Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
When I padded back into the room, towel slung low and hair damp, Lark was there. Curled on her side, sheets tangled around her legs. Breathing soft, steady. Peaceful.
I slid in behind her, the mattress tilting under my weight, my body still humming with the last vestiges of adrenaline from the night as I pulled her back against my chest. My arms locked around her.
She made a sleeping sound and inched back, seeking my heat, then she sighed softly. Contentedly.
For the first time since I saw her picture, my body unclenched.
I breathed her in—vanilla and warmth, the only scent that mattered—and let my eyes close.
It’s done. She’s safe. She’s mine.
Sleep took me with her heartbeat in my ear.
16
LARK
Iwoke with Jaxton’s warmth wrapped around me. His arm was banded across my waist, the weight of it pinning me to the mattress, his heat pressed solidly against my back. The steady rhythm of his breath tickling the curve of my neck told me he’d finally gotten some rest.
For a long moment, I just lay there, my eyes closed while I soaked in the peace of having him near. His chest rose and fell against me, reminding me I wasn’t alone in the fight anymore, no matter how bad it got.
The past two years had been nothing but running and hiding, nights spent in crappy apartments filled with silence that felt like it would swallow me whole.
This was the opposite of that. Solid and safe. Something I hadn’t dared to dream of ever having until I met Jaxton.
His arm tightened when I shifted slightly, drawing me closer. His voice was rough with sleep when he murmured, “It’s over.”
I froze. “What is?”
“The threat.” He nuzzled the back of my hair, his lips brushing my shoulder. “It’s been handled, but no one besides my club and our trusted contacts can ever know.”
The news sank into me, loosening muscles I hadn’t realized were still locked tight. After everything I’d gone through over the past two years, it was hard to believe it was really over. But Jaxton would never have told me I was safe if it wasn’t true. He’d already proven how much my well-being meant to him.
I twisted just enough in his embrace to glance at him over my shoulder. His eyes were still heavy-lidded, but the satisfaction there was unmistakable. The threat to me was really over. I didn’t need to hide anymore. I could get my life back…or even better, build one with Jaxton.
“You look like you barely slept,” I whispered.
His mouth curved, and desire flared in his gray orbs. “Got enough.”
He shifted, rolling me onto my back and bracing himself above me, caging me in with his body. His kiss was soft at first, like he was easing me into it, then deepened with a hunger that quickly roared through my body.
I sighed against his mouth, my fingers tangling in the hair at the back of his neck, pulling him closer. My body arched to meet his, desperate for the weight of him.
“Jax.” My voice came out shaky and full of need.
He groaned into my mouth, the sound vibrating through me. His palm slid up my side, rough heat against bare skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake. I lost myself in his kiss like there wasn’t a world outside this room. For me, there wasn’t now that he’d taken care of the threat to me.
But I was proved wrong when there was a knock on the door.
Jaxton tore his mouth from mine, a growl low in his chest. “Motherfucker.”
“Marshals are here,” Drift’s voice called from the hallway.
“Fuck.” Jaxton’s muttered curse was low and vicious. He rolled off me, shoving to his feet with a scowl. “Kane probably let those assholes in just to watch me lose my shit.”
I sat up fast, heart pounding. “The marshals?”
“Stay here,” he ordered, already yanking a shirt over his head.
His tone left no room for argument, but I wasn’t about to be left behind when it was my future at stake. “Absolutely not. If they want to talk about me, then I’m going to be there.”
His eyes cut to me, hard and unyielding. “Lark—”
“No.” I got up and started to pull on leggings and a tank top, my voice shaky but firm. “This is my life. If the danger’s really over, you don’t get to lock me in a room while you guys make choices I have to live with.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. For a second, I thought he’d physically bar the door. Then, with a sound somewhere between a growl and a sigh, he pulled a phone I didn’t recognize from his pocket.
“Fine.” His fingers flew across the screen before he lifted the burner cell to his ear, voice clipped when whoever he called answered. “Yeah. It’s me. Consider this a reminder of the favors you owe. I’m cashing one in now.”