“Sounds familiar,” she said.
“It’s because I’ve said it before, baby.” It was a good thing. At least, things were familiar for her. I had to have faith, just like I had before, that she’d come back to me. If she didn’t, I’d love her through it and create new memories, but the memories we have built were what brought us here. I really didn’t want her to forget us.
What about the last ten years of me being in prison? It would be all for nothing, and I’d find myself in another prison, just an emotional one.
“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped with disappointment.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s a good thing that it sounds like you’ve heard it before.” My fingers slid under her chin and raised her head up, forcing her to look at me with those sad fucking eyes that were piercing me right through the chest.
I wanted to lean in and kiss her, but since she had no idea of who I was, not really, I had no idea if my kiss was welcome. I decided to pull back to give her space instead when really all I wanted to do was reassure myself of what her lips felt like.
I hoped like hell this didn’t go on long. I needed her back. I only had half of her right now. I missed the entirety of her.
It was hit after hit with us. We always had something to overcome, and to be honest, I was getting sick of it. I wanted to live in peace for fucks sake.
I got out of the car and made sure I didn’t slam the door with the frustration I felt. I ran my hand along the hood of the car as I walked in front of it and opened her door, helped her out, and lifted her in my arms.
Something I loved to do, something she wasn’t used to anymore, and maybe I should have asked if she wanted me to.
No, fuck that. I was going to hold my damn woman. If I couldn’t kiss her, I was holding her.
“Oh, wow. You’re strong,” she chuckled and squeezed my bicep since it was flexed as we walked inside. “It’s sexy.”
Alright, it felt good that she was looking at me like it was the first time. I hated that it felt like we were starting over, but I loved that she found me attractive. I lifted a brow at her and licked my lips. “You think I’m sexy?”
“You know you’re sexy. A guy like you doesn’t not know,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Maybe but hearing it from the woman that matters makes all the difference.”
Her cheeks turned a seductive shade of red, and she hid her face against my shoulder as we walked through the door. Now that was new. She had never hidden from me before. “You smell so good,” she moaned in appreciation as she sniffed my chest.
I almost tripped over the step entering the house when I heard the sound.
“You seem perfect so far. Good looking, you smell good— I love a man that smells good— and I bet you’re smart too. There has to be a catch.”
Yeah, I was a criminal, but I would lead in with that later.
“Why do you think I wear cologne? I just as hell don’t wear it for me, baby.” I hopped onto the elevator and pressed the button to the main floor. The silence wasn’t awkward, but it was full of sexual tension. I never thought someone’s memory loss would make me feel like a teenager who had no idea what he was doing, but here I was, debating with myself on what to do or say. I didn’t want to make the wrong move.
Moves were critical right now, and I had to make the right ones.
“What was prison like?”
That was the one question she had never asked me. I thought it was because talking about it would make her feel bad for not believing in me, but since she didn’t have that memory, her filter was completely off.
“Lonely,” I said as I thought about it. “Hard. It’s an eye for an eye in there, only an eye for a life. If you fuck with someone, you’re likely to die. It was about survival.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m glad you made it out alive.”
“I ran that prison, baby. I was the go-to man. Just like I am now. The guys, which you will meet in a few minutes, are all criminals, but we are all innocent.” I was getting close to telling her that we were a group that planned heists and that we were on the road to vengeance now. I didn’t want to tell her that I had her ex-fiancé chained against the wall of the basement or that I ruined her wedding.
Or that I threatened to keep her for ten years for the years taken from me.
Yeah, we would work up to that.
I stepped off the elevator and entered the kitchen. Ingrid was there, baking cookies while Louis sipped coffee and read the newspaper.
“Mr. Steele. Ms. Taylor. Glad to have you back,” he said, laying the paper down on the counter to look at us over his bifocals.
I called and told them about her memory loss. So they made sure to keep their lips sealed about certain aspects of our life.
“Rabbit, I’m glad your back. I made you your favorite. Chocolate chip,” Ingrid held out a plate of freshly baked cookies.
“I like oatmeal raisin,” she said. “How do I know that?”
“Some things are just engraved in us,” I said.
“I know you like oatmeal raisin. Chocolate chip is my favorite, Rabbit. I knew you’d turn them down. More for me.” Ingrid shoved a cookie in her mouth, and with a debonair glide to her steps, she walked down the hallway and snapped her fingers. “Louis, come.”
“Boss calls,” he said, folding up the paper and trailing behind Ingrid like a lovestruck fool.
“Interesting people,” Quinn said. “And I also don’t think I like that she calls me Rabbit.”
“You don’t,” I said on a short laugh. “Come on; I’ll introduce you to the guys.” I carried her to the game room where the doors were shut. “Use your good foot to knock, would you, baby?”
“My pleasure,” she said, biting her lip as she stared at my chest. She didn’t look away from me as she lifted her foot and banged on the door.
My cock took notice of her attention, and I wanted to lay her down and fuck her like it was the first time, which it would be to her, and that had my blood boiling with the pleasure I could bring her. Shit, she didn’t even know I was her first sexual experience. And right now, she was acting like a vixen with how she was checking me out.
A man could only be so strong. If she kept looking at me like that, I was going to pounce and eat her pussy before fucking her so good, the only man she’d ever remember was me. I shifted on my feet when my erection pressed against my zipper to readjust it, but it was pointless. Everyone was going to see how fucking turned on I was, and I had no shame.
The doors opened, and Heaven tossed glitter in the air and confetti while Grayson blew on a whistle while Owen released balloons, and Sebastian tugged the rope that dropped a sign that said….
“Happy Retirement?” I asked.
“They didn’t have a welcome home sign,” Heaven answered. “Quinn, welcome home! I’ve missed seeing you.” He stole her from my arms and hugged her, and somehow, the guys ended up passing her around like that to give her a hug.
Every guy’s arms she was in, she laughed, and her flesh was the color of a tomato with all the blushing.
“How’s she doing?” Heaven asked me, but it was hard to take him seriously when he wore a ‘happy birthday’ hat. They must have really had no ‘welcome home’ supplies.