He swiped his tongue against my lips, and they parted to grant him easier access to the rest of my mouth. My arms wrapped around his waist, and I pulled our bodies closer together. This wasn’t like any kiss I had ever experienced before in my lifetime. We shared an overpowering connection on the most simplistic of levels.
“Stop thinking about it,” August had withdrawn his tongue to speak against my lips instead of moving away from them. “Deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed and gave him the lightest of kisses.
293
Loco
“Is she there?” Trista silently mouthed, after seeing Snoop’s name appear on the screen of my cellphone. I held up a finger, motioning for her to still.
I nodded a few times as if he could see me agreeing to the plan he and Tyson came up with. First and foremost, they were to come back home. Tatianna was nowhere to be found; she had already been sold again. It didn’t mean we were giving up searching for her; it just meant she wasn’t where they were right now. The trip wasn’t a complete waste. We got the confirmation we needed to move forward with our plan, even though we hadn’t made it that far into development yet. We would.
Dodger’s biological brother was a member of the Steel Widowmakers. It was the connection we were missing. Snoop would be damn good at what he did for work, private investigation, without using his ability to read human and shifter minds alike, but with his powers, he was lethal. It might take him a while to find the right person to listen to, but once he did, their thoughts sang like a fucking canary to him. I’d never been more thankful for him than I was right now.
“Thanks, brother,” I quickly said before ending the call and going over the latest information with Trista. It wasn’t only the fact that her sister was missing that sent my brothers to look into the SWMC. It was also a big fucking issue that they were on our turf buying women to traffic.
I explained all the details to Trista, and a rollercoaster of emotions washed over her body. She was happy we knew more today than we did yesterday about her sister, but it was devastating news that the guys were coming home without her.
“We’ll find her. I promise, Trista.”
“I know you will, August.”
294
Trista
Six months passed us by before I could really even fathom that many days had come and gone. It wasn’t long before the months turned into a year. It had been a bittersweet three-hundred sixty-five days. I was the happiest I had ever been with anyone in a relationship, yet it felt like I was betraying my sister by being happy.
“You can’t think like that,” August interrupted my thought process with an objection of his own.
“I didn’t know you were awake.”
“That’s the beauty of being a morning person. I’m always the first awake.” He walked his fingers one at a time up my exposed thigh and then rested his arm on my stomach. I smiled, thinking how thankful I was to have him.
“Not always,” I reminded him. He usually was, but there were rare occasions that I got up before him. Albeit, it didn’t happen often, but it had happened, nonetheless.
“Happy anniversary.”
“Anniversary?” My eyelids darted open as the word passed through my lips. “We never put a label on things, August,” I playfully teased him and swatted at his hand that was lying on my stomach, knowing I struck a nerve as his pupils dilated.
“The fuck we didn’t!” His body shot up from the blue sheet we were laying on. “You are mine. End of story,” his voice boomed.
“Not end of story. What happens if I change my mind or you get bored with me? Those types of things happen with people,” I rambled on to get under his skin.
“Need I remind you we are not normal people, Trista?” he asked, straddling my body with a wicked smile flashing on his face. His hardened dick pressed against me, and I mischievously smiled.
“Might need some reconvincing on your part.” I bit my bottom lip, pretending to be a shy person. I was far from an extrovert, but I was far from coy when it came to August. After a person had seen you at your literal worst—filthy, naked, and your skin covered with so much blood, you weren’t sure if it was yours or the person whose life you had just taken—your sense of humility is trivial. When August found me, I was a fragment of the person that I was today, and I still wasn’t complete. Perhaps I would always be damaged. A person didn’t simply bounce back from being drugged and abducted, or at least that was my experience. Yet I had dealt with everything the best I could. I wasn’t always in the best headspace, but I managed to get through each day with August’s help and support. I stared up at him and thanked God for putting him in my life.
He hooked his arm beneath my body and, in one swift movement, flipped me on top of him. Our lives were full of uncertainties, and I would be an idiot to think we’d have all the answers anytime soon. Yet, I was okay not knowing how my future would end when it was all said and done. As long as August was with me, I wasn’t afraid to face each day.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to everyone who has made this publication possible.
To the readers, bloggers, fellow authors, and everyone in the book community: Thank you for letting me be a part of our ever-changing world. It’s hard to accept this is a big portion of life.
Harmony: Tink, momma has been sick, pregnant, and overwhelmed. The one thing that hasn’t changed during all of that is my love
