Raw Redemption (Crossing the Line #4)(71)

He would annihilate anyone who tried to deprive them of it. And he had a bad feeling it might happen sooner rather than later.





Chapter Nineteen


Ailish could admit to being a little shell-shocked as she leaned against the wall of Henrik’s room, waiting for ten minutes to pass before joining him in her father’s basement office. Henrik had wanted to make sure the house was clear before she left the general safety of the room, making sure she had a weapon to protect herself while they were separated. Her body felt sore, with twinges in her buttocks, thighs…and more private regions. Every time she moved, she could feel his hands, his breath bathing her neck and shoulders. His rigid flesh sinking into her body. The sense memory felt amazing. The act of belonging to another person. A person who understood her, had seen something good inside her during the barest of encounters. Knowing Henrik belonged to her, too, was even more incredible.

…the way you make me feel so full…

She did that to him, when she’d never felt the capability to make another person love her enough to stay. Not her mother or friends. Her father’s odd brand of affection had only ever been conditional. He provided it as long as Ailish was useful. Henrik was the opposite of those broken relationships. He’d barreled through all her faults, her past, with a bulletproof vest on and seemed almost anxious to take on any obstacle on her behalf. The gravity between her and Henrik had always been there, waiting to be fully explored, and tonight? They’d explored. Or marauded, to be precise. Ailish felt conquered. And like a conqueror all at the same time.

Henrik loved her. Whatever trust issues she’d had upon leaving Chicago hadn’t just disappeared. Maybe they never would. They were still a part of herself she needed to work on, grow around, and overcome, but when Henrik said he loved her? There wasn’t a doubt in her mind he was telling the truth. She’d wanted to say it back, but craved the same experience he’d had. Of doing it his own special way. She wanted that chance. To make it something they would remember. Once her feelings were out there in the world, she would probably never stop saying the words. She had years to say them.

But first, they had to get through tonight.

Ailish checked the digital clock and added some steel to her spine. Time to move. As Henrik had asked—with an unprompted please—she held the necklace up to her mouth and spoke. “We’re moving now.” She breathed through her nose, trying to get a handle on the adrenaline spiking in her blood. “There are three men and one woman in the house, including Caine. The men are armed.”

Praying that Derek had heard her and the listening device hadn’t malfunctioned, Ailish opened the door and crept through without a sound. She focused on the heel-toe sequence of every step, careful to avoid floorboards she remembered being creaky. When Ailish reached the living room, she crept along the living room wall and opened the basement door, taking the stairs slowly. Just before she reached the bottom, Henrik appeared, waving her down. “We’re all clear down here, baby.” He pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s get this done so I can get you out of here.”

“I’m getting you out of here, too.”

The right side of his mouth tipped up. “Yeah. You are.”

He stooped down and lifted, bringing Ailish with him so she could kiss him on the mouth. And she did. With what was probably an inappropriate enthusiasm level for a woman who’d just been given the orgasm to top all orgasms upstairs.

Henrik pulled away first, shaking his head. “I can’t wait until there’s no time limit on how long I can kiss you.” He tilted his head to suck her earlobe between his teeth. “How long I spend tasting you.”

Ailish felt his erection against her belly and swallowed hard. “How long I get to taste you, too,” she murmured.

His chest vibrated with a laugh. “This equal measure stuff really works for me. Have I mentioned that?”

“I love you,” she blurted, only catching a fleeting glimpse of his dumbstruck expression before wedging her forehead between his neck and shoulder. “Dammit. I was going to wait for a special time. You ruined it.”

A long pause paused. “How did I ruin it, baby?”

She lifted her head and blew out a breath. “By looking at me.”

“I’m not going to stop doing that anytime soon.”

“I’m not going to stop loving you anytime soon.”

“Equal measure,” he rasped, running his gaze all over her face. “Don’t tell me you love me again until we’re safe. I want every bit of motivation I can get my hands on.”

Ailish could feel Henrik’s regret as he stepped back. “Let’s get this done. I want to get to a place where my need for you only makes us late for work or miss dinner reservations. Okay, baby?”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t help but stare at him after those beautiful words, but somehow found the wherewithal to precede Henrik into her father’s darkened office. It was a far cry from the swanky digs upstairs, more functional than anything else. A desk with one rolling chair, another identical one facing it. Ailish had always harbored suspicions that her father brought men down there to be interrogated. Had they been tied to that rolling chair while she slept upstairs?

Guilt trickled inside Ailish’s throat as she moved to the far wall where built-in cabinets were located. She opened the far left door and crouched down to look over the familiar metal box housing countless secrets. Ailish opened her mouth to tell Henrik she required more light to enter the combination, but he beat her to the punch, shining a key-chain flashlight at the numbered silver knob, illuminating it.