Page 64 of Never Broken

Only Langer could answer, so it was no surprise that both me and my boy were now staring straight at him, waiting for him to do just that.

“What?” he asked innocently. “Oh. You’re probably wondering what happened to that charming little device Big Toothless Joe was using to blackmail you.” He reached into the silken inner pocket of his crisp, perfect cerulean suit jacket and removed the grubby, taped-up tablet. He casually tossed it to me.

“Ew,” I said as it flew toward me. Instead of catching it, I kicked it onto the lava rocks. “I don’t want that thing anywhere near me.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you. I plan to burn this suit,” he said, wiping his hand on the side of his pants in disgust. “Oh, and”—he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper in his pocket and uncrumpled it: a map printout—“this belongs to you, kid.”

“Thanks,” my boy said in a daze, accepting it and shoving it in his pocket.

It was now shockingly, alarmingly, disturbingly clear: This man had just saved our lives.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

Langer took a step closer, his glacial eyes studying me. “Call it a tip for the top-notch dinner entertainment,” he said with a mild smirk at Rocket Boy. “Plus, I just have a soft spot for people in trouble, especially when they’re trying to do the right thing. I shouldn’t. I’d be twice as rich as I am now if I didn’t. But I do.”

“But—” my boy started.

“There’s no strings attached, by the way, and no, I didn’t watch the video. I like my porn sets a bit classier. Just a personal preference.” He held up his hands. “No offense.”

“None taken,” said my boy in a daze.

“Well,” Langer added with finality, dusting off his hands with a white-hot glint in his cold blue eyes, “I’ll let you guys go at it—sorry, get to it. If you ever need anything else, you know where to find me, kid.” He leaned in low and murmured something in what sounded like German, something that made my boy’s eyes widen under his long lashes. And to my surprise, heresponded—in the same language.

Straightening up, Langer chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder, then turned to leave, pausing just long enough to throw us a final glance before dissipating back into the moonlight. “Stay safe,” he said. “Wouldn’t want to see you two end up right back here.”

12

HER

“I came as soon as I could get away,” he said the second Langer was gone, holding me at arm’s length, clearly examining me for injuries. “Are you?—“

“I am. Nothing happened. It’s okay. We’re okay.”

“But we—“ he protested, gaze fixed darkly on where Langer had disappeared.

“Listen to me,” I said, reaching up to push back a lock of his shimmering moonlit hair, something a second ago I didn’t believe I’d ever do again because I didn’t believe he’d everseemoonlight again. He relaxed into the touch ever so slightly, which gave me hope and let me breathe. “We’re okay.”

“For now,” he admitted grudgingly.

“Now is good enough,” I murmured, moving toward him, exhausted and more than ready to collapse in his arms and maybe his lips, but he gestured for me to step into the shadow under the eave of the house.

I shrugged, confused.

“Camera,” he explained, pointing upward. “I cased it ahead of time to be safe, and I’ll disable it as soon as I get the chance. We got lucky this time, Lou. Really lucky. But if this is going to work,” he said with a resolute sigh, “we have to be more careful.”

I looked closer. In the moonlight, he’d looked almost angelic; up close, though, he was clearly exhausted. He probably hadn’t had a moment’s rest, or maybe even a bite to eat, since I’d left him downstairs. The stress of walking the thin line between praise and a flogging—or kisses and the mines—hadn’t been easy on him, either. Hell, I’d been willing to throw myself to the wolves so he wouldn’thaveto walk it anymore. But when he finally pulled me close, his expression had given way to pure enchantment. I relaxed. He was okay.

“So this is it,” he breathed into my ear, his lips ghosting over my neck, composure suddenly regained.

“So do you like the dress?” I whispered shyly.

I quivered as his hands slowly, methodically slid around the open back of my dress, under the edges of the fabric, brushing the lace of my black lace panties and tracing the perimeter of my waist, exploring all the places I’d hoped they would end up when I’d slipped into that dress what felt like a million years ago.

“You know damn well I’ve been waiting for this moment all fucking night,” he murmured.

“Well, start believing, Rocket Boy.” I covered his scarred, graceful, powerful hands with mine, intertwining our fingers as they gently came to rest on my hips. “Speaking of rockets, I think Corey’s planning to launch one directly at your head.”

“That means it’ll probably come down somewhere in Outer Mongolia, so I think I’ll be fine.”

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