This time, I make love to her like it’s the last night on earth. No games, no rough edges. I set a slow, grinding rhythm that lets her feel every inch, every pulse, every ragged breath I have for only her.
Her nails rake down my back, marking me as hers. She kisses me, desperate, and I taste the hope she holds deep inside her chest. I taste forgiveness and the kind of longing that only comes from years apart.
I lose myself in her, in the way her body welcomes me, in the way her heart beats against mine, stubborn and wild. The world outside the cabin disappears. There’s no war, no hit list, no Vultures or Russians or ghosts. There’s just us, tangled up in sweat and love and a need that’s too big for words.
Her climax hits first, sudden and violent, her body clenching around me, milking every drop. I follow with a shout, spilling inside her, letting go of everything I’ve been holding back for years.
For a long moment, we don’t move. I rest my forehead against hers, breath mingling, heart still thundering.
“I’m not leaving you again,” I promise. “Not for anyone. Not for anything.”
She cups my cheek, eyes shining. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Cipher.”
But I know, for the first time, I mean it.
I roll us onto our sides, wrapping her in my arms, holding her close as the fire burns low and the world outside closes in. She fits against me like she always did…like she was made for me.
As sleep pulls her under, I keep watch. For the monsters outside. For the doubts inside. For every chance to make her mine again, every day I’m given.
Because loving Harlow is my new mission and I’ll do anything to protect it.
Anything.
7
HARLOW
Idon’t know how long we stay tangled in the sheets, Cipher’s skin pressed against mine, the world narrowed to just us and the hush of his breath ghosting over my ear. My world narrows to the feel of Cipher’s arms around me, the thud of his heart a low drum against my cheek. I let myself exist in that warmth and wish tonight could last forever.
Cipher’s phone goes off again, a shrill buzz that slices through the haze we’ve spun around ourselves. I feel him stiffen.
He pulls away just enough to swipe the phone off the table. The blue light paints hard lines across his face, etching out every angle and scar in cold neon. I watch his eyes move, the muscles in his jaw working as he reads, his thumb flying over the glass as he scrolls.
I want to reach for him. I want to pull him back into the bed, into the cocoon we’ve made from tangled sheets and whispered truths, but I know that look. Something’s wrong.
“What is it?” I ask, my voice rough, thick with everything we just shared and everything I’m afraid will be taken away.
He barely glances at me before passing the phone my way. “It’s not pretty, baby.”
It’s snapshots of the security feed of the Den. There’s a message below the images, but my attention is fixed on the body found. I immediately recognize the face and the behemoth of a man.
It’s the man I dropped in the ring last night. There’s another blurry snapshot that makes my stomach hollow out. His throat is a red, ragged gash, tongue hacked out and thrown beside his open mouth like a warning.
I clamp a hand over my mouth. The world tilts. No amount of training prepares you for the sight of a mutilated human being.
I scroll back to the message that came through with the images.
I hope you found what you are looking for, brother. We found this. Monies says he was in the ring tonight and now he’s dead in the back alley. Msg me. —R
“He was alive when I left him,” I whisper, guilt scraping the words raw. “Cipher, I didn’t mean to get?—”
Cipher swings his legs off the side of the bed, elbows braced to his knees. For a minute, all I can hear is the wind hissing against the glass and the groan of the fire from the living room. “I know,” he says, voice cold and careful. “You didn’t do this. He chose to get in that ring and make everything public. Mouths move in the underworld and there’s no way Veles didn’t hear about your fight or what the stakes were. It’s why I asked you why you would step into the spotlight like that when it puts you in so much danger.”
I grab the blankets around me like they can protect me from the pain I sense creeping into my words. “Some things are worth taking a risk for, Cipher. One reason is for protecting people who need it. That Chemist is all alone, and I needed to do whatever I could to find her. And another reason to put your life on the line is for love.”
He turns to me and our gazes connect. He knows I am referring to us and what happened. He still hasn’t given me a believable reason for walking away and frankly I may never get it.
“This isn’t about you or me, Harlow. That dead man is a message.”
