Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

The idea of her thanking me for that made me chuckle.

She looked up at me and frowned. “What?”

I pushed the wet locks from her face. “You just gave me the most incredible experience of my life, and you’re thanking me? I came inside you, Bryn. I couldn’t pull out. I tried. God, I tried, but you were so hot, and you felt so good, and you were squeezing me and crying out in orgasm. I wanted my release inside you.”

She smiled and pressed a kiss to my chest. “That was what felt so good. There was a warm gush, and then everything just felt even better.”

Jesus Christ. I might end up fucking us both to death.

“We are going to need to get you on birth control,” I said.

She grinned. “So, you will do it again?” she asked hopefully.

I cupped her face in my hands. “I will do it as many times a day as you want it.”

She smiled, pleased, and then she yawned.

“Time for bed,” I told her.

She didn’t argue.

When we curled up in her bed together, she didn’t tell me to go to another room. She held on to me, and, damn, it felt good.





Chapter Thirty-Nine

Bryn

After I went back to work, things slowly began to change. Rio was now staying at the apartment the evenings I worked with Cullen. Coming back home after work was nice. It was better, having Rio there in my bed. I worried about the future and Cullen being so attached to Rio. However, it was three weeks after Tory’s funeral, and it was too late now. Cullen adored Rio. It was no longer only my heartbreak I would face one day.

I stood in the mirror, looking at the dress I had bought for this evening. Rio was taking us to his house. Saul and Henley had invited us for dinner and to swim. I had met his two closest friends at the funeral, and other than the night he had come into the club, that was the only time I had been around his friends. This felt like a big deal, but then it could simply be Henley making him do this.

Rio was great. Sex was great. He was what had held me together after Tory’s death. Cullen had needed me to be strong, and Rio had been there to make sure I was. I knew I was in love with him. I had been since I was a girl and he would come into that awful trailer of my aunt’s to help me clean it. He had been beautiful back then, and now, he made my heart do crazy things every time I looked at him. I often felt like that girl in the trailer still.

I wasn’t naive enough to believe he felt the same way about me. Not once had he said anything about love other than loving my body when we were having sex. He didn’t mention my job or the fact that I worked topless in front of men. It didn’t seem to bother him at all. In fact, he never brought it up.

Blush had started dating a guy, and just last week, he had walked into the club and made a scene, covering her up. He’d said no one was looking at what was his, and then he told her he loved her right there in front of everyone. Blush had quit her job, smiling as she left.

It wasn’t that I wanted Rio to do something like that, but deep down, I knew if he was in love with me and if he meant those words he said when we were having sex about me being his, then he would not be okay with me working at a strip club.

Frustrated with my thoughts, I scowled at myself in the mirror and turned to slip on my heels. I should be glad he wasn’t telling me what to do. Why did I want him to demand I quit? I’d already decided before all this with him that it was getting time I found another job. I didn’t enjoy what I did, and I didn’t need all that income. I had almost twenty thousand in savings and more than five in my checking account.

The bedroom door opened behind me. I turned to see Rio as he stepped inside and closed it. His gaze slid down my body, then back up slowly as an appreciative smile played on his lips.

“I like that dress,” he said.

There was no question about sexual attraction between us. We had plenty of that.

“Thank you,” I replied.

He walked over and put his hands on my waist and continued to let his gaze roam over my body. “Cullen is dressed in the outfit you laid out for him,” Rio told me as he stared at my breasts. “Can I help you with anything else?” he asked, lifting his eyes back to meet mine.

“No, I’m ready. Thank you for helping him,” I said.

When he was in front of me, looking at me that way, all my worries didn’t matter. I was just happy to be near him.

He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to my neck. Then, he let his lips move against my skin, up to my ear. He bit down on my lobe, and I shivered as his warm breath tickled the sensitive flesh.

“I’m going to be thinking about taking this dress off you all evening,” he whispered.

I grabbed his arms to steady my suddenly weak knees, wishing he could do that right now.

God, why did I have to love him? Why couldn’t this be enough? Why was I so damn needy? He was perfect.

His hand slid under my dress, and my eyes flew up to look into his face. We couldn’t do this now.

“I’m just seeing what panties you have on tonight,” he said with a crooked grin.

When he found the thin string of fabric, his eyes flared hotly.

“No panty line,” I explained.

“Fuck,” he groaned, dropping my dress back into place, then pressing a kiss to my lips before moving back. “We’d better leave this room.”

I nodded in agreement.