Chapter 31 #2
The words are so sudden that I find myself hesitating before realizing that I need to not make a big deal out of them, even if they mean so much to me. So instead, I smile and kiss him again before saying, “I love you too.”
He has to see the smile on my face. I’m not sure how I could possibly hide it, but he looks away as though he’s flustered that he finally got those words out.
Fuck… I love him so much. I want to hear those words again and again. I want to tease him and love him and experience everything with him. I never want to be away from him again.
I clutch his shoulders while I move my hips, driving myself deeper before nearly pulling off and sinking down again. All of this feels so incredible and makes me so impossibly happy.
His hand strokes my cock, drawing me closer to the edge. I love every second of it, and I can’t get enough of him.
“I’m close,” I murmur.
“Me too.”
Atticus thrusts his hips up unexpectedly and I moan, clenching around him. His hand moves over my cock before my balls tighten and I come. He shifts me back and drives deep into me as he comes, mouth crashing against mine.
For a long moment, we sit together, wrapped in each other’s arms while he delivers soft kisses across my face and neck, before I slide off him.
“I should be doing something about Niles,” I mutter.
He pulls me back down onto his lap so my back is against his front. “Morpheus can just make it go away.”
“Yes, but what if the poison is still out there? How do we know for sure that it’s all…” I hesitate as I think back to the night at the club. “I think she met someone at the club. Morpheus said there was a recording of me killing her… he surely looked at what she was doing before I came in… right?”
“Who knows.”
“I’m going to call him and ask.”
“Don’t call him.”
I tilt my head so I can look at him. “We want Morpheus to go away for good, right? Then don’t we have to get rid of Niles and the poison?”
His grip tightens on me, and I wonder if he’s really not going to let me go. But he releases me with a sigh. “Fine, fine. Run off.”
“Run off? You act like I’m running off for some frivolous thing!” I say with a grin. “If you’re going to miss me, you can come with me.”
“I’m coming with you, and it’s not because I’ll miss you. It’s because I must watch you everywhere you go. Now let’s go get cleaned up. If I keep staring at you naked, I’m just going to fuck you again,” Atticus grumbles.
“You… act like that’s a bad thing.”
“Don’t tempt me. Didn’t you have things to do?”
I sigh and decide we can fuck all we want later. So with that, we get cleaned up, and then I make the call I don’t want to make.
Morpheus answers right away.
“I didn’t expect you to be calling me.”
“Did Lou meet with anyone before she attacked you? You said you have a video of me; did you watch the recording before that part?” I ask.
“I did. She met with a woman I didn’t recognize, but she was killed in the explosion before we could have a few words.”
“Did Lou hand over the poison then?”
“It appears she did.”
“Do you know how much?”
“No. She had a bag.”
“Did you search her club? Maybe there’s something else there that could shed some light.”
“You know if you go sniffing around that club that you’re just asking for Niles to come for you,” Morpheus says.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to deal with him while we end this nonsense with the poison?”
“Fine, fine. I’m ready when you are,” he says.
“As soon as it turns dark, we’ll leave here.”
“Understood.”
I want to ask him if he really is going to kill his brother—if he really has no problem doing so, and isn’t going to show any hesitation—but it doesn’t matter to me what he does as long as he stays out of our lives.
“So we’re going to Lou’s club?” Atticus asks after I end the call. I’m sure he could hear what Morpheus said.
“Yes.”
He’s quiet, so I reach out and squeeze his hand while we leave the room.
“It’ll be fine. I promise.”
“I’ll make sure of it. I’ll do everything I can to ensure you’re fine.”
“Not everything, right?” I ask, gripping his hand and pulling him to face me.
“Everything.”
“No. Not everything, right?”
“I will throw Casimir’s body in front of you as a sacrifice.”
“Why the fuck are we throwing Casimir anywhere?” Julian demands as he comes around the corner and tries to shield Casimir from us.
“Casimir would be deceased right now if it weren’t for me. He can sacrifice his body for the greater good,” Atticus decides.
“That’s not how that works!” Julian protests.
“You could at least sacrifice me for something better,” Casimir says as he eyes me.
“Excuse me! I’m worthy of a sacrifice!” I say. “Wait… no… Atticus, we’re not sacrificing anyone!”
“Ezio, then.”
Julian scowls. “Ezio is just over there enjoying life and minding his own business!”
“I like it when you’re a wolf better. You can’t talk,” Atticus says.
“Yes, but I can bite,” he growls.
“How about we give you a painting of Gustov instead?” Casimir offers, like this solves anything.
“Absolutely no one wants paintings of that dog,” Atticus says.
I can hear Ezio rounding the corner to join in on the fun. “Casimir painted me naked once. Maybe he can paint you naked as well, Yorick.” Cyrus is beside him and seems to think this is perfectly normal.
“Are you talking about that stick figure with the tiny dick?” Julian asks.
Ezio beams. “Yes! It’s one of my prized possessions. Cyrus loves it. He hung it up in our bedroom.”
“It gives me a good chuckle whenever I look at it,” Cyrus says. “It has such a striking resemblance to the real thing.”
Casimir looks smug. “See? I’m clearly an artist as well.”
“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the issue here,” Julian says. “Sooo, where are we off to?”
“Lou’s club,” I reply. “I’m hoping we can figure out whether everyone who received the poison was captured or not. We need Johnny. I’m surprised he wasn’t at the bedroom door ready to clothe you when we woke up, Atticus.”
“I gave him the day off from putting my socks and underwear on me,” Atticus says sarcastically.
I head to Johnny’s room, but when I push the door open, I find it empty, and the bed is still made.
“I heard him leave in the middle of the day, but I assumed he returned and I just didn’t notice,” Atticus says.
“I’m texting him,” I state as I hurry off to check the rest of the house.
Me: Where are you? You better not have run off and done anything reckless.
Johnny: Meet me at 435 Harbor Street. If the others come with you, I’ll kill him.
I stare at the picture I received along with the text. It shows Johnny beaten and bloody, looking furious while he lies tied up on the ground.
“What’s wrong? Did he reply?” Atticus asks.
I slip my phone in my pocket. “No.”
“No?”
“Yes.”
Atticus’s eyebrows lift higher with each word. “Yes? Or no?”
Fuck. It’s not like I can run off alone without anyone noticing, right? Atticus would find me in a heartbeat. And I definitely can’t outrun him.
“How much do you trust me?” I give him a grimace, knowing he’s not going to like what I’m about to say.
“Not a whole lot.”
“What the fuck, Atticus?”
“Honestly? It depends because you haven’t given me a whole lot of information,” he says. “What’s going on?”
I hand him my phone. “It’s obviously from Niles.”
He stares at it for a long moment, and I’m like ninety-nine percent sure he’ll just shrug his shoulders and go on with his day like he doesn’t care that Johnny has been taken. But I know he cares. He cares a lot about Johnny, even if he acts like he doesn’t.
“He’s the dumbass who ran out—”
I cut in. “We don’t know what he did or why he did it.”
“He left the house and he knew that was risky,” Atticus says, jaw clenched. “Fuck. Why should you put yourself in danger?”
“Niles has no idea that Morpheus is watching me. Why would he ever think Morpheus would be following to protect me?” I ask. “If… If you guys go to the club and his people see you there, he’ll relax and won’t expect Morpheus.”
“There’s no way.” Atticus shakes his head. “You can’t ask me to do this.”
“Please, Atticus, you have to trust me. I don’t want something to happen to Johnny.”
“I know… but I also don’t want something to happen to you. I’ll send the others to the club and go with you. I promise he won’t know that I followed.”
“You fought him just yesterday. He’s shown you how strong he is. How are you going to keep him from knowing? This address isn’t far from the club. He’s in that area. Just… trust me.”
“Trust in you isn’t what I’m lacking. I don’t trust Morpheus to keep you safe. One fuckup and…”
“We can’t leave Johnny there.”
“I know,” he says before closing his eyes. “Fuck.”
Fuck is right.