Page 52 of Merciless King

I liked it, the quiet, the peacefulness. The idea of going back to the city soon, to the nightmare waiting for me, held no appeal whatsoever. “Maybe once this is all over, I’ll move out of the city. Go somewhere completely new and start again,” I said, not sure if I was serious or not, but as the words left me I realized I liked the idea. New York had nothing but bad memories for me now.

Van’s hand stilled on my back. “You’re leaving?”

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Somewhere far away. Some cute small town where I could start fresh. “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But I think that maybe I need to think seriously about it. There’s nothing for me in the city anymore.”

“What about your business?”

His voice had dropped, was deeper.

I shrugged. “Maybe I could open another store or maybe just work for someone else. Maybe I’ll buy a little bit of land and grow flowers instead.” I smiled. Yeah, I liked that idea. “My own plot of land. I could get another dog, a cat, maybe some chickens.”

“Chickens?” Van said frowning. “You’re serious?”

I mulled the idea over in my head again for a minute. “I think I might be. A new start might be exactly what I need.”

Van

I watched London, able to see the moment the idea solidified, and did my best to hide what was going on inside me.

Leave? A new start?

I fucking hated the idea. The thought of her somewhere else, somewhere that I couldn’t see her whenever I wanted to, made me near insane. There was no way I was letting her leave. No way.

You don’t have the right to ask her to stay. What can you offer her?

Not one damn thing worth anything.

I listened while she talked about this new life she wanted, getting more animated. Listened and hated the excitement growing in her voice as she mulled over towns and occupations. As she planned her life without me in it.

I’d told her I couldn’t give her more and she’d accepted it fully, without question or argument.

She wasn’t holding out hope that I’d change my mind. This wasn’t some manipulation to see if I would. London wasn’t dishonest like that. No, she’d believed me, even though, when I’d said the words to her, I wasn’t sure if I believed them myself.

All of a sudden I didn’t want to think about her leaving. I sure as fuck didn’t want to hear the happiness in her voice when she thought about leaving me behind. Yeah, it was selfish. If anyone deserved happiness it was London. But right then, with her lying naked on top of me, after being buried deep inside her, watching her come alive, lose herself, I fucking hated it.

I took her face in my hands and kissed her, shutting her up, taking what I needed instead. She instantly kissed me back and wrapped her arms around me, and I rolled her to her back.

“No more talking,” I muttered against her already kiss-swollen lips.

She looked up at me, and fuck me, those blue eyes seared me to my core. I felt branded, restless, hungry for her when I’d come only a short time ago. Lifting up, I rolled on another condom and came back down on top of her.

Then I fucked her again. Hard and deep, probably rougher than I should, but there was no way I could rein it in. Not then. Not when I felt her slipping away from me.

London didn’t seem to mind. No, she clung to me, met my out-of-control hunger with her own, took everything I gave her until finally her cries filled the room.

Somehow, I’d have to let her go.

* * *

After dinner, London found a book that someone had left here and curled up on the couch to read while I made some calls.

I stood on the porch, door shut behind me, phone to my ear as Hunter filled me in. I didn’t like what I was hearing.

“We’re keeping eyes on Terrence but his twin brother, Owen, he’s smoke. If the police weren’t involved in this I’d bring Terrence in and force him to tell us where the psycho fuck was hiding. As it is, Daniels is keeping a close eye on the situation personally and getting in our way.”

I’d bet he was. Daniels had made it clear he wanted London and he wasn’t giving up on her anytime soon. This wasn’t just another case to him. It was personal. But Connor would have to go through me to get to her and I wasn’t stepping aside until I had no other choice.

And with the way London was talking, that would come sooner rather than later.