My stomach twisted as I pulled her in for a real kiss. I wanted to tell her that I planned on spending the rest of my life repaying her, even though I knew it could only ever be a fraction of what I owed her.
I rested my forehead against hers. “I want you so bad,” I said. “But I think I need a shower first.”
She laughed and the mood between us lightened. That was good, because I wasn't sure I would've trusted myself not to take her right here otherwise.
We walked up the stairs, hand-in-hand. When we reached the door, she opened it, just as she’d done for me before. Except this time, as we entered, she handed me the key.
“What do you want me to do with this?” I asked, not wanting to dare to hope.
“It’s yours.”
My heart gave a painful thump. “Explain please.”
“I'm giving you a key.” She stepped inside, and I followed.
I closed the door behind me. “You’re giving me a key to your apartment. I have my own key.”
“No,” she corrected. “You have a key to our apartment.”
I had to have heard that wrong. “Our...”
Her skin flushed. “If you want it to be.”
I yanked her to me and took her mouth in a brief, but fierce kiss. We were both breathing heavy by the time I broke the kiss, but I didn't let her go.
“I love you, Karis.” I brushed my lips across hers again. “And I'll be wherever you want me to be for as long as you want me.”
“I love you too,” she said as she ran her fingers through my hair. “And your home's with me. Always.”
Chapter Twelve
Karis
For the last two months, I'd been working my ass off for a lot of reasons. First, because I needed something to keep my mind off of Bron since he hadn't wanted to see me while he was in jail. All I thought about when I wasn't working was him. So the solution, in my opinion, was to keep myself working.
That also helped out with reason number two.
I needed to prove to Colman, to my colleagues, and to myself, that I was a good agent. Bron had escaped on my watch, and Colman had been livid. Since he'd taken the credit Benita and I had been willing to give him, he couldn't exactly discipline me for losing Bron. But that also didn't mean he had to give me any credit whatsoever.
Benita got all of the credit for how things played out, which was fine with me, but I knew that Colman didn't trust me. Which meant proving to him that I may have screwed up when Bron had cut his tracker, but I wasn't an incompetent agent. And that I'd take my shit without complaining.
So for two months, I did the scut work, ran coffee and lunch orders, did whatever he threw my way. The one thing, at least, I didn't have to put up with was his sexual harassment. Since the day Bron punched him, Colman had kept his hands to himself and his comments more or less professional.
I worked ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week, for almost the entire two months, which meant the time I was off, I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. It also meant that when I asked for the weekend off so I could spend it with Bron, Colman would've looked bad if he hadn't approved it.
Not that I'd told my boss that Bron was going to be living with me. Colman would figure it out if he ever looked at the official paperwork, but I had a feeling that when it came to Bron, Colman would stay as far away as possible.
I didn't want to think about work anymore though. Not until I actually had to be there on Monday morning. For the rest of today and all of tomorrow, it was all about Bron and me getting a fresh start.
But there was no way in hell I was going to take this slow. Not when it'd taken all of my self-control the past twenty minutes not to strip off my clothes and join him in the shower.
I wanted him, but I wanted this to be something memorable, not just a quickie after two months of celibacy.
Which was why I was currently wearing a new piece of lingerie. It was a lovely shade of rose that went well with my coloring and showed off lots of skin without being sleazy.
And the moment Bron stepped out of the bathroom, skin glistening, towel around his lean waist, I knew it had been worth the wait.
“Fuck, Karis.” His voice was rough. “I dreamed about you every night, but none of that even came close.”
“I missed you.” I reached out and hooked my finger in his towel. My eyes stayed locked on his as I pulled on the damp cloth. It fell to the floor, and then he was closing the distance between us.
My back hit the hallway wall as he claimed my mouth, his hunger matching my own. Teeth scraped my bottom lip, and I moaned, arching against him, feeling his already hard cock against my stomach. He kissed his way across my jaw, down my throat, and then sank to his knees in front of me.
“Bron,” I gasped as he hooked one of my legs over his shoulder, opening me up to his gaze.
“I love you.” He pressed his lips to the inside of my thigh, then worked up to the thin, filmy bit of lace that covered my bare flesh.
“I lov–” I couldn't get the words out because at that moment, his mouth came in contact with my skin, and I was lost.
Lost in the sensation of his hot, wet tongue between my folds, dipping inside me, circling my clit. Lost in him and me and knowing that this was just the beginning of everything.
I dug my nails into his scalp as I came, and he held my hips in place, using his tongue to draw out my pleasure until I was panting, knees shaking. When he finally stood, he kissed me again, and I tasted myself on his mouth.
“Bedroom,” I demanded.
A minute later, I was on the bed, and he was leaning over me, mouth on mine, hands sliding up my ribs to cup my breasts over the thin silk. My nipples hardened as his thumbs made circles around them, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, rubbing against him.
Fuck going slow. We'd have time for slow later.
I twisted my body, putting Bron onto his back. He stared up at me, eyes wide, but didn't make a move to stop me. Judging by how hard he was, he didn't want to wait any longer either.
I pushed myself up on my knees and positioned myself over him.
“Look at me,” I demanded.
“Always.” He reached out to take my hand, lacing his fingers between mine.
I watched his eyes darken, his lips part, as I slowly slid down his thick shaft. It stretched me, filled me, one exquisite inch at a time. But it wasn't purely physical pleasure I was feeling. It was more. It was knowing that I loved him, and he loved me. Knowing that we'd found each other again after all these years. That some greater force wanted us together. Fate. Destiny. The universe. I didn't know, and I didn't care.
“I love you,” I breathed the words as I pressed my hand against his chest.
I moaned as I felt him reach the end of me. I slowly rocked back and forth, letting my body adjust to having him inside me again. Then, suddenly, he was sitting up, his arms around me, holding me so that he controlled my movement. Neither one of us spoke as his grip tightened, as he moved me up and down, back and forth, never completely leaving me empty. He didn't take his eyes off me as he used his body to make me whimper, to make every inch of me throb. Pressure in all the right places, perfect friction.
But it wasn't skill – though he certainly had that. What made the difference, I knew, was what this meant.
The beginning of my orgasm started to coil inside me, a deep, all-encompassing heat leading up to an explosion. His mouth covered mine, swallowing my cries even as he pushed me over the edge. I tightened around him, every muscle in my body seizing as I came, and then he was coming too, pulsing and emptying inside me.
When my brain cleared again, I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Bron was wrapped around me, so I didn't care. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed my temple.
“My Karis,” he murmured. “I've waited for so long to be able to call you that.”
“I've always been yours,” I said as I rolled over to face him. “Past, present, and future.”
??
?Future.” He smiled. “Until I found you again, I'd never really thought of a future beyond the next job. But now I have one, and it's you.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his. “You don't have a future, Bron, and I don't have one. We have one. Together.”
Together. I loved the sound of that, and I loved him. I realized that things wouldn’t always be perfect, and we had a lot of baggage to get through, but I knew we could do it. We were finally going to start on the life we should've had. His life as a criminal was ending, and a better life was beginning.
This is the end of Karis and Bron’s story… for now. :) I’m writing a free bonus book, “After Con Man”, exclusively for my subscribers, so be sure to sign up to my newsletter and you’ll receive the bonus book for free as soon as it’s done.
Bonus 1 - Dom X Vol. 1
M. S. Parker
Chapter One
Xavier
March in San Antonio wasn't as hot as July, but it was hot enough in the damn sun that I'd soaked clean through my t-shirt before we were half-way through. I was used to it though. Even Texas heat couldn't compare to some of the sandboxes I'd been sent to. As for the exercises, today's weren't any more strenuous than anything else I'd done in my nine-year military career.
Hell, they weren't really that much crazier than the shit I'd grown up with, and these were a lot safer. The places the army sent me were sometimes safer than where I'd grown up.
I pushed the thoughts aside, raking my hand through my short, dark blond hair. I'd never kept it very long to begin with, but the day I'd enlisted, it'd been buzzed short and I'd kept it that way ever since. It was clean and efficient. I liked that.
In fact, that was why I liked the military, and why, after the chaos of my childhood, I'd thrived. I supposed, in some subconscious way, I'd craved the sort of order this life demanded. The stability that came even in chaotic circumstances.
Speaking of which...
I rolled across the short open space and stopped behind a large rock. I glanced over at the pair of young soldiers I'd left a few feet away. Both were watching me with wide, intelligent eyes. I gestured with my left hand, letting them know what I wanted them to do next.
This particular training exercise wasn’t particularly strenuous in the physical department, but it was definitely more mentally demanding. Our goal was up ahead and, so far, my team had been doing exceptionally well. Just a few more minutes and we should be gold.
Then I saw it. Movement out of the corner of my eye.
I flipped onto my back, raising my rifle as I went. I took the shot even as I yelled at the other two to go. Sacrificing myself was the best tactical move here, and I had no problem doing it.
Except my shot was accurate...and the other guy's wasn't.
As he went down, I rolled again and scrambled to my feet. Up ahead, another firefight was breaking out, and I headed straight into the thick of it without a second thought.
Less than two minutes later, it was all over, and we'd done what we'd set out to do. There were shouts and congratulations, but I didn't join in other than to tell my people they'd done well. I wasn't exactly a quiet person, but boisterous wasn't really a word I usually used to describe myself.
“So, Sergeant, is it true?” The youngest of the soldiers came toward me, his outstretched hand holding a bottle of water.
“Woodley, right?” I asked, taking the bottle.
The kid nodded, and I noticed that his skin was red and peeling underneath the sand and grime. He’d need to remember sunscreen or he’d get cooked if he was sent to the Middle East.
Or any place with more than five minutes of sun.
“Is what true?” I drained half of the water in two gulps and let it cool me as I swallowed.
“That you're from Philly?”
I nodded, not saying anything, but rather waited for him to continue. I learned that at a young age. It was always better to remain quiet; keep anyone from noticing me. It'd served me well before I'd enlisted and then almost as much after. Despite my background, I hadn't been the sort who smarted off, so I'd rarely gotten myself in trouble. And I'd also learned a lot more than I probably should have because I listened more than I talked. More than once, it'd given me knowledge I'd found useful.
“I'm from Philly too,” he said. He had one of those baby faces that made him look like he was barely fifteen. “Chestnut Hill. Where are you from?”
I finished my water. “West.”
“X!”
A shout came from behind me and I turned. A tall, lean soldier with bronze hair and crystal blue eyes trotted toward me. He was all smiles, but that didn't tell me anything. Zed Ray was always smiling. I'd watched the fool grinning like an idiot while we were taking fire, his face streaked with sweat and dirt, those damn teeth gleaming. More than once I thought he'd end up getting himself shot because of those teeth.
“Seventy-two-hour leave, Philly.” Zed slapped me on the shoulder, then made a face at the sweat on his hand. “Damn, X. You seriously need to take a shower or we're never gonna get you laid.”
I rolled my eyes. “You don't want me to get laid, Zed. You just want me to be your wingman so you can get laid.”
He shrugged as his grin widened. I'd been told I was good looking. Decent features. Azure eyes. Chicks usually dug the tattoos too.
But Zed was one of those model-types who turned heads everywhere he went, no matter who he was with. I didn't mind. I was fine with my soldiers looking to me for direction, but outside of the army, I didn't like eyes on me. Yet another product of my upbringing. Besides, the wingman got laid most of the time too.
“Are you guys going out?” Woodley looked from Zed to me. The eagerness on his face was clear.
“How old are you, kid?” I asked with a sideways glance at Zed.
“Nineteen, sir,” he answered.
“You know I can't condone under-age drinking.”
The kid's face fell. Then Zed leaned over and said something in Woodley's ear that brought the smile back. The expression on Zed's face told me that I didn't want to know what it was. There was a reason Zed wasn't usually put in charge. He was a good guy, fierce as hell and loyal to a fault. He was the sort of guy who'd always have his buddy's back.
But he never took shit seriously.
Case in point...
“Come on, X, we gotta get you in a shower.” Zed punched my shoulder. “Our leave started the minute you finished that exercise and I don't want to waste any of it.”
I rolled my eyes again, but didn't argue as we started to walk away. I wasn't quite as demonstrative in my enthusiasm, but Zed was right about two things. One, I stunk. Two, I didn't want to waste any time either.
I just didn't think it was for the same reason. Unlike most of my buddies, I rarely looked forward to leave.
“First thing I'm going to do when I get home is eat some fucking real food.”
One of the soldiers behind me was talking with a couple others. His accent told me he was from around here.
“Mom's meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Homemade gravy. Grandmama's collard greens.”
I was guessing Grandmama was from down south. For a moment, I wondered if any of my grandparents were from the south. I'd never met any of them, and my parents sure as hell hadn't talked about them. I didn't even know if any of them were alive or dead. Odds said that at least one probably was still alive, but I'd always figured that if they hadn't found me by now, I doubted I really wanted to know them.
“Hey, Sarge, you got a home-cooked meal waiting for you?” the soldier called up to me.
“Naw, Philly here's an East Coast boy.” Zed tried to rub the top of my head, but I swatted his hand away. “We're going to spend our time getting shit-faced.”
“Speak for yourself,” I said. “I'll take one night out drinking, but I'm not going to spend Tuesday morning puking my guts out and wishing myself dead.”
Zed shrugged. “Your loss.”
; “Do you have a girl in the area, Sergeant?” Another of the soldiers asked. “You don't talk much about life outside. Family back home. A girl.” He grinned. “Or a guy. You know, since that's no longer an issue.”
“That's it.” Zed threw his arm around my neck and planted a loud kiss on my cheek. “You've found us out. Xavier Hammond and I are lovers.”
“Shut up, you ass.” I shoved him away from me, hard enough to make him nearly stumble.
I couldn't help but join in as we all laughed. By nature – and by nurture – I was usually a serious guy, but if anyone could make me laugh, it was Zed.
“Come to think of it, sir,” the local boy said. “I've never seen you with a woman.”
“He's got you there,” Zed said as he fell in step beside me again.
“Just because I don't brag doesn't mean I don't get any,” I retorted. “Zed, on the other hand, shoots off his mouth so much that I'm starting to think he's all talk and nothing else.”
“You're just jealous that you always get the ugly friend,” he said with a grin.
“How come you're not going home?” The soldier turned his question to Zed. “Aren't you from somewhere around here?”
“New Mexico,” he answered easily. “But who else would keep Sarge here company if I took off. Besides.” He flashed that infuriating smile. “My mom doesn't cook so good.”
The guys laughed again, but the local boy's attention was on me again.
“What about your family, Sarge? Seventy-two hours could be enough time to fly out to Philly and back again.”
I saw Zed out of the corner of my eye, shaking his head at the soldier. I didn't mind answering though. It wasn't like it was some secret or anything. I just didn't talk about myself or my past. Zed only knew because we'd been friends for a while.
I kept the answer simple, my eyes straight ahead. I had no problem with the truth, but that didn't mean I liked what I had to say. “I don't have any family.”