Only thing that’s kept me grounded, that’s kept me sane, isthis.Her lips. Dragging my teeth over her throat, my fingers over the inky lines marking her thigh. Reaching across my bed in the middle of the night and finding her.
So I need to go. Leave this place behind and figure out how to live without the shadow of this town looming over me.
Our kiss deepens, and she pulls my hand up to her throat and squeezes. “Ireallythink you should pack the uniform.”
I smile against her lips. “And Ireallythink you should stop kissing me like that. Or I’m gonna have to fuck you. And you arenot quiet enough for me to do that with a roomful of cops on the other side of the door.”
Another big grin as she tugs at my belt buckle. “Try me.”
I have her pants pulled down before I can think better of it, and then I’m bending her over the chief’s desk and slotting between her legs. Her tight, wet pussy wraps around my dick as I slowly push inside. I ease in, letting her adjust as I close my eyes and just… feel. Feel her. The shake of her body as I move, the tensing of her muscles as I tighten my hold at her hip.
Fuck, she’s perfect.
My woman. My Sinner. My peace.
And I need peace.
I needherversion of peace.
Speeding down the highway, asphalt beneath my feet, and this woman wrapped around me. Showing me who I can be without this place, without my past. Loving every part of me, every version of me. Even the ugly ones.
Because we can do ugly. We can do real. And this is real.
Through all of this, through the blackmail and the bullets and the bodies I’ve put in the ground, she’s breathed me back to life. This isn’t about surviving anymore, about getting through the day in one piece. It’s about living. Being the man she needs me to be. The boy scout. The protector. The man who will drop a body to take out a threat. Paying penance every day to those scales that have finally tipped back into place.
Turns out I didn’t need redemption. I just neededher.
EPILOGUE
Four months later
I exhale an impatient breath,causing a cloud of icy vapour to fill the front of the car. Closing time was hours ago. Ever since, I’ve been waiting for the biker bar across the street to go dark. For the lights on the second floor to extinguish.
When a shiver racks my body, I hug my torso, pulling my leather jacket tighter, trying to shake the chill that’s worked its way into my bones. It’s gotta be at least twenty below, and with each moment that ticks by, it’s only getting colder.
I need heat. Just for a second. A quick little blast to thaw my stiff, icy fingers.
“Fuck this.” I reach for the keys dangling from the ignition, but as I find the icy metal, I pause.
Bad idea. I draw the wrong person’s attention, this whole thing blows up in my face. And then I’m back to running again. I can’t have that. It’s not justmylife I have to think about.
The passenger side door flies open, scaring the shit out of me. Heart jumping into my throat, I lunge for the gun hidden in the glove compartment.
A warm hand wraps around my wrist, thwarting my attempt to grab my weapon. When the interloper ducks, his face coming into focus, I release another icy breath. Dark hair. Amber eyes. Puckered scar slashing across his right cheek.
“Jesus, Linc,” I say as he slides into the passenger seat and closes the door. “You scared the hell out of me. What took you so long?”
Rather than release my wrist, he pulls my hand to his warm lips, breathing a little life back into my frigid fingers. “Better question, Grace, is where the hell did you get this car?”
“Oh. Um. Well… super funny story.”
He sighs, and the heat of his breath sends a shiver through my body. “You stole it.”
“Borrowedit,” I correct. “I’ll bring it back when we’re done.”
Linc shakes his head. “Babe, when I tell you to stick to the plan, I mean the whole plan. That includes the getaway car.”
“It’s so damn cold thatplanwouldn’t start. I had to improvise. And this looked… fast. And fun.”
