Page 22 of Cruel Love

Finally, he shifts forward, penetrating me. I lay my head back, closing my eyes to focus and feel it. His lips fall to my exposed neck, biting down. The sharp nip travels back behind my ear, radiating my senses.

Passion takes us both. I begin to move my hips to meet his swift thrusts, but I can’t move more than that. I can barely think. It’s hard and fast, unlike any other time we’ve been together. He doesn’t hold back. He takes what he wants from me and I give in to it without thinking.

“Fox...” I whimper as my toes curl.

I’m not a collectible. If Fox is damaged, then so am I.

He brushes his lips along my shoulder, pressing down to kiss my healing wound. He regrets shooting me that day. I don’t. In my mind, I took that bullet to save him. I’d do it again if I had to.

My shoulder twinges. I wince as a bit of pain travels down to my wrist. Fox releases my right hand and guides my arm down to my side, almost as if he could feel it, too. His hips continue their fast and steady grind. I feel myself tightening around him, hurdling closer toward release, but I hold on. I want to make this feeling last for as long as possible. I want this night to last forever.

If it does, then he’ll never leave.

He’ll never go on one last dangerous mission. Everyone knows how that goes in the movies. Just one final job. One week until retirement. It’s a jinx, plain and simple. The odds aren’t in our favor.

Tears fill my eyes again, fighting the pleasure tearing me apart from the inside out.

“Fox,” I breathe, choking on the sob.

He halts deep inside of me, his tattooed chest heaving. “Don’t think about it, Dani,” he whispers. He rests his forehead on mine, staring into my eyes. “Just be here. Now. With me.”

I swallow my tears, giving in to electricity dancing throughout my spine. I touch his cheek. That white scar sticks out against my fingertips and he closes his eyes as I feel it. My own face twitches with pain as I remember Mercer’s blade slicing my cheek. He did that to get Fox’s attention. To connect the two of us together and that’s exactly what it did. My scar is gone now, reversed by expensive doctors and specialists, but I still feel it on the inside.

My connection to Fox. It’ll never go away.

I kiss him again, feeling the last of my tears disappearing as my lips curl.

“What?” he asks, smiling with me.

I block it all out. I picture a world without Snake Eyes. No more Boss. No more killing. Just me and Fox in his cabin outside of Mrs. Clark’s farmhouse. Finally together against all odds.

I won’t let it all fade to black this time.

Chapter 7

Luka

I am being watched.

It’s a funny feeling, one that creeps into my psyche long before I even open my eyes. In the old days, I would have sprung into action to eliminate whatever enemy felt compelled to attack me or any member of my family, but things have changed for me over the last year.

I wake up in near-perfect darkness, though a bit of daylight manages to slip in-between the thick, black curtains along the window. I reach out to feel for Sofia, but her side of the bed is ice cold.

Still, I feel the eyes on me.

I stretch out my legs as consciousness takes hold and my foot bumps into something sitting at the end of my bed.

He chuckles. His laughter is warm and childishly sinister.

I squint at him as his small body takes shape in front of me.

“Lucian...” I murmur.

I reach for the switch above the bed and flick the lamp on, illuminating my son’s grinning face. He’s dressed in black shorts and a navy shirt. The bottoms of his white socks are filthy, no doubt from running through the flower beds and driving Sofia crazy. He holds a thick book in his hands with a maroon cover. The soft, Italian features he shares with his mother stand out as he smiles at me but not as much as his bright, silver eyes.

Those are all mine.

“Lucian,” I say again, smiling back. “What are you doing?”

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