“I don’t think you do.” Zane held out his arms. “Come to me, Evie.”

She walked over to the window, took in the vast expanse of lawn, the barbed wire fence, the guards and patrol dogs. “I slept with other guys after Mark. I didn’t bring them home, either.” Not that this was a home. It was a fortress. And the fact they had to live this way said it all.

He gave a frustrated growl. “I don’t want to hear about other guys.”

She turned, folded her arms across her chest. “Did you sleep with lots of women? All those women at the party? The ones who live at the clubhouse? That’s part of the biker way of life isn’t it? Along with kidnapping and torture and … death.”

“Evie.” His voice rose to a shout, startling her. “Jesus Fuck. I’m losing it here. I thought I lost you and Ty. I was fucking paralyzed. I had to call Jagger for help. I don’t call people for help, Evie. I don’t need people. And then I have to fucking hear that while I was trying to find you, Viper was holding a gun to your head. You were so damn brave and strong.”

“I had Ty with me,” she said. “Going with Viper wasn’t really an option.”

“There aren’t many people who would have said no, sweetheart. I can guarantee it.” He raked his hand through his hair, the dark strands brushing over his shoulders. “You had faith in my brothers and they didn’t have faith in you. You put them to shame down there.”

“I didn’t mean…” Her voice trailed off as pain etched his face.

“I don’t want to need you, but I do.” His voice rose, wavered. “I need you like the air I breathe, the water I drink, the food I eat. I need you because you are the only thing that keeps the darkness away. You are my light, Evie, my hope, my salvation. When I thought I’d lost you, I lost myself. And if you don’t let me hold you right now, so I know I’m not dreaming, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.”

She went to him, slid into that space in the circle of his arms that was meant for her. “I’m here, baby.”

“Ah, God.” He let out a relieved breath and dropped his lips to her hair. “Just needed so bad to be alone with you, to hold you. Nothing feels as good as having you in my arms.”

She gave him the time he needed, tried to slow the thoughts tumbling through her mind, focused on the man and not the biker, the heart beating beneath the cut.

When his muscles relaxed and his heart slowed to a steady rhythm, she tilted her head back and looked up at him. “I told Viper you had a good heart.”

“That probably didn’t go down too well.”

She stroked her fingers along his jaw, remembering all the nights she lay in bed imagining how his skin would feel beneath her touch. “He said you two were the same.”

“We’re not.” Zane brushed her hair back over her shoulder, then tangled his fingers through the long strands and gave her head a gentle tug. “We might have the same tools, but we make different choices.” Then his face tightened. “Don’t want to talk about Viper.”

“What do you want to talk about?” She brushed her fingers over his sensual lips, his cheekbones, his strong brow, searching for the boy he used to be.

His eyes glittered with masculine pride. “Wanna talk about how you didn’t like thinking of me with the other women in the club. You were jealous.”

“I wasn’t jealous. I just … it’s your way of life, I guess. If that’s what makes you happy…”

“Like you were happy when Jagger’s cousin came to visit and sat beside me on the couch?” he teased.

Her face heated, but she couldn’t turn away with his hand in her hair. “It wasn’t like that. She was sitting in my place, and she was touching you.”

He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, tugging it from between her teeth. “I watched you all afternoon while we were playing that video game.” His voice was low, deceptively soft. “You never stopped glaring at her. When she sat on the floor between my legs, I thought you were gonna attack her.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have put your hand on her head,” she snapped, suddenly back in the moment when she wondered if she had it in her to actually physically attack the beautiful girl with the large breasts and curvy figure who had picked up on Evie’s secret crush on Zane right away and decided to rub it in her face.

“You were jealous. Say it.”

She gave an exasperated laugh. “Like you need an ego boost. But okay. Ten years ago I might have been jealous. Now, if you’re sleeping with me and sleeping with other women, then jealous isn’t the word I’d use. More like pissed off. The kind where weapons are involved.”

A grin spread across his face. “You want me.”

“I always wanted you. It’s just this life I’m not so sure about. You live in a world that scares me. What you’ve become scares me. I feel like I don’t know you anymore.”

“You know me better than anyone else.” He cupped her head in his hand, pulling her forward to meet the heated press of his lips. His kiss was hard and fierce, bruising her mouth with passion.

“I left you once,” he murmured. “But this time, I won’t let you go. I’m gonna do everything I can to make you see we are meant to be together. I’ll fight anyone and everyone for you, sweetheart, until you’re mine again.”

*   *   *

Acutely aware of the rise and fall of Evie’s breasts against his chest, and the heat of her body, Zane almost didn’t register her touch—gentle hands on his shoulders, arms twining around his neck. His groin tightened in response.

“I missed you.” She tilted her head back until she met his gaze. “We saw each other almost every single day for nine years, and then suddenly you were gone. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest.”

“Never again.”

She stepped back and pulled off her T-shirt. Zane’s eyes dropped to her creamy breasts encased in … oh fuck … red satin, and rational thought flew out the window. But when he took a step forward, she held up her hand.

“I gave up on relationships after Mark. I figured if I didn’t get involved with anyone, then I didn’t have to worry about having my heart broken yet again.” She reached around to unfasten her bra, letting the straps slide down her arms.

My beautiful girl.

No, not a girl. Not anymore. She’d filled out in a way that made his cock hard and his will soft. His Evie was all woman.

Zane swallowed when she sat in the center of his bed, leaned back on the pillows, folding her arms behind her head and giving him a perfect, groin-tightening view of her tight rosy nipples and lush breasts. Every instinct screamed for him to take her. His woman. Half naked. On his bed. Wanting him. But still he held back, confused by the words that belied her state of undress.

“Viper was different.” She undid the top button on her jeans and Zane drew in a ragged breath.

Viper? He didn’t want to talk about Viper when his cock was so hard he was ready to explode. Viper had no place in his bedroom, and even less place on Evie’s lips.

“Being with him reminded me of what it felt like to be with you and Jagger.” She slid her hands into the waistband of her jeans, drawing his attention to what lay beneath. “When I was with him, no one bothered me. In fact, no one dared to look at me. I never realized how much I missed feeling safe … craved it. But I thought I could be in control. I could go out with him but still walk away because I didn’t need anyone to make me feel safe anymore.” She shoved her jeans over her hips, baring red silk panties that matched her bra. But where the hell was she going with this? Did she want to be with Viper? Was this supposed to be a good-bye fuck?

“And then I saw you again.”

Ah. He was part of this story. His chest swelled with pride, as he guessed the ending. She thought him more worthy than Viper, and finally they got to have sex on the bed and lived happily ever after. Zane reached for his fly and she held up her hand to stop him again.