Page 67 of Four Times Saved

I grinned, sweeping her short, dirty blond hair off her neck. "She just took your mother on her evening walk."

She tensed against me but tried to play it off. "Even better." She reached up to kiss me. I let her, but when I broke the kiss, her brows furrowed.

"You're running again," I told her.

She dropped her gaze to her hand on my bare chest, trailing my pec with her finger.

"You're afraid he's out there and they're unsafe." I read her mind. I knew I did, because her wide eyes came up to meet mine.

"Well, do you blame me? One of you should have gone with her." She frowned.

"He won't be able to hurt either of you again." I promised her.

"How would you know that?" She asked, looking so deep in my eyes, I had to break eye contact.

"I just mean he must be long gone by now." I grunted.

She pondered as I stroked my finger across the fringe of hair around her face, turning to steel as I pulled it back.

"Yeah, well, until the police catch him and I know he's in prison, I won't be able to 'stop running' as you say." She continued, but my eye was on the area that other fucker had pistol-whipped her.

The swelling had gone down, but there was still a nasty bruise which turned me feral. I stroked my thumb across it as my blood bubbled to a boil. She froze, searching my eyes which had begun to narrow.

"Would you really hate me for wanting revenge on the assholes who did this to you?" The question slipped through my lips and I couldn't retract it. I held my breath for her response.

"Is that how you actually got these bruises?" Her eyes bulged and I could almost see her head expand.

"No." I let my breath escape me in a slow, bitten back hiss. "I told you that was an accident."

"And you want me to believe you, right?" She asked.

I frowned. "Yes, because it's the truth."

"I want to be able to believe you. I want to be able to trust you. And I can't do that if you lie to me." She pulled away and the lack of her warmth against me had me dying to fall to my knees and confess to her.

"I'm telling you the truth. But you can't expect me not to have a reaction. I love you. They hurt you." My fist clenched. I should really have stopped talking.

She sighed, thank goodness, and moved toward me. "I know you do. I love you too. And if anyone ever hurt you..." Her fists tightened against my chest.

"See." I pointed them out and she uncurled them. "You understand how difficult this is for me."

"Yes, but I have to know you're not a violent person. You get that, right?" Her body pleaded in its trembling and, moved by instinct, I wrapped my arms around her.

Kissing the top of her head and cupping the back of it, I turned to hot lava again at the reminder of the stitches. Still, I had the consciousness of mind to realize that she was opening up to me and talking to me again. And what do you know? That was arousing too. Everything about her was arousing.

Our private conversation connected me to the people we once were. It was what I wanted to accomplish with that picnic today, her trusting me enough to open up. Like I did when it came to Lily, I felt like a winner. I celebrated this win, turning my attention away from that ever-burning anger and allowing myself to indulge in her lips, before kissing her forehead.

"Yeah. I understand." I hugged her tighter. I understood that I needed to focus less on my need for revenge and more on being what Lily needed me to be.

At least in this moment, as she began to move her kisses down my chest and tugged at the waist of my pants.

If there's one thing to know about Lily, it's that she's a straight shooter. She says it as it is and means what she says. There's no wavering on what she said before. It's been the same since we were teenagers. She can't trust a violent man. And I can't lose her. So I'll sort out what to do with all these thoughts and anger later. Now, I'd like to focus on this. Remembering what we had before the thorn in all our sides ruined it...what we still have.

Not wanting to wake the other guys up, though I'm sure they wouldn't mind, I pulled her into my bedroom. Letting her giggle run through me as she glanced down the hallway, conscious of her nakedness, I decided to push Tyler's offer away. I let her have her way with me as she shoved me up against the closed door. Her kisses could wash away my doubt over what to do about Tyler's offer and Terry Thornbread. But now was not the time to be thinking about him.

Her eyes danced with hunger and delight as she shoved my pants over my hips and took my hot, thumping cock in her hand. She jacked me off as she kissed me, filling me with the same gratitude I felt the first time she let me inside her body. It's possible I could even continue to be the man she needs me to be. Get past this anger. Start over new. Keep hiding secrets about what I know. When she asks about her dad, keep a poker face. When his body inevitably surfaces, act as surprised as she is. Yeah, I can lie to her.

My body went into panic mode as the guilt rose. My cock wrestled with my thoughts and its ability to stay solid. Silencing the noise, I lifted her off the ground, kissing her recklessly on the way over to the bed. We wrestled for control. She won as she pushed me off her and moved toward my cock. The aggression had me as hard as a fucking brick in no time. Hissing as she took me into her mouth, I maintained eye contact, growing thicker and warmer at the way her gaze sucked me in. Fuck, she's beautiful.

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