Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Fuck me.
“Uh-oh,” Free sing-songed.
Ex kept his face as hard as steel as he glared. Asshole.
“Here comes trouble.” Freeman smirked.
“We gotta move. It’s the enforcers,” Ex said. “Get him off you.”
Meridian growled and slammed his elbow into Hart’s ribs hard enough to break the hold he’d had on Meridian’s throat but not enough to crack them. The captain grunted and kicked his bare foot out, catching Meridian in his thigh just as he lurched to his feet. It had to hurt but Meridian didn’t pause. Instead he got behind Ex and barreled out of the trailer door just as Ruxsberg and Green’s truck skidded to a stop, almost clipping Ex’s hip. He heard the truck doors slam but pushed his legs to go faster as the frigid air stung his face.
“Why are you running? Fucking cowards! Fight us!” one of them yelled but Ex didn’t know who because he didn’t waste a second to glance behind him.
He and Meridian just barely made their escape the way they’d come. He thought he’d hear heavy footsteps after them, but as they ran down the street to where Slade was waiting for them at the end of the block, he realized they hadn’t been pursued. Slade sat taller when he saw them running and started the engine. Ex and Meridian hurried inside out of the freezing cold, and Slade sped off as though they were being chased by hounds.
Ex slammed his forearm into the side of the door over and over until Meridian caught him around his waist and pulled him towards him. “How the hell did I not get that information, Mere?” Ex hissed between clenched teeth.
“I don’t know what Lennox’s deal is, but we’re not gonna get what we need from him. And I’m not fighting his fucking boyfriend again without my brass knuckles. Shit,” Meridian said, rubbing the center of his chest. “I think it’s time we pay Godfrey a little visit.”
Meridian
“Where the fuck are these guys at?” Ex snarled for the tenth time.
It was almost four in the morning and they’d been waiting hours, but detectives didn’t really keep standard office hours. Besides, this was nothing compared to the waits they usually had, and in far worse conditions. He didn’t know what Ex was complaining about. Meridian glared at his partner, wishing he’d get himself under control.
“Shut down their system,” Meridian stated. He needed to get this moving along. “That’ll bring them home.”
Ex took his laptop out of his bag and powered it up. Within minutes he’d tapped into the ADT mainframe and shut down the security, knowing it would immediately notify the homeowners.
“Feel better?” Meridian asked, almost rolling his eyes.
Ex watched him back, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and biting. When he released it, the plump skin was red and glistening with moisture. Ex quirked his mouth up on one side, and Meridian was starting to recognize those idiosyncrasies all too well. “A lot better. I’ll be ecstatic when we’re back at my cabin.”
Meridian clenched his jaw and turned away. He propped his elbow on the window and kept his eyes on God and Day’s home. Ex was impatient to get the information he needed to take out his brother’s shooter and he knew they were almost out of time. Still, Meridian’s mind was in a far different place as he stared at the two-story home the lieutenants shared together as partners... husbands.
Meridian idly rubbed his other hand over his chest, experiencing a different kind of ache. He could also feel the tenderness of the bruise that’d already formed from Hart’s strike. He thought about the rage he’d seen in that SWAT captain’s eyes, when he’d seen his lover trapped with no way out. He’d turned into a beast and Meridian couldn’t blame him, not after knowing what he did now. Not with how he felt about the coldblooded man sitting beside him. It was why he hadn’t fought Hart.
“Are you hurting?” Ex whispered close to him.
Meridian had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t felt Ex slide over the leather seats of the sedan until he was on him. He turned his head, putting him only a couple of inches away from those lips. He almost leaned forward, but stopped himself before their mouths could touch. Damnit. He knew better. They were working. If they were going to try to do this as partners... lovers, then they had to stay focused. Already their reckless emotions had caused them to make some mistakes.
“I’m fine,” Meridian mumbled.
“Slade, give us a minute,” Ex said.
Meridian sighed, then waited as Slade raised the black divider. He looked back at his partner. “What’s wrong?”
“Let me see,” Ex said, his voice raspy, his gaze deep. He turned, so he was facing him and slowly began to unbutton Meridian’s shirt.
He didn’t try to stop Ex, though he knew he should’ve. He was all right—he’d taken worse hits—but there was something about seeing the concerned expression on his partner’s face that had him sitting still, and letting him undress him.