Blaze (Virtues & Lies 3)

“Protecting you isn’t enough anymore,” I tell her without deviating my stare. My voice is cold with the knowledge of all the things I still have to do. “I have to end this for you and her.”

“You didn’t have to break my heart to do that.” She clutches at her chest with both of her hands, even the one still in mine. “I thought I’d lost you forever without telling you how much you mean to me.”

But I’ve always known, even when we were fucking around…I knew. It’s why I kept going back for just one more fuck or one more fight.

“It had to be that way—you had to believe that I was gone so that you would allow Ryan to take care of you.” I hate the words even as they leave my mouth. The thought of him touching her is enough to make me want to crush his bones. “So that I could take care of the situation.”

“Why not let Ryan do it?”

“Because you are mine, Trouble, and I will be the one to crush those that try to hurt you or our daughter. Their blood belongs to me, on my hands. Not Ryan’s or anyone else’s. Mine.”

Fleur nods, coming closer so that her belly is pressed to me.

“A man worth his salt always protects what’s his.” I tell her the same thing I told her the night I took her away. Contrary to what she believed, my words were never about Charles.

She presses closer, and the feel of her so close is enough to make my dick twitch with the violent need I’ve been trying to contain since I lay with her last night.

“Casper?” Fleur calls my name, rolling onto her tippietoes. When I lower myself to her height, she holds me with her magnetic stare. “Do you really love me?”

“Fuck yeah. More than… I would do anything for you, and that makes you the most dangerous being in this place. You know that, don’t you?”

There’s no answer to my question, but she knows. I see it in the cold, hard set of her beautiful face as I lift her onto the desk. With ragged breaths, she leans forward. Resting her chin on my chest while I look my fill of her.

“Your hair is getting long.”

“So is yours.”

My eyes trail down the soft swell of her breasts, lingering on the crease. “Your tits are definitely bigger.”

Fingertips trail from my sides to the top of my jeans and then lower. “Your dick is definitely harder.”

“You can’t help yourself, can you? You always have to take it there…”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this before, but in case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you…” Opening my fly, she licks her lips. “I’m pregnant. I’m angry. I’m sad. And I need you. I need something to take me away from this, and you’re the only fucking thing I want that makes sense right now. Are you going to deprive me?”

Chapter 27

FLEUR

Casper pulls back without a reply. He’s got that look on his face that’s promising and guarded all at once. As though he has some trick up his sleeve that I’m not privy to. He lingers on my belly for a moment before grasping either side of the neckline of the dress.

In a swift move, he yanks it open to my thighs. Black cotton buttons fly around us. I didn’t realise there were so many when I did them up earlier. Pulling me up onto my feet, he stands over me, looming with his hulking frame, chest heaving and hands squeezing my hips so hard that the ache culminates painfully between my legs.

“Trouble has never been so fucking beautiful,” Casper murmurs as his fingers comb through my hair. His hands smooth down my nape to my shoulders before dragging the sleeves of my dress down my arms until the whole thing pools at my feet.

His skin on mine feels like a dream. The rough padding making my pores sting with the need for more.

The last couple of weeks seem to melt away. We could be back in our warm bubble. Just Casper and me.

“I missed you,” he tells me. There’s no prelude or softness to his words. They’re exact and solid. “I’ve never missed anyone before.”

Nothing else matters when he caresses me in this way—his hands moulding to my belly with awe and contentment shining in his eyes. He looks at me as though I’m everything he’s ever needed.

“I’ve always found it easy to walk away from everyone. To disappear from everything. It’s what I liked about the ops. But now…” Leaning down, he wraps his big hands across the backs of my thighs, pulling me up his body until my legs circle his tapered waist. My belly is crushed against his chest, and his face is level with my breasts.

“Now, I miss you. I miss everything about you like they’re individual entities. Making it all the more impossible to stay away because there is so much to long for. Your voice and your face.” Casper presses a hard kiss to the swell of my breasts. “Your body and your touch,” he groans, sucking the tender flesh into his mouth, his tongue laving over it while his teeth sink deep to m

y muted cry.