at the moment. So, I guess that means I'll have to take you." He leaned down toward me bringing our faces closer together.

My heart jolted with fear and excitement as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and his other hand slid between my thighs and the sofa cushion. He met my gaze with muted desire, similar to the other night at the bar.

"What are you doing?" I asked him in a soft voice.

"Wrap your arms around my neck. I'm going to carry you." His voice was gruff, but his touch was gentle. It caused the heat in my lower stomach to bloom. God, this man was too much. One moment he was arrogant and stubborn – the next...he was whatever the hell this was.

"I can walk. I bumped my head...my legs work just fine."

He met my gaze with a seriousness. "You won't be steady enough on your feet to walk the length of my driveway at a speed that will get you home anytime soon. It will be much easier on both of us if you just let me carry you." Rhys waited to hear my agreement, though I had a feeling that if I denied his offer he would carry me anyways.

Having no strength left in me to fight – I leaned into him, closing my eyes. "Fine. Just don't drop me."