The Butcher of the Bay Part II - J. Bree Page 0,28
my teeth again in the bathroom because my mouth tastes like death, and when I walk quietly back to bed I find the lamp on and Illi sitting up, rubbing at his face like he can wipe away the sleep if only he rubs hard enough.
“You okay, baby girl? Does something hurt?”
My thighs clench together at the rough sound of his voice, the flexing of his arms like a spell luring me into his trap. Our life here is going to be perfect, just the moment we no longer have to worry about people trying to kill us both and destroying the perfect home we’ve built together.
Which reminds me, I can say something now my head isn’t quite so sore.
"I don't want to move. This place is my home.“
His hand drops away from his face and he frowns at me. “That’s what’s keeping you up? Baby girl, you need rest.”
I don’t want to rest anymore, my entire body feels as though it’s full of electricity. I’m jittering and wired, too awake now to be able to go back to sleep. I feel a little bit guilty because mon Monstre looks exhausted.
I don’t want to keep him awake but he motions for me to join him and I move instinctively, climbing back into the bed and moving until I’m curled back up into his chest.
He presses a kiss to the top of my head and murmurs into my hair, “I need you out of the Bay and away from all the fucking evil here. There's some mansions further up on the coast, big fucking things full of light and rooms for painting and security. I'll buy one and we can live there without anyone knowing where we are. I don't want D'Ardo showing up."
He sounds so final but I don't want to leave the only place that's ever felt like home to me. I don't want to leave the window with my sunrise, the kitchen where my bread proves so perfectly, or the gym where le Loup taught me how to take care of myself.
I don't want to lose my home. "Le Loup got extra security for us here, yes? You said there were more alarms and better systems, I feel safe here."
His jaw tenses. "No. I'm not losing you again over a house. We can make a new home somewhere else."
I shake my head and tears fill my eyes. “I don’t want to move, mon Monstre. I’ve never been able to have a home before. My father would move my mother and I all the time and so I never felt… settled or safe. This has been my first real home and I’m not ready to leave here yet.”
His chest rumbles under my ear but it’s not a particularly happy sound. “If we stay, I’m adding more security and we need to work on more defense shit for you. I need to know that if anyone tries to fuck with you that you know how to kill them. You did a good job on the last guy and I’m proud as fuck of you, but we need more options for you.”
I giggle softly. “Will you teach me? Le Loup was an excellent teacher but I’d like to know what you do too. She’s all about subtlety and using people's strengths against them… I know you work differently than that.”
He scoffs at me. “Yeah, a little different. The kid is fucking good at what she does, I’d only have the best teaching you. I’m not sure you want to know about the mechanics of carving a man to pieces.”
I turn over in his arms a little more until I’m laying over his chest more securely. My thigh brushes against his hard dick and he grunts at me, a rumbling sound of appreciation and lust.
“I think you’re underestimating me, mon Monstre. There is nothing I want more than to have that knowledge. How else will I carve their hearts out of their chests?”
He chuckles under his breath, cupping my chin gently and lifting my face up until he can capture my lips with his own. “I’m bringing you their hearts, baby girl. That’s my job as your man and just as soon as your head is healed up I’ll be working night and day to bring them to you. Nothing else matters to me right now. Just you and the hearts of the men that hurt you.”
I lean down and kiss him back, my tongue slipping into his mouth and tasting the