Page 57 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

“Thank you, Daisy.” I laugh. “And you have one now. She’s yours.”

“Of course, it’s mine. Whose bra would it be?” Rainey snorts, lifting Daisy.

“No, I’m saying Daisy is yours. She likes you better anyway.” I scratch Daisy’s head. “And you could use some company when you’re alone, tesoro.”

A smile graces her beautiful face, followed by a laugh that turns into a sob. Worry tugs at my heart. Before I ask what I did wrong, she kisses my lips. “I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to take her from you.”

I shake my head at her. “I bought her for you. She is yours.”

Another tear hangs from Rainey’s eyelashes, and I wipe it with the back of my hand.

“You did?” Her mouth hangs. She’s so emotional, it’s cute.

“I did, baby.”

“She can be ours. We can have partial custody. I don’t want her to cry for you.

” She giggles when Daisy licks her face in agreement.

At least it seems like she is coming around to sharing custody over a dog.

After our second encounter at the cafe, I bought Daisy from the animal shelter when she deliberately said she didn’t know who I was.

“Smells good.” The aroma of the past fills the space.

“I made spaghetti. Is that okay? Are you hungry?”

She blushes, her entire face turning crimson, and I live for that. It gives me solace that her emotions for me are still there. She made dinner just like she did at the cabin. Every memory with her I will treasure.

“I’m starving, actually. I was going to text you if you wanted me to pick something up, but I thought I’d wait and see if you wanted to go out.

” I saunter to the kitchen. “Your cooking is so much better. I missed it.” Her spaghetti is different with no meatballs this time.

Instead, it’s the sauce with cooked ground beef. How I once mentioned my mom made it.

“You eat at the café.”

“That’s different. You cook for customers, and here you’re cooking for me.”

We settle back into our familiar routine.

We converse while eating a comfortable dinner.

Then I wash the dishes while she cleans up around us.

Before, I hated how much I loved the feeling of being domesticated by her.

I sensed that when it finally ended, it would leave us both broken.

It did. Yet, we always seemed to connect as if destiny was on our side.

It feels like we haven’t been separated for years.

“How was training?” Rainey asks, sitting on the couch.

I fold the hand towel and lay it on the island, then go to her. Holding Rainey and savoring her warmth, makes my heart ache. Oh, how I have longed for this. She snuggles into my chest while going through the channels.

“It was hell, but it’s what I’ve always enjoyed. It keeps my head in place.” My fingers run through her cinnamon hair while she rakes over my biceps. “Workouts will only increase as time nears for the fight.”

She hums as I dig into a gentle scalp massage.

“Why do they call you the Master of Disaster and Lights Out?”

I brush my lips atop Rainey’s head. “Because I channeled my anger and pain into the fights, and it became my means of release. Every fight, I let my beast out. Every punch was for those who hurt me, for the one woman I hurt, for the woman I lost, and for the one who took her from me. I destroyed everyone in my path. They gave me that name the day I set foot in that ring four years ago.”

A torment of pain and a storm of anger surged through my veins.

It was like a heavy dose of drugs burning over and over as a reminder of the woman I left behind.

The grief was a heavy weight on my chest. I hated myself for not being mentally strong enough for her and for allowing him to force me to leave her without sparing a backward glance.

I never stopped searching for her. After a while, I thought my punishment was to never find her.

Hope the size of a dime filled me with fate, if that was a thing that we would see each other again.

Rainey cranes her head to peer at me, turning her body slightly. “Max.” Her eyes glisten with moisture. “I?—”

I interject by putting a finger to her lips because she clearly wants to comfort me about the little abuse she knows about, and it’s me who hurt her. I need to comfort her. I need to heal her wounds.

“Fuck.” I groan when she bites my finger.

Rainey wiggles her way to sit on my lap. She settles with a bounce on my dick. I groan again for an entirely different reason. Her soft hands cup my cheeks into a tight squeeze.

“Listen, don’t shush me. I want to comfort you, and I’m not sure if it was anyone other than your dad who hurt you. I know you don’t like to be pitied, and I just want to give you a tight, warm hug. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

The gentle and compassionate woman she has always been embraces me warmly, her arms encircling my neck. I can’t fathom what I did to earn her kindness. She’s been this way since the beginning.

Then those luscious lips trail down my neck. Rainey licks and sucks, licks and sucks, leaving her mark. As if I’m not already hard, and she obviously can feel me.

“You like this?” Rainey asks seductively, stroking my length over my jeans.

Like? Fucking love. Her touch has always been pure luxury.

“You can feel how much you affect me, sunshine.” I press her hand against it. “This isn’t just liking; it’s a feral desire that only you ignite in me. You do this to me.”

A small hum of satisfaction exhales from her lips. I lean my head back on the sofa. Her kneading touch on my swelling erection pressing against the zipper is almost painful. Is this her way of providing comfort?

“I really love this, but I’m not sure how much self-control I have at the moment. I suggest you stop teasing me, tesoro , unless you want your pretty little lips around it.”

“Shush,” Rainey replies, nibbling on my chin while unbuttoning my jeans. There she is. My sassy bossy girl is coming back. “Who said I didn’t want my pretty little lips around you?”

Holy. Fuck.

“Such dirty words for such a beautiful woman. Tell me, baby, are you all talk, or can you fit my thick length down your throat?” The zipper slides down. “I have a lot of built-up sexual tension. Are you prepared to swallow it all down?”

Damn those lips. She kneels between my legs.

“As if I haven’t before, Max.”

That she has. Her warm hand slides inside my boxers. It’s been so long since I’ve felt her, I bite my lip. I wasn’t joking when I said I had little control. I’m madly obsessed with her. Any ounce of affection from Rainey sends me over the top. Pre cum flows down to her hands as she pulls it out.

“Oh,” she utters in a breathless whisper. “Was it always this big?” She mutters the question under her breath as if I’m not in the room.

I chuckle, teasing her. “Scared now?”

She shakes her head. “Never.” Rainey’s mischievous smile grows with a glint in her eyes.