I shuddered and scrunched up my nose. “Yeah, well that was unintentional. New subject, what happened to your ear? And what did you find out?”
“Christ, were you an interrogator in your previous life?”
“No, I’m just bad at segueing to different topics,” I said, grinning up at him. “I just want to help any way I can. You’ve got so much on your plate right now. Maybe a fresh set of eyes can help?”
“Sleep would help,” he muttered, looking completely exhausted. “And some TLC from the first woman I’ve ever said those three words to would definitely help me get over the fact that I lost a part of my ear today.”
Tender loving care was certainly something I was more than happy to give him in abundance. Dropping my hands from his, I buried them under the cut he’d pulled back on at some point and worked them up and over his shoulders, slowly guiding the supple leather back and coaxing his hands from my cheeks so I could remove it.
“I thought you’d never ask.” I grinned, my hands tugging it from his arms and tossing it carefully to the closest chair.Taking a step back, my fingers moved to the hem of his T-shirt, dusting the skin just above the waist of his jeans, the heat of him and subtle flinch telling me that it was more than just his ear that was making him weary. “Was there any sign of them, other than the trap, I mean?”
Drew paused and I didn’t have to ask to know he was unsure about talking to me about this, but when his body relaxed even more against my touch, I could feel another battle being won.
“They set up cameras to see who came in. By the time Slater had made sure I wasn’t about to fall over from taking a bullet to somewhere vital, we’d wasted too much time. They’d seen us. I shot out the cameras and we made tracks. Other than that, the place was empty. This is… These people… It’s a war that had no beginning and won’t ever have an end. They hit, we hit. It’s all about moves now.”
His brows came together as he watched me intently, waiting for something he’d said to freak me out or make me assure him that there must be another way.
“So, it’s like chess—all strategy and hitting where it hurts?” I asked, my fingers continuing until my palms were resting against his abs. My hands retraced their path up over his shoulders and head then down his arms until gravity took control and the material fell to the floor. I tried to avoid the darkening spots all over his body as I worked.
“Chess. Life. What’s the difference?” he said, his voice filled with intensity.
“Nothing, I suppose,” I whispered, my body rocking forward, my lips brushing one of the bruises that mottled the tattoo on his chest. “But if it’s strategy, they’re going to want to take credit for whatever it is they’re doing, so there musthave been something other than the cameras.”
“Yep. Definitely an interrogator.” He smirked that Drew Tucker smirk of his. “Our humiliation is their credit, but you’re right, it isn’t over. Not by a long shot. We just gotta hope that the strategies we have in place are enough. But, Ayda?”
My fingers were tracing a path over his hips when my name pulled my glance to his. “Yeah?”
“Please don’t ask me what our strategies are. Trust me to tell you what you need to know. There’s a reason that I keep you in the dark sometimes. That reason could save your life.”
“Some things I just don’t want to know,” I said, liberating the leather of his belt and loosening the buckle so I could reach the button. “I trust you to tell me what you think I need to know. Just be honest with me.”
I turned us slowly, my body pressing against his as I popped the button and slid the zipper down, forcing him to step back toward the bed, stopping only when the backs of his legs hit the mattress.
He sank down almost immediately, his ass meeting the comforter, his hands reaching up to grab my thighs as he looked up at me. I wasn’t sure what that look in his eyes was trying to tell me, but the moment he dropped his chin and glanced down at his body, I saw exactly what he was staring at. The very thing I’d been trying to avoid looking at for too long.
“I’m wearing a few new shades of purple and pink since I left you this morning.”
I dropped to my knees in front of him, my fingers exploring the angry spots that covered his skin. I hated seeing him that way. I hated that it was one of his own men that haddone it, but more than anything, I hated that I was somehow a part of him being hurt.
“How bad is it?”
“I’ve had worse,” he said through a smile, glancing back up at me with his brows knitted together. “A hell of a lot worse.”
I met his smile with one of my own, my hands dropping to the bottom of the hoodie before I pulled it over my head and dropped it beside me. “I guess that just means I’m on top tonight.”
Pushing up from the floor, my lips met his, my hands pushing the material of my panties down over my hips and letting them fall to the floor before straddling him. I nudged his shoulders, even as his hands rose and ran along my jaw, the heels of them holding me against him as he dropped back against the mattress with a grunt I probably should have felt guilty about.
Reaching between us, I gave him a slow stroke and bit down on his lip, the growl from his chest just making my need for him flare from the inside out. With a steady hand, I held him in place, sinking down until he consumed me once again.
Chapter Thirty
Drew
There had been a shift in power.
I sat at the head of the table for my men. I sat there for her, too. But before the night before, I’d been coasting on a memory of what was, even when I thought I hadn’t. Playing it safe had never been a trait of mine, but since Ayda came into my life, I’d tried to think of other people but myself. There’d been many days to change that way of thinking, yesterday being one of them. It had brought me to my knees again and cracked me wide open.
I loved her and I’d admitted it. That only left one option open for every other problem that lay at my feet. I had to deal with this shit myself. Head on. Take full responsibility, no matter who the enemy.
