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Like my mom. My dad. Emilia. And me, in a way. The me I’d been then had died right along with them, thanks to old wiring in an even older house. A home that had been so full of life and love once but had been left half-burned for the past fourteen years.
I took the canvas from her hands. “I love my dick flower. I’ll hang it with pride.”
She landed with an oomph against me. She was petite, but the force of the impact knocked the air right out of my lungs. Or maybe it was the fire in those hazel eyes that stole my oxygen—hazel eyes locked on me in fury.
“Their personality doesn’t matter if their mouth is busy doing other things,” she said with a devious grin.
Loveeeee Lolli🤣
Anson might be on my shit list, but I didn’t want him mauled by my newest foster. “Give him some slack, Reckless,” he echoed. I scowled at the nickname but gave the dog another couple feet of leash.
“What was that?” Anson just stared at me, not answering. “You’ve been nothing but a grumpy asshole since I met you. But with him…” “Don’t do people. Love dogs.” And with that, he stalked back to the main site and his crew.
Everything about her twisted my insides. Too beautiful. Too bright. Too kind. She even took in damn dogs.
I had to keep my distance from Rhodes. She had a way of breaking through the numbness I’d made my home for the past two years. And that was just as dangerous as she was.
Our sibling group chat had another new name. The 7 Deadly Sibs.
🤣🤣
“You shouldn’t hide a damned thing, Reckless. Especially not something that proves how strong you are.”
Friends wasn’t something I could be with Rhodes. For many reasons. A friend didn’t think about shoving the other against a wall and driving into them so hard they couldn’t breathe. A friend didn’t imagine wrapping the other’s hair around his fist as he fucked her mouth. A friend didn’t picture what the other would look like sprawled across his sheets while he ate her until she screamed.
Hearing her say my name was the most beautiful kind of torture.
“I foster them. The whole point is to get them ready for their forever families.”
He is your forever home. I just know it🙏🏽😍
“Maybe so, but you’ve also got family who cares about you. You’re not alone in this.” Knowing that was the most beautiful pain. Knowing that I’d been given this amazing ragtag group of humans because I’d lost my family.
She had so many different kinds of laughs, and I was starting to get addicted to finding each new one.
“Trace isn’t exactly going to believe that I’m suddenly some sort of criminal version of A Beautiful Mind.”
All I could do was stare into those witch eyes. “You don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, Reckless.”
He gaped at the fireplace. “Is that a dick?” He sounded so appalled that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “It’s my dick flower, if you must know.”
Anson shrugged, the action pulling the T-shirt taut across his broad chest. His feet were bare, and something about that was sexier than it should’ve been. Did I have a foot fetish now?
“I don’t like to read the endings.” Anson gaped at me, his jaw going slack. “You don’t finish books? Ever?” That twitchiness skated over me again. “I don’t like the finality. Even if it is happy. I like thinking the story could go on forever.”
I do this sometimes🤗 book is to good to end lol
He smirked at me. Smirked. It wasn’t a smile, but it was somehow better, the slight curve of those lips beneath his thick scruff. I wondered how that scruff would feel when he kissed you, how it would feel if he—nope, nope, nope. I was not going there.
🤣🤣
“It’s not you,” he gritted out. “I don’t do relationships with anyone. Not friendship, not more. Wouldn’t want to saddle a single soul with the fucked-up shit that’s me. But you keep looking at me with those kiss-me eyes, all green and sparking gold, and it’s killing me. Doesn’t matter how much I want to drown in your taste. How much I want to know what it would be like to sink into that sweet heat. I can’t. I won’t.”
Could hear his words echoing in my head. I was too hot, my skin felt too tight for my body. I squeezed my thighs together on instinct, trying to relieve a little of the ache—one Anson had put there and refused to do a damned thing about. I was so screwed. And not in a good way.
“I’ve realized lately that because I lost them, I never take one second with the Colsons for granted. Because my mom can’t see her garden bloom each summer, I take extra time breathing mine in every year. Because my dad won’t ever get to read the new John Grisham, I’ll read it for him and appreciate the twists that much more. And because Emilia won’t ever get to grow old, I’m going to embrace every wrinkle and age spot.”
“You’re not alone, Anson. Plenty of people would keep you company on the path if you asked. Me included.” Hell. She slayed me. That simple, bold kindness. So unafraid.
“Because I’m holding on to my last shred of humanity, and if you stand here in those goddamn shorts for another ten seconds, it’s going to snap.”
“What happens if you snap?” she whispered. “I fuck you so hard you’ll feel me for weeks. I’ll ruin you, Reckless. You think I can’t taint you with my pain and the darkness that lives inside me, but you’re wrong.”
Everything about her set my blood on fire, from her strength to her beauty to her fearlessness.
She bit down on my shoulder to keep from crying out. “Gonna brand me, Reckless?”
“Get dressed, Reckless.” Then Anson licked clean the fingers that had just been inside me. I gaped at him. “You didn’t.”
😳🤣
“I sincerely apologize to your balls.” “Don’t say that word. They’ve had enough abuse from you today.” A pink blush stained her cheeks.
Hell. I needed to rein it in. One taste of her, and she was all I wanted. All I could see.
“Grab the headboard.” “Anson,” I squeaked. “My reckless girl,” he growled. “Been dying for this. Now, grab the headboard and ride my face.”
“Can’t handle being away from you,” he croaked. “Especially not when you’re hurting.” He swallowed hard. “I didn’t want to care about anyone. But you shot that all to hell.” My heart hammered against my ribs, butterfly wings dying to break free. A muscle fluttered in Anson’s cheek. “You didn’t sneak past my defenses, you bulldozed them. Reckless to the bone. And maybe you made me brave enough to be reckless, too.”
“We’re the law enforcement nerds, honestly.” She gave me a droll look. “You’re hardly a nerd.” “Don’t be so sure. I’ve got an IQ of one-forty-four.” Rho’s brow lifted. “Interesting. So, I’m shacked up with a genius.” “I prefer nerd.” “Okay, I can go with nerd. Do you have any black-framed glasses to complete the effect? I think I could be into that.”
“Your beauty scalds, Reckless. Anyone who’s ever had the pleasure of looking at you will never be the same.” Breath caught in my throat. “Anson.” “Everything about you is made to burn into a man’s brain. And I’ll never get tired of staring.” He rose, coming closer. “Or tasting.”
“Dreamed of getting all of you. Never dreamed it would be this good.”
“I think you’d look pretty damn hot rocking a tool belt.”
“I love the noises you make. The whimpers and moans. The way you suck me in, desperate for more.”
A crack pierced the air. Like a clap of thunder but fainter. A gun. A bullet. I was already running, promises be damned.
If this girl don’t stay put🤬🤬
“It’s always been you.” A voice cut through the quiet from behind me. I stiffened, my muscles turning to cement. “Even back then. You saw me when no one else did.”
I never would have thought😱
Wherever Rho was, that’s where I wanted to be. The cost didn’t matter. Because she was my sanctuary. I’d just never realized how fragile it all was.
❤️
“Don’t, Reckless. Don’t leave me.” I squeezed her hand harder. A tear slipped free, landing on Rho’s cheek and turning the ash pure black. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. I don’t want sappy love. I want the real kind. And that’s what we have.”
“You can decorate my whole cast if you want.” Keely’s eyes went wide. “Really? I got my markers here, too. I’ve been drawing with Supergran. But her flowers look funny.” Lolli beamed at me. “More dick flowers for you, my girl.”
🤣🤣
“How would you feel about my moving in here while we bring that magic back?” My eyes burned. “You want to live with me?” “Home is wherever you are,” he whispered. “You’re my sanctuary. Where I feel peace. Where I feel seen. Don’t want anything more.” “Yes,” I whispered. “I want you to move in.” My eyes watered as my lips pulled into a smile. “You’re going to have to deal with dick flowers and color, though.”
A beautiful bookmark lay there, one with flowers pressed into the thick paper. And on it read, The End is only a chance for another beginning.
He gently unfastened the ring from the bookmark and took my hand. “You gave me air when I thought I’d never breathe again. You gave me color when my world had gone black. You see every part of me. I don’t want to spend another moment without you. Marry me.”
“Had to be a pink diamond for my colorful, reckless girl. A flower for the queen of life.” His lips hovered over mine. “I love you.” “I love you, too. Love this beginning.”
