Page 79 of The Verdict

I licked her honey off my lips, my chest panging wildly. “Are you sure?”

She was giving me back control. Giving me her trust.I had to make sure.

“Now, Rhys.”

I pressed a kiss to her clit and then rose over her, kissing patches of skin along the way until my cock found her entrance. Holding myself on one hand, I dragged my tip along her seam, coating my skin and my metal with her slickness.

“As you wish,” I rumbled and pushed inside her.

It had been less than a week since I felt the warm clutch of her pussy around me—and it might as well have been forever.

My hand went to her hip just as I lost my mind. There was no thought, only instinct, as I thrust inside her. Instinct when she moaned. Instinct when she gasped. Instinct when she whimpered my name.

Her legs wrapped around my waist, and spots burst into my vision.

My body covered over hers, and I held her like I was trying to protect her from the savagery of my own thrusts. But she didn’t need my protection. Not from this. She clawed at my back. My neck. Breaths tangled in the corners of our necks.

But soon, I felt nothing but the hot grip of her cunt squeezing me tighter and tighter and tighter. Her body drew me deeper until I swore there was no way out.

“Trust me,” I ordered. Begged.

“Yes.” Her breath caught and then caught again.“Rhys!”

She screamed her release, and instantly, the pressure at the base of my spine erupted. With a shout, I buried my cock to the root and felt my release pull the life right out of me and leave it with her.

We stayed locked—entangled—for long minutes until our racing heartbeats began to steady.

“Are you okay?” I rasped, lifting up to look at her.

Flushed cheeks. Swollen lips.Honest eyes.“Better than okay.”

I dropped my head and gently kissed her lips. “I want you to stay, Merritt.” I brushed her hair back from her cheek. “I want you to stay because you trust me—because you trust me to take care of you.”

Her brows creased. “You want me to hide here for the rest of my life?”

“No.”She had it all wrong.I rose up off her, wordlessly ordering her to stay put as I went to the bathroom for a warm cloth. I returned, gently cleaning her as I said, “After tomorrow, you won’t have to hide. After tomorrow, you can stay if you want to, not because you need to.”

She pushed herself up to sit, those beautiful bruised lips falling open. “What?”

“After tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about Ramos or Morte ever again,” I promised, stroking my thumb over her cheek. After tomorrow, we’d have them in custody. We’d have every truth about this whole fucking case. And Ivans.

“How?” Worry made her voice quiver.

“We found them and know where they’re going to be.” I stepped out onto the limb without a second thought. “And I’m going to fix this like I promised I would.”

“No.” Her head shook; she’d been running for so long, it had to be in disbelief.

“Morte will confess to Wheaton’s murder; I’ll make sure of it. And you’ll be free.”Free from them. Free from her past. Free from me… if that was what she wanted.“I promised you I’d protect you, Merritt; I don’t break my promises, no matter what?—”

As though jarred from a shocked stupor, she jolted and pushed me back.“No, Rhys. You can’t.” Her head shook wildly as she scrambled for her clothes. Bra. Shirt. Pants. She moved like the cabin was on fucking fire and shehad to get out.

“What?” My jaw dropped. “We’re setting a trap, Merritt.” Maybe she didn’t realize how foolproof our plan was. “There’s a fundraiser in the city tomorrow, and Ramos is on the guest list. He’ll be there. Unsuspecting. Vulnerable—” I dressed as I spoke, frustration grinding inside my chest as I watched her pace a trench into the floor.

“You can’t go after them.” She stopped and stared at me, pressing her hands together in front of her mouth as she begged, “Dios mío,please.”

I wasn’t a proud or boastful person, but goddamn, I was a trained soldier—Special Fucking Forces—and I could only take so much of this woman telling me that a bunch of thieves were too dangerous for me to handle.

I went to her and hauled her to my chest, holding her there and feeling her body start to shake.

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