Page 108 of Breaking the Rules
Xavier smirked as Chelsea left the great room dodging their mother’s questions.
“That wasn’t very nice,” Waverly said, entering the room with her arms crossed.
“But necessary. My mother wants to know when you’re coming to visit.”
“What did you tell her?” Waverly asked, slipping her arms around his waist and looking up at him.
“Only enough for her to start hoping for grandchildren in the next six months,” Xavier teased, running his hands down her back.
“Are you ready for this?” Waverly asked.
“What? Kids? I think we’ll catch on eventually.”
“Xavier! I meant today. Are you ready for today?”
He looked past her at their breakfast eating compatriots. He’d prefer to go into this knowing that the feds were in their pocket, knowing that his team held all the cards. But it wasn’t to be. “Maybe we could postpone this? Come at it from a different angle,” he suggested. The sudden desperation for a Plan B ate at him.
“Xavier,” Waverly sighed out his name. “It’s going to be fine. We’ve got this. I believe in you, and I need you to believe in me.”
He shook his head. “We’re rushing this. There has to be another way.”There had to be.Maybe the timeline could be finessed enough to keep the FBI at bay until they found an in with the SEC? Maybe if Chelsea could find the partner, they could sway the FBI?
Waverly tugged out of his grasp and latched onto his arm. She dragged him out of the great room and into a very small, very purple powder room. The quarters were cramped with a long single sink vanity occupying most of one wall. But it would have to do for privacy.
“Talk to me, X,” she ordered, flicking the lock.
He moved restlessly in the confined space.
“I’m having a hard time with this,” he confessed, pacing the three steps to the sink and back again.
She got in his path and put her hands on his chest. “I know. Tell me what’s going on in that sexy brain of yours.”
He grasped her hands and kissed her fingers. “I hate using you as bait.”
Tension crackled off of him, filling the air around them.
She cupped his face in her palms. “I can do this. I need you to have faith in me.”
He nodded, but his eyes told a different story. There was anxiety there and something edgier. She’d been there before, the line between fear and panic. He slipped out of her grasp and roamed past her. Waverly slid up on the vanity to give him room. She let him pace it out for another minute before catching his arm and caging him in between her legs.
“X, I’ve been trained. I’ve done this before.”
“Something could go wrong. What if—”
She put a finger to his mouth and then replaced it with her lips. She pulled back when she felt his rigid length stiffen against her. “This is going to work, and it’s all going to be over soon,” she promised, stroking her hands through his thick hair.
“Promise me.”
“I promise you, X. This is important to me. I need you to trust me. I need you to believe in me.”
“I do, but…”
She silenced his protest. “My poor Xavier,” she sighed. “I know why this is so hard for you. You’re the protector, the fixer. It’s what you do. You stand between everyone you love and the danger they face. But I can face this myself, and I will with you backing me up. I need this, X.Weneed this. You can’t always stand for me. I need to stand for me.”
He kissed her hard, leaning into her, over her, as if he could change her mind with just his mouth. She felt it all from him: the fear, the determination, the pure power of him. Everything that he was, he poured into her. When he took the kiss deeper, Waverly let him and gave him everything she had in return. Separately, they were impressive. Together, they were unstoppable.
She broke the kiss and dropped her forehead to his chest. “I love you, Xavier.”
His fingers gripped her upper arms so hard she knew she’d have fingerprints on her skin. He squeezed his eyes closed tight. “Say it again,” he whispered, his voice rough as gravel.
