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ADRIK
I push open the door to the safehouse and wait.
I don’t actually expect anyone to jump out, guns blazing. But after the day I’ve had, I can’t be too sure.
Emery tries to push past me, but I hold her against my side. “Wait. If you’re insisting I bring you back here, at least let me do a thorough search.”
She nods in agreement. I don’t let go of her until she can support herself against the doorframe. She keeps swearing to me she isn’t injured, but she’s weak. Exhausted.
My strength will have to be enough for both of us.
I move through the safehouse diligently, gun at the ready. There’s rotting food in the fridge and the drawers I threw open to hastily pack are still hanging open where I left them. It’s clear to me that no one has been here since the night Yasha broke into Emery’s room. Since the night my life and family turned upside down.
“It’s clear,” I call from the hallway.
“Thank God,” Emery says, inching slowly into the living room. “Thanks for coming here. I know you wanted to get back to the penthouse, but—”
I wave her away. “You’re right. We need to clean up before we see Isabella. She’s been through enough without the two of us showing up looking like we just walked through hell.”
Emery shakes her head. “Maybe I’m worse off than I thought. Because it sounds like you just agreed with me.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Emery smiles. “So who is taking a shower first?”
I cross the room and sweep her into my arms. “If you think I’m letting you take a shower by yourself when you can barely stand, you’re out of your fucking mind.”
“I can wash myself,” she argues even as she rests her head on my shoulder, pressing her weight against me.
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
I carry her into the bathroom and set her on the sink while I get the water running. It takes a few minutes for the water to turn hot, but when it does, steam billows in the air and fogs the mirrors.
Emery winces. “It looks like smoke.”
“Then keep your eyes closed,” I murmur. “I’ll take care of you.”
Emery doesn’t open her eyes as I stand her up and begin to undress her. I toss her smoky clothes in a pile by the door, quickly joined by my own, and then lead her into the water.
Anytime I see her naked, it’s a fucking miracle.
But today, I’m in awe of every inch of her.
I run my fingers through her hair, wetting it down and then lathering in the shampoo. The water runs black at first. Ash and agony and dust and despair swirl down the drain.
But eventually, it runs clear, and I move on to her body. When I drag my hand between her breasts, she leans her head back and releases a small sigh.
“Fuck,” I whisper.
Emery’s eyes jolt open in alarm. “What?”
“You,” I snarl. “You are the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Funny thing to say to someone who just survived a fire.” Her cheeks flush. She turns and grabs the body wash and puts it in her own palm. “Here. Let me help you.”
“I can wash myself,” I mock, even as my dick twitches the moment her hands land on me.
Emery grins sheepishly. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” She starts smoothing soap over my chest and down my abs. Her fingernails scratch across the trail of hair beneath my belly button.
Then Emery gasps.
I tense and look around. “What?”
“Oh my God,” she gasps again, her hand digging into my side, trying to turn me towards the door.
“What is it?” I snap.
“Adrik,” Emery says, looking up at me with horror in her eyes. “You were shot!”
I follow her gaze down to my leg and sigh in relief. “Oh. Yeah, I know.”
“‘Yeah, I know?’” Emery fumes. “You’ve been taking care of me and carrying me around while you are nursing a bullet wound! There’s a literal fucking hole in your body!”
“There’s a hole in yours, too,” I drawl suggestively. “I’m only interested in filling one of them right now.”
She slaps a wet hand across my chest. “This is not a joking matter.”
I step forward until her back is pressed against the cold tiles. She hisses at the contact, then leans into it, staring at me with furious green eyes.
“I’m fine,” I say clearly. Then I gesture down to my erection, which is currently pressed against her stomach. “Plenty of blood left in my body, I promise. Right where it belongs.”
She rolls her eyes. “You should have told me.”
I grab Emery’s face and force her eyes to mine. “You were dead half an hour ago. Do you understand that? You weren’t breathing. And now, you’re alive. My hurt leg doesn’t register to the pain I felt when I thought I’d lost you.”
The anger in her fades, and her chin wobbles. “I thought I was going to lose you, too.”
The shift in position sends my cock straight between her legs, and she goes still for a moment… before sliding back and forth on my length.
It’s all the invitation I need. I press myself to her opening and slide into her.
It’s a fast and furious fuck. Emery wraps her arms and legs around me while I hold her against the tile. I grip her supple thighs and ass and thrust into her again and again.
Less than a minute after we start, Emery arches her body and cries out. I feel her clamp down around my length and that’s all it takes for me to release along with her. We ride out the highs, clenched in each other’s arms, breathing in sync.
The warmth from the shower and the orgasm washes through us.
“You saved me,” Emery says when we can both breathe again. She clings tighter.
I set her down on the floor and press a kiss to her forehead. “I always will.”
* * *
When we get back to the penthouse, Isabella is so happy to see Emery that she doesn’t mention her damp hair or the laughably large clothes she’s wearing.
The only clothes at the safehouse were extra security uniforms and a few sets of my workout stuff. So Emery is sporting rolled-up sweatpants and a shirt with sleeves that hang to her elbows.
She still looks incredible.
“Did Adrik find you?” Isabella asks, resting her head against Emery’s chest. “He said he would find you. And he said he’d tell Sofia that I don’t like her anymore.” She looks up at me. “Did you tell her?”
“I told her,” I say.
I didn’t say it exactly, but I think a bullet between the eyes conveys the message well enough.
Isabella has a thousand questions about who Sofia was and what happened, but Emery doesn’t give her many details.
“Sofia was a bad lady who was mad at me,” Emery explains. “She wanted to hurt me, but Adrik saved me.”
One day, she’ll need more of an answer. But for now, having Emery home seems to be enough.
I give the two of them a few minutes to hold each other before I pull Emery away.
“Your mother needs to be looked over by Toma,” I explain.
Isabella looks panicked. “Are you sick, Mama?”
Emery waves us both away. “I’m fine.”
But her face has paled considerably since we walked through the elevator doors. She’s exhausted and who knows what else.
“I’ll let him patch up my leg if you let him check you out,” I propose.
Emery twists her mouth to the side as she weighs the offer. “Fine, but you have to go first,” she says.
“You don’t trust me?”
“With my life? Absolutely,” she says. “But with your own? Not for a second.”
I laugh. “Fair enough.”
Toma makes quick work of it. After all this time working for the Bratva, gunshot wounds are like paper cuts for him.
“Stay off it as much as you can for the next few days,” he warns me. But then he shakes his head. “And when you disregard that advice and the stitch inevitably pops open, please let me take care of it. I’ll get you on some antibiotics, too.”
The man knows me too well.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I say. I jump off the bed and gesture for Emery to hop on. “Now, her.”
She walks over. I lift her onto the mattress by her waist.
Toma hands me a clear mask as he continues setting up his equipment. I turn to Emery and stretch the elastic over her head.
“An oxygen mask?” she complains. Her voice is muffled. “Really?”
I press my finger to my lips. “Quiet. Let Toma work.”
Emery narrows her eyes at me, but eventually, she relaxes back onto the bed, exhaustion taking hold of her. Her skin is pinked and raw where the fire licked at it. Miraculously, nothing looks to be badly damaged.
“Like a bad sunburn,” Toma says when he’s done examining her. “Aloe vera will be your friend in the days ahead. Also, plenty of rest.”
“So can I take off the mask?”
Toma and I both shake our heads simultaneously.
“We should monitor your vitals for a few hours, at least,” Toma says. “Purely precautionary.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “I can’t help but notice that your vitals don’t need to be monitored.”
“Because I’m a god among mortals. Nothing can stop me.”
“Hey, Toma. Cut this asshole here open and see if he bleeds like the rest of us, would you?”
I laugh. Toma grins, then looks at me. “Should I go tell Isabella she can come in now?”
Emery starts to nod, but I wave him off. “Hold off for a minute. I need to talk to my wife. Alone.”
