Page 20 of Faded Rhythm

Sable

King’s phone buzzes on the nightstand, its screen flashing with a text message. He checks it, his jaw clenching, then he looks at me.

“Our ride’s here.”

I sit up slowly, nerves fluttering in my stomach. “Who’s driving?”

He slips his gun into the holster at his side and stands, eyes scanning the room for invisible threats. “Sable, I need you to trust me.”

“That’s not an answer,” I say, heart pounding.

He walks over and crouches in front of me until he’s at eye-level. His voice is low and firm, but softer than usual. “I can’t give you all the answers you want. Not yet. Maybe not ever. It’s for your own good. But I swear to you, I won’t let anybody lay a hand on you.”

He’s so steady. So sure. I believe him.

I nod. “Okay.”

I grab my bag, my hands trembling as I swing it over my shoulder. I take one more look around the room, then follow King to the door. He cracks it open, peering out like a soldier clearing a corner. Then he glances back and gives me a small nod.

Showtime.

I step out into the hallway behind him. My legs are weak and shaky. My stomach roils. I want to throw up, cry, run…but I follow King. His presence steadies me, and I cling to him mentally as we move down the hall.

We move quickly, our footsteps muffled against the worn hotel carpet. When we finally reach the lobby, it’s empty except for the night receptionist who has her head in a book. King grabs my hand and leads me out into the crisp night air.

A sleek black Mercedes idles at the curb.

King opens the back door for me. I get in, sliding over to make room for him, trying not to make eye contact with the driver.

“Where to?” he asks.

King closes the door. “Briar Cliff Inn.”

The driver nods and pulls off without another word.

King keeps his eyes peeled, scanning every vehicle that gets near us. His hand rests next to my thigh, twitching occasionally like he’s ready to go for his gun at any moment. I sit in silence, watching him.

My heart aches. I can’t stop thinking about my daughters. I wonder if I’ll ever make it back to them. With tears blurring my vision, I wonder when this will end. If it will end. And then I wonder if they’d be safer with Ebony than with me.

The thought slices through me like a knife. No. I can’t even entertain that. I close my eyes and breathe in deep, but the tears fall anyway, hot on my cheeks.

Then, I feel it.

His touch.

His fingers gently brushing my cheek, wiping my tears away. But his hand lingers. It cradles the side of my face. His hand is rough and warm against my skin, and for the first time all day, I feel safe.

I lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t move. He just…lets me. And we ride like that, connected in silence, until the car pulls to a stop in front of our destination.

The room is small, dimly lit, and way too familiar.

A single queen bed dominates the space.

“Really?” I say, dropping my bag. “Again?”

King closes the door behind us with a soft click, then locks both locks. “It ain’t my fault this time. We were in a rush. I didn’t have time to specify your preferences with my contact.”

I shoot him a look. “And who is your contact, exactly?”

He doesn’t answer. He’s too busy checking every window for…something.

“I think I’d sleep better if I knew who was helping us.”

“You’d sleep worse,” he says, glancing over his shoulder. “Trust me.”

I sigh, pacing a little. “So what now?”

He scrubs a hand down his face. “I thought about what you said earlier. You were right. We don’t have time to figure out the why of all of this. So I think I’m gonna take him out and be done with it.”

I freeze. “By yourself?”

“I’ll do a better job if you aren’t there to slow me down.”

“That’s harsh.”

“Just being honest.”

My eyes narrow. “Do you…like killing people?”

His eyes flash with something unreadable. “I used to. I don’t anymore. Now, it’s just a job.”

A job.

Interesting. Terrifying, actually.

I watch him stare out the window and wonder what his story is. How he got here.

“How did Brett find you?”

Silence.

I snap my fingers. “Hello?”

His eyes don’t move from whatever he’s staring at outside.

“You’re really gonna ignore me?”

He finally turns his attention to me. “When you ask stupid questions, yeah. I am.”

I glare as hard as I can. “I’m hungry.”

“Then order something,” he says, glaring right back.

“ You do it.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Your fingers broke?”

“I want you to order me some food,” I snap. “It’s the least you can do. I wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.”

“True,” he says, his voice going cold. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d already be dead.”

That shuts me up.

I stare at him, my heart pounding. “Why didn’t you just kill me?”

His lips part, but he closes them again, thinks for a moment, and then, “I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

I want him to say more. I need him to. I need to hear that he’s attracted to me. I need to hear that he saw something in me that’s worth saving.

Instead, he mumbles something about, “doing the right thing.”

I laugh bitterly. “Like you know what that is. You’re obviously some kind of CIA assassin or ex-black ops mercenary doing the government’s dirty work. You don’t even know what right means at this point.”

He stares me down, his lips tight, his jaw clenched. “Yeah, let’s talk about dirty. You know as well as I do that you’re sitting up here playing innocent. You’re hiding your dirt from me, Sable. But you should know, I always find out. Always.”

“Whatever.” My pulse spikes again. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

He smirks, and it’s infuriating.

I stand. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

“Thanks for the update.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever, Wall-E. There better be food here when I get out.”

His eyes follow my short walk to the bathroom. I close the door behind me, shaking my head because he has me rattled, and it doesn’t have anything to do with what he said. It’s what he didn’t say. It’s his presence. It’s him .

The bathroom is hot and steamy within seconds of me stepping into the shower. I stand with my body under the spray, letting the water pound against my skin, my thoughts spiraling. I can’t stop thinking about him. The way he protected me earlier. The way he wiped my tears. Let me lean on him.

My hand slides down my stomach. I bite my lip as my fingers find the sweet spot—the place that’s been throbbing ever since he kissed me.

The place that aches for him. I haven’t wanted anyone this badly since I was fifteen years old.

But this is deeper and darker, and it feels bigger and more dangerous.

And I want it anyway.

I’m wound up, but ten minutes and no satisfaction later, I give up. I want the real thing, even though it feels impossible at this point.

I exit the bathroom wrapped in my robe, smiling at the smell of french fries and charred meat. A cheeseburger and fries sits on the table.

King is on the bed. He gestures toward the food. “There you go, your highness.”

I ignore the sarcasm. I’m too hungry to respond. I toss him a, “Thanks,” as I grab a handful of fries. I don’t even notice he’s gone until he re-emerges wearing different clothes and smelling like cologne.

“You didn’t save me any?”

I frown at him. “You didn’t order anything for yourself?”

“Nah.”

I swallow the last bite of cheeseburger. “Do you need money?”

He chuckles. “I have plenty, sweetheart. Partly thanks to your husband.”

“Oh. Right. He paid you.”

He nods.

“You basically stole his money.”

“I reallocated it.”

I burst out laughing. “You know he’s coming for you, too, now.”

King makes a face. “Let that motherfucker try.”

I wipe my hands on the cloth napkin. “So how are we doing it? Poison? Car bomb?”

“There you go with that ‘we’ shit again.”

“He’s my husband. I’m part of this whether you like it or not.”

He walks over to the bed, pulling the covers back with a kind of fanfare that can only be described as silly, which is a complete departure from what I’ve seen thus far.

“Time for the kids to go to bed,” he teases. “Night night.”

Instead, I grab my phone and call the girls.

They tell me all about their day. Apparently, Henry left a disgusting present in Rae’s shoe. While I’m laughing at that, Kelice comes on to throw cold water on my face.

“I wanna go back to school,” she says softly.

“I know, baby. Just another day or two.”

“Why can’t I go tomorrow?”

“It’s a long story.” I take a deep breath. “Just know I love you and I have your assignments. I already talked to your teachers, K. You won’t fall behind.”

My future astronaut huffs out a sigh, then says something I didn’t expect.

“Can I say goodnight to my cousin?”

I hear Rae’s squeal in the background and smile. That sound is usually reserved for the few and far between sugary snacks I allow her to have.

I look over at King, who’s in front of his laptop, deep in thought.

“Cousin King? The girls wanna say goodnight to you.”

He walks over to me and stands with his torso directly in my line of sight. I hand him the phone, my eyes averted.

“How you doin’, sweetheart? Did you have a good day?”

I’ve never heard his voice that soft before. Or seen him smile like he’s doing when I bring my eyes back up to his face.

“Goodnight. Sweet dreams. Be good for your auntie.”

Then he gives Rae the same attention, and it makes my heart ache. It’s all I can do not to tackle him onto the bed.

He hands me the phone and turns off the light, but he returns to his computer. I ease into bed, staring at the blue glow emanating from his screen. I’m tired, but restless.

“Are you coming to bed?” I ask.

“Eventually.”

I doze off, going in and out of consciousness. When he lays down next to me, I open my eyes, having no idea how much time has passed. But I’m awake now, and still…restless.

“What’s gonna happen to my car?” I murmur.

“We have bigger problems than that,” is all he says.

I blow out a breath. He’s so fucking annoying, but I want him. I want him so bad.

I sigh again, louder this time.

No response.

I shift, tossing and turning a few times.

Still, nothing.

I shrug off my robe, letting the cool hotel air whisper across my naked skin.

Nada.

I sigh again.

This time, finally, a sign of life.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I can’t sleep.”

There’s a beat of silence, then then, “Don’t ask me to hold you again.”

“Why?”

“It’s not a good idea.”

My eyes couldn’t roll any harder if I tried. “Let me guess,” I say. “You don’t wanna be compromised.”

“Glad you understand.”

“Actually, I don’t. You think touching me is compromising? What does that even mean?”

“Let it go.”

“No! Do you have any idea what it’s like to lay next to you and not…not…” I trail off. I wanna say it, but I can’t.

“It can’t be any worse than laying next to you knowing you’re naked,” he mumbles. “And soft. And wet.”

I freeze.

“What makes you think I’m wet?”

Silence.

“Goodnight, Sable.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, frustrated to the point of rage. Pressing my thighs together does nothing. Biting the inside of my cheek does nothing.

So I slide my hand down, touching myself again, hoping for some relief.

It helps a little.

Back and forth, around and around, I massage my clit, breathing deep. I just need to fall asleep. That’s all. Put myself out of my misery. Sweet, sweet sleep.

“Give me your hand.”

My eyes open with a jolt. “Why?”

“Give me your hand,” he repeats.

“No.”

A few seconds pass.

“I know what you’re doing.”

“What am I—“

“You’re touching yourself. Now give me your hand so I can see if I was right.”

“No.”

He’s so fast, I barely register it. In one swift motion, he has his fingers around my wrist, yanking my arm from beneath the covers and lifting it to his face.

I’m opening my mouth to protest when I feel his tongue swipe across my fingertips.

My breath catches in my chest. My stomach clenches.

Then he sucks them into his mouth, and a small moan escapes my lips.

His tongue swirls languidly over my fingertips, tasting the best part of me.

“It’s wet. That’s what the fuck I thought,” he says, his voice dark and thick with desire.

He releases my wrist. For a moment, it’s silent other than the sound of our breathing. I’m too stunned to speak. Too disoriented to move.

“Sweet dreams,” he says, and I can almost hear him smirking.

“Is that what you do?” I say. “Pull away before you get a chance to enjoy something? Is that how you punish yourself?”

He scoffs. “You’re married.”

“And you kissed me. So finish what you started.”

It’s silent. He’s still. I turn my head and catch the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. They’re fixed on the ceiling.

“King,” I plead.

“Go to sleep, Sable.”

I have nothing to lose at this point, so I roll onto my side, ease my hand under the covers, and slide it past the waistband of his boxers. His breath hitches when my fingers curl around his hard length, and my mouth waters when I imagine it pushing past my lips and tapping the back of my throat.

“How did I taste?” I say softly. “Did I taste good?”

He takes a slow, deep breath. The answer comes out on his exhale.

“Yeah.”

My mouth finds his ear. I lick a slow path up the shell, sucking the lobe into my mouth. I can’t help but smile when his dick throbs in my hand.

“Tell me the truth,” I murmur in his ear. “Is your mission really more important than tasting my pussy again?”

“ Fuck .” He groans softly as I move my hand. A slow, gentle caress on the best part of him.

“I’m trying to keep you alive,” he grits. “That’s important to me.”

I bite his earlobe, licking across it to soothe the sting.

“Then come over here and give me something to live for.”

He turns in my direction, rolling on top of me. I quickly spread my legs and he settles between them, bringing his forehead to rest on top of mine.

And I feel more alive than I have in years.