I shook my head. “No, but my country owes me. It owes me all the years I spent motherless and angry. It owes me for turning my father into a traitor, a man who valued revenge more than family. It owes me for not keeping my sister safe like it promised. When my country can put my family back together and fix the promises it broke, then maybe we’ll talk about who owes whom. Go away and don’t come back. If you do, I’ll dig and dig until both your graves are deep enough. There is a lot of dirt out there and the only person better with a shovel than me is her. You can shut me up, but there are people who will speak for me. Remember that if you’re thinking of doing something stupid like taking both of us out of the game. There are new players in place and most of them are a lot scarier than you guys.”

Noe peeked around my shoulder and snidely snapped, “They dress better, too. Did you get those suits at Walmart?” Considering she was dressed in one of her half shirts and a pair of sweats that were too big, it was particularly funny. She still dressed like she was going to be trolling alleyways and underpasses. I found it endearing. I liked that it kept curious eyes off her olive skin and tight little body.

“We’re done. You’re done. Go back to your bosses and tell them I’m not interested in war. I want to help people, not hurt them.” I turned to the door and backed Noe toward the house. I didn’t stop walking until she was inside and the door was shut firmly behind us. I wasn’t tired anymore so I bent and put a shoulder to her middle and hiked her up in a fireman’s carry. Her legs kicked in the air until I landed a hand on the swell of her ass. The smack was satisfying and so was the way her hands grabbed at my ass from her upside-down position.

“They’ll be back.” She sounded resigned but she wasn’t wrong.

I nodded as I stopped by the side of the bed, tossing her on the mattress. She bounced with a squeal, eyes gleaming like polished jet as I tugged my t-shirt off over my head by the collar. “They will be. We stay one step ahead of them. We make it known it’s a real bad idea for them to try and poke into our lives. We fight for what we have.”

She hummed a soft agreement and yelped again when I caught her ankles and dragged her to the edge of the bed. I kissed her hard and bruising. I wanted her to remember my mouth there while it was busy on other parts of her body. I stamped my intent on her. I wasn’t going anywhere and neither was she. I licked her bottom lip then dropped to my knees between her dangling legs so I could pull her baggy pants down. I kissed the sweet indent of her belly button, licked my way to the apex of her thighs. She was sighing into the darkness and wasn’t shy at all when she threw her legs over my shoulders. She never hid from me. It was all right there in front of me, wet, willing, wanting. Her body always ready for whatever I wanted to do to it, eager to respond to my touch.

She was already shiny and slippery, thighs tense and quivering by my ears. I breathed out a damp breath against her plump folds and growled in appreciation as one of her hands slid under her shirt so she could play with her nipples. Her hips lifted impatiently off the bed and I chuckled into her sweet skin. The vibration made her moan and her head started to thrash as I slid a couple of fingers inside of her. She pulsed around me, hot and silky. She moved with my hand and gasped my name as I touched my mouth to her tight clit. Her flavor burst on my tongue as she writhed in front of me. I fucked her with my face and my fingers, building her up until her body was as taut as a drawn bow in my hold. I rubbed the thumb of my free hand along the back of her thigh and traced a line up to the curve of her ass. We hadn’t taken things that far . . . yet. I never wanted to push her into anything she didn’t seem comfortable with, but the more time she spent at Nassir’s club, the more curious and creative she’d been. I was a man who was always looking to learn something new, so I was here for whatever she decided she wanted to experiment with.

She lifted up and wrapped her hands around my head, holding my face to her body as she chased after her impending orgasm. I added another finger, curled them, and tapped that hot spot that made her convulse and quake. She gasped loudly and rolled her hips as my tongue relentlessly attacked her clit. I could feel her getting ready to come apart. Her small frame coiled tight and her fingers tugged my hair and ears. The diamond studs I wore were going to leave marks in the soft skin of her inner thighs again, but she didn’t seem to care as her legs locked even tighter around my head. She was going to have those marks forever because I wasn’t taking my earrings out and I wasn’t giving up the way she tasted when she came on my tongue.

She moaned so loud I was sure the neighbors could hear her through our shared wall but I didn’t care. While she was still coming, languid and heavy lidded, I pulled my fingers out of her soaked opening and stood. She groaned in protest until I grabbed her by her hips and flipped her over so that she was on her stomach.

“Face down, ass up, Noe Lee.” I jerked my pants open and shoved them down so that my dick was free. Our size difference made taking her this way tricky unless I was standing behind her while she kneeled on the bed.

Obediently, she put a cheek to the sheets and lifted up her backside, wiggling her hips enticingly in front of my throbbing cock. I fisted the rigid shaft and leaned forward so I could drag the swollen head through her creamy wetness. I shuddered as her heat surrounded me, my dick kicking in approval. My fingers dug into the skin of her hips and I grunted in appreciation as her hand worked its way between her torso and the bed. Her clever little fingers hit her already sensitized and tender clit at the exact same time I thrust my length into her welcoming opening. Her body went liquid around me. I felt her pussy clench and a hot rush of pleasure surrounded me.

I pulled her back into my thrusts with a grunt of satisfaction. It was still a tight fit, still felt like she was custom made to take my cock. When I was inside of her, there was nothing else in the world that mattered. There was no space for anything other than me and her and the way we made each other feel.

Our skin slapped together creating an erotic soundtrack that mingled with our heavy breathing and her soft whimpers. I swore when I felt her fingers brush across my erection where it was spreading her open. Her fingers were slippery and soft against my heated skin. I felt her reaction to the contact when her inner walls shimmied around the heavy, thick skin working its way in and out of her. I bottomed out as she mumbled my name. She stopped touching herself so that she could brace her weight on her hands and push back against me. My girl was never one who laid there and got fucked. She was always an active participant. She always gave just as good as she got.

She was panting in time to my grunts as I rutted into her like an animal. There was no finesse to it, no plan or thought. I was operating on nothing more than feeling and sensation. It was the only time my mind went quiet and let my body and my heart take charge. It was the only time I felt normal.

I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her up so that her back was plastered to my front. I palmed her breast, catching her puckered nipple in my fingers. I sank my teeth into her earlobe and brushed my nose along the gentle curve of her jaw. She lifted an arm behind her head and ran it over my hair. Her eyes were closed but her face was etched in twin lines of desire and need. She was perfect.

I replaced her fingers with mine between her legs and knew when her eyes popped open and her mouth went slack that she was close. Her fingers latched in my hair and she whispered my name as she was dragged into a second orgasm. Watching her response, knowing I was the one who put that pleasure on her face and made her body feel that good, sent me spiraling through my own. I nipped at the side of her throat and groaned long and loud into her sweaty skin. Now I was the one the neighbors could probably hear, and I hoped they enjoyed the show because I didn’t ever plan on being quiet about how she made me feel.

I kissed her on the back of the head and let her limp body fall in front of mine on the bed. She looked annihilated and it made me want to pound my chest with pride, and sure enough my diamonds had left marks on her inner thighs. Marks that were now wet and glistening with the evidence of how thoroughly we’d destroyed one another. If anyone or anything thought they were ever going to take any of this away from me, they were going to find out how dangerous a brilliant man could be when he was inspired.

I hitched my jeans back up over my ass and meandered to the bathroom so I could clean up and get her a washcloth to do the same. She hadn’t moved when I made it back to the bed, so I dragged the warm fabric over her skin, then got completely naked and pulled her on top of me.

It was silent in the dark as she nuzzled into the ink on my chest. That was the only mechanical heart I had left. My actual heart was all wrapped up in the woman I held in my arms. It beat only for her, functioned only when she was the one pulling the strings.

“You know I’ll chase you too, Snowden. If anyone tries to take you, if you vanish on me, I’m coming after you. I meant what I said out there . . . you’re mine.” She kissed the skin her cheek was resting on and I threaded my fingers through her hair.

“I am yours, Noe. Everyone else wants bits and pieces of me. You’re the only one who wants it all. My heart, my mind, my body . . . my future. They’re all yours. Everything I am belongs to you.” She was the only one who knew how to handle all that I was and all that I would be.