Page 123 of Criminally Yours
“I’d best go,” Millie replied, contemplating fitting in a quickie with Strike before Merryn and Elsie arrived. “And I’ll call my mum today. Thank you for the advice.”
“Tell Strike I’m overjoyed for him,” Liss teased. “Good luck with your family. I’ll call tomorrow when Strike’s driving you to the meeting.”
“Thank you. You’re amazing.”
“So are you, Mills.”
Millie’s eyes flicked over Strike’s body as he ignored her. He knew what that would do to her after his threat of the belt. Her body crackled as he moved around the kitchen in boxers. The navy material gripped his arse like she wanted to. The scars threading down his back didn’t make her sad now that she understood him better.
His darkness wasn’t as threatening, and now that he’d shared it, it lost its hold over him. During one of their control sessions, he’d stood with her on his shoulders and mouth fucked her to orgasm. He revelled in the power he could have over her.
“Did I tell you Merryn and Elsie are coming over?” she stuttered.
“You did. We’ll save your punishment for later. You need to be edged while you’re tied to my pull-up bar.” She shivered at the possibility. “Or maybe I should make you play for me while I instruct you. I choose the location.” Millie held her breath. “Once we’re away from here, I can buy things I want to use on you.”
His stare didn’t leave her even as Merryn and Elsie appeared on the deck. “Oh my, Strike,” Merryn said, fake fanning herself. “It’s hotter in here than in the late morning sun.”
“Ladies,” he replied, smirking as Millie swallowed repeatedly at the idea of Strike’s plans. “I’ve made nibbles. Please enjoy them. I’ll be training in the gym.”
He chucked a T-shirt on, covering his back, but for one glorious moment, he hadn’t hidden his scars. Pride bloomed in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
He pecked Millie on the cheek, who struggled to tear her gaze away as he left the room.
CHAPTER 51
Millie
Once Merryn and Elsie left, with promises of seeing Millie before she and Strike left the town for good, she messaged her mum.
She wasn’t ready to leave her new home, but normal life was calling, which meant sitting down with Strike and hashing out the future.
Maybe they only worked because the trauma of near-death had pushed them together. Daily life would test them. And she’d have to distance herself from her family. She wouldn’t watch them treat him like crap, but that meant choosing between him and them.
Her phone vibrated with a call from her mum. Millie sighed as she walked to her room. She shared Strike’s bed now, but most of her stuff remained in her original room.
“Please tell me you’re okay,” her mum crowed as Millie popped her phone on speaker and eased the hairband out of her still damp hair.
“Of course I’m okay.” She gritted her teeth. “I mean, I’m fine. I’m on holiday with?—”
“Caleb,” her mumsnapped.
“Yes, although his name is Strike now.”
“He hasn’t broken your heart again yet?” Her mum was already shrill.
“Tell me about your holiday.” Millie cleansed her face, removing the salt water.
“Stop trying to change the subject. You’re on holiday with Caleb.”
“Strike. I might even move here.”
“What? Has he drugged you to think you want to be with him?”
“Don’t be so ridiculous, Mother.”
“You’re rushing into the arms of your teenage boyfriend. You’re too obsessed with fictional men, and you’re returning to him because of something you read?—”
“I haven’t read a book in several days.” She’d run out of paperbacks, and her phone wouldn’t connect to her app. “And I know fictional men and real men are different.”
