“Tomorrow I want to start getting things moving on the condo. We should have someone pull all the carpet out of there and put in hardwood.” One of her pale eyebrows arched sexily and she gave me a sardonic grin. “It’s easier to get blood off of hardwood than it is to get it out of carpet.”

I just stared at her until she grabbed my hands and put them purposefully over her bare breasts.

“Stop acting like I’m going to fall apart, Race. At first it was sweet, but now it’s starting to annoy me.”

I gave the full globes a squeeze and rubbed my thumbs over the velvet-soft tip of each. Her nipples puckered fast and hard at the sweeping touch and I told her, “I don’t necessarily think you’re going to fall apart, but you went through a pretty major trauma and that had to have affected you. I just want to be here for you if you need me.”

She lowered her face to mine and kissed me hard then rubbed the end of her nose against mine.

“I don’t feel bad. It sucks Dovie had to shoot someone, it sucks Booker got hurt, it sucks Karsen had to witness all of it, and it really sucks that my mom got drunk and set all of this in motion, but Drew was out of his mind and I don’t have any guilt over the fact that he’s gone and all of us are still here.”

She sat up and reached behind to wrap a hand around my dick, which was way smarter than the rest of me and already jumping to do whatever she wanted it to do.

“Race, if we’re going to do this—make this work—if I get to be the queen to your golden king, then you have to trust that I can handle this stuff. I barely survived a deranged stalker who spent a year pretending to be my friend. My mom is in rehab. My dad is a gambling addict and more than likely on the run from my boyfriend, my best friend is Annie Oakley and lives with a car thief, and my little sister has a full-blown crush on an ex-con that looks like he kicks babies for fun. I can handle all of that and I will handle whatever else comes our way. Okay?”

“Okay . . .” It came out strangled and more like a groan because she started moving her hand up and down and rubbing her thumb over the head that was already pearling up with excitement. If she could handle it, then I could handle it, and if this was the end result, she wouldn’t hear me complain ever again.

She scooted over so that she was kneeling at my side and hovering over my very excited dick while she worked it over and gave me a look that had my heart racing and libido howling in anticipation.

“But the fact that you want to be there for me, that you are overly concerned about how I’m holding up, really turns me on and makes me want to do really naughty things to you.”

That made me laugh, a laugh I almost choked on when her warm lips took the place of her hands and she sucked all my hard and throbbing flesh into her mouth. I started out wanting to get her dirty, to ruffle her feathers and thaw some of that chill that seemed to be around her. Now, as she worked me over, drove me crazy with every dip and flick of her tongue, I understood she was perfect, so damn perfect just the way she was, and she didn’t need to get dirty or mussed up. She just needed me to bring it out in her. I made her bold. And all I could do was thank whoever it was that had been looking out for us all this time for that, because as she moved over me, played with me, tormented me to the edge of my control, she never looked away from me and I knew this was the girl that was not just my balance, my compass, but she was also my match in every way. Not only would she take what I gave her, she would turn around and give it right back to me.

She added her hands to the mix, moved them between my legs, and wrapped one around the base of my cock as just the hint of her teeth scraped along the sensitive underside of my shaft and I stopped thinking about it all and just appreciated her and us as I let go and she caught me.

Chapter 19

Brysen

IT TOOK A FEW weeks to get the condo back in a condition that didn’t resemble a crime scene. While we were in the process of changing the floors out, Race decided he wanted to get rid of all the furniture and replace everything so that there were no reminders of what the place used to be. He was still watching me with careful eyes and still handling me like I might break, but each time he took me to bed, and each day that passed where I didn’t fall apart, he settled down more and more. I was determined to show him and myself that I could do this—live this life and not let it grind me down. It was what had to happen if I was going to be with Race and we both knew it. In all honesty, I really was okay. Drew had stalked me, very nearly destroyed my life from the inside out, and if I thought about it hard enough, I could still feel his fingers around my neck as he tried to take my life with his bare hands. He wasn’t a good person. Even if he had a lot to be furious at my family for it didn’t justify the way he went about things.