#2
Devi really wanted to know what her uncle was saying to Zach. She tried to turn around. There was a place at the end of the hall that would be perfect for eavesdropping.
“You guys get settled in. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Kala stood in the way.
“Nope. What’s happening in there is not meant for feminine eyes. I’m absolutely certain my father is about to break Zach down in that way he does. I should know. He’s the only person in the world besides Coop who can do it to me.”
“I break down all the time,”
Kenzie admitted with a smile.
“It feels good to let it all out. Do you want to cry? I’m worried about Ben so I’ll cry with you. Normally I need a session to get going, but you have tormented love vibes right now. I think that should do it.”
“You’re such a menace,”
Tasha said and pointed to the door.
“Go on, Dev. We’re not listening in. Zach deserves some privacy. Believe me. I know what it feels like to have the man I love in conference with my father. Things are going to turn out okay. I’m actually happy it’s my dad talking to him and not yours.”
Because her uncle loved Zach and her dad didn’t really know him. In her dad’s mind Zach was the asshole who lied to his daughter. She would have some work to do on him.
No. She wouldn’t because it was all a mess and it was ending and it was too soon and she… Devi took a long breath, trying to banish the panic. Tasha. She forced herself to look at Tasha. He loved Tasha, and she was as far from her cousin as a woman could be. She needed to remember that. Zach was in trouble and he was facing something grim, and he didn’t want to go through it alone. Who would? They were friends. They liked each other. It was okay to spend this time with him.
She couldn’t fucking breathe.
“I’m sure he wants to know what Zach’s been doing and any intelligence he can give about his mom.”
Devi was happy the words came out even, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t showing how close to the edge she was. She needed to survive this whole mess of a meeting and get some sleep and tomorrow they would run their op and…
“He wants to talk to Zach about you,”
Kala assured her.
“He shouldn’t.”
If her uncle was going to pressure Zach to leave her alone, she was going to stop him. Anger felt way better than sorrow and fear.
She was going to lose him. He wouldn’t be careful. He would fight until they killed him, and even if they didn’t, he was adamant that he would turn himself in. He would be in jail for the rest of his life if he was lucky. He would probably be an asshole about it and not even marry her so they could have conjugal visits. He would tell her to forget about him. How was she supposed to forget about him? How was she supposed to go home and pretend like this time never happened? Like they never happened? Was she supposed to fly home in time for play night at The Hideout? Find a new Dom?
“She’s freaking out.”
Kala let herself fall onto one of the two queen-sized beds in this room.
Lou plunked her bag down on the other.
“She seems to be taking it well. I’m surprised.”
Kenzie studied her for a moment.
“Nah, Kala’s right. She’s freaking, and like usual she’s trying very hard not to talk about it. I don’t get this. It’s good to talk about our feelings. I try to talk about how hard it is to love an enemy all the time.”
“He’s Canadian. He is not our enemy. No matter what happens, we’re still family,”
Tasha said with a shake of her head.
“Besides, I think we’re now working with them, so it definitely doesn’t feel like we’re enemies. Didn’t Dad and Mom decide you can tell Ben about the whole ‘hey, I’m twins, and I’m not the mean one’ thing when you’re ready?”
Devi sat down, thinking seriously about letting this line of gossip begin and when her cousins were thoroughly involved in arguing, she could sneak out and go yell at her uncle for trying to take this time from her.
She could tell Zach she would run with him. She could leave it all behind and be with him. Until they ran out of luck.
“Nope, this is a discussion for another time,”
Kenzie announced.
“We have to figure out why our cousin is so freaked out.”
Uhm, because she spent several unintended weeks in a foreign country wearing underwear bought at a mini-mart in the Welsh countryside. Because she was in love with a man for the first time, and it was perfect except for all the fucking things that were wrong. Because she’d been kidnapped twice in one year. Because she didn’t have a job and she was going to have to make decisions soon. Ones she didn’t want to make. Ones she didn’t have the money to make. And she would make them alone because Zach would be gone. Either on the run or in a box of one kind or another. He would be gone. Gone. Fucking gone.
“I think she’s going to blow.”
Kala sat up and sighed.
“We might need a fight club.”
Tash and Kenzie and Lou turned on her at the same time.
“No fight club.”
How long had Kala been talking about fight club? Which she was not going to do.
“I’m only saying she either needs to punch something or get laid, and I can only help with one of those things,”
Kala admitted and then seemed to consider.
“Or…and hear me out…we trick Zach and tie his ass up and let Devi go at him.”
“I’m the menace?”
Kenzie pointed a thumb her sister’s way.
“We are not sexually assaulting Zach.”
“I don’t think it would actually be assault. More like a fun way to start a night,”
Kala argued.
“Look, it worked for me and Coop, though he still complains about the flowers on his dick. Apparently dudes are real sensitive.”
“Devi, are you scared?”
Lou sat down next to her.
“Because you’ve been through a lot in the last couple of weeks. Do you want to be here or do you want to go home?”
“She’s not leaving Zach,”
Tasha said.
“Oh, she can talk about how this is all sex, but she’s not leaving him, and I doubt Dad is trying to convince him to leave her. He’s probably talking about condoms.”
Devi felt her whole body heat with embarrassment.
“He doesn’t need the condom talk. He uses one, but he doesn’t have to. I’m on birth control.”
“Oh, the condom talk can go a couple of different ways,”
Tasha assured her.
“But it’s more about talking about the heart. You see the condom is… Oww.”
Tasha reached over and picked up the hair tie her sister had lobbed her way.
“Very mature, Kala.”
“Well, you were talking about hearts and condoms, and I couldn’t let you embarrass yourself,”
Kala replied, completely comfortable with her older sister shooting daggers her way. With her eyes, of course, although Devi had to admit if Tash had a couple of daggers, Kala would likely see it as a fun exercise.
“Devi is freaking out but it’s fine. We all freak out a little when we do this thing.”
“This thing?”
Tash asked.
Kenzie shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s what she calls epic love stories. She’s not very romantic, and I’m with Tash. Dad’s really talking about the condom we put around our hearts to protect them. Sometimes you leave that…”
Kenzie ducked the flying hair tie her sister sent her way and continued as though it hadn’t happened.
“…off. Sometimes you have to take the leap and go with the flow.”
“The flow is him being dead or in prison.”
Her cousins could joke all they liked, but she was still stuck. Stuck. Was that how it would always be? Would every man she met be put up against Zach and found wanting?
“Dad isn’t going to let that happen.”
Kala seemed to get serious.
“Your dad isn’t some magical god who can wave his hand and make this go away.”
She was on the edge. So close to it, and this wasn’t where she expected to be today. She was supposed to have dinner and drink tea, and Lacey was supposed to be Lacey and they would argue about what to watch on telly and then she would go to bed with Zach and he would be all over her and she would sleep like a baby in his arms and pretend that every day would be exactly like that one.
“Don’t tell him that.”
Kenzie sat down beside her twin.
“Devi, it’s going to be okay. If you want Zach, we can make it happen. I know I rejected the idea of tying Zach up, but it could work. We lock him in a room with a nice bed and then indoctrinate him with rom-coms. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. If all that’s available to him is sex and rom-coms, he won’t have anything better to do than fall in love. It’s like brainwashing but for his dick.”
Kala’s eyes had gone wide, and she looked at Kenzie.
“I feel bad for Parker now.”
Kenzie shrugged.
“I would only do it if he’s being stubborn.”
“I don’t see how Uncle Ian is going to solve this.”
She stood. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to cry, and she couldn’t do it here. Deep breath. Remember all the reasons why being near Zach is a bad thing. Devi plastered what she hoped was a sunny smile on her face.
“Besides, I don’t think Zach is in love with me. I’m a rebound from Tash. It’s been fun but it’s nothing more than that.”
“Rebound?”
Tasha’s head shook.
“That’s not what’s happening at all.”
“Marry me.”
Her whole world seemed to freeze because that wasn’t a question. It was a command, and it hadn’t come from her cousins or Lou, who had wide eyes now, too. She was staring at the man who stood in the doorway.
“You’re so fucking worried that I only love you because your last name is Taggart,”
Zach said grimly.
“So let’s change it.”
Tears filled her eyes when she turned because it was clear he’d been crying. Her big, gorgeous, masculine Dom had been crying. It didn’t matter that he cared about Tasha. It didn’t matter that he was on the run and he lied to her. It didn’t matter that they had no future. All that mattered was how her heart opened and started to beat again when he was in the room.
“See, there is no condom on his heart right now,”
Tasha whispered.
Tash was annoying and Devi kind of hoped Kala had endless hair ties, but she ignored all of them. All she could see was Zach.
She should run because if she moved into his arms, she would do everything he asked.
She crossed the room and went on her toes and put her mouth on his.
His hands immediately went to cup her head and hold her while he devoured her mouth. His tongue surged inside, wasting no time with niceties. He inhaled her, and she gave it all back to him.
His hands moved and he didn’t bother to stop kissing her as he picked her up and began to move down the hall. He kissed her over and over. She heard the door slam as he kicked it closed and then he shoved her up against the wall and his chest was against hers, feet off the ground. He held her in place.
“Marry me.”
Again, not a question, but she had one of her own. She held on with one hand and smoothed back his hair with the other, searching his eyes for the truth. “Why?”
There were so many reasons he could give, including the conjugal visits excuse she’d come up with a few moments ago. Being his wife would make it easier for him to control her. It would ensure his place in her family. Even her father would accept him if she married him. She couldn’t be forced to testify against him.
“Because I love you. Because you’re in my soul and I’m not complete when you’re away from me. Because if the only thing I do in this life is be good to you, I’ll be satisfied.”
Now she was the one crying.
“Yes. I love you. I’ll marry you. No matter what, Zach. If you need to run, I’ll go with you. That is my only demand. I’ll marry you but you can’t leave me behind because you think it’s too dangerous. You can’t make that decision for me.”
“I will never leave you of my own volition, Devi Taggart. It’s you and me until the end, but your uncle seems to think that the end is going to be a long time off, so think about this, sweetness. You’re going to be stuck with me,”
he vowed as he stared down at her.
“Fuck that. You had your chance. You made your choice. I agree with your demands, so the deal is made.”
Her heart was so soft when it came to this man. He was talking deals like he could trick her into staying with him. He didn’t have to. She would never willingly leave him again.
“I love you, Zachary Reed.”
“I love you so fucking much,”
he growled before taking her mouth again.
Somehow the man managed to get her underwear off and free his cock and then he was inside her. And the world felt right again.
She gasped at the first long thrust of his cock, but she was already slick and wet and ready for him. She kissed him and held on to him. So tight. She could lose him tomorrow. She could lose him the next day. It didn’t matter. They were together now, had made their vows, and she would let go of her fear and live with him as long as she could.
When the pleasure hit it came with a wave of emotion so strong she couldn’t block it up this time, couldn’t stop it. It came out as a sob, an acknowledgment of what they’d been through. The orgasm mixed with relief and anxiety and joy and fear.
She found herself on her back on the bed, Zach’s arms around her as she cried.
“It’s okay, sweetness,”
Zach whispered as he kissed her cheeks and forehead.
“I’ll make it right. I’ll do anything to make it right. Anything but give you up. I love you.”
She believed him. For the first time she believed him. He loved her and it felt like a miracle.
She clung to him while she rode out the storm and vowed to protect him, too.