Page 96 of Savagely Yours
“Don’t talk to him. It makes me…” I searched for a word that might help me get what I want, whether or not it was the truth. “Uncomfortable.”
“Dez, there are two blankets down here. Wrap yourself up in one, if you need comfort.”
I was a man who was used to giving orders, but I loved that she didn’t care about defying them. Then, she saw through my bullshit with laser precision, which made me want to press herface first against the wall and fuck her until pleasure turned her into a sobbing mess.
“Yes, my name is Ronan,” Ronan interrupted. “And Okoro, he has something to show you. Two of you. At the lab.” Ronan scanned the alcove. “But first, you have to…clean up?”
“I do,” Larke said, walking away. Much quieter, she added, “I’ve got two failed pull-outs ready to ooze out of me. At least, let’s hope they ooze out because the real issue begins if they stay in.”
Laughing to herself, she slipped into my shirt. The blanket, she wrapped around her waist like a skirt, and this woman was so sweet to be fucking around with me. While I would never hurt her, and would do everything in my power to keep her happy, there remained the issue of what would happen if she one day decided that she wanted someone else. I might end up in the bushes outside her place, waiting for her and the guy she thought I’d let her move on with to pass by.
She walked over to where I’d tossed her dress, her panties visible on top of the pile. It made me wonder if Ronan had seen them when he scanned our little love nest, if he’d lingered on them. If, later, he would find himself thinking about them, thinking about her, his mind filling in the blanks of her naked body from the way the light blanket hugged her silhouette. Plus, she wasgorgeousand had the most beautiful pair of tit?—
“Dez.”
My eyes met hers.
“I called your name like five times,” she said. “Can I get dressed now that we’re alone?”
Apparently, at some point, Ronan had left.
I headed for her. “Not yet.”
“I rebuke you and your Pied Piper penis.” She raised her index fingers into a cross and held them out toward me. “If Okoro needs to see us, it’s important. Plus, I have questionsabout why your uniformed friend was with Leigh and LaSalle. Maybe you should go check on them?”
“He’s not my friend,” I clarified. “And we don’t have time. We have to get back to Juniper, fuck, fuck again, get cleaned up, and then head to the lab. All in all, we’ll be late.”
Footsteps sounded in the passageway.
I returned to the opening to find Leigh hurrying toward us, a stuffed tote bag strewn over her shoulder. LaSalle followed, and Ronan reappeared, but he remained in the opening on the other side, arms folded.
I raised a hand.
Leigh slid to a stop.
LaSalle, distracted, bumped into her.
I waited until Larke shimmied into her dress. When I faced Leigh again, she was scanning my bare chest. Then, she tried to glance behind me into the alcove, but my body was in the way, and she didn’t walk as far into the passageway as Ronan had. Ronan had entered as if he wanted to verify that Larke was unharmed, and I still didn’t understand how anyone could have thought that my and Larke’s banter was anything but foreplay.
Larke joined us, stepping in front of me.
“I don’t have much time,” Leigh said. “We got all the way to the exit, but then Mr. Ronan said you were down here. I’ve been asking after you ever since Neal picked us up. Ana said a Class One carried you out of Sanitation, and then I got snatched up shortly after, so I didn’t get a chance to do much more asking.”
Leigh threw her arms around Larke’s neck.
Larke returned the hug with a tenderness that made blood rush to my groin. This woman wasdefinitelytoo sweet to be fucking around with a maniac like me.
“I’m okay,” she reassured Leigh. “I’ve been okay. Why don’t you have much time?”
“The Woodhaven doctor, Dr. Lin, isn’t sure how much longer he’ll be able to cover the escapees with the death toll numbers. Neal’s starting to put the pieces together, he said. Plus, the head general, Cerner, they’re saying he’s missing. No one’s seen him in days.”
Larke glanced at me.
I winked.
“They’re locking everything down and tightening up security,” Leigh continued. “Mr. Ronan, that’s the guy at the end of the hall, has been helping to smuggle people out, but Neal’s gonna find out. Mr. Ronan says he doesn’t care, that he used to rescue people in worse situations before everything fell, but there’s no way Neal won’t find out.”
LaSalle squeezed Leigh’s shoulder, adding, “They grabbed me, too. They told me that they got Leigh and knew that we were involved.”
