Page 41 of Cruel Salvation

Chapter13

It wastwo days since they’d returned to the Shadow Elite compound and he and Naz had decided to give things a go. She was still a little spikey and not on board with public displays of affection from him and he respected that. This was a marathon, not a sprint, and he knew pushing her would have the exact opposite effect from what he wanted.

Naz had her walls so high it would take a while for her to pull them down, but he was determined to prove to her that he wasn’t going anywhere, which led him to why he’d asked her to meet him at Gideon’s place.

They were taking it slow, with him staying with his brother and sister-in-law every night and giving her time to herself. He didn’t like it. If it was up to him, he’d be with her night and day, but he wanted to play the long game.

The same could be said about Simon Dorsey. Kelly Jones, or Andrea Peston as they now knew her, was missing. Simon’s blood results had confirmed what they’d thought though, which was that he had traces of the drug in his blood again. It was one of those times when he dearly wished he’d been wrong. Watching the man break down and cry when he realised he’d once again been violated and controlled, along with what he’d done, had been one of the worst things he’d ever witnessed.

He’d been seconds away from blubbing like a baby, but Naz had been a fucking goddess and handled it with the compassion and strength that he’d come to expect of her. Every day he was with her, he saw more and more of the woman beneath the snark. Life had dealt her nothing but shit hand after shit hand, and still she rose.

He watched her walk up the gravel drive to meet him, her long dark hair blowing in her face, her body encased in skin-tight blue jeans with rips in the knee and a plain black T-shirt. She wasn’t showy or loud in her appearance, she was just effortlessly beautiful, stealing his breath from his lungs every single time he looked at her.

He let his eyes linger on her belly and thought about the child he knew grew there, protected by a woman who’d die to defend those she loved, and not just in the way most people would say the words. He knew that, given a chance, she’d go back and save Rykov by throwing herself in the line of fire, and he felt like a complete asshole for thanking God that she couldn’t or hadn’t.

The only current fly in the ointment, personally at least, was the fact she hadn’t come out and told him if she’d decided to keep the baby. They’d agreed to move forward, and he suspected she was leaning that way, but the uncertainty still niggled. After Carter’s criminal acts and then his death, he craved permanence and stability. It was one of the reasons he wanted to be close to Gideon.

Naz stopped, her hands in her pockets just in front of him, and he curled a hand around the back of her neck and lifted her head for his kiss. The scent of lemon and vanilla he always associated with her wafted all around him as her lips parted, and her tongue flicked out across his lip. His cock thickened and he growled, hauling her closer and filling his hands full of her delectable arse.

“Hmm, you taste good.”

“So do you. I missed you.”

It was a huge admission for her and one he found pulled his mouth into a smile he couldn’t contain. “I missed you too.”

Her blush was so out of character, but he loved that he could make it happen and that she was being open with him when he knew how hard that was for her.

“Why am I here?”

He held her gaze and his lips curled into a smile. “I want to go house hunting,” he said, gesturing to the horizon with a wave of his arm. “I want to be near my brother and you.”

Nazareli seemed startled by the sudden request but nodded in agreement, regaining her composure quickly. “Okay.”

He’d been expecting more of a fight from her so was pleasantly surprised to see her relent without any pressure. He was buying this house for himself, a decision he’d made long before he knew she was pregnant, but he wanted her to like the house because his goal was for them to live there together as a family one day. Whether that was just the two of them or included the child she carried.

“Just like that?”

“Yes. You want to be close to Gideon and Nadia, that makes sense.”

“And you.” He slung his arms around her shoulders and kissed her head, as she laid her hand over his abdomen and cuddled into him, and he felt her touch in his cock. He didn’t think there’d ever be a time when he didn’t want her.

“So I take you have a list of viewings booked?”

“I do.”

“Come on then, hotshot. Show me these mansions,” she said as she climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

“What makes you think they’re mansions?” Sitting in the driver’s seat, he started the car and headed out.

Her eyebrow rose and she gave him a come on look. “Are you telling me they’re small two-bed farmhouses?”

He turned off down the dirt track they were calling a road and prayed they didn’t meet another vehicle. “Well, no, they’re six-bed farmhouses and a couple of barn conversions.”

“Oh, I love a barn conversion. I love that upside down feel and the open plan living.”

He took her hand and kissed her fingertips. “Then we’ll see those two last.”

The first two farmhouses were nice. One needed a lot of work done to it, but had potential, and the other had been completely renovated and was stunning with bi-fold doors across the back of the kitchen that led out onto a view of nothing but open fields.