Free Breathing His Air by Debra Kayn

He sucked air through his teeth. His woman had a diamond stud in her belly button.
    “Rain.” She waved her hand in front of him. “What did you want to say to me?”
    “You’re staying.” He tilted his head to the right, glanced down at her stomach again. “Babe … ” he murmured.
    “What?”
    He whistled. “That’s sexy.”
    Her abdomen muscles undulated, and she slapped a hand over the diamond piercing. “I’m leaving.”
    His head snapped up. “No.”
    “Yes.”
    “Dammit, Tori.” He stepped closer. “I know what happened here the other night scared you, babe, but you’re protected. I have guards on you round the clock. Nothing will happen.”
    “What are you talking about?” She shrank back against his desk. “Guards?”
    “Yeah.” He frowned. “You’ll be safe.”
    “You’ve told me I should go … this many times.” She raised her hands, fingers sprawled as if giving him the sign that he was an idiot.
    “Changed my mind.” He waited. “We’ll keep you safe, and you’ll continue serving coffee to the whole town.”
    “That’s not going to work out.” She wet her lips with her tongue and rolled them together. “I’m not staying.”
    “You are.” He leaned against the door, blocking her exit.
    “Stop saying that.”
    “You came here to set up your business. You did that. I claimed you as my woman, so you stay, and you do your job,” he said.
    “I’m serious. I’m no one’s woman.” She flapped her hand in his face. “Especially not yours. You can’t stamp me, claim me, or call dibs. I’m not some prize or … biker toy.”
    He threw back his head and laughed. She was such a bozo, and he couldn’t help himself. A riled Tori was a huge turn-on. “You’re cute.”
    “Knock it off.”
    He wiggled his brows. “We can stand here and argue, or you can come here and we’ll make up.”
    She snorted. “You’re pathetic.”
    Not wanting to push her so far she’d stop listening to him, he smiled gently. “Stay. Work the three months you paid for. Let me take care of you.”
    “You don’t get it. I don’t want you to do anything for me.” She looked away and when she continued, she whispered, “I don’t want you to keep bothering me.”
    He pulled her over to him, not letting go of her hand. “Listen. You didn’t ask for it, and you don’t want it, but you need it. You’ve parked your shack on Bantorus land. Things have changed. I’ve changed my mind. Got it?”
    “No,” she whispered.
    He inhaled deeply. “Pitnam’s our territory. Lagsturns are visiting. They don’t get along.”
    “I get that, but it doesn’t have anything to do with me,” she said.
    “Damn it.” He hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze. “Nothing goes down in Pitnam that we don’t know about. We … everyone in Bantorus makes sure of that. If there’s trouble, we take care of it ourselves. In return, it’s our base.”
    “Who are the Lagsturns?”
    “Bad news.” He leaned closer. “They deal.”
    “Deal what?”
    “Everything. Drugs, women, imports, stolen goods. Anything they can get their hands on, and they’re not afraid to try and take what is ours.” He clamped his teeth together and forced himself to go on and tell her the truth. “That includes my woman, who they’ve already tried to pick up. And because I saved your ass, took you as mine so they’d leave you alone, that means you’re my woman and a bargaining chip in their war, to get to me.”
    “But I’m not yours. This is just … archaic.” She shook her head. “I’ll just leave. I wasn’t planning on staying in Pitnam after my lease expired. I travel all over. It’s what I do.”
    “I can’t let you, because I don’t trust them not to follow you.” He lifted his chin and sniffed the air. “What’s that smell?”
    She shook her head. “What?”
    He walked to the open window and peered outside. A billow of smoke floated into view around the corner of the building.