Page 137 of A Captive Situation

I rolled my eyes. “Like my aunts won’t figure out some way to get into that city? They’ve been antsy, waiting to reach out to Blake. Maude’s the worst. It’ll be fine.” I laid my hand to his face, cupping it. “You told me you love me. Don’t think for a second I’m ignoring that.”

He snorted, his head resting back as he shook it from side to side. Slowly. “I do love you. And I don’t know what the fuck goes on in your head sometimes, but no. I didn’t come all this way, driving through the goddamn mountains to say goodbye, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He suddenly jerked forward, stopping two inches from me. His next words came out fierce. “I came to get you.”

My mouth parted even more. My chest began pounding. “What ...” I licked my lips. “What does that mean?”

He pulled me forward, his hand fisting tightly in my hair. He growled, possessively. Primal. “That means you’remine. A war was already brewing, but for you, I lit a match and dropped it. I’m going to let the whole city burn for you.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but he came for me. Not to say goodbye to me. Not to leave me again. My body sagged forward. He caught me, easing me down gently. My head went to his neck and he cradled me against his chest. His lips grazed my forehead before he whispered, “I love you. I have no clue when it happened. If it was already in that subway train when I made up an excuse to talk to you, or when I saw you at the police station, or when I tasted you for the first time. I don’t know, but it happened and I’m never letting you go.I love you.”

Warmth burst through me.

So I started crying.

Of course.

I lifted my head again, finding him watching me. So serious.

A new tenderness shone from his eyes. “I’ve always walked the line between the two worlds. I was half-Mafia. Half-cop. I had to be both. For me. For Justin. I didn’t know how far over the edge I was willing to go. A part of me was scared to find out because if I did, then who was I going to hurt because of it? I was already trying to protect Justin, my sister, and EJ. My life was fucked, Sawyer. It wasn’t mine. I was living in the gray and I couldn’t find my footing. All that changed when I got you. Everything suddenly made sense. I know exactly how far I’d go to keep you safe. I’m still walking that line, but I’m doing that for me. Right here, right now, there’s no one else pulling my strings exceptme. I’m both. I’m bad and I’m good. I’ve got no problem doing what I need to do to protect the people I love. That’s you. You and EJ. You are mine. There’s nothing I won’t do to keep you alive. You formed the foundation under my feet and I finally know who I am, all the parts of me. You help meld it all together. You make everything make sense. You gave me that clarity. You gave me freedom.”

I caught both sides of his face in my hands, more tears sliding down my face. “Jake,” I whispered.

“Are you happy here?”

“What?” I blinked away some of the tears.

He wiped them away from my cheeks, repeating, “Are you happy here?”

“I ...” I didn’t know what to say until the truth hit me hard. “I’m happywith you.” I touched his chest and his hand covered mine, keeping it there. His heartbeat picked up, thumping even stronger.

“My life is done on the East Coast. I can’t guarantee no one will come after me, but as it stands now, I don’t think they will. EJ knows about me. Tab knows what happened. She’s not happy, but I don’t give a fuck anymore. I cleared everything so if you wanted, we could go toCalifornia. Unless you’re happy here? Your family is here. I’ll go back and forth to see EJ, but I won’t stay away any longer.”

“What are you actually asking me?” My head was swimming.

He moved both hands to mine, keeping it anchored to him. He stared hard at me. “I want you with me for the rest of my life. That’s what I want. I want you as my woman forever. I want a partner. I want you as my family. That’s what I want, but I’ll go where you are. If it’s here, I’ll move here. If you want to go to California, I’m sure EJ would like that as well. But you and me. That’s what I want.” He caught my bottom lip again, his eyes searching inside of me. “Is that something you’d be okay with? I want you. I want all of you. Forever.”

Love filled me. Happiness. Peace. I leaned forward, my forehead returning to its spot against his, and I breathed into him, “Yes. I want all of that. I love you.”

His mouth found mine, and I let myself get swept up in everything that was Jake Worthing.

The kiss was rough, demanding, and soon it was desperate. It’d been too long since we’d been together.

He picked me up, turning, and laid me underneath him. His hands found mine, pinning them above me. “How quiet can you be?”

“What?” I surged up against him, grinding against him. He felt so good. I began panting.

“We’re in your childhood bed, and babe, I want to do some dirty things to you here. I’ll ask again. How quiet can you be?”

I gasped. “My parents are here.” But as I said that, I wound my legs around him and arched up into him. He wasn’t moving, so I’d move for both of us. I kept rubbing against him. Pleasure began building. I moved faster, harder against him. The ache was back, starting to throb between my legs. I wanted him inside of me.

“I’m aware. So are you going to be quiet, like a good little girl?” he teased before nipping at my lips, then slid one possessive hand down my body, slid his shirt up and off me. His hand quickly found my breast, circling it. His thumb ran over my nipple.

I moaned. “Jake.” That felt so good.

“I’m going to fuck you.”

I moaned again as his lips found my throat, tasting me.

“But you need to keep it down or your parents are going to catch us, because once I’m inside of you, I’m not leaving. You got that?” His hand continued its slow descent, sliding down my stomach, over my hip, dipping between my legs. His finger circled my clit, rubbing over it, and my body shivered.

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