He kept his eyes open and on me as pleasure, pain transformed his features, his hips jerking forward. Then he came in hot spurts that splashed against my stomach.
The tension left his big frame and he collapsed back against the tile. “I love you,” he rasped.
I curled into him, and his arms banded tight around me, his chin resting on the top of my head. “I love you, too,” I said against his chest.
Lightning didn’t rend the sky above us, and the ground didn’t move beneath my feet. They were just words, words that meant everything and nothing all at once. Because I’d always known it and so did he.
We were written in the stars.
We were inevitable.
I belonged to him and he belonged to me.
Nothing would ever change that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ruby
Going to the bedroom door, I listened for the shower. The water was still running, which meant Neco was still in there. We needed to talk. It’d been two days, and I wanted to know what information he’d gotten from Tomas in exchange for the job he’d done. Like you’d shared what you knew with him? But the time never felt right. My guilt levels reached an uncomfortable peak, but I shoved them aside. After seeing Neco in the condition he’d been in at the agency two days ago, after doing Tomas’s dirty work, the quiet contemplative mood he’d been in since, I was more determined than ever to do this myself. I needed to get to these assholes first. I knew without doubt if he found the people behind the cameras, and more than likely Scott’s murder, he would kill them. More blood on his hands, and I’d be the cause. I couldn’t let him carry that weight for the rest of his life; I wouldn’t. If I found these people first, I could call in the cops, before Neco could get involved. It was the best solution I could come up with.
I sent a quick text to Harry that I might a little late, that I’d hopefully have something else to help with the case when I got there.
“What’re you doing?”
I startled and spun to face Neco. “Huh?”
He was watching me closely, eyes dropping to the phone in my hands. “Who’s texting you?”
I shoved the phone in my pocket. “Lulu,” I kind of lied. “She wanted to maybe get together for lunch later.” She had messaged me earlier. So really it wasn’t a lie; I was omitting information. Big difference, right?
He pulled off his towel and started drying himself. My breath caught in my throat. I’d had him inside me less than an hour ago, and I wanted him again already. I don’t think I’d ever get used to how beautiful he was.
He smirked at me, reading my thoughts easily. “You going to Lulu’s?”
“Yeah.” I let my gaze trail over his abs. Damn.
“You need to stop looking at me like that or I’m gonna have to throw you on the bed and fuck you. Not usually a problem, but we both need to get to work.”
I walked up to him, dropping my forehead to his chest. “You sure we can’t be late?” As awful as it was seeing Neco in that state a couple days ago was, things between us had kind of evened out. No, neither one of us had budged on what we wanted, and okay . . . I was technically sneaking around behind his back, but this was the longest time we’d gone without some kind of disagreement. It was a record for us.
He made a rough sound. “Unfortunately, yeah. Need to meet a guy; he’s got some information on a case we’re working. This could be my only shot to talk to him.” He reached down and grabbed my ass, giving it a squeeze. “Hold that thought, though, babe.”
I returned the gesture, squeezing his firm butt. “You’ve turned me into a nymphomaniac. Honestly, I can’t imagine the thought ever leaving my head.”
He burst out laughing, and I leaned back to watch. The man was beautiful, always, but when he laughed, he was exquisite.
He dropped a kiss to the top of my head then quickly dressed, and we headed out a few minutes later.
We hit the parking garage, but I couldn’t bring myself to question him. I didn’t want to destroy his good mood. Neco had shared everything else with me. If Tomas had given him the information he’d asked for, I had to assume he would have told me.
I spent the morning working on a missing persons case with Harry then headed to Lulu’s for lunch.
When I got there, she had sushi waiting for me.
I plopped down on the couch and she handed me a plate. “God, this looks amazing. I’m freaking starving.”
“I aim to please.” She plonked down beside me. “How’s the new job?”
“I really like it, Lulu.” I turned to her. “It feels good, to finally be doing what I’ve wanted for so long.”
“They miss you at Kings. Hunter complains nearly every day about you not being there anymore. He misses you.”
“I’m not surprised, I knew they’d be hopeless without me.” I missed them, too.
Lulu handed me a drink. She had enough food for a small army. Josh was on the floor, eating a sandwich and surrounded by his favorite cars, cartoons playing on the TV.
I’d just relaxed back when Lulu said, “Right, spill.”
“Spill what?”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “How’s it all going with you and Neco? All these years the two of you have been eye-fucking each other, circling like horny sharks, desperate to take a bite . . . I have to know, does the fantasy live up to reality?”
I snorted, sucking Coke down the wrong pipe. “Horny sharks? Seriously? That has to be the least sexy thing I have ever heard in my life.”
Lulu giggled. “Okay, so maybe the metaphor sucks, but you get what I’m asking.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from curling my lips. “It most definitely lives up to my fantasies. Surpasses them.”
Lulu tilted her head to the side. “Glad to hear it. So why the look?”
I took another sip of my soda in an attempt to stall the conversation.
“Something’s bothering you, Ruby.” Her eyes softened and she squeezed my hand. “You’ve been through a lot and I know we haven’t been friends all that long, but it kinda feels like we have. I just want you to know I’m here if you ever need to talk.”
The feeling was mutual. She’d become extremely important to me in the short time we’d known each other. Neither of us had many female friends, but we’d just clicked, almost from the moment we met. Which was kind of a miracle, considering we all thought she was a bitch from hell who’d set up and betrayed Hunter. The truth was very different, though, and if anyone knew what I was going through, it was her.
I slumped back in my seat. “Neco, he can be . . .”
“Pig headed, closed off, controlling?” she said, then took a bite of sushi.
“Um . . . well, yeah.”
She shook her head. “If he’s anything like Hunter, he’ll calm down once the danger to you is over . . . but you know what these guys are like . . .”
I did. I knew exactly how they could be. “Yeah, and I get it.” They’d nearly all seen an important woman in their lives get hurt, or worse. Which made them protective, to say the least.
Lulu nodded. “Their instant reaction is to wrap us up in cotton wool and never let us out of their sight. But I promise, it will get better.”
Now I just felt guiltier. Was I being selfish, doing what I was, working on my case with Harry behind Neco’s back? I shoved it aside, refusing to think about it. I needed to do this, for me, and for Neco. There was no room for second-guessing, not in this, it was too important.
I changed the subject and we ate and chatted for a while, until Hunter walked in, and Josh squealed, scrambling off the floor, and ran to his father.
Hunter scooped him up, giving him a hug, then walked over to Lulu, kissing her on her lips.
He glanced at me and smiled. “We miss you at the agency.”
“So I hear.” Unfortunately, my only place at the King Agency was behind the desk in reception. I didn’t belong there anymore.
I glanced down and realized we’d devoured pretty much everything whil
e we’d been gabbing. “I need to get back to work. Thanks for lunch.”
We stood and Lulu gave me a quick squeeze, then I left her and her little family and headed out the door.
I got a text from Neco later that afternoon that he’d be back a little later tonight. So after I finished up for the day, I headed over to the King Agency. I wanted to work out, but instead found Zeke there lifting weights.
I dropped my bag on one of the benches. “You feel like kicking my ass?” I said over the music he had pumping through the speakers.
He twisted to look at me, then gave me a chin lift.
“Excellent. I’ll go get changed.”
* * *
Neco
I checked my phone again as I strode across the parking lot under the agency and cursed, fear spiking through me when I got nothing back from Ruby. Something had to be seriously wrong. Harry said she left work two hours ago and was headed home as far as he knew. I was pretty sure she hadn’t even made it to the apartment tonight, which meant something must have happened to her en route. I’d tried Lulu as well, and she hadn’t heard from her, either. Fucking no one had. I should never have let her work for Harry; I should never have let her out of my damn sight. I strode into the lift, struggling to keep it tight with unbearable fear and rage riding me so hard I wasn’t sure how I was still fucking standing.
The door slid open and I jogged down to my office. I had GPS tracking on all staff at the agency and that included Ruby. I could check it from my computer. I couldn’t get hold of Zeke, but Hunter, Van, and Jude were already on their way. As soon as I had her location pinpointed, we’d move out. This was a rescue mission. I felt it in my gut . . .
A grunt came from the workout room and I stopped mid-step, hand on my office door. A feminine groan followed, a familiar one. I changed direction, shoving the workout room door open, my mind conjuring up all kind of crazy shit—and froze.
Ruby and Zeke were facing off. She was red cheeked and sweaty, determination tensing her features. I couldn’t move, couldn’t fucking speak as several different emotions hammered me, relief the strongest in that moment.
Zeke came at her and she blocked him and spun away.
I knew she’d done some classes, but I’d never seen her in action.
And she was . . . good.
Fuck. Really good.
Zeke wasn’t holding back either, barking the occasional order at her. He tried to swipe her leg out from under her, but she countered quickly, and with a fucking roar, managed to unbalance Zeke, almost knocking him on his ass. He didn’t go down, but even managing that was extremely impressive.
I was so fucking mesmerized, I forgot to be angry, until she looked up and saw me standing there. Until the guilt rearranged her features.
My anger, the fear I’d felt, it rushed back, hard and fast. “You’ve been here since you finished work?”
She nodded.
I dragged a rough breath in through my nose to calm my shit down. It didn’t work. “You didn’t think to check your goddamn phone?” I barked.
Zeke frowned, twisting to look at Ruby. She was already flushed from excursion, but somehow managed to get even redder.
“You didn’t tell him?” Zeke asked.
Ruby winced. “I, ah . . . I meant to?”
My gaze slid back to Zeke. “Call the others, will you? Tell them I found her.”
Zeke cursed, and headed to the small locker room behind him.
I’d been hanging on by a fucking thread since I did that job for Tomas, was still fucked up from it. I didn’t know why it affected me so much. I’d beaten and tortured information out of assholes for this job and hadn’t lost sleep over it. But those guys were bad guys, the scum of the earth. The guy I’d beaten two nights ago . . . he was just some poor, stupid fuck that’d gotten mixed up with the wrong people to try and bail his family out of debt. That’s it. He hadn’t deserved it, and that’s what I couldn’t get past now, or when I’d worked for Tomas all those years ago.
Now all of it, every bit of anger, guilt, fear slammed into me, shaking the last of my control right out of me. And I snapped.
Striding to Ruby, I grabbed her biceps and dragged her out of the workout room, up the stairs and out through reception, looking for somewhere private. I shoved open the stairwell door and dragged her in after me. After seeing her fight, I knew she was allowing me to manhandle her. If she wanted to get free, she probably could, or at least put up a good fight.
I knew why she was doing this, why she was training with Zeke. I was proud of her; it was the right thing to do. She had to know how to protect herself. But it also highlighted the fact that she was doing a job that put her in danger every motherfucking day. Something I already knew, of course, but after spending the last hour freaking the fuck out thinking something had happened to her, it wasn’t something I wanted to be faced with. Reality wasn’t something I could deal with right then.
I felt helpless. Like I felt when I was a kid, and too weak to protect my mom. When I was unable to save her from herself. Ruby wasn’t my mom, I knew that. My woman was strong, competent, and God knew she wasn’t doing this to hurt me. But Ruby doing this job made me feel that way all over again. I felt fucking powerless.
Instead of verbalizing this, I spun her around and shoved her against the wall. “Do you have any fucking idea how worried I was?”
She stared up at me, completely unruffled. “Look, I’m sorry, okay. I know I should have told you I was training with Zeke, but I didn’t think . . .”
“I’m not pissed about that, I’m glad you’ve been training.” I sucked in a rough breath. “You didn’t bother to let me know where you were. I thought something had fucking happened to you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Am I going to have to report my whereabouts to you every day for the rest of my life?” she said.
I growled, words an impossibility.
“I can’t live like that. Jesus. You’re totally overreacting. Scott is dead. And you saw me fight. I know you did. Can you deny I’m good?”
I couldn’t, so I just started down at her.
“I can fight for myself, Neco.” She was breathing heavily. “God, would you just let me fight for myself?!”
Darkness coiled inside me, flicking a switch, and I let it, didn’t try to pull it back. “You want to spar with me, baby girl, we’ll spar.” I shoved her legs apart, and hand to her stomach, pushed her against the wall. Closing in, I ground my hips into hers, my hard cock against her softness.
Her eyes darkened with lust, but she grabbed the front of my shirt and shoved at me, pushing me back.
I ignored her halfhearted attempt to stop me and ground harder.
She cried out.
I didn’t give her a chance to recover, pulled back, and spun her around, shoving her back against the wall. She cursed, pushing back against me, rubbing her round ass against my hard dick. I slammed into her, grinding up against her, dragging her hair to the side so I could nip and suck her neck.
She hissed, reaching back, fisting my hair, holding me there.
Grabbing her hips, I gripped her tights and shoved them down, taking her underwear with them. Jesus, I needed inside her. Now. I yanked on the front of my jeans frantically, and freed my cock, positioned myself at her opening, and slammed in deep.
She cried out, clawing at the wall. I dug my fingers deeper into her hips and jerked her back, slamming back in. Her other hand left my head and she flattened both palms, pushing back on a low moan.
Fuck. That sound made my balls draw up. I’d fucked her that morning, but my balls felt heavy with come, ready to fill her up, mark my territory. It was messed up, I knew it, but I didn’t care.
She slid a hand between her thighs, rubbing her clit, face to the side, pressed against the wall, eyes squeezed shut, mouth dropping open. I didn’t slow up, I thrust into her, and she somehow managed to keep her fingers between her legs while I powered into her like a fucking man possessed.
She scream
ed, convulsing around me, reaching back with her free hand when I roared, coming hard as fuck, grabbing my ass, clawing, digging her nails in deep. She held me to her, grinding back again, taking all of me, getting off on my hot come filling her, sliding down her legs.
I stopped thrusting into her when I was spent, collapsing against her back. We were both panting, sweating, fucking shaking.
Jesus. What was I doing?
I’d dragged her into a goddamn stairwell, where anyone could stumble on us, and fucked her like an animal.
I needed to get a handle on this, this constant clawing fear inside me, but I couldn’t see how. I should apologize, should try and explain what the hell was wrong with me. I couldn’t find the words.
Instead, I said, “We should head home.” Pulling my cock free, I tugged up her pants, stepped back, and did up my jeans.
She turned around, blinking up at me, something moving across her features that made me internally wince.
Then I watched my woman lock it down . . . for me. She forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m kind of hungry, actually.”
Didn’t look like either of us wanted to talk about how fucked in the head I was. How badly I’d overreacted.
If I thought I hated myself before, I’d just reached a whole new level.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ruby
Harry and I had spent most of the day getting ready for tonight, trying to get as much intel and background information as we could on Edwards and the location of the meeting. I knew tonight was important to the case; I just didn’t know how. For Scott to have a note with time and place, we could only assume whoever Edwards was planning to meet had something to do with the people Scott was working for. Possibly the people Scott was trying to protect me from—shit, the people responsible for his death.
We’d done a drive-by and, in the light of day, there hadn’t been much to see, but I had a feeling it would be different story under the cover of darkness.
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