Obsessed (The Protectors #13) - Sloane Kennedy Page 0,5

asked. I tried not to react to the fact that Matias was walking straight toward me.

He should have stopped a few feet away.

Or, at the least, a foot away.

Hell, even half a foot would have been reasonable. Pushy, but still reasonable.

But no, the man just kept coming until he was so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his body and I could smell the spiciness of whatever aftershave or cologne he used. The guy clearly had no concept of boundaries, but with my back against the shed door and his big body in front of me, I had no way of subtly escaping his too-close-for-comfort proximity.

I knew I should probably ask him what the hell he was doing in my backyard, but I was too busy listening to my mind and body going at each other. My brain was telling me to flee while my body was fine with right where it was. In the end, I didn’t have to make either decision because Matias made it for me when he leaned in so his mouth was practically brushing mine.

Almost.

But not quite.

With that one move, he pretty much answered the question of whether he was gay or not. I would have rejoiced over that fact if the man hadn’t chosen that moment to open his mouth and ask the one question I was least expecting.

“When will your husband be back?”

Chapter 3

Matias

I should have just kept my mouth shut because it didn’t really matter where the guy’s husband was. I didn’t care if Sam was married.

Well, okay, I cared, but only because I didn’t usually fuck around with men who were taken. It made things way too complicated and the last thing I wanted was some guy whining to me about how he’d left his husband or boyfriend because of me.

But if the only way I could have Sam was to deal with the baggage he came with, like an absent spouse who didn’t even have the common sense to get his ass back home to protect what was his, then so be it. It was the guy’s loss.

And my gain.

I’d foolishly thought that my need for Sam would wane once I left his house and the adrenaline from the night’s events had worn off, but if anything, being back in my small apartment had only served to make me more restless than usual. I’d spent several hours just walking the streets of Seattle, but it hadn’t done any good. By the time the sun had started to cast its rays over the horizon, I’d already been sitting in my car watching the neighbor’s house where Sam and his kid had gone to stay after the incident.

And I’d pretty much stayed there for the past three days.

Ok, well, maybe I hadn’t stayed there the entire time. I’d spent part of it lurking in first the neighbor’s backyard and then Sam’s in the hopes of getting a glimpse of the man.

I had.

Many.

Too many.

And each one had ratcheted up my need to have him. I didn’t understand it, nor did I care to. All I needed to do was make him mine for however long it took to work him out of my blood for good.

“What did you just say?” Sam asked. Just like that, something switched within him and his nerves were replaced with confusion, then what sounded a lot like anger.

I reached down and gripped his hand with mine, but only so I could run my thumb over his ring. I still didn’t know how I’d managed to miss the thing the night of the attack. “Can’t be too good of a marriage,” I observed.

I wasn’t really surprised when Sam pulled his fingers from mine. A strange ache pierced my chest, but I ignored it. “Most happily married people display their joy on the walls of their home. They don’t hide a single old photograph in their nightstand—”

I was caught off guard when Sam’s palm cracked against my cheek. It stung like a son of a bitch, but that was the extent of it. I was more taken aback by the fury in the man’s eyes as he got in my face and spat, “You don’t get to talk about him… ever! Do you hear me? Ever!”

He tried to shove me away from him so he could move past me, but I grabbed him and shoved him back against the door, then caged him in with my arms. I was so fucking turned on, my dick felt like