“Not a chance, Baby girl.”
“Not to a shootout or anything. Just take me to Indiana with you. I’ll wait in the hotel while you play vigilante.”
Mace growls. “Autumn…”
I’m getting to him. When I realize this, I sit taller. “I promise to obey you every second and do exactly what you ask.”
He narrows his eyes and inhales deeply.
Oh yes. He’s going to cave. Apparently, I have mad negotiating skills. “How about if I even so much as hesitate to do as you say, I agree to let you put one of those stupid plugs in my ass?”
This makes him smirk. “Sweetheart, I don’t think you fully understand this dynamic. I’ll never do anything that makes you cringe in a bad way. Your punishments are meant to be more like funishments. They’re designed to make you squirm. I won’t be putting anything into your tight bottom until the thought of me doing so makes your pussy cream.”
I squirm on his lap. Darn him. “Fine. Then you’ll have to take my word that I’ll be good.”
He leans back, keeping his arms loose around me.
I feel like a kid who just got a solid maybe, which everyone knows eventually leads to yes. “Please. I don’t want you to leave me here. Besides, after you’re done hunting bad guys, it won’t be unsafe for me to go into my home and retrieve some things. That way, you don’t have to hunt around looking for stuff without me.”
Mace shakes his head in dismay, but he’s almost smiling. Finally, he lifts my hips and turns me so I’m straddling him. He tugs me forward until my cotton-covered pussy presses against his rock-hard cock. “Look what you do to me.”
I grin. “Same thing you do to me.”
His expression sobers. “I’m in love with you, Autumn.”
My smile grows. “That’s convenient.” My heart hammers inside me. He loves me. He just said so.
“Why’s that, Baby girl?” he encourages.
“Because I’m also in love with you, Mace.”
His lips part. He hesitates. “No arguing. No negotiating. When I tell you to do something, you do it.”
I nod. “Promise.”
He groans and runs a hand down his face. “Don’t make me regret this.”
I don’t think he’s talking to me. I think he’s communicating with a higher being. But I won’t let him down.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mace
* * *
The hairs on the back of my neck have been standing on end for over an hour.
Ghost glances at me when I run a hand down my face for the hundredth time. “Pull your shit together, man. Your woman is fine. Leaving her at the safehouse with Addison was the perfect solution.”
“Yeah. I know.” In my head.
Ghost is driving. I’m white-knuckling the armrest of the SUV we’ve rented. Part of me knows he’s right; the other part feels a growing sense of unease I’m not used to. Maybe it’s because this isn’t an ordinary assignment. It’s my woman who’s at risk.
I’ve been involved in more cases than I can count while working for Blade. And before that, I dealt with situations overseas that were unspeakable. None of those instances was so close to home.
We have eyes on Frank Samson. We know exactly where he is. As long as he’s alive, he’s a danger to Addison and Autumn. Neither woman can carry on with their lives until the world is rid of this fucker. He’s clearly unhinged. He spent two years plotting to murder a man and take over his estate, including his daughter. That’s some extreme premeditated shit.
Sure, we could call the police and let them handle this. They would arrest him, search his home, and gather evidence. Meanwhile, Frank would get an attorney who would drag this case out for years, while Addison and Autumn would have no peace.
