be time for a new car,” I said once we were a few miles away.
Six let out a surprising laugh and shook his head.
“What?”
“You’re officially my companion.”
I blinked at him, my brow scrunching. I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.
Over the course of the evening, I had done many things that were not Paisley like. The dynamic in our strained relationship had changed.
It had been changing for weeks, but it was the first time I’d really noticed how much.
And how much I was losing myself.
But that was part of the bargain, I supposed.
Anything to survive.
The moment we were back in the motel room, I set the bags down and grabbed some towels from the bathroom. Six was trying to work his jacket off, but it wasn’t cooperating. I grabbed both sides of the collar and flipped it over his shoulders, allowing him to let it slide off his arms and down to the ground.
His right arm was painted in rust-colored trails while the left shoulder was dropped and hanging at an awkward angle.
“How do we fix this?” I asked, motioning to his arm.
“It’s easy,” he said as he lay down on the floor. He moved his arm out. “Grab hold around my wrist and put your foot under my arm.”
I sat down and removed my sandals, my own rust-colored leg stretching out so I could tuck my foot just under his armpit. I took hold of his arm and waited.
“Don’t yank, just pull slowly. Roll it. Arching up, like in a swoosh.” He demonstrated the motion with his good arm, and I nodded in understanding.
I began to pull, moving just as he instructed. He made no sound, his breath even. I stared at his shoulder as I continued to steadily rotate. When the skin bulged and his shoulder moved back into place, he made a small grunting noise as he blew out a breath.
He sat up and turned to me. “Thanks.”
“Has that happened before?”
He rotated the arm around, testing out the motion. “A few times.”
“What happens when you’re alone?”
“I can do it on my own, it’s just easier with another person.”
He stood and grabbed hold of the hem of his shirt, pulling it away from his chest.
My eyes widened as I noticed multiple tears in the fabric. I grabbed hold of the fabric and stretched it out, looking at five holes.
He pulled it off and underneath, imbedded in the bulletproof vest, were five mashed pieces of metal in the same spots as the holes.
My mouth dropped open as I stared at the remnants of five bullets that would have killed him had he not been wearing the vest. In the back of my mind I remembered a few times where he seemed to step back due to what seemed like a strong force.
They were all times he had been shielding me from them.
Yanking on the Velcro straps, he got the vest off and threw it onto the table. On his skin were five impact points surrounded by pink areas that were turning purple.
“You took those bullets for me,” I said as I stared at the blossoming bruises. He didn’t respond, turning his attention to the bags. “Why? And why didn’t you just let me fall? Either of those, and I would’ve died and you wouldn’t have to bother doing it later.”
His forehead crinkled a bit, and his lip twitched. “I’m not ready to let you go.”
In a move that surprised us both, I threw my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. It took a moment, but his hands moved to my waist.
The second our mouths parted, tongues touching, something ignited in both of us. The force of his kiss arched my back as his hands moved up to my ribs, fingers spread, flexing as he lifted me from the floor. I drew my legs up, wrapping them around his waist as my back hit the wall.
He pinned me there with his body. Low groans rumbled in his chest as he tried to suck the life out of me through my mouth.
We parted for breath, eyes locking for the briefest of moments. His were heavy and dark, filled with lust. His mouth latched on my neck in hot, wet, teeth scraping nips as he worked his way back up to suck on my bottom lip.
My pussy ached for him to fill me. Heat flooded every part of me, my blood burning for him. Need wasn’t a strong enough word for my