Emma chewed her bottom lip. “So after all this time, we still have nothing actionable?”
East shook his head. “Not exactly. We have someone who might be able to decrypt his phone and we’re sending it to them. In the meantime, one piece of information we did find is a hospital stay at Danbury Hospital. I’m working my way into patient records. He wasn't admitted as himself, so I have to figure out the alias used." East's gaze was on me. "Mate. I can see it on your face. Stay cool."
"Stay bloody cool? He threatened her."
"And I'm just as furious as you are, but we need something on him that’s irrefutable, methodical. You’re being reactive."
"Fucking hell. After everything we've done in the last few weeks, and we still can't pull this off?"
He sighed. "We can. But we need more information to pull this off cleanly with no reverb on any of us. I don't know about you, mate, but I have zero intention of ever going anywhere near a prison. Can you imagine Nyla in a prison cell?"
I sighed. I knew he was right. "I'll burn him. I want him gone."
My mate ran a hand through his dark hair. "Yeah. I hear you. There’s nothing to be done yet, but I'm on it." His gaze shifted to Emma. "How you doing, Little Tobes?"
She shrugged. "Fine. I really wanted to stab him in the eyeball, but I felt like that would be overreacting. He wanted to scare me. And all I wanted to say to him was that he was unworthy of my time and attention. But I’m not going to lie. He managed to scare me. I’m just trying to keep my head.”
“Give me a break, Ems.” How the fuck was she so calm?
"You think I don't want to kill him? I do. But let's not make this all for nothing. I don't want him to be a thorn in my side forever. I don't want him to be a problem we're forever dealing with. I want him gone. Once and for all."
I inhaled deeply. "I don't want to be rational. Not when he went after the woman I love."
"I know. I understand the sentiment. But we have work to do. And I'm okay. East and Telly are looking for information we can use. Eventually, we will find something."
I turned back to the screen. "Let us know what you find."
Both nodded and signed off. I tugged Emma into my lap and dropped my head into the crook of her shoulder as I cradled her. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm shaken up, but I'm okay. And trust me, all I want to do is sneak into his villa and stab him in the eye with something very sharp and pointy so I can hear the satisfying pop as his eyeball goes…"
I frowned at her. "So violent."
"Yes. Also, I love horror movies."
I nodded slowly. "Of course you do." I hugged her tight. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I will be there next time, okay?"
Even though she tucked into me and whispered that she believed me, I worried that I was lying, even to myself.
What if I couldn't protect her? What if I had to let her go to protect her, to keep her safe? I'd already tried that once. But I knew I couldn't live without her. And so we were going to have to find a better way to deal with Middleton once and for all.
Thirty-Five
Bridge
Emma was sleeping fitfully. She'd roll over then toss and turn. It didn't matter how many times I'd made her come. It didn't matter the exhaustion she was feeling, her dreams were keeping her from sinking into oblivion.
And the fault lay with me.
When she started whimpering in her sleep I gave in and woke her. "Sweetheart, love, wake up."
She blinked sleepily. "Was I dreaming again?"
I nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She shook her head. "No."
I pulled her close. "Might help."
She swiped a lock of hair out of her face. "What would help is if I could actually fucking sleep. I just need something. Something to put me out.
I smirked and said, "I've already tried twice. You took a sleeping pill earlier, right?"
She nodded. "Yes, but I don't know, I just can't get past… everything. I close my eyes and I just start spinning. I need a super sleeping pill."
She snuggled in and I held her tightly to me. "All right, let me help. And remember, this is all about you and not at all about me. I’ve got something for you."
She giggled. "Baby. That's not what I meant."
"Maybe not, but you can't sleep. So just go ahead and call me NyQuil."
She snorted. "Oh my God."
"But am I lying? I am NyQuil to you."
And then like always, Emma's eyes darkened, the rich chocolate color going obsidian. "So you're saying this is all about me right?"
I nodded. "Oh yeah. I get nothing out of this at all." I said smirking at her. "Lie back sweetheart."
She laughed. "Bridge."
"I'm serious. This is strictly for medicinal purposes only. If I happen to enjoy applying the medicine, that's, you know, between me and my dick. It's got nothing to do with you."
Even under all the stress, I could still make her laugh. "Bridge, you are incorrigible."
"Yes, I know. Now you do as you’re told and lie back."
She finally did.
I knew what she expected. But like I’d told her, this wasn't about me. So I need it to give her the unexpected. I started with dusting kisses along her jawline, then moved to her neck. I drifted kisses onto her clavicle before moving to her sternum.
When my tongue peeked out and tasted her honey skin, she arched her back. I knew what she was trying to tell me to do. But that was not part of the plan. She was trying to distract me, my little vixen.
"Emma, remember we talked about this being just for you?"
She giggled, and that was the sound that I wanted to hear, always. The sound I wanted to be responsible for. The smile in her voice was what I wanted to capture, always. When I kissed her belly button, her hips rotated. Even under stress and pressure, this tension between us, the fireworks, the crackling, was a real, tangible thing. And it was about more than just sex. While the sex was fantastic, it was about us being connected, a unit, a team.
And when I kissed down to the top of her mound, a strip of soft springy curls met me and I inhaled deeply. I could live here. I had joked that this was all for her, but honestly, I knew if I could wake up like this every day, I'd be in heaven.
Dipping my head low, I gently stroked my tongue over her clit.
The moan she rewarded me with was deep, feral, and told me how much she needed this. I used my broad shoulders to part her legs, making space for myself before settling in, and she sighed. I licked and stroked and sucked. Planting my lips right over her clit and not easing up on the pressure. And just when she was close enough to break apart, I shifted. Pulling her back from the edge instead and using my tongue to fuck her. Deliberate, strong strokes. Enough to make her legs start to shake.
"Bridge, you're killing me."
"Am I? That is the highest compliment. But you know, this is for you, not for me.”
She laughed again, but it was cut off when my fingers replaced my tongue, and my tongue replaced my thumb. I hooked my fingers to find the raised bundle of nerves, gently massaging. Emma's hand gripped my hair by the roots, telling me how much fun she was having.