She nodded and gave me one last reassuring smile. As she walked away to join the others, I felt a strange mix of relief and sadness wash over me. Saffron and I would never be what we once were, but perhaps there was hope for some semblance of a friendship, a mutual understanding born from the ashes of our past.

  In the end, it was all I could ask for. That and Igno’s head on a platter.

  39

  Daphne

  I tried to blink away my confusion and surveyed the room in which I found myself. I was lying on a small cot, surrounded by four gray walls. It was a sparsely adorned room, with a chair and a single window just big enough to catch a glimpse of the outside world.

  I looked down at my body and saw that I had been bandaged up in various places. Whoever had found me and brought me here clearly had some medical experience, and they had done the best they could, given the circumstances.

  Though my limbs felt like jelly, I managed to find the energy to bring myself to a seated position. My head spun and my vision blurred, but I felt a little better. I was still groggy, though, and it was all I could do to stay awake.

  The room was sterile and cold, with that distinct hospital smell, a mix of disinfectant and despair. I blinked, trying to clear the fuzziness from my vision. I was hooked up to various machines that beeped and whirred, a symphony of noise that really didn't help my pounding headache.

  "Where the hell am I?" I muttered, my voice croaky and weak.

  "Ah, you're awake," said a voice that definitely didn't belong to Drake. I looked up and saw a guy standing in the doorway. One of those absurdly handsome types with blond hair and a jawline that could cut glass. He stepped into the room, his blue eyes full of concern.

  "Don't worry, you're safe. You're in the Rogues medical bay," he said, flashing me a smile that probably made girls swoon on the regular. Not me, though. I only had one person I needed to see and that was Drake. I wasn't accepting substitutions.

  "Where's Drake?" I asked, trying to sound firm despite the fact that I was sitting on a cot, covered in bruises, with a bandaged shoulder and connected to about a million wires.

  "Drake's fine," Hot Blondie replied, looking me up and down. "But right now, you need to focus on getting better."

  “And who the hell are you?”

  “You can call me Legend,” he said with a grin.

  I was in no mood for bullshit. Let alone a spiel about how I needed to focus on the important things. I needed to know how Drake was. I wouldn't be able to think about anything else until I knew. "Excuse me, but I need to see him. I understand you've been given your orders to not tell me anything that isn't wholly necessary. However, if you don't bring him to me, I will start screaming bloody murder." I spoke calmly but directly, adding enough steel to my voice to let him know I was serious. "Now, if you don't mind, please point me to someone who can actually tell me what the hell is going on and where the hell he is."

  He opened his mouth to say something else while reaching for my IV button to give me another hit of whatever the hell was in the bag attached to my arm. I didn't want more drugs though. I didn't want a fogged-up brain. I wanted to think clearly.

  Spotting the scalpel sitting on the tray next to my bed, I grabbed it and flicked my wrist to the side, brandishing it just how Drake had taught me. Sure, I was weak, achy, and disoriented, but I'd be damned if I was going to let anyone keep me from getting to Drake. He'd saved my life. If he needed help, then I needed to figure out how to get to him.

  "I might not be able to fight my way out of this fresh hell, but I can take a vital part of you with me," I threatened, trying to look as menacing as possible considering my current state.

  Hot Blondie's eyes widened, and he took a step back, his hands raised in a placating gesture. "All right, take it easy. Let me see what I can do."

  "Thank you," I said, still holding the scalpel. I had no intention of actually using it on him, but the threat seemed to do the trick, so I wasn't going to let go just yet.

  He left the room, and I slumped back onto the cot, my heart pounding. I didn't have long to wait, though, because a few minutes later, the door opened again and there he was.

  Drake. Like an avenging Angel out of the shadows with those piercing blue eyes that made my insides melt like butter on hot toast.

  "Daphne!" he choked out, rushing to my side. I immediately dropped the scalpel, and he pulled me into a careful embrace, mindful of my bandaged shoulder.

  The moment his strong arms were around me, cocooning me in his warmth and chasing away the fear, desperation, and worry, I let my body sag. “Thank God you're okay. I woke up and you weren't here, and then the hot blonde wouldn't let me see you.”

  He chuckled, the vibration of it like a hum against my chest. “Hot blonde, you say?”

  “He was very attractive, but he wasn't you. Where are we?”

  Drake only held on tighter, a shudder running through his body. "I'm so sorry. I should have protected you better," he whispered into my hair.

  "It's not your fault," I murmured into his shoulder, inhaling the comforting scent of him. "I'm just glad you're here now."

  He pulled away, his eyes searching my face for any sign of serious injury. "Are you okay? Not in too much pain?"

  I shrugged, wincing slightly at the movement. “My shoulder aches. But I didn't trust the meds. I turned off my IV.”

  Drake's jaw clenched. "That’ll be from the surgery. You can trust the medications. We're somewhere safe. You had some bullet fragments in your shoulder that they had to remove, but then you didn't wake up for the longest time. You scared the shit out of me. You'll have to forgive Legend. He had strict instructions not to let you leave until I could see you again. He should have made sure you were comfortable."

  "Hey," I said, grabbing his hand to keep him from storming out of the room. "To be fair, I did threaten to cut him with a scalpel and turned off my IV, so he couldn't really help me.”

  “You did what?” He was making his angry face with his brows drawn down and that muscle in his jaw ticking.

  “It's okay. I'm here, you're here, and we're both alive. That's what matters, right?"

  He sighed, his anger fading as he looked into my eyes. "You're right. I just… I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt. I made mistakes. I thought I was so fucking clever taking you off the board. I should have known the lengths Massimo would go to in order to get to you. You are here because of my hubris."

  I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Oh, please. This whole mess isn't just because of you. A madman decided that he wanted more and could just take whatever he wanted, including me. You’ve been trying to end this. And we will. I'm going to help you. I'm tired of running scared."

  Hot Blondie chose that moment to reappear in the doorway, looking sheepish. "Sorry to interrupt, but I, uh, just wanted to make sure everything was okay in here."

  "It's fine," Drake said, his tone a mix of annoyance and relief. "Thanks for letting me know she was awake, Legend."

  Hot Blondie nodded, his eyes flicking between the two of us before he retreated, leaving us alone once more.

  "You really scared him, you know," Drake commented, a hint of amusement in his voice.

  I smirked. "Good. He needed to know I'm not just some damsel in distress who can be pushed around. Except, apparently, by you."

  Drake kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for a moment. "I never thought that for a second."

  As we sat there, wrapped up in each other's arms, I couldn't help but feel a small sense of triumph. Sure, I was bruised, battered, and stuck in a medical bay in the middle of a Rogues facility, but he hadn’t left me. We could face whatever fresh hell life decided to throw our way. And if that meant occasionally threatening hot blond guys with scalpels, well, so be it.

  40

  Drake

  I had a feeling that Daphne would want to talk at some point today. Against my wishes, she had been read in on everything that had happened, and she'd met the whole team. She'd even spoken to her sister, and she'd insisted on calling Reginald as well. I was surprised by how she’d taken it all in stride and just nodded solemnly as if all of this was normal.

  None of this should be normal to her. If I had just left her alone, none of this would have happened.

  But Massimo would have her. And unlike you, he would not have treated her well. He wouldn't have cared about her. He would have taken what he needed and disposed of her.

  It was so impossible thinking through all the steps that had led us here. Every mistake I made, every choice. There were a million other ways to go about it, but we would have still ended up here. We had always been inevitable. On this collision course for each other.

  She'd been restless last night, tossing and turning. I'd held her tight, trying to calm her, but she could probably sense something was going on.

  You know this is a bad idea.

  I didn't want to leave her. Walking away from her was going to be the most painful thing I'd ever done. But I knew what happened to people who got close to me, and I'd already brought too much pain into her life. She would be safer without me.

  Reginald's words kept trying to filter in. You can choose. You can decide who you want to be. You can choose to have everything. Don't make Daphne’s decisions for her.

  The problem was that even though I knew the complications, I had completely fallen in love with the woman. And watching her lay unconscious for a day and a half, knowing that I was the reason behind that, I couldn't do that again.

  Still a selfish prick.

  Daphne walked in. Saff had given her a few clothes for the interim to wear. Now she wore a fluttery skirt with a tank top. Saff was taller than her, so she had to roll up the waist. The tops fit well, though her breasts were bigger than Saff's, so the T-shirts accentuated that.

  Mind out of the gutter. You've got to walk away from her, and you need to rip that Band-Aid off.

  But when she walked in, she gave me that sweet smile, the one that made her dimples peek out. The one that made me feel like I was a thousand feet tall because she saw me. Not the monster I could be, but the man.

  "Where have you been?" I asked.

  She hitched her thumb toward the hallway. "I was hanging out with the girls. Saff is actually lovely. And Jesus Christ, she’s stunning to look at. Not to mention Tabatha’s hair. I could spend thousands of dollars in a salon and still not get that red color."

  I shook my head. "Neither one of them holds a candle to you."

  She bit her bottom lip. "Do you mean that?"

  Immediately, like it was following a freaking siren's call, the blood rushed to my cock. I knew what she could do with that tongue. A shudder ran through me as I thought about it, feeling the need to be buried deep inside her, to grip her arse with my hands, giving her no room for escape or reprieve as I fucked her raw.

  I shook my head to alleviate the image. Thinking about how much I craved her was not going to help.

  "Daph, I wanted to—"

  She held up a hand. "I'm sorry. If you could just—" She paused, and this time her teeth grazed her plump lower lip, and I wanted to be the one biting her. Taking little nips. Making her whimper and moan. "I just, I feel like something's off,” she continued. “Like there's this chasm between us. And—" She took another step toward me. I could feel the gravitational tug to be in her orbit, to let her be my sun. And screw the consequences of what could happen to her.

  "Daphne, I'm not—"

  "I want you, Drake. I even wanted you when I met you officially and I was irritated. The first day you walked into the office, you were so commanding, and the way you would look at me made me feel like I was naked all the time. It was raw, and terrifying, and alluring, and intoxicating. You were also infuriating and frustrating, but God, did I want you."

  Hearing her say she wanted me was definitely not helping me make the right decision. Because I could think of all the ways I wanted her, and it was more than her body. Her scent was wrapping around me like the vines of a deadly plant. Enticing, alluring. Beautiful. But once you were caught in the trap, there was no escape. It was already almost too late. I needed to do this. I needed to make it fast and decisive. But she took one more step, and I was lost.

  She kept talking. "I love you, Drake. I've never felt this alive in my entire life. And sure, you did kidnap me, handcuff me, and chase me through the woods, but you've never hurt me. You've done your best to keep me safe. And I really want to try it with you. I want everything with you. Not just the words. The actions. I can almost feel you running away from me, and I don't want you to. I want you to talk to me. I want this to be real." She placed a hand on my chest then, and I knew she could feel my heartbeat racing.

  I was a goner for this woman from the moment I saw her. "The day I walked into your office and you met my gaze and gave me that smile with those dimples, I knew I was keeping you."

  She stood on her tiptoes, looping one arm around me, lifting her head and kissing me. Her tongue peeked out to lick my bottom lip, and I groaned low. My hands automatically slid down her back to her arse, picking her up so she would wrap her legs around me.

  I held her steady, making sure that she tucked her injured shoulder into me as I deepened the kiss automatically, angling my head to get more of her, to lick into her mouth, to make her moan. All the while grasping her arse and dragging her pussy over the length of my cock.

  Daphne owned me. I might have been the one who thought I was taking her. But with every passing day, she was locking me to her. She was the dangerous one.

  The kiss grew more passionate, stealing all the air from my lungs. I couldn't breathe. My heart raced faster than ever before, and my stomach tightened with need.

  I loved kissing her. Loved the way she sucked at my lips, the way she opened her mouth to mine. I loved how alive she made me feel. But always, I loved how she made me want to be a better man.

  To be worthy of her.

  I maneuvered her to the bedroom and eased her on the bed, telling myself that this was just a bit of snogging. That these kisses would need to last me a lifetime.

  But even as I did my best to keep my hands in her hair and not her tits or her arse, or even more disastrously, her pussy, she reached for my cock and I couldn't bloody breathe.

  "Fuck, I'm hurting here." I bent to kiss her neck. She stroked me through my cargos and I knew I didn't have any kind of strength to resist.

  I knew what she was doing. Proving that I ached for her. Well it wasn't a secret. "Daphne. You know how much I need you. We—"

  "Shhh. It's my turn to do the talking now, Drake."

  She unzipped the cargos, reaching in and wrapping her hand around the length of my cock and God help me I considered passing out.

  She knew exactly how tight to hold me. How I wanted it. How I liked it. Blood rushed between my ears, and I had no idea why I'd ever thought that this was the wrong thing to do.

  "Fuck, Daphne," I whispered, trying to put a stop to what she was doing, but instead of releasing me, she squeezed. My jaw clenched, my stomach tightened, my shoulders tensed, and that's when she started to slide my erection through her fingers. I fell back onto the bed trying to seize back my sanity, but she stole it the moment she pulled my cock out and wrapped those oh-so-sinful lips around me.

  "Daphne." I groaned, fisting my hand in her hair, unable to decide if I was pulling her off or holding her on.

  She drew me deeper until she choked and her eyes watered. Bloody hell, watching her take every damn inch was the hottest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

  Her hand wrapped around my base, she looked up and our eyes met. She pumped me twice, and then she was back at my head, her eyes never leaving mine as she sucked me deep.

  "Daphne." I groaned again, not able to control myself.

  My free hand gripped the sheets, my eyes squeezing shut as her head bobbed up and down, her lips sucking hard and a she smiled around me. She knew she was in control, and she was loving it.

  The muscles in my legs tensed. My mind blanked. All the reasons why I shouldn't do this left me and all that remained was Daphne. It was Daphne's mouth on me. Daphne's hand.

  The electricity wound around my spine as Daphne drew my cock out until the tip of my erection was in her hand. She swirled her tongue over the head, and then she took me into her mouth again, swallowing me over and over, taking me deeper than I thought she could.

  Fuck me.

  I felt my cock swell and dig into the back of her throat. My balls tightened and the last thing I remembered was calling her name when I exploded down her throat. My hands fisted tight as I held her in place and I fucked her mouth with short digging strokes while she obliterated me.

  "Shit. Shit. Daphne," I panted.

  She sat back with a satisfied smug smile, but she'd broken cardinal rule number one. She came first. She really should know better. Lucky for both of us that my cock was nowhere near done with her.

  I had a compulsive need to watch her as she came apart around me.

  I pulled out of her mouth and gently grabbed her underneath the arms to sit her up and then I pulled her over on top of me. I needed her to fuck me as bad as she needed me to fuck her.

  "Drake, but I thought..."

  "You really think I'm not always desperate to fuck you? I only ever take breaks to give my pretty pussy a break."

  Here eyes went wide as she eyed my still swollen, still pulsing cock.

  I caressed her hips as I shifted her skirt out of the way and I settled her over me. Her knees gripped me tight and she looked down at me through hooded eyes as she sank onto the full length of me.

  Fuuuuck. She was so tight. She was ready, but not as wet as usual. She hissed and I curse under my breath. "See kitten, this is why the cardinal rule is there. To take care of your pussy first. I want to make you sore for fun reasons, not because you weren't fully ready."

  "Shhh, just give me a second. God, you’re so big."