couldn’t have. Only the Black Hoods could help me.”
Aaron blinks once, twice. “What exactly can they give you that I can’t?”
“Safety,” I reply. “The ability to do what I need to do to protect these kids.”
“You’re breaking the law.”
I laugh, without an ounce of humor. “The law is already broken. It has been for a really long time.” Everything I’ve held back from him the last few years continues to flow out of me like a raging river after a heavy spring storm. “I’ve watched family after family being torn apart. For once, I want to keep this one together. They can protect them.”
Aaron’s nostrils flare. “They’re not his to protect.” Spittle flies from his mouth as he raises his voice. I’ve never heard him yell before, but somehow, I’m not surprised he has such a short fuse. “And neither are you.”
“That’s for me to decide, not you.”
What happens next, happens so fast, I don’t have time to register it.
Aaron’s fist rockets toward me, dangerously close to my face, but only the breeze from its power caresses my cheek before landing against the door behind me.
His eyes fall closed when he realizes what he’s done. “Grace, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
I feel the support of the door fall away and land against Eugene’s body, shaking with rage. “I will fucking rip your head off and shit down your neck,” he growls.
Aaron’s eyes grow wide.
“No!” I cry, turning to face Eugene. Placing my hands on his chest, I stare deep into his eyes, searching through the fiery anger for some form of reasoning. “Don’t. I’m okay.”
Eugene’s skin is burning beneath my palms, and for a fraction of a second, I fear he won’t listen to me. Finally, he looks at me, inspecting me for himself, his hand moving possessively over my skin in front of Aaron. He’s staking his claim without having to say the words. “I’m okay,” I promise. “He didn’t hit me. He hit the door.”
“Real fucking men don’t even do that,” he growls. “Do you hear me, asshole? What you just did is the next worst fucking thing to hitting a woman. Scaring her and making her think you’re going to is a coward’s move.”
Aaron doesn’t reply. I turn to face him, but Eugene’s arms wrap tight around my waist.
“You need to leave.”
His voice is deflated now. Weak. “Grace, I came here for you.”
“And you’re leaving without her,” Eugene snarls from behind me. Aaron takes a step back, but hesitates to move any farther.
“Why him? Why couldn’t I be that man for you? I tried to be, but you never let me in. I fucking love you, Grace.”
“I don’t love you, and I never will. You just didn’t want to accept that. No matter how hard you push I’m never going to feel that way about you.”
“But you can love him? A criminal.”
“I care about him, yes, and his past doesn’t matter to me. Only the future and these kids matter now.”
His eyes glass over with sadness as he looks between us. “Take care of her.” Turning, he walks away from us and back to his car. Lingering just inside his open car door, he slides in behind the wheel and drives away, and out of my life.
Judge
Her fingers dig into my hair as her hips roll. “God, please, don’t stop.”
Oh, there’s no way in hell I’m stopping.
Dragging my tongue between her folds, I press a soft kiss to the sensitive pearl nestled deep within, making her moan. Fuck me, she’s incredible.
Using my lips, I pull her clit this way and that, flicking it gently with my tongue, reveling in her taste. I could live right here, between her legs, feasting on the buffet that’s her perfect fucking body.
Her thighs tremble and her moans get louder, and finally, I can’t take it anymore.
Standing at the end of the bed, I pull her to me, raising her feet high in the air, and enter her hard. She’s so fucking tight. I thrust faster, loving the way her breasts bounce, her nipples tight and swollen from my earlier kisses.
Grace’s eyes are locked on mine, her face twisted with a pleasure that mirrors my own.
“Fuck,” I bite out, not sure how much more I can take. I’ve always considered myself to have pretty great stamina, but with Grace... fuck, the woman undoes me. Sex with her makes me feel like a sixteen-year-old boy, for fuck’s sake.
A deafening crash, followed by the sound of shattered glass hitting the ceramic