I thought I was before—to Phoenix. Turns out something got fucked up with our paperwork. Even though we lived that life, it wasn’t true, at least not in the eyes of the law.
This isn’t real, either.
And yet, when my mouth crashes down on her soft lips much harder than I’ve ever kissed her, I know that this is as real as it gets for me.
I dip her back in my arms, claiming her with every part of my body, slipping my tongue between her parted lips. My hand is already running down the front of her white lace dress that I plan on ripping from her body as soon as we don’t have any eyes on us. I’ve spent my entire life sharing her—I’m done. I won’t let any other man even get a glimpse of her ever again.
I start to pull away when she groans into my lips—her voice pulling me back to her.
How am I ever going to let her go?
I’m not.
She’s mine.
My hand slides up her thigh, hiking her dress up her toned leg until I reach her ass.
“Get a room,” a man’s voice says.
I stop, realizing I’m taking things too far.
Our eyes open, and we stare at each other as my lips gently pull off hers. She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth as her cheeks pinken. I swear I see stars in her eyes.
Oh, baby, you have no idea what I’m about to do to you.
I pull her back up onto her feet, then take her hand. We need to get out of here now, before I take her into the church bathroom and fuck her in a dirty stall.
I turn, and then I see my biggest problem—Maxwell.
He’s sitting in the second pew with a smug look on his face. I don’t know why in the hell Liesel thinks we need to keep him alive. She thinks I was controlling before; she’s about to find out just how controlling I can be.
“Stand up,” I tell Maxwell.
He stands casually, putting his hands in his pockets like he’s not worried for his life.
My jaw ticks. I hate that he thinks so little of me. He thinks that Liesel will save him.
I consider my options. I don’t want to leave Liesel alone for a second, but I also don’t want her to have Maxwell on her conscience.
I pull out some cash and hand it to Liesel. “There is a hotel two blocks over. Get us the most expensive room they have for the night.”
She looks at me, wide-eyed. “What about him?”
“I’ll take care of him.”
She opens her mouth, I assume, to argue with me, to beg for me not to kill him, but she shuts it before rising on her tiptoes and kissing me with plenty of tongue. “Hurry,” she whispers before she walks out of the church.
I stand frozen, watching her walk away. I can’t stand to see her go, even though we’ll only be apart a few minutes. I still ache.
Maxwell frowns.
I grin.
Liesel trusted me. She let me decide what I do with Maxwell. I don’t know when that changed, why she decided to trust me now with him, but she did.
“Shit,” Maxwell mutters.
I stalk toward him—expecting him to run, to beg, to fight.