Chapter 25 – You Saved Me
Grady –
“Well, are you?” she asks again.
I narrow my eyes, studying her but don’t answer. Instead, I ask, “What do you think?”
She frowns slightly. “Of this empty house or you acting weird?”
I shake my head. “Maya.”
She mirrors my stance and crosses her arms, but smirks in the process. “Because I think it’s weird that you’re acting so weird.”
I drop my head and study the floor in front of me. How do I even begin?
When she gets tired of waiting, her voice sounds frustrated. “Grady?”
I exhale and pull my hand through my hair as I look to her. She’s dropped her arms, impatient for an explanation.
“I was in the Army for four years,” I state.
She looks perplexed. “I know. You told me.”
“I was a Ranger assigned to Special Warfare.”
She tips her head and frowns. “Um, okay.”
I started, I can’t stop now. “Right before I left the Army, I was recruited to Delta Force.”
Really confused, she sounds like she’s playing along when she responds. “I assume that’s an honor?”
I raise my brows and make an understatement. “Yeah. Delta Force is not for the weak.”
“Grady.” She sighs. “You brought me across the street to an empty house for a reason I still don’t know, and now you’re speaking in riddles. There are moments when I feel I know you well, but right now I have no idea what you’re getting at.”
I decide to just say it. To get to where I want us to be, she needs to know. “My recruitment to Delta Force was a big deal. I caught the attention of a secret group and was recruited to contract overseas for our country and allies. For the past ten years, I was paid to eliminate threats. And I did. I eliminated a lot of them.”
“Right,” she agrees, impatiently. “You told me you worked in security.”
I relax my features and try to gauge her reaction. “I guess a certain security was obtained as a result of my work. But no, security is a cover for what I really did.”
I try not to let it affect me, but a hint of hurt bleeds through her features. “I don’t understand.”
“Terrorism, cartels, organized crime. You name it, if a country or organization couldn’t manage it, someone like myself was hired to take care of it.”
She crosses her arms protectively and takes a step back. “Take care of it?”
“Yes,” I confirm. “To eliminate the threat. A threat they couldn’t handle on their own.”
Her face falls and she whispers, “Wait. You mean if it couldn’t be dealt with legally?”
I put a hand up to stop her thoughts. “More like they couldn’t handle it legally in a timely manner. Sometimes the threat outweighs the time it takes because the system is slow. Especially if the system is corrupt.”
“What are you saying?” Her face is etched with uncertainty and I fucking hate it. She didn’t look this way when she found out I beat my dad so bad I put him in intensive care and he never woke up. Not when I threatened to kill the guy on the tarmac if he didn’t let her go. Not even when I slid that ring on her finger.
I don’t answer, but try to explain. “You know how I grew up—what my sisters and I dealt with for years. The day I walked in and saw my drunk-ass and high-as-a-kite father wailing on Gracie, I’d had it. She was so little, not even crying because she couldn’t. She was half out of it from his blows, curled into herself, barely whimpering. I fucking lost it, Maya. By that time, I was big and ten times stronger because of football. When the police showed up, I was covered in his blood. I swear to you, it’s the only time in my life I’ve lost time. One second I walked into the house to find my baby sister cut, bruised, and bleeding, and the next, I’m sitting on the floor by my lifeless father.”
“Grady,” she whispers, and takes a step toward me, but this time I put my hand up to stop her.
“He died two days later in the hospital—the same hospital Gracie was recovering in. I was never charged. It was reported as self-defense. Gracie was evidence enough, all the questioning they did after the incident was only procedure. Detectives told me if I hadn’t done it, the cops who showed up would’ve wanted to. They made it clear I did nothing wrong.”
“You didn’t,” she softly agrees.
“I know.” I take a breath, wanting to finish more than anything, yet finishing could mean an outcome I dread. “Three months later I joined the Army. Besides football and protecting my sisters from our dad, I found something I was good at. But just weeks after I was recruited to Delta, they showed up on my doorstep with an offer. As soon as they laid it out for me, I signed and never looked back.”
She pulls her lip between her teeth and doesn’t say a word.
Damn that lip. I need to make her understand.
“Maya,” I pause and take a breath. This could close the door on our future for good, but I’ll do everything I can to put a wedge in it. I can’t lose her. “I was a paid assassin for a secret organization for ten years.”
That made her release her lip. Right before she takes another step back.
“Assassin?”
“Yes. Terrorists, insurgents, cartels. I worked solely overseas, never in the US.”
“You were paid to kill people?” Her eyes are big but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“Bad people,” I insist. “The worst.”
I see her chest rising and falling quickly, but she says nothing.
“And Maya,” I add. “I was good at it.”
She frowns deeper.
“Until I wasn’t.”
This surprises her. “What do you mean?”
“A while back, I got a call from Raine that Gracie wasn’t doing well. She was in her last year of college, quit going to classes, and she couldn’t sleep. She was hardly eating. The girls got her to a doctor. She’d fallen into depression. After we got her into therapy, we found out it wasn’t only because of our fucking father, but me killing him because of what he did to her. Her head was fucked up, and for some reason, she was feeling guilt.”
“But.” Her words come quick, and if possible, she defends me to me. “That wasn’t anyone’s fault. It sounds like he could’ve killed her if you hadn’t stepped in. You saved her.”
I soften my voice and take a step closer. “I know. But seeing Gracie have to deal with that? She was in a bad place and it fucked with me. Knowing what I did might’ve caused her to slip away from us? I didn’t recognize it then, but it messed with my head, too. It consumed me and I got careless. Crew and Asa saw it, tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen. That’s when Crew took it into his own hands and got us out.”
Her eyes grew big. “Crew and Asa do what you do?”
“Yeah, but not anymore,” I correct her. “We’re all retired and now train others to do what we did. That’s what’s happening on Crew’s property.”
“Oh. So, you’re retired from um … assassin-ing?” she asks, her face is screwed up as if it disgusts or perplexes her. I’m not sure which.
“Yeah. But I got antsy, thought I wasn’t ready to retire. Looking back, I needed something to focus on. Gracie was in therapy and getting better, but I still carried that guilt. I thought work would give me some focus. I went back and got myself in trouble. I’d be dead if Crew hadn’t been there to save my ass.”
“That’s when you were hurt?” she guesses.
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t very long ago,” she points out.
“Seems like another lifetime since I met you.”
She shakes her head and looks to the side out the big windows toward the back of the property, but she doesn’t appear to be actually looking at anything. She’s thinking and unfocused.
I don’t like it.
“Maya?”
She looks back to me.
I lower my voice. “I’m not him.”
She frowns.
I keep on. “My assignments were to take out targets who would’ve caused mass destruction through terrorism. Or who’ve killed, or made the order to kill, just so they could take over drug territory. I’ve taken out rebels who’ve raped women and children just to—”
“Okay!” She holds her hand up. “You’ll never have to convince me of that. I know you aren’t him. But why are you telling me all this now?”
I tell her the truth. “I love you.”
Her eyes widen and she breathes, “What?”
“You saved me.”
“Grady, I—”
“You did. Didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. Thought I needed to work as long as my body would let me. I never thought to want more, let alone search for it. Then I was captured, tortured, and almost killed. When I came home from that, I was lost. My only refuge was watching a woman over the surveillance system when she ran. I’d wait for you, baby. Everyday. I’d wait, and when you showed, I’d get lost in you.”
She pulls that damn lip into her mouth again as her eyes well.
“Who knew when I barely survived the depths of hell, my path would lead to you.”
Her hand comes up and she swipes a tear from her scraped cheek. “Why now? Why are you telling me all this now?”
“Because you’re wearing my ring.” I take a step, only a couple feet separating us. “Even though things might’ve happened in the wrong order, you deserve to know everything. I want you to know who you’re spending the rest of your life with.”
She swallows hard as another tear escapes.
“Because of you, I’m ready. I’m done with you seeing how that ring feels on your finger. It means something. I should tell you it means you’re mine, but fuck, Maya, you don’t even know it, but you’ve got me. You standing right here in this empty house—you’re holding my heart, baby. It’s yours. I want our life to start and I want it to start here.” I point to the floor. “And I want it to start today.”
She doesn’t look away as she tries to blink back her tears. I can’t take it another second—I need to touch her.
Closing the small distance between us, I don’t stop when I reach her. Putting my hands low on her hips, I move her backwards into the kitchen, and she doesn’t try and stop me. When I get to the marble island, I put my hands to her waist and sit her on the counter so I can look her straight in the eyes.
Her hands instantly come to my chest and I slide my palms up the inside of her loose dress to feel her skin on mine.
“You know everything there is to know about me. Everything. If I need to, I’ll take that ring off your finger and ask you properly, but baby, I need to know that you’re in. If you aren’t, then I need to know what to do to make you in, because I’m not letting you go.”
She wraps her boots around my waist and pulls me to her while shaking her head. “You’re not taking my ring off.”
I slide my hands up to grip her ass and press my cock in between her legs. “It’s my turn to ask what you mean.”
Her face softens into the expression I fell in love with when she asks, “Do I know everything about you now?”
“I have never told anyone about my work. Not even my sisters. No one knows what I’ve done but you, and I know I couldn’t ask you to be with me forever without you knowing.”
She gives me a small smile as if she’s relieved. “You might’ve been a tough Delta whatever and traveled the world taking out bad guys, but you’ll have to wrestle me to the ground to get this ring off my finger.”
“Baby.” I exhale and lean my forehead against hers. “I look forward to wrestling you to the ground, but I’ll never take that ring off your finger.” Looking into her eyes, I ask, “Does this mean you’re in?”
*****
Maya –
I press my breasts into his chest, getting as close as I can. “If that’s your official proposal, then yes, I’m in.”
And I am. As sweet and protective as Grady is, I knew he had an intense side he wasn’t showing me. So even if it was surprising that he didn’t simply work in security—it wasn’t. If anything, I feel closer to him and want nothing more than to make him happy. Because during my short time with Grady, life has never felt so perfect. Where I’m at right now fits, and I’ll do anything I can to brighten his life like he’s done mine.
He leans in to put his mouth on mine with a desperation I’ve never felt in him before. Dipping his hands into the back of my panties, he squeezes my ass. I bring my hands up to his hair to hold him close and moan into his mouth.
His hand comes between my legs where my panties are soaked, and he pushes my legs farther apart as they dangle off the counter when he mumbles, “I should show you the rest of the house.”
“Yeah,” I agree, but I’m sure my expression doesn’t. When he hooks a finger inside my panties, my pussy doesn’t agree, either. He slides through me easily, creating tingles throughout my body.
“The house can wait,” he growls. With both hands, he starts to pull my panties and demands, “Lift.”
“Should we do this here?” I ask, wondering if it’s a good idea to have sex in a house being shown to potential buyers. Still, I put my hands to the counter and lift so he can easily pull my panties down.
“It’s fine,” he assures me and does his best to quickly wrangle them down my legs and over my boots.
Yanking the buttons on his jeans, he pushes my legs farther apart before flipping the hem of my dress up around my waist. “Lean back.”
Holy shit—this is going to happen in a stranger’s kitchen. But with the heated look in his eyes, I lean back on my hands immediately. When I’m reclined for him and he’s got me spread before him, he slides his hands up my legs again, but slower this time.
“You’re really mine.” He looks into my eyes.
Sliding a finger inside me without breaking eye contact, he keeps talking.
“This is mine,” he puts his other hand to the counter and leans to me, “forever.”
He comes closer to kiss me as he starts to finger fuck me. When his thumb circles my clit, I scoot to the edge and arch my back. I’ve never felt the way Grady makes me feel.
When he releases my mouth, I look into his eyes and whisper for the first time, “I love you.”
He stops finger fucking me and almost freezes. His heated, bright blue eyes burn into mine before he kisses me again, and this time it’s possessive, deep, and long. Finally ripping his mouth from mine, I lose his hand and he yanks his jeans down just enough to free his cock.
Wrapping a hand around the small of my back, he pulls me forward. He drags the smooth tip of his cock through my wetness, and his voice is low and guttural. “I’m taking you bare.”
I don’t argue.
“Okay.”
With that, he doesn’t inch his way in, he doesn’t take his time, and he doesn’t savor it.
He consumes me.
Then he proceeds to fuck me. Hard.
And I lean back and let him. Every other time with Grady has been amazing, but this is life-changing.
“Look at me,” he demands.
I open my eyes and look into his. I have to wrap my legs around his waist to hang on—he’s slamming into me. Each thrust is better than the one prior, hitting that spot inside, forcing me to pant, and making it hard to hold myself up. When his other hand returns to my clit, I moan out loud, not able to handle it another moment.
It comes over me, my arms tremble and Grady’s hold around my waist tightens, pulling me to him with each beautiful thrust. I feel myself start to shake, moan, and call out to him.
“Fuck,” he growls. “Your pussy milking me, I can’t take much more.”
My orgasm starts to fade when he slams into me two more times, and I get to watch his beautiful face when he comes. Every muscle and vein in his corded neck is tense and flexed—the most gorgeous sight I’ve ever seen. And every bit of him is mine.
When I put my arms around him, he holds me to him tight, his cock still buried deep.
“This is just the beginning, baby,” he murmurs in my ear, pressing into me again. “From this moment on, our paths that brought us here end—they’re done. We’re starting a new one—one we’ll navigate together.”
Pressing my face into his neck and kissing him there, I nod against his skin and breathe him in. “Yes.”
He gives me a squeeze. “Never want anything between us, baby. We’ll talk about what that means. You want to be on birth control for a while, I’m okay with that. If not, I’m more than good with that, too. But there’ll never be anything between us again.”
I smile because that’s more than okay with me, and pull away enough to put my lips on his. When I look around the empty house we just had sex in, I finally give myself a chance to take in its beauty. “Are you really thinking about buying this house?”
He looks away from me and over my head to study the kitchen behind me. “It’s not quite the mansion you grew up in. Do you like it?”
I pull back and put my hand on his cheek to get his attention. “I don’t want to live the way I grew up. Not even if I could. I want a quiet life.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
I tip my head. “What’s not to like? From what I’ve seen, it’s beautiful.”
“Well, I hope you like the rest, too, because I closed on it this morning.”
I feel my eyes go big. “You bought this house?”
“Yep, and the three hundred and sixty acres it sits on. Plus the barn and the pool. We even have a corral, though, I have no idea what we’ll do with it. Previous owners were horse breeders. It was a quick sale because I paid cash.”
I can’t help the surprise in my voice when I ask, “You did?”
He presses his cock into me one more time and grins. “Doing what I did—it paid well. I wasn’t lying to your father. I can take care of you, baby.”
I roll my eyes. “All I want is you. I don’t care where or how we live.”
He leans in to kiss me softly. “You ready to see the rest?”
I actually can’t wait to see the rest, but instead of telling him that, I ask, “It depends, do you have any toilet paper in your new house since we’re doing away with condoms?”
He grins. “Ours. Our house, baby. And I don’t know. Let’s go find out.”
*****
Weston MacLachlan –
It’s all I can do not to break through those fucking glass doors. I want to put a bullet through his head, but I can’t do that from here, and especially not in front of Maya.
But to see him touch her? Fuck her?
My Maya?
I can’t take it. They surprised me when they left that vineyard and only drove across the street. I had to wait and once I found out there was an electric gate, I parked up the road and had to climb a fucking fence. By the time I found the house and came around back, they were going at it in the kitchen.
I don’t know what the hell they’re doing there, the place is empty. All I know is it won’t last much longer. She’s mine and I’ll get her back. No more fucking around.
I only need a moment to get to her, but he never leaves her. One thing I know, it’s going to happen soon.