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He gave her hand one last squeeze before releasing her “Come on” He stood and dropped a twenty on the table “I’ll walk you to your car”

The tense set of her shoulders relaxed at his offer

Once outside, he threaded his fingers through hers As before, she flinched at first but slowly relaxed by degrees into his innocuous touch The pressure-free caresses and handholds were all part of his master plan Baby steps She was like a wounded ani trauma While overseas in Iraq, one of his Marine brothers found an abandoned dog that had once been severely abused At first the mutt snarled and snapped whenever they went near Over time, with treats and soft words, the old boy let him and his team creep closer It took months, but eventually they were able to pet hiled per to the states

His strategy with Chloe was much the same Get her used to a er reacted with fear, he’d finally be absolved of the guilt that had settled in his gut the moment he saw her beaten and brutalized And rip she seemed to have on his balls

“Thank you,” she said turning to him

The gratitude was forher to her car He nodded “Trusthas been my pleasure” He stepped closer to her Then closer still, until his body was flush against hers What he wanted to do was crowd her against her car, but he didn’t want her to feel trapped or forced into anything

“W-what are you doing?” she asked as she lifted her hands to his chest, neither pushing hi him closer Did she even knohich action she preferred?

“Friday’s a long ay That’s six nights I have to lie inthe taste of your pussy, the feel of it on hts of re about it Giveto tortureI haven’t had yet” As he spoke, hehers with every word spoken

He paused with nothing but ive the final okay

“Yes,” Chloe breathed

That was all he needed to clai for months She eet, thanks to the pie, and warm from two cups of coffee Her sue into her mouth As he absorbed her flavor, she finally decided what to do with her hands Those fingers curled into the fabric of his T-shirt and held on for dear life

He fisted his hands at his side, fighting the urge to fully crush her to hihtmares wasn’t an option Rocket absorbed every sensation, the soft brush of her nose as it bu hith of his dick The near purr vibrating from the back of her throat when he nipped her bottom lip Each and every sensation ra satisfaction

One day soon He could feel it in his bones He’d get her there Back to the woman she was before his club’s business destroyed her life

Maybe then he couldlife

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ROCKET SLID THE heavy ladder into the bed of his pick-up then wiped his sweaty broith the hem of his filthy T-shirt These days, he didn’t do nearly asthe cos his anal-retentive self had never been able to completely relinquish control of And one of those tasks was checking over every damn inch of the work before any type of inspection He tended to whip out his fine-toothed co his men’s hackles He trusted them to do quality work, wouldn’t have hired them otherwise, but it was his name on the business card, and he’d be damned if he didn’t stand behind every nail and screw

His need for perfection was the reason he was at a jobsite by himself on a Saturday afternoon Monday, a city inspector would be coas hook-ups had been installed properly in theBefore the inspector came out, Rocket wanted one last peek at the work so there would be no surprises co was perfect He only hired the best and most meticulous of workers