Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
She doubted that kind of happiness was in her future. How could she and EM Security ever vanquish their powerful enemies so that she could live out her dream? She couldn’t accept. He didn’t deserve a lifetime of her danger, but she owed him as much truth as she dared. “I would love that. Because I love you.”
As if that flipped some switch inside him, he hardened and swelled inside her even more, slamming her with a force that rattled her body even as he set her on fire. “Oh, fuck. Laila… Fuck! I need you to come with me.”
It was incredible and insane, but she wasn’t far from another explosion even more incendiary than the last. “Yes.”
“And as soon as this shit is over, I’m going to put a ring on your finger and a baby in your belly. You’re mine.”
She closed her eyes and sank into the fantasy of having Trees by her side each day, inside her every night as she swelled with his sons and daughters. He squeezed her hands tighter and forced her mouth open for his kiss.
Her entire body detonated with an involuntary buck and an ear-piercing cry.
Seconds behind her, his thrusts picked up pace. His breathing turned harsh. He bared his teeth and stared into her eyes. “Mine,” he growled again, his heart thundering against hers.
Then he let go with a hoarse cry, filling her with warm jets of fluid and all his love.
Breathing hard, he held her close and punctuated their pleasure with a tender kiss before he brushed a curl from her cheek. “I love you, Laila. I’m going to keep you safe so I can make you mine.”
Tears stung her eyes. He’d undone her in every way possible tonight, but his words now stripped her bare all the way to her soul. “Trees…”
“I mean it. I will—no matter what it takes.”
She knew he meant it. And that’s what worried her most.
A few hours later, Laila slept beside Trees, curled into a ball on her side, her back cuddled against his chest, one hand beneath her chin like a contented cat. He dropped his palm to her head, fingers stroking a curl from her cheek, knuckles gliding over her soft skin.
He wanted her here, by his side, forever. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her that he intended to put a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly ASAP. The urge wasn’t logical, which he usually was. Instead, it felt like a biological imperative, and Trees couldn’t explain why.
Was he trying to make a family now to replace the one he seemingly no longer had in West Virginia? No, he could pick up the phone and call home if he wanted to. It wasn’t as if they weren’t speaking to him. More like they didn’t have a use for him. Then why was he so consumed with the idea of making Laila Mrs. Scott?
Was this some possessive caveman thing? A bit. Maybe more than it should be. But a big part of him wanted to give her safety, security, comfort, love—all the things she’d never had. And in turn, she would give him something that, Zy excepting, he’d had very little of in life: acceptance.
From the time he’d been little, he’d been freakishly tall. As kids, other boys had avoided him. Girls had feared him. As a teenager, he’d been useful in pickup basketball games but not friendships. He’d been hungry for companionship and love. The opposite sex, now filling out bras and wearing makeup, had been a beautiful lure. They’d buzzed around him aplenty. At first, he’d loved it. He’d wanted a girlfriend. Then he realized they’d merely thought fucking him was something between a curiosity and a challenge.
As high school graduation approached, he’d taken a few college campus tours. He’d had the grades to go. He’d even been offered a basketball scholarship. But matriculating hadn’t been for him. Socializing with kids during his weekend campus visits? It had been the same everywhere he went. If his height and quiet nature hadn’t turned people away, being a poor miner’s kid had.
He’d joined the army instead. Easier. Safer. Less need to fit in. Not too long after that, he’d been blessed with Zy’s friendship. It had been great—more than enough, he’d told himself—for years. But since his bestie had paired off with Tessa…Trees had to admit he’d started yearning again for more.
Laila loved him. She’d nearly given her damn life to prove it.
He’d be an idiot to let her go.
But to keep her, he had to make sure she was safe—once and for all. Not for one minute was Trees naive enough to think that Laila was in the clear. Ramos still wanted her. And after she’d outed him to Montilla, the crazy son of a bitch would come after her for vengeance. Montilla had a use for her, too. Everyone knew Laila would do anything for her nephew. If the drug lord took her captive, he’d be one step closer to getting his hands on Jorge, the grandson he’d never met, supposedly to groom the toddler to someday take over his narcotics throne.