Surrender To Me

Read: Do you want me to put a bullet in her skull and dispose of the body where nobody would ever find it?

“No. If she goes missing, they’ll know something is up. I think this witness thing is bullshit but look into it.”

“You got it. Anything else?”

“Just tell me we’re locked down tight on this.”

“We are.”

Running a hand through my hair, I blew out a breath. “Okay. Call me if you need me. I can be down at the club in ten if I’m needed.”

“We’re all good, boss.” Dagger hung up, and I stared at the glowing screen of my phone. Fuck. I hated feeling out of control like this. Cox wasn’t playing ball. She was my loose cannon, and having one of them was never a good fucking thing.

WREN

I STRETCHED out in Bane’s bed, blinking at the warm light filtering through the large floor-to-ceiling windows in his bedroom. My arms were still sore, but nowhere near as sore as my pounding head. Rolling over, I looked for Bane, but his side of the bed was empty.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Good morning,” a dark voice rumbled. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

He strolled into the room in those gray sweats again. I let my eyes drift down his naked torso, biting my bottom lip.

“Don’t look at me like that, Little Bird. I’m not going to be fucking you for a few days.” He chuckled at my pout, then reached out and brushed the hair from my face as he sat on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Still a little sore.” I touched my head, so he knew where.

Holding out his hand to me, he dropped a couple of white pills, then reached for the glass of water on the table beside the bed. “These should help. The doctor said if the pain got any worse to take you back in again.”

“It’s not getting worse.” I washed the pills down my throat with a mouthful of water and handed him back the glass.

“Breakfast, or not feeling up to it? Mrs. Bellinger is already in the kitchen.”

“Maybe something small?”

He nodded. “You got it. I’ll tell her to ease off with the full spread, then.” With a boyish grin, he left me alone with my thoughts.

I had to get a hold of Hawk to let him know I was okay and that I was staying with Bane for a little while. Jesus, this entire thing was fucked up. My apartment was going, and everything I’d ever owned was destroyed by a fire. Hawk was still up to his eyeballs in the shit he consistently got himself into. My life was spiraling out of control on me here, and I had no fucking idea how to get off the ride.

The first tear that tracked down my cheek took me by surprise. The second soon followed, and I wiped at those traitorous things with the back of my hand. I didn’t cry. Crying was for the weak when they had nothing left to do. I wasn’t beaten, though. I wasn’t giving up, I was just giving in at the moment.

“Wren, baby?” Bane asked when he caught me sniffling in bed.

I looked at him through tear-soaked lashes and cried a little harder. He was the only thing in my life that was going right. He came to me quickly, placing the cup of coffee he was holding down to wrap me in his arms. I clung to him, burying my face in his shoulder and letting out the tears that I had no hope of stopping anyway.

“I’m here for you.”

I tightened my fingers around his bicep. His warmth leached into me, grounding me. “It’s all gone.”

“I know.”

I looked up at him. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“You’ll stay with me, or in one of my apartments,” he added.

I began shaking my head. I didn’t want to be alone right now. Being in a strange apartment, alone, even if it was supposed to be my new home, wasn’t something I wanted to do. “Can I stay here with you instead?” I held my breath, wondering whether he would still want that.

“Thank fuck,” he breathed, kissing the top of my head. “Yeah, you can stay here. I was prepared to fight you on going to one of my apartments. Wren, baby, I fucking need you here in my bed with me.”

“I’ll stay out of your way. You won’t even know I’m here.”

His dark eyes swallowed shadows. “What’s mine is yours. If you want to fill my apartment with whatever the hell you want, go ahead.”

My smile was weak, but my heart was bursting. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Little Bird.” He kissed me, the slow burn turning into something more. I clung to his shoulders, but he pulled away. “You need to rest.” Reaching over, he grabbed the coffee. “Here.

Drink this, and I’ll get you some toast.”

“Thank you.” I took a sip of coffee and let out a sigh. “I might take a shower first if that’s okay?” “Of course, it’s okay.”

I slid out of bed and padded to the bathroom. I was in one of Bane’s shirts, the hem hitting me mid-thigh. I closed the door and took off the shirt, standing in front of the mirror to see how bad the damage was. I was exhausted from everything, so I hadn’t had a shower like I’d intended to last night. Both forearms were covered in waterproof dressings, the skin around the edges raw and red. I had soot on the side of my neck and some on my face that looked like it had been wiped away very quickly. The rest of my body was fine, and given what I learned about the fire, I was lucky to have survived with just some minor burns on my arms.

Starting up the shower, I got in and slowly began to wash myself, washing my hair at the same time. It smelled of smoke, and the reminder wasn’t a pleasant one. Standing under the powerful spray for a while longer, I tipped my face up and shut my eyes. The perfectly temperature-controlled surge of water pounded against my skin, washing away every last trace of the fire.

“Wren?” Bane called from the door. I turned to face him, staring at him through the glass shower door.

His molten gaze traveled down my naked body, his jaw tightening when they reached my dressings. He stepped into the room and slowly began to strip out of his sweats. His cock sprang free, bobbing as he walked. Liquid heat pooled between my thighs. I shouldn’t want him right now, not after everything my poor body had been through, but I couldn’t deny it.

Prowling forward, he stepped into the shower with me, his broad shoulders filling the space. I braced myself for the same intensity I was used to with him, so when he framed my face gently with his hands, I let out a breathy sigh. He drifted his hands down my neck, over my shoulders, brushing the underside of my breasts on his way around my ribcage. When they got to my hips, my stomach began to flutter with anticipation. “Sit down on the bench.”

When I was in position, he dropped to his knees and spread my thighs. He stared hungrily at my pussy before his eyes roamed everywhere else. I sucked in a gasp when he leaned in and placed his mouth against my heated flesh, drawing another gasp when he parted my folds with his tongue.

Seeing this larger-than-life man between my legs and his broad shoulders pushing the limits of my flexibility did something to me on a primal level. A moan reverberated through the bathroom when he slid a finger inside me, pumping it in and out slowly. He lapped at me but never got close to the place where I wanted him. Each sweep of his tongue diverted at the last moment, each suck was not where I needed him.