Millie
She wasn’t ready to leave her new home, but normal life was calling, which meant sitting down with Strike and hashing out the future.
Maybe they only worked because the trauma of near-death had pushed them together. Daily life would test them. And she’d have to distance herself from her family. She wouldn’t watch them treat him like crap, but that meant choosing between him and them.
“Of course I’m okay.” She gritted her teeth. “I mean, I’m fine. I’m on holiday with—”
“Caleb,” her mum snapped.
“Yes, although his name is Strike now.”
“He hasn’t broken your heart again yet?” Her mum was already shrill.
“Tell me about your holiday.” Millie cleansed her face, removing the salt water.
“Stop trying to change the subject. You’re on holiday with Caleb.”
“Strike. I might even move here.”
“What? Has he drugged you to think you want to be with him?”
“Don’t be so ridiculous, Mother.”
“You’re rushing into the arms of your teenage boyfriend. You’re too obsessed with fictional men, and you’re returning to him because of something you read—”
“I haven’t read a book in several days.” She’d run out of paperbacks, and her phone wouldn’t connect to her app. “And I know fictional men and real men are different.”
Her mum grumbled. “You don’t have anyone to talk to about your reckless decisions. If you had friends, they’d tell you you’re making a mistake.”
“I do have friends. I’ve made lots of them on this trip.”
“Strangers.”
“And for the hundredth time, my online friends are real friends.”
“They’re not there when you need them. You’ve wasted time speaking to strangers online and reading those books instead of finding a proper boyfriend, and because of this, you’ve returned to the most hurtful man you’ve known.”
Millie slammed her palm against the dresser.
“No, he’s not. He’s perfect. I wish I were half the person he is.
He gave up everything to protect me. He’s saved lives, kept his heart for me, and doesn’t judge me.
He doesn’t suffocate me under the guise of caring for me.
He lets me embrace the real me, someone you don’t know. ”
Her mum’s voice softened. “Darling, you’re my little girl.”
“We need to stop talking until you see me as a woman. We’ll speak when you’re back from your holiday. Goodbye, Mum.”
Millie heard her mum say, “I love you, Pixie,” as she hung up.
She held her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes tight. Strike was the person she wanted to be with when this was over.
She looked up to find him on his knees in front of her. He rubbed the promise ring she’d refused to remove for days. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You’re sneaky. How is a man the size of a fucking giant so quiet?”
“Years of creeping through cities, forests, and every other place you don’t want to imagine.” He held her hands. “I have a surprise for you.”
She studied his face and then his clothes. “Where is it, then?”
“Such a brat.” He chuckled, his face softening. “It’s a trip. I’m taking you on a date.”
She spied his smiling face warily.
“I expected a happier reaction, beautiful.” He joined her on the bed, and he pulled her into his lap.
She wrapped her legs around him. He eased her arms around his neck, and his fingers splayed on her back as he pecked her.
“You can wear whatever you like, even sweats. All I’ll tell you is we’re going out. ”
“We’re meant to be keeping a low profile because I’m in danger.”
He smoothed the lines on her straining forehead. “And yet you’ve told everyone in the town our real names, swam in the sea and socialised on Joyce’s lawn.”
She smirked in concession.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to the Dankworth’s. If they try anything, it will be then. We’re okay tonight. But I’ve still taken precautions. I’ll keep you safe,” he said, running his hands up and down her back under her hoodie.
She pressed her lips against his and murmured, “And if I want to dress up and make you so horny that you’ll be desperate to touch me, even in public, is that okay?”
“Always.”
There was a glint in his eyes as his fingers pressed into her back. She ground herself against him. With a satisfied hum, he ran his tongue across the seam of her lips, pressing it open, which she did willingly.
Heat prickled at her core as he pulled her harder against him, moaning when his erection pressed between her thighs. He thumbed and fingered her nipples, the span of his hands so wide he touched both at once.
Fire swirled in her belly as she basked in the teasing of his tongue, quivering at the hint of temptation.
“I’d best get ready,” she murmured. “How long have I got?”
“About five hours.”
She tried to climb off, but he scooped her back up so she straddled him, his dick pulsed against her. “If you’re not wearing a bra right now, does that mean you haven’t got knickers on either?”
“Why don’t you find out for yourself?”