Page 102 of One Shattered Crown
He grasps my hair and jerks my head back, leaning over until his mouth is at my ear. “One sound only from you. My name. Only. Understand?”
Tears fill my eyes. If he doesn’t start moving, I will plan his death. With a lot of pain. I’m smart enough not to say that. “Yes.”
“Say it.” That hand releases my hair and wraps around my neck, his thumb tight against my trachea.
“Justice,” I moan.
He starts to move then, hard, in and out, hammering with full control, one hand on my hip yanking me back into him. The other hand stays in place. Controlling my breathing. My life.
The pounding is loud in the small office, flesh against flesh. Electricity zings through me, and I’m helpless in his grip. Slowly, his fingers tighten. I’m climbing, so fast, so hard, but I can’t breathe.
My vision darkens from the edges. I dig my hands into the desk, trying to push against him. To breathe. I’m so close.
He releases my neck and I explode. I scream his name, live wires edged with barbed wire uncoiling inside me, ripping through every nerve, taking me over. My headdrops as the fire-tipped waves pummel through me, taking me somewhere else. Don’t know where. I shudder wildly, coming down, just as he clamps himself deep inside me, his body jerking behind me.
I gasp in air, panting, tears sliding from my eyes.
He stops. Still inside me.
Wow. Just wow. What just happened?
He withdraws and turns me over, facing him, my butt on the old desk. My body jerks in aftershocks. One broad hand grasps my neck, gently this time, as he leans over and pulls me to him, placing a kiss on my trembling mouth. He looks primal, like an animal stripped to its nature, appeased. For now. “You’re never leaving me again. Tell me you understand.”
“Justice—”
He cuts off my air and then relents. “Tell me.”
He’s demanding forever. Not giving me a choice. I know who he is. Do I want to go back to life without him? Without this? Oh, he scares the shit out of me, but when the bullets were flying earlier, he ran through them to get to me. To protect me.
“I’ll keep you safe, Ella. Anybody comes for you, they die and they die bloody. Hard. You’re mine.” It’s like he can read my mind. His grip is still there. Enough to remind me. “I’m not going back. Neither are you. I’m also not waiting for you to reason it out. Now tell me.”
I lick my lips and enjoy how his eyes flare. I’m ready to take a chance. A risk. I don’t want to be alone anymore. I don’t want to be withouthim.“Fine, but I want romance. Fun. True partnership where you completely let me in.” My mouth is running now, and I hope I’m beingclear with what I want and need. I figure this is the only chance I’ll get to make sure he understands. “I want it all, Justice.” All of him? Yeah, I’ll take that.
“You can have it all. Your place is here. With me.”
“Okay.” I exhale slowly. I haven’t had a place in way too long, and this one is seriously sexy. “Also, once in a while, I want gentle.”
Now one dark eyebrow rises. “That was.”
THIRTY-THREE
Justice
Rain threads through the trees in steady lines, a quiet stitchwork that pulls the forest around me tight. The ocean barrels loudly from the other side of my home, and salt hints in the air. The porch roof catches the fall and turns it into a soft drumbeat above my head, and for the first time in too long, I feel settled.
I know my men patrol the trees around me, and I trust the front gate is well protected. But the woman sleeping in the house behind me,mywoman, has me content.
Part of me wants to awaken her just to listen to her voice and feel the pleasure on my skin. But after I took her in the bar office last night, I brought her home and spent all night marking every inch of her. Making sure she knows where she belongs.
With me.
I take a sip of the coffee, and morning steam lifts past my face. The brew tastes dark and clean. My bare feet reston the wet wood of a lower step, cool as river stone, and I enjoy the fresh rain-soaked air.
My phone buzzes, and I pull it from my pocket, glancing at the screen before answering. “Hi, Thorn.”
“Were you in a shootout on the police steps yesterday?” he snarls.
“I’m fine, brother. How are you?” I ask lazily.
