Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
ATLAS
I was shaking the entire drive home. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins from the night.
We did it. We caught the bastard. We were safe. Hector was safe.
I’d refused to relinquish Hector’s hand, so he had to drive home using his left one. If it weren’t for the need to get home, I would have crawled onto his lap and stayed there until it really hit me that he was okay.
Hector seemed to understand my need for closeness. He talked the entire ride, saying words of comfort and sweet nothings, for which I was grateful. His voice helped settle me.
Thankfully, the trip home wasn’t long, and soon Hector was parking and leading me into the diner.
He locked the back door and double-checked that all the entrances were properly secured before leading me upstairs to our apartment. I paused on the stairs.
“Wait. Becca—”
Fuck, I was a terrible friend. We were her ride, and we just left her there.
Hector tugged on my hand. “She’ll be fine. One of the guys will make sure she gets home safe. You only need to focus on yourself tonight.”
I nodded and continued following him. Hector unlocked the door to our apartment, and the blaring sound of the alarm reaffirmed that our home was safe.
Shadow was already by the door and rubbed his body against Hector’s legs.
I didn’t know if he could sense that I needed comforting or what, but for the first time ever, he came over to me and brushed against my leg in a hello.
If I weren’t already an emotional mess, that tiny action would have done me in.
Hector witnessed the entire thing and shot a smile my way before quickly going to disarm the alarm. I watched him punch in the PIN.
Zero-seven-one-two.
Four little numbers that I still didn’t know the meaning of. Hector tried to pull me into the living room, but I stayed in place.
He turned back to me with a questioning gaze.
“What does it mean?”
Hector looked even more confused by the sudden question.
“The PIN: zero-seven-one-two. What does it mean?” I clarified.
Hector blushed, clearly flustered. It was the same reaction as when I’d asked the first time, and he gave me a bullshit answer.
I hadn’t pushed then, but right now I needed something. It didn’t have to be this in particular, but I needed a fact to ground me. Something that was his, that proved that we really were home and safe and okay. And the PIN was the first thing that we came across.
“It’s, um…” Hector rubbed the back of his neck. His brow twitched, which caused his scar to wiggle as well. “July twelve. The day you first told me you liked me,” he answered quietly.
I didn’t know what answer I’d expected, but surely it wasn’t that. And that must be the explanation for the sudden tears that I couldn’t stop.
“Hey, hey, love.” Hector was quick to cup my face to try to wipe the tears away.
My hands covered his, needing to just touch him, and I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
This man, who found me, a complete stranger, crying in his diner, and comforted me just because he could.
This man, who remembered some insignificant day that I’d long forgotten about, all because of something I’d said.
This man, who hid his soft side from the world but bared it all for me to see.
This man, who made me feel so loved that I never once doubted his feelings for me.
Fear still rocked through me at the thought of losing him.
“I…I thought something had happened to you,” I sobbed.
“The note implied he had you. I thought he had you. I thought he’d hurt you or even worse.
And it would have all been my fault. I was the one who told you he wasn’t dangerous.
I was the one who came up with this stupid plan and put everyone in danger.
I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost you. ”
My words were jumbled, and I didn’t know if Hector could even understand me through my tears. His callused thumb continued stroking my cheek to catch the stray tears. The roughness of his finger was another reassurance that he was alive and right in front of me.
“I’m okay, love,” Hector murmured softly. “I’m right here. We’re safe. We captured the bad guy and caught everything on video: his trying to hurt you, trying to kidnap you, and threatening to kill me. They’re going to put him away for a long time. We’re safe.”
One last sob tore through me. This one was more like an emptying of self, like exuding all these terrible emotions until I could focus on the one thing that really mattered.
Hector.
In front of me. Brown hair speckled with gray, tossed in every direction. Light pink scar through his left brow and temple. Kind brown eyes that were currently filled with worry but also life.
In them, I saw myself and our future. A happy one. One that I was determined to have with him.
“I love you,” I said. It was really all that needed to be said right now.
Hector’s eyes softened, and he brought his lips to mine in a kiss that breathed life back into me. I gasped as every single cell inside my body called to him. The tears stopped, and the only thing that existed was Hector’s mouth on mine.
“Need you. Need to feel you.” I pressed the words onto his lips.
Hector’s hands found my ass as he lifted me from the ground. I was surprised by the sudden show of power, but I wasn’t complaining. I wrapped my legs around his waist and let him carry me wherever the hell he wanted. My eyes were closed, and my sole task was to fill all my senses with him.
When Hector set me down, I found myself in the bathroom.
“He touched you,” he said hoarsely. His hand slid down my neck, where the fucker had licked me. His touch had only made my skin crawl, but Hector’s brought it back to life.
“Help me wash up?”
He nodded and started fumbling with the buttons of my silk shirt. I didn’t have the patience to wait, so I tore the shirt open. The buttons popped loose and flew wildly around the room. I didn’t care. I was going to burn this shirt later anyway.
Hector’s surprise lasted for all of a second before he was on me, tearing off the rest of my clothes. I made quick work of getting him naked too.
Our mouths crashed together as we stumbled into the tub. Hector must have turned on the water, since ice pelted my back. I ignored it and focused on the heat of Hector. He covered my entire body until the water turned warm and steam filled my lungs.
I reveled in the heat of Hector’s hands as he soaped me up and scrubbed every inch of me. The spray washed away every trace of that fucker, cleaning the filth that clouded my mind too.
When he mentioned my ex telling him stories of our sex life, I felt dirty. Used. But Hector looked at me as if I were a treasure he needed to hide away from the world. He held me so tenderly that I knew there was no way dirty could ever be associated with me again.
Hector’s mouth was on me once more. He planted open-mouth kisses everywhere he could reach, but focused on my neck, painting over the horrible memory with one that enriched me. Hector claimed me with nibbles and marks that announced me as his.
I was never one for obsessive jealousy or dominance, but Hector loving on me until his beard rubbed my skin raw had emotions swelling throughout my body. I was sensitive to his touch. So sensitive that this was almost enough to have me coming untouched.
My skin burned, not from the hot water, but from my desire for him.
Hector seemed to be in a similar state too.
His roaming hands found their way to my ass, spreading my cheeks and working me open to take him.
His movements were controlled, determined even, but it wasn’t fast enough for me.
His fingers only intensified my craving for him.
“Can’t wait, Hector. Need you inside,” I moaned and rocked my hips forward.
I lifted a leg to wrap him closer and positioned myself so that the tip of his cock kissed my entrance.
The angle was awkward and strained my back.
It would’ve worked so much better if I’d turned around, but I didn’t want to block my view of him.
“Fuck, love, you’re too tight,” he rumbled. His words conveyed his care for me, but his body was much more honest as the tip of his cock slipped in deeper. There was pain, of course, when he was entering me without any lube, but the welcome pressure overpowered it.
“Don’t care,” I whined and pistoned my hips to slide deeper down his length. Hector’s jaw was clenched, his hands dug into my ass, as if trying to keep me still, but he was unsuccessful in doing so. His forearms strained with control, then he lifted me again.
My back slammed against the shower tile, and Hector’s mouth found my lips again in a kiss full of teeth and tongue. Suspended in the air, I was under Hector’s control, and all I could really do was hold on.
It was exactly what I needed.
He took his time penetrating me, but he kept me occupied with his tongue and mouth ghosting over my skin. Our mouths crashed once more when I was fully seated on him. We both let out a collective sigh. A sound filled with need and want and of finally coming home.
“I love you. So fucking much. I’ll never let you get in harm’s way again,” Hector whispered. His forehead found mine, and my hands cupped his face, gently stroking the scar on his temple.
“Me too. Never again. I won’t let you get hurt,” I whispered back my promise. “You’re mine to protect, Hector. I love you.”
He grunted. The sound filled with emotion, vibrating inside the bathroom.
His body moved then too. Strong thrusts of his hips wedged him deeper inside me.
The pain was nothing compared to the tranquility of the moment.
Hector worked my body until pleasure was the only thing on my mind, and his whispers of love and mine were the melodies that sent me crescendoing into orgasm.
Hector wasn’t far behind. His teeth found the fleshy part at the base of my neck, and he spilled his seed inside me with one last thrust.
I held him tight. With my feet in the air, it was all I could really do. But even so, I knew I was safe.
Hector had me protected in his arms.
When the high of the moment calmed, and we were left with limbs still tangled and the warm water pelting on our skin, our gazes met and we laughed.
There was nothing funny about the moment or what had happened, but it was a much-needed release of emotions.
It was a declaration that we would get through this.
That life wasn’t a straight path of happiness.
It was messy, and there were bound to be other moments of fear and sadness, but we would get through this.
We’d hold each other and solve any problems life threw at us together. Because relying on each other wasn’t being a burden. There was strength in knowing you had a person you could fall back on.
I trusted Hector with my life. And as Hector looked back at me, his eyes baring me his vulnerable soul, I had no doubt he trusted me with his as well.
We had each other. And that was the most powerful thing in this world.