Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
He locked both hands on her hips and started moving. Relentless. Not sloppy. Not gentle. Just pure intent. Every thrust was a promise, a mark, a vow that no one else would ever have this. No one would see her like this, hear her like this. Not while he was breathing. The thoughts ran through his head, and he didn’t fight them. Not right now. Later.
She took all of him. Back arched. Hips lifting to meet him. Her breath broke apart, and her body felt slick and furnace hot around his cock.
He leaned in, his chest brushing her back, his lips near her ear. “You’ll stay safe. Say it.”
She gasped, her voice thin. “I will. I promise.”
That undid him in a way nothing else ever had.
He drove deeper, arms wrapping around her, anchoring her against him. He could feel every breath she took. Every tremble. She was real. She was here. A perfect package of beauty, brains, and kindness so pure it stole his breath. Every time.
Each muscle in his body stayed keyed in, his hearing picking up every creak and shift outside the room. The wind had changed again. Something metal rattled on the roof. No danger coming for them. For now.
She clenched around him, her body pulsing hard, and he felt her teeter on the edge.
He didn’t let up. Not now.
Her hands gripped the table hard. She jerked once, her whole body seizing around him. Her orgasm tore through her, raw and shaking, and her cry hit him like shrapnel. Her body clenched around him, so tight he might never get free. Was just fine with that.
Only then did he let go.
He came inside her, a deep sound pulled from his gut. His grip didn’t ease, not until he was spent, still buried in her, chest against her back.
The table creaked under their weight. Her body sagged, breath uneven, arms trembling. He stayed inside her, forehead pressed to the back of her neck, heart still hammering like he could smell danger coming. Because it was.
And he’d do anything, obliterate any line, to keep her safe. Some people respected him, and some people feared him. Not one of them had any idea what he could do, what he would do, to protect someone he loved. He slowly withdrew from her, nearly seeing stars when her internal walls gripped him on the way out.
Love?
As was his nature, he accepted the thought because it held truth. Most men in love became softer. Kinder. Easier. That wasn’t in his nature. Protecting and defending was. Even if he had to be the ice-cold weapon they’d trained.
So be it.
After a long-ass day working as a consultant to the AWT, Christian finally relaxed when he walked into the tavern, the previous evening still with him. He’d taken Amka three more times during the night at his place, where he much preferred she stay the entire day. She had, of course, argued with him until he brought her into town. He’d had Ace waiting, and he’d been on Amka duty all day.
Christian hoped they’d found time to plan their enterprises while he and Dutch had canvassed most of the area with pictures of the two unknown and now eyeless victims. He’d done his best to describe the third victim who had disappeared, but finally, he stepped into town to see Dutch and Brock sitting with Ace by the fireplace. Nixi was bustling around, handing out drinks.
Everything in him went stone cold, and then immediately warmed, when Amka walked through the door from the kitchen, delivering plates of burgers to people talking into their phones at a long table. Why didn’t they just talk to each other? Christian clocked everyone’s position in under a second and noted Eli Warner’s widow sitting at a table, talking with one of those influencers.
The blond guy. Steve somebody.
Christian lifted an eyebrow and looked over at Dutch, who shrugged. Interesting. Christian gave Steve a look, and the man paled slightly. Good. Only an asshole would take advantage of the vulnerable widow. Christian kicked back a chair once he reached the table. “I got nothing all day.”
“Ditto.” Dutch scrubbed both hands down his well-worn face. “Nobody recognized the two victims. I had three pukers.”
“I had one lady pass out,” Christian grumbled, “Maybe we should have an artist render pictures of what they looked like before they had their eyes gouged out.”
Dutch nodded thoughtfully. “You know, that ain't a bad idea.”
Brock snorted. “You guys couldn’t think of that to start with?”
Ace rolled his eyes, which were shockingly clear. “Amka was safe all day. I saw no threats, although that Steve guy over there flirted with her a few times, and the stupid insurance adjuster kept bugging her until I snapped at the woman. She stormed out.”
“Thanks,” Christian said. He’d have to get the scoop on that later. He jerked his head toward the two at the table. “Please tell me that poor widow isn’t giving an—”