In Death I Live by Lindsay Becs

RIVER

I feel sucha mixture of contentment and protectiveness with Zora. I have since the first moment I saw her. Even knowing that stopping on the side of the road and bringing her to the compound was going to be the catalyst for everything that’s happened since, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Sharing her with everyone has brought jealousy out in me I’ve never felt before. Then last night, with all of us together, it was like any sliver of jealousy that was still there was siphoned out with every kiss and touch that passed between not just Zora and me, but all of us.

Together.

That’s what feels right.

I only hope that everyone feels the same way I do.

I hear someone shift in bed, waking me up fully and pulling me from my thoughts. Opening my eyes, I see Cruz press a kiss to Zora’s head before he gets up.

“Where are you going?” I whisper, causing him to jump and press a hand to his chest as he glares at me, making me smile.

He bends to kiss me, running a finger down my cheek. “I’m going to start breakfast.”

“I’ll come help.” He lifts a brow at me. “Okay, fine. I’ll come keep you company,” I amend. Leaving a lingering kiss on our angel’s temple, I slide out of bed.

Grabbing a pair of sweatpants from the floor—not having a clue who’s they are—I slide them on and jog down the hall to catch up with Cruz. He’s pulled on a pair of sweats too, and with a better look, I think he has on mine. Smacking his ass, I follow him down to the kitchen.

He turns on the coffee machine, and I can’t help myself. Grabbing his upper arm, I spin him around to face me, caging him in against the counter. Biting into his lip, I tug and kiss his mouth. His tongue seeks mine—and morning breath be damned— and I duel with him.

Before last night, he hadn’t been inside me in a long while. I realized I hadn’t been just missing my own time with him, but I’ve also been missing him like this too.

Pressing into him more, I rub my cock against his through our cotton pants. His moan fills my mouth. Fisting his hair, I pull his head back, exposing his neck to me, licking a path up his throat, then stopping to suck on the spot he loves just below his ear. “Fuck,” he says breathily.

Biting onto his earlobe, I grin. “Morning,” I whisper into his ear before pushing his pants down his thighs. Mine follow, and then I’m pressing against him again. Our hard cocks, leaking with pre-cum, rub against each other as we devour one another.

I hear him open a cupboard and things hitting the floor, but I don’t care or bother looking.

Then, he’s changing our positions and turning me around to face the counter, with him behind me. “Hands on the counter, River,” he orders, and his dominating tone goes straight to my balls, making me shutter as I listen.

Placing a hand on my back, he bends me forward, and then I feel his fingers trail down my ass. I’m already breathing heavily before he even breaches me. Then, he’s pushing into my already-sore ass. This time, he’s slower. Softer.

“Did I hurt you last night?” he asks, his voice low and filled with care.

I shake my head as my throat goes dry while he fills me. “No. I’m sore, but the good kind. Fuck…” I moan when he’s fully seated, his balls touching mine and sending waves of magic through me.

His lips kiss a soft path down my spine, making goosebumps erupt on my heated skin. Reaching down, he rolls our balls together in his hand. My head falls to my hands as I hold myself up on my forearms. “Holy fucking shit, Cruz,” I say through labored breaths.

Then, the bastard pinches my cock to hold off my release as he starts to move in and out of me in slow, languid movements. “Please, Cruz,” I beg. “Please.”

Lifting his palm to my mouth, I know he’s waiting for my saliva. My mouth is still dry from my heavy pants. Bringing his hand to my mouth, I flatten my tongue and lick his palm. It’s enough for him to give me what I need. His hand on my cock, stroking me, as he slams into me harder this time. Both of our moans mix in the kitchen.

Standing up straighter, I slap a hand to the cupboard above me as he jerks me hard and fast to the same punishing rhythm he’s fucking my ass. It’s harsh. A brutal mixture of pain and pleasure swirling together in unison.

Then he stops.

I look over my shoulder at him, confusion marring my face. “What’s wrong?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he pulls out and turns me to face him. There’s this look of innocence. Of wonder and lust. Understanding, longing and… love?

I watch him swallow, his eyes on my lips before he kisses me. Soft and sensual, his mouth makes love to mine, tasting every part of me and reaching my soul.

“I want to look at you when you come. And I want to look into your eyes when I do too. I don’t want to fuck you from behind, River. I want to watch you while I make love to you.” He says the words against my skin as he kisses me. Pouring them into my heart. Staring into my eyes, he adds, “When I thought I lost you…” He trails off and my heart shatters, overwhelmed with emotions and everything he’s saying.

I push him away, and at first, I see the hurt there, but then, lacing our fingers together, I pull him with me into the living room. Lying down on the couch, I pull him down on top of me, spreading my legs and opening myself up to him in more ways than one.

Cupping the side of his face, I smirk up at him. “I expect flowers and chocolates after this,” I joke, making him smile and relax. But then I take his still-hard cock in my hand and bring him to me. His eyes hood as he slides inside me again. “Make love to me,” I whisper into his kiss.

My cock drips for him. Swiping a thumb to collect it, I bring it to his mouth. He sucks the salty musk from my thumb. Sweat lines his brow and I reach up, wanting to taste him too.

His sweat on my tongue has my balls pulling tight without him even touching me again. Nostrils flared, my back arches as he swivels his hips, hitting my prostate. “Shiiiiiit…” I groan.

Bending forward, he sucks the tip of my cock into his mouth, his tongue ring joining to do wonders to me. His amazing lips on me are enough to make me come. My hungry man sucks and licks it all. Reaching for his face, I bring him to me to kiss him, tasting me on his lips, on his tongue. I love it all.

He pushes back inside me fully and comes soon after, biting into my lip with a loud moan while kissing me. Kissing his sweaty brow, he falls on top of me, both of us quiet for a while. I draw lazy circles on his back that turn into me writing words I never thought I’d say to anyone.

“I love you too,” Cruz says when my fingers stop writing my confession on his hot skin. Picking his head up, he looks at me, staring into my eyes. Honest and open, we stare. Both of us lost to the other in this moment that’s ours.

My stomach growls, breaking us from our love bubble, both of us laughing. “Come on,” he says, sitting up and pulling out of me. “Let me clean you up, and then I’ll feed you.”

My brows wag up and down. “What are you feeding me?”

His laugh fills my ears as I stay on the couch and he goes to the kitchen for a towel. My smile is so big my cheeks are starting to hurt.

I don’t know exactly what this means. For us—Cruz and me—or all five of us, but I know this green-eyed hottie has a huge part of my black heart.

* * *

After Cruztentatively helped clean me up, we both pulled our pants back on—him in mine and me in his. He put me on cleaning duty while he started breakfast. I just finished wiping down the couch and counter when Dom and Zora come down.

“Grey still sleeping?” Cruz asks, flipping pancakes.

“Does he ever wake up before noon?” Dom deadpans.

He sits, pulling Zo onto his lap. I watch as he kisses her neck. I think about the first morning after he’d had her and how mad I was about him doing this very same thing. Funny how time changes things.

Zora moves to stand, but he pulls her back for a kiss. I find myself smiling, watching them together. She’s good for him. Hell, she’s good for all of us. But she’s really good for him. Calling him on his shit and not letting him get away with things. He needs her as much as she needs him.

She giggles into his mouth when he won’t let her go. “I want coffee,” she protests. Dom slaps her ass and then shoves her gently away. “Me too,” he says.

Pursing her lips, she counters, “I didn’t hear you ask nicely or say please.”

I watch as he runs a thumb over his bottom lip, trying so hard not to smile, the fucker. Looking over to Cruz, I see him shaking his head with a grin, watching them too. He catches me looking at him, and I wink. His cheeks pink a little, and I love that innocent look on his adorable face.

Zora must have caught part of our little moment though because she gives me a knowing smile of her own when she turns for the coffee. “You two are so fucking cute,” she mumbles.

Crowding her when she reaches for mugs, I kiss her neck in the same place Dom just was. “It doesn’t make you mad or jealous, does it, angel?”

She turns to face me with a shocked look. “No. Why would you think that?”

I lift a shoulder, glancing over at Cruz, who I know is listening. “Just want to make sure we’re good.”

“You’re still our baby girl,” Cruz adds from the stove.

She walks to him and smacks his ass, making me chuckle. “I better be.”

“What the fuck is happening over there?” Dom asks.

“Cruz and I are going to mark Zora,” I tell him, flatly, like I didn’t just make his brain explode.

“What?!”

I can’t hold it in any longer. I bend over laughing so hard, tears fall down my cheeks.

“The fuck is wrong with you,” Cruz chastises me.

“Mark me?” Zora asks, carrying mugs of coffee to the table for me, Dom and herself before going back to hand one to Cruz. He smacks a kiss on her lips in appreciation.

Dom lets out a frustrated groan. “You brought it up, you can explain that shit, dumbass,” he tells me.

“Are we talking a marriage-like thing or more like blood-oath shit?” she asks.

“Somewhere in between?” I say with a wince. Dom rolls his eyes, taking a sip from his coffee.

“When we put a mark on you, it’s a physical mark. Similar to a tattoo. It symbolizes not just a bond to the person but to The Organization. It shows that you are off-limits. Not just in a romantic way, but also off-limits to harm. You literally cannot be touched. It gives you immunity toward those for and against us. It’s an instant death to anyone who tries to hurt you or come between the relationship. So yeah, marriage… blood oath… kinda both.” I tilt my head back and forth from side to side to show my point that she wasn’t all that off.

I can see the wheels turning in her pretty head. “What are you thinking, angel?”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Especially now with Swan wanting me dead?”

“It could be,” Dom starts. “We want to take Swan out and end The Organization, in which it wouldn’t matter anymore if there isn’t anything to hold to those rules. It would be pointless.”

She squints at him. “But would it be?”

“We already have leaders on our side. They are only waiting for Swan to be gone to make the changes needed to alter the entire structure of The Organization,” Dom answers.

“Are you sure none of them will turn on you? That they won’t still want to implement some of your current weird-ass rules?” She asks good questions.

“Nothing can be one hundred percent; we know this. But as far as we know right now, we’re good.” He reaches for her hand, pulling her to stand between his legs. “All of us—River, Cruz, Greyson, and myself—would mark you in a heartbeat if we thought it would be beneficial. You belong here with us, Zora.”

Cruz sets a huge pile of pancakes down in the center of the table. “Do you want to be marked, baby girl? Would it help you feel safer with Swan still alive?” he asks, making my head turn, as well as Dom’s, waiting for her answer.

The boys had asked me when I first brought her here if I was going to mark her, and at the time, I thought yes. Eventually, I’d want to be marked to her. I still do.

The part that we’re all struggling with now is that she’s more than a pawn in the game we’ve been playing. We want her to want to be tied to us, not forced to be.

Of course, this is the moment Grey decides to wake up and join us all. “Why are you all staring at her like that? Have a good nip slip, Zo-Zo?” he asks with a chuckle.

“Because genius over there brought up marking her,” Dom shoots in my direction. “Then this one”—he nods toward Cruz—“just asked her if she’d want to be marked.”

Grey’s eyes widen for a second, and then his nostrils flare in anger. “Did you at least explain it to her?”

“I did,” I answer, and Dom scoffs. “What is that for?” I ask him.

“Because you’re an asshole for bringing it up in the first place,” he tells me.

He’s not wrong.