Page 84 of Elite Metal: Warriors

“Whatever. But if she’s tangled with Red Wolf, she’ll never be safe out in the open.”

Oh fuck. There was that. “Wit-Pro, I guess.” But then she’d disappear. He’d never see her again. Ever. A fantasy, of bringing her back to his HQ, of moving her into his bungalow—of living there together, with her, forever—wafted through his head. It was stupid and foolish to even entertain the thought. What woman wanted to live like that? With a man like him? In a community of refugees? Ghosts? “Turn right,” he said as the road ended in a T.

“Roni lives with me,” Sterling said, as though he’d read Benedict’s mind.

“Roni?”

“My woman.” The thread of pride and possession in his tone hit Benedict hard in the gut. The bile rising in his throat tasted like envy. Sterling chuckled. “All the guys on my team have women now. Chrome. Steele. Ant…”

Benedict narrowed his eyes and tried not to glare. “Hardly a shock. You all were a horny lot.”

“And you’re not?”

“We have self-control.”

“My ass.”

“We do.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“How long did you know this tall, beautiful black-haired vixen before you fucked her?”

Heat crawled up Benedict’s neck. “She’s not a vixen.”

“How long?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“How long?”

Benedict crossed his arms and scowled out at the passing trees. “Couple hours.” A mumble.

“What was that? I didn’t catch it.”

“Couple hours.”

Sterling hooted a laugh. “Right. You’re not horny at all.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“This was…different.” She was different.

“Look, Lithium. I get it. I understand. That’s the thing about guys like us. We don’t let people in easily. Loving someone is even harder. But, shit, when we fall, we fall hard and we fall fast. And there’s no crawling out of the hole. It’s just the kind of guys we are.”

And fuck. He was right. It was true.

Michelle was in his blood, in his heart, his mind, his soul. He couldn’t envision life without her and didn’t want to. He loved her.

Yes, it was crazy. Yes, it was too soon. But it was.

It just was.

“So what do I do about it?” As though there was an escape.