Chapter 280: Right Where I Want

David’s POV

Good thing she doesn’t want me to stop.

The words hit like gasoline on the slow burn I’d been nursing all night. I let the corner of my mouth lift…just enough for her to see it, not enough to scare her off.

Inside? I was smirking so hard my face hurt.

Holly sat there on my couch, drowning in my shirt, thighs pressed together like that could hide how soaked she was. Her lips were shiny from the pasta, cheeks flushed, pupils blown so wide I could barely see the hazel anymore. She looked wrecked already, and I hadn’t even put my mouth on her yet.

Perfect.

My plan for tonight had always been simple: get her ready, eager, swollen, dripping, desperate…tease her until she couldn’t tell left from right…then walk away and leave her aching. Unsatisfied. Needy enough that tomorrow she’d crawl back for more. Needy enough that she’d trust me when I finally asked her to do the one thing that would end the Millers for good.

After the office fuck-up earlier today, though? I’d panicked.

Real panic. The kind that sits in your throat like broken glass.

What if I’d pushed too hard? What if the way I’d grabbed her wrist, the way my expression turned cold when I gripped her neck, had finally made her see the monster instead of the man I’d been carefully constructing?

What if she walked away for good? Mission over. Then all my carefully crafted plans…the slow erosion of every wall the Millers had built…gone because I couldn’t keep my temper on a leash for one goddamn afternoon.

If I failed, everything flipped. My cover blown. Names I’d buried resurfacing. The Jameson’s coming for blood.

And me? Either in a shallow grave or back in a cell smaller than this living room.

So I’d pivoted.

Massages. Extra care. Tenderness I didn’t even know I still had in me. Gentle hands on her feet, her calves, her neck…places I’d marked earlier in anger, now soothed like I was sorry. I wasn’t sorry. But I was strategic. Every soft touch rebuilt the bridge I’d almost burned. Every murmured “relax, baby” reminded her I could be her safe space. That I could be hers.

And it was working.

She was eating out of my hand…literally.

“Good thing you don’t want me to stop,” I murmured against her ear, my voice low and unhurried. “Because I have no intention of stopping. I’ll take my time with you to feed you, until you’re trembling and begging for more.”

Her breath hitched, a soft gasp betraying her as the meaning sank in.

I twirled another forkful of spaghetti, held it to her lips. She opened for me without hesitation, tongue brushing the tines as she took the bite. I watched her throat work on the swallow and had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from groaning.

“That’s enough,” she said suddenly, voice small, pushing the fork away with shaky fingers. “I can’t eat any more. I’m… full.”

Her eyes flicked down to where my shirt clung to her chest, nipples hard little points against the fabric. Full of something else entirely.

I set the plate on the coffee table without argument. Gentle. Always gentle tonight.

“Here.” I passed her the glass of water I’d poured earlier. “Drink.”

She took it. Lifted it to her lips. I watched intently…the way her throat moved, the way a single drop escaped and rolled down her chin, down the column of her neck, disappearing under the collar of my shirt.

I bit my lip…hard, making sure she saw it.

She has no idea how close I am to snapping.

She placed the empty glass back in my hand. Our fingers brushed but she didn’t pull away.

I set the glass aside and cupped her cheek instead. My thumb rubbed slow, soft circles over her cheekbone.

“I messed up today,” I said quietly. “I know I did. The way I acted… the things I said… it wasn’t what I told you I wanted with you. But the truth?”

I leaned closer, voice dropping to a rough whisper. “You drive me fucking crazy, Holly. In the best way. I’ve never wanted anyone like this. Never needed anyone to stay the way I need you to stay. I’d do anything for you. Anything to keep you right here. Next to me. In my bed. In my life. You’re it for me, baby. You’re everything I didn’t know I was missing.”

Lies. Those were all lies to get her to trust me.

She stayed quiet as her breathing became shallow and her eyes glassy.

I kept going…pouring it on thick because I knew exactly how much she craved the words.

“I want to wake up to you every morning. Want to come home and find you wearing nothing but one of my shirts again. Want to cook for you, fight with you, fuck you until neither of us can move. Want to build something real. Something that lasts. I’m all in, Holly. If you’ll have me.”

Still quiet. Then she inhaled. Exhaled. “I just have one question.”

My stomach tightened, but my face stayed calm. “Anything. Ask me.”

She licked her lips. “I heard something today… and I need you to clarify it for me.”

Fuck.

Could it be Justin? Did that bastard finally open his mouth to say something he shouldn’t have?

I forced my expression softer. “I’ll gladly clarify whatever you need. You’re slowly becoming the most important person in my life, Holly. I don’t want secrets between us.”

She swallowed quickly. “Have you… ever killed someone?”

I bit back the curse that wanted to rip out.

Fucking Justin.

How much did he tell her? How much does she know?

I let shock flash across my face…real enough to sell it…then laughed. Low. Easy. Like the question was absurd.

I leaned in and bit the shell of her ear softly. “There are different ways to kill people, baby. Which one exactly are you talking about?”

She coughed and scooted back an inch, but I didn’t let her.

I closed the distance instantly. Locked eyes with her. “Look at me, Holly.”

She didn’t.

I used one finger under her chin. Turned her face until our gazes collided.

I bent and kissed the side of her neck slowly. Whispered against her skin. “Can a killer do this?”

She shook her head without hesitation…looking up at me with wide pleading eyes.

I cupped one breast through the shirt. Thumb brushing the nipple. Then I kissed her mouth…hungry, deep, pouring everything into it. Tongues sliding. Teeth grazing. When I pulled back I asked, “Can a killer do that too?”

Another head shake.

Eyes still on hers, I slid my hand down. Dragged two fingers over her clit…slow, firm, through the soaked cotton. “Are you this wet for a killer?”

She gasped as she closed her eyes and shook her head harder.

I smiled. “Good girl. That answer your question?”

She was panting now. “I… I still need you to say it. With your mouth, David.”

I knelt.

Spread her thighs and settled between them.

Then I looked up at her…eyes wide, lips parted, chest heaving.

“I’m not a killer, Holly.” My voice was gravel and low. “But I can kill for this.”

Then I buried my face between her legs.

No teasing this time.

I licked a long, flat stripe up her center…tongue broad, hungry…groaning at the taste of her. Sweet. Salty and dripping. I sucked her clit between my lips, flicked it fast, then slow, then fast again. Her hips bucked. Hands flew to my hair. Gripping. Pulling.

“David—oh God—”

I pinned her thighs wider. Tongue plunging inside her, fucking her with it, then back to her clit…circling, sucking, humming so the vibration hit her just right. She rocked against my face, shameless, moaning broken little sounds that shot straight to my cock.

Her back arched as her thighs started trembling…inner walls clenching around nothing…around my tongue when I pushed it back inside.

Right when I felt her start to flutter…right when her breath hitched into that telltale sob…I pulled away.

Completely.

Sat back on my heels with a wicked smile in place.

She stared at me like she might actually cry. Lips trembling. Eyes glassy with frustration.

“What you just did,” she whispered, voice wrecked, “could be counted as killing.”

I laughed…low, dark. “That one? Yeah. I’ll admit I’m guilty.”

I stood.

She blinked up at me, dazed. “Where are you going?”

I adjusted myself…painfully hard…and shrugged like it was nothing. “To shower. Then I’m coming back to read you a bedtime story or something. You need rest. I didn’t bring you here to stress you out. I brought you here to take responsibility for my actions.”

Her mouth opened like she wanted to argue, but decided against it and closed it.

I leaned down. Kissed her forehead…soft. Almost sweet.

“Rest, baby. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

Then I walked away.

Left her there…spread open, dripping, aching, unsatisfied.

Exactly where I wanted her.