Chapter Eighty-Eight
Phoenix
Tracking Linc’s cell phone, I jogged down to the cliff’s edge and found them.
SUV parked, engine running, neither checking their six, I watched as they looked at each other and laughed.
Then I stood there.
Giving them this moment, giving myself a chance to allow it, I controlled my breathing.
The instinct to pull her from the SUV and put her over my knee for driving so close to the cliff’s edge was warring with the need to grip my son’s shoulder and make sure he was all right.
I’d been telling myself I couldn’t be both of these extremes.
Her agency.
His father.
Power was a drug. I knew it the first time I fired a gun. I understood it the first time I held a woman. I could make either do my bidding.
But I never saw the power in what my father had done. I would always hate him for keeping my son from me. I couldn’t, however, deny who he’d made me into—the embodiment of merciless brutality toward my country’s enemies.
The raw masculinity I no longer fought, the controlled dominance, the ruthless protectiveness—I’d grown into all of those on my own.
But until I’d locked eyes with my son, had my feet swept out from under me by a little trespasser, until I’d put them both in the same space, I didn’t know I no longer had to compartmentalize who I was.
Maybe the explosion that’d ended my old life, the subsequent alias I’d been given, and the molecular compound I’d inked on my arm were all one and the same.
A rebirth.
Ten years in the making, but now I had this. My family.
Closing the last few yards, opening the driver’s door, I breathed her in. “Intruse.” I looked to my son. “Lincoln.” This was my life. “You two okay?”
My son said, “Yes, sir.”
“Is Wolf gone?” my intruse asked casually.
“Yes.”
“Did he apologize?”
If she didn’t know by now what I’d surmised within two seconds of her brother’s company, then I wasn’t going to be the one to break it to her.
Legend King would surrender to the enemy before he apologized.
And since surrender wasn’t in a warfighter’s vocabulary, we were always going to be at an impasse.
None of this I explained. “We came to an understanding.”
Shaking her head, she smirked. “Right, because Wolf is so understanding.”
“Even the most resolute of warriors can still see purpose through the fog of war.” Using the driver’s seat controls, I adjusted the legroom all the way back and reclined it a few inches.
“Hey.” Intruse glanced down. “I had the seat adjusted for me.”
“I know.” Moving fast, I slid an arm behind her back and the other under her legs. Lifting her out of the SUV, then quickly reangling, I got into the driver’s seat with her on my lap.
“Oh my God, Will.” She braced her hands on the ceiling. “We don’t both fit! What are you doing?”
“We fit perfectly.” Grabbing her wrists in one hand, I brought her arms down. “And I’m trespassing.” Gripping her nape, I tilted her head and turned her in. Then I kissed her.
My little intruse melted into me—for a beat—before pulling back. “I’m sure Linc isn’t impressed with your antics.”
“He’s facing his window.” Most likely as uncomfortable as he’d looked the second before I’d kissed her. “Aren’t you, Lincoln?”
“Yes, sir.”
I winked at my woman. “All right, you two. It’s time to go home.
” Letting go of my intruse, I gripped my son’s shoulder.
“Would you mind heading back to the cabin and closing it up? Grab the food, make sure all the windows and doors are locked. Then use your cell and double-check our fuel stops for the trip back.”
The kid was already opening his door. “Yes, sir.”
I didn’t let go of him yet. “Lincoln.”
He looked back at me.
I squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Um, you’re welcome.” He glanced at Isla. “I’ll, ah, be right back, okay?”
Proud of how my son was protective of her, I gave him a heads-up. “I need a moment with Isla. Then I’ll drive back to the cabin to grab you and Isla’s pack. Copy?”
“Yes, sir.”
Before he shut the door, my woman called after him. “Be careful and watch the terrain. You’re stuck with me now, so remember that I love you!”
Both my son and I froze.
Lincoln recovered first. Face flamed, he spoke low and quiet. “I’ll, um, be careful.” Then he dropped his head and rushed through his words. “Love you too.” The door shut.
My little intruse smiled. “Yep, he just said that. He told me he loved me.”
I was already reaching into my pocket.
Suddenly looking nervous, she qualified. “I mean, I said it first. He didn’t have to say it back, even though I know how he feels. But he beat you to—”
“Isla Sennan.” I held up the gold necklace with an infinity symbol. “I love you. Without end. Without boundaries.”
“You….” Her eyes welled. Then I got my little intruse’s soft, submissive voice. “I love you, too.”
“I know.” I smiled. “Lift your hair.”
“This is infinity,” she whispered, staring at the gold lemniscate design as she did what I asked.
“It is.” I reached around her slender neck.
“You had this before you knew about…?” She looked up. “And you’re still giving it to me?”
I’d had it since before I’d taken her to the house.
That first night I’d brought Lincoln home, I’d commissioned it.
I didn’t tell her there was an embedded tracker in the infinity design.
“Yes and yes.” I secured the delicate chain, then looked at my jewelry on her.
Shorter in length than all her other necklaces, it sat exactly how I wanted it to sit—like ownership.
“Without end,” she repeated.
“Without boundaries,” I reiterated, making sure she knew I accepted both her and her wishes.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“I love you.” Exactly how a man should kiss the woman who’d stepped into his darkness and dragged him from his exile, I kissed my intruse. Reverently.
Then, while I was claiming her mouth, I claimed her.
Pulling her leggings down past her ass, unzipping my pants, I fisted myself. “Lift your thigh, ma petite intruse. Show me that sweetness. Give me what’s mine.”
Sideways on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck, moaning against my lips, my trespasser angled her hips and beautifully submitted.
I sank into my future.