Chapter 6
SIX
Sable
Milo was the last person I needed to see and the only person I wanted to be with. But if I told him Bello was the one who came at me, what kind of brutality would that unleash? What would I throw myself in the path of? If a moving train was headed my way, shouldn’t I get off the tracks?
“I don’t have time for your stall tactics,” he said. “I have too much going on right now.”
“Milo,” I said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just accept that explanation.”
Talking about what Bello had done to me, in some bizarre way, triggered memories from my shitty childhood. My life was already difficult enough. I didn’t want to rehash anything I had tried so hard to suppress.
“Are you still trying to convince me this was a random act of violence? Because if that’s the case, I’m going to have to kill a lot of people until I find the one who hurt you.”
“I don’t want you to kill anyone.” I let go of his hand and paced in front of the window. “I don’t want to be caught up in any of this.”
“Too late.”
“I’d like you to go now.”
“No you don’t.” He wrapped his arm around my waist. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
How dare he try to exert some alpha claim over me. As sexy as it was, I couldn't allow him to manipulate me like that. He made his choice when he walked out on me. Was I supposed to forget the problems we had? The hurt we caused one another?
“That’s going to be difficult since we’re not together anymore.” I gazed into his eyes, ignoring all the dreams of what might have been. “That’s why you need to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He lowered his mouth to mine but didn’t kiss my bruised lip. “I was wrong for leaving you.”
“You were?”
“Is that a question?”
“I’m not blameless.” I pressed my palm against his cheek. “But I’m not letting you off the hook. You hurt me.”
“You shouldn’t forgive me.”
“Really?”
“I don’t want you to let me off the hook, but I do need you to let me protect you.” He brought my wrist to his lips and gently kissed it. “I can’t do that if I don’t know who did this to you.”
“We don’t need more violence.”
“Just because you won’t tell me doesn’t mean the storm isn’t coming. It only means I don’t know what to expect or how to make sure I’m prepared. If I’m not ready, we’re all in danger.”
“I can’t help you.”
“What happened to you was all on me.” He brushed his lips along my scraped palm. “I put you in this position. I should have made sure you had security.”
“We were together for a brief time. You can’t take care of me forever.”
“Yes, I can.” When his face contorted into a frightening scowl, I ran my finger along his mouth, softening his expression. “That’s my obligation,” he said.
“I can’t be your responsibility forever.”
“Do you want to bet?” He exhaled a frustrated breath. “Are you going to waste my resources and energy by making me pull the footage on the streets of the city to find out who assaulted you?”
“That’s impossible.”
“No, it really isn’t. Not when you have the hackers and security team I have.
My resources are better than Homeland Security.
" He nudged me against the wall. “The problem is, if you make me work that hard, my mood isn’t going to be very agreeable. I’m going to become agitated, and that’s not going to be good for anyone. ”
He untied the sash on my short robe and slid it open, exposing my black tank top and frilly panties. His fierce gaze streamed along my body, forcing a shudder to jolt my system.
“Don’t make me chase you.” He leaned into my ear as he skimmed his hand across my stomach. “This is the last time I’m going to ask.”
“And if I don’t tell you?” I smoothed my hands up his chest and to his shoulders, slipping his jacket from his muscular back until it fell to the floor. “What then?”
“Do you think you’re up for what I want?”
“Only one way to find out.” I loosened his tie and tugged it from his neck. “Can we forget about everything surrounding us and focus on the two of us? That’s what I need.”
I didn’t want to talk about Bello or Medina. I wanted to put the whole sex trafficking situation out of my mind and just be with Milo. I needed to lose myself in him.
“I’ve had a stressful day.” I unbuttoned his shirt down to his waistband. “A trying two weeks, really. I need this from you.”
“If I give you what you want,” he said as he tugged the robe from my body and tossed it on top of his jacket, “will you tell me what I want to know?”
“Is what I want what you want?” I swept my lips along his jaw. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve never stopped wanting you.” He lifted me into his arms and carried me down the narrow hall to the bedroom. “But I’m not certain I can hold back the rage I’m experiencing over what happened to you.” He set me on the bed. “It might be too much for you.”
“I’ve proven on more than one occasion that I can handle you.”
My heart skipped a beat when he smirked, because even as I tried to navigate this tough terrain, there were parts of him I recognized. The parts that I had ached for.
“I can be whatever you want.” I got up on my knees. “Whoever you want.”
“I just need you to be you.” He slid his shirt over his shoulders and dropped it on the floor, revealing his solid chest, sculpted abs, and muscle upon muscle covered in intricate ink.
“I can be me as long as we’re the only two in this room right now. No outside influences, no bad memories, and no unnecessary noise.”
“I’ll give you what you want.” He reached behind his back and took his gun from the waistband of his pants and set it on the windowsill. That part, the gangster, was the undeniable part of him that I couldn’t get used to. “But then I’ll expect you to give me what I want in return,” he said.
“I want to be with you.”
Seizing the opportunity to be with him again was all I could think about. When he removed his shoes and socks, and then unbuckled his belt, an electric tingle pulsed between my legs. My desire for him was too strong to deny. Whatever I had to do to stay with him, I would figure out.
“Sable.” He inched toward the bed and cupped the side of my face in his hand. “I dreamed about being this close to you every night we were apart.”
“I haven’t slept much.”
“I’m sorry.” He leaned down and kissed me. “I was wrong.”
I slipped off the bed and undid the button on his pants before lowering his zipper. He lifted my shirt over my head and flung it on the floor.
“We can make up for our mistakes tonight.” I dropped to my knees, tugging his pants down along with his boxer briefs, and revealing his impressive erection.
“What are you doing?” He tipped my chin and gazed down at me.
“Starting here.”
“No,” he said. “Your lip. It will hurt.”
“I can endure a little pain for you.”
“It’s my job to endure all the pain for you.”
“That’s romantically twisted.”
“I’m nothing if not romantically twisted.” He yanked me to my feet. “Let’s keep it simple.”
“Is anything ever simple with us?”
A soft laugh flowed from his lips, keeping the mood light, but his expression was harsh, not at all my carefree Milo. Bending down, he removed his pants from his ankles.
“As complicated as things are right now, I want to be with you too.” He sat on the edge of the bed and grasped my hips in his hands. “Let’s take these off.”
He hooked his fingers on either side of my panties and shimmied them down my thighs. Pressing his lips to my ribs, he freed me from my panties as he placed soft kisses along my stomach.
“Come here.” When he lifted me onto his lap, I straddled his waist. “I want to fuck you.”
“I’m yours.”
“I want to believe that.”
“Let me show you.”
I swiped my tongue across his lips as I raised my hips. He gripped his length in his hand and pushed the tip against my hot, wet slit. Wiggling my pelvis, I sheathed him until he was deep. How I missed this…him. I arched my back as I rocked into him and indulged in having him inside me.
He was my path forward.
“Fuck.” He tangled his hands in my hair as he kissed and nipped at my neck, leaving a burn in his wake. He dug his fingers into my hips, moving me up and down in a slow, deliberate rhythm. “I missed your pussy.”
“I missed you.” I held onto his shoulders as his upward thrusts became more intense. “I’ve ached for your possessive touch and the sense of comfort your intensity brings.”
“Because your instincts tell you it’s natural for me to protect you.” He raised me off his lap and dropped me onto my back. “I’m always going to do that, but you have to stop getting in my way.”
“No noise,” I reminded him. “Just us.”
He sat up on his knees and wrapped my legs around his waist as he plowed inside me.
I twisted the comforter beneath me as I surrendered my body to his demands.
His unwavering pace forced me to the cusp of pleasure.
My stomach coiled into a feverish knot, shooting between my legs and exploding into a glorious climax.
“Milo.” I scratched at his thighs as I released all the stress and anxiety of being away from him. The dread was replaced with the hope of the future we were meant to have. “I…”
Before I could profess the sentiment in my heart, he collapsed on top of me, holding me so tight the breath couldn't escape from my lungs. His restrictive embrace proved to be more comforting than I would have imagined, especially when he moaned into my ear while he let go inside me.
“I need you,” he whispered. “More than you’re ever going to understand.”
He was wrong. I understood the need because it mirrored mine. We had to find a way to make us work.
He rolled onto his side and raised his arms above his head, gasping for air.
“Mmm…” I cuddled into him, draping my arm over his chest.
In the stillness of the room, my heart rate settled down and our breaths weren’t as erratic.
A calmness entered my soul, but it wasn’t meant to be.
His rigid muscles were tight against mine and he didn’t put his arms around me.
The moment we shared dissolved into our jarring reality.
I wanted to ignore it. But I knew better.
“I wish we could stay like this.” I breathed in his comforting scent. “It’s easier when there’s only the two of us.”
“As perfect as this was,” he said, “I need you to tell me who did this to you and why.”
Milo returned to business mode. He gave me what I wanted and now I was expected to live up to my end of the deal.
“You should let this go.” My futile attempts to keep us in this moment would go unanswered.
“You don’t need to protect anyone from me. They don’t deserve your compassion.”
“What if I’m not protecting them?” If Milo knew the truth, he would take revenge. There would be no stopping him. If he got caught, or worse, if Diego came after him, it would be my fault.
“You can’t stop me from doing what has to be done.”
“If I tell you, are you going to…” I glanced at his gun. “Um, kill them.”
“Don’t ask me questions you don’t want the answers to.”
That was the thing. I did want the answers to the forbidden questions. If I wanted to be with him, I needed to know what he was capable of.
“I’m trying to understand who you are and how all of this works,” I said.
“You need to decide if being with me, knowing who I am and what I really do, is something you truly want.”
“What if it isn’t something I can come to terms with?” I asked. He couldn’t change who he was or where he came from. I wouldn’t ask him to be something he wasn’t, but he had to accept that I had doubts that had to be addressed.
“If it isn’t, I’ll walk.” His voice was low, but I still heard the truth in his words.
“That seems to be your thing.”