Page 63 of His Reluctant Savior

It ended too soon, and I sagged against the tile when Sid dug his fingers into my hips and finished.

“Fuck…” he ground out, his pumping coming in sporadic movements before he finally stopped.

Sid lifted me by my chest, and I rested my head back against his shoulder as I continued to catch my breath, but he wouldn’t let me breathe, smothering me in a deep kiss.

“I’m never letting you go.” His voice was only a whisper, but it was possessive and commanding, brooking no argument or debate. It was his simple truth.

All I could do was nod.

Once we caught our breaths and calmed our hearts, we quickly washed our hair and bodies before drying off.

It was late, so we climbed into bed, still naked, with Sid holding me as he always did. Who would ever believe this criminal—this killer—could be tender and gentle? You’d never imagine such a man would want to hold and snuggle with his partner. This moment brought me back to Easton’s words earlier tonight.

“Easton said you loved me,” I said.

“Psht… What a blabbermouth. Who knew he would be such a gossip queen?”

“Do you?”

Sid eased me back and rolled onto his side to look at me. “I do. It wasn’t hard. Once I decided you were mine, that was it for me. I just didn’t think you were ready to hear it yet.”

I wanted to love him, but the obvious reasons held me back. Who knew where we’d end up? Who knew what would happen to us? And I still struggled with being involved with a killer.

“Just feel it, Dalt. Stop thinking so hard.”

I sighed. “Dammit, Sid… I have more than myself to worry about.” I wasn’t angry, only frustrated at our situation and all the choices I had to make. It seemed so easy for him. We didn’t share the same consciences.

“Owen will never be safer than with us.”

I kissed his forehead and dragged my fingers through his growing hair. “Can you love a child, Sid? Can you be a father? It’s more than protecting him. You have to hold him at night when he has a nightmare. Help him when school gets hard. Talk him through how to handle kids who would pick on him. Explain that not everyone will love him when his girlfriend or boyfriend breaks up with him. And most importantly, he needs to understand right and wrong.”

“I can be all those things. Do you know why?” I shook my head, saying nothing. “Because Iwantto. I’ve always known you and Owen are a package deal. It doesn’t scare me or make me nervous. I will protect Owen as I’ve protected you. If I have to go to the school and lay the law down so no bully messes with him, I will. And while I may be a killer, I do have codes I live by, Dalt. I’m not some monster or an animal who kills without a thought.But I get it. You don’t want Owen to find out. I can promise you he never will.”

“Sid…”

“I can pretend to be that kindergarten teacher for you and him,” he winked.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help but laugh. His words tried to punch through my doubts, and they were succeeding. No doubt I was falling for him. Still, I wanted to fight, as if I owed it to my dwindling morals or something. If I didn’t at least cling to them for as long as possible, I would regret it. But was that really the truth? Being around him twenty-four-seven for nearly three weeks… it had been a damn roller coaster. Who knew what things would be like or how we would feel once our lives settled down? If anything, I needed to cling to pragmatism. But god, did I want to just let myself fall, too.

“You’re always thinking so hard,” he said, chuckling.

I smiled and pressed my palm against his cheek. “That’s all I have right now.”

He pulled me tight against him. “You’ll love me back. Just you wait. I’m way too irresistible.”

I had no doubt, but that wasn’t the question. The question was, could I live with myself when I did?

I knocked on the hotel door, which was the same hotel Dalton and I were staying in. Easton was quick to answer it. He glanced around outside to make sure no one had followed me, then he stepped aside to let me in.

“Dalton doesn’t know I’m here. I don’t need him talking me out of this, even though I haven’t made any decisions yet,” I said when I walked in and sat in one of the two chairs by the window. I peeked out of the curtains to double-check no one was watching, despite Easton doing just that. You could neverbe too careful.

“What decision is that?” he asked.

I glanced at him, not used to seeing Easton in pajama bottoms. It was unusual for him to dress casually unless he was blending in with the crowd while on the job. He tended to wear tailored clothes and suits in an attempt to make himself appear older than he was.

“To come home and get the family’s help with Dalton… if they don’t kill me first. Do they know you’ve been following me?”

“Of course not. They believe I’m working.”

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