Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
“God, you’re fierce.” Threading his fingers through my hair once more, Atlas kissed me. There was still that biting hunger, but it was tempered. “You’ll make a fine ol’ lady. I’ll be proud to have you.”
I sucked in a breath. “You’d do that?”
“What? Make you my woman? Honey, I was already fightin’ it. With this?” He waved his hand to indicate me and him together. “I want you with me. So, I’m all yours.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Tell me something, baby. You on birth control?”
I blinked up at him. “Uh…”
“Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.” He shook his head. “Ain’t takin’ a chance with you. There’s a possibility you could be carryin’ my kid. I’ll be there to protect you both.”
A sting of hurt stabbed me. “You don’t have to. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and anyone else who comes along. Even if I couldn’t, my mom and dad would help me. I’ve got a strong support system. I’m not going to trap you in a loveless relationship. Because, if you went to another woman, not only would you break my heart, my daddy’d kill you.”
“Well aware of that.” He chuckled. “He’ll likely kill me anyway, but in any event, I don’t share. I don’t expect you to, either. Tell you what. We’ll table this discussion until we’re safely out of here. Good?”
“Yeah. I can accept that.”
Chapter Five
Atlas
An hour later, I contacted Sting. The Shadow Demons had arrived with a tactical unit, a helicopter, and more firepower than most small countries. They were confident that they could kill everyone in the place that needed killing and bring out everyone else. Sting didn’t say whether or not Alexi included me in with the people who’d be coming out or the ones who needed killing. If he knew what I’d done to his daughter an hour earlier, I’d definitely be with the latter.
Of all the fucking things. Rose had gotten one over on me. Big time. She either felt guilty about it now or was regretting it, but done was done. Anytime I reached for her, she came willingly, letting me hold her. I thought I needed it as much as she did. She’d gotten her momentary fix, but she’d also given herself something else to worry about.
Later. I’d figure it out later. One thing at a time.
“We’re ready to come in. Just waiting on the word from Giovanni that everything is clear. He’s working on hacking into the club’s security. As well as every phone, smart TV, computer, and anything else hooked up to the Internet or a cell tower. Said you had your place covered as well, though he didn’t seem happy about it. Not sure what’s up with that.” Right. I’d just bet he wasn’t. Which told me where I stood with Alexi. What Giovanni knew, Alexi knew. And if Giovanni had hacked into my security setup already, he knew what had happened with me and Rose.
“Good. Anytime you want to do this, let me know. I’ll make sure Rose gets through it in one piece.”
“You watch yourself too, Atlas. Don’t plan on losin’ you in this shithole.”
“Just so you know, she’s trying to fight me on it. She’s insisting I complete my mission here and take out not only every motherfucker in this club, but that Swede person as well. She’s not wavered from that demand. I’m done, though. It’s not worth it to risk her life.”
There was a silence. “What’s goin’ on, Atlas? Has something happened?”
My president knew me very well. “You could say that. I’ll give you three guesses what, but you’ll only need one. So my life’s forfeit no matter what. I accept that. But you have to promise to keep an eye on Rose. Make sure she’s protected. Even if she’s locked away in that mansion they call a fuckin’ clubhouse. Find a way.”
“Sweet Jesus, Atlas. Couldn’t you have picked a different woman to rescue on the side of the fuckin’ road? Christ!” There was a heavy sigh on the other end. I could almost see Sting digging into his eyes with his thumb and fingers as he tried to hold on to his temper. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, just lay low. It’s nearly dawn. Alexi will probably want to go soon.”
“Keep me updated so there’s no surprises. I don’t want to accidentally shoot someone I shouldn’t.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Once out of the bathroom, I went to Rose. Again, she welcomed me, folding herself into my arms like she fucking belonged there. I scooped her up and took her to the bed. I laid her down and crawled on top of her, wedging my hips between her thighs. We were both still naked, so my cock wanted to head to the promised land once more. I settled for rubbing myself over her clit in a lazy glide.