“We can interrogate him later. You should eat something and rest a little.”
She jerks her gaze to mine, disgust written all over her face. “We’re not staying here long. As soon as he wakes up, I’ll get him to tell me where my dad’s at, and then we’ll go find him.”
I cringe, knowing this conversation with Gabe won’t end well. “Fine,” I say, placating her, “but you will eat. You’re pale as hell.”
She relaxes a bit as I walk over to the refrigerator. I open the freezer, hoping to find something easy to make her. Instead, I only find foil-wrapped vegetables.
“What a fucking weirdo,” I murmur in disgust as I widen the freezer to show her.
Her face blazes crimson as she charges for me. I gape at her as she starts grabbing them from inside and begins chunking them at Gabe. They may as well be rocks because each one that manages to hit him makes a thud. I stand there in stunned silence as she throws every last one of them at him.
My Baylee. My sweet, sweet girl. She’s lost.
All that’s left is this angry, distraught little animal. I’m afraid she’ll never be the girl I once knew and loved.
Doesn’t mean I could ever stop loving her. If anything, I love her even more. We’ve both changed. Not just her. She and I are different. We’ve seen things—done things that have altered who we are and forced us to grow wise beyond our years.
When she has nothing left to throw at him, she slaps his unconscious face over and over again. I let her release some of her inner rage and emotion before scooping her into my arms. Her hand clutches onto my neck as I stride with her into the living room. I sit down and bring her with me into my lap.
She smells clean and her skin is soft. My arms grip her tight against me as she curses God, sobs, and screams. We stay like that until she’s nothing but a quivering, sniffling, hiccuping shell of herself.
“Rest now, Baylee,” I murmur against her damp hair. “You’re safe now.”
“WHEN WE MAKE love, I forget to count your breaths,” War murmurs in the dark, his fingertip tickling over my ribcage as he drags it up and down along my skin. “But they’re quicker and more frequent. I like the way they sound, sharp intakes followed by whimpering exhales. And the ragged, uneven way about them is perfection.”
I smile and snuggle against his warm body. “Maybe we should do it again. You know,” I tease as I kiss his neck, “so you can count them.”
A deep, rumbling chuckle reverberates from him, and I fall deeper for him. His laughter has the ability to work itself under my skin and imbed warmth there for eternity. With each laugh or smile, he fills me. I’m whole with this complicated, beautiful man.
“Bay, I’ll make love to you any day,” he says with a growl, “but I can assure you I’ll always forget to count.”
He rolls on top of me and nudges my thighs apart with his knee. When he rests his hardened cock against my belly, I let out a gasp.
“When we fuck,” he murmurs, making sure to enunciate the word as he thrusts against my body, “I only think about you. The black abyss inside my head is obliterated by your light. I’m too absorbed in your tight body and swollen lips. You chase away my demons. I’m nothing more than your servant—put on this earth to worship you until the end of time.”
His words cause a heat to burn through me, all the way from my heart to my core. I squirm against him and thread my fingers into his dark hair. “Fuck me then, servant,” I taunt, pulling his head down to mine.
He must be turned on by my dirty talking because he lets out an animalistic grunt and forcefully enters me. My body is wet and ready, as it always is with him, and I moan against his lips.
“One,” he mutters aloud as he bucks against me. The delicious tightening in my lower body intensifies with each powerful thrust into me. He’s counting my breaths and I’m counting stars.
“Two.”
All of them.
“Three.”
Glittering behind my closed eyelids as I greedily grab for the orgasm his body will no doubt give me. His lips steal over mine and he kisses me hard enough to steal the breath right from my lungs.
I love all the parts of War.
But when he makes love to me, he owns not only my body but my mind as well. We become one and I relish in the way we connect in blissful harmony. His hand slides to my breast and he squeezes reverently. Our lips don’t disconnect as he fucks me right over the edge.
“Oh, God!”
My words seem to have a ripple effect because his cock feels as if it grows inside me before he bursts his release into me, marking me as his.
And it’s true.
I’ll never belong to another.
War owns me and I own him.
Together we are peace.
“My sweet Baylee,” he croons, his lips now peppering kisses all over my face. “You’re so goddamned perfect.”