Chapter 24
Dexter
My phone keeps blowing up, my brothers calling, sending message after message, but I ignore all of it.
Lexy… she was just a kid. Fourteen. Just a child, and she had to fight him off, had to survive that.
All the times I heard her scream at night, call out for her mother…
now I know, and it breaks something in me.
The way she panicked when a customer grabbed her, the bruises on her neck when she first came in, it all crashes together until I can barely think straight.
If I kill him, I go to jail.
I drag in a breath, gripping the handlebars tighter.
If I kill him, I go to jail.
I check my phone and see Jude calling. I pull over and answer.
Silence greets me, but it’s not empty. I’ve always understood Jude’s silence better than most people’s words, even through the phone.
“She kept it from me.” My voice cracks, a dull, aching pain filling me.
Another beat of silence.
“Cas said she tried to tell you.”
“Yeah,” I say, staring out into the dark. “I knew something was off, but… Russel.”
The name tastes like poison.
“She tried,” Jude says.
I look up at the sky. Not a single star in sight. Rain’s coming.
“She tried,” I repeat quietly.
“You love her.”
Not a question.
I let out a breath. “I… she’s my one.”
“I like her. Strong one.”
Jude always sees more than most. I trust him.
“Yeah, she’s fierce. Fought Russel off more than once.” My jaw tightens at the thought.
“Hard to trust anyone after that.”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “It fucking is.”
“D?”
“Yeah?”
“Saw her dance with you. She trusts you now.”
I close my eyes.
“I’m not mad at her.”
I’m mad at myself.
“Good,” Jude says. “Cas said she’s leaving the apartment.”
My eyes snap open.
“What?”
“Better hurry.”
The line goes dead.
For a second I just sit there, the engine humming beneath me, the weight of it all pressing down until it finally settles into something clear, something certain.
I pull my helmet back on, turn the bike around, and gun it.
I am not losing her like this. I fucking can’t.
Raindrops start to fall as I ride back to the bar.
To her.
? ? ?
Alexis
I kiss Marvel one last time, then take my bags and walk out of the apartment. My chest aches with it, remorse, longing, everything I never got to say to him.
I open the door to the parking lot and step into the rain.
Of course it’s raining.
Water soaks through me instantly as I look around, my chest tightening, fear creeping in that my mother already told Russel. But the lot is empty. Only my car and Dex’s truck are there.
I walk to my car, open the trunk, set one bag inside, and lift the other when I hear it.
The rumble of a motorcycle.
Fear slams into me so hard I can’t breathe.
He found me.
My hands freeze, pulse roaring in my ears as panic takes over. I throw the bag into the trunk and move to slam it shut when the sound gets closer.
Too familiar.
I turn.
Dex.
He takes his helmet off, dragging a hand through his wet hair as rain pours down, his eyes already locked on mine.
He parks behind my car and pulls off his helmet. Rain pours over both of us, dripping from his hair, clinging to his lashes as his eyes lock on mine.
“You leaving?” His voice is hoarse.
“I…” My throat tightens. I shake my head. “I hurt you.”
Tears mix with the rain as I take him in, this strong, beautiful man I broke.
“I’m so sorry, Dex.”
He pushes off his bike and walks toward me.
“I’m not mad at you.”
He stops just a few feet away, and my heart stumbles.
“What?” I search his eyes.
Softness. Warmth. Still there.
“Don’t leave me,” he says, something raw in his voice making my chest cave in.
“I can’t stay, Dex. Russel will know, and he’ll find us and…”
He steps closer.
Slow. Certain.
His hand comes up, brushing a strand of wet hair from my face before his fingers slide along my jaw and settle at my neck, warm and steady despite the rain.
“Fuck Russel.”
His thumb drags over my lower lip, slow and deliberate, like he’s memorizing it, and my breath catches before I can stop it.
“What do you want, Tinker?”
What do I want?
“I want to leave so that you’re…”
His finger presses to my lips, stopping me.
“No.”
His eyes hold mine.
“What do you want?”
Everything inside me breaks.
“I want you.”
Something shifts in him.
His hand tightens in my hair as he pulls me closer, tilting my head up.
“But Dex, I can’t stay. He’ll find me and ruin you, and I can’t have that. I could never live with myself if he hurt you, so I need to…”
His hand moves to my face, firm this time, stopping me.
“Stay.”
“You’re so stubborn. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“Stay.”
My chest cracks open.
“I can’t…”
He steps into me, closing the distance completely, his forehead pressing against mine.
“You don’t get to walk away now, Tinker. Not after this. Not after you carved your way into me.”
His voice drops.
“It’ll break me.”
My breath stutters as I search his eyes, already knowing he means every word.
“Tell me you won’t leave me,” he murmurs, his nose brushing mine, breath warm against my lips.
“Dex, I…”
“Tinker, do you want to be with me?”
“What do you mean? He’s going to find us and…”
“Tinker,” he cuts in, his voice firm but steady. “Answer me. Do you want to be with me?”
I don’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
Something in him shifts.
“Good girl.”
“But I can’t stay, I have to go because…”
“Will you just shut up for one second and let me talk?”
“What?” I fire back, breath shaking. “What could you possibly say that would make all of this okay?”
His eyes lock on mine, dark, burning.
“This.”
His hands slide int o my wet hair, gripping just enough to anchor me as he backs me hard against the car.
And then he kisses me.
Hard.
The impact knocks the air out of me as my back hits the metal, his mouth claiming mine like he’s been holding this back for far too long.
There’s nothing careful about it.
Nothing hesitant.
Just need.
I gasp against his mouth, and he takes it, deepening the kiss like he’s been waiting for that exact moment.
My hands clutch at his jacket as everything inside me unravels, every thought, every reason to leave dissolving the second he pulls me closer.
His hand tightens in my hair, holding me there as the kiss shifts, slows, deepens, like he’s saying everything he hasn’t been able to put into words.
His mouth moves from mine to my jaw, slower now, deliberate, before finding the spot below my ear and my body reacts before I can stop it.
“Tell me you won’t leave…” he murmurs against my skin, his breath warm, his lips brushing mine again before I can answer.
“Dex…” is all I manage as heat floods through me, my body already leaning into him, already choosing him.
He pulls back just enough, his forehead resting against mine.
We’re both breathing hard.
“Tell me.”
“I won’t,” I whisper, and I know it the second I say it. I’m not going anywhere. “I can’t.”
Something in him settles.
Then he kisses me again.
And this time, I give in completely.
My body presses into his without hesitation, like it’s exactly where it belongs, my fingers curling into his soaked shirt as every last piece of resistance falls away.
The rain soaks through us, cold against my skin, but his hands are warm, solid, pulling me closer, leaving no space between us.
And still it’s not enough.
I’m already addicted to this. To him.
He pulls back just long enough to look at me, really look at me, like he needs to be sure I’m still here.
“I’ve got you now…” he murmurs, like he still can’t quite believe it. “No one’s ever laying a hand on you again.”
Then he lifts me.
A breathless laugh escapes me as my legs wrap around him without thought, pulling him closer as his hands slide under my thighs, holding me like I weigh nothing.
“Dex…”
“I’m not done with you,” he says, his mouth brushing mine again.
My fingers slide into his wet hair as he carries me toward the door, not loosening his grip for a second.
“I can walk,” I whisper, smiling against his lips.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, rain dripping from his lashes, that smile hitting me straight in the chest.
“I don’t want you to.”
He pushes the door open and carries me inside, warmth wrapping around us instantly, but he doesn’t slow down, doesn’t put me down, doesn’t stop touching me.
Marvel jumps around us, excited, but Dex barely notices as he moves straight to the couch and sits, keeping me right where I am, like letting me go isn’t even an option.
His forehead presses to mine for a second.
We’re both breathless.
“I’ve thought about this more times than I should have,” he murmurs, softer now, his thumb brushing my cheek before trailing over my lips. “These lips…” His thumb lingers there. “I knew they’d be trouble.”
I press my face into his neck, breathing him in.
“I wanted to feel your arms around me for so long,” I whisper. “You feel like home… and I haven’t had that in a long time.”
He pulls me closer, his hand sliding through my hair.
“You’re my home too, Tinker… and I’m not letting you go.”
And I don’t think I could ever leave him…
even if I tried.
This man carved himself into my heart.
And that is exactly where I want him to be.