Page 99 of Criminally Yours

“I’ll put you where I want,” he growled. “You’re my dirty girl.”

She squeezed her eyes tight.

“If that’s okay,” he stammered, helping her with her glasses. The alpha men in her books never said that, but it was what she wanted from him.

She wanted real.

She needed him to be as vulnerable as she was after what they’d shared.

“That’s exactly what I want.”

He grinned so wide that she kissed him to taste his happiness.

“Wrap your arms around my neck,” he replied.

Wearily, she did as he said. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing. One of his hands warmed her back while the other tucked around her knees where her magenta dressing gown fell open.

He held her tight and kissed her forehead as he carried her to bed.

CHAPTER 42

Strike

Strike stripped off his jeans, and returned to the bed to watch Millie sleep. He’d managed a perimeter check and called Bear, but she hadn’t moved from where he’d left her aside from removing her dressing gown.

Witnessing her come to his demands made him so fucking hard that the perimeter check was a necessity to calm down. He ran through his list of risks to ensure he was keeping her completely safe, but her nakedness was distracting.

He traced her nipple while she slept, and she shifted slightly, moaning.

She’d been so exhausted after their time in the bathroom that she’d fallen asleep quickly. He was proud of her for conquering her fears, but it made him want to possess her.

“What time is it?” she asked, arching as he ran his fingertips between her thighs.

“It’s about three in the afternoon.” He pulled her close. He couldn’t get enough of touching her. “I wanted to do a perimeter check. I shouldn’t be on edge, but I’ve got this feeling that something isn’t right,” he said, his voice tight with worry.

“I’ve always trusted your instincts. Since that day in Pickle Park,” she said.

He murmured at the memory.

Not long after Bear moved in, they went to the park, where he and Bear kicked a football around while Millie read. At some point, three lads joined them, and they played together, but early on, Strike texted Millie, telling her to go home because something was off. She’d started walking immediately, but one of the new guys watched her.

Millie stroked his cheekbones, remembering how he’d cut it in a fight with the lads. Fifteen minutes after Millie left the park, Strike texted, asking her to meet him and Bear in the shed. They’d arrived with cuts on their hands and Strike sported a swollen eye.

“You never told me everything that happened that day,” she said.

“There was something about those guys. I couldn’t work it out, but they weren’t safe. After you left, they sized up me and Bear.”

“They didn’t know you were boxing bad boys.” Millie held his knuckles to her lips and kissed them softly.

“Exactly.” He was already breathless from her caress.

“Your instincts told you it would turn into a fight?”

“Yes, but the way they looked at you stirred something in me.” He yanked his T-shirt off from behind and pulled her closer.

“Worry?”

“Jealousy. No one got to look at you like that.” He rolled her onto her back and pinned her hands above her. “You were mine, even then.”