I kiss him. It’s demanding. Urgent. The kind of kiss that’s got us tearing off each other’s clothes in a matter of seconds. We get like this. Losing ourselves in pure, unadulterated desire. It’s carnal. Animalistic. A basic need. No.Need isn’t the word for it.It’s like we might not survive without it. Like we can’t breathe without one another.
He clamps one hand around my throat, and with the other at my hip, he eases me down onto his cock. I breathe as he slides in, then back out. That moment of gentleness even in situations like this, where his body is shaking with the effort it takes to hold himself back from the torrent of emotion raging in his chest, the adrenaline ripping through his veins like it’s ripping through mine. Because we just sent a snake-wrapped message. One that killed six people. And now we fuck so we can forget about it, get lost in each other for a moment before reality sets in, before guilt and regret come for us.
Justice, he keeps telling me.
I push it down. Stop the remorse that eats at me. Instead, I roll my hips, chasing that other high. The one only he can give me.
“So goddamn perfect.” Linc buries his face in my breasts, clinging to me in that way he does. Like he’s trying to climb inside me, carve himself into my flesh, my bones.
I pick up my pace. My climax creeps closer as I bottom out over and over, my tits bouncing with the movement. Fingers woven in my hair, he forces my gaze down. I get lost in the blaze reflecting in his irises, in the fire that’s gotten so big the flames have almost engulfed the building.
More sirens. Blaring horns. And the guttural moans sounding from this stolen car as my orgasm crests and I come harder than I ever have.
Justice. Vengeance. Retribution.
A war we just ended.
I collapse in his arms, and he pulls my lips against his as he slams me down harder, faster, grip bruising until he finally jerks up and fucks out his release inside me.
As his body relaxes, he exhales. “Where the hell did you learn to drive like that?”
I laugh. “Jimmy, obviously. He doesn’t just love motorcycles. He loves anything fast. Sometimes when I was younger, he would?—”
My heart plummets.
No. Not love. He loved.He doesn’tloveanything. Not anymore.
Pulling me back, Linc tilts up my chin. “You good?”
I swallow the emotion in the back of my throat. “I’m fine.”
“Talk to me, Grace.”
“There’s nothing left to say.”
He sighs. “There’s plenty to say. It’s done now. A few loose ends, maybe, but we did what we came here to do. So all that’s left is… everything else.”
“And the funeral,” I add. “And… and Jack. Jack is?—”
He tightens his grip. “I told you we don’t have to go back. South Bay can stay in the past if you want it to.”
We had a job to do.Justice to serve.But Linc’s right. It’s done now. Which means all those feelings I’ve been pressing down are dangerously close to bubbling to the surface. The reality of it all threatens to swamp me.
We left. The Raiders attacked. There were casualties. And our losses… they’re not the kind that we can easily move on from. Even with all thisjustice.
I take a long, deep breath, and Linc pulls me closer.
“I love you,” he says.
I don’t say it back. I can’t. Not when everything’s about to change.
He tilts his head. “There’s something else. What is it?”
I huff. “How the hell would you know that?”
“I know you. And I know the look you get when you’re about to run. You get all… squirrely.”
“I’m not a squirrel,” I snap. “And I’m not leaving you.”
