Page 215 of Blackwood

“Hey, baby, about fucking time you got back here.”

She tips her head back, flashing a grin that could raise the dead. “I can’t stay long. Rico needs me in hair and makeup, and I still need to check on my fighters. Make sure they’re all ready to go.”

I groan, dragging my hands down her spine. “Baby, who arethese guys?”

She leans in, lips brushing my jaw. “Let’s just say they’re the kind of men who’ll bring in bigmoney from your donors.” She rises on her toes and kisses the tip of my nose. “And put on one hell of a show while doing it.”

I narrow my eyes. “That sounds like code fornot your normal Row boys.”

She lifts her chin, eyes gleaming like she planned this whole damn ambush. “It is. So, you better be ready, baby.” Then she slips out of my arms with that lethal little wink that always scrambles my brain. “Because they are. And I’ll make you a deal…”

She pauses. Lets it hang there. “If you make your fight a fight to remember… if you win, if you beat my fighter. I’ll do what you’ve been asking of me for weeks.”

My heart stops.

“I’ll come home for good,” she says softly. “I’ll move in, Lex.”

I swear to God, I forget how to breathe. One second, I’m standing there like a cocky bastard about to go punch someone’s face in, and the next? I’m a goddamn wreck.

My chest expands like I just took my first breath in years. I rake a hand through my hair, trying to process the words that just left her mouth.

She’ll come home. For good. To us. To Cade. To me.

“Fuck,” I whisper. “You serious?”

“Just win the fight, Barinov.”

She turns to leave, but I grab her by the wrist, tugging her back into my space.

“No, no. You don’t get to walk away from me like that.”

She smiles, slow and sinful. “Oh baby, I’m not walking away.” Her fingers trail down my chest, slipping beneath the hem of my shirt, tracing the lines of muscle as she drops to her knees in front of me.

“Bella…” My voice is hoarse, breath catching. “What are you doing?”

She glances up, eyes dark and playful. “Oh, you know, just helping you work out a little pre-fight stress. It was Cade’s idea.” She pulls my shorts down to the ground and her eyes widen as she bites the side of her lip.

My heart is hammering, my hands fisting at my sides as her fingers move slow, teasing my cock. It pulses in her hands.

“You want me to stop?” she asks, cocking her head, the ghost of a smirk on her lips as she runs her hand up the length of me.

“Fuck no,” I growl, jaw tight, eyes locked on her like she’s the only thing that exists. “Baby, you touch me like that and I’m gonna forget there’s even a fight tonight.”

She hums, pleased, and I swear I black out for a second as her mouth finds me. Her tongue glides from the base to the tip and I let out a moan. I brace a hand against the wall trying to stay upright while she ruins me.

“Jesus, baby. Mmmm…”

She takes me in and moans around me, deep and needy, and I swear my knees almost buckle. My hand slides to the back of her head, steadying myself. Her red nails bite into my thighs, sharp and perfect. The sight of her on her knees, lips wrapped around my cock, and her eyes starting to water nearly undoes me.

“Fuck, baby,” I grit out, voice raw. “You’re gonna make me lose it.”

She doesn’t slow down. Just picks up her pace, sucking and licking me like she’s starving and I’m her favorite meal on the goddamn planet.

A few more strokes and I’m right there on the edge of unraveling. My hips jerk forward, and her eyes meet mine. That look? That wicked, gorgeous, wreck-me look?

It’s over.

I groan her name as I come, spilling deep down her throat. And of course, like the perfect fucking angel-devil she is, she swallows every drop. Doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t stop. Just keeps her eyes on me the entire time.