Page 31 of Savage Protector

And now that I’d had her, I didn’t know how to let go.

Eventually, I had to, in the literal sense.

The alarm clock on the nightstand read seven thirty by the time I had no choice but to gently raise her away from me long enough to slide out from under her. She barely moved.

Why did it have to be so easy to stare at her? The morning light painted her face, turning her skin to bronze. There was now a thin strip of blonde running down the part in her hair that made me wish she had never dyed it dark so I could enjoy its golden gleam.

This isn’t about you, asshole. Pulling the blankets over her, I grabbed jeans and a shirt and headed for the bathroom to get dressed after washing up. She needed all the rest she could get. There was a long day ahead of her.

The news about Jack had made certain things crystal clear. I needed to get her out of here, far away, before doing everything in my power to fuck up Dominic’s world. I was going to hurt him, and I was going to enjoy it in a way I hadn’t enjoyed anything in much too long. Not even the fresh memory of her fluttering pussy milking me dry topped the thought of making him suffer.

She couldn’t be around for that.

Drake had his orders to expedite the arrangements. I’d told him last night to have something ready this morning, come hell or high water.

The gnawing feeling in my gut refused to leave me alone. I couldn’t stomach the idea of never seeing her again, especially after last night. This would have been difficult enough without the knowledge of what it felt like to be inside her and the sweet taste of her skin or the sounds she made as she gave in to ecstasy, how completely she trusted me, and how deeply she slept in my arms.

My dick twitched at the memory, which I pushed aside in favor of brewing coffee and making breakfast. By the time the bacon was crisp, and the eggs were frying, soft footsteps rang out behind me. “Good morning.”

I looked over my shoulder and was relieved to see she’d put on clothes, not that it was easy to forget the way she looked without them. She ran a hand through her hair, teeth grazing her lip like she was nervous. It was touching. “Good morning. Thought I’d treat you after you’ve fed me all this time.”

“It smells amazing. Thank you.” Her gaze was like a butterfly landing on me before darting away again, then returning for another brief moment as she poured coffee. “I’m sorry I passed out on top of you.”

“Don’t be.” When was the last time I had to suffer through a morning-after conversation with a woman? I didn’t normally stick around until morning. This was why.

Eating gave us something to do. I couldn’t help drinking in the sight of her, knowing there wouldn’t be much more of this. The fact that she was forbidden made her that much more appealing. Last night was a mistake, but I’d be damned if I could make myself feel sorry. I knew I should, but the feeling wasn’t there.

Though I made it a point to keep space between us, I couldn’t run the risk of making contact and forgetting what needed to be done today. And touching her always seemed to make me forget everything, but touching her again.

She was gathering the empty plates when I got up to grab my laptop from the coffee table in the living room. “Could you find something to do in the bedroom for a while? Or on the porch? I have a call to make,” I explained, powering up the machine. “Normally, we’d talk over the phone, but Drake is already sending documents via our in-house network. If we’re both going to be on anyway, I’d like to have a little face-to-face time. It’s been too long since I was around.”

I looked away from the laptop to find her frowning. Some of the light left her eyes as they searched my face. “I don’t get to hear what’s happening?”

“The less you know, the better.”

Arching an eyebrow, she spat, “Excuse me, but that’s bullshit. How can there be anything good about me not knowing what happens next? Maybe you think you’re doing me a favor, but you aren’t.”

I saw the truth behind her words, even if it was inconvenient. “You might hear things you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

“I don’t care. What, do you think I’m a child?”

No. Certainly not. She was a woman in every sense. A woman who, even now, when she pushed my dwindling patience to its limits, made me yearn to forget everything I needed to do today and spend hours ravishing her. Her taste still lingered on my tongue after I’d indulged in her musky sweetness, her scent locked permanently in my memory. I wanted more.

She wouldn’t have stopped me, either. Knowing she wanted it, too, made resistance that much more of a struggle. How did I know? The way she kept staring at my mouth and the longing in her eyes. The tip of her tongue ran across the seam of her lips, and I could barely stifle a groan. Why the fuck couldn’t I have met her before Dominic had?

“I know you aren’t a child,” I grunted, snapping her attention away from my mouth. Fuck me, now she was looking me in the eye the way she did last night while I was on top of her, while we⁠—

“Fine,” I decided, sitting in front of the laptop. Anything to break the tension of the moment and focus my thoughts again. She dropped into the chair across from me while I connected to the private network one of my techs had set up years ago for secure communication. Drake was waiting, already logged in by the time I called him. Moments later, his face filled the screen. He was bleary-eyed, a man who’d been working overtime researching likely areas for Scarlet’s relocation.

“I have our friend here with me,” I explained before he could say anything. No, she wasn’t a child, but there were still certain things she didn’t need to hear, like details his contacts might have picked up about Jack. The thought of him lying on a slab was a punch to the gut. Later, think about it later.

“Gotcha.” He cleared his throat, and there was a definite change in his voice when he spoke again. “Everything is in place. All documents have been processed, travel arrangements are finalized. She is ready to go.” He knew better than to reveal anything more than that. We took every precaution, but there was no such thing as being too careful.

The strangled sound that came from her made me look away from Drake. Stricken, she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed them briskly, wide-eyed, haunted.

“Excellent news,” I murmured as my heart sank. Sure, it was for the best, getting her out of town and taking her protection off my already overloaded plate, but I didn’t have to like it.

I did, however, have to pretend I did for her sake. I didn’t matter in all of this. “I want two men out here as soon as possible to escort her. At that point, I’ll be on my way back. We can discuss the next steps when I arrive.”