I watched as his fists clenched at his sides. He gave me a subtle nod in understanding. He wouldn’t be able to hurt Parker either, not when she was the air that we breathed. Dante was looking at the floor, his face a mask of resignation. We all knew that Parker was an FBI agent when we’d invited her into our lives and accepted her into our hearts. It was a gamble that we played. A dangerous one.
What hurt the most wasn’t that she was doing her job. It was that we were losing her right when we’d found her.
Parker turned and looked at each of us, her expression difficult to read for once. She’d always been so open. It was her eyes, those beautiful, differently colored eyes, that had told me exactly what she was feeling every time I looked into them. Scared, happy, full of desire, and in pain. But I couldn’t read her as she stood in front of us, looking as if her entire world had been rocked to the very foundation.
Even now, looking disheveled and haunted, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was the only one I had ever wanted. It made me a fool that I wanted to pull her into my arms still, right at that moment, and kiss her breathless. But I was her fool.
Parker’s eyes travelled around my office before stopping on the wall next to the fireplace. We all watched as she walked on silent feet to the switch. Then she reached out with a steady hand and flipped the switch. The fire roared to life in the fireplace. Then she stepped in front of the flames and stared down at them for a long moment. No one spoke, even as Ry walked to my side and laced his fingers with mine.
Finally, Parker broke the silence. “I understand why you do it.” Her voice was quiet in the room as the flames danced over her face. “Vile human beings exist everywhere, and the law is fucked up,” she admitted. “They hurt innocent people but walk away without consequence, time and time again.” She looked over her shoulder at me, taking in my face. “Little girls are hurt by their fathers, and their big brothers can’t always protect them.”
Parker bent down, then placed the notebook with all her notes and the evidence she’d so carefully collected on the logs and watched silently as the paper turned black on the edges and began to roll up before falling off, drifting to the fireplacehearth as ashes. As the paper heated, flames suddenly erupted, licking at the rest of the notebook. Parker never moved from her position. Not until every last piece was consumed.
Once the evidence had been destroyed, Parker stepped back over to the wall and flipped the switch again, making the flames in the fireplace vanish as suddenly as they appeared. When she turned around to face us, her back was straight, her chin was up, and she looked like a goddess.
“Cherish, why?” Dante asked as he took a step toward her.
She stopped him with a hand held out in front of her. “I promised to dedicate my life to putting away murderers.” She looked at me and, for the briefest moment, her expression faltered, and the depth of her despair showed in her eyes. I wanted to reach for her, and nearly did, but just as quickly, she put that wall back up, blocking me out. A piece of my heart shattered at that moment.
“Like I said, the law is fucked up. Too much evil walks away with nothing but a slap on the wrist. Maybe the world needs monsters that will do what I can’t.” She looked down at her bare feet. “Even monsters have a boogeyman they fear.”
She looked up at me, then took a step closer, but stopped out of my reach. Too far. “I know the statistics about vigilante killers. Too many of them struggle with their ideals and start killing indiscriminately. But maybe, with a good support system that will keep you from falling into that trap…” She looked at Ry, then Dante. “Well, I don’t know what the future holds, Gage Hardgrove-Mason, but you have a team of people, family, that love you.”
She sighed, then ran her fingers through her hair, frowning when they got caught in the tangles she hadn’t taken the time to brush out. “I won’t report you. Both you and your father are safe. I’ve already erased my search history. I doubt there will beanyone else like me who will come along and get to know you enough to figure it out.” She looked me in the eye. “You’re safe.”
Then, the woman I let into my heart, who just crushed it and healed it in a few short moments, turned to walk out the door. I waited, not allowing myself to react. It was her decision. If she wanted to leave, I would let her. I’d never take her free will away.
But then her feet paused, for just a fraction of a second, and her shoulders shook just the tiniest bit. Her fingers trembled at her sides before she clenched her fists again, stopping them. Parker wasn’t done, and neither was I.
Pulling away from Ry, I strode over to her and grabbed her arm. Swinging her around to face me, I heard her let out a small gasp. She then bit her lip to keep it from trembling, but she couldn’t hide the glassiness of her eyes.
“You’re not even going to say goodbye?” I asked, my voice rough to my own ears, full of the emotions I had been holding back since she’d placed that goddamn notebook in my hands.
I watched as a single tear escaped and trailed down her lovely cheek. It was the final catalyst that broke me. I cupped her face in my hands and took her mouth in a fierce kiss. If I was going to lose her, I was going to show her everything she’d miss, everything I felt, everything I wanted her to feel.
When I pulled away, she was breathing hard, even though the kiss had been brief. My hands were wet with her tears as they fell in a steady stream, and those eyes that had been blank were now filled with tortured pain.
“Gage, I can’t,” she shook her head, but I tightened my hold, stopping her movements as if I could stop her decision of leaving.
“The fuck you can’t,” I snarled. Then I bent down and swept Parker into my arms. Dante moved out of the way as I stormed past and swiftly carried her through the halls and to the main bedroom. Once there, I took her mouth again, slower, savoringher taste. I swept my tongue over hers, taking possession, commanding her with every stroke to let me in. I needed her to let me into her heart.
Placing her on her feet, Ry was there to steady her with a hand on her back. Dante was on her other side, and together we pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her bare to us.
“Cherish,” Dante said gruffly, as he used his good leg to kneel at her side. Reaching for the button of her jeans, he jerked it open. “I told you that you’re ours. Did you think we were going to let you walk away from us that easily?” With a rough jerk, he pulled her jeans down. Ry held her with his arms wrapped around her waist from behind as she stepped out, first one foot, then the other.
I looked down at Dante with one raised eyebrow. “Cherish?” It was a strange nickname, though it fit her. Dante grinned.
“I didn’t get the chance to tell you. Our girl’s name is Cherish Parker.”
I hummed as I looked over her face, seeing the red staining her cheeks either from embarrassment or the emotions that were overwhelming her. “It’s nice to meet you, Cherish.” Then I leaned down, taking one rosy nipple into my mouth and sucking deep. Her gasp of pleasure shot straight to my dick, making it throb behind my zipper.
“Ry,” I growled, pulling away reluctantly. “Help Dante up, then free me.” He knew exactly what I meant, and a slow grin filled his face.
Dante grumbled but allowed Ry to assist him back to his feet. Moving behind Cherish, he ran his teeth over her neck. “I’m yours, baby girl.” Then he cupped her tits and offered them to me.
As I took advantage of Dante’s hands, I used my own. I continued to lick and suck, working back and forth, turning her rosy nipples red. My fingers found her clit easily. Dipping themdown to her entrance, to find her soaked, I swirled them there only to bring them back up to dance along her swollen clit.
I felt my jeans loosen, and finally my cock sprang free. Ry’s hand wrapped around my length and stroked, adding friction to the mounting pleasure. I felt wetness glide over my fingers where I had been circling Cherish’s clit and realized that Ry was there between us.
