Page 38 of Ravaged Hearts

Gently, I pulled the covers away, revealing Hope’s breasts, her pert nipples, and the soft curves of her hips and belly. She stirred as the cool air kissed her skin and wriggled back against the warmth of my chest.

I’d give her my body heat. Hell, I’d give her a home. I’d give her a family. I’d give my life for her if it came to it. I’d give this womaneverything.

I brushed Hope’s hair aside and kissed her neck, then let my hand shift to her supple breast and squeeze the overflowing handful. Goddamn, I loved her tits. I loved her round ass, her thick thighs, and the swell of her belly. I loved that her body was different from mine in every womanly way possible. And I loved that she wasn’t shy about it. She owned her beauty like the queen she was.

Hope stretched like a cat, arching her spine and digging her ass against my hard-on. “Good morning,” she said groggily. Ihad to agree. It was a very fucking good morning, indeed. “What time is it?”

“Just after five.” I pressed light kisses to her shoulder, needing to taste her, to scent her.

“Ugh.” She flung a hand over her eyes. “It’s so early.”

“Brandon messaged. I have to meet him at six to start prepping for the op.”

We had a lot to do before the rest of the team rolled in. We’d usually take a week to prepare for a mission like this. If we weren’t such an organized unit used to responding to situations quickly, we’d never be able to pull this all together on such short notice.

Hope rolled to face me, looping her arm around my waist and pressing her nose into the crook of my neck. “Less than an hour? That’s all we have?”

“I’m sorry.” I kissed her forehead. “I’m going to be busy today. It’s probably best if you stay here.”

Hope sighed, and her warm breath tickled my throat. Her fingertips traced lazy patterns along the outline of a skull on my pec. “How did you manage to sit for your tattoos without, you know, panicking?”

Which was a nice way of asking how I’d let a person stick a million needles into my skin without tearing them limb from limb.

“By taking enough Ambien and Xanax to numb an elephant.”

And with Brandon seated nearby just in case I became…problematic. He’d spent days on his laptop while I lay in a chair getting inked from neck to ankle. There’d been three artists working on me at one point. I’d needed the tattoos finished as fast as possible.

Hope left her hand on my chest and rested her chin on top of it to look me in the eyes. “Have you thought about taking medication to help with your anxiety?”

I ran my fingers through her hair and repeated the motion because it soothed me. “I tried. They screw around with my balance and make it hard to concentrate. If I take them, I can’t do my job.”

My role within our unit had given me purpose and pulled me from the self-destructive behaviors I’d fallen into after my capture. I’d done a lot of dumb shit south of the border while trying to distract myself from my problems. If Brandon hadn’t offered me a job with the team, I’d probably be dead.

“Do you believe in fate?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Hope shrugged. “If it’s real, it hasn’t been kind to either of us so far.”

“That’s true. But don’t you think it’s strange we ended up together? You, the daughter of Mexico’s most notorious cartel boss, and me, your father’s sworn enemy.”

Hope’s lips twitched. “Star-crossed lovers?”

“Romeo and Juliet? Nah.” I scoffed. “Their ending was fucked-up.”

I swallowed against the uncomfortable tightness in my throat. We didn’t know what our ending would be yet. Arguably, it could go a hell of a lot worse than any Shakespearean script.

I moistened my lips. “I can’t help but feel like certain people come into our lives when we really need them.” Brandon, Sage, and now Hope. I gazed into her amber eyes. “What if fate caused our paths to cross? Maybe you were meant to find me so I could help free you from your father and bring down his cartel. And I think I was meant to find you so you could help heal me.”

“I’m not sure if divine forces pushed us together, but if they did, I’m eternally grateful.”

“The op.” I toyed with Hope’s hair, staring at my fingers as they weaved through her tresses. I didn’t want to talk about the mission. Didn’t want to drive myself crazy thinking about allthe risks, but I couldn’t help it. “What happens if something goes wrong and I can’t get you back?”

She placed a warm palm against my cheek. “If you can’t get to me, then I’ll find a way back to you. I promise.”

I pulled Hope on top of me until she straddled my hips, and my cock was a hard rod between us, begging for attention. Christ, was I ever soft around her?

“Need to have you one more time.”Before we go.I grasped her soft waist, rolling her against me. “Are you sore?” We’d fucked a lot in the last few days, and Hope was new to this. I needed to remember to take better care of her.

She froze. “The truth?”

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