Page 90 of Forging Caine

“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring or how long we’ll have to work for Fiori to keep everyone safe. But I know this much.” I leaned down on one elbow, allowing much of my weight to settle on her, sinking her deeper into the delicious bed. “My only regret would be not making love to you one more time. Not showing you how much I care for you. How much you mean to me.”

She gripped my sides, her free leg running along mine. “That’s an even better answer.”

I closed my eyes and handed the world over to sensation. Dipping my head to kiss her, my tongue found hers and she moaned into my mouth. I progressed down her body. Kissed the exposed skin where I’d undone her shirt. Finished with the buttons, and pulled it open, so I could trace circles around her belly button. “I adore this body.”

While I explored her chest, she undid the button and zipper on her pants.

“Is that an invitation?” I moved further along her and eased her pants down so I could ghost my lips across her silky panties.

“Yes, please.” She hooked her thumbs around the waistband of her underwear, and I stopped her.

“You relax. Let me distract you from absolutely everything in the world.”

She smiled and nodded, letting her head fall back against a pillow. “Just promise me they’ll be safe.”

“They’ll be safe,” I whispered as I slid her pants and underwear down, trailing kisses the length of her leg. Over her knee. Along her shin. Across the top of her foot.

“Promise me you’ll be safe.” Her hands scrubbed up and down her face. We were losing this battle already.

I made my way up her leg, stopping to lick the side of her thigh, which had fallen off of me during my journey. “I’ll be safe.”

“Okay.”

I blew across her sex, and her hips lifted to meet me. “And I promise you’ll be safe, as well, bella.”

Whether that meant I kept her safe or by some miracle she didn’t jump into the fray the next time something dangerous popped up. Whatever it took, she would make it out of this alive.

“Because I swear upon all that is holy…” My tongue ran around the edge of her opening, teasing at her folds, encouraging her to forget about the men outside and focus on me. “You’re going to marry me, woman.”

She chuckled behind her hands, and her tense arms fell to the bed. While she’d not completely relaxed, she was making progress. “That sounds like a threat.”

“It is.” I stroked her clit with a finger and lapped at her opening, savoring the flavor that was intimately her and no one else. I’d missed this—her taste, her scent, everything about Samantha Caine—so much.

“I love you,” she groaned.

Tonight, my job was to take care of her. Her heart, her soul, her body. The same job I wanted for the rest of my life.

To do that, I had to hide my greatest fear: That when Fiori said he’d be done with us after four paintings—it was because we’d be dead. The hardest part would be sacrificing myself for her before she could do the same for me.

Chapter 29

Samantha

Afterafitfulnight’ssleep, Antonio and I cleaned up, dressed in the same clothes we’d worn yesterday. Two bodyguards escorted us through the hallways and sliding doors. Unlike last night, when the boat had been quiet, I caught glimpses of staff disappearing around corners and slipping quietly through doors.

Dr. Ivan had checked on us and ran a few tests on my pupils and reaction speed. He declared I was ready to travel and escaped before Antonio wrung his neck for being part of everything.

We climbed two sets of stairs in the ship’s heart, coming out into a grand dining room which smelled of fresh bread and ham. A woman had delivered breakfast to our room, but I’d barely been able to touch it. My body had recovered from yesterday, but my mind hadn’t. Antonio may have distracted me last night, but this morning, I was back to the battle between protecting our families and preventing Pasquale Fiori from getting away with everything he’d done.

At the front of the dining room, the guard slid open a glass door so we could step out into the morning sunshine. From higher than our stateroom, I took in more details of our surroundings. The ship pointed straight at the shore and, given the tankers and cargo ships near us, that likely meant it was the canal system leading to Lake Ontario.

We wouldn’t see any of it, other than from high above. Sitting on the ship’s bow, on its huge yellow ‘H’ symbol, the helicopter’s rotors had already started. Fiori climbed in, followed by Baptiste and two other bodyguards. Jason sat at the controls.

I grabbed Antonio’s hand, gave it a squeeze, and focused on mentally sending himWe’ve got this.

Our escort backed away once we were inside and settled with headsets on.

“The headsets are a courtesy,” said Fiori. “As much as I paid for this helicopter, it gets loud. Your communications will be off for the duration of our flight.”

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