Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 148220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
“Don’t know. Blowback’s good at covering his tracks, but it might be that digging around online tipped them off that someone was looking at Johnson, and they took him out just in case. Or it might have nothing to do with us and they killed him for another reason. But they’d have to work real fucking hard to connect those cars driving by his house to us and where we are now. So we’ll sit tight for a bit and rest up. You all right?”
I nod. “I think so.”
“Tired?”
I shake my head. “Too wired.”
“Yeah, you’ll crash soon. Come here.” He draws me in against his big body, kisses me hard. “You want me to wear you out?”
I throw my arms around his neck. “God, yes.”
* * *
He wears me out so well. I can barely move later, lying in bed and half sprawled across his chest, feeling wonderfully sleepy and deliciously sore in all the right places…and my worry gone. But then, he always does this to me. I’ve spent so many days recently dreading and fearing the worst. Yet the second he touches me, it all goes away.
“So what’s the plan now?” I ask drowsily.
He kisses the top of my head. “Sleep.”
“But after that?”
“It’s supposed to stop snowing tonight. So we’ll try to get a flight out tomorrow morning and get our asses back to the ranch.”
And back to the protection of the club. “What about your motorcycle?”
“I’ll sort it out.”
“Are we going to tell Creek about Gerald Johnson?”
“Pretty sure Blowback already has. Because if Papa’s looking for us, but federal agents hop right on Johnson’s death…maybe it’ll distract him and his security.”
“Do you think he’s looking for us?”
Frustration roughens his voice. “I don’t know.”
And he obviously hates not knowing. “You said Blowback was good at covering his tracks. And we did a good job covering ours, too. Didn’t we?”
“Yeah, we did.”
But Stone must not be depending on that alone to keep us safe. His gun’s on the nightstand, within easy reach. And I have no doubt that he’s proficient with it. That he’s trained with weapons and knows exactly what he’s doing.
But that might not save him.
I sigh heavily. “I wish we were still back at the cabin, wallowing in your cum.”
“Wallowing?” A laugh shakes his big body beneath mine. “Why?”
“Because I didn’t know about Matt yet,” I say and his laughter quiets, his arms tightening around me. “Do you know what I think about most?”
“What’s that, angel?”
“The way Victor did it. How it was such a waste of how hard Matt fought to get where he was. All that training, all that work. And in the end, he couldn’t do anything, because I’m the gun they’re holding to his head.” My throat constricts unbearably. “He deserved so much better than being forced to his knees and put down like a dog who couldn’t even bite back.”
“Yeah, he did,” Stone says gruffly.
My tears leak onto his shoulder. “Crash must have been so grateful to you.”
He stiffens. “Why would you say that?”
“Because that’s what he was going to do, wasn’t it? He wasn’t going to fight you. He’d have refused and then the guards would have shot him. Isn’t that true?”
“Yeah, it is.” His voice sounds raw, as if his throat’s burning like mine is.
“It would have been the same as what happened to Matt. To save you, Crash wouldn’t have fought. Even though not fighting must have gone against everything he was. You gave him another way out, though. And I know…I know it hurt you so bad. But the Cage stole the dignity of every man who died in there—and you helped Crash keep his.”
“Doesn’t feel like I did.”
“I know. Just like you say that Matt would have been glad just to keep me safe. It doesn’t feel like that’s worth much.”
“It is,” he tells me. “It’s everything.”
“It must have been to Crash, too. To do the one thing he could that mattered. And that was saving you.”
“Fuck.” His voice sounds so thick, and his arms wrap so tight around me. “Don’t wreck me like this, Maxine. Not while I’m naked and sober and supposed to be on guard.”
I give a watery laugh against his skin. “Okay. Next time we’re drunk.”
“Sounds good.” His mouth presses to my temple. “Sleep now.”
I do. Throughout the day I’m vaguely aware of Stone sitting near the window, where he can see anyone coming or going without exposing himself. Watching over me. He smells like coffee and toothpaste when he begins kissing me gently awake, stretched out on the bed beside me and fully clothed.
“You’ve been sleeping all day, girl,” he says while nuzzling my neck. “Let’s go out and get something to eat.”
“Nah,” I say like he does. “I’ve got something real meaty to eat right here.”
While he laughs, I push him onto his back, begin kissing my way down his shirt-covered chest. Then I hear the soft click of the door unlatching behind me, and feel his body stiffen—and there’s no thinking about what comes next. Before I even met this man, saving him is what I intended to do…but now it matters more than anything else could. Because Stone’s fast, but his gun’s on the nightstand and they’re already coming into the room. So I just need to give him that extra second so he can protect himself.