Home > Work > Atonement (The Protectors, #6)
21 " He was kidnapped.” I managed to keep the curse word that nearly slipped from my lips to myself. “Did they ever…” I hesitated, not knowing how to ask my question. But Dante solved the problem by shaking his head. “Everyone was holding out hope that there’d be a ransom call.” When he didn’t continue, I said, “But there wasn’t.” He let out an ugly little laugh. “Kids from favelas don’t get kidnapped for ransom.” I stiffened. “Favelas…those are…those are slums in Brazil, aren’t they?” Dante nodded. “Only one reason to take a kid from a neighborhood that the rest of the world doesn’t give two shits about.” My stomach fell as I realized what he meant. Human trafficking. As "
― Sloane Kennedy , Atonement (The Protectors, #6)
22 " But there was only one reason to kidnap an eight-year-old kid. I "
23 " Did he ask you yet?” Matty said softly. Dante "
24 " I’d thrown my worst at him, and like he’d promised, nothing had changed. He hadn’t looked at me in disgust or with pity, though I knew the things I’d told him about my past had upset him. Just not in the way I’d thought. Because when all had been said and done, he’d still been on my side. Even when I hadn’t been. There’d "
25 " parked the car in the underground garage beneath the office building that served as Ranger headquarters. Before Dante could get out of the car I said, “You should stay here.” It wasn’t a surprise when he muttered, “Not fucking happening, Pop-pop,” but when he reached for the door handle, I grabbed his left bicep. I ignored the not entirely unpleasant sensation that traveled up the length of my arm. “Are "
26 " Keep it in your pants.” A smile flashed across his face. “You jealous, Pop-pop?” For some reason the barb didn’t irritate me, but I worked hard to keep from showing him that. "
27 " Dante, you were in a busy mall surrounded by people. You could have just as easily turned your back on him to go to the bathroom or to play one of the arcade games. You were sixteen fucking years old – you were too young to even conceive of something like that happening. Even if you were participating in an adult act like having sex, you were not an adult.” “It "
28 " So beautiful,” Magnus murmured and I felt my insides clench painfully. He doesn’t know what he’s saying. So "
29 " That’s exactly my point,” I murmured. “He’s going to need you to get through this. But if you let your guilt keep you from him, then that is on you.” Dante shook his head, but didn’t say anything. “Dante, you’ve spent all these years blaming yourself for what happened. Do you think you’re the only one?” “What? "
30 " Not yet, but when he does, I’m gonna say yes.” I "
31 " Any chance you have a mute button? "
32 " Yeah, but I don’t think you’d like where it’s located.” His eyes landed on mine. “You know, with your aversion to all things dick.” I actually had to fist my hands to keep myself from reaching for the dick in question. I highly doubted the man remained silent while getting off. I couldn’t help but wonder at all the sounds that would fall from his beautiful lips as I explored him. Fuck, I needed to get a grip. I "
33 " It wasn’t his fault! He was a kid! He couldn’t have known what would happen!” I "
34 " Think about it,” I said softly. “You’ve been blaming yourself. Who do you think Aleks has been blaming this whole time?” Dante was quiet for a moment before he began shaking his head. “No, it wasn’t his fault. He…he’d know it wasn’t his fault.” “How, baby?” I asked gently. “All he knows is that he didn’t do what you told him. And chances are, the people who took him somehow convinced him to go with them. They probably had some story about you being hurt or whatever…Aleks would have believed them, but when he realized later it had all been a lie-” “He would have blamed himself for falling for it,” Dante interjected. He’d settled enough that I released my hold on him and eased some of my weight off his body. We "
35 " Cause he makes you happy,” Matty said, making no effort to quiet his voice. Dante "
36 " I began noticing that he only tensed up around certain people. Curiously, they were the same people I’d always had an off feeling about…the kind of people you just instinctually knew not to spend a lot of time interacting with. And "
37 " And if the letters on my chest were anything to go by, I was it for him too. I "
38 " He’s gonna say yes, Pop-pop. You’re gonna ask him, right?” I made sure to keep my voice low enough that I knew Dante wouldn’t hear me and said, “Tonight, buddy.” Matty "
39 " It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in love…I just didn’t believe in it for me. "
40 " I let my hands brush over his chest and paid close attention to his nipples before spying the pool of semen on his belly. A need I couldn’t explain went through me and I found myself pulling my aching dick from the depths of his body. I felt Dante’s eyes on me as I shifted over him. I maneuvered my cock so I could rub it in his cum, drenching the crown in the cooling, sticky fluid. I gathered the rest of it as best I could with my shaft and then levered back on my heels. Dante’s pretty hole was open and waiting and I didn’t even think twice before pushing back inside of him. He gasped and I looked up to see him watching me with a mix of shock and wonder. He clearly hadn’t been expecting the move. I thrust into him hard and then dropped my body down on his. “What you do to me,” I murmured. “I can’t fucking get enough of you.” Dante’s "