“Yeah, sorry about that.”  I wasn’t, but I figured it was polite to say.  As far as I was concerned, she could just go without panties for the rest of eternity.  I smiled a little at the thought.

“You’re really quite proud of that, aren’t you?” she said.

I smirked back at her, raised an eyebrow, and shrugged.  Lia shook her head slightly as her hand reached up to fiddle with the quarter around her neck.

“Let’s get back to my place,” Lia said.  “I have the feeling we should probably have an actual conversation here at some point.”

Lia reached out to take my hand, and we made our way down the street and back to the train stop.  I wasn’t sure if I was looking forward to what kind of talk she had in mind, but I knew I wasn’t going to be leaving her side until she was far from harm’s way.  I’d put up with whatever she wanted as long as I could keep her safe.

Nothing was going to keep her from my side.

Chapter 7—Desired Refuge

The apartment Lia had been living in was little efficiency in a crappy area.  I might not have had cash on me for a CTA ticket, but there was no way I was going to let her stay here another night.  There wasn’t even any fucking security on the building door.  The inside was okay, just small and cramped.  I had no idea what her financial situation was, but it was obvious from her accommodations that she wasn’t well-off.

I was going to have to change that—sooner rather than later.

Odin peeked around the corner of the bed, saw me, and jogged over with his tail wagging.  I was beyond happy to see the big guy, especially considering I had a brief moment during my arrest when I thought they might have taken him out.  I dropped down to one knee and took his shaggy head in my hands.  I scratched at his neck and back and tried to keep my balance as he nearly tackled me and started to lick my face.

“Disgusting,” I told him with a grin.  He sat back on his haunches and appeared to be smiling back at me with his tongue lolling around his face.  Then he jumped up and ran back to the side of the bed to retrieve his rubber bone.  There wasn’t really any room in the tiny place to throw it, but we made do anyway.

“I need to go to my apartment,” I said after a few minutes of fetch.

“It still has crime scene tape all over the door,” Lia said softly.  “At least it did when I was last there.”

“Fuck that,” I growled.  “If there’s anyone there trying to keep me from my shit, I’ll fucking kill them.”

The words were honest and genuine—far too much so.  When I glanced up at Lia, she was biting her lip and had her brow all screwed up.  I inhaled deeply and then let the air out slowly through my nose.  I was going to have to start watching my words.

“Figuratively,” I said unconvincingly.

Lia continued to look at me with a lot of doubt on her face.  Her legs were tensed like she was thinking of running out.  When I stood and gave Odin’s bone one last toss, she took a step back.

“You afraid of me?” I asked.

“Not of you,” Lia replied.  “For you, yes, but not really of you.”

“Not really,” I repeated.  It wasn’t a slip of the tongue—she was starting to see who I was now that we were in my city, my element.  “You don’t know me very well.”

“I know a lot.  I’m still waiting for you to tell me the rest.”

I laughed.  She had no fucking idea what she knew and what she didn’t know.

“So tell me,” she requested.

“No,” I replied quietly.  I reached out and placed my finger under her chin, tilting her head up a little before kissing her lightly.  “You don’t want to know all the shit in my head.”

“I do,” she insisted, “but I’ll wait until you’re ready.”

“Not gonna happen.”  I moved my lips across her jaw and down the side of her neck, hoping to distract her completely from the line of thinking she seemed so hell-bent on.  Her hands ran up my sides and gripped my back as I moved up her ear.

“I need to know,” she said quietly.

“Bullshit.”

“Evan,” she sighed and pulled back a bit.  It wasn’t enough to let go but enough that I couldn’t keep distracting her with my lips.  “Don’t you think I deserve a little information at least?”

“For what?”  It was a stupid fucking thing to say, but I’m a guy and we say stupid shit like that.

“For what?” she snapped back.  “Seriously?  Let’s start with searching for you for months, finding out you’ve been through a ridiculously difficult time, and then when I finally find you, you’re in the process of trying to blow up an entire park!  How about seeing you dragged off in cuffs, and the only thing you manage to do is apologize again, and then ask me to take care of your dog?”

Well, all right—she had me there.

I huffed out a breath, looked over her shoulder for a minute, and then looked back.

“You’re right.  You want me to just take him and go now?”

“No, for goodness’ sake, Evan!” Lia pulled one of her hands back and slapped me slightly on the shoulder.  “Do you think I’d come all the way here, do all of this, and then just leave?”

“You should.”  Part of me hoped she would, but it wasn’t a part I wanted to acknowledge.  Even as I suggested it, it felt like a hole was burning through my chest.

“Well, I’m not.”

“Maybe you need to think about it.”  More words I didn’t mean, but there they were anyway.

“Is that what you want me to do?” she asked.

I hesitated but ultimately shook my head.

“I only want time to think about…about all of this,” she responded as she took my face in her hands and placed her lips to mine.  My body was immediately lost in the feeling, but my mind continued to struggle.

“You need to just get out of Chicago…get away from me,” I said.  Though my voice was sure and strong, my arms tightened around her as the words left my lips.

“I’m not leaving you alone,” Lia replied.

“You should.”  Again, my grip on her tightened, and the feeling of her body pressed tightly against my chest was divine.  “I’ll end up hurting you or…or worse.”

“You won’t hurt me.”

“You don’t know that.”

She pulled back again and glared at me.

“Did you really think I had no idea that there was something...not quite right?  When I first saw you, you were in the middle of the desert, rocking on a front porch, holding the scariest gun I've ever seen.  The hottest guy I've ever met in my life, sitting alone in a cabin, apparently for months, with his dog and enough paranoia to spare.  I may not have your powers of observation, Evan, but I'm not blind!”

I had to admit, I hadn’t considered how all of that had looked.  At the time, I had been more concerned about whether or not she had been sent from Chicago, and then later my concern was more about getting into her pants.

“I may not know what’s going on,” Lia continued, “but I know there’s a lot more here than it seems.  At some point, you’re going to have to tell me.”

“Have to, huh?”  I was trying hard not to be shitty, but she was hitting far too close to the truth for her own good.  I was also fighting hard against the desire to tell her everything there was to know, even when the information would likely end up with her telling me to get the fuck out—not to mention some of the information could get her killed.  It was too much for most people to handle, and I didn’t want to put her in that position.

Was it even avoidable at this point?

“Whatever happened, I can handle it.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head.  She didn’t know what she was asking, and I wasn’t even sure that I could handle it.  Figuring she was as likely as any chick to respond to a little emotion, I went with delay tactics.

“I…I can’t, Lia,” I pleaded to her eyes for understanding. “I…I want to, but not yet.  I can’t do it yet.”

Her fingers brushed over my jaw.

“All right,” she said quietly.  “I can wait, but not forever.”

Mission accomplished though there was no telling how long I could hold her off.  For now, I just needed to keep her occupied with other things.

“Thank you,” I whispered against her ear, then moved down her throat.  I slid my fingers up her sides, wrapped them in the hem of her shirt, and pulled it up and over her head.  My mouth moved down to kiss the tops of her breasts as I reached around and unhooked her bra.

Her fingers grabbed at my belt and the buttons of my fatigues, then pushed them off my hips as I discarded my shirt and then her skirt.  I picked her up, took three steps toward the bed, and tossed her in the middle of it.

I was on her a second later, pushing her legs apart to give me access to the Mecca of all pussies.  I found her first with my fingers—I still felt a little bad about how quickly I’d taken her the last time—and explored between her outer lips.  I slowly inserted my middle finger inside of her, curling it slightly as she arched her back to me. With my thumb rubbing circles around her clit, I felt her body slicken and ready for me.

With my free hand, I pushed her leg out and up, spreading her a little more and giving me both optimum position and optimum view.  I slid another finger inside of her, moved them both back and forth for a moment, and then pulled them out and ran them up over her clit.

Lia’s hands reached down, and her fingers locked around my forearms with some kind of death grip.  I took it as an invitation, and with my cock in my hand, I closed in on my target and thrust forward.  Lia gasped, and her legs jumped as I bottomed out, balls-deep inside of her.

Her arms dropped to her sides, and she pushed her palms against the bed as she arched her hips with a moan.  I wrapped my arms around her legs for a better grip and began thrusting quickly into her as my eyes locked with hers.

So beautiful.  So perfect.

I leaned forward and took one of her nipples in my mouth, biting down gently on it until her hands wrapped around my head.  I sucked it farther into my mouth, and my tongue ran over the edge in a circle.  I switched to the other one, nuzzling it lightly with my nose before I took it between my lips.

Lia moved her hands to the sides of my face and pulled me up for a kiss.  Our tongues met, caressed, tasted, and felt as I thrust into her with my cock.  I felt her hips press up against me with every downward movement, and it was like Christmas morning.

I wanted more.

“I want to watch that backside while I’m fucking you,” I told her as I pulled back, grabbed her by the waist, and flipped her over on her stomach.  “Get that ass up and spread those legs.”

“Jesus, Evan.”  Lia breathed heavily as her forehead pressed into the mattress.   She complied, pulled her knees up close to her body, and moved them apart.

“That’s it,” I murmured.  My hands ran up the backs of her toned thighs and up over her rounded ass.  I didn’t think I’d ever seen an ass as perfect as hers, and as much as I wanted to spread her cheeks and find out just how it felt, my cock played divining rod and moved straight to her pussy.

I wrapped my hand around my shaft and rubbed the head up and down a few times before pushing back into her with a grunt.  Lia turned her head to the side and reached up with her hands to grip the sheets.

“Better hold on tight,” I advised.  I leaned forward over her back, kissed her spine, then pulled back and slammed into her again.

She gasped, and her fingers tightened around the sheet as I started a hard, fast pace.  I nearly pulled out with every stroke and rammed into her so hard she had to tense her thighs and ass to stay up on her knees.

Just what I wanted—to watch her ass squeeze and tighten as I fucked her.  I swallowed and gripped her hips as I kept up my furious movements, and Lia began to cry out with each thrust.

“You love that, don’t you?” I growled.  “Being hammered by my cock…you must think you’re in…fucking…heaven.”

Punctuation by cock thrust—the very best kind.

Her moans were the only response I heard and the only encouragement I needed.  Tightening my own ass muscles, I rocked my hips against her over and over again.  My legs were threatening to give out on me, but I wasn’t about to let them.  With closed eyes, I leaned over her again, and sweat dripped from my brow to her back.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I whispered against her neck as I slowed down to keep myself from coming too quickly.  “I can’t get enough of you…will never have enough of you.”