Instead of cleaning up dinner the way I know I probably should, I make my way toward the sofa and sink down onto the cushion as he sits down beside me. Sitting here close to him,even though I know I should be focused on the task at hand, I’m not.
I want him to kiss me, to throw the iPad down and take me here and now. I want to forget all about that other shit—about Jeffrey, about the Mob, about it all. I want to forget it ever happened. I wish it hadn’t.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CIDNEY
“This was a lot of useless shit,”I mutter.
We’ve spent the bulk of our evening going through any and everything online in order to find the connection, and we’ve got nothing. There is absolutely nothing.
“I don’t think they even knew one another at this point. Nothing connects them—not high school, not middle school. They weren’t even from the same town. My mom was from Chatham, and Samuel was from New Jersey. I just don’t understand.”
I know I’m just thinking out loud, but I am at a complete loss, like to the point where I’m ready to completely give up. This is too hard, and I don’t know that it matters. I take the iPad from Goose’s hands and close the case, turning to him.
He slowly lifts his gaze to mine, shock clear across his features as he stares at me, unsure of how to react to what I’ve just done. That’s okay. I know what I’ve done, what I’m doing, and what I’m about to say and do.
“I would like to meet with the leader,” I announce. “We aren’t going to figure anything out here, hiding away in my apartment. I want to meet him face to face and talk to him. I want to know.”
Goose opens his mouth, but I shake my head once, lifting my hand between us and touching my fingers to his lips. I don’t want to hear him tell me no. I want him to say yes, only yes, because I want to be done with this. I feel like I’m being held hostage.
I want to be completely and totally done… although, if this situation gets handled, that means Goose goes back to his regular life without me… so maybe not so much. I don’t say that, though. Hopefully, this, being here together, means there is a future for us.
One can hope anyway.
“No, Goose. I’m not going to be a prisoner because some psychopath may or may not come looking for me, especially when I don’t even know why. It’s time to know why and what the hell they want from me, and I’m not going to let anyone else get hurt in the process, either.”
His eyes search mine, but he doesn’t speak. Instead, he reaches up and wraps his fingers around my wrist before he gently pulls my hand away. He turns his head, and his lips touch the inside of my palm before he shifts his gaze back to meet mine.
“Then we’ll do that, but I will have your back the entire time.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d want you.”
His lips twitch into a smirk. “You sure about that?” He lifts his hips slightly. Although I can tell that he’s being a smart-ass, that’s okay. This is the way I like him best. And I would like him somewhere else.
Definitely somewhere else… like deep inside me.
Now.
I crawl toward him and straddle his hips, placing my hands against his chest as I look straight into his eyes. Goose grips my hips, his gaze focused on mine. Shifting closer to him, I touch my mouth to his, but I don’t deepen the kiss.
His tongue slides across the seam of my lips, dipping inside for just a moment before he shifts backward slightly. “You gonna be my good girl?” he asks.
God.
Yes.
I will be anything and everything he asks of me.
Reaching between us, I unbuckle his pants to slip my hand beneath the waist of his jeans and boxers, wrapping my fingers around his length. Slowly, I stroke him, careful not to clench too tightly, but I want him… so damn badly.
When his fingers curl around my wrist, applying pressure to stop me, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, my gaze connecting to his. I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong, but I wait to follow his lead.
“I want to be inside you when I come.”
Yes.
Please.
