Through his drunken sobs, I make out words like please, and don’t. They always beg.
Ashlynn’s breathing behind him is ragged. Her eyes never leave me.
“Second floor clear,” Kellen’s voice says over the earpiece.
“Third floor clear,” Levi adds.
“Finish clearing the first. Shut this place downnow,”Maverick orders.
“Step aside, doll.” Ashlynn slides along the back wall and gets back behind the bar.
I squeeze the trigger.
The shot is deafening in the quiet, small space. His body slumps forward. His blood paints the floor. Ashlynn steps back out, stopping at the man's feet. The world narrows. The club, the crew, the body bleeding out between us. Gone. There’s only her.
Her chest rises fast, eyes wide, lips parted. I should see fear behind her eyes, but I don’t. She looks at me like she finally understands something.
“Ash…” Her name leaves me roughly. Not a command or a warning. A prayer.
She steps over the body. Her shoes smear in the puddle of blood and she doesn't notice. Or she doesn't care.
Behind me I hear movement–Owen securing the stairwell, Slater giving updates, Cole bitching about the clean up–but it’s all distant. I pluck out the earpiece and drop it on the floor.
She stops right in front of me, her scent wrapping around me, almost suffocating.
So fucking close.
Her hands fist in my shirt like she needs something to hold on to or she might fall apart. My free hand comes up on instinct, sliding into her hair.
“You came,” she breathes.
It wrecks me.
“Always,” I answer.
In this moment I know, everything is about to change.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The gun clattersto the floor as her fingers twist harder into my shirt. Then, she’s on me, mouth first. It’s not a kiss–it’s a collision of tongues and teeth. I stagger back a step, catching her by the waist before she can lose her footing on the blood-soaked floor. Her hands are everywhere, fisting and grabbing like she needs proof that I’m actually here.
I give it to her.
My mouth takes hers, just as brutal, swallowing her gasp as I lift her clean off the ground. Her legs lock around my hips without hesitation.
“Karson-” My name breaks against my lips and I growl.
“I’ve got you,” I tell her, even though she didn’t ask. I always fucking have.
Somewhere to my left someone curses.
“Jesus Christ,” Cole mutters before I hear his footsteps echo down the stairwell.
Doors slam closed and the faint sound of voices come through muffled overOr Nahstill blaring over the speakers. I don’t stop to check that we’re alone, I can’t. I don’t care. Because she’s kissing me in a way that says she finally ran out of ways to lie to herself. And I’m done pretending I can live without her. Both of us forget about the body at my feet. It doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters right now but her.
Prying her mouth open, my tongue collides with hers. The kiss is anything but soft. It’s rough, full of needy desire. Her legs unlock from my waist and she slowly slides down my front, our lips never breaking. Her hands tug at my shirt, ripping it from my jeans. She undoes my belt as both of my hands fist in her hair, tugging her head back breaking the kiss.
My forehead drops to hers, our heavy breaths mixing together. Reluctantly, I step back and tug my shirt over the top of my head with one hand, her fingers still fumbling with the button to my jeans. She’s eager, nervous even, and I smirk. My hands grab at her wrists, causing her to slow down as her piercing blue eyes look up at me under her thick lashes.
