Chapter 41
Dae
She’s so fucking beautiful when she sleeps.
That thought continues running through my head as I stare down at Kennedy asleep in my bed.
Our bed.
Her curls are splayed across her pillow and mine because my little warrior has a tendency to make the entire bed hers when she sleeps. I don’t mind. I love waking up with her leg carelessly thrown across mine or her arm across my back or chest.
That often happens on the nights when I don’t sleep with her cocooned in my embrace, which isn’t often.
I love watching her like this. Her face is so peaceful, lips slightly apart, and all sixty-one of her freckles on display. I’ve stayed up countless nights over the past few months, watching her and counting the freckles on her face.
Slowly, I peel the sheets away from her body, exposing her supple breasts followed by her flat stomach before I get to that patch of hair that she keeps shaved but not completely bare.
She stirs slightly as I completely remove the sheets from her body. I place my knee on the bed and crawl between her legs.
She lets out a sigh that causes my dick to grow hard.
Kennedy’s eyes open to slits. “What time is it?” she mumbles.
“A little after five,” I lie.
“I have to get up soon,” she tells me, her voice groggy and barely audible.
“Let me taste you first.”
She sighs as she nods.
I bite the sensitive flesh of the inside of one of her thighs before marking the other one as well. I love seeing my marks on her body. I tend to only leave them in places she can easily cover, but they drive me fucking wild with need every time I see them.
That’s a lie.
I’m driven wild every time I see her, period.
I bury my head between her legs and enjoy my favorite meal. I could live off of the taste of her pussy if I had to. Her hand moves to my hair, squeezing as she tugs. The zings of pain only spur me on.
My mouth waters, demanding more of her taste, scent, and moisture coating my beard. Kennedy’s hips jerk upward, demanding more.
I give it to her.
I write my name on her pussy because she’s mine. I own her pussy, her heart, and everything else. She’s belonged to me for longer than she knows.
“Dae,” she whimpers my name, which drives me insane. Seconds later, she’s coming; her thighs squeeze the sides of my head, but I don’t release her.
I need more. I want to feel her quivering around me again, screaming my name like she’s as hungry for me as I am for her.
I don’t stop until she comes again. Not until my beard is thoroughly drenched in her wetness and her hand falls limply to the bed.
When I move up her body, her eyes are closed again. I kiss the line of her jaw.
“I have to go soon,” she mutters.
“You’re tired,” I tell her. “I’ll wake you up in a little while.”
I should regret the words as they come out of my mouth, but I don’t.
She nods and, with her eyes still closed, pivots her face in my direction, silently beckoning a kiss. Like a moth to a flame, I let my lips find hers. I coat her lips with her wetness as I kiss her until her lips are swollen.
I force myself to pull away, knowing that if I keep this up, I won’t be able to stop. I move to stand at the side of the bed, watching her. It doesn’t take long before her breathing falls into a soft, slow rhythm.
When I’m sure she’s asleep, I brush one of her loose curls away from her face. Then I lean close to her ear to whisper, “I’m sorry, baby.”
As soundlessly as possible, I back out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, I head to the living room and grab the burner phone that she left downstairs last night.
I already took her regular cell from the nightstand, where she left it charging overnight.
When I pass the staircase, I give it one final look before grabbing my leather jacket and entering the new house security code. Once I close the door and input the code, the entire house will be locked down—from the inside and out. Only the person with the code can get in or out.
A unique feature I installed for just-in-case purposes.
This is that purpose.
Since Kennedy told me about this morning’s meeting, I had a bad feeling about it. I knew nothing I said or did would have convinced her to cancel the meeting or not go. She’s too wrapped up in this investigation.
I know she’s close to putting all of the pieces together and exposing Blackmon for the piece of garbage he is.
But his visit to her at her office wasn’t him being careless, as she believes. It was a warning. A threat.
I don’t doubt that since then, the exposure of his bribery when it comes to his high-end restaurant and the subsequent fallout, he’s even more desperate. He’s lost the partnership with the Global Group. But pieces of shit like him don’t go away on their own.
As I close the door behind me, securing the full implementation of the security system, I know what I’ve done will piss Kennedy off. But this is for her safety. I won’t let anyone take her away from me.
That’s my only thought as I drive to Walcott Park. When I pull into the main parking lot, I open Kennedy’s burner phone to get the exact location of the meeting spot.
Once I have it, I park and head toward a group of benches near a grouping of trees. A walking trail passes near the meeting spot.
Kennedy did her best to keep the meeting private yet still out in the open for safety purposes.
But it’s early. The sun is just beginning to keep out from behind the night sky, and there aren’t many people out on the trail yet.
As I scan my surroundings, I hear two male voices.
“She said she’d be here at six-thirty,” one of them says.
I don’t turn around as I use my hearing to pinpoint their exact location, somewhere in the grouping of trees. I make like I’m going toward the trail. Once at the trail, I spot the two men dressed in all black, using the trees for coverage. They’re facing the exact spot where Kennedy was supposed to meet with her source.
All I see is fucking red.
After doing a glance over my shoulder to make sure no one else is around, I pull the gun I brought with me out of the back waist of my jeans and make a beeline for the son of bitches.
“She’s late. The bitch said she would be here at six-thirty,” one of them says impatiently.
“She won’t be making that fucking meeting,” I growl out.
“Oh shit,” one of them startles and almost falls when he turns to see me with the gun pointed directly at him.
“Who the fuck—”
“I’m the motherfucker who’s going to put a hole in your chest if you don’t tell me what the hell you’re doing here and who sent you.”
They look like idiots as they stare at one another, presumably one waiting for the other to talk.
“This is loaded, and I don’t have much patience. Someone start talking if you want to keep breathing.”
They share a stare-off, and the shorter of the two’s face hardens.
“We’re not saying shit,” he spits at me.
At the same time, the larger one lunges for me. He’s too slow, though. I immediately strike his temple with the butt of my gun. He doesn’t go down entirely, but he’s dazed and holding his head.
For pissing me off, I hit him again. The second blow sends him to his knees. I put the gun to his temple and look at his friend.
He stares at me with wide eyes, hands held up.
“Who the fuck sent you?”
“I-I don’t know,” he stutters.
He jumps back, almost falling when I aim the gun at him. “Honestly, man, we don’t know. Tell him, Larry.”
The bigger one, still on his knees, grunts. “We got a call,” he claims, still holding his head.
“A call from who?”
“Someone we used to work with. They just said we needed to meet some bitch— oof!”
The larger one drops to the ground after I crack his jaw with my gun again.
I turn to the one still standing. “Your friend’s taking a nap, it seems.”
He looks from me to his unconscious friend and back to me.
“Why don’t you finish the fucking story for him. And be careful about who you call a bitch.”
His eyes almost bug out of his head, but he finishes the story.
These two were drivers for the chauffeur company Blackmon uses when he’s in town.
“We d-do some s-side business for him s-sometimes,” the guy stutters as he admits this. “Last night, I got a call saying to meet this woman here. Some reporter chick. He wanted us to bring her to him.”
“Where?” I demand, shoving my gun to the bastard’s forehead.
“I-I don’t know. We were going to get more information once we got her. That’s all I know. I-I swear.”
I stare into his eyes. He looks like he’s telling the truth, but I still see red, the idea of these two fuckers laying a finger on Kennedy sending me into a fury.
Before I know it, my fist connects with the second bastard’s jaw. The cracking of bone doesn’t stop me from hitting him again.
I go to strike a third time when a voice behind me stops me.
“Williamsport Police. Put your hands up now!”