Page 70 of Dangerous Pursuit

I groan in response, earning another laugh from the beast behind me.

“I’ll go run a bath for your sore pussy—and ass. How do you feel, by the way?”

“You need to stop asking me that. I’m fine.”

“And you need to stop saying ‘fine’ and tell me how you really feel. I care about you, Mia. I want to make sure you’re okay with this or if there’s anything you’re not comfortable with.”

I turn around to face him while I respond. “Okay, I’ll stop saying ‘fine.’ How about ‘uh…mazing’? I’m amazing. Amazingly happy, amazingly sated, and amazingly in—”Shit.I catch myself and quickly say something to cover up my blunder. “Amazingly entranced by you.” I can’t believe I almost said—wait, is it even possible? It seems like it’s too soon, but then… why does it feel so right?

“Is that what you were going to say? En…tranced? Or was there something else?” He caught it. What does he want the answer to be? I don’t want to scare him away.

“It wasn’t a hard question, Mia. Tell me what you were going to say, so I know I’m not the only one.”

Oh. My. God.I can’t stop the lone tear from falling, shocked at its rare presence.

He gently wipes it from my eye, bringing it to his mouth. “Are you going to dive in with me, sweetheart? Because if you go, I’ll go. I know it seems fast, but I’m all in, Mia. I love you.”

“I love you too. It’s crazy, but… I do.” More tears escape, a little from fear, a little from relief, but mostly from the joy of giving in to these feelings, no matter how insane it seems.

“It is crazy. Holy shit. I didn’t see you coming from a mile away, but Christ, woman, you hit me like a Mac truck.” He kisses me then, long and hard, branding me with his love. With each stroke of his tongue, I feel him reaching for my soul as he stakes a claim on my heart.

He pulls back with a huge grin on his face. “As happy as I am to be in sync with you, I’m going to go run that bath now before I’m deep in you instead.” He thrusts his pelvis forward, showing his current state of arousal.

“And you call me insatiable?”

“I never said I wasn’t just as bad.” He winks before sauntering into the bathroom, giving me a great view on the way there.

I take stock of myself and realize how incredible I feel before doing a glorious full-body stretch while giggling at my giddiness.

“I’ll never tire of that sound,” Jackson says, returning and gently kissing my lips before hoisting me from the bed. “Now go take a bath while I get us some food.” He swats my ass as I walk away, making me squeal in delight. Is it possible to be this happy?

BAD NEWS

Jackson

Is it possible to be this happy? I’m on cloud fucking nine right now. I don’t know how I got so lucky. It’s as if we were meant to be, like the universe brought her to me and didn’t give up until I opened my eyes. I think these feelings were slowly growing all along, rising to the surface, and once they did, the sunlight took it from there. All I can say is that it feels fucking fantastic.

I make our coffees and order room service with a smile that refuses to budge—until I check my phone and see the text from Mia’s security detail.

Security Sam: We finally got a match on one of the guys coming from Mia’s house. It’s not good. Call me.

Dammit. This had to come over now of all times?

Since Mia’s in the bath, I might as well get it over with.

“Jackson, hey,” he answers immediately.

“Who is he?” I cut straight to the chase.

“His name is Jay. He’s a collector for the loan shark Bambino, who also runs a gambling ring in town. He’s connected to a local crime syndicate. Not sure why they’d be hanging around a girl like that, but it can’t be for anything good.”

“Fuck. How bad are these guys?”

“Do you want me to sugarcoat it?”

“Just spit it out.”

“I haven’t heard of anyone dealing with them and coming out unscathed, and that’s of the ones who made it out at all.”

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