Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
T he next day was a total blur of sex, snacks, talking, more sex, more snacks, more talking, and, oh yeah, more sex.
So, so much sex.
They’d had sex on every flat surface in Ren’s home, and on a few of the not-so-flat ones. The kitchen table was sadly unrepairable. It had folded like laundry under the pounding Lark had taken on its surface.
Ren didn’t seem to mind having to buy a new one, though. In fact, he seemed to take it as a learning opportunity, doing some calculations that took into account her body weight and his before looking into what kinds of wood would be able to handle… anything they wanted to do going forward.
Hopefully, he’d buy his new table online. The thought of him going into a furniture store and asking about a kitchen table’s maximum weight capacity, knowing why he was asking for that info, was a little embarrassing. But then again, so was ending up naked on the kitchen floor amidst a pile of rubble because the table hadn’t been strong enough to support your ass.
Long-story-short: she’d let him do his calculations and buy accordingly, and she’d just shut up about it because frankly, she’d love another opportunity to destroy some furniture.
Love. It.
The really fun thing about all that? The sex wasn’t even the best part of her time with Ren. Sure, it was mind blowing. Life altering. Dehydrating. Her favorite part, though, was the talking.
She’d peppered him with questions about his childhood (such that it was), how he’d taught himself to become a hacker, all the things he’d studied over the years (which was a staggering amount of things), the people he protected and why they were so important to him, his fears for the future (which were limited to SkyNet taking control of the grid and/or an apocalypse that may or may not involve zombies) and hopes (all of which involved her in some way or another). He answered every question until his voice was hoarse. It was probably more than he'd ever talked in his life, and she was living for every word.
And when he wasn’t answering her questions, he was asking her a bunch of his own. He learned all the things about her that surveillance couldn’t have told him. Her own fears (which hadn’t included any kind of apocalypse but now did), hopes (to someday take over Sherry’s Blooms and maybe even write a romance novel in her spare time), and childhood before they’d met. He seemed especially interested in her idyllic holiday memories. (She’d already made a mental note to make sure his next big holiday would be special, damn it, because his childhood holidays had all sucked ass.)
It was the most…connected she’d ever felt to another person in her life. She felt like she could tell him anything, and he’d never judge or condemn her for it. It was true intimacy, which was something that had always been missing with Neal. And if she wasn’t careful, she feared she could become addicted to it.
Addicted to him .
But somewhere towards the end of the day, when Lark was chugging electrolytes to replenish herself, and Ren was shoveling a week’s worth of protein into his mouth to presumably do the same, she remembered that her life wasn’t all about sex, breaking furniture, and getting to know the man who’d been protecting her for half her life, she remembered that there was also a guy out there trying to kill her, who’d been hired by someone who wanted to frame her ex-fiancé for it.
Good grief, that was convoluted. Everything would be so much simpler if it could all just be about the sex.
So, while sitting on the couch, wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts, she put down her water bottle and glanced over at Ren. She almost forgot what she was going to ask, because no one had ever looked as good as he looked, sitting next to her, wearing nothing but gray sweatpants, destroying a rotisserie chicken.
Mental slap across the face. Pull yourself together, woman !
She cleared her throat. “What’s our next move?”
He stopped eating and flicked his gaze over her in a slow, assessing manner, before one corner of his mouth turned up in a way that did naughty, dirty things to her libido, because he clearly had thoughts about their next move, and something told her his ideas would not involve clothes. Lark barely resisted the urge to fan herself. One day spent in bed (and multiple other places) with this man and she was officially a sex fiend. “I’m not talking about that ,” she mumbled. “I mean about the hit man. And Neal.”
Mention of her ex-fiancé dimmed the heat in his eyes a bit. “He hasn’t made any moves since the breakup to contact Fortunato. If he really was the guy to take that hit out, I figured he would’ve tried to at least get a progress report by now.”
“So, you believe me? That Neal didn’t do this?”
He sighed. “Yeah,” he said grudgingly. “I think you’re right. Tenley does, too. Someone used his work computer to take that hit out. But I have no way of determining who it was based on that knowledge alone.”
“I think they have security cameras there,” Lark said. “Can we check those and see who went into his office to use the computer?”
“You’re right, they do have cameras. I hacked their security company to check them, but apparently, they’re only capturing views of the elevators, doors, and shared spaces. There aren’t any views of the individual offices.”
She frowned. “Yeah. It was a long shot, I guess.”
Ren draped one of his hands over her thigh. “It was a good thought.”
Well, now she wasn’t sure she was capable of anymore good thoughts, because his hand was so big he could more than halfway close it around her thigh, which she found way hotter than she should’ve. This man dropped her IQ. That’s how much he turned her on.
“If we could get our killer to reach out to whoever initiated the contract,” he went on, “I could trace the communication. But the killer has dropped off the grid. He must’ve figured out Tenley was a diversion, because he’s ditched his phone and computer.”
She sat up a little straighter. “Is Tenley safe?”
“Always.”
He said it with such confidence that Lark relaxed a bit. And that’s when a thought occurred to her. One she knew Ren wasn’t going to like. But she had to voice it, nonetheless.
After all, it might be their only shot.
“We know someone with access to the law firm took the hit out, right?” she asked.
“Right.”
“So,” she said carefully, “it stands to reason that if that someone saw I was alive, like, walking into the law firm for some reason, that they might contact the killer so that we could trace the call. Or , that the killer might even be watching the law firm and might show himself when I walked in there. Then we’d have the upper hand.”
Ren’s eyes iced over. “No.”
She gaped at him. “Just no? Just like that?”
“Just like that. It’s too dangerous. We’re not using you as bait.”
“It might be the only way to draw the killer—or the person who hired the killer—out into the open.”
“We’ll find another way.”
She threw her hands up. “And how long will that take?”
“It can take for fucking ever for all I care. You’re not putting yourself in danger.”
It was the most high-handed he’d ever been with her, and she couldn’t say she was enjoying it. “It’s not even that big of a danger. It’s not like you wouldn’t be watching me the whole time.”
“No,” he snarled through clenched teeth.
“Why not?” she snarled back, equally exasperated.
“Because I love you, damn it!” he shouted. “I can’t be responsible for the fucking monster I’ll become if I lose you. So just fucking stop offering yourself up as bait!”
All her outrage bled out of her body, chased off by shock. She’d known that Ren had strong feelings for her. No one stalked a woman they only cared about a little for years at a time. And he was obviously attracted to her. He was hard even while they were arguing, for fuck’s sake. But love? She hadn’t expected to hear that from him.
Did she love him too? Did it even make sense to be thinking about things like that so soon in their relationship?
She opened her mouth to respond, but he silenced her by slamming his mouth down on hers.
The kiss was desperate. Hard. As if he was channeling every emotion he’d ever had into her body. And she wanted every single of them.
Every. Single. One.
She let out a sharp hiss when he yanked her up so she straddled him, and lowered her onto his cock, not giving her even a second to adjust to his size. “Don’t say you love me, too,” he ordered in between deep, hard thrusts. “Don’t say you don’t love me, either. Don’t say anything about love until all this is over and you’re not in danger anymore. It doesn’t count until then.”
She bit her lip, because while he was inside her, hitting that spot, the one that made her toes curl, she was very tempted to shout love declarations at him. But she understood what he was saying. Now wasn’t the time to talk about the future of their relationship.
With an angry growl, he drove into her hard and fast, desperate. She pushed back with equal ferocity. It was like a silent battle. She had no idea what kind of prize the winner would get, but she wanted whatever it was more than anything.
“Come now,” he ordered through bared teeth.
“You first!”
He shifted his hands to her hips, pulling her tighter against him, slamming up into her so hard she was probably going to be sore for a week. And she welcomed the pain.
But welcoming the pain didn’t mean surrender, either. She was giving as good as she got. Leaning down, she caught his nipple piercing between her teeth and tugged on it. Hard.
He grunted, but didn’t stop moving. That’s when she realized she didn’t stand a chance. She was definitely going to come first.
Her head fell onto his shoulder and her fingernails clawed at his back as she came, screaming his name, her body clamping down around him like it never intended to let him go.
Only then did he let go of his control. He roared his own release, buried as deep inside her as he could get. His heart pounded against hers.
They stayed that way for a long time, silent but for the ragged rasp of their breathing. When she could find words again, she asked, “Can we continue discussing my plan now, or do we need to angry fuck some more?”
His only answer came in the form of tossing her over his shoulder and marching back to the bedroom, pausing only to grab the rope and handcuffs…and to give her a sharp swat on the ass.
Well. Alright, then. More angry fucking it was, then.