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  “Fuck…” she moaned. “Never thought…”

  “Relax.” I bit her right cheek hard enough to leave little red indents in her skin. She yelped but didn’t pull away. “Good girl.”

  I turned my attention back to the hole I’d be breaching tonight. I wasn’t one to be caught up in counting or obsessing over past sexual partners, but some primal part of me loved the idea of being the first person to take her in this sensitive way.

  I continued working my tongue into her ass as I pushed two fingers into her pussy, earning another one of those erotic moans. I worked them together, coaxing her toward orgasm. When she finally came, she did it with a shout, her pussy tightening around my fingers.

  She was still trembling as I replaced my tongue with my index finger, sinking it to the first knuckle easily. I stood and squirted some lube on my finger as I worked it in and out. She hissed out a breath, her head falling as I added a second finger.

  “Fuck, Blake, fuck fuck…”

  “You okay?”

  She nodded. “It…burns…but good…ohhhh…”

  I decided to take that as a positive thing. I twisted my fingers, and she pushed back against my hand. I did it a couple more times as my free hand managed to get my pants open and down. She was as ready as she could be, and my cock was so hard that I knew I’d have to work to keep from coming right away.

  I removed my fingers and was rewarded with a growl. “Easy, babe. I’ll give you something better.”

  I slicked my cock with lube before lining up and pushing forward. I kept it slow but steady, the searing heat and vice-like grip just painful enough to keep me from coming.

  Brea let out a stream of curses, and I echoed her, my legs barely able to keep me up. Her entire body quivered around and underneath me. I slid my hands underneath her, squeezing her breasts through her dress, rubbing her slit. There was nothing gentle about my touch, and nothing had been calculated to bring her pleasure. It was all about touching her, feeling her. Being with her.

  “Blake, please,” she whimpered.

  I bit the back of her neck, then straightened. Grabbing her hips, I pulled back, leaving just the tip inside before driving back into her. She cried out, her body shaking.

  “Touch yourself,” I demanded. “Touch yourself and don’t stop, not even if you come. Don’t stop until I come.”

  She nodded, balancing herself on one hand while she moved the other underneath her, fingers taking over the space my own fingers had just been. She jerked as she found her clit swollen and sensitive, but she began to rub it anyway. I’d barely made two thrusts before she was coming around me.

  “Fuck, Brea,” I grunted.

  I tried to think of something else, anything that would force my body back under my control, but nothing could distract me from the way she’d tightened around me. I pounded into her, and she kept coming, one wave after another until she was sobbing my name, begging me to finish.

  “Please! Come in my ass! Please, Blake! Come! Come! Fuck! Too much! Too much! Come in my ass! Please! Please! Fuck!”

  Every inch of me was on fire, and it was all because of this woman. I loved her, and that meant more than any physical sensation ever could. And it was that thought that finally did it for me.

  “Fuck! Brea!”

  As we went to the floor together, I wrapped my arms around her. “Love you,” I murmured. “So much.”

  “Me too.” She put her arms around my neck, pressing her face against my chest. “Love you too.”

  I’d never imagined life could be like this, and I never wanted to go back to the way it had been.

  Thirty-Five

  Brea

  Boston in October was stunning.

  I loved Wyoming, and I’d been to some amazing places growing up, but Boston in autumn was something else. The fact that it was Jax and Syll’s wedding only made it even more beautiful.

  The last five months had been amazing. I’d moved in with Blake after our trip here back in May, but I’d also kept my apartment in Rawlins too. We both wanted to spend more time with his family here, but neither of us wanted to leave Wyoming, so he’d purchased a small private plane to make it easier to travel back and forth. We’d also come up with an additional solution but hadn’t told his family yet. We didn’t want to get their hopes up while we still had a lot to do. Find a place in Boston that had a place for Blake to do his work. Find a space where I could open another store. Find people I trusted even when I wasn’t there. Once we had all the logistics in place, we’d make the announcement.

  I smiled at my reflection as I made sure the jeweled butterflies in my hair were secure. Syll had asked Cheyenne, Addison, and me to be bridesmaids, and all three of us, plus Syll’s friend Gilly, had gotten different accessories that matched each of our personalities. I looked forward to seeing Blake’s face when he saw my hair. Though I hadn’t ever used our safe word, it was still butterfly.

  “You’re gorgeous,” Addison said as she came into the room. “Blake is going to lose it when he sees you. I mean, you’re beautiful all the time, but that dress and your hair and your makeup. I can never manage to get my makeup like that, and my hair does what it wants half the time–”

  “You look beautiful too,” I said, stopping Addison’s babbling. She was almost as nervous as Syll, but more because she wasn’t the sort of person who liked being in front of a lot of people. I loved her. I was certain that, one day, I’d have three amazing sisters-in-law, and the more time I spent with them, the happier I was about it.

  “Thanks.” She beamed.

  “Everything okay, Chey?” I asked as Cheyenne came in, looking a little frazzled.

  “It’s fine,” she said, stopping in front of the full-length mirror to straighten her hair. “Someone just gave Austin a couple cookies when Estrada was in the bathroom. I’m pretty sure it was Slade. He has a hard time saying no to Austin sometimes.”

  Her tone made me think that she usually thought it was charming how much Slade loved her brother, but today wasn’t the best day for a sugar-high five-year-old. Not for the first time this week, I wondered what sort of father Blake would be. We hadn’t really talked about kids specifically, but we’d said enough to know that we both wanted more than one. Maybe Austin would prompt a natural conversation.

  “How’s Estrada doing now that Austin’s in kindergarten?” I asked.

  “Good,” Cheyenne said. “I was worried that once she didn’t have him all day, she’d feel like moving here was a mistake, but she’s really settled in and is happy here.”

  “Once Jax and Syll get back from their honeymoon, we’ll have to discuss the holidays,” Addison said. “Do you think you and Blake will be able to come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas? Or we could all go out to you. Your parents’ retreat would have enough rooms for all of us.”

  “It would,” I agreed. “I’ll tell Blake we’ll need to discuss plans then.”

  Thinking of traditional holidays with this great big extended family brought another smile to my face. I loved them all as much as I loved my parents. Maybe they could even join the Hunters for Christmas, have something normal for once.

  But first, a wedding.

  “That was a beautiful ceremony,” I said as Blake pulled me closer. We didn’t dance a lot, but when we did, it was always slow songs, and he always held me as tightly as possible, as if he was worried I’d slip away.

  “It was,” he agreed. “And I’ve never seen Jax look that happy before.”

  “They’re really good together,” I said.

  He nodded in agreement, then fell silent. We danced through the end of the song, and another one started.

  I’d meant to wait until we were back home, but I couldn’t keep my news from him any longer. Not because this was a perfect moment, but because it wasn’t the timing that mattered. I just wanted to be able to share something important with my best friend.

  “Blake, I have something to tell you.”

  He looked down at me, all his a
ttention focused on me.

  “I’ve known for a couple days, but I wasn’t sure when would be the best time to tell you,” I began. “I don’t want to wait anymore though. I want to share it with you.” I smiled. “I’m pregnant.”

  His eyes widened, but he didn’t miss a step. “You’re sure?”

  I nodded, searching his face for some response to the news.

  “That’s amazing!” He didn’t raise his voice, but he did kiss me, and that was better than a huge announcement. It was a sweet, passionate kiss, full of promises.

  “I know we hadn’t talked about having kids, but this came out of nowhere. I believe we can make it work.”

  He smiled at me, then brushed his lips across mine. “Your timing is actually perfect.”

  “It is?”

  He cupped my chin and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Yes. Because I want to marry you.”

  “What?” I stopped dancing. I’d hoped we’d get there eventually, but I hadn’t expected it like this, not so soon.

  “Marry me, Brea.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “Even if it’s just so I don’t have to carry this around anymore.”

  He opened it, and I found myself looking at a beautifully crafted gold ring. Diamond chips glittered in the metal. It wasn’t a traditional engagement ring, and that made me love it even more.

  “Yes,” I said, emotion making the words a whisper. “I would love to marry you.”

  He kissed me hard, not caring about anyone around us. It was just the two of us, celebrating the new life ahead of us. Then I heard the cheers behind us, and as we ended our kiss, I saw that we were surrounded by family. They might not have heard my news, but they knew what it meant to see a man with a ring box in hand. And they were happy for us. This wasn’t only Blake and me and the baby on the way. It was all of us, because we were all family.

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  One

  My heart pounded as I ran through the darkened hallway. He was coming, and if he caught me, I’d die. My hands were slick with blood, but I didn’t think it was mine. My sides hurt from running, and my feet were cold, but I wasn’t injured. Not yet. If he caught me though, I’d be worse than injured. I’d be dead.

  Had he killed someone else? It certainly seemed possible.

  I passed a mirror and my reflection caught my eye. I missed a step. Something was wrong. I stopped and went over to the mirror. This couldn’t be me. I was a grown-up, but the girl in the mirror wasn’t a grown-up. She was tall, but not as tall as I knew I’d be someday. The ash blonde hair and china blue eyes were the same, but the face was too round, too young. The hair too long.

  If I knew I was older, did that mean that he didn’t kill me?

  “Get back here, you little brat!”

  Ice flooded my veins. He was close, and he was angry. He’d been angry for almost a year now. Every day, even if it was a good day. He found something to be angry about.

  “Don’t you go hiding now! That’s just going to make this worse!”

  He was right. Hiding just made him madder, but I was scared of what he’d do if he found me. I’d been protected before, but not anymore.

  I looked down at my hands, at the blood soaking my clothes. It was her blood. He’d hurt her. Killed her. She was gone, and no one would protect me anymore.

  But I didn’t need someone else to protect me. I was an adult. I could protect myself. Besides, this wasn’t real. It was a dream.

  The trees around me began to sway, bending low, reaching for me with their branches. I pushed them away, thin needles like razors that sliced my skin, mixing her blood with mine. I barely registered the pain. Pines. The smell of pines filled my nose. My chest tightened, and it was hard to breathe. I needed to get away.

  I started running again, rocks cutting into my bare feet, bruising them, but I couldn’t care about that. Not when I could hear him behind me, breaking things. I slammed the door behind me and then looked around, trying to find something I could put in front of it.

  But it was glass. Even if I did manage to block it, he could just break through.

  But I couldn’t just wait here, unprotected either.

  I spotted a rock. Not like a little stone or even some medium-sized flowerbed edging rock. This was huge. The kind of thing people put in their yards with their house numbers on them.

  I went over to it and put my hands on it. It was rough, like sandstone, but at least my hands wouldn’t slip. The blood was tacky now, clinging to the rock as I braced my feet and pushed.

  A blow shook the door and my muscles screamed as I put more force into it. I needed to get this in front of the door. He was going to get inside.

  Crying. Someone was crying.

  An animal?

  No, a kid. I was sure it was a kid.

  He was screaming now. Not words. Just sound. So loud that people had to hear him.

  No, wait, there were words. Bad words. Words that I wasn’t allowed to repeat.

  The rock didn’t move, and the glass cracked. Fear dumped even more adrenaline into my body and I could taste it in the back of my mouth. I was going to be sick.

  I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands. The smell of blood filled my nose. It was sharp and metallic and made my stomach hurt.

  I made a pained sound. My eyes started watering.

  This was more than just an upset stomach. It felt like fire was inside me, and I was being pulled apart. I retched, and it just made things worse. My head hurt, and I felt like I was going to pass out.

  How could I pass out in a dream?

  This had to be a dream. If it wasn’t, it would be too horrible to consider.

  The crying got worse. Why wouldn’t someone shut him up? Why was he crying when I was the one who was hurting?

  The glass cracked, and a dog started barking far away.

  I screamed and someone else screamed and the dog barked, and the kid cried and the door broke and–

  I jerked away, another scream dying in my throat. My heart was racing, my breathing ragged, and I leaned over to turn on the bedside light. Soft white light flooded the room and I looked away to give my eyes a moment to adjust.

  “Just a dream.” I said the words out-loud, as if that would make it all just magically disappear.

  I shivered, the sweat on my body rapidly drying now that I was awake. My breathing and pulse were beginning to return to normal too. If this had been just a normal nightmare, I’d get up, maybe get some water, then climb back in bed.

  I’d had these sorts of nightmares before.

  Falling off a bridge. Spiders. Monkeys. Spider monkeys. Not actual spider monkeys but a creature that looked like a cross between a spider and a monkey.

  Typical monsters that nightmares are made of.

  This hadn’t been one of those nightmares, the ones that were easy to shake off because they were ridiculous in the light of day, which meant that I wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon, if at all. I knew myself well enough to know that it’d be pointless to try.

  I ran my hand over my hair, thankful for the short haircut that didn’t require a lot of maintenance. I leaned back against my pillows and stared up at the ceiling. I needed to figure out what I was going to do now. I had hours before I had to be anywhere, and I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate enough to read. I could’ve watched some tv, but the walls here were pretty thin and I didn’t want to bother anyone else. Besides, if I couldn’t sleep, I could at least find something worthwhile to do.

  I got out of bed and turned on my overhead light before turning off the lamp. I wasn’t quite ready to be in the dark again. By the time I stepped outside, however, I was comfortable enough to appreciate the stars speckled across the rich, deep blue sky. I was too close to the city for it to be completely pitch black, so that helped too.

  I’d already stretched, so once I hit the cool early mornin
g air, I didn’t have to stand around before jogging a few feet. I was just glad that it was May and not January.

  I started off down the path, gradually moving from jogging to running. I wasn’t doing a flat-out sprint, but I was moving at a pretty good clip when I turned onto the sidewalk and made my way deeper into the city.

  Virginia and Indiana weren’t really that similar in weather or terrain, but I had the strangest feeling of déjà vu as I ran. My nightmares – the really bad ones – did that to me sometimes. Made me feel like I was a kid again. It made sense that I’d feel that now. I’d loved to run as a kid too, and I’d been good at it. I’d actually done track in high school and made it to state a couple times.

  One of the main reasons I’d always loved running was that it emptied my mind. I didn’t have to think about anything but putting one foot in front of the other. Some people liked music when they ran, but I didn’t. I preferred to hear what was going on around me. Birds. Traffic. People. Some of it was because I liked those sounds, but I knew that most of it was because I always wanted to be aware of my surroundings, even while my head was empty.

  I’d made it a couple miles when I realized where I was. The hotel was nice enough, not too high end, but not too tacky either. It was perfect for businesses, especially ones who had guests staying for more than a few nights, and that was exactly why I’d ended up here, even if it hadn’t been a conscious decision.

  I headed inside without second-guessing myself. If I wasn’t wanted, I’d go back, maybe go to the weight room until breakfast. But if I was wanted…well, that was going to be vastly more fun.

  I waved at the man at the front desk and he wiggled his fingers at me. I’d seen Hal a couple times over the last few weeks and as long as he didn’t get any complaints about me, he had no problem letting me walk right past. Unless someone high up found about my clandestine visits, no one was going to say anything, and I didn’t intend for anyone to find out. If it looked like that would happen, I had no problem walking away.