SIX

DRACO.

Draco awakened with a jolt, another night terror, the same as always. He had left Stacey on the bed and opted to sleep in the living room for this particular reason. He got up and tiptoed to check on her, the morning light was starting to seep into the room, he adjusted the window blinds in an attempt to block out the light. She looked perfect, asleep in his bed, completely at peace, her gorgeous body splayed on his bed, sated from their lovemaking the previous night. She still had the bandage concealing the gun injury she had earlier the previous day. Someone was making an attempt on her life and it put him on edge. Something told him it might as well be the same person who'd hired him to get her assassinated before. He felt like he needed to tell her the truth,come clean as they were already making progress in their relationship, but he didn't know how to. 'Hey I was hired to kill you, but I didn't' isn't exactly the best thing to say to someone you're in a relationship with obviously. There had to be another away, he wanted to tell her the truth, before another person did, but he also needed to find Stacey's troll and fast, couldn't have anybody threatening her life like that. He looked at her once again, his eyes raked over her delicate frame, he couldn't resist touching her, so he settled on the bed, his hands treading softly through her hair, careful not to wake her up. She stirred a little, he felt her relax against him and something in him stirred. He wanted to protect her, to always keep her safe, she was his to keep and he intended for it to remain that way. His eyes were still fixed on her leg, he'll have to drive her to the hospital once she was fully awake and refreshed, he'd been able to take the bullet out(thanks to the survival and few medical classes he took while he was still in the navy), but he wanted her examined and certified fully well by an expert too. He leaned down to nuzzle a kiss against her forehead, taking a whiff of her hair. God, how he loved the smell of her hair, it smelled soft and sweet and feminine, just like the rest of her, he buried his nose deeper in her hair and heard her chuckle.

" I don't know how long I can continue to pretend to be asleep" Stacey smiled, rubbing her eyes sheepishly, her morning breath fanned his face. He took another moment to take in her features, her hair was all tousled from sleep and their love making. The morning sun swept over her face, highlighting every area of it, her lips were slightly bruised from their passionate kissing, a light blush spread across her cheeks, adding color to her pale morning face, she was watching him watch her. She was so beautiful, the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, he was so sure of that now in this moment. She returned his stares, watching him from her eyelids, her bright, starry eyes moving almost in unison with his. Several minutes passed by and all they did was sit and stare at each other, neither one of them making an attempt to get up. He reached for her face, cupping her cheek in his palm and kissed her passionately, reverently, savoring every inch of her lips, he let out a sigh " Goddd, your lips Stacey" he murmured between kisses. She moved towards him, deepening the kiss. He licked and sucked and nipped at her lips, she bit at his lip, making him moan sharply. They stayed on the bed some more trading kiss for kiss, nuzzling each other and basking in the morning glow.

Hours later and they were seated having his infamous avocado toast for breakfast, making jokes and throwing banters. He could do this everyday for the rest of his life, seat with her every morning for breakfast and laugh like they were doing now, he was enjoying the moment and he didn't want it to end. " Does your leg still hurt you?" he queried her.

" Just a little, its fine honestly, thank you so much for everything" she countered. He knew he looked visibly worried "we're still going to see the doctor either ways" he said, finishing up the last of his toast.

He'd finally dropped Stacey off at the hospital, leaving her in the care of her parents. He'd avoided meeting them, he didn't want that commitment right now, it was just him and Stacey and it was perfect, he didn't want the external family drama right now. The doctor had assured him everything was okay, just a minor operation was needed to get the remaining bullet fragments out, so there was also no need for him to stay. Besides, he had work to do, he was going to take Stacey's advice and reach out to one of his not so old friends, who might be of help in unraveling the identify of whoever was trying to harm her.

He picked up his phone and dialed Tyler's number. Unlike the rest of his former crew, he still kept close contact with Tyler. They'd been friends since the first day he went into Navy training, unlike him, Tyler was friendlier, more of a people's person and was a really likeable person, he was the only person that knew of his whereabouts, he'd told Tyler before he took this job and Incase anything was to happen to him, he was in full responsibility of his only family ( his grandmother). They'd always acted like brothers since the day they met, sharing everything and going everywhere together. He trusted Tyler's judgement about literally anything. He was the best person to give him an unbiased view on this situation and probably trace whoever had eyes out for Stacey. He'd always known Tyler had contacts almost everywhere who could find shit out real quick. They'd always joked about him working for the FBI if he wasn't in the navy.

Tyler answered on the first ring, typical him. He told him all about bronze city and all its many attractions (excluding Stacey, the only attraction in the town that mattered to him at that point). He knew he was going to talk about her eventually, what he didn't want was Tyler's never ending teasing and probing for private info, he just wanted to get the necessary information from him and leave it at that, even though he knew that it was practically impossible.

"Sure you just called to check on me?" Tyler asked with a light chuckle in his voice that he recognized as teasing. He'd exhausted all his options at stalling, and Tyler knew he wasn't one to call for no reason. "What's the real issue mate? C'mon spill... Is it a woman?" Tyler prodded with a hint of a smile in his voice. " Its not a woman, well... its about a woman, not just a woman..." God he was exasperated, Tyler was a case. He took a deep breath and spent the next forty-five minutes trying to explain everything that happened since he got into bronze city and met Stacey, while Tyler listened patiently on the other end.

He explained the continuous threats on Stacey's life and how he had no idea who was responsible for it, and how it made him very apprehensive.

"Hmm" Tyler breathed, once he was done with his explanation. "So from what I gather, someone is trying to harm your woman and you need to know who it is, so you could give him or her a good thrashing, yeah?" Tyler did a dramatic pause for effect "andddd... this woman's posed to be the person you're supposed to assassinate... okay this is crazy man" he laughed at the mix of things.

Draco hated the mix of things too, his other jobs had been less complicated, infact they were no complications at all. Now Stacey had come and changed everything, and he knew nothing would ever be the same, Lord knew how bad he wanted to keep her safe and he was ready to do anything for that cause.

"You know what? I'm coming to the bronze city, tis an interesting one and besides, I need to see the woman that's got my boy all worked up, must be no ordinary woman" Draco could feel Tyler's smirk through the phone everytime he said 'woman'. Stacey was no ordinary woman all right, that he fully agreed with.

"Imma be there as soon as I can, not gonna let you navigate through this alone man, good thing you called me, I'll be there real soon".

They talked some more, made plans and arrangements, discussing routes and everything Tyler needed to know about the city. He was really happy Tyler was coming, he wasn't going to admit it, but he really missed the company, he'd been a loner for a while now before Stacey, he hadn't been in the company of men because, if he was going to be honest with himself, he still didn't feel like one, real men he knew, kept their word and he wasn't able to keep his, the shame and guilt hung over his head and something in him knew he was never going to recover if he wouldn't be able to protect Stacey. He had failed once and he wasn't going to do so again .

He'd barely dropped his phone, when Stacey called. The sound of her voice brought a smile to his face.

"I've been trying to call you for the past hour goddamit, your phone's been busy, who were you talking to for that long?" she queried.

" You know that my friend I was telling you about? Well its him, and he's coming to the bronze city. A blast yh?"

"Phew" she breathed " for a second, I thought it was someone else, maybe a girlll, dunno why my mind went there". He chuckled into the receiver, he didn't know her to be that jealous, and he didn't think she had any idea of how much he adored her, no other girl could ever come close.

"Lmaoo, Stacey I adore you, I wouldn't be on the phone that long anyways if it wasn't really important, I don't really fancy calling or picking calls, unless its you of course" he smiled into the receiver again. "So how's your body now?" he queried "what did the doctor say?When am I coming to get my angel?" He felt Stacey blush through the phone.

"One at a time"she replied laughing"Your angel's fine and the doctor's certified me free to go. Was actually calling you to come get me, I hate hospitals" she scoffed " and... don't worry about my parents, they're not around anymore. Caught you running from them earlier" she said teasingly. "Why did you run earlier tho,my parents are chill people"

He knew Stacey was slightly offended and was just trying to mask it with the occasional laughing, he just didn't want any external interference and pressure at this point and he didn't want to rush things. He hoped she understood and saw things from his own POV.

" I was scared Stace, I don't what type of people your parents are, was scared they wouldn't like me. Plus I didn't want any interrogations" he gave her a moment to register the information, it was a dumb excuse anyway, hopefully it would be enough to keep her out of his hair for now, before he was properly ready to meet them."I'm coming to get you now" he finished, ending the call, not waiting for a response.

He'd gone to the hospital, signed all the necessary papers for her discharge, but Stacey didn't seem too happy. She just kept on giving him one-worded replies. The ride back to his place was the most silent it'd ever been. She wouldn't even let him touch her hands, the one confirmation he needed to know she was very very pissed.

"I'll be gone by morning" was the first thing she said once they'd settled in for the night.

Well at least she hadn't become speech impaired as he feared.

They stayed in silence in the room for what felt like ages, him on the floor, her on the bed before she finally decided to speak out

" What do you mean you're not ready to meet my parents, I thought we were serious or are we just fucking now?"

"Stace, I..." but she barely let him complete his sentence before she continued with her rants.

"Stupid me, thought you actually liked me, guess Tess was right, no wonder I don't know any of your friends, heck I don't even know anything about you, you're like a closed door, wasn't even asking you to marry me or anything like that. What am I saying? Obviously I'm just another temporary lover. Goodnight" she turned away from him, she was finally done talking.

Draco had many questions in his head and he was trying to stifle his laugh. First who the fuck was Tess and how could she come to all this dumb conclusions. It was so funny to him, he didn't even think meeting her parents now was such a big deal to her, if he'd knew maybe he would've considered undergoing the ordeal to please her, plus he didn't have any friends for her to meet, at least she was going to meet Tyler once he came, surely she knew that and was just tripping.

He stood up from where he lay and went to join her on the bed, he felt her relax once he settled in, a good sign even though she was turned away from him.

"I'm sorry Stace. You mean a lot to me, and I think you know that, I'm sorry I chickened out. And who the fuck is Tess and why's she the third party in our relationship and I don't about it" he said half laughing.

She turned to face him, cutting his laugh fit off. "Tess is my best friend, I told her about us, guess I was too quick seeing as you haven't told your friends you claim not to have anything about us and I trust her judgement" she scoffed.

"Arghhh, c'mon na, so you trust hers and you don't trust mine, besides... I did tell one of my friends about you, I don't keep company that much and you know that" he replied, leaning closer as he did. He gave her a light kiss on her shoulder and watched her exhale, he loved that he had this effect on her.

"Face me please" he pleaded, and she obliged, that was easy, battle won he smiled to himself . He kissed her some more, on her face, her ears and watched her take sharp breaths. He didn't think he could get over her ever so he kissed her some more, this time on her lips, savoring the taste with each kiss. He slipped his hands under her shirt, well technically his, but he liked it better on her anyways, maybe he'd let her keep it he thought as his hands found her full breasts, he kneaded softly, enjoying her soft moans of pleasure that followed with every touch of his. He wanted to feel her with his mouth, he took her shirt off as he positioned himself on top her. His mouth found one of her pink, perfect, fully aroused nipples and the cry that escaped from her lips did crazy things to him. He sucked hard, making her cry some more, he swirled his tongue round in wet circles around the nipple in his mouth, kneading the other softly with his hands and she whimpered, but he wasn't nearly done. His mouth replaced his hands on her other nipple and she was all but begging him now. God she was so hot like that, coming undone in his bed. He sucked and bit at her nipples, fisting his hands in her hair as he did so. His bulge was trapped between her legs and he could feel some of the wetness from there.

Parting her legs with his, he licked a trail from her stomach, she wriggled against him once he found her sensitive spot with his mouth. He licked her in circles through her panties, and she cried some more,one of his hands was still fisted in her hair, holding her down. A few more licks and she was writhing in pleasure, begging him, letting him taste her orgasm through her panties.

"Fuckkkk, you drive me crazy" she muttered, finally finding her voice when she had come down from her high." Its my turn now" she smiled at him, motioning to his shorts.

"Stace, you don't have to..." he really didn't want it to look like she was returning a favor.

"Shut up and pull down them darn shorts" she countered, cutting him off mid sentence, hurrying to pull it off herself. He decided he liked commanding and domineering Stacey just as much. She got him out of his shorts in no time and her mouth found his hard rock dick. Her mouth was so warm and wet, it drove him insane. " Shitttt... Arghhh... Stace" he couldn't even form complete sentences at this point, not with the way she was sucking hard on his cap, her tongue teasing the opening on it, he didn't know how long he could keep up. He pumped harshly, filling her mouth with him as he did.

He gritted his teeth, all he could do to stop himself from coming right then as her hands caressed his balls. She met his eyes, smiling as she did wicked things to him with her mouth. He pumped faster into her mouth, his hands holding her hair in place, jeez he was so close, she did some 'magic trick' with her tongue again and he swore under his breath. This girl was going to kill him at this rate, he decided. A few more pumps later and he was done, filling her mouth with all of it as he did.

They finally returned to the bed sated, after some more sessions in the bathroom as they tried to get clean. He was the 'big spoon' this night as she liked to call it, he held her tight to his body as his hands continued to play with her breasts. He really loved her breasts, they fit so perfectly into his palms. The whole tension from earlier had calmed down, the moment was perfect and he loved it, wished it would stay that way. He kissed the nape of her neck and fell asleep almost immediately, and this time there were no nightmares.