Page 60 of Devil’s Promise

He grunts softly. Is that an admission that I’m right?

His hand skims down my arm and circles my wrist. Then he lifts my arm, kissing the inside of my palm.

Slowly, he trails kisses down the inside of my arm until he reaches my elbow, his lips tickling my skin.

“There was one thing that saved me when I was a kid. My brothers,” he says as he nips my skin, dragging his teeth over my flesh. It makes me ache in all the right places. “We could be that.”

“Family?” I ask, my pulse ticking up as my nipples peak. “We are getting married.”

He rolls me onto my back, his body coming on top of mine. “If I marry you tomorrow, we’re following his plan.”

I close my eyes even as he kisses the sensitive spot on my neck that makes me shiver.

Trusting Angel is a risk. Earlier today, he proved to me that whatever connection we shared in private, when tested against my father, I lost hard.

But Gunner told me that what I needed was a soldier. And I don’t have a better plan…

“My father excels at the double cross. He’s planning one for you, I’m certain.”

Angel uses one of his knees to part my legs, and then he pushes the other one in so that his hips settle between my thighs. “I keep my promises.”

I’m realizing this is a code with Angel. “What promises are mine? What promises are your brothers’?”

“To you…” He leans down and kisses me again. But this one is with more pressure and more insistence. “I promise safety.”

That’s not a bad one. “Death is not the thing I’m afraid of.”

He grimaces. “You keep saying that.”

“What I want is to avenge my mother.” I’ve never admitted this to anyone. Not in words, and definitely not in writing. My breath catches as I wait for his response. “By telling the world exactly what kind of man he is.”

He looks away, like he really has to think about it. It makes me a little nervous and I try to wiggle out from under him, but he holds me tight.

“To my brothers, I promise to think of what they really need before I think about what I want. That doesn’t mean they’ll always like it.”

I stop wiggling. I’m not sure where that leaves me.

“I won’t break my promises to your father, Promise. Keeping my word is the only rule I’ve ever upheld for myself.”

I nod and then I touch his face, skimming my fingers down his skin. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

“No.”

“Angel, it means you already walk in the light. Putting your brothers first. Keeping your word. That makes you a far better man than my father could ever dream of being.”

His nostrils flare as he looks down at me. “I’m a drug dealer, Promise. I run whorehouses as a way to wash money.”

“My father buys votes, uses taxpayer dollars to buy large swaths of land and then sells them for pennies on the dollar, and he murdered his own wife.”

“True,” he answers, his chest coming down to mine. He brushes my hair back, holding my face. “All right.”

“All right?”

“I’ll help you.”

My mouth falls open as I stare up at him. “Angel.”

“Promise.” His hips push into mine, his erection pressing against my seam, which makes my body throb with a deep ache of need.