His face relaxes, and he leans back in his seat a bit more, his hand falling from my arm. “Don’t be gone too long, or people will ask questions.”
I watch as his lip twitches into a smirk, and he delivers a wink that I’m sure he thinks is devilishly handsome. It’s not. But whatever. I don’t care right now. All I really care about is getting to that hallway, to that man—to Gunnar.
“I won’t,” I say, and I hope with all that I have that it’s a lie.
I don’t stand up and run toward Gunnar the way I want to; I know if I do that, I’m going to draw a ton of attention to myself. So I slowly rise from my seat and smile as I move through the room. Nobody pays attention to me, at least in the first half of the room.
But when my gaze scans the second half, the Vicious Reapers section, I notice that I am being watched, not just by one person, but by almost all of them. It makes me wonder if they know something, and then, when my gaze connects to Bullet’s, he dips his chin, his lips curved up into a smile.
He’s happy.
I hope he’s happy because I’m about to have all my wildest fantasies and dreams come true. As much as I try not to get too excited about the idea, my heart races and my blood roars as sweat breaks out over my skin. Shifting my gaze from his, I try to calmly walk toward the hallway.
I hold my breath as I slip into the space that I’ve been anticipating, and I am not only disappointed but also struck down with instant sadness.
They aren’t here.
The hallway is completely empty.
Walking toward the bathroom, I stop when I reach the door, and it opens without me even touching it. I think about turning around, but my heart leaps at the thought of Gunnar being the one behind the opening of the door.
I step through the doorway, and my breath comes out in a whoosh because I’m met with his gaze. Those icy-blue eyes that own my soul. He closes the door behind me, his body moving closer to me before he flips the lock into place.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
VIKING
Beingthis close to her again, it sends my entire body into a ball of fire. I want to be inside her right now. And then, when she moves closer to me, when I feel her palms press against my chest, I know she wants it, too.
Wants me—us.
“Lainey,” I exhale.
I’m not sure how long I can stay like this. So… near her yet not inside her. I curl my fingers around her wrist, squeezing gently, but I don’t pull away from her. Dipping my chin, I move closer to her. My lips touch hers, brushing against her own, taking just a taste before I shift back slightly so I can look into her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, although her words come out in a hesitant tone.
I can hear the confusion laced with excitement and maybe even a little hope in her words. Although maybe that’s more than wishful thinking on my part. I think about not telling hera goddamn thing, throwing her over my shoulder, and proudly walking out with her, but I decide against it.
Making a spectacle of taking her out of here today isn’t the way to go about this. Bullet knows what happened, and he’s going to work on the politics of it while he trusts me to get Lainey out of here and to safety.
“We need to leave. Quietly,” I mutter.
It’s the last thing I want right now. What I want is to fuck her in this bathroom so she knows who she belongs to, and it is definitely not the man she just pledged her eternal love and devotion to.
“I’m married to him,” she whispers.
I can see the tears welling in her eyes.
Her gaze is mixed with not just sadness but an underlying hopefulness as well. It’s sweet, and I can tell she’s trying not to be hopeful. She thinks she’s fucking stuck with that prick. I won’t let that happen, not after he betrayed us and likely betrayed his own goddamn organization as well.
“You aren’t,” I state.
She opens her mouth to argue with me, but I don’t let her. There’s no sense in it because I already know the answer to the argument she’s going to attempt. I extend my index finger and hold it against her lips in an effort to keep her from speaking.
“Flop is taking care of that as we speak. Nothing is official, Lainey. Nothing has been recorded at the courthouse,” I murmur.
She lets out a trembling breath, and before she can say anything else, I do something that I absolutely should not do here. I tilt my head to the side, and I kiss her. Hard. I own her in that kiss, and she allows me to; it’s what she wants just as badly as I do.