Page 60

Colton

I want to kill my father.

As I grapple with him for the gun, that’s the sole thought circulating in my mind. I can’t kill Mark, though. Not until I take over the Glass Rooks. Otherwise, it’ll look like I’m just as power-hungry as he is, and I can’t have that. My relationship with the Rooks needs to be based on trust and respect, otherwise they’ll see me as a dictator.

“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” Mark seethes.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I grab his wrist and pin it to the floor. “I’ve been preparing for this for six years.”

I have both his hands restrained now. It achieves the most important goal: making sure he doesn’t hurt Haven. But I’m stuck. His hands aren’t free, but neither are mine.

If I didn’t have to hold myself back—and if the asshole hadn’t pulled a gun on Haven—I could finish this easily. As things sit currently, I can’t move. Not until Haven leaves, at least. I can’t risk Mark shooting her.

“Angel, you need to go,” I pant.

“No. I have—”

“Now, Haven,” I shout.

“Look at me.” She’s speaking so calmly that I wonder for a split second if she’s delusional.

Then I look up.

She’s holding a small black case in one hand and a syringe in the other. She mouths the word sedative, and three realizations hit me at once.

First, it’s exactly what we need.

Second, Mark must’ve brought it, which means he was planning on using it on Haven.

And third, my wife is braver than I’ve given her credit for.

I nod. “Get the gun out of the way first.”

As Haven steps forward, I grip the pressure point on Mark’s wrist hard. He cries out in frustration as the gun clatters to the floor. Haven nudges it out of his reach with her foot.

“You can come closer. I’ve got him,” I tell her. “Now put that right in his neck. There we go. An inch to the left. Perfect. Not too deep.”

Haven follows my instructions perfectly, emptying the syringe into Mark. Hissing in pain, he claws at my arm, but weakness overtakes him within seconds, and his hands fall to the ground.

Once his eyes are closed, I look him over. His hair is messy from our fight, his face is bruised, and blood stains his white shirt.

He’s a shadow of the man I looked up to as a child. In a sense, I lost him just as much as I lost my mother. I’ve watched the strong, kind man I adored slowly descend into greed and selfishness. He abandoned his values long ago. Abandoned me.

The cars, the money, giving me this goddamn mansion—none of it came from a place of love. It was all to get me hooked on a specific way of life. He wants to turn me into a rapacious, slimy bastard, just like him.

But I won’t forget my roots.

And I’ll never forgive him for this.

“Colt.”

I jump at the soft hand on my arm, not able to look away from my father. Part of me is expecting him to jump back up and lunge for Haven again. I can’t let that happen. I can’t let him hurt her.

“Colt, he’s out. You can let go of him.”

Finally, I tear my gaze away from Mark. The warmth in Haven’s brown eyes pulls me back to reality.

My father is unconscious, and Haven is alive. That’s all that matters.

“Angel,” I whisper hoarsely. “Haven, you…”

The sight of my father on top of her flashes through my mind. He was strangling her. Killing her. If I hadn’t gotten here in time…

I crawl off Mark and pull Haven into my lap. While she throws her arms around me, I bury my face in her neck. I need her against me—need to have the physical, undeniable proof that she’s alive.

Ever since I realized the meeting was a setup to get me out of the house, I’ve been panicking. I had no idea if I was going to walk into my house to find Haven dead or not.

I should’ve known better.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, searching her over.

Haven shrugs. “I’ve been through worse.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not hurt,” I grit out.

“Colt, I feel fine, really.”

Her voice sounds mostly okay, but it’s a little scratchy. Pushing her hair back, I inspect her throat. The skin is a little red, but otherwise, it looks okay. Mark was trying to get her to talk, so he was probably holding back.

“I’m okay.” Haven pushes my hands away. “And I think we’ve got bigger problems on our hands right now.”

“Nothing is more important than you.” I frame her face with my hands. “Nothing, Haven.”

Her lips part, and she stares at me with so much hope in her eyes. I want to shield it—to shield her, so I pull her against me again and hold her tight.

“He was going to put the sedative in my tea,” Haven says quietly. She squirms out of my grasp and opens the black case, revealing a small vial. “I told him I didn’t want any. I was too scared.”

My lips brush over her forehead. “Smart girl.”

“I guess the syringe was a backup plan in case he couldn’t get me to drink anything.”

Shit. I should’ve realized that already.

“That means the dosage was calculated for someone a lot smaller than Mark is. We probably don’t have much time before he wakes up.”

Haven makes a terrified sound and clutches my shirt.

“It’s all right, angel. I’m not letting him hurt you again.”

My phone fell from my pocket when Mark tackled me, so I grab it and hit one of the first people in my contacts. While it rings, I pull Haven into me again and keep my free arm banded around her waist.

“Colton? Everything all right?” Gerard asks when he picks up.

“I need you to get to my house ASAP. No lights, no sirens.”

“You got it.”

The line goes dead, and I immediately call Lucas. While my phone rings, I lean against one of the cabinets and try to catch my breath.

When Lucas answers, he sounds dead tired. “Hey. What’s up?”

I almost feel bad letting him in on what just happened, but I have to. Haven may be my wife, but she’s just as much Lucas’s and Xander’s as she’s mine.

“Mark attacked Haven.”

“What?” He’s alert now, and fucking pissed. “Is she all right?”

“I’m fine,” Haven says, and I frown at her. She’s adding more life into her voice than she has been with me. I don’t like that she’s putting up a front for him. “Colton got here just in time.”

“What did he want?” Lucas asks.

“He was angry that I wouldn’t divorce Haven. I guess he thought this was his next best move to get me back on track. That, and…”

“And what, Colton?”

“He was trying to beat information out of her. Information about our plans.”

“What? She barely even knows anything.”

I rub at my face. “I know.”

“Wait. Fuck, I know this isn’t the time to ask, but did she say anything?”

“No.” My gaze falls to Haven, and despite the anger raging inside me, my heart softens toward her.

I’ll never tell you anything. It was the only thing I could clearly hear her say while I was sprinting into the kitchen. Mark was throwing her around to get information about the men who’ve tormented her for years. She could’ve told him. Should’ve, probably.

But she stayed quiet. She kept our secrets. Somehow, we earned her undying loyalty, and my god, we don’t deserve it.

“Haven,” I whisper, quiet enough that I doubt my phone picks it up.

Without a word, she takes my free hand and presses her lips to my palm. I caress her cheek, not registering whatever Lucas is asking me.

Something shifts inside me. When someone gives me their loyalty, I give them mine. Haven knows that, but I don’t think she really understands how much this means to me. It changes everything. Everything.

“Colton!”

At Lucas’s impatient tone, I snap back to reality. Back to the fact that Haven’s attack wasn’t the main reason I called him.

“Sorry. What?”

“How the hell did Mark even get to her?”

“He drew me out of the house. I don’t know why I fell for it.”

“You left her alone?”

“Trust me, I won’t do it again. But I need to tell you—”

“What the hell were you thinking?” he goes on. “You can’t—”

“Lucas,” I say, and I can’t hide the cocktail of dread and regret in my tone.

“What?” he grunts out.

“The car accident.”

“What about it?”

It kills me to say it, to put the thought into words, but he needs to know. Xander needs to know. “I… I don’t think it was an accident.”

Haven gasps. Lucas is silent, and I wish I could be there, or that he could be here. He’s already got so much on his shoulders, what with taking care of Xander and Rachel.

“The timing, Luc. Phil and Rachel got into a car accident right after Mark found out I married Haven.”

“You’re saying he staged this so Xander and I would leave town,” Lucas says flatly.

With a horrified sound, Haven claps a hand over her mouth. Her wide eyes are reflective of how I felt when I realized what Mark had done.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “Lucas… please tell Xander I’m sorry.”

“Where’s Mark now?”

“My kitchen floor.”

“Dead?”

“Unconscious. You know I can’t kill him yet. The optics matter too much.”

“Fuck the optics,” he spits out.

I want to. God, I want to. But when I end Mark, there needs to be no question of why I did it. Otherwise, I’d lose power—and we’d all probably lose our lives. The Rooks are loyal to our own until death, even if it’s only on principle, and for now, that still includes Mark.

“You know I can’t,” I say gently.

“Fuck. Fuck.”

“I’m sorry, Luc.”

“What are you going to do with him?”

Just as I’m about to respond, my doorbell rings.

“Gerard and Brandon just got here. I’ll explain everything when you’re back, all right?”

“Fine. We’ll be home as soon as we can. You make sure Mark doesn’t get anywhere near her again, you hear me? Otherwise I’ll fucking kill you myself.”

“I hear you.”

He hangs up without another word. Usually, Lucas isn’t so short with any of us, but I get it. Three people we care about deeply almost died, and it’s all my fault.

As I stand, I pull Haven up with me. “I need to talk to the cops. Can you go upstairs for a couple minutes?”

She blinks rapidly, surprised. “Gerard and Brandon are cops?”

I shrug. “The Rooks needed some people on the force for when things got messy, and they volunteered.”

“Oh,” she says softly. “That… makes sense, I suppose.”

The doorbell rings again.

“Upstairs, angel.”

She hesitates. “It’s safe?”

“Yes. Now go.”

She scurries up the stairs, and I cross the living room. I hate being separated from her, but she can’t be down here. Gerard and Brandon won’t harm Haven, but they might say something that I’m not ready to explain to her yet.

When I open my front door, Gerard and Brandon are standing at the top of the steps. Their hands are on their holstered guns, and they don’t relax when they see me.

“What’s going on?” Gerard asks.

“It’s my dad.” I open the door so they can step inside, and then I lead them toward the kitchen. “He had… some kind of breakdown.”

Brandon frowns. “Breakdown?”

“A mental episode, maybe? I’m not a doctor, I don’t know what to fucking call it. He just went batshit, okay?”

“Okay, okay. What do you need from us?”

“Get him out of here.”

Gerard lets out a low whistle as we step into the kitchen. “Damn.”

“I sedated him,” I explain, gesturing to my father’s body on the floor. “It was the only way to calm him down without hurting him more.”

“And what exactly are we supposed to do with him? Drop him off at his house?”

“I need you to keep him overnight.”

Gerard gapes at me. “Overnight? Are you fucking kidding me? We can’t detain the leader of the Rooks! We’ll be dead by the end of the week if we do.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Then trust me on this.” I clasp his shoulder, my grip firm. “You have my protection. Both of you.”

Slowly, Gerard’s gaze slides from me to my unconscious father. I can almost hear the gears turning in his head. He’s weighing his options. I’m powerful, but Mark is more powerful. That’s something I can’t deny, but I need Gerard to put together the rest of the pieces without me having to say it out loud.

No one can know yet.

“Trust me,” I say lowly.

They both exchange a glance before Gerard sighs. “All right, fine, we’ll keep him locked up overnight.” His eyes flit to what I’m assuming is a bruise forming on my cheek. “You’re okay?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Brandon steps forward, shaking his head. “Uh uh, no. That shit isn’t gonna fly anymore if you’re implying what I think you are. When things look bad, people always worry about their leader. They need to know he’s okay. Unless…” He nudges my father with the toe of his boot. “Unless said people have a reason to distrust their leader.”

“Fair enough. I’m a little bruised, but that’s all.”

“Good. Take care of yourself, Colton.”

“You as well.”

They haul Mark outside, and I watch them until he’s locked in the back seat of their cruiser. Only then do I let myself relax.

That advice is the closest Brandon can safely get to a pledge of loyalty without further jeopardizing himself, and I’m taking it with the weight it deserves. If I’m going to take Mark’s place, he’s right. Things can’t stay the same. I’ll owe everyone a level of transparency that my father withheld.

I’ll be different than he is. I have to be.

“Haven?” I call out as I make my way back into the house.

We both enter the kitchen at the same time. The moment I see her, I freeze. From a distance, it’s obvious how shaken she still is. The relieved sound she makes upon seeing me isn’t even the first clue. She’s a mess, and her body is still rigid with fear.

God, I’m a fucking ass. I never should’ve forced her to leave my side when Mark could’ve woken up at any moment.

Holding my arm out to her, I mutter, “C’mere.”

She stumbles into me, and I can’t help my grunt of pain when her body collides with mine. Mark didn’t do much damage, but I’ll be sore for a few days.

“Colton,” Haven breathes out in relief.

“You’re okay. He can’t hurt you now.” I hold her to me, gently rocking her back and forth. My mind hasn’t caught up with everything that just happened. I still feel like I’m racing home, praying that Haven is still alive. It still feels like she could slip through my grasp at any second.

Haven reaches up to touch my face, her brows furrowing as she does. “Your cheek,” she whispers, her fingers feathering over the spot where my dad managed to land a punch.

“No, fuck that, I’m fine.” I swat her hand away, inspecting her for any injuries. “What did he do to you? What—” The rest of the words get stuck in my throat, the panic refusing to subside.

Haven places a hand on my chest, right over my heart. She’s warm. Moving. Her cheeks are pink, and she’s alive. She’s safe. I got to her in time.

Barely.

We could’ve lost her.

We almost lost her.

The thought of never hearing her laugh again, of never listening to her call me out on my shit, of never feeling her against me… It crashes over me with the force of a tsunami.

“Haven. God, angel.”

Confusion fills her features at the emotion in my voice, but I only see it for a split second before I crush her body to mine. I bury my face in her hair and inhale deeply, letting my hands travel up her back.

“I’m okay,” she reassures me, but her voice is still shaking. She’s shaking.

My forehead comes to rest against hers. “I’m going to take care of this. Of him. I’m going to fucking end him. I promise you, angel.”

“W-what?”

“I’m not going to let him hurt you again. The next time you see him, he’ll be in a goddamn casket.”

Haven rears back in shock. “Colton, he’s your father. You don’t have to—”

“He was going to kill you.” I grip her shoulders, resisting the urge to shake some sense into her. “He was going to drug you, get you out of here, and take your life somewhere we wouldn’t be able to find you. Do you understand that?”

Tears flood her eyes, and her bottom lip trembles. “He—Colt, he said—”

Dammit. I’m being too hard on her. I need to calm down.

“I’m sorry.” I cup her face with my hands. “It’s okay. Just take a deep breath.”

She does, and when her tears spill over, I thumb them away.

“Tell me what he said.”

“It’ll make you more angry,” she whispers, and her hand comes up to frame my uninjured cheek. “And I need… I need to know—”

“Just tell me what he said,” I say impatiently.

“Promise me you won’t yell.” Her voice is so small, and I see a flash of the fear that only shows up when she’s thinking about Isaiah.

Shit. My dad really fucked with her head.

“I won’t yell.” My fingers run through her hair and down her back in a soothing motion. “I’m not angry at you, angel, I promise.”

Given her past, I know it has to be hard for her to trust that, but she takes a shuddering breath and nods. Her hands curl into my shirt, and I wrap both my arms around her in silent support.

“He… he threatened to take me back home if I didn’t cooperate.”

My body goes rigid. When Haven senses it, she winces and tries to cringe away from me.

“Hey, hey, it’s all right.” Leaning down, I kiss the top of her head and let my lips linger there. “You’re all right.”

“I was so scared,” she whispers. “But then you were there, and you got him off me, and then you… you…”

“I what?”

“You said…” She presses her lips together, and the pain in her voice guts me as she she mutters, “No. No, that’s…”

“What, Haven?”

“He was going to kill me,” she mumbles. Her gaze is unfocused, and her grip on my shirt loosens. “He was going to… but then you said… Colton.”

I’m losing her, probably to some sort of mental shock. Maybe a panic attack. And god, I’d do just about anything to save her from that right now. She’s been through enough.

Keeping her against me with one hand on her lower back, I use the other to stroke her hair. “Shh, it’s okay. I won’t let him touch you again.”

“No.” She pushes me back, but I only let her put enough distance in between us so she can look up at me. “You… did you mean what you said?”

I don’t like the way her voice fades into a barely there whisper, or the way she’s staring up at me with disbelieving awe.

“I said a lot of things, angel.”

“You said you’d die protecting me if you had to.”

Oh. This isn’t shock or a panic attack or anything like that. This is her realizing that, after years of me rejecting and tormenting her, she finally has me again.

I swallow. Mere months ago, I would’ve scoffed at the idea of me saying that. Even more so at meaning it. But…

“I meant it,” I answer softly. “I’d do anything to keep you safe. Even if it meant dying for you.”

A faint, startled sound leaves her, and she stares up at me in shock. It’s a reflection of my own feelings. I’m not quite sure how we got here. No, that’s not true. I know exactly how.

I never let her go. Not really. How could I? Haven is all I’ve ever wanted since I laid my eyes on her. And what she did today…

My father was hurting her, and she knew how to end it. All she had to do was spill what she knows about my plans. She knew that, and she kept everything to herself.

She protected me—protected all of us.

A rush of emotions overwhelms me, and I find myself grasping for the right thing to say, but I come up empty. “Angel, I—”

Before I can get another word out, Haven is pulling me down until my mouth crashes against hers. She’s never initiated a kiss with me before. Never. I’m too stunned to move for a solid three seconds, but just when she starts to pull away, my brain catches up.

I grab her waist and yank her into me. My lips meet hers again, and she melts into me in a way that, for the first time in years, feels completely trusting. In the next second, her arms are slipping around my neck, and mine are wrapping tightly around her torso.

Over the course of the past six months, I’ve kissed Haven countless times, but never like this. She’s never matched the fire that’s burned inside me for her, but now, she’s unstoppable. The girl is practically climbing onto me, and I’m more than willing to let her.

Grabbing Haven’s ass, I haul her up until she wraps her legs around my waist. She kisses me harder, and I can feel her chest heaving against mine. I think she’s thrown all her inhibitions to the wind, and if we keep this up, I will too.

I’ve wanted this for years, and I was an idiot for refusing to admit it to myself. What’s that Bible verse? Iron sharpens iron? That’s me and her. When we collide, sparks fly. She’s one of the only people I’ve ever met who’s changed me for the better instead of the worse. She softens me and strengthens me at the same time, and I do the same for her.

She’s brought me back to the caring boy I was when we met, and I’ll treasure her because of it for the rest of our lives.

When I break off the kiss, Haven immediately leans in for more, but I stop her. I have to.

“Are you sure you want this?” I ask. The possibility that she might say no kills me, but I can’t do this any other way.

“Please.” She kisses me again like she can’t help it. “I need this. I need—I need you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

Haven’s lips move to my throat, and I swear I almost drop her. I’ve had plenty of girls kiss me there before, but I’ve never particularly cared for it. With Haven, her tiny kisses send a rush of arousal through me. She’s doing it almost reverently, and I don’t think anyone has ever treated me that way. Like they… adore me.

“Tell me you mean it,” I say, my voice close to breaking.

Pausing, Haven pulls back. “That I know you won’t hurt me?”

“That you need me,” I whisper hoarsely.

Her eyes go soft, and when she kisses me this time, it’s the same. Sweet. Caring. Adoring.

“I mean it, Colton. I think I’ve always needed you, too.”

My lips crash against hers. I back her up so I can set her onto the island, and then my hands are tearing off her clothes in between desperate kisses. She manages to get my shirt off, too, and once I have her fully undressed, she circles her legs around my hips and pulls me closer.

I shudder when her fingers trace over the tattoos on my chest. She lingers over the anatomical heart on my upper arm, and then she grabs at my hand and presses her lips to the star on the inside of my wrist.

Maybe I don’t regret that one anymore.

The way Haven is touching me makes me want to shove her back on the counter and fuck her hard and deep, but I know I’ll regret it. That will come eventually, once I have her trembling and begging for my cock.

“Don’t move.” My hands stay on her waist until the last possible second as I step away. I’m back within seconds, a dining room chair in tow. I set it right in front of her and lower myself onto it so I’m between her legs. “Lean back, angel.”

She does, keeping herself propped up on her elbows, and I push her thighs apart even wider. Her pussy is glistening, and I lean in to give her a slow lick from entrance to clit.

“Colt,” Haven gasps.

The combination of Haven’s taste and the way she says my name almost undoes me. My arms wrap around her thighs to hold her where I need her, and I lose all self control. When I bury my face between her legs, she cries out and grabs onto my hair with one of her hands.

I suck on her clit, and it pulls a choked whimper from Haven. I need more of that sound. I need to make her feel everything I’m feeling and more. I need her obsessed.

While I eat Haven out, I hardly come up for air. She can barely take it. I know I’m being intense, and I’m not letting her pull away. That’s how this is going to be, though. There’s no way I can stop myself.

“I’m gonna come,” Haven gasps within a few minutes.

I have to force myself to pull back. Haven cries out in disappointment, but I’m already standing and shoving the chair out of the way.

“The only way you’re coming today is with that dripping pussy wrapped around my cock.” I yank my pants down and kick them off the rest of the way. “Your orgasms are mine, and I want to feel each and every one.”

The counter puts her at the perfect height for me to fuck her. I stroke my dick, and she lets out the tiniest moan at the sight of it. It’s exactly how I feel about her. With her naked body on display, her hair cascading down her back, and her tattoo standing out against her skin, she’s a sight to behold.

“Beautiful,” I murmur, and when her eyes leave my dick so she can look at me, I smile.

She reaches for me. “Come here.”

When I step in between Haven’s legs, she widens them and wiggles herself closer to me until she’s right on the edge of the counter. She circles both her arms around my neck and kisses me deep and slow, like she means it.

Because she does, I realize.

It hits me that I’ve never done this before. Sure, I’ve fucked plenty of girls, but there was always some kind of barrier between us. Not necessarily a physical one, but always an emotional one.

BDSM can be a way to open yourself up to another person. It can be intimate, vulnerable, special. But it’s also easy to hide behind a dynamic, to fall into a role and not let it get any deeper than that.

Like this, there’s nowhere for me to hide, and the realization that I don’t want to hide from Haven is fucking terrifying.

But I think it’s a good thing, too.

“Colton,” she whimpers, and I realize I’m frozen, my cock notched at her entrance.

“Shit, I’m sorry, angel.” I kiss her gently and then slowly slide into her, shuddering at the way she feels. Tight, warm, and so wet that she takes the first few inches of my cock with no resistance.

Finally. Fucking finally. I’ve dreamed about what this would feel like on a nightly basis for years. Never did I imagine it would be in such an intimate moment, or that it would feel so much better because of it.

Haven gasps against my mouth, and her fingers curl into the hair at the base of my neck, tugging tight. I pause, not wanting to hurt her. If she needs time to adjust, then—

“More,” she begs before kissing me distractedly. “I want to take all of you.”

My thumb falls to her clit again, and I work it while carefully pushing deeper into her. Her pussy stretches around the width of my cock to a point that I think must be painful, but she doesn’t try to stop me.

Before I’ve made it all the way inside, I pull out most of the way. Haven makes a noise of disappointment that morphs into a surprised moan when I slide back into her.

“Oh my god,” she groans.

Her head tips back, opening up her throat to me, and I kiss my way down her neck before sucking the skin above her collarbone into my mouth. When she arches into me, I suck harder. She’s my wife, and I want her marked as such.

No one touches her without my permission. No one except Lucas and Xander.

When I pull out again, Haven’s breath hitches. I pause for a second with just the tip in, and the desperate whine she makes is music to my ears. Only then do I drive back into her, stopping just before I fill her completely.

She tugs me down for another kiss, reminding me that she wants this. Haven needs me. No barriers, no walls. Completely open and more vulnerable than I’ve been in years.

It’s not just that, though. There’s no need for me to force her, to tie her down, to use her until she’s near-unconscious. She’s finally broken through everything that Isaiah and that stupid cult did to her, even if it’s only for a moment.

“All of it, Colton. Please.”

“We’ll get there.” Cupping the back of her head, I brush my nose against hers. “Gotta work you up to it.”

With my free hand still working her clit, I ease in and out of her again. Even though it drives me wild with need, I keep my pace slow and gentle until I’m seated all the way inside her. She’s panting and squirming while I work her clit with my thumb. Both of us stare down at where we’re connected, where I’m as deep inside her as I possibly can be.

“Look at you, taking every goddamn inch. You’re such a good girl for me, you know that? Such a good girl.”

“I’m gonna—” She chokes on her words as I pull out and slam into her hard. “Ahh, Colt—”

“It’s all right, angel, just let go.” I press my lips to her forehead before murmuring, “I’ve got you.”

I feel her pussy flutter before she clenches around my dick. Still clinging to me, she throws her head back and cries out.

“Colton!”

“Fuck, that’s it. Come on my cock. Show me how good you feel.”

A scream fills the kitchen as Haven writhes in my arms. I ease up on her clit but don’t stop rubbing it entirely. I want this to last as long as possible.

Haven’s body goes weak. I should probably give her a break, but my body has a mind of its own. I keep driving into her, watching as Haven’s mouth drops open at the overstimulation. Her eyes roll back into her head, and I think she’s gonna pass out when she tightens her grip on my arms.

“I—I can’t,” she manages.

“Hold on to me,” I coax, cradling her body against mine. “Yeah, just like that. See? I told you. Such a good girl.”

She whimpers into my neck and runs one of her hands through my hair. The way she does it is so soft, so intimate, that it sends a shudder through me. It feels so damn good, and I’m going to start having her do it every night she’s in bed with me.

I hold Haven close to me as I start thrusting into her again. Slowly at first, and then harder when she starts pressing kisses against my throat again. I feel her tighten around my dick, which only makes everything feel better.

“God— shit, angel, your pussy was fucking made for me.”

“Yours,” she mutters tiredly, and when I look down at her, her eyes are foggy with pleasure. My girl can barely take what I’m giving her, but I know she can handle it.

So I don’t slow down—I can’t. With every thrust, I surrender a piece of myself to her. There’s no world in which she isn’t mine. No lifetime in which I’m not hers.

“That’s right. You’re mine. My wife. ” I slam into her on the last word, needing her to feel it as intensely as I am.

“Colton,” she gasps, but I keep my pace. Haven is still tucked into me, and she buries her face in my chest. I hold her there as I drive into her harder. She clings to me, sobbing my name repeatedly, and hearing it has my own orgasm slamming into me.

I pump into her one last time and then finally slow to a stop inside her. My eyes fall closed, and I bury my face in Haven’s hair as I fill her to the brim with cum. The force of the orgasm almost makes my knees give out, and I have to grab onto the counter to keep from toppling over.

“Have—Haven.” I stare at the spot where I’m still buried deep inside her. “Haven.”

Everything hits all at once, and I don’t know what to say. Words don’t exist to describe how I’m feeling. The depth, the magnitude, the intensity.

She let me in.

She let me in.

Our eyes clash, and I see the same realization on her face. But there’s no regret. No shame. No fear.

“Colt,” she breathes, her fingers threading through my hair.

It feels good, having her touch me like this. Willingly. I could live off the feeling.

We watch each other for a few seconds, both trying to catch our breath, both speechless. Her eyes soften, and I’ve never admitted it to myself, but they’re the perfect shade of brown. Warm and deep and welcoming.

How my lips end up on hers again is a mystery to me. It’s like I’m pulled in by a magnetic force.

“More,” she whispers against my mouth. “Please, Colt.”

I smile. “Always.”