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“Pretty much,” I say. “I like to think of it as being ready.”
“It’s exhausting,” she whispers.
“I won’t argue there, butyoudon’t have to be ready, Samantha. I’ll do that for both of us. You can relax. I won’t let anything happen to you. I won’t let anybody hurt you. I’m going to protect you.”
Forever. Why can’t I just say it? Do I really think she’s going to run from me now? Tonight? No, maybe not, but she could bide her time, then decide this has all been too much. Withforeverstacked on top of the craziness, she may say she needs time, distance, and space. I can’t give her any of that. I need her close to me, where I can watch over her. Where I can know, every single day, I’m ready to beat the shit out of any man who touches my woman.
Once Loki has done his business, we head back to the apartment.
“We’ll sleep together tonight,” I say.
Samantha stares at me wide-eyed. “Uh,tonight?”
“No…” I sayno, but my dick is pulsing hard, my balls swelling. Despite everything—or maybe because of events fueling the urgency—my body is roaring at me to claim her now. “I mean, literally sleep together. There are only two bedrooms, and I’m not letting you out of my sight. But if you don’t want to sleep in the same be—”
“Are you kidding?” she snaps. “I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want you to be alone, either.”
I take her hand and lead her into the bedroom. Loki follows us, looking around the room, then whines and leaves. I glance at Samantha and then follow him. Loki curls up outside the door in the hallway, looking toward the entrance as though watching for threats.
“Is he okay?” Samantha pokes her head around the threshold.
“This is how he sleeps at home,” I tell her. “Watching the door. I think it comforts him.” Leaning down, I stroke my hand gently over his ears. “Good boy, Loki. You’re a very good boy. Back to your old self already, huh?”
He licks my hand and looks up at me. People say dogs don’t have human emotions. Intellectually, I know they’re right, but I see pride in his dark eyes as he looks up at me.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Samantha
I lie with my back to him, cuddling as close to him as possible. We’ve been like this for an hour now, but sleep seems so far away. When he said we wouldsleep together, I thought he meant sex at first. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it tonight.
That’s what Ithought, at least, but now I can feel the heat of his body. I can feel his manhood pushing against my back. He’s been hard almost this entire time. Sometimes, I’ll hear the quality of his breathing change, as though he’s trying to calm himself down. Then he’ll get a little softer, but soon he’ll groan and push against me, his cock getting stiff.
I shift against him, wriggling in the bed so his manhood pushes against my ass instead. Nerves try to coil around me, stop me from moving against him.
He groans gruffly. “What are you doing, baby? Because it doesn’t feel like sleeping.”
Despite everything, I’m able to laugh. It shouldn’t be impossible. Every time I’ve laughed tonight, I’ve thought the same thing. How the heck are we doing this? How the heck are weenjoyinglife right now?
“Maybe something about being in bed with my boyfriend makes it difficult to sleep,” I say.
He wraps his arm around me tighter, pressing our bodies together. He shifts against me, his cock grinding like he wants to slip through my clothes and find my core. I remember wanting it so badly last time, but my body refused to cooperate.
“Don’t tempt me,” he says. “You’ve been through a lot tonight.”
“You’vebeen through a lot,” I counter.
“But I’m used to it. What happened tonight… I’ve seen worse, done worse. Much worse, in fact.”
I shiver, remembering the sounds of the bullets. After Fletcher tended to Charles, he checked my face. In the furious madness of the moment, the glass seemed like it spit all over my face and cut into me. Luckily, it’s all surface scratches.
“I can’t even imagine that,” I murmur.
“Good,” he says, kissing the back of my neck. He’s done that several times. Each time, it sends a shiver of pure belonging through me. “I don’t want you to be able to imagine it. Your life, your world, is completely separate from this darkness. At least it should be.”
He kisses me again, the warmth coiling around my neck, whispering all over my body. It heats my veins all the way through. Deep within, an instinct tells me to turn around, kiss him, and tell him I’m ready.
“I’m never letting that darkness touch you again,” he snarls. “From now on, I’m keeping you safe.”
