Page 224 of The Perfect Wrong

I’ve missed believing this is real, but now that I’m tasting her, there’s no doubt whatsoever and it makes me smile like a fool mid-kiss.

“How the hell do you do it?” I growl when I finally break for air. “You taste even better than I remember, babe. Are you trying to make me rip your clothes off and fuck you right here? The hospital thing seems pretty kinky even for you.”

Laughing, she wipes her face with her sleeve.

“I’m liking this schoolgirl fall look too,” I whisper. My hand finds her bare thigh under the skirt and skims up it. “Goddamn, woman. If I weren’t this fucked up, I promise you I would mount you until they call security to haul me off in handcuffs.”

She rears back and slaps at my hand playfully, not really batting it away.

“Jerk. I guess they’re right about you recovering. I see all that crap you went through hasn’t changed you one bit. I was worried about that...”

“You joking? It takes more than a few dumb beatings to break this dick. Especially when it’s up close and personal with you.”

I can’t resist, I’m too ravenous.

I pull her in for another long, frenzied round of kissing.

Lifting her up higher, I press her tits to my chest, hands on her ass while I spin her around.

My cock throbs lightning.

Her skin on mine is like this crazy exotic drug. And I’m so hopelessly addicted that I hope when the perfect moment comes, she’ll sayyesto being my high.

I hope she’ll say yes to the rest of our lives.

My heart roars like a jet engine, pure adrenaline rushing through my blood. I devour her over and over and it’s still not enough, even when it’s the only thing that stops me from taking her on this rickety damn hospital bed.

Getting yelled at by a few nurses and a possible misdemeanor for indecent exposure can’t possibly be worse than what I’ve been through.

But I can’t get Delia into that kind of trouble.

I also know when I should simmer down and rest—and dislocating a vertebra or some stupid shit from railing her soul out will only delay actually having her when I’m whole again.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here and go for a walk. There’s a decent park area outside.” I take her hand and we walk, slowly heading down the elevator.

I never let go of her for a single second.

In the morning, I’m supposed to have a new meeting with Landon Strauss and a few of his right-hand people high on the Enguard chain. With Sexton stepping down due to his injury, I know he’ll recommend me for a promotion to tactical lead.

Hell if I can find the will to care about any of that right now.

I’ve got the woman who kept me alive through the gauntlet at my side as we step into the sunlight.

That endless smile she wears confirms all the love I stirred up before is still there.

No, fuck, it’sgrown.

She can barely keep her eyes off me as we sit on a bench, surrounded by greenery. Her dark hair flutters in the cool breeze.

“How’s that thesis coming? I heard how shook up you were over my shit and Evie... Please don’t tell me any of this bullshit stalled you graduating?”

“I’m basically done with the first draft. My absence didn’t last long enough to blow the whole semester,” she tells me shyly. “Pretty sure the professor loves it. He’s already hinted at pitching the final version at some academic conferences and maybe even a few newspapers. I guess people just love heroes who can’t stop heroing.”

“As long as you didn’t use my name. It’s gonna be intense enough for a while with the media up my ass over the bust in Mexico. Enguard will do their damnedest to hold the jackals at bay, but they can’t make me invisible.”

“They shouldn’t dare,” she says, leaning in to kiss me again. “Seriously. I couldn’t have done it without you, Chris, and I don’t just mean the paper. I put a lot of you—a lot of us—into this whole project. And knowing how bad you’d want me to hold it together and finish is what kept me going when everything was up in the air. I was so scared for you.”

The tremor in her voice and the way her fingers shake as they grip mine tell me just how torn up she was.

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