Page 118 of Shattered Silence Duet

“Promise me, Malishka.”

“I promise,” I whisper, staring into his beautiful blue eyes. My gaze wanders to his dark blonde hair, which is down tonight, reaching past his shoulders. I reach up tentatively to feel a piece between my fingers.

“Soft,” I murmur, entranced by it.

He grunts, then gently pulls me into him, my head resting on his shoulder with his arm wrapped around me. His other hand reaches down and grabs my leg, pulling it up over both of his. His hand grips my thigh, the heat from him searing into me. The sensation has my whole body on edge and I squirm uncomfortably.

His hand slowly moves up my thigh, over my hip, up my side until he reaches my face. He tilts my chin up so I’m looking at him and I see the heat there, it’s unmistakable.

“Atlas?” I whisper, unsure what I’m asking.

“Tell me to stop,” he whispers.

“No,” I whisper back, surprising both of us with my boldness. He leans towards me and takes my mouth with his. He doesn’t move at first, like he’s cherishing the moment. Then, slowly, he starts to move. He kisses my lips over and over, making me moan with need. Then he takes my bottom lip between his teeth and sucks on it. I press my entire body as close to him as I can, rubbing myself against him as my fingers dig into his chest. He licks the seam of my mouth and I open eagerly for him. His tongue is thick and demanding and has me groaning in seconds.

All too soon, he pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry, I… I can’t control myself around you.”

“I don’t mind,” I whisper, making him chuckle.

He kisses my forehead before moving his hand down to my hip. “Go to sleep, Malishka. I’ll keep your demons away.”

How was I supposed to go to sleep afterthat? But as his hand on my back starts rubbing in soft circles, I find myself relaxing into him, and soon enough, I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 12

Ben

“No,” I say firmly.

“Ben, please!” Mina pouts her lip at me, and I know what she’s trying to do.

“No, don’t you dare stick that lip out at me, Princess!” I point a finger at her, staying firm as I stand by her bed.

“But I’m bored! I wouldn’t even need to leave this bed. You could bring me all the stuff, and I could do my GED from here,” she begs, giving me those big, pleading eyes. It’s hard not to be amazed at how far her speech has come in the three days since she’s been home. She’s able to speak long sentences easily now. But if she tries to do that for too long, then her throat starts to get raspy, clearly hurting her.

I sigh, shaking my head. For the past three days, the twins, Gideon and Tucker, have had to leave during the day to go to school, and Atlas, Dom, and I have been busy trying to work on our case. She’s been feeling lonely, and clearly, restless.

“You know you need to rest. Once you get your stitches out, you can start working on it. For now, just relax.” I sit down on the edge of her bed and grab her hand. “We’re just worried about you and want you to recover. You don’t need to worry about any ofthat right now. It’ll still be there when you’re all healed up in a week or two.”

She blows out a big breath, clearly frustrated. “What are you doing today?” she asks, turning her focus on me.

“Me? I’m just working on my computer in my room down the hall.”

“What are you working on? No, wait, what do you even do for work?” Her brow furrows. She’s asked before, but I’ve never gone into detail, neither have Atlas or Dom. We’ve been carefully avoiding the subject, unsure how to broach the subject of our true identities.

“I do tech stuff,” I answer vaguely.

“Yeah, but what exactly does that mean? Can you show me?” She perks up, her eyes lighting with curiosity. “Please, Ben, I’m so bored.”

The way she says it, like she’s about to combust if I say no, makes me laugh. I squeeze her hand and give her a warm smile. “Sure, Princess. Let me grab my laptop.”

I’m gone for less than two minutes before I’m back, sitting next to her on the bed. I open my laptop and angle it so she can see the screen.

“I track things down online. I can’t give you too many specifics right now, but basically, I help others find things.”

“Do you look for anything specific?” she asks, leaning closer, curiosity written all over her face.

“Sometimes,” I say with a nod. “Sometimes I’m asked to look into finances that don’t add up, or missing people, or it could be a location where strange things happen. It all depends.”