Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

M ontana has always been the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but no image of her I've locked away in my memory compares to the one I'm seeing right now. Her coming apart on my tongue.

Fuck.

I was close to losing all my control. My cock strains in my pants, begging to be freed, as I continue to lick Montana's pussy until every ounce of pleasure has been wrung from her body. Only moving away when I know she's come down from her high.

"That was… fucking amazing." I reach up to cup her face and press my lips to her forehead. "Thank you."

"I'm pretty sure I should be thanking you," she says, a hint of shyness in her voice.

"Trust me, babe, the pleasure was all mine." I look into her eyes. "You good?"

She nods her head while giving me a small smile.

"Okay, I'm gonna hit the shower." I push up to my feet, heading towards the bathroom when she stops me.

"Wait! Don't you want me to…" Montana looks down at my crotch, and I swear my cock jolts at the thought of her touching it… her lips wrapped around it…

"No strings, Tanna. That was for you, not me. Although I thoroughly enjoyed every second of tasting you."

"Um… "

"There are no expectations here, Tanna. I did that because I've wanted to do it for a really fucking long time and because I know you needed it. I'm good. Trust me," I tell her, then walk into the bathroom and close the door behind me. I turn on the cold water, not bothering with the hot. I can see a lot of cold-ass showers in my very near future.

By the time I walk back into the bedroom, Montana is nowhere to be seen. I quickly throw on a pair of sweats and go in search of her. I hope I didn't push her too soon. I could tell she was turned on. Fuck, I wanted to give her that release more than I wanted my next breath.

But what if she wasn't ready for it?

I'm in uncharted waters here and I have no idea what the right thing to do is. I want to do whatever I can to help her, but I also don't want to just fall into that friend zone ever again. I was an idiot to keep us like that all those years ago.

I find Montana in the guest room, sitting on the bed. "Hey." I stay in the doorway. I don't want to crowd her.

"Hey."

"You okay? I'm sorry if I pushed you too far." I run a hand through my wet hair. "I just… "

"It's okay."

"Then what's going on in that head of yours?" I ask her.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." She shrugs. "For so long, I've had rules. I've had no choice but to follow those rules. And now… I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"I already told you. You do whatever you want to do, Tanna. You make your own rules. You make your own expectations."

"What do you want?"

"A lot of things, but what I don't want is for you to do something because you think I want you to do it."

"I'm so broken, Luke. I don't know what I want." She sighs.

"Yes, you do. You've always known what you've wanted, Tanna. You just have to reach out and take it. Everything you've always wanted is right at your fingertips but it's up to you to take charge of your life and take it all."

"I'm scared… I'm not sure I'm ready for everything I want," she admits.

I walk into the room and climb onto the bed, picking up her hand and entwining our fingers. "You don't have to make any life-changing moves right now. You have all the time in the world."

"What if what I want isn't available when I think I'm ready to grab hold of it?" she says, looking across at me.

"Tanna, I've waited ten years for you. I'm always going to be here when you decide you're ready. Hell, I'll wait a lifetime if I have to, because there will never be anyone else for me but you." I can only hope we're talking about the same thing here.

Montana smiles. "Ten years ago, I was thirteen."

"I know."

"I never knew that you noticed me."

"I've always noticed you. You're hard not to notice. I just didn't want to admit to myself that I wanted my best friend's little sister."

"And now?"

"Now I'm admitting it. And I'm going to wait, Tanna. You don't need to rush into anything you're not ready for."

"I think I need to get better. I need to sort my head out. I don't think I can be everything you deserve when I'm still stuck in a nightmare half the time."

"I don't need you to be anything but yourself, Tanna. But I agree. I think you need to heal. I think you need to find yourself again. For you. Not for me. And I'm going to be right here alongside you when you do."

"What if he finds me instead?"

"He'll have to get through me first," I tell her before glancing around the room. "You want to sleep in here or come to my bed?"

Montana chews on her bottom lip. "Your room."

"Come on, let's go." I push off the bed and hold out my hand. Montana places her palm in mine and I lead her into my bedroom. Pulling the covers back before we both climb on and lie down. Then I lean in and press my lips to her forehead. "Night, babe."

I close my eyes and take hold of her hand. As much as I want to wrap my arms around her and pull her up tight against me, I don't.

The shrill scream has me jolting upwards. I flick the light on to find Montana thrashing around the bed. She's screaming out the words "help" and "stop" over and over again. And my heart fucking rips apart at the sound.

I'm going to fucking kill him. As soon as I find the fucker. That's if someone hasn't beaten me to it already. From the looks of his bar and the apartment he shared with Montana, either Andrew was looking for something, or someone else was looking for him.

I haven't told Montana yet. I mean, how do I tell her that everything she had was destroyed? I know I need to mention it to her. Find out if she knows who could be after Andrew and if she could be implicated in anything that he might be involved in.

Gray's brother is looking into Andrew for us, but I need answers. I need to erase him from this world. I'll do anything to make Montana feel safe again.

"Tanna, wake up. It's just a dream," I tell her as I pick her up and sit her on top of me.

Her fingers curl into my arms as her eyes slowly blink open. I fucking hate this, seeing her like this. The fear, the tears that run down her cheeks. I've never felt more useless. I can't take away her nightmares. No matter how much I want to.

"It's okay. I've got you. You're safe here."

"Luke?" she asks as her eyes dart around the room before they meet mine again. "I'm sorry." Her head drops onto my chest and her body heaves with the force of her sobs.

I rub my hands up and down her back. "It's okay. I've got you," I repeat over and over.

She keeps apologizing, but it should be me. I'm the one that should be apologizing for letting her go four years ago. I should have been there to protect her. I'll never forgive myself for walking away…