Be My Hero (Forbidden Men #3)(109)

"I need you so much right now," he panted as he opened his jeans and slid a condom on. I gaped at how hard and hungry he was.

The man was desperate, and he proved it by thrusting into me, rough and fast. The shock of his ravenous penetration made me cry out. Just as needy for him, I moved with him, arching into his next deep pump. His mouth ravished mine as he pinned me to the wall and took me without mercy.

"Yes," I said, biting his ear and clenching around him when he hit a spot that had my toes curling.

"Eva . . . " He groaned, breaking off to breathe into my mouth as his hips bucked in a ceaseless rhythm, pounding faster until I was clutching fistfuls of his hair and we were both crying out. He released into me hard, using my body to heal himself, and I was honored to alleviate his pain.

When his entire frame sagged against me and he buried his face in my neck, I knew he'd just worked through some of whatever was haunting him.

"I love you so much," he murmured, his voice slurred and sleepy.

I kissed his cheek and brushed his hair off his forehead. "I love you too."

"I don't know what I'd do right now without you."

"Well . . . " I bit my lip, wanting to make him smile. "To begin with, you probably would've had to jack off."

His lips fluttered into a half-smile as he lifted his face. "And it wouldn't have felt nearly this good."

He scooped me up into his arms and carried me toward our room. Once we were nestled under the blankets, he spooned himself behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist before setting his chin on my shoulder.

"I'm serious, Eva. Without you, I have no idea how my life would've turned out. If I hadn't had that vision of you and wanted you with every fiber of my being, I probably would've followed the same path as Tristy and gotten sucked into drugs. Or I would've done what my other friend Harvey did, and joined a gang. He was shot and killed in a drive-by when he was sixteen."

I kissed his jaw. "I'm so sorry for all your loss."

He mumbled something incoherent as if he didn't want to think about that. Then he began to pet my side. "You know how you keep saying I was your hero and I saved you when I beat up your ex and your dad? That's bullshit. You're my hero. Meeting you in those glimpses saved me. It made me want to be a good person so I could deserve you when I finally found you. And now that you're here, holding me and letting me love you when I just want to implode from the inside out . . . " He buried his face in my hair and inhaled deeply. "You don't even know what your mere presence does to me. You're my sanity."

I reached around behind me to comb his hair with my fingers. "You're mine too. There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be."

"Don't ever leave me," he demanded in a broken voice.

I smiled, thinking my next words were the easiest promise I'd ever make. "I won't."





Chapter 28


PICK


They buried Tristy on a Saturday morning.

No one attended the graveside service except Tink and me. We brought Fighter along, so he could pay his last respects to his biological mother, but the windy day kept taking his breath, so Eva carried him to the car, and I was left alone to say goodbye to my oldest companion.

I knew I should've mourned her loss, but mostly I just felt relieved. She didn't have to suffer anymore, and I didn't have to worry about her anymore.

"That witch was wrong," I told her as I tossed a handful of dirt into the hole on her casket. "You didn't die alone. You had your beautiful little boy with you. I can't think of any better company in the world than that. I swear, Tris, I will bring him up right and teach him to love the memory of you."

Then I turned away to join my family at the car.

I made love to Eva that night slowly, worshiping every dip and curve of her body. She held me afterward, stroking her fingers over my heart tattoo, and I kissed her hair. I knew I should be happy. We were finally together without breaking any marital vows. But uncertainties continued to plague me.

What would happen to Julian when the state finally realized I wasn't any kind of legal guardian to him? How much longer did we have with him? And what about Eva's father?

She'd expressed her concern about him more than once, but I'd told her everything would be okay. What could he really do to us? Her uneasiness made me antsy, though. She knew the douche bag a hell of a lot better than I did. If she felt certain he'd try to get back at us for the way I'd kicked his ass, then I couldn't discount the idea either.

Unfortunately, the next day, one of my worry-filled questions was answered.

When the boss's daughter Jessie called all the Forbidden employees in for a Sunday afternoon meeting while the place was still closed, I hoped to God she was going to announce that her dad was ready to return to work and take over running the place again. Gamble had pretty much taken charge since the owner had been out of commission, and I hated having Gamble boss me around.

I arrived about ten minutes before the conference. All the other bartenders, plus most of the waitresses, as well as the two cooks, had already arrived and were loitering around the back of the club by the bar.

Needing my fellow bartenders to lift my mood, I bumped my arm into Quinn's elbow when I approached him from behind.

I nodded my chin at him and grinned as he turned to acknowledge me. "How's that tongue of yours doing, kid?"