Page 99 of Triple the Secrets
“I know,” he said, stepping forward. “From now on, though, you’re going to be normal teenagers that fucking drive me crazy with all your questions and pranks. Or learning to drive.”
“And going out on dates?” Win asked with a small smile.
Rogue growled, protectiveness rearing up inside him. “Not until you’re thirty,” he replied.
Both girls gave dry chuckles. “So you’re going to be sticking around?” Win asked, and he didn’t miss the hope in her tone.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “And as soon as I can convince Scarlett, I’ll be moving in and we’re going to make this shit work.”
Both nodded. “She’ll probably go for it, but we’re going to have to set some boundaries,” Wren told him.
“Boundaries? Like what?” he asked warily.
“No going in our room and snooping around,” Wren answered immediately. “Oh, and we want an allowance.”
“We’ll talk about it,” he said evasively. “Now, I’m going to find Scarlett. You two going to be alright here by yourselves?”
“Yeah,” Win said. “But, Rogue?”
“Yeah?”
Both girls glanced at each other before they quickly disentangled themselves and launched themselves at him. He grunted under the weight of them both hitting him at once, but he wrapped his arms tight around them, holding them close. They trembled, and he hugged them tighter. “Thank you,” one of them whispered, hands gripping his back tightly.
“You’re a good man,” the other whispered. “And we’re glad we have you.”
His throat tightened with emotion. He didn’t reply, just hugged them both and kissed their heads before letting them go. “Go to bed,” he said gruffly. “And don’t get into trouble in the meantime.” Both girls just smiled and moved back to climb under the sheets, huddling back together.
He left the room, shutting it quietly behind him and then he took a deep breath. Damn, those girls were going to be the death of him. He turned, ready to head back downstairs and try and figure out where Scarlett was, but stopped when he saw her emerge from a room a few doors down, Karissa behind her. Scarlett froze when she saw him, and Karissa just kept on walking.
Rogue held Scarlett’s gaze as he stalked towards her, every emotion he felt bubbling to the surface. Her eyes widened as she watched him, but she didn’t back away. “Rogue,” she whispered when he reached her.
He didn’t stop, he just pushed her back into the room, shut the door behind him, locked it, and spun her back against the door, mouth covering hers. He poured it all into the kiss. His anger, his pain at what they had endured, his relief, and his desire. She met him, and their kisses were frantic. Scarlett scaled him like a tree, wrapping her legs around his hips as she drove her fingers into his hair, scoring his scalp with her nails.
He growled into her mouth and bit her lip before soothing it with his tongue. She moaned, pulling him tighter. “I love you, Rogue,” she breathed, making him pause. He pulled away and stared into her eyes. “You don’t need to say it back or anything,” she rushed on. “I just, I wanted you to know that, just in case you hated me or—”
“Shut up,” he growled at her.
She scowled at him. “Hey!” she protested.
He brought his hand up to grip her neck, pressing on her throat just enough to make her stop whatever tirade she was thinking of spewing at him. “You think I don’t love you?” he growled at her, furious that she would doubt him even for a moment. “I killed people for you today. For you and our girls, because you’re mine, and I protect what’s mine, Scarlett. A man doesn’t do that if he doesn’t love someone. If he doesn’t want them for his own. I told you, you’re mine, and that means you have to deal with the monster. That includes knowing that I will kill anyone who hurts you or hurts the girls.”
She swallowed hard, eyes filling with tears. “I thought you’d hate me for killing her,” she whispered.
“I’m fucking pissed you did that,” he told her roughly. She stiffened. “Not because you did it, but because you had to do it. That you now have that blood staining you, Scarlett. I understand why you did it, and I understand what it meant, but I’m your man, and that means I protect you. You don’t ever get your hands dirty or do something that could end up with you going to prison for any length of time if it was ever found out. You don’t ever put yourself in that position again, or I’ll spank your ass so hard that you won’t be sitting comfortably for a month,” he threatened.
Scarlett slowly nodded. “I know, Rogue, and I know you want to protect me. Protect us, but in this, I’m not sorry. I needed to do it, Rogue. She took everything from us. She might not have been the one to hurt us, but she arranged that sale, she knew about it, and she was going to give the girls to that sick bastard who paid for them. I wanted to know that she wouldn’t be doing it ever again.”
“And now she never will again,” he promised her. “We’re going to make sure that the men involved pay.”
“Thank you, Rogue,” Scarlett whispered, leaning her forehead against his. “Thank you for believing us, for helping us, and for loving us.”
“I’m never letting you go, Scarlett,” he vowed. “Never. There will be nowhere you could go on this planet that I won’t eventually find you.”
Scarlett smiled at him. “Thank God. Who knew I would fall in love with my stalker, huh?” She laughed when he growled at her and smacked her ass in warning. “You still have a few days to wait for what you want, big guy,” she reminded him. “But maybe, I could be persuaded to thank you in other ways.” Her smile turned coy.
“I think it’s the least you could do,” Rogue agreed, setting her on her feet. With firm pressure, he pushed her to her knees. She looked up at him, eyes full of love and lust, and he finally,finally, felt settled. “I love you, Scarlett,” he murmured, even as she unbuttoned his jeans and slid down the zipper.
“I love you too, Rogue,” she murmured. “Now be quiet, or you’ll wake the girls and I don’t need them hitting me this time.”
