Chapter 21
Connor
I must have dozed off eventually, because the next thing I knew, I was awakened to her screaming at an unseen attacker. Her eyes were wide open, but unseeing as she flailed against the sheets that had twisted around her limbs.
“No! Please, don’t—!”
she cried out, her voice raw with terror.
I was at her side in an instant, careful not to touch her. “Mia,”
I called softly. “Mia, it’s Connor. You’re safe. It’s just a nightmare.”
Her thrashing slowed, confusion replacing fear as she gradually woke. “Connor?”
she whispered, her gaze finally focusing on my face.
“I’m here,”
I assured her, slowly sitting on the edge of her bed. “You’re safe. We’re in a motel, remember?”
She nodded shakily, pushing herself upright against the headboard. In the dim light filtering through the thin curtains, I could see tear tracks glistening on her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,”
she murmured, wiping at her face with a trembling hand. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Don’t apologize.”
I hesitated, then asked, “Want to talk about it?”
She drew her knees to her chest, making herself smaller. “It was Craven. He was...”
She trailed off, unable or unwilling to finish the sentence.
A surge of protective rage washed through me. “He can’t hurt you anymore. We made sure of that.”
“I know.”
She looked up at me, vulnerability etched across her features. “Thank you for coming for me. For stopping him from raping me. For killing him. For not giving up on me.”
I nodded. “I would never give up on you… Was that the only time he tried to have his way with you?”
“Yes. And you stopped him.”
The woman before me seemed so different from the cold-blooded assassin she’d confessed to being.
“Try to get some more sleep,”
I said finally, moving to return to my own bed.
Her hand shot out, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength. “Stay with me?”
she asked, then immediately released me as if burned. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”
“It’s okay,”
I found myself saying, though every instinct warned against it. “Move over.”
She shifted, making room, and I carefully lay down beside her, maintaining a small space between us. For a long moment, we both lay rigid, keenly aware of each other.
Then, gradually, she moved closer, until I could feel the warmth of her against my side. Without thinking, I lifted my arm, and she curled against me, her head finding that spot on my chest that seemed made for her.
“This doesn’t mean I trust you,”
I said quietly into the darkness.
I felt her slight nod against my chest. “I know.”
“But I will protect you,”
I continued. “From Matheson, from my family—from whatever comes next.”
Her arm tightened around my waist. “Why?”
It was a fair question. One I’d been asking myself since she came back into my life.
“Because despite everything, you’re still my wife,”
I answered, the words surprising even me. “And I meant what I said in those vows.”
She was quiet for so long I thought she might have fallen asleep. Then I felt the wetness on my chest, warm tears soaking through my shirt.
“I never thought I’d hear those words,”
she whispered. “Not from anyone, and especially not from you. Not after what I’ve done.”
I found my fingers threading through her hair, a gesture that felt both foreign and familiar. “I’m not saying I understand everything. Or that I’ve forgiven everything. But I need you to know that.”
The steady rhythm of rain against the windows filled the silence between us. Outside, the world was dark and dangerous, filled with people who wanted us dead. But in this moment, in this bed, we had created something like a sanctuary.
“When this is over,”
she said hesitantly, “if we survive—”
“We will survive,”
I cut in, surprising myself with my certainty.
“When it’s over,”
she continued, “what happens to us?”
It was the question I’d been avoiding since discovering her identity. The future stretched before us like a minefield – my family’s expectations, her shadowy past, the violence that seemed to follow us both.
“I don’t know,”
I admitted. “But we’ll figure it out together.”
She shifted, raising herself up on one elbow to look at me as my hand trailed along her back. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, her eyes searched mine.
“I’ve never had a ‘together’ before,”
she said. “I was trained to be alone. To need no one.”
My hand stilled. “Oh really?”
I replied, jealousy burning within me. “Would you care to explain who the man was that you were kissing at the altar?”
Her smile widened with a knowing glint. “You found that photo, did you? That was another agent. The one time I had to collaborate. It was merely a cover.”
A wave of relief crashed over me, but I needed undeniable confirmation. “So, you're not married to someone else?”
She sat up and crossed her legs. “Good lord, no. Once that assignment was wrapped up, I got rid of him.”
“You shot him?”
I probed, my voice edged with disbelief.
She paused, the silence thick with tension, as if weighing the gravity of her response. Finally, she uttered, “Yes, he was part of the assignment.”
I knew Declan and Rory would scream at me to abort, to kill her before she had the chance to kill me. But I did it anyway. I reached up, my thumb tracing the delicate curve of her cheek. She leaned into the touch, her eyes fluttering closed as if savoring the fleeting moment of tenderness.
As the rain continued to patter against the windowpane, our connection deepened. I caressed her face gently, brushing away a stray tear with my thumb. Her eyes met mine, filled with a mixture of vulnerability and longing. “Mia, before this goes any further you better be sure, because I don’t let go of what’s mine easily.”
She leaned closer, her breath hot against my neck as she replied, “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”
Her words sent shivers down my spine as I traced the contours of her jawline with my fingers. “Tell me what you want,”
I whispered back.
“I want you,”
she said simply.
Our lips met in a passionate kiss that quickly escalated from tender to urgent. Her hands roamed over my bare chest, nails lightly scraping across my skin and causing goosebumps to erupt all over. I couldn’t help but moan into her mouth as she slowly slipped her tongue inside, teasing mine to dance.
I gently lowered her onto the bed, positioning myself between her thighs as we continued to kiss feverishly. Moving lower on her body, I slowly lifted my t-shirt and trailed light kisses along her ribcage as my hands reached for the waist of my jogging pants that she wore.
Once her legs were free, she wrapped one around my back, urging me closer. But one glance at her face, my eyes were drawn to her nipples. Already pert and hard, begging for my attention. I couldn’t resist and inched closer, taking one into my mouth while gently pinching and rolling the other between my thumb and forefinger. She gasped and moaned, her hands burying themselves in my hair.
Feeling her growing more desperate, I lowered my mouth further down, teasing her soft skin as I made my way to her hip bone, then licking my way to her navel, I plunged my tongue inside. In response, she lifted her hips slightly, silently begging me to continue. I spread her legs wider, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her arousal.
My tongue traced a slow, deliberate path from the sensitive folds of her entrance up to her clit. At the first touch of my tongue on that throbbing nub of flesh, she cried out, gripping the sheets tightly.
“Mmm, delicious, just like I knew you would be,”
I murmured, then continued to focus on her clit while sliding two fingers into her wet pussy, moving them in and out, in sync with my swirling tongue.
Her moans grew louder and more frequent as I increased my pace, bringing her closer and closer to the edge. “Please,”
she gasped, sweat dotting her forehead as she writhed beneath me.
I looked up into her eyes, continuing the rhythmic motion of my fingers and tongue, as I whispered back, “Please what?”
“I don’t know,”
she groaned as she arched off the bed, her body tensing as her orgasm crashed through her. I held her hips steady, continuing my ministrations through her climax, prolonging the waves of pleasure that made her thighs tremble against my cheeks. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, and she said my name like a mantra… as if it was a broken prayer on her lips.
When the last aftershocks subsided, I stripped off my clothes as I kissed my way back up her body, savoring the salt of her skin. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, cheeks flushed with satisfaction. She pulled me down for a languid kiss, tasting herself on my tongue.
“Your turn,”
she whispered, flipping me onto my back with surprising strength.
Her hair fell like a curtain around us as she straddled me, the heat of her core pressing against my erection. I groaned, hands gripping her waist, desperate for friction.
“I’ve thought about this for so long,”
she confessed, reaching between us to guide me to her entrance. “About you.”
Slowly, torturously, she sank down onto me, taking me inch by inch. We both moaned as I filled her completely. She began to move, setting a rhythm that had me seeing stars, her hands splayed across my chest for leverage. I watched, mesmerized, as she rode me – her head thrown back, breasts bouncing with each movement.
I reached up, my hand encircling her neck. “You’re so beautiful,”
I managed between gasps. “Don’t you ever forget, you’re mine now.”
To make sure she never would, I gripped her hips and flipped us over without breaking our connection. I thrusted into her deeply, completely.
She wrapped her legs around my waist trying to pull me even closer. The new angle had her crying out, nails digging into my shoulders.
“Right there,”
she begged. “Please. Don’t stop.”
I could feel myself getting close, the familiar tightening at the base of my spine. I slipped a hand between us, finding her clit and circling it with my thumb. Her walls clenched around me, signaling her approaching her second climax.
“Come with me,”
I urged, fighting to hold back until she was ready.
Her body responded instantly, tightening around me as she shattered. The sight of her coming undone beneath me was my undoing. With one final thrust, I buried myself deep inside her and let go, pleasure crashing over me in overwhelming waves. I collapsed against her, our sweat-slicked bodies pressed together, hearts racing in tandem. My cock, still within her warm pussy, pulsated.
For several minutes, we lay entangled, catching our breath. I rolled on my side, pulling her against me. She nestled her head into the crook of my neck, her fingers tracing lazy patterns across my chest.
“That was...”
she trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words.
“Worth the wait,”
I finished for her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
She hummed in agreement, her body warm and pliant against mine. It must have stopped raining because there was moonlight filtering through the curtains, casting silver shadows across her skin. And I found I couldn’t stop touching her.
“What are you thinking?”
I asked, tilting her face up to mine.
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, studying her features in the dim light. “That I’ve wanted this—wanted you— since Wren and Declan’s wedding, and I’m afraid I might wake up and find this was all a dream.”
“Not a dream,”
I assured her, leaning down to kiss her softly. “Though I understand the feeling.”
Her fingertips traced my jawline, eyes searching mine. “Where do we go from here?”
It was the question hanging between us, the one I’d been too afraid to voice. In the afterglow, reality was beginning to seep back in.
She couldn’t be trusted.