Page 172 of Merciless

“I want to watch you ride me. Use me, Dove. Take everything you need.”

* * *

Thankfully, I didn’t end up a sobbing, broken mess after any of the orgasms JD gave me during our little fuck fest. Instead, we stumbled on unsteady legs to the shower and made the most of our continued privacy.

I didn’t think I could go again, but JD happily proved me wrong when he wrapped my legs around his waist and fucked me into the wall.

Hands down, one of the best evenings I’ve had in quite a long time.

I was expecting him to deliver me back to my cell and disappear upstairs to go and do whatever it is he does with Reid up there.

But he didn’t, instead, he grabbed the blanket he brought down for me yesterday and crawled onto my bed naked, slipping under it and waiting for me to join him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done this before,” he muses after long, silent minutes.

My back is to his front, his arm locked around my waist and our legs entwined. I’m so relaxed, so comfortable with him. I don’t feel like this thing between us is new. It’s like it’s always been this way. It’s as amazing as it is unnerving.

It’s one of the things I always wished Mav would do more often. He climbed into bed with me a handful of times over the years when I had a really bad night, my nightmares leaving me inconsolable.

Every night after it happened, I prayed he’d just slip in behind me and hold me close again. But he never did. If I was lucky, he’d set up home on the chair and watch over me.

“Being in a bed with a woman? Funnily enough, I don’t believe you.”

“Not cuddling,” he confesses. “It’s nice.”

I wiggle my ass, making him groan.

“It is nice. I agree. But why do I feel like a feral beast is going to burst through the door.”

“He can if he wants. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

“Don’t you want to go and get into your big, comfy bed?” I ask, barely holding back the grin his words cause.

“Nope. Not unless I can take you with me.”

“Aw, such a smooth talker,” I tease.

“I mean it, Dove. I want you in my bed, exactly like we are now.”

As much as I love that thought, tears fill my eyes, and my heart fractures. As much as I might want it, the moment I’m allowed out of here, I’m running through the front door and away from this place as fast as I can. Even if it means leaving a piece of me behind.

42

MAVERICK

My cell buzzes on the counter as I drink my coffee, praying that this week is going to be more successful in finding my wife than the previous one.

It can’t get any fucking worse, that’s for sure.

I stare at it. At the name of the man lighting up the screen.

I want to ignore it. To ignore everything. But I know I can’t.

Ever since I learned the truth, the last thing I’ve wanted to do is toe the line and do as I’m told.

But what’s the alternative?

We don’t have everything we need to bring them down for their crimes. And until we do, there’s fuck all I can do.