Out of Love(59)

My smile lost momentum, and my hands fidgeted with the edge of the blanket as I focused on the thread coming loose from the stitching. “You’re next. I just feel it.”

“Next to what?”

“Break my heart.”

“Why do you say that?”

My gaze inched up to meet his as he dropped his hands from behind his head, leaving them limp beside him on the bed. “Because I don’t know why you weld or what you’re making in the garage. I don’t know why you got Jericho or your mom’s name. I don’t know how your dad died or who that woman is who drives the Lexus and hugs Jericho and kisses you. And I don’t know why you dropped out of school.”

His stone face didn’t move for several seconds. “That stuff is important to the wellbeing of your heart?”

I nodded.

“I haven’t asked your mom’s name or how she died … and I’m fine.”

“Ryn. And she died in a car accident when I was fourteen. We buried her in a soft pink dress that she wore the day she brought me home from the hospital. My dad literally slept on her grave for several days afterward while I stayed with my aunt and uncle. When she met my dad, she had a German shepherd named Gunner. I saw pictures, but I don’t remember him. It’s what first drew me to Jerry.”

“Jericho.”

“Fuck you, Wylder. He’s always going to be my Jerry.”

“Oh, Livy…” he leaned over to set his computer under his nightstand “…we’re definitely going to fuck.” The second he faced me, his hand grabbed the back of my head, pulling my lips to his.

I reared back. “Tonight, you get charged for sex.”

“Then I’m good.” He rolled over and shut off the light.

I remained idle, frozen in disbelief as he situated his pillow and pulled the sheet partially over his bare torso, releasing a deep breath while resting his hands on his chest. Not everything in life had to be a game, but I hated feeling like he was in fact playing me … and he was winning.

“Night.” I shrugged off my shirt and shimmied out of my panties, resting them next to his head on his pillow, so he’d know, in case he didn’t catch what I’d done. Nestling under the covers, I rolled onto my side, putting my back to him.

It took several minutes, but he broke the silence. “Mary.” He rolled toward me and his hand rested on my naked hip. “My mom’s name is Mary. And I’m welding a wine bottle rack for her because her sister took the one her dad made when my grandparents went to a nursing home. My mom was broken-hearted because my grandfather was a welder and he made it for my grandma. And her sister doesn’t even drink wine.”

I rested my hand on his and guided it up to my breast. He squeezed it before trapping my nipple between his thumb and finger, giving it a slight tug and sending a jolt of need right between my legs.

“One of my targets … he had a new puppy. A German shepherd. When he … died … I took his puppy.”

Jericho belonged to a man whom Wylder assassinated. I didn’t see that coming. It took me a few moments to swallow that information, but when I did, I moved his hand from my breast to my abs, right at my navel. He tugged on my piercing, and the sensation tickled me a little lower.

“My dad died in the line of fire. I don’t remember anything about him … I was too young. He never married my mom or lived with us.”

My fingers ghosted along his arm draped over me before I covered his hand again and moved it lower.

I sucked in a sharp breath when he shoved two fingers inside me, faster and harder than I anticipated. His whole hand cupped me down there, pulling me closer until his erection slid between my legs. I didn’t realize he’d removed his boxer briefs.

He fingered me hard and slow, curling them to hit my g-spot.

My hand clawed at his, the intensity almost too much, but I didn’t really want him to stop. I just wasn’t expecting it to go from a two to a ten in under five seconds.

His hot breath brushed along my ear. “The woman in the Lexus …”

I panted, digging my nails into his unrelenting hand.

“She’s my cousin. Abe’s daughter. She cleans up my messes.”

“W-Wylder …” I was so close to seeing all the pretty orgasm stars.

“And I was someone’s target for a while, so I had to disappear until the threat was neutralized. Are we good now, Liv?” he whispered, and it was so deep and controlled I nearly lost it just from his voice.

His fingers vanished, and his teeth dug into my shoulder.

A controlling hand gripped my leg and lifted it over his hip as he slid into me from behind with a hard thrust.

I was good.

He was good.

Everything was so … damn … good.





Chapter Twenty-Four




Wylder


“She break it?” I asked, sitting across from Abe at our usual table. Usual cafe.

Same grease stench.

Same waitress.

Same fan above our heads making a clicking sound.

He ran his finger along the bridge of his nose. “Nah. Not gonna lie, I wasn’t expecting it.”

I grinned. “Clearly. She got me too, a while back. Her aunt … in her fifties … has been training her in self-defense. A fucking actuary.”