My body is still buzzing like I’m high. It’s been hours since Montana fell asleep, her delicious body curved around mine. All I’ve been able to do is hold her and watch her sleep, running my fingers slowly through her hair or along the curve of her spine down to her hip and back up. It’s scary how addicted to her I already am.
Part of why I was so resistant to taking things this far with her was because I knew once I had her, I’d never want to stop. There would never come a day when I’d have enough of Montana Blackwood, and just like I suspected, now I knew without a doubt I was right.
I’m not sure whether I should relax into it or not. There’s still a little voice in the back of my head whispering disturbing shit, like her stalker’s going to take her away from me and I’ll lose her forever
The more logical side of my brain remembers my conversation with Indy and tells the voice to shut the fuck up. Montana’s strong and I’ve been training for this for over a decade. He won’t be able to do shit. I can stop him.
At least I hope.
I’m staring at her again and, fuck, she’s incredible. Look at everything she’s been through lately. Not one time has she crumbled or cowered under the stress or fear. Not only does she keep moving forward with her shoulders back and her head held high, but she does it with a wicked smile curved across her kissable lips, and both middle fingers tipped toward the sky.
Still—and I hate to admit this shit to myself—there’s still a part of me that’s afraid. Terrified even. There hasn’t been anything that’s scared me since I was a kid, yet this woman in my arms makes me want to turn and hide. How is it that she can scare me so badly yet pull me in so strongly there’s no way I can possibly resist?
What scares me even more, is lately I’ve noticed my entire happiness from day to day depends on hers. What her mood’s like, how many times she smiles, and how carefree her laugh is when she gives it, all determine my own frame of mind, and I don’t know what to do with that. It’s fucked up.
Maybe I should wake Montana up with my tongue between her thighs, and then after she’s screamed my name and come on both my tongue and my cock, I’ll take her to breakfast. She’ll have to be in a good mood after a carb-loaded breakfast and orgasms. It’s a foolproof plan, and I think I’m starting to figure out this whole hooking up more than once thing already. It’s way too early for the B-word, right?
Montana hasn’t made it a secret what she’s looking for, and for the first time since Makenna was taken, I wonder if there’s more to life than the chase and need for retribution.
My dick hardens at that last thought. I may not be ready for kids, but I could be easily convinced to practice until we get it perfect. Now that the line with Montana has been crossed, I’m consumed by every dirty fantasy I’ve ever had about her and the need to act them all out one by one until neither of us can function anymore.
Then maybe we can fall asleep and do it all over again.
With that in mind, I gently roll her off of me and freeze, making sure she doesn’t wake up yet. I’m going to need a few more minutes to slide between her legs and work my magic before I want those gorgeous eyes fluttering open and focusing on my tongue on her clit as the first thing she sees today.
When she doesn’t budge, I slowly slip down her body, pulling the blanket off her as I go. Since we passed out last night after sex, she is still naked, so all I have to do is gently nudge her legs apart and climb between them. I don’t waste time picking her legs up and maneuvering my shoulders underneath them. Sure, the position isn’t ideal with the way I have to hold myself up, but once she wakes up, I can adjust.
I drop a soft kiss straight on her clit before licking her from her entrance all the way back up. My tongue barely touches her. She isn’t turned on yet, and I don’t want to shock her awake. No, this is about a gentle wakeup in the best way.
My tongue drags across her clit languidly, drawing slow circles and alternating with strokes. She shifts, and a breathy sigh escapes her lips, even if her eyes haven’t opened yet. Her body is starting to respond to me, and when I reach down to her entrance and stroke the smooth skin softly with my finger, it comes away wet. I barely hold back a groan, and while I continue my attention on her clit, I reach between my legs and grip my cock, using her juices to stroke myself while I finally suck the little bud into my mouth.
That’s when her eyes fly open and settle on me, her lips parted in an O and a pretty pink flush staining her neck and cheeks. Her fingers tangle in my hair as she throws her head back and arches her back to try and bring her pussy closer to my mouth.
“Ohmygod,” she mumbles sleepily, tightening her hold on the strands of my hair as I go back to drawing circles. I reluctantly let my dick go and push my finger inside her instead. Her walls tighten and grip me as I curl my finger, and she shatters, her whole body tensing up and then relaxing as she cries out my name.
It’s quite possibly the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
When I crawl up her body and hover over her, her eyes are bright, and her cheeks flushed. Her lips are tilted up in a satisfied smile, and I kiss her like it’s the last time I’ll ever get to. No matter what happens between us, I plan to never take her for granted or assume there will be a tomorrow. I know better. This moment might be all we ever get, and if it is, I want to enjoy every taste, every touch, every sound so completely they’ll be imprinted on my memory forever.
My fingers trailed along her soft skin to the curve of her breast, where I palm and squeeze gently before rubbing my thumb across the stiff peak. She lets out a breathy moan that has my cock throbbing, and I settle between her legs, nudging her opening with the tip of my dick. “Good morning, Spitfire.” My voice is gravely, and I don’t think it’s from disuse.
“That was a helluva wake-up, big guy. If you’re not careful, I might just get used to it.” I wait for the anxiety to hit, but it doesn’t. The way she’s looking up at me with a mixture of heat and uncertainty has me dropping a kiss to her already swollen lips and brushing her fiery hair from her eyes. I rock my hips against her so I can slide my cock through her arousal.
“Maybe I’m okay with you getting used to my tongue between your thighs before you even open your eyes, and maybe I’m okay with starting my day with your taste on my lips and my cock buried inside you.”
Her lips part, and I want to dive into her, but I can’t. Not yet. Not with that psychopath stealing her birth control. I back off and find my joggers to grab another condom, tearing it open and sliding it on with a trembling hand. Montana has me so wound up, I’m shaking. It’s never happened to me before, and my only focus is how to get inside her as fast as humanly possible.
Slipping back between her legs, she tilts her hips up, trying to get me inside. Her fingers reach between us, and she wraps them around my shaft, guiding me right where she wants me to go. As much of a hurry as I was in to get here, now I just want to savor it, so I slide inside slowly, inch by agonizing inch until we’re as connected as we can possibly get.
Montana looks up at me, begging me to move with her half-lidded eyes hidden underneath dark lashes. I draw back out slowly and glide all the way back in, finding a rhythm of long strokes and grinding my hips against hers, so I hit her clit with every thrust. Her pussy is squeezing me, clamping down so I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to.
Her body pulls me in while her nails run down my back, and I lower my gaze to watch her tits bounce with my thrusts. The tension coils in my body with every stroke of my cock, building and tightening until it’s hard to breathe. When I can’t take it anymore, I lower my head and suck her nipple into my mouth, running my tongue across the tightened tip until she’s thrown over the edge and her body’s convulsing around mine.
Montana drags me over with her as pleasure shoots down my spine, and I explode inside her. We hold on to each other, neither of us moving while I rest my forehead against hers and bask in being able to be so close. I had no idea how badly I wanted this until I fully gave in last night, and now that I can experience all that she is, I’m reveling in being connected in this way.
How the fuck can I deny myself the pleasure of the way she’s looking at me right now? Like I’m the stars to her sky, the light in the dark, but really maybe that’s what she is for me instead. Until she came along everything was muted and grey, dimmed and lifeless. I just never noticed until this moment right here.
I’m officially turning into one sappy motherfucker.
“So, as much as I’m living for this right now,” Montana says, breaking the silence and tilting her hips up so my semi-hard dick shifts where it’s still nestled inside her. “I would murder someone for some pancakes, bacon, and a chai tea latte.”
Chuckling, I reluctantly slip out of her and gasp when I look down to deal with the condom. “Fuck.”
She sits up and her gaze drops to the shredded condom. Her eyes widen and dart back up to my face. “Ro-”
“Get dressed,” I tell her, pulling off the condom in a daze and getting rid of it. A numbness is winding its way through me and this thing with Montana just got a fuck ton more serious. I pull on my clothes, tossing her the shirt I find on the floor next to mine. “I wanted to take you to breakfast anyway. We should talk.”
Her whole body goes rigid with her pants halfway up her thighs. “You’re not seriously going to give me orgasms and then take me to breakfast and ruin the vibe, are you? Okay, the condom broke. It happens. That doesn’t mean anything’s going to come of it. Besides, you can’t possibly be that big of a dick. You might have a big dick, but you wouldn’t. Would you?”
A laugh burst out of me, cracking through the mental haze. “I think you might’ve thrown a compliment in there, Spitfire. Guess that means I did my job, and you’re in a good mood, huh?”
She narrows her eyes and finishes pulling on her pants and buttoning them up. “Watch it. I might like you and your cock right now, but if I don’t have food in front of me in the next ten minutes, I’m going to have to let my inner bitch out, and trust me when I say you don’t want to meet her. She’s not as fun as I am. So, if you’re planning on breaking whatever we have going on between us off, now that you’ve been between my legs, I’d reconsider until I have some food in me.”
My damn cock twitches because feisty Montana really fucking does it for me, and all her threat does is make me want to drag her back into the bed and order in. Shit, maybe we should. The image of that fucked up condom pops into my head and it’s like ice water thrown on my libido.
She’s already stepping into the bathroom to brush her teeth, and by the time I decide this is all going to be fine, she’s pulling the door open. Finally, my mind and voice sync up. “I’m not planning on breaking anything,” I tell her, hoping it’s true.
When we step into the living room, Indy’s nowhere to be found, and Asher’s sitting on the couch looking at his phone. “Hey, man. Mind coming to breakfast with us?” I ask.
“Sure, I could eat. Sounds like you worked up an appetite in there,” Asher says, glancing between us and then giving me a knowing grin.
“Don’t be a fucking perv,” I say, but there’s no heat behind it. I say it because I’m supposed to, but really I wish everyone could hear Montana while I’m making her come. Then they’ll know to stay the fuck away.
“Yeah, sorry, not sorry. That was one hell of a wakeup, but now I need to eat,” Montana adds, looking fully pleased with herself—and me—and not the least bit embarrassed or scared about what happened at the end. Then again, getting pregnant is what she wants. Fuck, she wouldn’t do something to the condom, would she?
I shake off the thought as soon as it crosses my mind. She always somehow finds a way to surprise me, but she’s honest to a fault. She wouldn’t manipulate me like that. She owns her shit, and it’s sexy as fuck.
I glance around, stepping closer to Montana and skating my hand across her back until it rests on her hip, so she has no choice but to lean into me. “Where’s Indy?”
“He ran into the office, but it’s cool. We’ll lock up, and I’ve got the security feed on my phone.”
“Fair warning, Montana and I need to talk, so when we get to the restaurant, we’re going to need some privacy while we eat.” I’m trying not to be a dick about this whole thing because I need another set of eyes on her, especially now that I’ve crossed so many lines. The possessive need to make sure she’s protected is overwhelming now, more so than before even, but I really don’t want my co-worker there to hear the very personal conversation I’m about to have.
“Don’t sweat it, man. I’ve got you.” Asher isn’t usually so easygoing, so I narrow my eyes at him, wondering where the hell the fight I was expecting went. He’s a control freak through and through, no doubt a byproduct of being raised by a mob boss.
Deciding to let it go, I release my hold on Montana and step into the hall first, scanning for anything that looks out of place. When I decide it’s safe, I motion her out, and then Asher brings up the rear, locking the door behind us.
The little cafe on the corner next door to Montana’s favorite bar is within walking distance, so Ash and I sandwich her between us during the walk. She threads her fingers with mine and leans against my arm while we walk, and if I wasn’t busy looking at every face we pass and watching for threats, it might’ve been perfect in an unexpected way. I can feel myself getting attached and it’s putting me on edge.
When we get to the cafe, Asher goes inside first and checks the place out before popping his head back out and motioning for us to come inside. Montana goes right up to the counter and orders for all three of us, not bothering to ask either Asher or me what we want. Asher gives me a what the hell look before shrugging and finding a table.
I’m sure it’ll drive him nuts to not be the one to choose what he eats, but he can get over it. The place is pretty empty inside since it’s a little late in the morning for breakfast. We’re at more of a brunch time, but I’m glad for the space between tables. I find one and sit with my back to the wall, so I’m facing both the door and window.
It doesn’t take long for Montana to come over. “They’ll bring everything out when it’s ready.”
“You realize Asher’s probably having a stroke over at his table because you ordered his food without consulting his daily schedule, don’t you?”
The grin she gives me is pure wickedness, and I want to drop to my knees and worship her under the table for it. “I know, but it’s fun to mess with him.”
I can’t argue with her. The waitress shows up with our drinks—chai for her, and surprisingly my usual nitro iced coffee. Lifting my eyes in surprise, I find her grinning at me. She’s paid close enough attention to me to know my regular coffee order, and I’m floored.
The waitress swings by Asher’s table next, dropping off the biggest coffee I’ve ever seen, except it looks more like a milkshake with tons of whipped cream and colorful sprinkles all over the top. Asher looks at it with disgust while Montana laughs her ass off across the table from me. When he glares at her, she blows him a kiss and then turns back, so she’s facing me. She’s glowing and looks happier than I’ve ever seen her. I give myself a pat on the back for putting that look on her face, since I think it has a whole hell of a lot to do with orgasms. There’s this intensely satisfying warmth spreading out from my chest all the way to my fingers and toes, knowing I helped put that contentment there.
When the waitress follows up Asher’s drink with a giant pancake with a whipped cream smiley face, Montana loses it, and I can’t help but laugh along with her. Asher looks like he wants to throw the plate at the waitress—or maybe Montana—but he clenches his jaw and calmly stalks to the counter, and passes it and the coffee back over.
On the way back to his table, he shoots a glare at Montana, and the grin quickly drops off my face, replaced with a look that promises if he touches her, I’ll kill him. Of all things, that gets a demented smile out of him as he settles back in his chair, and his attention drops to his phone.
“Okay, we’re here. I’ve fucked with Asher, and the food’s on the way. What’s this ominous talk we need to have about?”
I reach out and pull her hand into mine, linking our fingers together. I want to pull her into my lap, but I also want to look in her eyes, and it’s a battle I can’t win.
“Well, I know we had a few conversations before last night about where I stood relationship-wise, and I’ve been getting my ass kicked by both Connor and Indy for not making a move. I thought we could talk about why I said all that stuff before so you can understand more about where I’m coming from. If you want?”
Her nervous gaze softens, and she runs her thumb across the back of my knuckles, so I let out the shaky breath I’ve been holding. “I definitely want.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Asher jump up and rush across the distance between our tables. “We need to go. Now.”
I’m up and pulling Montana with me before he’s finished his sentence. Her eyes are wide with fear, but her lip pops out. “But breakfast.”
“We’ll order in.”
“We could wait for them to bo-”
“Now,” Asher snaps.
“Fine, cranky pants. We’re going.”
“What’s happening?” I ask him when we’re on the sidewalk and hurrying back to Montana’s apartment.
“A guy in a black hoodie was spotted in the hallway outside the door. We don’t have camera coverage in a couple of the rooms, so I can’t tell you what he’s doing, but I can tell you he’s inside right now.”
Shit. “I’ll text Indy,” I say, hoping he’s not too far away. Someone needs to stay with Montana while we check the apartment. Ash can probably handle it on his own, but we don’t know what this sick fuck is capable of. I’d feel better if he didn’t have to go in alone.
My fingers fly across the screen, and the reply is almost instant. “He’s a couple of blocks away, and he’ll meet us in the lobby.”
“We’re not waitin-”
“Whatever that deranged assclown is doing up there is nothing that can’t be fixed or replaced. We wait here together,” Montana steps in and tells Asher. She’s shorter than he is, but she has no problem getting in his face and matching his glare with one of her own. Pride swells inside me as I watch the exchange, but it’s quickly washed away by worry.
How the fuck does this guy know every time we leave? It’s like he has a tracker on her, but we’ve scanned every inch of her apartment and every piece of tech she has, and it’s all come back clean.
It doesn’t take long for Indy to show up, and he and Asher head up to the apartment with their weapons drawn and matching looks that promise pain if they catch the guy. I’ve seen those two work in Connor’s basement together a few times, and they make one scary-ass team.
Montana leans her forehead against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her, breathing her in and convincing myself that she’s okay; she’s safe. “While we’re standing around, you can order breakfast if you want,” she mumbles against my chest, and I can’t help but laugh. I find myself laughing a lot around her.
“And what would the spoiled princess like for breakfast?” I ask her in mock irritation.
“Just for that, I’m thinking a chicken and waffle sandwich and also donuts. Oh, and bacon. All the bacon.”
Chuckling, I move one hand off her and pull my phone out, placing an order. The minutes stretch out, and neither Montana nor I am talking. It’s not uncomfortable, but there is a palpable tension considering why we’re stuck here waiting.
I keep my phone out, and it beeps with the all-clear text from Indy, so we take the elevator up. Montana’s glued to my side the entire way, and when we walk in the front door, she shifts only enough so we can both walk through, but then she’s clinging to me again.
“He was gone when we got up here, but he destroyed your bed again,” Indy explains, and Montana curses.
“That motherfucker. Does he have any idea how long it takes to get a custom bed replaced? I had to pay a fuck ton of money last time to get it expedited.” A tempest rages behind her eyes, and her cheeks redden with her anger. I figured she’d be more freaked out, but she only seems angry. “And if he thinks I’m going to run scared and hide at your house again, he knows nothing.”
Right now, she reminds me of a fire-breathing dragon, and I love it. Indy gives me a knowing smirk when he catches me checking her out, but I just flip him off. “We’ll figure that part out later, but how about you eat while the three of us talk?”
Right on cue, there’s a knock at the door, and Indy grabs it with his hand behind his back, resting on the grip of his gun just in case. It’s just the delivery guy, so he grabs the food and gets Montana set up. I move down the hall to the bedroom with Asher on my heels, and Indy meets us inside a minute later.
The entire mattress has been hacked to shit, with scraps of the sheets everywhere and pieces of foam littering the floor. It looks like someone set a bomb off on the damn thing. “He got in through the window,” Indy says. “It was open when we got up here.”
“How the fuck did he do that? I checked the windows before we went to sleep last night, and they were all locked.”
Asher shrugs. “There are all sorts of tools to get you in somewhere. Every time someone makes a security device, someone else makes the countermeasure.” He’d know with the way he grew up.
“Do you think this is because of what happened between you two this morning?” Asher asks, gesturing to the ruined bed.
“And last night,” Indy chimes in with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“How the fuck would he even know? He doesn’t have cameras in here; we’ve checked.”
“Maybe he stared through the window.” Indy and I both gape at Asher. I sure as fuck hope we didn’t have some pervert watching while we slept together for the first time.
“What? It’s a likely explanation.”
“We’re sixteen fucking floors up. What’d he do, scale the side of the building?” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter right now. What are our next steps? So far, this guy’s getting around every measure we put in place. He’s slipping in easily and making his presence known. He might not be able to easily grab her right now, but I’m starting to think when he decides he’s going to, he’ll find a way. That can’t happen.” My stomach churns like I swallowed a ton of bad seafood and then went sailing. The thought of losing Montana to that lunatic is unbearable.
“Right now, we’ve got nothing. If we just had something, some scrap of evidence to push us in the direction of who he is or how he’s getting his information, we could go on the offense,” Indy says.
We all stand in a semi-circle thinking, but none of us come up with anything. “Maybe we need to bring in the entire team and see if anyone has any ideas.”
“I just came from the office, dude. Connor thinks we need to keep playing defense and wait for the guy to slip up. Sebastian hasn’t found anything on the building security feed, and Julian and Elias are working with another client,” Indy says.
“You could always give the guy what he wants,” a feminine voice interrupts our failed attempt at brainstorming.
I stalk across the room to where she’s leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded under her tits, pressing them up and drawing my attention to them. I shake it off, though. This is not the time to get hung up on how perfectly her breasts fit in my hand or how when I lick her nipple and then blow on it she…
Montana runs her palm up my chest and around the back of my neck, her fingers playing with the short hair at the back of my head. “You know it’s a good idea. He wants me, so dangle me in front of his face like a carrot. Make it look easy for him to grab me and see if he takes the bait.”
“Fuck, no. We’re not doing that.” I’m desperate to protect her from this bullshit she’s proposing.
“It could work,” Asher says, and I send him a death glare. He’s getting punched in the face later for agreeing to this.
“It won’t actually be easy for him to take her, Ronin. It’ll only look that way.”
“C’mon, big guy. We’ll do it close by on my home turf. How about the bar downstairs? It’s, like, three doors down, you’ve already been there, so you’re familiar with the layout, plus Simon’s there, and he can help keep an eye out, too.”
“How do you see this little scheme of yours playing out, huh? You just sit there looking irresistible, and he walks in and clubs you over the head and drags you out? He’s not stupid.” I’m fucking fuming.
“Two of you will go down there early and scope it out and either blend in or find places to hide. Then one of you will come down with me but slip away for a few minutes. Maybe to the bar or the bathroom or something where it looks like you’re not watching me. That’ll be his chance, except the other two will be there to catch the guy when he shows his face,” she lays out.
“This is fucking idiotic,” I mutter, not only because I already know this bullshit won’t work, but because it’s putting her at risk if I’m wrong, and he does decide to show.
“We don’t have anything better,” Indy says, stepping up beside me and resting his hand on my shoulder, which I shrug the fuck off.
“It’s three against one,” Montana adds, and if I was at all into spanking, now would be the time I’d bend her over my knee. Maybe I should try it and see.
“Fine, we’ll do this, but I’m the one staying with you the entire time.”
“Except when you have to walk away,” Asher says.
How the fuck did I let myself get talked into this? I’m beating myself up until I look down into Montana’s eyes, and I have my answer. I don’t think I can tell her no, and fuck me, I’m in trouble.
We’ve been sitting at the bar for an hour. Montana’s drink is empty, my ass is numb from being perched on the hardest goddamn bar stool known to man, and surprise, surprise, her stalker never showed. I knew he wouldn’t; he’s not that stupid. He never has been. The plan was doomed to fail from the start.
Montana looks disappointed, and my irritation softens. She’s used to being in charge and winning whatever she sets her mind to, but that’s not how these situations work. This guy is clever and has outsmarted even the experts trained to catch him. She pulls her phone out of the purse she’s got lying on the table, and her whole body goes rigid when she looks at the screen.
I’m out of my seat and moving before I can even process the thought, and not only am I by her side in a second but so are Indy and Asher. I guess I wasn’t the only one watching her like a hawk.
“What happened, Spitfire?”
With a trembling hand, she holds out her phone. Indy curses while Asher’s gaze darkens. Me? I start to tremble. Not from fear, but from a rage that burns so brightly, I might lose myself to its flame.
Because that psychotic piece of shit is here tonight, watching. If the picture of Montana while she sips her drink at the very table we’re crowded around now is any indication, he’s playing us all for motherfucking fools.
