“I’m in love.” I press another kiss to her flesh. “And when I love, it means I’m gonna do what it takes to protect you. To keep you safe, and to keep you with me—with or without a marriage certificate, with or without an apartment leased in both our names.” I glide my lips over hers and swallow down the despairing sigh she exhales.
“I’m gonna come find you every single fucking day, Minka. Because that’s what I need. To see you. To touch you. To be near you. Those are the things I need to be happy. And when you decide whatever it is you need, I’ll make sure that happens too.”
“I’ve never been in a relationship like this before.” She hitches her legs across mine—not necessarily to come closer, but to make herself comfortable. “I have no clue what I need or what I want. I have even less clue the things I have to do to make you happy.”
“So let me worry about me for now.” Moving my hand down her neck and across to her shoulder, I feather my fingertips across the bare skin and leave behind goosebumps that make me smile. “You already make me happy, purely by existing. So keep doing that.” I slowly lean in and nibble on her shoulder. “Keep being available to me. You’re already doing everything you need for this relationship to work.”
“Even without marriage?” Dropping her head back, she moans under her breath when I bite. “You’d be with me for the rest of our lives, even if I don’t agree to marriage?”
“I’d like for you to consider it. But I won’t leave you if you decide against it.” Sliding my hand around to her back, I blindly grab the zipper of her dress and drag it down. “I’m not leaving, no matter what. But I’ll follow you.”
“What do you—”
“If you run.” I pull the front of her dress down and reveal a strapless black bra. “If you leave, I’m gonna follow you.” Folding my neck and arching my back, I bury my face between her breasts and groan at the warmth and scent of sex between them. “If you fall out of love, I’m gonna call bullshit. If you try to hide, I’m gonna search. And when we’re face to face again—”
“What?” she challenges, even as her breath comes out on soft pants. “You’ll get mad?”
“No.” I pull her pebbled nipple between my lips, even with the barrier of a bra. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to make you fall in love again. I’ll romance you. I’ll remind you. And in the end, I’ll get you back. Because all I want,” I spider my hand down to cup her thigh, “all Ineedto survive, is you.”
“Jesus, Archer. You throw yourself in head-first,knowingI could be hurt or killed?”
Hearing her say that, hearing her confess for the first time that what she does is dangerous, makes my heart ache and my palms turn sweaty.
“When you go out at night in search of a killer, I’ll follow you.”
Moving my hand beneath her dress and discovering panties, I bring my gaze back andtskunder my breath. “I said not to wear these.”
She snickers and stretches her neck to reach my lips. “I decided I enjoy the way you remove them.”
“Mmm.” Dipping my fingers beneath the lacy fabric, I slide a single digit inside, and groan when Minka’s breath catches and a soft squeak escapes her throat.
Her pussy clamps tight around me, and her nails, when she brings them up to clutch at my shoulders, dig in and send electricity sizzling through my blood.
“We’re gonna make it work,” I tell her, “because we’re both in this already. We’re not gonna let us go.”
“Unless you die at work.” Lying back until her head touches the passenger side door, Minka creates a double chin and stares deep into my eyes as I bring her closer, closer, closer to the edge. “If you die at work, thenwedon’t get a choice, andI’mleft here to grieve for you. All alone.”
“So then I promise not to die.” With my free hand, I tap her thighs so she drops her legs wide open, then I crawl over top and take her lips with mine. Still, my hand moves. My fingers tease. The heel of my palm taunts her clit, and her lungs empty into mine with every thrust. “I promise to be careful. To come home to you every day. And when we go to bed every night, I’ll be there with you. No matter what.”
“Oh god.” Ecstasy overwhelms her senses until a small wash of pleasure fills my hand. “Archer—”
“I promise.” I tug her bra down and reveal her beautiful tits, a feast just for me. “I promise to keep coming back to you. And you’ll promise to come back to me. So if we do that, if we keep our word, will you stop being scared?”
“We can move in together.” Her body seizes and her thighs squeeze my hips, as though to force me to stop.
But I don’t. I’ve never been the best at listening when folks tell me what to do, so though her orgasm holds her captive and her legs beg me to halt, I keep going.
Slamming two fingers deep inside, I draw her climax out of her.
“Archer!” She cries my name, and the sound alone almost brings me to completion, despite the fact my cock is still in my jeans, untouched, and pulsing with want. “Oh god.”
“I love you.” I nibble on her pebbled nipple until her cry turns to a scream. Until her squeezing thighs turn to hands that push me away.
“Sex,” Minka pants. “Archer. Quick.”
“Why’re you always in a rush?” Chuckling, I pull my hand from between her legs and instead push her toward the door.
She’s like an accordion, crumpling on herself, but I make room, then bury my face between her legs till she comes again. Screaming into the cab of my truck. Fogging the windows. Tensing under my tongue, and gushing until she makes a mess of my seat.