Page 53 of Fervent

“I’m only leaving the phone in case of an emergency.”

“You mean in case you don’t come back.”

“Iwillcome back, Alex. But if it takes longer, or…”

“I get it. You want me to be safe. It’s always about that, isn’t it?” She lifted her foot. “Hence the fucking leash.” She drew in a deep breath. “If I never see another chain again, it’ll be too soon.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” I crawled onto the bed, but she turned her head away.

Grabbing her chin, I forced her mouth my way and captured her lips. She turned to liquid in my arms, her body sinking into the bed under me. I followed, my hands and knees depressing the mattress on either side of her. She brought a leg up and flung it over my back, and the chain clinked through the devious parts of my mind.

I nibbled her lips, lowered to her tits and caught a nipple between my teeth. She cried out, and her fingers gripped my shoulders, holding me to her.

“Stay with me. Please, Rafe. I have a bad feeling. Every time we think things are gonna get better, something bad happens.”

“Not this time.” I inched down her body, lowering between her legs, and buried my face in her pussy. I fucking made her forget everything—what Jax and I were about to do, how I was going to leave her chained to my bed. I made her forget her own name because she was too busy crying out mine.

I glided my tongue between her folds, my fingers working her cunt, and she shuddered, muscles spasming as the orgasm claimed her. I sat up and licked my lips. “That was me saying I’m sorry.” Before she could stop me, I slipped from bed and spanned the distance to the door.

“I’ll never forgive you for this!” She threw a pillow at my head, but I easily dodged it and tossed it back.

“Yes you will. Our whole fucking existence is based on forgiveness. I love you,” I said, pulling the door open. “See you soon.”

Nothing bad would happen this time. I kept picturing Alex, her face bunched in fury at the way I’d manhandled her, though desolation had lurked underneath her ire.

I had to make it back to her. Ihadto.

“Having second thoughts, man?” Jax asked as he hammered on the padlock that blocked our way into the crawl space. To avoid tripping the alarm, we’d chosen to break into the estate by way of the passage Jax said led to the basement.

“Third and fourths too.” I shook my head and sighed. “Let’s just do this.”

Any way we looked at it, getting those women out of there wouldn’t be easy. Breaking into the tunnel would put them at risk, since Perrone’s men outnumbered us, and calling the cops carried a whole other set of problems—mainly that we didn’t know who Perrone had in his pocket.

“How much time do we have again?” I asked, shuffling my feet. Jax wanted to find info on his sister, and I wanted him to find what he needed.

“Maybe thirty minutes.”

“That’s shit for time.”

“Tell me about it. Old man’s runs are getting shorter.” He hacked at the lock some more. “I was clocking his jogs before I busted you guys out, but getting past Cleft was a different matter.” Jax finally broke the lock and lifted the door to the crawl space. A black square of nothingness faced us. Shit, I hated the thought of squeezing through that tight space.

Jax fell to all fours and disappeared inside. I followed suit, batting away cobwebs, and tried not to let the dark get to me.

“This seemed much bigger when I was eight.” Jax slowed and aimed his flashlight above. A square hatch called from overhead, whispering for us to shove it open and escape this claustrophobic grave. “Here, shine this up there, would ya?” He handed the light to me.

I aimed the beam upward while he pushed against the hatch, his face straining.

“Shit,” he said, slumping. “I’m positive this end wasn’t locked.”

Didn’t mean Perrone hadn’t secured it since we’d escaped.

Jax tried again, and the door finally creaked. Dust rained down and covered his face. He shook his head until his shaggy hair fell into his eyes. Brushing it aside, he threw his shoulder into the hatch and lifted, and it slammed to the floor of the basement with a vibrating thud. More dirt fell on us.

Jax disappeared into the opening, then he popped his head back through. “Bring in the cans, would ya?”

“Yeah, sure.” I scooted backward through the passage and touched down on the hard earth behind the estate. We’d hauled in four cans of gasoline, and they sat untouched, lined up against the side of the mansion. I slid them forward through the space, scraping over rock and dirt.

Jax lifted them one by one into the basement, and I hefted my body through the opening and dropped to the cold cement. I didn’t like that we were so fucking close to that tunnel. I eyed the door hiding the staircase, and for an insane moment I imagined someone bursting through and dragging me back.

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