Page 71 of Worth

He steps up next to me and then crouches down, tapping my thigh. “Spread.”

I startled chuckle falls out of my mouth at the command, and then I see a washcloth in his hand. Curious, I shift on my feet until they’re a little more than hip-width apart, but he doesn’t look away from my face.

Running the warm, wet washcloth up the inside of one leg, starting at my ankle, Zander wipes up the cum that has been dripping down my legs since I stood up downstairs. He does both legs, up to mid-thigh. Only then does he break our eye contact, glancing at the top of my thighs as he cleans up the mess that is my pussy.

My breath catches as he does, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the contact or because of the extreme gentleness I didn’t even know Zander was capable of.

When he stands up, he nudges me toward the bed. “Go. I’ll be right there.”

“I’m sleeping with you?” I blurt out, finally putting a voice to at least one question swirling in my brain.

He pauses on his way back to the bathroom, half turning so he can look at me. “Do you not want to?”

“I—No, it’s not that. I just don’t understand. You hate me.”

Zander’s jaw tightens. “I don’t hate you, Blake. The choice is yours—get in bed or leave. I’ll never force you to stay.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond, heading back to the bathroom and shutting the door this time.

I glance between the bed and the door, the decision warring within me while there’s absolute silence behind the bathroom door. With a sigh, I take a step toward my choice.

I feel Zander slip into the bed behind me, winding an arm around my waist and yanking me against him. I shift so that our bodies are perfectly aligned, both of us completely nude now, and his lips ghost over the back of my neck.

“You’re on my side of the bed,” he grumbles. “I’ll allow it for tonight.”

I snort. “You’ll allow it?”

“I’ll allow it,” he confirms.

I hesitate. “Zander, what just—what we did—”

A hand closes over my mouth. “Give me tonight, Blake,” he whispers. “Just give me tonight. We can talk when the sun comes up.”

I nod under his hand and he slides it from my mouth to stroke down my body, resting at my hip. It goes quiet and my nerves fire like I’m in danger, my fight or flight trying to kick in; like I’m in the bed of my enemy.

His fingers brush over my hip, back and forth. “Just tonight,” he mumbles. “Give me your night.”

His words settle me and I don’t know why. Suddenly, I can feel sleep descending faster than I expected.

“I’ll give you my night,” I breathe, right before everything goes dark.

Chapter 24

I fucking have her. She’s so close I can taste her on my tongue.

Last night, facial recognition pinged. I didn’t have any real hope it was actually my girl. I figured it was another close match, and I almost thought as much at a glance. But I did double take as my brain caught up to what my eyes were seeing from the image a traffic cam caught last night.

Her goddamn hair was gone, sheared just above the shoulders, but it was her. It was my Blake. And she was…smiling? Though the smile was tinged with mischief.

I hold the printout of the still, studying it for the millionth time. I can’t make out the figure in the front seat. Even when I rewound the footage to see who had taken her, it was impossible to see whomever it was in the shadows of the SUV they were in. I got lucky that I managed to catch Blake at all, a street light illuminating her face for the split second I needed for the software to match.

It doesn’t matter. I don’t need to know this person to kill them for taking her. Soon enough, I’ll know exactly who they are, what they did, how they make their living…fuck, I’ll know if they regularly take a shit in the morning. That’s how good my intel is once we can get ahold of who someone is.

“Talk to me,” I say as I slap my finger against the button to accept the call coming through. “Do you have them?”

“Not yet,” the voice on the other side hedges. “The plates aren’t for that vehicle. We’re running every possible lead down in this area. Just wanted you to know about the plates.”

“I want to know where she isnow!” I bellow into the phone. “Find me a goddamn name, address, fucking favorite color—I don’t fucking care! Just find who the fuck has her!”

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