Page 36 of Assassin's Heart
“They were searching my locker at work,” she finally said.
The traces of fear beneath the words made my fists tighten. I deliberately opened them, smoothed them over her skin in slow circles. “I know. Eli filled me in.”
“They’re going to keep looking”—the rise and fall of her chest got faster—“and they’re not gonna find anything. And tomorrow when we meet them, we won’t have what they’re demanding of us.” Leah’s breath hitched. “How am I going to keep her safe?”
I jostled her against me. “You don’t have to. We will.”
“I’m actually starting to believe that.”
I couldn’t stop myself—I threw a leg over hers, tucking her even closer. My cock rode the ridge of her spine, but she didn’t pull away.
“I’m starting to trust you with a lot of things, Jeremiah.” Leah’s words whispered between us in the dark, the sound of my name on her lips sending more heat to my groin. “Maybe I shouldn’t, but I am.”
“Is it so bad to trust me?”To love me?
My heart thumped in my throat as I waited for her reply.
“After Angelo...” She turned her head to stare up at the ceiling. “I never wanted to risk feeling anything for another man ever again. Brooke was all I needed.” She shrugged, dropped her head back to the pillow, hiding her face from me. “And then I met you.”
Maybe it was better that I couldn’t read her. That she couldn’t read me. As much as I’d craved this moment, wanted her to be the air I breathed, I had to warn her. “I’m not a good man, Leah.”
She scooted onto her back, then faced me. “That’s what I thought too. But you’re more good than either of us could see. You care about an innocent child being kidnapped. You care about me being safe.” Her hand appeared out of the darkness to trace the stubble roughening my cheeks. “I can see it; I know it’s there. But I’m afraid to trust it.”
She shouldn’t. I believed that, but I wasn’t going to remind her of it. Instead I turned until my lips brushed the center of her palm. “Why?”
Her eyes glittered in the dim light. “I trusted Angelo. I trusted Ross.” She shrugged. “I’m afraid that this, that all the good I’m seeing, will end up being another lie in the end.”
I was who I was. Everything I’d given her had been the truth, but she wouldn’t believe my words if I told her. Only actions.
“And when I touched you?” I brought my hand up this time, tilting her chin until she had no choice but to meet my eyes. “Was that a lie?”
A tear escaped Leah’s eye. “That might be the most truthful thing I’ve ever felt.” She leaned her body away. “But I shouldn’t be feeling this, not with Brooke—”
I tugged her back to me. “There’s no ‘shouldn’t’ here, Leah. Nothing wrong with surviving the night with me.”
“Is that what we’re doing?”
No. I’m loving you.
“Yes.” I took her mouth then, to stop me from saying something she couldn’t accept. To stop myself from spilling my soul. Tomorrow my brothers and I would be ready to find Brooke and bring her home. I’d do that for Leah, even if it led straight to letting go of them both.
But not tonight. Tonight was mine.
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Chapter Fifteen
Remi —
Her mouth was salty from earlier tears, from crying when I hadn’t been here to hold her. She deserved so much more than crying alone in the dark. I was a poor substitute for the man she did deserve, but I’d take what the universe would give me.
Leah opened to me, let my tongue inside. Moaned around it. This woman that I’d dreamed about for so long was finally in my arms. I dug my fingers into her hair and tilted until the angle was just right for me to get deeper, to overpower her with the hunger pounding through my veins. With the need for moist walls gripping more than just my tongue.
Leah shifted from her back to her side to press closer. With my leg over her, my cock was forced right against the join of her thighs. Right where I wanted it to be. I rocked instinctively, my cock head hitting her clit every time—tap, tap, tap. She whimpered, squirmed against me, gripped my shirt with both fists and pulled to get me closer. To get off on nothing more than the press of my dick.
No way in hell.
I tore myself away. “Clothes. Off.”
