foreplay. He just needed her. But he had to make sure that Victoria was—
“Now, Wade, now.”
Like he could tell her no. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he might just give her anything, everything, she wanted for the rest of his life.
He pulled her to the edge of the bed. Her legs locked around his hips, and he drove into her, one hard thrust that sank him in, balls deep.
For an instant he stilled. His hands caught hers. His fingers threaded with hers as he stared down at her.
She was so much more than a body in the dark to him. And he waited, needing her to say . . .
“Wade?”
Fuck, yes. His name. Because he was the one with her. The one who wanted to be with her through all the dark nights to come. Fucking use me, baby. Use me until you’re as far gone as I am.
He withdrew, then plunged deep. Again and again. There was no more holding back. She felt too good. Too right. And then there was only pleasure. Her release. His. Blending together in a mad tangle that was the fucking best climax of his life.
When it was over, he ditched the condom and crawled into bed with her. He wrapped an arm around her stomach and held her there, close against his side. He figured she’d leave him soon enough. After all, the last time they had sex, she’d been quick enough to kick his ass out.
But for that moment he just held her.
Slowly, he heard her breathing become even and deep. He kept his body still, not wanting to jar her. Victoria had gone to sleep. In his arms.
And she felt so good against him. Right. Like she belongs.
He pressed a soft kiss to her temple and his eyes closed.
“YOU AREN’T LEAVING me.”
His voice boomed, seeming to echo through the house.
“You can’t do this to me! You married me. You stay with me!”
Victoria tiptoed to the top of the stairs. Her parents were fighting again. Or rather, her father was. He’d been yelling so much lately. She thought he knew . . .
Her mother was seeing someone else.
Victoria knew. She’d begun to suspect weeks ago, when her mother started smiling and laughing more often. Her mother was happy. And Victoria hadn’t realized just how sad her mom had been . . . not until the laughter started.
So that’s what it sounds like. That had been her first thought. She liked her mom’s laugh.
Only her mother wasn’t laughing right then. Victoria peered over the banister. Her mother and father were below her. As she watched, her father grabbed her mother, holding her shoulders, and he shook her.
“Stop,” Victoria said. Her father—he shouldn’t be doing that. He yelled, but he never hurt her mother. He was a respected scientist. Brilliant. Everyone said how brilliant he was. And they also said . . .
Victoria is just like him. Just like her father. She’s got his mind.
His mind, and her mother’s face.
But her mother’s face was now a mask of fear. She was trying to get away from her husband, but he was still shaking her.
“Stop!” Victoria said again. Her voice was louder. Her mother heard and her head tipped back, her long red hair trailing over her shoulders. When she saw her daughter, the fear on her face got even worse.
Victoria started running down the stairs.
“No, Victoria, no!” her mother cried. “Go back upstairs! I’m fine!”
Her father shoved her mom away and whirled toward the stairs. Toward Victoria. “She’s not fine. She’s leaving us. For some bastard she met at a bar.”
Victoria felt tears on her cheeks. She knew her father was telling the truth. And she wanted so desperately to say . . . Take me with you, Mom, please.
Over her father’s shoulder, she saw her mother’s suitcase. Packed all nice and neat, and waiting right next to the door.
“I married her,” Victoria’s father said. His glasses glinted as he stared at Victoria. She was just a few steps above him. “She won’t leave me. She won’t do this to me. I gave her everything.” Each word rose with fury. “The house. The cars. The cottage on the fucking lake. My money. My life. She won’t do this to me!”
His rage was shocking. Horrifying. His cheeks had reddened and his eyes blazed with a fury she’d never seen before.
“She won’t do this to us,” he swore, then whirled back to her mother. Her mother was just standing there, staring up at Victoria, not