12. Law
CHAPTER 12
Law
I ’m so fucking cliché right now, holding flowers and hoping she likes Chinese food as I walk up to Nell’s door. I know the lies have built, and I’m going to have to work damn hard to earn forgiveness and trust back, but as long as I can get in the door, I think it can work.
Knocking, I wait a beat before I try the handle. Finding it unlocked, I want to give her shit but figure I might need to let it go for now.
“Hey,” Nell says from the top of the stairs, wearing shorts and a baggy sweater, hair wet from an apparent shower.
“Why was the door open if you were in the shower?” Shit.
Her blue gaze narrows on me as she descends the stairs, and it’s then that I notice her limp and light bruising on her knee. “For your information, I just unlocked it a few minutes ago because I was grabbing the mail. And who are you to give me grief about anything?”
“What happened to your knee?” I know it wasn’t like that yesterday.
“Nothing.” She turns her back on me and walks away.
“Wait a fucking minute!” This shit is going to be more complicated than I damn well thought.
Nell spins around, stopping me short of running into her. Jabbing a finger in my chest, she asks, “How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“How long have you been on the force?”
“Four years.”
“Why me?”
“Why not?” Her body relaxes incrementally with each rapid question I answer.
“Are you done with me now?”
Putting the flowers and food down, I pull Nell into my arms. “Not by a fucking long shot.”
“How many times have you done this?”
“Done what?” If she’s asking about previous girls, I need her to spell it out for me.
“Undercover work.”
“Three times before this. Normally, it’s a full school year I’m there for. This time was a favor to Jack.”
“Will you be doing it again in the future?”
“No. I’m back on the streets next week.”
Nell watches me. I’m not sure why, but she’s assessing me as I try not to claim her lips with mine. I need her with a ferocity I’ve never felt with another woman before.
“Tell me you forgive me, swan. Tell me we’re okay,” I plead quietly as I lean forward to kiss along her jaw.
“You lied to me,” she murmurs. Hands on my shoulders, I half expect her to push me away. She pulls me forward. “You hurt me. I thought you were just like her. I thought you were going to leave me, too.”
The pain in her voice sends agony straight to my heart. “I’m so fucking sorry, little swan. Never in a million years do I plan on leaving you. You’re it for me. Mine for life. I never lied about that.”
“You promise?” Her whispered words against my lips and the desire in her eyes would have me agreeing to almost anything.
“Promise,” I mumble as I close the distance. Finally taking what I’ve been dying for, for what feels like years.
Kissing Nell is like coming home. She fills me full of possessive need, and all I want to do is sink inside her body and never leave her again.
Picking her up in my arms, I begin a slow walk up to her room. “Please tell me yes, baby.” I don’t know what the fuck I’ll do if she says no.
“Yes, Law. Always yes.” Hallelujah. I race up the stairs to her room, intent on ravishing her from head to toe and back again. There won’t be a single inch of her flesh I won’t devour before I’m done with her.
Laying her on the bed, I take a second to admire her form. The sultry smile on her face, the love in her eyes. The way her dark hair halos around her head.
“I’m one lucky bastard,” I say as I pull my shirt off over my head. I know we’ve got a lot to learn about each other, but I also know, we have a lifetime to do it. For now, I can take her and give us both the carnal pleasure we seek.