“I understand.” She chewed on her lip. “If it helps, I am sorry.”
“I know you are.” I took step toward her and steadied myself. I felt my heart beating so hard it vibrated my skin. I reached out and touched her cheek then pulled her against me.
I held her tight and kissed her hair. She hugged me back, burying her face in my chest, and for a moment we stayed like that, bodies intertwined. I didn’t want the moment to stop—I know that sooner or later, she’d put herself in harm’s way, and every time that happened I couldn’t guarantee she’d come out of it in one piece.
I needed her, and that really fucked me up.
She pulled back and I stooped to kiss her. She kissed me back, taking a deep breath as she did it. Her taste flooded my lips and I felt a growl at my throat. She purred like a kitten as I steered her back toward the counter then lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around my hips as my hands moved down her body, along her hips, and down between her legs.
I unbuttoned her jeans and got them off then kissed her neck as my fingers caressed over her panties. She groaned into my mouth and I could feel her wet making the cotton damp. She wiggled her hips and I pushed her panties aside, letting my fingers glide up and down her gorgeous slit, making her groan, deep and throaty and gorgeous.
I grabbed her hair with my other hand and pressed two fingers deep inside her. She groaned then gasped as I bit her lip and stared into her eyes.
“I don’t want you to go on this stupid mission. I want you to stay here, soaking wet, wearing nothing, waiting for me to come home to please you. I want you to come for me, again and again, because you’re mine, my little diamond, my beautiful thing. You’re all mine. I’m not the kind of man that shares or risks losing something he wants.”
“And I’m something you want?” She blinked, stared into my eyes as I pulled my fingers back and teased her clit.
“That’s right.”
“You know this is right. If it works—”
“If it works, but that’s not a definite.”
“If it works, it could end the war before it really begins.”
I moved faster along her clit as she let out soft moans and gasps. “I don’t want to risk you anymore. We’ve come too far for that.”
“You have to.” Her body tensed and she tossed back her head. “Oh god, Owain.”
“I’m not about to let you go.” I licked her faster as she gripped my hair tight and rolled her hips against my mouth. I could taste her pleasure and I wanted her to feel it, wanted her to know how badly I needed her now, how she’d come into my life and I knew I couldn’t let her go—no matter what happened, no matter where we ended up.
Fuck, she was mine, all mine, and as she came on my tongue, her moans filling my mind, her taste flooding my mouth, I knew I’d never stop, never back down.
I pulled up as her orgasm passed and kissed her. I kissed her long and deep, let her taste her own cum on my tongue, then looked into her eyes.
“I’ll trust you if you trust me.”
“I can do that.”
“Good.” I bit her lower lip gently. “Then we’ll do this together.”
I pulled her against me and held her tight, my mind a mess of conflicting feelings—but for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a future, like there was something worth fighting for.24LeighI sat behind the wheel of a rented white van and stared out the windshield at Twenty-first street.
Nothing happened. It was a quiet evening, the moon shone through the trees, an old couple sat on a stoop and watched everyone that passed, and I sat there wondering how I found myself in this position.
In the back, crouched down among a stack of wooden crates, was Owain.
I couldn’t talk to him. That was part of the deal. If Clifton and his guys were watching then they’d be suspicious if they saw me start talking.
The plan was simple in idea, but complicated in execution. Late last night, Owain hid in the back of an unmarked white van, and earlier this evening I went through the motions of renting that van and helping Viktor fill the back up with crates. Owain was stuck back there and had been for almost twenty-four hours. He went in with water, an extra bottle, and some food, since he wouldn’t be able to leave for any reason at all, and I hadn’t heard a word from him.
Since Owain was never around, or at least never in sight, the Jackals wouldn’t expect him to be hidden back there. After the back was full, I got behind the wheel and took a long, circuitous route through south Philly, almost as if I were trying to shake anyone following me—when in reality, I was going nice and slow and hoping that the Jackals weren’t so stupid that they’d let me go.