38. Orion
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
ORION
I tap at the steering wheel, unable to stay still as we wait for the right moment to infiltrate the building.
We’ve been sitting here for over an hour, and Ember has told me to stop fidgeting no less than ten times, but I can’t help it.
Killing Lucas feels like a full-circle moment for us.
Once he’s out of the picture, Ember will be safe, and I’ll do the one thing that I promised myself I would never do.
I’ll give her a choice.
It’s the last thing I want to do, but I realized something this afternoon as I asked her about her hopes and dreams.
I realized I want to be one of those things. I don’t want to force her down the aisle. I don’t want to make her love me.
I want her to choose to do those things, and I just have to hope that when all is said and done, she’ll be able to see how great we could be together, and how much I’ll love her every single day.
Weirdly enough, the confession I was worried would send her running seems to have softened her even more toward me, and I feel almost confident that she’s going to choose to stay.
Almost.
Ember is anything but predictable.
“Orion, seriously. You need to stop. You’re making me anxious.”
“You can distract me if you want.” I raise a brow suggestively and earn myself a soft laugh.
God, I’ll never get enough of her smile. It lights up my cold, dead heart in a way I never thought was possible.
“We’re working,” she reminds me.
“You think no one ever fucks on the job?”
“I’m saying we won’t be those people. We need to keep our wits about us.” She rests her hand on my thigh, and I pause my legs from jiggling. “Any word on the team?”
I check my phone before turning my attention back to her. “They’re in place. We’re locked and loaded once we get the signal.”
Ember nods and squeezes my leg nervously.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Because you don’t have to. We can find another way.”
“No,” she whispers. “No, I can do this. It’s the best way to get him to let his guard down.”
“And you’ll be safe,” I remind her. “I’ll always keep you safe.”
“I know.” There’s not an ounce of hesitation in her voice, and I thread my hand into the back of her hair, dragging her to meet me in the middle and crush our lips together.
Her taste bursts to life on my tongue, and I groan, already desperate to fuck her again despite waking her up with my cock this morning.
I tug her back and force her to hold my eye. “I love you, Ember. More than a man like me should be capable of.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but I shake my head. “Don’t say it back yet. I want the first time I hear those words again to be while you’re impaled on my cock.”
She huffs out a laugh. “Of course you do.”
I press one last chaste kiss to her lips and snap back into work mode. If there was ever a time I needed the ruthlessness of the Hunter, it’s right now. Because for the first time, there’s more on the line than just money and power.
Right now, my entire reason for breathing is at stake, and there’s nothing I won’t do to keep her safe.
“You got your earpiece?”
She nods and taps her ear, setting off the one in my ear to confirm it’s working.
“Don’t take any risks. If there’s a chance for us to move in, we will. But if there’s not, Killian will let you know, and you get out of there as quickly as you can, got it?”
“Yes, Orion. I know,” she placates. “I’m the one who came up with the plan. Trust me to follow it to the letter.”
I sigh. “I do trust you, Ember. It’s Lucas I don’t trust.”
“Well, after today, he won’t be a problem anymore.”
So why does it feel like we’re walking straight into a trap?