Page 41 of A Silent Reckoning

“Do you think it’s dangerous, like a bomb or something?” Concern edged her voice.

Jozef debated with himself. Tell her the truth or leave her in the dark where she was less likely to worry over him. He was elated by her genuine concern for his safety, but she would need to reconcile herself to his job. He didn’t walk dogs for a living. Among other things, he was a mercenary for hire.

Yes, the job will be dangerous. Even if the contents of the package aren’t dangerous, the danger will lie in moving it through several regions with varying levels of active combat.

Her eyes grew wide. “That’s why you don’t want me to go.”

Among other reasons. You don’t need to see what I do for a living. It’s not pleasant and I may not be as effective if I’m worrying over you.

“I saw what you did for a living when you took me from the hospital a year ago.” There was no accusation in her voice. It was a fact she was pointing out to show him she could handle his world.

Jozef knew otherwise. Though she’d witnessed some terrible acts, most committed by Jozef himself, she was still a baby in his world. She didn’t know the worst he could do, and he didn’t want her finding out.

That was before I knew you, before I knew I loved you, Jozef signed, trying to tell her of his regret and sorrow over their first meeting.If I could take it back, I would. I hate that I did that to you and that our relationship will forever be coloured by those first few moments.

Shaun took his face in her hands and leaned over to press a lingering kiss against his lips. His mouth moved beneath hers, and his arms slid around her back, pressing her tight to his chest. When she lifted her head to look down at him, he allowed her to see the vulnerability inside him. It was all for her. She could bring him to his knees, and she could rebuild him into a better man. She had the hands of a surgeon and he would willingly subject himself to her ministrations.

“I won’t pretend that I will ever be able to forget those first few moments when you shot up the hospital, or the way you killed the man in the basement. When you held a gun to my head fully intending to pull the trigger.” Her voice was filled with the pain of those moments, every word a strike to Jozef’s heart. “But those memories will dim with time. The fear will be replaced by something else.”

Jozef’s hands tightened on her to the point where he knew it must be painful. He couldn’t help himself, he needed to make sure she wouldn’t disappear. She didn’t protest.

“I want to be happy.” She pressed another kiss to his lips.

He wanted to ask if she wanted that happiness with him, or if she would be happier without him. He didn’t know if he could take the answer. He wanted her to be happy; wanted it more than he wanted everything else. But if her happiness was contingent on her leaving him, what would he do? Could he let her go?

No, he couldn’t. He couldn’t live without her, which meant she couldn’t live without him. Selfish, perhaps, but he wasn’t raised to be a good, altruistic person like Shaun. He was raised to take what he needed and wanted. To fight for it and to kill for it.

Rather than allow her to continue speaking, he shifted her until she was straddling his lap. He gripped the back of her neck, tangling his fingers in her curls and dragging her face down to his. He kissed her deeply, pushing his tongue into her mouth and forcefully exploring the depths. He didn’t release her until she was gasping for breath.

When he finally did let her up for air, she had the most beautifully dazed expression on her face. It made his cock so hard he wanted to tear her dress off and crawl up inside her. He debated with himself for about ten seconds. She’d told him not to fuck her without permission, but he was contemplating doing just that.

Maybe he could get her permission, but he didn’t want to take the time to ask.

So he would fuck her without fucking her.

He shifted her on his lap until she was facing away from him. She squeaked and gripped the table when he jerked her dress up her thighs to her waist. Even sitting on his lap, the table covered everything if someone should enter the VIP area. It was unlikely, but Jozef knew Shaun would worry and he wanted her as comfortable as possible while he played with her.

He wrapped one arm around her waist, anchoring her against him. She wiggled her ass, trying to get comfortable while he used his knees to spread her legs as wide as she would let him. She moaned and he paused waiting for her to deny him.

She dropped her head back against his shoulder and turned her face against his, pressing her lips to his ear. She didn’t say anything, but he took the softening of her body and her lack of denial as permission.

He slid his hand up her belly to her ribcage, holding her tight against him. He could feel the indent of her ribs. Too thin. Too much weight lost. He would make sure she never worried herself into the ground again. She would prioritize her health if he had to stand over her and make sure she got it done.

He cupped her breast, filling his hand. It wasn’t enough. He needed to feel her, the silken skin, the blood flowing through her veins. Everything that belonged to him. No one else. He slid his hand down the front of her dress forgetting his determination that no one entering the VIP area would know what was happening.

It was worth it to touch her gorgeous ebony skin, to feel the warm silk flowing beneath his hand. To watch the barbaric pattern of tattoos across the back of his hand as it contrasted against the beauty of her flesh.

He slid his other hand to her thigh, squeezing before covering her heated core with his palm. He massaged her through her thin lacy panties, driving her wild without giving her what she truly needed, the rough pads of his fingers against her sensitive clit.

“Jozef!” she gasped, squirming on top of him, her ass pressed against his cock, inviting him to ravish her willing body.

He couldn’t help himself. He moved his hand up her belly then slid it back down, into the waistband of her panties.

She jerked her legs wider, giving him all the access he could want. She was so wet it made his mouth water. If he could’ve done it with any amount of ease, he would’ve sunk to the floor and eaten her out beneath the table. He wanted to hear the moans spill from her throat as he drove her higher and higher with his tongue.

The club was not the place for that kind of play. Not yet, not until she was more comfortable. For now, he would content himself to simply touch. And touch he did, sinking his fingers into the heated wetness soaking her panties and his hand.

He loved that she responded so easily to him, that her responses were unpracticed. Natural. She begged him for more, following words with action as she writhed on his lap and soaked his fingers.

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