S E V E N T Y

Forcing open heavy lids, Zoe lazily trailed her gaze across the empty, darkened hospital room. Beneath her cheek, Jon’s firm chest rose steadily, his soft breath releasing slowly. Lifting a hand to rub her bleary vision, he startled awake beneath her.“What are you doing up?” he mumbled, rolling his neck from side to side against the crinkly pillow. Zoe’s eyes trailed down his body, noticing the fresh gray sweats and black long-sleeved tee clinging to his muscles. Her lips parted and he smiled. “Lia brought me in some new clothes. I even took a shower,” he winked. “Didn’t think it was fair to sleep next to you when I’ve been wearing the same clothes for three days.”“Ew,” Zoe giggled, wincing at the pain that shot through her abdomen. “Why didn’t you shower?”“You were sedated. I didn’t want to leave, even for a second,” he whispered, shifting his body to face her, his fingers tucking the loose waves of hair behind her ear. “I wanted to make sure I was here when you woke up.”The warm

S E V E N T Y - O N E

Jon winced, the concrete mattress pushing against his spine irritatingly. Shuffling his hips, he leaned back, stuffing his hand in the pocket of his sweats to remove some of the bulk digging into his hip bones. Tossing his phone, keys and cigarettes onto the clinical nightstand, he adjusted himself to keep himself as close to Zoe as possible. She sighed sleepily, her eyes still closed, mouth parted as soft breaths rippled her chest. Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, he let his head fall back, the anxiety he’d tried to bury bubbling to the surface in the stillness of Zoe’s dark room. Getting caught had never scared him before. It was something he avoided, took precautions to prevent, but fuck, if he got caught and sent away, it was what he deserved. Now though, well now, it was the worst fucking thing that could happen. Leaving Zoe after every fucking thing they’d been through might actually kill him. He fucking prayed there was no root or whatever Booker had said, but he was

S E V E N T Y - T W O

By the time Evan arrived the next morning, Jon found it almost impossible to untangle himself from the web of Zoe’s limbs. Her head rested lazily against his chest, the warmth of her breath heating the patch of skin beneath the dark gray fabric of his shirt, and leaving her seemed like an unbearable task. Guilt trickled down into his gut, the knowledge that he was buried beneath the weight of the woman he loved, while Booker was locked up in county jail, arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. The thought forced him up, his thick legs swinging out of the bed. Blue eyes stared up at him anxiously, the pillow cinched precariously against her abdomen as she lifted herself up. Jon shook his head, pressing his lips against her forehead as he urged her to lay back down. Hyper-aware of Evan’s uncomfortable shifting from the plastic chair beside Zoe’s bed; Jon hovered by the shell of her ear, his heated murmur rasping from his throat. “I have to go and see him, baby, but I’ll be back before y

S E V E N T Y - T H R E E

Three weeks. The doctors had kept Zoe imprisoned in the clinical cell for almost three damn weeks. Every night, Jon curled beside her in the bed – no wider than a damn king single – while her limbs tangled around his, his chest used as a pillow. She’d gradually gotten stronger, more confident in her walks around the ward, but every time she’d asked to go home, Dr. Hawkins had insisted she stay for just a little bit longer. The way the doctor pinched his fingers together, his beady eyes squinting as he said it, Jon wondered whether the good doc was doing it just to torture him. He plastered on a fake smile anyway, wheeling around to see disappointment cloud Zoe’s features as he tried in vain to convince her it would all be okay soon.The stoic charade had fallen apart the minute Dr. Hawkins had signed the discharge papers, Jon muttering a victorious “thank fuck, asshole” before slinging Zoe’s duffel over his shoulder and hoisting her into his arms. He cradled her out of the ward, her g

All Chapters of Dangerous: Chapter 71 - Chapter 74

S E V E N T Y

S E V E N T Y - O N E

S E V E N T Y - T W O

S E V E N T Y - T H R E E