AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are they a better sight than this?” she asked, arching, wriggling into the twinge of pain he’d left between her thighs. “I want you. Why wake me if you didn’t want some?”
“I don’t need you awake to take what I want,” he said, strolling around to her side. “In my bed, you’ll never wake up lonely.”
And as he sat on the edge, the sincerity of that sentiment erased every tease. “Conn…” she murmured, losing herself in him as he stroked her hair from her face. “You killed for me.” Like it was no big deal, he had no reaction. “I’m sorry I made you wait. That I didn’t see the truth.” She’d apologized the previous night, but it didn’t seem enough. His eyes settled on hers as his hand rested on her throat. “That I let you think for even a second I was ashamed of this.”
“Where are you always safe?”
“I’m serious,” she said, taking his hand as she sat up. “It was never about shame.”
“Macushla, I know how the world works better than any schmuck you’ve ever been with. I don’t need an education. I don’t give a shit about the past. The power balance of the city shifted last night. Until it settles, we hold our breath.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, concerned. “What happened? What did I miss? Are you in trouble?”
“You are.”
“Why?”
He kissed her. “I’ll deal with it,” he said and raised his brows in question. “Hmm?” After lingering a few seconds, she nodded. “What do you do if you have a problem?”
“Bring it to you.”
“Good girl.”
His lips touched hers, but she pulled back. “You’ve never been faithful to a woman. You do what you want when you want and don’t answer to anyone.”
“Aye.”
And did she want to ask him if that was still true? Something in him almost dared her to, like he expected the question. But that wasn’t what worried her. Loyalty was everything to him. He’d referred to her as family, come to her when he could’ve abandoned her. She only wanted fidelity if it was a choice. Asking for it, demanding it, wouldn’t change his desire to be with her and only her. Some things, in this relationship, had to be taken on faith.
Slipping her hand under the open edge of his shirt, she laid her palm over his stag tattoo and got closer. “I am not a slut you have on speed dial.” In her certainty, she lit something in him that erased all preconceptions. “You hear me? This is my kingdom. You are my kingdom.”
There may have been a whisper of a smile on his lips as he licked them. “Act like it,” he breathed against her and pushed his tongue into her mouth in a devouring kiss that curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt.
Try as she did to pull him down, he only let her get halfway before easing her fists out of his clothes.
“Baby…” she whimpered.
“Strat will bring you to the club.”
“At noon.”
“In an hour.”
He got the chance to stand as she sought the clock on the nightstand. Shit, it was already ten forty-eight.
“Anything I need to know?” she asked, gliding out of bed.
Using him as a pillar of support, she stretched her body on his, straightening her arms above her head and letting them settle around his neck when they descended.
“This is not an easy world to abandon.”
Little late for that. “I exist beneath you, under you.” And as long as that was true, his protection would be absolute. “My life is yours.”
“Aye, but what’s your job?”
“To support you.”
“Life is about to get interesting for both of us.” He cradled the back of her head to guide her hairline to his lips. It wasn’t like him to be so gentle. Fuck, could she want this guy more? “I put your clothes for today out in the closet.”
