Page 70 of Safe With Me

“Mike, please,” she said with a long wail, her thighs quivering against my cheeks.

I swatted her ass with a loud smack and felt her legs go stiff as she squeezed my fingers. She screamed through her release, but I wouldn’t stop until I’d wrung every ounce of pleasure out of her.

I couldn’t make her forget, but in this moment, I wanted to clear her mind of any thoughts but me.

“To answer your question, if you still remember what it was…”

She peered down at me, a beautiful blush bleeding into her cheeks and down her chest as a hazy smile drifted over her lips.

“I adore you. From day one, and more every day since.”

I crawled up the bed and slanted my mouth over hers, trying to make her believe the rest of what I didn’t know how to say.

15

MIKE

I kepthold of Lila’s hand as we watched Jude and another officer dust the door of her car for fingerprints. In the light of day, the scratches on the car seemed deeper—and angrier.

I wanted to believe this was the work of some bored and stupid kid looking to cause mayhem on a summer night, but the large and deliberate letters looked too full of hate to be random.

Aaron had said that he would work on her car when I arrived this morning. After I dropped Lila off at my father’s office, I’d get this erased as soon as possible so she never had to look at it again.

Erasing it from her mind wouldn’t be as easy.

“Why don’t you finish getting ready for work?” I stepped in front of Lila, my attempt to shield her from what she’d seen, even though I knew it would be on her mind all day.

“You know I’ve already seen it. Trying to hide it now is pointless. How do you plan on driving me to work and hiding it?” She crossed her arms, cocking a brow at me.

I yanked her to me and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I bet I could distract you a little bit.” I kissed her again, dragging her bottom lip between my teeth as I pulled away. “Go get ready.” I swatted her hip. “I think Jude is almost done.”

She shook her head, feathering her hand down my cheek as a tiny smile ghosted her mouth before she turned to Jude.

“Jude, thank you for being here so early.”

The corner of his mouth curved up.

“Thanks aren’t necessary, Lila. You’re family and one of our own. I’m just sorry this happened.”

She nodded and headed back inside, exhaustion in her every step as she trudged toward her door.

Fuck this guy for what he’d done to her, and if he was back to do it again, I’d break every single police protocol there was to keep him away from her for good.

Jude frowned as he studied the car. I tried to read him, but a frown was his baseline when he was on duty. The only time I’d ever really seen him smile was around his wife and son, but he had a big heart under all that surly demeanor.

He knew enough about why Lila had moved here to take this more seriously than the other cases of vandalism from last night, even though I hoped like hell we’d find out they were related.

I almost wished we’d find his prints, so we’d have just cause to get a warrant to check on exactly where Ted was and what he’d been up to since Lila left Philly.

As close as I was to Keith, he wouldn’t let me abuse the system without a reason solid enough to look.

Unless I went around him, which I’d never been so tempted to do before now.

“Do the Francos have cameras?” Jude asked, looking back at the house.

“No,” I said. “I’d suggested a doorbell camera, but they told me it was a waste of money.”

“Of course they did,” Jude said, shaking his head. “At least they lock their doors at night. Outdoor cameras are how we got those kids last night. If we could’ve made a match with video here, then we would have been able to know for sure.”

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