Nash: A Rough Romance Piper Stone (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

All time seemed to stand still as his body shook violently. The way his skin chafed my bruised bottom sent another round of quivers dancing along every inch of my body, the pain morphing into utter pleasure. As he continued grinding against me, his cock remaining hard, I allowed my body to slowly fall to the counter’s surface.

A few seconds later, he pressed the full weight of his body against my back, sliding his arms over the island and intertwining our fingers together. There were no words, simply scattered breathing, but I could swear I read his mind.

We were close, perhaps far too much so, the man prepared to do everything it took to keep me safe. I wanted so much to find the right words to say, but as my throat clenched, my mind still reeling from everything he’d told me, I knew whatever I said to him was based on our current situation.

And I hated myself because of it.

The quiet that had settled between us over the last few hours was palpable, my anxiety increasing. It was late, or maybe I should say close to morning. I hadn’t been able to eat, my nerves remaining on edge.

Reaper continued to stare at the computer screen, his finger placed on the space bar as if looking over the information I’d collected for the third time was going to change the situation. At least the jump drives had been located and were undamaged.

“This will definitely provide enough evidence to convict Giordani,” he said after another full minute of quiet.

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

He chuckled as he glanced in my direction. “You fought with the devil and I think you just might win a round.”

A shiver coursed through me. “I don’t know what to think, Nash. I’m not sure who to trust.”

“Hmm… Well, I hope you trust me by now.”

There was a hint of the playful side in his words, forcing a smile. “I do. Maybe you’re the only person I can actually trust. What are we going to do?”

“Wait until the morning. Then we’re turning this over to the proper authorities. After that, my guess is that Dante will be arrested again, brought up on extortion and bank laundering charges.”

“You sound certain.”

“Nothing in life is certain, Mitch. I know that better than anyone.”

God, his words were haunting. I watched as he ejected the second drive, shutting down the computer.

A full minute passed.

“I’m proud of you,” he said under his breath.

“For what?”

“As I told you before, the kind of bravery few people have. You should be proud of yourself.”

Proud. That wasn’t the word I’d use. I’d been impetuous, arrogant, and one stupid little girl to think I could fight with the devil, no matter what Nash said. Still, hearing his words made me feel somewhat better.

I kept my gaze locked on the flickering flames of the fire, my body still quivering. I had no idea what to say to him, no understanding of why my emotions were all over the place, my heart racing. I knew that I adored the man, wasn’t entirely certain how I could ever live without him, but my rational side tried to squelch any thoughts of the future. How could we be experiencing anything other than a reaction from fear and trepidation?

When Reaper shifted forward on the couch, pulling his drink into his hand, I almost spouted off how I felt about him.

Longing to remain.

Prepared to leave all that I’d thought mattered to me.

Hungering to begin a new life.

But the words remained stuck in my throat.

“Tell me about Snake,” I said with as much reverence as possible.

He was definitely surprised at my comment, myriad emotions riding his face. After taking a deep breath, he took a gulp of his drink. I was shocked when he didn’t blow me off. “He was a buddy of mine. We were all close. All six of us. Snake was a man who loved life, probably more so than the rest of us.”

“All of you signed up for the military together?”

A smile crossed his face. “Yeah. Seemed like the thing to do. We all figured it was the military or prison. We were that kind of idiots who thought they could conquer the world at any costs.”

I wasn’t certain if the memories were pleasant or just another aggravation.

“Anyway, we signed up. Went to boot camp together, a couple of us ending up at the same base. Then a couple years went by, all of us deciding to become government contractors, remaining overseas.”

“You decided together?”

“No. In truth, our decisions were entirely individual. Funny how it worked out, all six of us ending up on the same base after all the years of serving.” He gazed at the fire, his eyes shimmering in the warm glow.

I remained quiet, realizing whatever was haunting him had everything to do with his buddy.

“Anyway, another eight months went by and we simply went about our jobs. Then an incident occurred, one involving the possibility of freeing a couple dozen prisoners of war. Given our varied expertise, we were given the mission to stake out the location. Sad thing is that an informant had identified the soldiers missing in action. The bastard even had pictures. So we went. While we were close, preparing to determine if that information was correct, we were ambushed.”

His hand was shaking as he brought the glass to his lips again.

I crowded closer to the edge of the couch, holding my breath. The look on his face was heartbreaking.

“Anyway, shots were fired, our location compromised, and we were forced to leave the area. Snake wasn’t with us.”

“Oh, God.”

He gave me a brief glance before nodding several times. “We tried to save him, but we failed and he was lost.”

There was a way that he issued the words that let me know he had no intention of filling in the blanks. What I knew in my heart was that the experience had forever changed him, making him the cautious loner that he’d become.