“Only with how much I want you.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Sleep if you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”
The phoenix on my hip throbs faintly.
His cum is still warm inside me.
And I’ve never felt more claimed, more safe, morehis.
Next Thursday Quiztopher Nolan is coming for blood.
But right now? Right now I’m exactly where I belong.
SEVENTEEN
LUCKY
We’re tangledup in my sheets, her soft curves pressed against my side, one of her thighs draped over mine. The room’s dark except for the faint glow from the hallway light I left on. The only sound is our breathing, slow and heavy, the kind that comes after you’ve wrecked each other in all the best ways.
Her head rests on my chest. Every time she shifts, that fresh phoenix on her hip brushes my skin.
My mark.
Bare inside her.
Christ.
I tighten my arm around her, palm spreading wide over the dip of her lower back, thumb stroking slow circles just above her ass. I could stay quiet. Let us drift off like this. Pretend the world outside this bedroom doesn’t exist.
But it does. And the next few weeks aren’t going to be soft.
“Firecracker,” I murmur into her hair.
She hums, half asleep.
“Things are gonna get crazy with the club.”
She goes still. Not sleepy still. Bracing still.
Her fingers freeze against my chest. Her breath catches like she’s waiting for me to say this is where it ends.
Like she expects me to cut her loose before it gets ugly.
I roll slightly so I can see her face. Those big eyes are open now, guarded.
“Hey,” I say quietly, cupping her cheek. “I’m not pushing you away.”
She searches my face.
“But if things go sideways,” I continue, thumb brushing her cheekbone, “you’re gonna have to listen to me. I don’t want you thinking I’m trying to control you. But when it comes to your safety? I’m putting you first. Even if it pisses you off.”
Her throat moves when she swallows.
“You’re my old lady,” I say. “That means when shit hits the fan, I protect what’s mine. Might mean you stay put when you want to run. Might mean I make calls you don’t like. But it’s always because I’m keeping you safe.”
A beat.
“You hear me?”
Her fingers press flat over my heart.
