Each stroke grows more powerful with every word spoken, and my heart surges with more love than I’ve ever known. Both hands maintain a firm grip on the back of my thighs, squeezing and gripping with each deliberate thrust. “Say it. Tell me you’re mine.”

My fingers dig into his shoulder, fisting the saturated material of his shirt, every part of me clinging to every single part of him. “I’m yours.”

“Damn right you are. And I won’t ever let you fucking forget it.”

The rain continues to fall, pounding on the hood of the truck, washing away what is left of my inhibitions as he takes me in a way no other man has. “God, Grayson, it’s so good.”

His eyes hold mine, blazing with deep love and dark desire. The shared breaths between us have become desperate and ragged. “That’s because it’s you and me, baby. Only. Ever. Us.”

“Yes!” I throw my head back as the building pressure reaches its peak. He fills me deeper, touching a place inside of me I never even knew existed.

The result is beautifully devastating.

I explode around him, clenching and writhing beneath his tense, hard body as my orgasm completely destroys me. Grayson grits his teeth on a harsh curse, burying his face in the crook of my neck as my teeth scrape the slope of his shoulder, stifling my screams.

By the time we both come to our senses the rain has tapered to a drizzle, and any question whether Grayson is irrevocably mine or that I am undeniably his, has been completely obliterated.

He carries me inside, walking straight to the bathroom where he quickly undresses us both after he starts the shower.

Once we both step inside, his strong hands cradle my face, eyes full of remorse. “Tell me. Tell me you trust me and you know I would never do that to you.”

I nod, my heart aching as the hot water begins to warm my freezing body. My hand reaches for his wrist, feeling the strong pulse beneath my fingers. “I do. I shouldn’t have let her get to me. She was one of the many women Clint cheated on me with. Then she had the nerve to throw it in my face while we were in the bathroom. What happened with Clint hurt so badly because it wounded my pride, but if it ever happened with you… I wouldn’t be able to take it. It would destroy me.”

“Never, Liv, there is no one else that matters to me but you. What you saw was us arguing, and me telling her to fuck off.”

“I believe you.” I look at him sadly. “Now I need you to believe me. What you saw of Ben and me was his sympathy for what happened. Even if I haven’t seen him in a few years he was a really good friend of mine. You hurt me, and I was embarrassed by the way you treated him.”

Through the billowing steam I catch a glimpse of remorse wash over his face. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t like seeing his hands on you. You’re mine, Liv, and only I touch you like that. But I overreacted, and I’ll apologize to him. I’ll make it right for you.”

“Thank you,” I respond, pressing a kiss to his bare, wet chest.

He lifts my face back up to his. “We good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Good. Now tell me you love me.”

I smile.

This is the kind of bossy I love from him. “I love you.”

“And I love you.” He presses his lips to my forehead, and my heart fills with relief.

Everything will always be right in my world as long as I have this.

As long as I have him.

CHAPTER 27

Grayson

The sound of Rosie, snorting and stomping, yanks me from my sleep. I blink twice, fully alert. Looking down I find Liv sleeping soundly next to me. I lie here for several seconds, listening carefully. When Rosie only seems to get more worked up I tentatively slide out from under Liv’s warm, naked body and reach for my jeans.

A loud thump coming from the side of the house has me reaching for the 9 mm in the bedside table.

“Liv, baby. Wake up.”

She stirs, lifting her head to look at me through sleepy eyes. “What is it?”

I throw her my shirt. “Put this on, quick.”

My hard tone prompts her immediately following the order. “What’s going on?”

“I think someone’s outside.”

“What?” she shrieks.

“Shhh.” I clap a hand over her mouth. “Stay here and don’t leave this room, not unless I tell you to. Understand?”

She nods, her eyes wide with fear.

“Everything will be okay. I promise.”

“Please be careful.”

I kiss her forehead. “I’ll be fine.”

Making sure all is clear I slip out into the small hallway, closing the bedroom door quietly behind me. I keep the lights off and move carefully through the dark living room to the front door. Reaching for the knob, I twist it slowly and ease it open to peek outside.

After a few quiet seconds, a shadow darts across the yard, heading from the main house toward the crops.

“Fuck!” I take chase, striking out on bare feet across the wet grass. “You fucked with the wrong house, asshole,” I yell, gaining on him. Thoughts of what he had planned for Walt or Liv fuels my speed.

I can hear his panicked grunts as I get closer. Once I have him in my grasp, I take him to the ground with crushing force. I flip him over, aiming the barrel of my gun right between his eyes. The bright moonlight lends enough light to see his face.

Fuck, he’s just a kid.

“Please don’t hurt me. I swear to God I don’t have anything on me. Don’t shoot.” Fear floods his face, making him look even younger.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Br-Brandon. Brandon Gaines. I’m a student of Miss Bradshaw’s. I don’t want to hurt her. I swear!”

“Then what the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

“I was leaving a note for her. I need…I need to speak with her.”

“You ever hear of a phone?”

“I couldn’t. I had to—”

“I got your back, Grayson.” Walter moves into my peripheral vision, holding up his shotgun, aimed and ready.

Christ.

“Oh shit!” The kid looks ready to piss himself. “Please don’t shoot me.”

“It’s okay, Walt. I got him.” I start patting him down, making sure he doesn’t have a weapon. “See what happens when you sneak onto someone’s property in the middle of the night, kid,” I say, tucking my gun back in my jeans when I realize he’s clean.

“Yeah, boy, you trying to get yourself killed?” Walter asks, lowering the shotgun.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve thought it through more.”

“Yeah, you should have. You alone?”

“Yeah,” he replies, not looking me in the eye.

I fist the collar of his T-shirt in my hands, jerking his face closer to mine. “You better not be fucking lying to me.”

“I’m not. I swear.” He looks me dead in the eyes this time, and aside from fear I also see the truth. “The note’s tucked in the screen door.”

I look over at Walter. “Go check.”

He comes back a couple of minutes later with an envelope. He opens and reads it before telling me what’s in it. “Yeah, it’s for Livy, asking her to meet him tomorrow to talk.”

“What do you want with her?”

He watches me, his jaw tight with determination. “It’s between me and Miss Bradshaw. I don’t trust no cops.”

“Well, you do now, because no one gets to my girl without going through me first.”

“Look. I don’t want to hurt her. I’m…I’m trying to make things right.”

His response intrigues me, but I have a feeling he’s not going to talk without Liv. “Come on.” I drag him toward the guesthouse with Walter following close behind.

“Liv,” I shout once I step inside, flipping on the light. “Come out into the living room, will ya?”

The bedroom door opens slowly and she steps out cautiously in her robe, cell phone clutched tightly to her chest.

“It’s all right, baby. He says he’s a student of yours?”

Her tired eyes widen as she reaches the living room. “Brandon?”