It took me a moment to realize he hadn’t slid out of me. He hadn’t come yet, and he was still hard.
I squirmed against him, wanting him to move again. I was primed, ready for more.
“Linden, stop,” he said, his voice low.
“No,” I begged. “Please, Boxer.”
His hands swept up my body to cradle my head, and he forced me to stare into his eyes. And when he began to move again, thrusting softly at first and then harder, he wouldn’t let me go.
He wouldn’t let me hide.
We stared into each other’s eyes as I clenched around him, another wave of ecstasy pouring through my body. He slammed into me one final time and with a hearty groan, he came.
I placed a hand on his chest and felt the thundering of his heart.
While he’d been inside me, I’d had to stop myself from screaming the words. Saying them out loud to him would feel like a vow. Like a true commitment, one I wouldn’t be able to walk away from. I was living on borrowed time before I told him.
He stared at me for a long moment, and then a veil went down over his eyes, shielding any vulnerability he might have been inclined to let me see.
I hurt him when I emotionally pulled away. But I wasn’t ready to face it and all it would entail.
Boxer eased out of me. He grimaced when he reached down to pull up his pants. He didn’t bother buttoning his shirt before leaving.
I looked at the shattered remains of the mirror on the bathroom floor, wondering why I destroyed, when all I wanted to do was heal.
* * *
Boxer wasn’t in the living room when I came downstairs. I assumed that meant he was gone. Most of the Blue Angels were absent, too. A few remained—the young prospects and the newly patched in members.
“Hey, Doc, think fast,” South Paw said. He lobbed a set of car keys at me which I caught in one hand.
I frowned. “These look like my keys. To my car.”
South Paw grinned. “They are.”
“But how did—these were in my purse last night.” I blinked. “I don’t get what’s happening.”
“I took your keys from your purse and drove with Crow to the hospital. We grabbed your car and brought it back for you.”
“Was this part of the prospect hazing?” I demanded. “Because I don’t know if I subscribe to that brand of torture.”
“Happy to be tortured,” South Paw said with a grin.
“Thanks, South Paw. I appreciate it. Have you seen Boxer?”
“He hitched a ride with Colt. They had shit to do.”
I nodded, my heart heavy. He could’ve waited to see me off. He didn’t, but I didn’t blame him.
I waved to Acid, and he gave me a perfunctory chin nod. Reap was more effusive with his goodbye and gave me a quick yet strong hug.
“Glad to have you aboard, Doc,” he said with a wink.
Was he letting me know that I was welcome in their lives as Boxer’s woman, or was this because he expected me to patch them up in the future?
I decided not to ask.
The day was bright without a cloud in the sky, and I hardly noticed the chill.