Page 7 of Prey for You

“That was awesome,” she murmured, putting her hand on my arm. I nodded against her neck, stroking my hand up and down her body, trailing fingers along that beautiful dip in her waist, over her hip, down her thigh, then back up.

I thought she might go back to sleep, but a minute later she gave a heavy sigh. I had one arm under her head which left that limb sticking out in front of her, my hand slack. She played with my thumb, tracing the lines in my hand, then flicking my nail.

And a minute after that, the rest of her got twitchy.

“You okay?” I murmured in her ear, a tiny niggle of unease starting in my chest.

She gripped my hand and nodded. But she stayed quiet.

“Talk to me, Bridge,” I said, pulling back to roll her over to face me.

She came willingly, but didn’t meet my eyes until I tipped up her chin and growled at her.

Then she huffed a little laugh, but the smile fell away quickly. Her eyes stayed on mine for a moment, then dropped to where she played a hand up and down my chest.

“I’m scared,” she said quietly.

I blinked. Sheneveradmitted when she was scared in the moment. I was half convinced she wasn’t capable of fear.

“Scared of what?”

“Scared I’ll fuck this up,” she mumbled, her chin dropping further like she was ashamed. “Scared Ialreadyfucked it up by getting you caught. Scared you’ll end up back in prison and it will be my fault.”

It all came rushing back in then—how I’d broken my own rules and come after her, desperate to make her see that her life was worth living. Only to discover that she’d set a trap for me and there was an FBI team waiting to arrest me.

The bonfire of anger and resentment I’d felt that night burned in my throat, but I swallowed it back.

Either she felt me tense, or she perceived that I was still grappling with it, because she lifted her eyes hesitantly and put her little hand to my face. “I didn’t know it was you, Sam. Ireallydidn’t. I would never have—”

“I know,” I muttered. “You don’t have to keep saying it. I know.”

“But that’s the thing. I kinda do. Because… because I’m afraidyou’regoing to hate me if this goes the wrong way.”

I sighed—it was exactly what I feared, too. But I had a lot more practice than her at finding peace and security despite the circumstances. And I knew picking apart all the ways I could blame someone else for the shit in my life wasn’t going to help. I had as much responsibility as she did about getting to this place. If I hadn’t been dabbling in this dark stuff, convinced I’d never find a way to make peace between the two sides of myself, we wouldn’t be here.

But then,we wouldn’t be here.

I tightened my grip on her and pulled her closer against me. When she sighed again, I tipped up her chin and forced her to meet my eyes again.

“We’re married now. They can’t force either of us to testify. We’ll stay silent about this until they take us to Court and then they’ll have no choice but to go forward. They don’t have a case without you, Bridget.”

She nodded and her hand slipped around my neck, clinging like she was afraid I’d pull away. But her eyes were dark.

“I never wanted to do this to you.”

I needed a breath to push the darkness and rage ofCainaside before I could answer her with the forgiveness I’d want if I’d made that mistake.

“Let’s get this clear for the last time, babe. I know you didn’t plan to get me put away. But it’s a risk now. We aren’t guaranteedanything.That means we have to make the most of the time we’ve got.”

She inhaled deeply. “What will we do when we go home? It’s going to be months until the case starts.”

God, my skin felt too tight at that thought. But I did my best to stay close and calm. “We’ll both do everything we can to get to the end. Me free, you no longer having to work with Jeremy. Between now and then we’ll do nothing but behonest. Be the most reliable and attentive Defendant and witness ever. Our lawyers will love us, because we’ll do whatever they tell us to do in the prep. No one’s going to think to ask if we got married on the way, you know that.”

Bridget’s lips twisted. “Jeremy says he’s going to coach me on my testimony.”

I wanted to punch that fucker in the ear. “So, let him coach you,” I growled reluctantly. “You won’t lie. Be compliant. Be yourself. It’s only once we get into the courtroom that you have to refuse… all we can do then is pray.”

Bridget snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because God’s going to walk into the Courtroom and demand your release.”

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