Rook

I expected Cross to keep me a lot longer than he did last night, and give me a much harder time over how I snatched Ines from the Gentleman, but he didn't. Apart from reminding me again that going against that cartel bastard could prove a big mistake, and that he'd have preferred it if I'd cleared it with him first, he understood that it was a split second decision to go save her that night. He admitted he'd do the same thing if he were me, and even thanked me for keeping my cool and not killing the bastard.

"I'd kill him if I were you," were his exact words after I told him some of what he put Ines through.

Cross had no idea Ice was with me in Mexico until I told him on the phone, meaning Ice held his word and didn't tell anyone about it. That's just one more reason why I like the guy so much. It truly is a rare thing to find someone who'll stand by you with no questions asked and keep their word to you. I've been blessed to be surrounded by men like that, since my MC brothers are all stand up guys. Even Tank with his constant sarcastic bullshit and double-meaning statements can be trusted to do what he says he'll do.

Although maybe that's no longer the case. Cross didn't come right out and said it, but I think he suspects his best and oldest friend of something very dodgy these last few weeks. Tank is supposed to be heading the Sheriff job, and he can always be trusted to excel at the jobs he takes on, but somehow this one's not getting handled. That's as much as I got out of Cross on the topic. Whatever trouble is brewing between him and Tank, I think Cross wants to keep it between them for now.

We also talked about finishing off the war with the Spawns as soon as possible and getting on with the easy life of only weapons trafficking Cross has planned for us from here on in.

But the situation he called me here to discuss has to do with that. The press is onto us, and the cops right behind them. The last Spawns killing was a disaster, and Tank was heading that one too, so that's clearly another reason Cross is worried about the guy. But I'm sure we'll be able to get the cops off our trail, just as we've always done, and I told him I’ll take over the Sheriff job if he wants me to. Once we agreed on that, he let me go sleep.

I tried to wake Ines, but I couldn't. She hardly even made a sound or stirred when I kissed her, and since I'm not a guy who enjoys fucking a motionless woman I let her sleep. I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow.

She was still out like a light this morning, didn't wake up while I showered and dressed. So I let her sleep, considered leaving her a note to go get some breakfast when she wakes up, but Ines is a big girl and she'll find her way around this house on her own just fine. No need to coddle her and no need to tell her what she should be doing. She's had enough of that up until now. There was never any need to guide her before, in fact, it was always more the other way around, with her telling me what to do. Not that I always did and not that she minded overmuch when I didn't. We always let each other be ourselves. And that’s just one of the million things I appreciate so much about her.

* * *

Ines

"Good, you're awake. I thought you were gonna sleep all week," Rook's voice greets me before I even fully open my eyes. I close them right back as the midday sun cuts through my vision painfully.

"Come to me," I whisper and make room for him on the bed.

A second later the wood groans under his weight and the mattress shifts hard enough to move me with it. Right into his arms. Where I belong.

And if I wasn't sure of that before, I know it now from his kiss, which is better than drinking water on a scorching day, better than eating after starving for two.

"Man, a day and a night was a helluva long time to wait for this," he says hoarsely as he hikes up the t-shirt I slept in.

But he doesn't wait to continue the conversation before burying his face in my chest, kissing and licking and otherwise making my skin tingle, desire building inside me so hot and heavy I soon can't breathe right.

I love the feel of his skin under my fingers, the rippling, hard muscles that move under it, announcing a kiss, a bite, a lick, a split-second before in happens.

But he slips from under my wandering hands, leaving a trail of kisses down across my breasts and belly. I love the feel of his shaved head under my palms as I guide his head even further down, to the place I need his lips and his tongue to be right now.

"Well, you woke up ready," he observes, grinning up at me, his hot breath on my clit almost enough to make me come all on its own. But I know so much more is coming, so I will hold out. Not because I'm told to, but because I want to.

So I just grin back, and push his head to where I need his lips to be. I love talking to him, but right now is not the time for that.

As his tongue finally grazes my clit, I arch my back so high only my head is still touching the pillow. My sigh comes out like I've been holding it forever. But he just keeps going, kissing and licking, biting even, until the world disappears and we're in a bubble spun from the pleasure he's giving me, red hot and flaming, yet sweet and soft at its core.

He pushes a finger into me, then another, caressing my inside as his tongue does the same on the outside. I can already taste the orgasm brewing, can already feel its burning edges. After just a few seconds of trying to hold it back, I know it's a lost cause. The flames mix with the soft, sweet center of the pleasure he’s giving me, the orgasm starting deep inside me and exploding out, ripping through me, tearing me to shreds, leaving behind no room to feel anything but this ecstasy he's offering me.

When I regain my awareness, he's kneeling over me, smiling as he guides his cock into my pussy. I haven't recovered yet and here he goes starting me up again. But he never did much asking, just took what he needed, and I never stopped him. Because I need him too—need this too—and always have. I shiver and sigh as his cock reaches that special spot inside me, the button only he can press, because we're made for each other.

He kisses me again then starts thrusting into me faster, my moans and sighs muffled by his lips, which taste of me and of him, the two entwined so tightly my mind can no longer tell where I end and he begins.

He's close, I can feel it in his measured strokes that he's trying to control and the tightness in his arms, back and neck. There's no need for him to hold back. I'm ready. So I slide my hands down his back to his hips, pull him into me deeper still, silently urging him to relax, to take what he wants, what he needs, because I'm his to take. No one else's, just his. Always was, always will be. And we need and want the same thing. Always did and always will.

He seems to understand my unspoken request. His thrusts get wilder as he relinquishes control, faster as the last of it slips from his grasp. By then I'm drowning in a warm, wavy lake of pleasure his cock is stirring inside me.

My orgasm takes me unaware, turns the very air to liquid, to a glorious shower of bliss, of joy, of all that is good, like a sudden, unexpected rainfall on a hot day, bringing refreshment, a much needed respite from the heat.

I close my eyes and let it wash over me. But even with my eyes closed I still see him. Just as I always could even when we were apart. He's bathed in the bold orange light of sunset, looking at me and only me, inviting me to follow him to a new life. My life. Our life.