“Yes.” I grumble, “You to stop being my hero and get back in this bed with me. This is stupid.”

He laughs. “I plan on gettin’ right back in that bed with you after I make a phone call.”

I’m starting to see that Mav does have a mercurial personality. His emotions are always passionate and sway depending on where his head’s at. He’s an artist after all, so I probably should have grasped that sooner.

“You’re not leaving the house are you?”

“No, Doll. I’ll be right back. Why? Are you gonna miss me?”

I try but fail to hit him with the pillow as I throw it at him. “No.”

He chuckles and pulls his phone from his pocket. He hits a few buttons and places it to his ear. He’s almost to the door when he says, “Yeah, I know, but I need you to find someone for me. Warner . . .”

He turns and looks back at me from the doorway. “Doll, what’s his last name?” We stare at each other and his eyes narrow. If I tell him Warner’s name, he’s going to easily find him and find out about everything else. The fire and how the police are looking for me. I was planning to tell him all of it anyway but he cut me off.

Just like all the times we’ve stared each other down, he freaking wins. “McTearney.”

Mav’s jaw clenches and then he relays into the phone, “McTearney. He’s the son of some senator in . . .” Again he pauses and I feel the intensity of his gaze. “Where’s he live, Doll?”

“California. But there’s something else you need to know.”

“California.” He holds his hand over the phone. “What else do I need to know?”

I grip the blanket tighter. What if he doesn’t want me around once he knows the police are looking for me? What if he doesn’t want that kind of attention on the club? I know the HOCs aren’t law-abiding citizens. They move money, or “clean it.” From the little things I’ve heard around the club, they launder it illegally through all their many businesses. I keep the fact that I know this to myself. This is exactly the kind of thing Davis would want to know.

“The police are looking for me.”

He gives me a blank expression for a minute. He uncovers the phone and says, “I’ll call you right back.”

He comes to sit on the edge of the bed. His muscles are tense. “Why are the police lookin’ for you?”

I look away and bite my lip. He grunts in disapproval and reaches forward to pull my lip from my teeth. He lifts my chin so I’m forced to look at him.

“Why, Doll? Come on. Don’t make me break out the boxing gloves.” His smirk disarms me and my nervousness fades.

“You wanted to know how I got the scars.” He nods. “He started to handcuff me when he left the house. He knew I was planning to leave him.”

Mav’s expression darkens. Once again, he fights a rising tide of anger. I can see in his eyes, Warner is going to be meeting him sometime soon.

“What does that have to do with the cops lookin’ for you?”

My gaze drops to the bed. “I burned down his house. I needed time to get out of town. I needed him to think I was still inside while it burned so he didn’t come looking for me right away and drag me back.”

The silence between us is thick with tension until Mav lifts my face and palms my cheeks. “You’re so fuckin’ strong, Doll. The fact that you can survive all you’ve been through and still be this whole.” His eyes search mine and he shakes his head.” Baby, you’re like a diamond. Precious, fuckin’ beautiful, and unbreakable.”

“I assure you, I can break. I’ve been so close many times.”

“Well, we’re not gonna test that theory because I’m not gonna break your heart, and you’re not gonna break mine. And that fucker is never gonna lay eyes on you again. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The room is pitch black and silent. Something wakes me. It’s not until the hand on my thigh moves up higher that I know what it is.

Mav’s fingers are long and calloused but they feel oh so good as they move up my skin. He’s spooned against my back and his hot breath washes over my neck, as his hand slides up over my chest and cups my breast. He tweaks my nipple and with the hint of pain, my body is suddenly awake and attuned to him. Turning my face, his lips meet mine. Our kiss is heavy with emotion and unhurried. His other hand moves underneath me until he’s able to curl it around to where the tips of his fingers can stroke my clit.

I whimper at the first touch. In seconds, he’s working over my mouth, and has me yet again on the brink of an orgasm that’s ready to spill over.

I moan and start rocking. Mav separates my legs and pulls my thigh over the top of his, spreading me open for him. He moves closer and when I feel his erection at my opening, I whisper his name.

His first thrusts are torturous, slow, and deep. I reach back and hold on to his neck.

He breaks our kiss and, in the voice with the power to make my body shudder, he says, “You make the darkness fade and breathe life back into my world.”

Against my will, my fears tumble out of my mouth. “Mav . . . you can’t say these things to me . . .”

“Why?”

“Because you make me feel something I don’t want to feel when you do. My heart opens and lets you in, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. What if this doesn’t work? What if you change your mind about me? What if something from my past makes you look at me differently?” I squeeze my eyes closed. “The more I let you in, the harder it’s going to be to move on from you.”

“Is this where you want to be?”

“Yes.”

“Then this is where you stay, and it’s my fuckin’ job to make you happy. I see who you are, Doll, and I want all of you. Every fuckin’ piece of you, you’ll give me. I’m not gonna change my mind about that.”

I turn and kiss him. His thrusts get faster, and his breath and my breaths get heavier. Our moans collide as he strums my clit and slides deep and shallow. Mav leans up and pulls his arm from under me so he can push into the bed and work himself deeper into me, hit the bundle of nerves inside me that puts me on the verge of exploding.

He backs away slowly from our kiss and smirks down at me. His pace changes.

“No, faster.”

He laughs.

“Luce, give me what I need.”

He growls and starts fucking me hard, fast, and deep, and doing it so relentlessly like only the devil could do.

“Fuck. You grip me so tight, Doll. Come for me, babe.”

He rubs my clit rapidly and it’s my undoing. I cry out and my body goes tight. I have never once seen the Northern Lights, but I’d bet my life that’s what flashes behind my eyelids when my orgasm sweeps over me in a rush of blinding pleasure. It hits me in one big crash and then tapers out in waves.

Mav shouts and buries himself inside of me as his body releases into mine.

Afterward, he pulls me into his arms and wraps me up nearly to the point I can’t move.

I keep thinking, I should hate it. I shouldn’t want to be locked down and caged by another man. But I love it. I feel safe in Mav’s arms. I feel safe and guarded from all the wrong in the world. And maybe in his arms, I am like he says . . . unbreakable.

I’m amazed that in one day Mav’s destroyed the image of the man I thought he was. He’s revealed he’s so much more than I ever could have hoped for, and he’s shown me that sex is unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Mind-blowing, beyond intense, and soul-searing deep. I never realized sex could be about pleasure and wanting to be so close to someone, that it consumes you.

I feel like some precious rare thing he can’t get enough of. And I’ve discovered a side of myself I never knew I had. A passionate side that might easily get addicted to all the wonderful ways he makes my body sing for him.

Before I drift off, Mav whispers in my ear. “Tell me I’m not alone, Doll. Tell me you feel how good this is too.”