He’d never let me leave.
“That built my appetite considerably,” he murmurs into my skin. “I could eat now.”
“Well, glad I could help.”
He laughs, pushing back to look at me. He cups my cheek and brushes his lips softly against mine. “Let’s eat.”
After dinner, he leans back with a self-satisfied grin on his face. “That was amazing. Best meatloaf I’ve had in my life. Give me a minute and I’ll clear the table,” he says, but I shake myhead, getting up to do so. It’s the last time I’ll ever get to do it for him anyway.
“I’ll do it,” I say, clearing out our dinner plates and storing the leftovers in the fridge. I take a moment in the kitchen to calm down and push out all those negative thoughts before making my way back to him with a bowl of dessert.
“Gelato,” he beams, already licking his lips but I move it out of his way when he reaches out.
“I think I forgot to bring a spoon,” I say, placing the bowl on the table and out of arm’s reach. Those eyes fire up with heat when I slide a finger into the bowl and through the creamy dessert before bringing it to my mouth and licking it clean. “Hmmm, I think this is the most delicious thing I’ve ever made.”
“Then why don’t you let me have a taste?”
“Me first,” I say, getting to my knees between his parted thighs and reaching for his zipper. His expression turns to that of need as I tug down his jeans and take his cock into my hand. I reach over with my free hand and dip a finger into the gelato and spread the ice cream over his length—he gasps at the feeling, growing harder by the second—and slowly, with my eyes locked on his, lean in to lick it off him, brushing the tip of my tongue over the crown of his shaft and drawing a fevered moan out of him.
I drink up the expression on his face. Everything from the way those dark brows furrow, to the bright, earthy brown of his dazed eyes and that mouth that has sent me to heaven and back. His body is a piece of art, perfect in form and inside it holds a heart made of gold. One I thought I’d have longer to treasure.
When the tears come, I dip my mouth around his cock before he can see them. I hold still, gagging around his shaft, swallowing around him like he taught me to do. When thosetears fall, he thinks they’re from choking on his cock. I lick around his erection, tuned in to every sound he makes, every inch of his body that tenses, the way his fingers feel when they slide into my hair and guide me into pleasuring him.
I edge him as he’s done to me many times before, and when he’s close, he pulls his wet cock out from my gasping lips. “My turn,” he growls, laying me on the dinner table as he reaches for the melting ice cream.
We make love for hours, licking the ice cream off each other. We take the fun to the shower and then later to bed. He falls asleep first and for an hour, I lie curled up next to him, watching him sleep. I run my fingers through his hair then trace them slowly over his muscles, committing every touch and every scent to memory. I watch him until I’m certain nothing could ever erase him from my mind. Not time. Not distance.
“I love you,” I whisper, brushing my lips over his brow and if they linger, then I’m only human.
It takes everything in me to pull away from him. I take out the letter I wrote earlier and place it on my pillow before sliding into my coat. I don’t grab my purse, clothes or any of the toiletries he brought over from my place. Just like I did six months ago when I went into witness protection, I leave everything behind.
This time, I am leaving much more than just my physical belongings behind.
I’m leaving my heart.
With a last glance at the naked man lying on his back, a large tattooed arm tossed over his eyes, I decide it’s time to leave. I don’t hold back the tears. No, I let them fall as I turn away.
Please don’t hate me.
Chapter Six
Ghost
Something is wrong.
It’s the first thought I get when I open my eyes. One look at the drawn curtains tells me that it’s still night-time. So what the hell woke me up? I could’ve sworn I heard a door click shut, but that can’t be right. There is no way in hell someone would break into my apartment. Not with all the tight security I helped implement. Still, I decide to check.
I reach over to touch Iris and talk her back to sleep in case the sound woke her too, but the sheets are cool to the touch. I turn to look at her side of the bed, brows furrowing as my eyes move to the en suite bathroom but the lights are off in there.
Maybe she woke up to grab a drink from the kitchen.
I don’t immediately panic as I shove the covers off me and climb out of bed, walking naked out of the bedroom and down the short hallway to the kitchen. It’s empty and a quick search proves that she’s nowhere in the apartment.
I begin to panic.
Maybe she couldn’t sleep and decided to go out for a walk, I try to reason as I walk to my nightstand to grab my phone.There are many places in this casino she could have gone to relax. Still, that offers me no comfort. The fucking cartel was able to gain access to the casino already and even though we’ve tightened security, there’s no such thing as foolproof security. There are always vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
Goddamnit, where is she?
