Page 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Hop blew out a sigh of relief. The day had been so freaking long he’d wanted to rip his hair out while they were deep in the weeds of planning. But now they were done, and he could breathe easier.

“Yo, Hop,” Zip called to him. “You headed home or going to grab breakfast?”

“Home. I’m too tired. I’ll see you all on Sunday.”

“That’s a date,” Q called out.

Rider stretched and moaned. “I’m ready to get some sleep.”

Trip nodded. “Same.”

Hop got into his car and pulled out, waving to his buddies as he took off. He’d checked maps and saw that the freeways were shut down. Good thing he didn’t have to take them to get home.

Work had been wild this week. They’d been at it for so long today and he was so exhausted, all he wanted to do was drop into bed and sleep for days.

He didn’t have to go to work in the morning, and he was excited to see Vera. He hoped she wasn’t upset that he would be spending the day at home instead of heading to base. She shouldn’t be.

She’d texted while he’d been in his meetings, telling him that she loved him. He liked that they had such a great relationship. She’d been so understanding about him working late the entire week. It didn’t happen all the time, but some weeks were worse than others.

He was almost home, about to pull onto his street when his phone rang. He wasn’t expecting any calls since it was close to four in the morning. But Thario was calling, and he answered with a smile on his face.

“Thario, my man.”

“I fucked up. Logan traveled private. I’ve called the cops, but they are about ten to fifteen minutes away because of that wreck that happened at midnight. I checked the tracking device you wear and saw you were almost home.”

“I’m pulling onto the street now. Text my team and Kevlar’s team. See if anyone is close by.”

“Got it. Call me if you need anything more.”

Hop had cut the lights as he’d turned onto the street so when the call ended and he stopped his car two houses down, he knew no one had seen him. He immediately reached for his piece he stored under the seat. He’d almost not installed the device that would only unlock with his thumb print, but he’d pushed away his thoughts that he was being paranoid and placed the holder, praying he never needed it.

Now he was glad he had the gun in arm’s reach. He grabbed a set of zip strips from his glove box and made sure the lights were off in his car before he opened the door. He didn’t need Logan alerted to his location. He didn’t trust the guy and didn’t want to end up painting a target all over himself with light.

He had his earpiece in, so when Thario called back, he answered fast but didn’t say anything. Thario was used to this kind of behavior from people he called, so he just started speaking.

“She’s in the closet, your room. The doors are locked. She thinks someone just entered the house.”

“I’m going in,” Hop whispered.

“Be smart.”

He grunted as he moved to the door, seeing that it was already open. Hop paused, taking a deep breath as he listened for any movement inside. The table beside the couch scraped on the floor as someone ran into it. He knew where the person was. They weren’t close to the bedroom door.

Hop stepped into the house, moving silently as he edged closer to the bastard who wanted to hurt Vera. He could hear the asshole bang into the chair they had positioned near the couch.

“Fuck,” the dude grunted, allowing Hop to move even closer.

He could reach out and grab the guy, but he wanted to do more than grab him. Hop needed to knock him out. The neighbor across the street turned on their front porch light, allowing Hop to see the outline of the intruder.

The bastard was only about two feet away from him. Hop was ready to move when the guy turned around. He screamed and Hop jumped into action. But the guy ducked then raced across the room.

The bedroom door opened right then. Vera stood in the doorway and flipped on the light. What was she doing? Logan scurried over to her, grabbing her leg and pulling her to him. Anger slid through him as he watched the bastard tug Vera so hard she dropped to her knees.

Vera hated hiding. She was tired of running from Logan. He had tried to ruin her life, but she was done with cowering in fear. This had to be over now. She wanted to fuck him up but wasn’t sure how.

When she heard him running into furniture, she knew she would beat him. She’d found a huge flashlight in the closet and wrapped her hands around it. Her stomach tightened as she stepped out into the bedroom. Fear made her almost turn around and hide back in the closet, but she would never stop him if she didn’t confront him.

Vera inched closer to the door, worry filling her. What if Logan wanted to kill her here? If he had a gun, she would be dead as soon as she opened the door. She couldn’t hide from him any longer. She had to stop the bastard.

She pulled open the door, her heart thundering. She spied something moving, but it wasn’t one huge form moving in the den. It looked like two people. Vera reached for the light, flipping it on.

The sight of Logan crawling on the floor with Ben standing behind him shocked her. Logan moved fast, scurrying to her. His arms wrapped around her legs, and then he pushed, knocking her on her ass.

She saw Ben shove his gun into his waistband. She didn’t want Ben to get hurt, so she raised the flashlight and slammed it against Logan’s head. He grunted and let go. Logan met her gaze, hurt in his eyes.

“Ouch,” Logan said as he rubbed his head.

Ben moved fast, knocking Logan to the ground and knocking him out. She worried that Ben would get hurt, but he had zip strips on Logan’s wrists in seconds.

When Ben looked up and met her gaze, tears filled her eyes. She moved to him, and he met her halfway, hugging her tight.

“Good God, woman, I thought I was going to lose you when you opened that door.”

“I couldn’t let him win. He’s made me hide too many times. I had to face him and force him to understand he won’t win again.”

His lips were on her neck as he held her close. “Don’t ever put yourself in danger like that again. Please. I understand that you have to face your fears, but he could have hurt you.”

She leaned back and met his gaze. “I couldn’t keep running.”

Their lips came together in a hard kiss that promised more later. She sank against him, drinking him in. Logan was making noise behind her, but she didn’t care. He couldn’t hurt her now. Ben had immobilized Logan. He would end up in jail here in California. Maybe out here there would be justice.

A police siren sounded outside, and Ben ended the kiss. “They aren’t going to like that I have a gun. I need to put it into a drawer. Just a second.”

She watched as Ben removed the ammunition from his gun and stored it in a drawer. Logan was waking up, but he wasn’t making sense yet. Ben turned on the lights, making it easier for the police to see once they stepped inside.

The table beside the couch and another chair were knocked askew, but it didn’t look like much had been damaged, other than the entry door. Logan had broken the lock by kicking in the door. That would have to be fixed.

An officer was at the door, stating that he was coming in. Ben was beside her, placing himself so Logan couldn’t get to her. She felt so much love for Ben. He kept her safe. Maybe it had been wrong for her to come out to the den and face Logan, but she had to do something. She couldn’t hide anymore. Logan had to be gotten rid of, even if she had to do something scary.

A few of Ben’s friends showed up, but since the police had Logan in custody, they took off after they knew she was okay. They were asked questions and then more questions but were allowed to stay at home and make arrangements to talk to detectives later in the day.

One of the officers called his brother, who was a handyman. The guy came over and fixed the door frame so they could sleep and not worry about someone else breaking in that night. They would need to replace the door, but that could be done later. For now, they were safe enough.

After a few hours of sleep, she woke and moved to get out of bed, but Ben pulled her back to him. She knew he was mad that she’d put herself in Logan’s path, but she had to do something to get rid of him.

“I know you’re mad at me.”

He shook his head. “Not at you. I’m angry you didn’t think enough of yourself to keep safe.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not quite what happened. I thought enough of myself to make it stop. I didn’t want him bugging me anymore.”

Ben kissed her nose and then her chin before trailing kisses down her neck. “I need you in my life.” He pulled up her shirt, staring down at her for a long moment before he lowered and circled his tongue around one nipple, then the other.

She moaned and arched up to meet his mouth. “More.”

A chuckle escaped his lips before he flicked the tip of his tongue over one nipple and then the other. “I should make you beg for it.”

“I need you.”

“And I need you. That’s why I’m not going to spend hours torturing you. But soon, I’m going to tease you until you scream my name.” He moved fast so his face was between her legs, tonguing her clit though her panties were still in place.

She moved to push them lower, but he captured her hands and held them in place as he continued to drive her crazy. After a moment, he yanked down her panties and then placed his mouth on her, sucking her clit. She cried out as she arched up. His mouth on her was too much, and she came hard.

He didn’t wait and moved between her legs, sinking in, filling her all the way with his thick cock.

“I want you forever,” Ben whispered as he pumped in.

“Yes,” she cried out, wanting it all with Ben. She wanted the good times and the bad. She wanted him with her forever. They were special together, and she knew they would last.

This man was exactly what she’d been searching for her whole life. He completed her, giving her the love and kindness she needed.

“I plan to hold you to that. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”

She lifted her hips, meeting his thrusts. He groaned and pulled out before pumping in again. His composure was cracking, but he pumped in a few more times before stilling above her.

The look on his face was filled with love. No question, they both wanted the same things in life. They would work out all the details, but they loved each other, and that mattered more than anything else.