Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
He climbed out of the truck slowly, his gaze moving from the vest to the ring on my hand, then to Corbin. “I came to help you pack your things.”
I bit my bottom lip, already recognizing his resigned tone, but Corbin started to answer. Dad held up a hand and stepped closer.
“I can see she’s staying.” He glared at Corbin. “So I’ll say this once. You hurt her, and there won’t be a hole deep enough—”
“Dad.”
Both men looked at me.
I planted myself between them, my hands going to my sides. “The territorial stare down thing stopped impressing me about three threats ago. I’m wearing his name on my back and his ring on my finger. I’m staying. We’re good.”
Dad let out a deep sigh and dragged a hand down his face. Some of the fight drained out of his posture, even if the protectiveness didn’t. “You’re sure?”
I beamed a smile at him. “I’m sure.”
He nodded, still not looking thrilled but accepting my decision. Then he pulled me into a tight hug. “Love you, kiddo.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
He stepped back and gave Corbin one last hard look that promised consequences if he ever failed me before getting in his Tahoe and leaving.
Corbin’s hand settled at the small of my back as we watched the taillights disappear. “Inside.”
I let him tug me into the house, glad that my dad seemed on board with me becoming Mrs. Corbin Ralston. Probably sooner than he’d like, but at least I didn’t have to worry about him not wanting to walk me down the aisle to the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with.
When he locked the door behind us, I turned to face him and let the boldness from the claims he’d laid on me tonight carry me. “For a man who gets so bent out of shape about the word, you were quick to bring up breaking into government systems if I didn’t want a wedding. Which is why you’re my favorite hacker.”
His eyes darkened as he backed me against the door, pinning me there with his body. One hand braced against the hard surface beside my head. The other slid up and locked around the nape of my neck, tilting my face up to his.
“I warned you what would happen if you kept using that word.”
Heat coursed through my veins, but I held his stare and let a smirk curve my mouth. “I don’t seem to remember you putting it quite like that. Maybe I need a reminder.”
A growl rumbled up his chest, and then he swept me into his arms to carry me toward the stairs.
“I’ll remind you,” he promised, moving fast up the steps. “All night if that’s what it takes.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and laughed softly against his throat, the sound full of everything I felt.
The danger was over.
I was his.
And he was taking me to bed to make sure I didn’t forget it.
EPILOGUE
CIPHER
The Black Crowns’ veterans’ fundraiser had taken over the broad meadow of the Rutledge Ranch, filling land normally used for training with food tents, live music, raffle tables, and more civilians than I preferred inside our outer perimeter. Every vehicle had been screened before entering, each vendor vetted, and all the guests passed through a controlled gate without realizing three separate camera systems had identified them before their tires touched club property. None of it required much conscious attention anymore, which meant most of mine remained fixed on Bex.
My fiancée stood beneath my arm wearing fitted jeans, white boots, and the black leather vest bearing PROPERTY OF CIPHER across her back. Her engagement ring caught the light whenever she lifted her hand, and every flash against her finger tightened the same possessive place inside me that had settled the first time I slid the vest over her shoulders.
Four weeks had done nothing to reduce my need to keep one hand around her waist, track every person who approached, or imagine taking her home and stripping her clothes off one slow piece at a time.
Bex tipped her face toward mine, amusement warm in her eyes. “You're staring again.”
“Oh?” My tone was anything but innocent.
Her voice softened as she leaned closer, and her eyes were bright with mischief. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Corbin. You’ve been staring at my butt every time I turn around.”
“Vest tells everybody it belongs to me.” I lowered my mouth beside her ear while my cock began thickening from nothing more than the scent of citrus and vanilla on her skin. “I’m allowed to admire my property.”
Bex bit her lower lip to contain a laugh, then glanced across the field to make sure her father wasn’t close enough to overhear. Raines stood near the veterans support booth speaking with Stryker and Judge, his expression considerably less hostile than it had been the first time he saw my name across his daughter’s back. He still looked at the patch occasionally like he was considering whether California law offered a creative enough definition of justifiable homicide, but he had stopped pretending Bex lived anywhere except with me.