“It’s time to end this—right here, right now. Say goodbye to her.”
“You fucking wish.” Delta defended himself, thrusting Hunter backward.
But Hunter twisted and caught Delta, hitting him hard in the shoulder. It was the same shoulder where Delta already had a gash, and he cringed in pain. Hunter then dashed closer to Kendra, looking down on her still body. Blood trickled from the back of her head and her eyes were glazed over. She was losing it.
“You think you can win? You have no idea how strong I’ve become. They’ve made me a better version of you. And now…it’s time to fix you. Permanently.” Hunter’s gaze dropped to Kendra’s position, revealing everything.
Delta broke, seeing Hunter too damn close to her. It was a tactical misstep, but he had no choice. He had to get the sick fuck away from Kendra. So, he rushed forth, exposing himself while slamming Hunter into the wall. But Hunter fought back viciously, swinging his arms and making contact with Delta’s ribs. A trained SEAL, he absorbed the pain, but he had been hit harder than it had likely seemed. As Hunter kept coughing up blood, an enraged Delta growled into his face.
“I’ve done things you only wish you could have done. You’ll never see what I’ve seen, done what I’ve done. You’ll never be me.”
Delta thrust forward again, trying to finish Hunter, but instead he received a massive punch to his ribs again, sending him backward against the wall. Delta panted to the side, trying to catch his breath. Hunter stood tall, his self-satisfied eyes flashing to Kendra, and he flexed to attack Delta again.
The mere sight of Hunter looking at Kendra filled Delta with a burning hate he couldn’t even describe. With clenched teeth and a loud roar, Delta thundered off the wall to rip Hunter to shreds. His passion and fury caused him to overlook his vulnerability, letting Hunter once again connect with his jaw, sending Delta to the side, the taste of blood in his mouth.
He was losing.
Hunter grinned, bloodied but still strong, and called out in threat. “There’s only one way for this to end. There’s only room for one of us.”
And that was when Delta realized that he had to regain control. He had to cool down. Whatever was pulsing through his veins, he had to override it. Breathing in deep, Delta repositioned himself, focusing only on his opponent. He had to let everything else go—his fears, his desires, everything.
He had to gain control.
Hunter smirked, probably from seeing the blood on the side of Delta’s face.
“So, you think you deserve her more than I do?” Hunter gnashed his teeth as he lunged forward again.
“Hell yeah,” Delta replied, cold and precise, grabbing Hunter and quickly spinning him around. He dropkicked Hunter, purposefully impacting his spine and collapsing him to the ground in agony.
“How can this— I am you,” Hunter growled on the floor, exasperated, choking on his blood.
“No,” Delta said as he reached down to grab the assault rifle. “You can never be me.”
The monster within roared to finish Hunter off, kill him—but Delta paused for a split second. Kendra’s body was bloody and unresponsive on the ground. She needed him.
So, using the assault rifle, Delta sent a hard smack to the back of Hunter’s head, rendering him unconscious. Using the rifle’s strap, he threw it over his shoulder so it hung behind him. There’s no question now who’s the better man.
“This isn’t over,” he growled. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done.”
Delta then jumped forward, lifting Kendra into his arms and promptly carrying her to the fire escape balcony. She blinked quickly at him, and he saw she was almost blacking out. He had to get her help. Holding the back of her head, he leaped out of the broken exit, down the fire escape and away from the building. He carried her under the shadow of night, down the alleyway, toward a distant parking lot.
Setting her down on a large decorative rock, he held her trembling body close. He assessed that she wasn’t totally out—but she wasn’t lucid either. He brushed her hair from her face, bringing her head under his jaw, holding her against his chest, inhaling her scent. God, she always smells so good.
After kissing her hair, he slipped his hand up the back of her head, feeling her wound. It had stopped bleeding. That was good. It meant she probably didn’t need sutures.
“I have to take you to the hospital,” he exhaled onto her, checking her pulse and feeling her breathing. Both normal.
She stirred as he said it, mumbling back a very clear, “No—please.”
“Kendra, this is serious,” he said, but her regaining consciousness was reassuring him. She was doing better than he thought.
“No—no hospital.”
He ran his fingers down her hair, wondering what was with her fear of the doctor, wondering what he’d missed when she’d delivered their son. He closed his eyes, thinking about her being a mom, thinking about the son he hadn’t met. He’d saved her. He’d rescued her. He’d fucking pulled it off. And now she’d be going back home to their son. Something rushed up his chest as he felt, for the first time, worthy of holding her in his arms.
And maybe a little more worthy of being seen as a hero.
She stirred in his arms, tilting up her chin, looking at him through glazed eyes. Pouting her pink lips, she furrowed her forehead. He knew he was going to have a lot more explaining to do—eventually. The wind off the ocean climbed the hill, catching her hair. He fished his cell phone out of his pocket, readying to make one of the most important calls he’d ever make.
“You’re bringing me out of the dark,” he whispered down on her, knowing his day of reckoning had come.
He slowly dialed the number, holding the phone to his ear. She pressed her eyes shut, but before she sunk into his chest, he swore he saw a little smile on her lips.
“9-1-1 emergency,” a voice came through the other side of the line. “Police, fire, ambulance?”
“Police,” he answered.
Chapter Thirty
Sometime before the sun rose, Kendra woke up nearly naked in bed, wearing nothing more than a thin black tank top and matching black panties. How the hell did I get here? Frantic, she reached up and held her throat, feeling the bruising from where that psycho had gripped her, threatening to choke her out at the lab.
But, then…she calmed herself down. She was okay. She was safe. She was home.
And…I’m alone.
Her house was silent.
In the shadows of her bedroom, she touched the back of her head. Surprisingly, she felt a lot better than she’d thought she would. No headache and no blood was a good sign. Some scabbing on the back of her skull seemed to be all that was left of her injury. Delta had really saved her that time, though she didn’t fully remember how. Things had gotten really fuzzy after she’d hit her head, and she only had scraps of memories.
Reaching to her bedside table, she grabbed her phone to check her notifications. Lily had texted her. Someone had called the cops. It had been all over the news. Hunter had been arrested to answer to it all—the murders, the tests. The scientists were going to get a lot of questions. But, despite the fact that the cases were solved, she still felt a weight on her. As she finished reading the messages Lily had sent her, Kendra noted that there was one thing absent from her notifications…
There was no word from the one person she really needed to hear from.
He wasn’t there. He’d left without a word. Par for the course.
She turned in bed, hugging her blanket tight. All she could think about was the past few weeks. Delta…? Well, he’d crushed her heart, again. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she realized just how run-down she was. She’d been chasing a ghost. And with him, she’d always be chasing.
It was laughable that she thought she’d learned her lesson with him. They’d been down that road before. He’d once been all charm, all temptation. She’d given in, given herself to him. It hadn’t ended well. But here she was with her eyes closed, curled into her bed, thinking a
bout how it felt when he’d held her—when he’d saved her.
It all pointed back to something that she desperately wanted to disappear. She wanted to bleach her memories and forget him—forget that he’d ever made her feel that way, forget how crazy she was about him and the real reason why she’d never been with anyone since she’d met him. No one could compare.
“Matteo,” Kendra whispered to herself, pressing her eyes shut, “what have you done to me?”
It was a question she was finally ready to answer. The smack to her head had made her ten times more honest with herself, and she was unable to repress it anymore. He had her number in such a way. She had it so bad. The sweet memories she had replayed like a black and white movie, lulled her into a light sleep.
Slowly falling, she dreamed she was with him, lying in his bed.
He rescued me.
The hazy, sensual dream promised her things. Beside her, in between his sheets, his dark eyes melted her armor as he caressed his rough hand up her arm. He whispered the things she’d always wanted to hear. He’d shown up. He’d proven to her that she wouldn’t be crazy to have faith in him.
Even in the sleepy fantasy, she felt his touch as though it were real. Goosebumps ran up her body and her eyes rolled back. God, it was crazy how much she still wanted him. It was all so fucked up. Her pussy started aching just at the sight of his mouth hovering over hers. She was reminded how amazing it was to taste him, to feel the bristle of his unshaven jaw against her chin.
She fantasized about him slipping his strong hand down the sheets, finding her throbbing clit between her wet lower lips. Gently touching herself and drawing circles around her wetness, she let the sinful dream wash over her, pretending he was right there on top of her.
He kissed her like the first kiss—on the beach. It made her feverish. Pressure and pleasure drew to the tip of her clit, threatening to burst. She was already getting so close to the edge and having the memory of him all around her was intoxicating. She never wanted to wake up. She wanted that dream to go on forever, feeling so damn aroused.
“Matteo,” she moaned as he intensified the kiss.
She bit her lip, arching her back and grinding into the sheets. God, he made her so hot. So needy. All she could do was relish every raunchy night of sex they’d had. The memory of his thick cock when he’d fucked her was the one she needed to let out a deeper moan. She opened her legs wider and felt him drive his fingers inside her hot, aching core. She needed it. She needed him. It wasn’t the first time she’d dreamed of him—and wouldn’t be the last. Secretly, she knew she’d fantasize about him forever.
She let out a wilder cry, the feeling of his touch so real, conjured by the need to feel close to a man who wasn’t there and was never going to be. She was gasping for breath when she felt an orgasm coming, and just as she released, she was startled awake by a loud noise.
Eyes flashing open, she realized it was the noise of her bedroom door crashing open with a real-live Delta standing in the frame, a deeply concerned look on his face. In the early morning rays, his disheveled head crooked left and right, clearly ready to fight someone. Then he focused on her, seeming to realize what was happening and why she’d let out a cry.
Unable to contain her dreamy orgasm, she came right in front of him, showcasing pushed-aside panties and a very wet, aching pussy.
“Shit,” Delta grunted, pacing back yet unable to look away.
“What are you doing here?” Kendra cried out, snapping up into a seated position and grabbing the sheets to cover herself.
But before she could say anything else, he’d already disappeared down the hall of her home. Jumping up out of bed, she threw on her white satin robe that was cut at the top of the thigh. Tying it up, she ran after him, shouting his name intertwined with profanities.
“I will shoot you!” she threatened as she turned the corner into her sunny kitchen, where he leaned against the granite bar, staring her down.
“You’ve said that before,” he said and took a step toward her, seeming to analyze her for symptoms. “You’ve got to work on your follow-through.”
His slick, over-confident words burned her, pulling a disgruntled noise out of her mouth as she stared him down. The entire house was quiet, telling her that Sienna was out on her usual early morning walk with Leo. God bless her.
“Why the hell are you in my house?” Kendra demanded, guarding herself once again. “Did you break in? Do the rules not apply to you?”
Grinning, he crossed his arms, barely inches from her, in his classic form of intimidation—like her questions were nothing but a joke to him.
“I stayed,” he countered, “to keep an eye on you.”
She bit her lip, sneering, “Do I need babysitting?”
His grin widened to reveal his perfect teeth.
“No, but you hit your head hard enough last night, and you full stop refused to go to the hospital. So, I got to play doctor. Don’t you remember?”
“Not entirely,” she confessed.
“That’s too bad. You loved being examined,” he growled, irritating her to no end.
Beholding his stupidly charming face, reliving how tough it was to deny him, only made her want to scream and break things. She couldn’t go through it all again.
“You have to go.” She folded her arms, mirroring him, and nodded to the front door down the hall. She had to get him out before Leo came home. That was a first meeting she wasn’t ready for.
“We need to talk.”
“I’m not getting on that rollercoaster anymore.” Desperation mounted as she spoke. “Please.”
“You know I love it when you beg.”
He brought his thick hand forward and snatched hers—the hand she happened to touch herself with during that damn hot dream, the one that had felt her wetness, bringing her orgasm out at the thought of his lips. Clearly, he hadn’t forgotten what he’d seen.
As he held her hand tightly, he never allowed his focus to leave her eyes while he brought it to his mouth and took her fingers between his lips, sucking off the remnants of her cum. She flinched as he did it, watching him enjoy her taste. The way he stared into her eyes caused a flush to rise up her throat. She desperately needed him to kiss her again.
To take her again.
“The only thing I love more than you begging is you admitting you were wrong.”
“I was wrong?” She balked but knew the truth—she had been wrong about a lot of things.
“Don’t be a brat,” he growled at her, narrowing his eyes, obviously knowing her game.
He ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he let his eyes drop down to her white robe, clearly coveting her. She tensed, unwilling to accept his attention. It wasn’t safe to do so.
“From what I remember, there were people out to kill you.” She tightened her belt and clenched her teeth, sending him a clear message. “They might just thank me if I do it first.”
“Please, do it.”
She bit her lip, letting out a frustrated noise. Looking between the door and his muscular frame, she worked through ways to push him out. Only then did she catch her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall across the kitchen. Her blonde locks were everywhere, and her face and neck were still swollen from the night before…from where she’d been attacked. She shook her head, closing her eyes, willing the memory to go away.
“You don’t have to worry about Hunter anymore,” he cut into her thoughts. “He’s fucked now.”
“And what about Sky?”
“She broke the code”—his face darkened—“so I dealt with her.”
“The code?”
“SEAL code. Yeah, she was once on my team—a supporter in the shadows. She got roped into the same bullshit as me. I did everything I could to set her on the right path, use that power for good, but here we are.”
Delta paused, as if reading her mind. He looked her up and down with exaggerated slowness, so damn cool and collected. In that moment, Kendra stopped shiftin
g on her feet. In the reflection of his dark eyes, she recognized her own stubbornness, her own guardedness.
Even though he was there, standing in front of her. He’d stayed.
“I just don’t understand.” Her voice grew smaller as she looked up at his great height.
“What don’t you understand?”
“You,” she said, her mind buzzing. “And why you are still here.”
He didn’t reply, simply assessing her in silence. It suddenly felt hotter in her house, and she found herself fanning open the top of her robe an inch or two for air.
When he was good and ready, he conceded, “I dropped my glove on purpose, you know.”
“On purpose?” she questioned. “But you took it back? And you were so angry when Warren told me?”
He nodded. “Part of me needed you to know the truth—and the other part of me hated that.”
She was stunned at his confession, hearing unadulterated honesty pouring from his mouth for the first time. Who is this man?
“I’ve been so angry for a long time, but something lifted when I accepted that you really knew and there was no turning back,” he admitted, stunning her even further. “I don’t want secrets between us anymore.”
The change in his tone struck her, making her tilt her head as she studied him.
“Then, what do you want?”
“I want to meet my son,” he responded, a thickness in his voice. “Now.”
She fell back a step, catching herself against the wall behind her, a little scared and very stunned at the direction the conversation was going. He followed, his once-brown eyes now nearly black—driven and full of purpose. This was a moment she’d worried about.
“Why now?” she asked.
“I need to protect you, Kendra. I need to protect both of you—and I’ll do whatever you want, if you let me stay.”
He pressed his hand against the wall beside her, leaning down mere inches from her face. A darkness crossed his face as he pushed his body against hers. The heat coming off his strong, wide chest filled her senses—that same delicious scent she’d gotten used to. Goosebumps flushed up her back as he stared down at her, locking on her, refusing to budge. He was saying things she’d never thought she’d hear him say.
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