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She drags her eyes open, cheeks flushed and mouth wet and panting, and stares down at me as I raise her up and drop her on my cock again.
“Maddoc,” she whispers, her whole heart in the word.
“Fuck,” I groan, my orgasm ripping through me without any further warning. My balls unleash like a fury, my cum pumping into her so hard that it blacks out my fucking vision for a second. “Riley, shit, baby,Jesus.”
I’m holding her too tightly again. Squeezing her until her breath is nothing but short, sucking gasps.
I don’t care. She’s mine. I’m never letting her go.
“I fucking love you,” I murmur, burying my face against her neck as my cock gives one final pulse inside her. “So damn much.”
She strokes my shoulders. The back of my neck. Cups my face.
“I love you too. With my whole soul,” she whispers, the words filling me with a sense of true peace.
It can’t last. I know that. There’s a battle to fight, and the worst is yet to come.
But when she sighs softly in my arms, melting against me, and presses a soft kiss against my throat, it’s enough.
Nothing fucking lasts, but whatever hell we’re about to wade through is worth it when it means I get this.
22
RILEY
Maddoc looksexhausted when we all gather in the living room the next day, like he hardly slept at all after we finally went our separate ways last night. But despite that, I see a new determination in him that sparks warmth in my chest. Especially once he starts to discuss his plans for the Reapers.
As grim as the subject is, I know that I helped him make his peace with what needs to happen, and being able to give him that after he’s given me so much means more than anything to me.
“McKenna’s going to come at us hard after you put him on his ass like that yesterday, Madd,” Dante states matter-of-factly.
“He was always going to come at us hard,” Logan says. “This has been personal for him from the start.”
Maddoc nods. “You’re both right, and starting now, every time he attacks, the standing orders are going to be to fall back.”
It’s a testament to their trust in him that the only reaction Dante or Logan have to that statement is a widening of their eyes and a tense silence.
I’m seated on the couch, next to Logan, while Dante stands with his arms crossed and one hip resting against the window sill. Maddoc paces in front of us, but comes over and squeezes my shoulder as he looks between his seconds and explains. “We don’t have the resources to go head to head with him. Our only choice is to play the long game.”
They both nod, and it feels good to have them validate what I told Maddoc last night, even though I don’t know all the ins and outs of their operation.
“We can’t waste our resources by trying to hold territory under West Point’s mercenary attacks,” Maddoc goes on. “We’re going to have to give up ground.” His hands clench into tight fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white, but he keeps his voice steady. “I’m not willing to throw our people’s lives away on something we can’t win.”
I can tell it kills him to admit that. He’s fought for every inch of territory that the Reapers have claimed in this city, and he’s earned what he’s built in a way that Austin’s money—mymoney—never will.
I’m proud of him for choosing to put his people first, though. I never doubted he would once he made his peace with where things stand right now, but it makes me love him even more to have him move forward with that plan so decisively.
I can tell all of my men have feelings about Maddoc’s decision, but none of them waste time whining about it. Instead, they jump into logistics planning, with Logan taking the lead on pulling some of their resources back, arranging for their people to transport as much of their equipment, product, and other material goods relevant to the Reapers’ operations from locations closer to the perimeter of their territory to areas that will be more secure.
“This shit ain’t gonna be sustainable long-term though, Madd,” Dante says with a frustrated huff once they’ve shot off messages to key players and put some of that in motion. “We can’t move everything, and if we give up too much territory, we’re gonna lose the resources we need to continue to function as a gang. You know you’ve got your people’s loyalty, but they also gotta survive, and if we can’t protect them, can’t provide for them…”
He trails off with a low curse, and when he looks away, the rage and grief that flash across Maddoc’s face while he thinks his brothers aren’t looking almost breaks my heart. But as quickly as his emotions break free, he shuts them down again, refocusing on what has to happen.
“If we let it go on too long, McKenna will eventually roll right over us anyway,” he agrees. “This isn’t a retreat.” He grimaces, then corrects himself. “It’s a short-term, tactical retreat, but we need to use the time it buys us wisely. He’s got Riley’s inheritance. That’s just a fact, and we’re never gonna match that. We need to come up with another way to beat him, and we need to keep everyone alive to fight another day if we want to keep that option on the table.”
“It’s not ‘an option,’” Logan says, cold fury blazing from his eyes even though he keeps his voice steady. “Wewillbeat him. We’ll fucking destroy him. This isn’t negotiable.”
“Right,” Maddoc says, his shoulders pulling back and raw power in his voice, like hearing Logan’s utter conviction gave him strength and reminded him who he is. Who theReapersare. “Okay, so let’s get fucking proactive. Who else can we make alliances with?”
