Breaking the Rules (A Sinner and Saint Novel Book 2)

by Lucy Score

  “How?”

  “I know you’re already looking for ways to cut me out of this operation.” He tried to look away, but she pulled him back. “I understand, Xavier. I really do. You show people you love them by keeping them safe, and me asking you to do this feels like I’m just throwing that back in your face. But I swear I’m not, X. I want to earn my place with you and I want you to earn yours with me. Let me work with you. Let me help take Target down.”

  “And how do I earn my place?”

  “By treating me like an equal, not a goddess up on a pedestal and not a child who needs her hand held. A partner.”

  “You want this? You want us?” He squeezed her hand in a death grip.

  “I’d be crazy not to, X.” The smile split her face as the words finally set her free.

  Xavier wasn’t as ready to celebrate. “Say it, Waverly.”

  He was so bossy, and that would probably never change. But there were a thousand things that she’d never change either. They could learn to work together, learn to trust each other. “I want us.”

  He was yanking her to him, pulling her off the table and settling her in his lap. “Thank fucking God,” he said raggedly.

  “We’re going to have to be patient with each other,” she cautioned him.

  “Yeah, because that’s our strong suit,” he said dryly, pressing a kiss to her throat.

  “We can’t just have sex all the time. We’re going to have to talk every once in a while. But that’s the only way we can make sure nothing else stands between us.”

  He pulled back and stared up at her as if he was deciding something. And then he yanked her down for a sweet, soft kiss. When she moved for more, he tucked her head against his chest and took a deep breath.

  “There’s still something in the way,” he said. She heard his voice like a rumble in his chest. “Something we haven’t talked about.”

  “What?”

  “I was angry with you,” he began. “Probably more mad at myself because I felt so helpless. We were flying back to L.A., and I felt like I was delivering you to everyone who could hurt you again. Your parents, the studio, Ganim.” Xavier swiped a hand over his face. “So I picked a fight with you on the plane. I wanted to blame you for putting my team in danger, but really it was everyone in your life who was willingly shoving you in harm’s way.”

  Waverly’s heartbeat picked up. He was talking about the night Ganim had taken her, the night everything changed for them. It was the night they never spoke of.

  “I saw you weren’t feeling well at the club, thought it would be an out, a reason to take you home. But I didn’t stay with you. I wanted to get your drink and bring it back to you and then convince you to leave. But when I followed the waitress to the bar, I saw the bartender pull out this vial…” He shook his head, took a steadying breath.

  She pressed her hand against his heart, felt it thunder beneath her palm.

  “I lost it, Waverly. Someone was trying to hurt you right in front of me, on my watch. I grabbed him, pulled him over the bar. I don’t even remember how many times I hit him. By the time they got me off of him, let me back up off the floor, you were gone.”

  She saw the flash in her own memory, felt the residual roll of terror. There were screams over the music and then Ganim’s face swam before her, but she was too weak to scream or fight.

  “I lost it. I completely lost it,” he shoved his hand through his hair. “You were my world and not just because you were a job. You know that, right?”

  She nodded but said nothing.

  “Micah was there, Travers and Hansen, too. And everyone was just standing around talking on phones, looking at security footage. I needed to move. I needed to find you. We were going to take Travers’ SUV,” he remembered. “And then I realized you were wearing your tracker. It took me ten minutes to remember. Ten fucking minutes, Waverly. That’s how gone I was. If I’d remembered five minutes earlier, you wouldn’t have had a scratch on you.”

  She shook her head. “He had a gun,” Waverly reminded him. “He would have just shot me in the car. It could have gone even worse.”

  He took another breath. “Micah was driving because I… I couldn’t. I was tracking you, and I knew where he was taking you. I knew he was going to kill you. And then Kate calls and she’s hysterical.”

  “And Kate is never hysterical,” Waverly said with a sad smile.

  “She’s just sobbing in my ear that I have to save you, that it’s streaming live. And then we were there, and I saw you. I saw him. I don’t even remember pulling my gun. Micah knew exactly what to do. He just floored it up over the curb onto the sidewalk, and I threw the door open.

  “He knew we were coming for him, that I wasn’t going to let him live. I saw the knife coming down and I fired. Three times. Center body mass. The truck was still moving, and I dove for him. As soon as I touched him, I knew he was gone. He just kind of crumpled under me like a doll. And then I was with you. And there was so much blood. So much blood,” he repeated, his voice choking.

  She rested her head on his shoulder, stroked his chest tenderly with her hand.

  “I’ve never loved anyone that much, and almost losing you broke me.” His voice broke with emotion.

  “Do you remember what I said to you?” she asked quietly.

  He nodded, but didn’t answer.

  “I told you I knew you’d come for me. And I meant it. I had no doubt that you’d move heaven and earth to find me. And when I opened my eyes and saw your face I knew that everything was going to be okay.”

  “I almost wasn’t fast enough.” He swiped at a tear that had escaped the corner of his eye. “I almost cost you everything.”

  She cupped his face in her hands. “You were fast enough. You saved my life, Xavier. I’m here today because you were there. You didn’t hesitate. Your instincts, your skills, your control stopped a killer.”

  He wiped his face again, trying to absorb her words yet still fighting them against the truth he believed.

  “I have to tell you something, X. Something I never told anyone about that night.”

  “What?”

  “I could have faded away. I was fading. Everything was going black, and I knew I could just let go and nothing would hurt anymore and no one could hurt me ever again.” She felt the goose bumps rise on her arms at the memory of the cold concrete under her and the warm spread of her blood as it left her body.

  “Jesus, Waverly.” His arms banded around her tighter.

  “But I held on because you did. You held my hand, and you talked to me. I heard every beautiful word you said, and I hung on to them, to your voice. I knew you were with me, and I didn’t want to leave you. You didn’t just save me from Ganim. You kept me here.”

  She was crying now, and he crushed her against his chest, cradling her in his arms.

  “My Angel,” he whispered.

  “So don’t you ever tell me that you made mistakes that night. If it weren’t for you, Ganim would have gotten me long before then, and there wouldn’t have been anyone to save me. There wouldn’t have been anyone to hang on for.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “And then I walked out on you like a scared, selfish asshole. I’m so fucking sorry, Waverly. I just loved you so much, and thinking that I almost got you killed… it destroyed me. If I couldn’t protect you, couldn’t keep you safe. I wasn’t good enough for you.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist. “It’s about time you apologize for the right thing.”

  He gave a broken laugh. “I love you, Waverly Sinner. And nothing is going to stand in my way this time. I’m going to marry you, and we’re going to spend forever driving each other insane.”

  She pulled back, but he wasn’t having it and yanked her against him. “Don’t argue with me. I’ll wear you down eventually. Even if it takes another five years. You will be my wife.”

  “X—” But his mouth found hers and silenced her pro
test.

  She broke the kiss breathlessly. “How about we just work on dating for a little while? We’ve never tried that before.”

  He laughed against her hair. “You are the most infuriating, exhausting—”

  She glared at him.

  “Beautiful, sexy, smart, sweet, surprising woman I have ever met in my entire life,” he amended.

  Waverly winced. “Crap. In the interest of honesty and stuff, I should tell you I met Calla for drinks.”

  “Calla?”

  “Jesus, X. Get some blood flow back to your head.” His penis was rigid against her. “Calla, your ex-girlfriend.”

  He froze. “Why the hell were you having drinks with her?”

  “She called and asked. And I was very curious about the woman after me, so I went.”

  “What did you talk about?” he asked gruffly.

  “Oh, you know, what’s hot in hair care for fall and whether or not we think global warming—” He pinched her. Hard. “Ouch!”

  “Smartass,” he complained.

  “You, you ass. We talked about you.”

  “I assumed as much,” he said, exasperated now. “What specifically?”

  “She wanted to let me know that you’re a great guy and I better not jerk you around.”

  “She threatened you?” He didn’t sound mad. He sounded incredulous.

  Waverly smiled, enjoying herself. “Not in so many words, but I’m willing to be extra nice to you just in case.”

  He squeezed her.

  “She’s good, X. Happy. Married and pregnant, and she wants to see you happy, too. She thinks that might involve me.”

  His hands skimmed up to cup her breast. “Let’s stop talking and work on making me happy.”

  “Okay.”

  Her immediate acquiescence must have thrown him because it took him another five seconds before he rose, carrying her from the sofa to the bed. Xavier lay her in the middle of the mattress and stared at her with an unreadable expression as he loosened his tie.

  Waverly felt like she was watching something erotically artistic as he unbuttoned his shirt. The powerful chest that gave way to a rippled expanse of abs, the V of muscle that drew her eye down and down. He shed the shirt carelessly on the floor, and when his hands moved to his belt, Waverly licked her lips. She rose up on her knees and stripped the sweatshirt over her head revealing the purple lace of her bra. She saw his throat work as his pupils zeroed in on her breasts.

  Xavier’s fingers deftly opened his belt and moved to the button on his trousers. She could see the bulge beneath the fabric, felt the liquid pull of desire between her own legs. He shoved his pants down and stepped out of them. The flushed crown of his cock peeked out of the waistband of his gray briefs. Waverly eagerly peeled off her yoga pants one leg at a time. And when Xavier shoved his hand into his briefs to fist the root of his erection, she crawled across the mattress to him.

  He must have liked what he saw because as he stroked his big hand up the shaft, the tip glistened with a pearl of moisture, and he grunted softly. It made her bolder. He offered himself to her, and she held Xavier’s gaze as her tongue darted out between her lips to taste him. His intake of air was a hiss, and when her lips flowed over the broad head, it became a groan. She took him into her mouth, tonguing and tasting his hard flesh. His hand fisted in her hair hard enough to draw a moan from her lips.

  He pumped himself into her mouth, and she eagerly accepted the assault. Pushing him over the edge gave her a dark pleasure. “You’re my fantasy come to life,” Xavier gritted out.

  She closed her eyes on his words of praise and worshipped him back. With a ragged rumble deep in his chest, he pulled her off of his cock. He met her on the mattress and easily pinned her beneath him. Waverly bucked against him, craving the friction of his cock grinding against her sex.

  “Be patient, Angel.” He teased her lips with his, biting and licking his way to her surrender.

  Waverly ran her hands over his muscled back and lower, squeezing his tight ass and yanking him against her. He obliged and rubbed his dick over the purple lace of her thong. “You could make me come just like that,” she gasped.

  “I have a better idea,” he said, sliding down her body. He paused at her breasts, tonguing under the lace to tease each nipple before licking his way down her stomach.

  He pushed her thighs wide and slipped his palms under her ass.

  “Show me,” he ordered, his voice harsh with desire.

  Desperate, Waverly grabbed her thong and yanked the material to one side.

  He groaned, low and guttural. “Hold it there. Stay open for me.” His tongue blazed a trail through her sex, sliding through the wet folds to tease her greedy bud. Waverly’s thighs trembled when he skimmed lower. He tasted the very center of her, and she purred out her praise. When the tip of his tongue probed even lower, she felt her breath catch.

  “Every inch of you belongs to me, Waverly,” he murmured. Teasing that secret spot. It shouldn’t feel so good, she told herself. She shouldn’t want this, but she did.

  Xavier made everything feel so good, so right. He gave her the things she didn’t know she needed. And when he pressed the pad of his thumb to where his tongue had just been, sliding it inside past that tight ring of muscle she didn’t fight him. She took slow, steadying breaths getting used to this new invasion.

  “Good girl.” His breath fluttered against her bared flesh. With his other hand, he probed her sex gently before sliding his fingers home. Waverly was so close to coming that she clamped down on his fingers, holding them inside her.

  He was breathing heavily, and she could feel him grinding his hips into the mattress, as desperate for the friction, the touch, as she was.

  “Not yet, baby. Not yet.” Xavier lowered his mouth to her, and when his tongue danced over her clitoris, he began to move his fingers. She gasped for breath, her hands fisted in the sheets as she rode his mouth and hands. She couldn’t hold back if she wanted to. The orgasm had her in its ironclad grip.

  Full. So beautifully full, his tongue and his hands triggered her release, and she saw constellations erupt behind her closed eyes. She closed around him, squeezing those fingers in shattering waves. He moaned against her. Her pleasure was his. Still quaking from her release, she gripped him by the hair and pulled him up her body.

  “I want to make you feel what I feel.” She straddled his hips pulling her thong off to the side again as he guided his thick erection to her center.

  “Oh, God!” The words were wrenched from his throat as Waverly lowered herself onto him. His stomach muscles were rigid, holding his head and shoulders off the bed.

  “Don’t move,” he begged, his eyes pinched closed.

  She waited until he opened his eyes. Blurry and unfocused, they zeroed in when she slid the straps of her bra down her arms. Without the support, the curves of her breasts threatened to spill over the top of the lace that contained them.

  “Fuck it,” he whispered.

  He reared up and shoved her bra down. The second her breasts were free, he latched his mouth onto one of the nipples, and Waverly began to ride. She was too close to the edge again. She wanted to be the one to drive him over, but those deep needy pulls on her nipple were driving her insane.

  He palmed her ignored breast, squeezing and kneading it to the rhythm his mouth set. She followed suit, riding him with long slow strokes. His mouth released her with a pop. Her nipple was pink and swollen. Xavier growled and took the other peak between his lips.

  She felt him swell inside her, knew he was close. His hips were bucking off the mattress, begging for more. More speed, more friction. She gave it all to him, wrapping her fingers around the headboard and riding his cock as if her life depended on it.

  She heard him grunting softly as he sucked. Then he was thickening, swelling, and just that was enough to send her over the edge. She exploded, and instantly he was jerking inside her, coming in thick, hot spu
rts as she pulsed around him. His name, she chanted it over and over again as their orgasms joined. Only when it was over did he release her breast.

  Waverly collapsed on him, and the change in angle had his cock twitching in her. “You’re still hard after that?”

  He rolled, still inside her, and pinned her to the mattress. “Angel, I’m always hard for you.”

  He pulled out and stroked back in. There was no way she could go again, Waverly told herself. But her body sent a delicious shiver through her when the crown of his cock angled over the perfect spot.

  Her sigh of pleasure had him lowering onto her. “One more time for me, Angel.”

  With slow, smooth strokes, he was rock hard again, and she was floating into the bliss. He smoothed his hand over her forehead, brushing her hair back. Her gaze met his and held. Xavier rolled his hips, and staring into the depths of each other, they sighed together.

  She hiked her knees up higher on his hips and held on. Every deep, masterful stroke took her higher. Her nails dug perfect crescents into his shoulders as if she hoped to anchor him to her forever.

  He moved in her endlessly, languidly. Taking his time, he carried her toward the light with measured strokes. Every thrust perfect, every sigh magical.

  She felt it then, that slow, glorious build like the dawn breaking. He felt it too and paced himself. “I’ve got you, baby,” he promised her.

  It swept through her like gravity, like the magnetic pull of the moon on the tide. Infinitely powerful. “Xavier,” she sighed out his name as she tumbled with it, rolling and falling, floating and flying.

  She watched him as he came, her name from his lips. He was unblinking, staring into her as if he could see inside to where he filled her with his seed. They possessed each other in the most beautifully carnal of ways.

  Waverly wasn’t sure if it was minutes or hours before they moved. Maybe it was days. But when Xavier finally pulled out of her, she missed the connection immediately. He pulled her into him, positioning her head on his chest. She could see the self-satisfied smile on his face as she toyed with his chest hair. It was probably a reflection of the one on her own face.