Page 80 of Safe With Me

I’d soak up all I could and hope I wouldn’t have to give it back.

17

LILA

I woke up with a jolt,exhausted enough to have to think about where I was. I lifted my head off Mike’s chest and pushed myself up, massaging the crick in my neck.

While it was nice to be tangled up in each other, the futon wasn’t big enough for two people to sleep on. As I swung my legs over the side, I spotted the dip on one side of the mattress and had to laugh.

I’d never had sex with anyone passionately enough to break a bed, even if this was just a futon. It was vigorous enough to both damage furniture and knock me out into a mostly dreamless sleep.

The tiny clock next to Mike’s bed read four a.m., too early to be up thinking about all I had to do in the light of day. I was relieved that Jake wasn’t going to fire me, but I wasn’t sure how Kathy and Terry would react when I spoke to them later today.

I liked them both a lot and loved living in their house. I didn’t think they’d ask me to leave, but if Ted or whoever had done this to my car moved on to my apartment, they might feel like they had no choice.

I let my head drop back, a humorless laugh falling from my lips.

How was I back here again?I’d been as careful as I could be without joining witness protection, even hiding my address from my own parents, and yet I still might’ve been found.

I was so tired of running and hiding.

If it were just me to consider, as frightened as I still was, I was fed up enough to be tempted to contact Ted and tell him to do his worst to me and get it over with.

Mike grunted in his sleep as he stirred under the sheet. The soft red light from the alarm clock illuminated his model-quality cheekbones and sharp jaw. I eased closer, smiling when I spotted his long lashes as his eyes fluttered in sleep.

His hair stuck to his forehead, the longer strands on the top matted from sleep. I pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and rested my forehead against his temple.

Sacrificing only myself wasn’t possible. I couldn’t tell Mike to just not travel to see me anymore like I’d done with my friend Justin after Ted had threatened to hurt him.

Mike might be a trained cop, but the rage and desperation Ted had shown those last few months would make him dangerous to anyone. He was unhinged enough not to give a shit about boundaries or any kind of self-preservation as he continued to come after me.

Mike was so sure he could protect me, but he was the one I was the most worried about.

“It’s too dark to be morning,” Mike grumbled, looping his arm around me to pull me into his chest.

“It’s very early morning. We still have an hour or two before we have to get up.”

“Perfect,” he said, his voice scratchy with sleep as he slipped his hand under the covers and cupped my bare ass.

“Easy there. I think we broke your bed.”

His head jerked up, squinting at the far end of the mattress and the crooked angle.

“Ha, I think we did.”

“A lot of wear and tear, I suppose,” I said, settling onto the pillow.

“What do you mean?” Mike asked, turning his head to me.

“You lay your most likely over-six-foot body of muscle on it every night, and when you have guests, the bar holding the mattress can only take so much.”

“First of all, I’m six two, so good guess. The only realwear and tearthis futon has ever seen is me fucking you hard enough into the mattress last night to make it half collapse.”

Even with only the soft gray light filtering in through the window, I shivered from the carnal blaze in Mike’s eyes.

“And the only femaleguests—which is what I think you’re alluding to—I’ve had in this apartment are you and my sister. And she’s always slept on an air mattress here, never the futon.”

“Seriously? You’ve never brought anyone home with you?”

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