Page 56 of What Lies Within

Emboldened, I wrap my fingers around him and slowly stroke, applying pressure as I reach the head.

His hands hit the wall either side of me with a slap, and he groans, head pressed against the back of mine. I milk the man for what he’s worth, a cry passing my lips when he drops one hand to my breast and kneads the flesh in time with my quickening strokes.

“Stop.” His guttural plea causes a flood of warmth between my legs. “Not yet.”

I'm spun on the wet tile floor, faced with the result of my ministrations. Desire darkens Digger's gaze, his eyes hungry across my face and chest as he pants, each breath expanding his muscular chest, lifting his muscled shoulders.

“Wanted to take this slower,” he grinds out, “but dammit woman.” Hand wrapped around my throat, he tilts my head back and mumbles, lips against mine. “You got magic in those devil hands of yours.”

His kiss is demanding, bruising, as he grips ahold of my thighs and lifts me against the wall. Fingers in his hair, I tug at the strands, chasing his mouth as he glances between us to line himself up and then…Fuck, yes.Digger stalls, bottomed outinside of me while we both take a moment to relish the fucking fullness.

The perfection.

One hitch of my hips, and he's snapped out of his reverie, pulling back before slamming back into me with force.

With purpose.

The water cascades over our heads, hitting his broad back as he buries his face against my neck, teeth grazing the column of my throat as he pistons his hips. It's sensual, rough, and yet fucking intimate all at once. The perfect recipe.

The perfect release.

I open my eyes as he brings me to the edge and stare at the ceiling to pray.

That he never tires of this.

That he never changes his mind.

That one day, I'll feel worthy of this love.

23

TYKE

Feet on the blacktop, I sit astride my bike while I wait for Deo to bring his pretentious BMW out from the underground garage. The first address on the list is a former steel mill fifteen minutes from where we are now—as good a starting point as any.

I cast my eye across the brightly lit drive-through out front of the lobby. LED lights positioned overhead cast the area in a brilliant white light, accentuating the sleek finish on sports cars such as Deo's as he idles the gunmetal gray sedan through the paved section.

If I had my way, I would have hightailed it out of here the minute I stepped outside. The list of addresses in my breast pocket burns against my heart—a reminder of how I failed Maddie as a father and protector.

As a president.

Deaths were aplenty on my grandfather's watch, almost as much so on my father's. Fucking swore that shit would end when I took the gavel, and yet, here we are with two deaths to my name and now a kidnapping.

Marco’s boy pulls up in front of me, window down. His gaze drops from my face to the bike and back again. Fuck knows whathe thinks of me—fucked if I care. But it bothers the fuck out of me that he feels comfortable enough to dismiss a man who's on even standing with his father.

Let alone the daddy of the girl he wants to be fucking.

Or maybe he already is fucking?Damned if I’d know much these days.

“You got issue, boy?” I straighten my back, arms folded over my chest.

“Should I?” He lifts an eyebrow. “Where are we going first?”

"Old steel mill off—" The bleat of my phone draws my eye downward to its mount on the bars. "The fuck?"

MINION

Maddie’s home. Got a story to tell.

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