Chapter Ten
Blaze
"Where the hell have you been?" I ask, coming to a dead stop in the hall when Bishop steps out of his room with a box in one hand and a duffel thrown over his shoulder on Monday. He hasn't been home since poker night.
He turns, grinning at me. "I've been bunking with Wade, motherfucker. I am not old enough to hear any of the things you and Calamity have been up to lately."
"Shit." I grimace, pulling my bedroom door closed so we don't disturb Morgan. She's dead to the world. Her little ass should be after keeping me up half the night every night all weekend. "I'm sorry, man. We didn't mean to run you out of here."
He chuckles, his green eyes crinkling. "It's all good. You two deserve a little privacy."
"Are you pissed?"
"That you're glowing like a goddamn neon sign? Fuck no. Happy looks good on you." He cocks his head to the side, eyeing me. "You're less restless with her than you've ever been. I like it."
"That's because one of us has to be sane," I mutter, which is the God's honest truth.
Morgan is two handfuls, one hundred percent of the time.
She's loud and bright enough to shake the world on its foundations if left to her own devices.
Every story she tells me about her life shaves a year off mine.
She doesn't need me running wild, causing problems. She needs me at her side, making sure she isn't causing any she can't come back from.
That's my job now—being the motherfucker who holds her heart without ever caging it.
God knows, she has mine. Every little piece of it is in her hands.
I feel still in a way I never have, full of a purpose I never knew existed. This is what peace feels like. This is what perfect feels like. It's goddamn beautiful.
Bishop just laughs, shaking his head. But he knows I'm not lying. He's seen exactly how she is. While he and Wade were puking their way through hangovers after poker night, she was rearranging Hudson's office, belting out show tunes like she was on top of the world.
"You heard anything from Dillon about Burkett yet?" Bishop asks.
"He's called a few times," I mutter, scrubbing a hand through my hair. He called on Thursday night and again on Friday and Saturday. I haven't called him back yet.
Frankly, I'm a little worried about what he has to say. And if I'm honest, I'm a lot worried that asking Morgan to meet with him may unravel everything we're building here. I don't want to rock the boat, not when I'm sitting in it.
She doesn't even know I went to see him yet. I'm an asshole for not telling her, but she's falling for me. She told me that she was glad she didn't run.
I need her to keep falling, not decide that she made a mistake with me. I've never needed much in my life, but after having her spilling her color all over it, I know I need her. I won't survive if she runs now.
"You need to call him back, man," Bishop advises, his voice soft. "She won't be free until this is over, and you won't be able to relax until she's free."
"Yeah, I know."
"Don't fuck it up."
"Don't plan on it."
"Good, because I like her for you." He holds out his fist for me to bump before heading down the hall. "I better be the best man at your wedding."
"I'll consider it," I say, grinning as he ducks out the door.
He just chuckles, closing it behind him.
"Fuck," I mutter into the silence once he's gone, dragging my phone out of my pocket to call Dillon.
He answers on the second ring. "Nice of you to finally call me back."
"Been busy," I grunt.
"Yeah, well, so have I. I need you to bring Morgan in."
I tense, a ball of dread in my stomach. "Why do you need me to bring her in?"
"We did a deep dive through Burkett's records.
He's raked in a pretty penny on insurance claims over the last ten years.
Either he has the worst luck, or he's full of shit," Dillon says, his tone leaving no doubts about which he thinks it is.
"I'd like to get some intel from your girl before I go ruin his day. "
"What kind of intel?"
"The kind that'll help me clear her name a little faster. Jesus Christ," he bitches. "You want to play twenty more questions, or do you want to bring her in so we can nail the prick to the wall?"
"Fuck," I growl, blowing out a sharp breath. "Fine. I'll bring her into the station."
"Good. Be here today."
He hangs up on me before I can tell him I may need a little longer than that.
"Son of a bitch," I growl, shoving my phone back into my pocket.
"You're taking me to the station?" Morgan asks from behind me, her voice whisper-quiet.
I spin to find her standing in the bedroom doorway, her face pale, a pillow crease on one cheek. Her blonde hair is wild, my t-shirt hitting her mid-thigh. She's so fucking pretty.
"Hey, baby. I didn't realize you were awake."
"I noticed. What's going on, Blaze?" she asks, crossing her arms. "Are you turning me in?"
"What the fuck?" I growl, narrowing my eyes at her. "You think I could turn you in, Calamity?"
"I…" She trails off, licking her lips. "I hope not."
I stare at her for a long moment and then snatch her up, my hands around her waist. I want to spank her little ass until she's screaming that she knows I'd never do that, but I see the fear in her eyes, and I can't. I fucking can't.
Because I know this whole situation is eating at her. I see it in the quiet moments, when she gets lost in her own head. I hear it at night, when she's muttering in her sleep. She's so worried that she's going to end up in prison over this.
I've wanted to kill Burkett a thousand times.
I want to do it again now. But Flint and Dillon were both right, damn them.
That isn't what she needs. It was never what she needed.
She needs to know her name is clear and that prick's reputation is in shreds.
That's the only way she'll ever truly breathe easy again.
A fist in his face won't give her that, as much as I wish it would.
I stomp into the bedroom with her, dropping her on the bed. She tries to roll away, mad as hell, but I pin her, straddling her hips.
"You can't kidnap me every time you don't like what I have to say, you big bully!" she cries, glaring at me.
"I didn't kidnap you, baby. I brought you back to our bed in our home, where you belong." I lean back just enough to rip my t-shirt off over her head. "And you're going to stay right here until not a single part of you believes that I could ever or would ever turn you in."
"You said you were taking me in," she says, still scowling at me.
"Yes, taking being the operative word here, Calamity. There's a difference between taking you in and turning you in."
"Not if you have a felony warrant, there's not!" she cries. "They don't just let you go once you're inside when you're wanted for a felony, Blaze. They keep you."
Well, hell. She may have a point there.
"They aren't keeping you," I growl.
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
"I went to see Dillon the day you got here," I murmur.
"W-what?" Her expression goes slack.
"He's known exactly where you were this entire time, baby. And he doesn't believe you're guilty. He wants to ask you some questions about what you know before he raids Burkett's place for insurance fraud."
"He…he does?"
"Yes."
"You could have led with that," she mumbles like I'm getting on her damn nerves.
"Yeah, but then you wouldn't be naked beneath me." I thumb her nipple and then pinch it. "And I wouldn't be touching this pretty little body, preparing to tell you the most important thing I've ever said."
"Blaze," she moans.
I run my hands across her, watching her ignite for me. She burns so fucking hot, her face flushing and her eyes dilating. Before I even slip my hand between her thighs, she's begging for it.
I play with her pussy until she's clenching around my fingers and babbling my name, pleading for me to let her come.
I don't. I pull my cock out instead, flipping her until she's on my lap, sinking down on me with my arms around her.
Once her ass is on my thighs and I'm buried to the hilt inside her, her body trembling around me, I press my lips against her throat, right where her pulse is racing.
"I could never turn you in, Calamity," I murmur. "Not when I love you this fucking much."
She cries out, her pulse stuttering beneath my lips. It's the sweetest response, proof that she feels me in her heart, laying claim to every inch of it.
"You're never getting rid of me." I nip her skin, lifting her up and down my cock. "No one is ever taking you from me."
She moves on me like she was made for me, her body tightening around my cock with every lift of her hips. Her breath hitches, her fingers digging into my shoulders as she starts to lose the rhythm, her control slipping.
I hold her tighter, my mouth finding hers, swallowing every sound she makes. "I love you," I tell her again, my voice rough. "Say it back, Calamity. I know you feel it."
She sobs my name instead, a broken sound that tears right through me, and then she shatters, her whole body convulsing around me as she comes. Her nails scrape down my back, the truth finally spilling out between ragged breaths. "I love you. God, I love you, Blaze."
The raw honesty in her voice sends a lightning bolt straight through me. She loves me. She isn't falling anymore. She's there—in love with me.
Thank you, God.
I don't let her catch her breath.
I roll us over, pinning her beneath me with her face pressed into the pillows and her ass in the air. She's still trembling from her climax, but I don't slow down. I grip her hips and drive into her hard and deep, claiming her with every thrust.
She lets out a choked cry, her fingers twisting in the sheets, her body arching to meet mine. I fuck her like I'm trying to brand my name on her soul, like I want her to feel me for days after.
She takes it, her sobs turning into breathless moans, her skin flushed and hot beneath my hands. The way she cries and shatters for me is perfection.