Free Invincible by London Casey, Karolyn James, Ana W. Fawkes

of a second later his lips were touching mine.
    Holy shit. Our first kiss. But nobody else could know that …
    I hurried and grabbed the back of his hair. My instinct was to pull his mouth away from mine and then slap him across the face. But if I did that, it would blow our cover. So I dug my fingers into his hair, kissing him back. Instinct was overrun by need. I had been longing for a hot kiss for such a long time. And here it was.
    Before I knew what I was doing, my mouth slowly parted, offering a more passionate kiss with Wes. His tongue touched mine and everything inside me melted. There was no disgust, just pure lust.
    “ Okay, okay, ” Aton said. He whistled. “ Save it for tonight. ”
    Wes broke the kiss and we stared at each other for a second. It was the weirdest yet sexiest second of my entire life.
    “ Wait, what ’ s tonight? ” I asked, breaking the awkwardness between Wes and I.
    “ I think the only choice we have right now is getting you both to safety, ” Aton said. “ Until I can make some calls and figure this out. ”
    “ No, ” Wes said. “ Don ’ t do that. Let things be normal. We can do this ourselves, Aton. ”
    “ Like hell, ” Aton said. He pointed right at Wes. “ You ’ re my prized fighter and you have a fucked up shoulder. Someone shot you? That doesn ’ t ring well for my business. Christ. If anyone finds out or sees you, what kind of backlash will I get for my bets? I ’ m supposed to be running another ring soon. I ’ ll just leave you off the card for right now. ”
    I saw anger flash across Wes ’ s face. I knew fighting was the only thing he had. And now because of a bullet meant for me, he couldn ’ t fight. I knew the tragic risk of not being able to get that release from fighting. I watched it ruin my family.
    “ I want you both to go to my cabin, ” Aton said. “ Take some time in the woods. Alone. Cool nights. Hot days. Just take some time to breathe. I can make arrangements to settle whatever needs to be done here. I ’ m not going to lose you, Wes. You ’ re worth too much to me. And if you take a bride, then I take her too. I just hope there ’ s no deep, dark secrets waiting. ”
    My heart began to pound. My knees were ready to buckle. I screamed at myself to not get dizzy and pass out. I couldn ’ t blow the cover on this right now. No way. If I did, I was dead. Sure as hell, I would be killed.
    A hand touched my shoulder and I screamed.
    “ Whoa, ” Tommy ’ s voice said. “ Easy, princess. Let me just say …”
    Wes turned and elbowed Tommy away. He then grabbed Tommy by the throat and walked him back against the wall. Tommy ’ s face turned red, his eyes ready to pop from his skull.
    “ You ever call her princess again and I ’ ll tear your fucking throat out. Her name is Rose. You ever touch her again, I ’ ll break every goddamn finger. ”
    “ Okay, ” Tommy strained to say. “ I ’ m sorry. Okay. ”
    Wes pushed away from Tommy.
    He then grabbed my hand and we left the office. We made it no more than a couple steps before I tugged at him. “ What the hell are you doing? ”
    Wes turned and put me against the wall. There was a sexy anger in his eyes. “ I ’ m saving your ass, again. Don ’ t think it means a thing, sweetie. I want to know everything about your family. About you. I want to know who shot me because now I can ’ t fucking fight. And I know you ’ re hiding plenty from me. ”
    “ You could just say please . ”
    “ I don ’ t do please. ”
    “ Maybe you should try. ”
    “ Maybe I should tell Aton the truth. ”
    “ Then it ’ s your life too, ” I said, feeling defiant.
    I kind of liked having Wes so close to me. Then again, he was being an ass. I almost felt like kicking him in the balls.
    He gritted his teeth and looked ready to explode. “ Your brother was a fighter? What was his name again? ”
    “ Is everything good? ” a voice asked.
    I turned my head and saw Tommy eyeing us, one eyebrow