Page 20 of Sleeper

“She put a picture of herself in there?”

“No, my sister stuck it in there after Mom died.”

“Ah.” Her fingers quickly undid the clasp of the necklace and she held it out for me to take. This didn’t feel right. I’d sworn I would get this back to my sister, but knowing it was a gift from her friend, it didn’t seem right to take it now. Especially if we found out Willie was the one responsible for Kenzi’s murder. There was no solution to this.

“I can’t take it,” I blurted out, but my fingers wrapped around it as quickly as the words left my mouth.

“You can and you will. It wasn’t Kenzi’s to give, I knew that in my gut, and planned to return it anyway.”

“Thank you.” I weakly smiled, knowing it wasn’t right to hold her against her will. I didn’t know how but I vowed to repay her someday, somehow. Giving her freedom back to her was an excellent way, but it wasn’t a smart decision. At least not if I didn’t want to see her dead body near the Cuyahoga.

“Don’t mention it.” She grinned with about as much excitement as I had at her.

“As much as I appreciate this, I hope you know I still can’t let you leave.” There were very few times I’d ever regretted joining the club, but this was one of them. She was innocent, but like me, guilty indirectly by association. Neither of us had pulled the trigger per se, but we both had a shell in the barrel.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“I do, that’s the problem. I want to let you go and I can’t.”

“I mean youcould.” She inched closer to me, and I put my arm around her.

“I really can’t. You’re safe with me. If you leave, even if I lie and say you escaped, someone will find you. If my brothers don’t, my dad will.”

“I know. You don’t notice me running, do you?”

I shook my head in response, and asked, “What now?”

“I could use another one of those hugs,” she admitted, snuggling against my side so I squeezed her shoulder within my palm.

“Of course. You can have as many as you want. Come get them,” I told her, releasing her arm, waiting on her to climb into my arms.

She stood in front of me and hesitated. I didn’t blame her. We didn’t know each other directly but knew a whole hell of a lot about each other. “Would you mind if we just forgot about the world for a while?”

“Not at all,” I declared, and I meant it, too. I didn’t want to continue thinking about all the what if’s that brought us to this moment. “What did you have in mind? I think I have a couple of beers in the fridge.”

“I don’t want anything that will alter my thinking, I was on drugs against my will for I don’t know how long.” Her lips pursed together.

“What did you have in mind, then?”

“This.” She straddled my legs and lowered herself onto me. “Is this okay? If it’s not, I’ll move.” Her ass lifted an inch, and my hand caught her thigh.

“If you’re fine with it, I could use a distraction,” I replied, not sure if either of us would see it through to its end.

“Mhmm.” She smiled while biting her lip. My hand scooped her hair away from her shoulder, and I kissed it lightly, testing the waters. She leaned into my touch and her fingers held the back of my head.

“Kiss me,” she demanded, turning her mouth toward mine.

“Vera, if I kiss you, I’m going to fuck you and if I fuck you, you’re mine. I’m an all or nothing kind of guy,” I promised her, lifting my lips from her skin. I joked around a lot with all of the guys when it came to women, but it was the truth. I didn’t do one-night stands. If you rode my dick, it was more than once.

“Fuck me, please, Sleeper,” she begged, sucking on my neck.

Our hands went to work, removing each other’s clothes as fast as we could. My lips found hers and she guided my fingers to her already wet entrance. My fingertips rubbed small circles of encouragement onto her sweet spot, and she moaned in appreciation.

It was funny, I’d been with women before and didn’t feel the connection I felt with Vera. I never thought it possible to be drawn to someone, but with her I was. The world we lived in had given us lemons and we said fuck the lemonade, and used each other to work out our frustrations instead.

She whimpered, rubbing her slick folds against the length of my fingers, and I spread them apart, readying her for all of me. Pulling away momentarily, my hands gripped her hips with enough strength to bruise her, mark her. I slammed into her, and a shocked gasp fell from her lips in a most delicious response. Even though I wanted nothing more than to bury myself up to the hilt inside her, I denied myself, pulling back painstakingly slow, taking my time. I wasn’t playing. I was claiming her.

She fervently bounced up and down on my cock, unable to take my pace any longer. My balls tensed, and my head dropped back against the back of the couch when her walls clenched around my shaft, and pleasure overwhelmed my body.

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