Page 44 of Ride with the Devil

He squeezes me. “I wouldn’t let him.”

My laugh is hollow. “You’re just saying that because I just rode your face like a fucking cowgirl.”

I shake, and it takes me a second to realize that I am because he’s shaking his head so roughly, the motion travels down his body. “It’s not just that. You said there’s something about me? Well, there’s something about you.” He rests his forehead against the side of my head. “I asked him if I could have you. That’s the truth for me, baby. I saw you… I wanted you. Not justbecause I didn’t want to see Devil kill you. I watch Devil kill all the time. But you… you were different.” A sigh, and then another confession: “I want to keep you.”

That’s enough to have me pushing against him, breaking against his hold, so that I can see the seriousness written in every line of his face. “And what? Marry me so that you can fuck me? Is that your endgame?”

He’s quiet. Holy shit! Maybe I am being too emotional right now, but I think he would. This man I barely know would marry me just so we could fuck.

As much as you’d think otherwise, it’s never just been about sex to me. Is that what it is for Luca?

If so…

“You don’t have to get married to have sex,” I tell him firmly.

It would be so much easier he agreed. Only he doesn’t. He just mutters, “Ido,” and I know he’s not doing it to be a wise ass. He means it. He’s really going to wait until he’s married.

I think about it for a second. “When you say ‘sex’, we’re talking PIV, right? Dick in pussy? What we just did… that didn’t count?”

It’s his turn to mull over my words. “Right.”

“If you got me another cucumber and fucked me with it? Still good?”

His answer comes quicker this time. “Yes.”

I have one more question for him: “Are you ready to let me go?”

This is the longest pause. Finally, he says, “I don’t know if you noticed earlier, but it was beginning to snow… the weather forecast calls for four to six inches. It wouldn’t be safe to drive down the mountain in that. Plus, Christmas is in two days. You told me you don’t really care about it. I have no plans… we can spend it up here, watching the snow fall and sitting in front of the fire.”

And maybe doing some of those things I mentioned that don’t break Luca’s promise to himself…

“When you put it like that, I guess we’ll be sticking around a little longer.”

I just wonder how much longer it will be.

FIFTEEN

CHRISTMAS GIFT

LUCA

Kylie doesn’t know it, but I’m planning on forever.

I know it’s soon. I know I don’t deserve a girl like her. I don’t care. Apart from convincing Devil to hire me on as his personal driver, I never get what I want.

That changes now.

I have at least two more days to make her fall in love with me. I haven’t been trying, not really, since it seemed so disingenuous at first. I wanted to make her love me in a bid to save her life. Sure. That’s what I told myself then.

I know better.

From the moment I first looked into her pretty brown eyes, I think I knew that she was it for me. So different from Emily in every way, I actually instinctively recognized that that was a plus. I wasn’t looking to replace my childhood sweetheart. I could’ve already if that’s all I wanted.

No. I wanted Kylie, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep her.

The timing couldn’t be better. It’s Christmas. I was aware of that going into this, when I did everything I could to get Devil tolet me keep her until her blabbing about the vice mayor’s murder was no longer a threat to the Sinners Syndicate. If it wasn’t quick, and the boss didn’t pull the op immediately, the craziness of the holiday season meant that most people would be too busy to wonder where I was, what happened to Kylie, without checking in on my progress all the time.

I got lucky in more ways than one. For now, the straight-and-narrow cops aren’t looking at Devil for Collins’s murder. Rumors of that hitman have taken hold in Springfield, plus Mayor Harrison-on Devil and Damien’s orders-is doing his best to downplay his second’s untimely demise.

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