Lila

​​

His eyes were wide and pleading, begging her to understand. Begging her to agree. But there was also that stubborn edge she knew. He was determined. He wouldn't be moved. And she was terrified. She knew him, knew what he'd do—he'd go all in. He'd risk himself completely to try and save her and…

"Dane, you're scaring me."

He combed her hair back with his long fingers, shaking his head. "I'm not going in alone. I'm not just running off half-cocked. I'm doing it right. With help."

"But he has people. Powerful people."

"So, we have to pray that doing the right thing and making sure the right people know will nullify them. The American Government isn't going to fall for my dad. The question is whether the people who sanction him can beat us to the punch."

"What punch?"

"The punch of getting the right information out to the widest audience possible. If enough people know, it can't be denied. That's where you come in, Lila."

"I… what?"

"You're my publicity star, remember? My fixer?"

"Dane, this is so far beyond sex scandals and bad press."

He nodded and combed his fingers through her hair again. "So, while you're here and you've got some time, give it some thought. Make a plan. Once we have the proof—once the Police have the proof—who do we make sure hears about it so my father's powerful friends are forced to keep their distance? How do we make it impossible for them to save him?"

She stared up at him, open mouthed. "I want to know how to keep you alive, Dane. Because if they can't do that, the rest doesn't matter."

His brow lined. "I told you, I'm not going in alone—"

"No, I'm not arguing about it. I know you're going to do it and I'm not going to fight with you right now. I don't want to spend our time that way. But you have to know, Dane," her vision began to blur, "You're so precious to me and what you're talking about…"

He shushed her and pulled her face up into a kiss. "I'm going to be fine."

"You can't know that!"

"Lila—"

"Think about if it was me, Dane. Think about how you'd feel if I was going after your dad—if I was going to force a conflict. How would you feel knowing we were even going to be in the same room?"

His fingers tightened in her hair and he squeezed his eyes shut tight. "I think about that every day, that's why I'm going to end this," he ground out.

"You have to come back to me, Dane!" her voice was high and choked. "You have to!"

"I will, baby," he breathed pulling her in, kissing her deep and slow. "I will, I promise," he whispered against her lips.

She knew he couldn't promise it. He couldn't know. Then it struck her—this might be the last time she ever saw him, touched him, smelled him. With a sob, she laced her fingers behind his neck and pulled him in, frantic, her breath quick and sharp. And he responded, cupping the back of her head and leaning her back, hissing when she tugged his shirt out of his pants and started unbuttoning it, trying to stop her.

"You have to come back, Dane," she whispered, pushing her hands underneath his shirt so she could feel his skin, run her hands up his stomach and over his back. He rested his forehead on hers, his stomach moving quickly in and out with his breath. Then she tugged the belt of his pants undone.

He groaned. "I don't have time, the driver's waiting—"

Lila couldn't speak—so she grabbed the hem of his massive hoodie that draped her like a sack, and sobbed happily when he helped her pull it up and over her head. She was bare from the waist up and he sucked in, kissing his way down her neck, her throat, dropping to kneel and taking her nipple in his mouth with a guttural moan, his hands kneading and stroking all over her skin.

Lila let her head drop back, her stomach twanging in time with his attentions, her knees already trembling even before he tugged at the sport shorts again, pulling them down in a slow slide until she stood in front of him, completely naked.

Then he pulled his head back to stare at her, drinking her in from her toes, slowly, slowly until he found her eyes and his own were shining. She put a hand to his face as he tried to speak, but had to clear his throat.

"I love you," he whispered hoarsely.

"I love you more," she whispered back, then leaned down to finish unbuttoning his pants. And it was like he came alive.

With a grunt, as soon as she loosed his pants he stood, his arms wrapped around her middle, taking her up and off her feet with him, kissing her as he turned, but she wrapped her legs around his waist at the same moment she sucked on his neck and he jerked like she'd shocked him.

*****

Dane

He'd meant to take her in the bedroom. If they were going to do this, he wanted to do it right. But when she wrapped her legs around him, tilting her hips, and her softest places slid along him, he almost lost his feet.

"Please, Dane," she gasped. Frantic, he stumbled around the couch, unwilling to stop holding her, kissing her, even for the seconds it would take to move. When he dropped into the plush sofa, their hips rolled and they both groaned.

She put her hand between them and Dane's head dropped back when she stroked him.

"Lila!" he gasped.

But she rose onto her knees, pinning him against the back of the couch with an open mouthed kiss, then brought them together, sinking onto him.

The feeling was so electric, he arched, moaning as she sobbed his name into his mouth. Her hands were everywhere, in his hair, on his face, his shoulders, his chest, as if she was painting him with her smell, her touch.

"Lila, I love you," he gasped and opened his eyes, almost losing himself at the sight of her, arched against his chest, her head thrown back and hips rolling.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

He wasn't going to last, but as he reached for her hips he could feel the pebbled skin that heralded her own release and he gritted his teeth, pulling her down as he rolled up.

A strangled cry broke from her throat, half a breath because she couldn't quite exhale before he was thrusting again. Straightening so he could reach her mouth, he leaned her back over his arms, pulling her in and down as he cried her name and she sobbed his, her breasts teasing his chest with every writhe.

"Never. Leave. Me," she gasped. "Please, Dane!"

"I love you, Lila!"

"I love you!"

Then he reached between them and rolled against her with his thumb once, twice, three times, until she jerked like she'd been electrified, crying out and gasping, her movements disjointed.

But Dane could only hold on and bellow her name again as he shuddered to his own release.

They sat there, panting, their chests pressed against each other, her arms wrapped around his neck, his at her waist, and breathed.

Dane dropped his head to the spot where her shoulder met her neck, his breath still heaving, as the twitches of her climax gave way to shaking shoulders and tiny sounds that broke his heart. And she clung.

"Don't cry, baby," he pleaded, trembling. "Don't cry. I'm here."

But that just made her cry harder.

Dane knew he had to leave. He'd already been so much longer than he'd meant to—someone might come looking for him. But he couldn't leave her like this.

So he sat back, pulling her with him, holding her, stroking her hair, whispering comfort and kissing her while she cried all her fear for him into his shoulder. And the moment was so utterly bitter-sweet that Dane wondered if his heart might actually break.

*****

WANT MORE, RIGHT NOW? Read the author note below to find out how you can read up to 25 chapters in advance of their release: