Page 28

28

LOCHLAN

I spread her like a feast as she shrugs out of her torn robe. Evie is desperate for me, and after what I walked in on, I know why. She’s still crying, reaching for me as I shed my clothing and crawl over her, praying Draco and Jasper don’t get my messages before I finish with her.

“Oh, God, Loch… Please…” Her hands wrap around my ribs, legs widening to take me in.

I drive myself inside her with one harsh thrust, feeling her wet heat envelop me, squeezing my cock like a vise. Her face contorts in pleasure and pain, nails digging into my back as I piston into her. I hold her by the hips, trying to avoid her wound, but it’s impossible. She moans through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry,” I growl, kissing her neck, leaving a love bite behind. “I’m so sorry…”

“Oh, please…” she whimpers. Her fingers pull at my ribs, feet hooking behind my hips. I revel in each slow, deep thrust as my lips claim hers again. Her hair is still damp, still dripping from a bath or shower, and I taste the saltiness of her tears on her lips. Had I been one minute later, who knows what Connelly would’ve done to her.

“I love you, Evelyn, and I’m not letting another man touch you ever again.”

“Loch…” Her moans are music to my ears. I wrap an arm around her and roll until she’s straddling my hips, hands splayed on my stomach as her hips rock.

She’s riding me like her life depended on it, eyes squeezed tightly shut as she descends and then rises, nails biting into my skin. “Yes…” I hiss, feeling the familiar pull of orgasm creeping closer by the second. My hands grip her hips, guiding her motions until she leans forward, her hair tickling my chest as I feel the hot spasms of her core around me, preparing to uncoil.

I guide her hips in a languid dance as our bodies find a rhythm. Her tits bounce, mouth dropped open in pleasure. When her gaze meets mine, I know she’s there, right on the edge. “I… I…” Her hands brace against my damp chest, her lungs heaving with exertion.

“Come for me,” I growl in her ear, thumb finding her clit, rubbing it as she cries out my name on a strangled moan. She continues to ride me as I thrust upward into her, and her pussy pulses around my cock. I watch as her body contorts and writhes. She shudders and jolts and loses herself in the moment, and I slow my thrusts to control my own release.

When she calms, I roll again, putting her back onto her back. I hover, inching in and out of her slowly as her eyes blink open and she smiles softly through continued tears.

“No one,” I say, punctuating each word with a thrust, “no man will ever touch you like that again.”

Tears still spill down her cheeks but they’re quieter now, more calmed than before. “I’ll kill him,” I promise, still fucking her gently, creating friction between us both. Her walls grip me tighter in response. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” she says, her chest heaving with each word. She squeezes around me again, and I can’t help but growl into her neck. “I love you,” she whispers, digging her nails into my shoulders.

“I love you too,” I say, meaning it more than anything in the world. “I love you so fecking much.” Her nails bite into my skin as my thrusts pick up speed again. I grab her hips and pound into her, determined to wipe away every harsh memory of Connelly’s touch with my own.

“Oh, God… Faster…” she whimpers, and her hips rock up to meet my thrusts. Her body begins to move again, rolling against mine as I dig in to push deeper. Her breathing is erratic, fingers clawing up my sides, and her lips pepper kisses on my chest, nipping and sucking my skin.

My cock is throbbing, balls drawing tight to my body as I feel her core tighten again. Orgasm crests over her like sunrise, making her face light up and her body awaken. She shudders and jolts again, and I ride it out until I can’t take it anymore. Hot, violent spasms rack my body and pure white-hot ecstasy shoots through my veins as I spill myself inside her, our wetness mingling together as we both fall over the edge.

I collapse on her, breathless and spent, kissing her forehead. Her arms wrap around me tightly, squeezing me as if her life depends on it, nuzzling against my collarbone. The scent of her shampoo mixed with our combined arousal is intoxicating, a heady reminder that she’s mine and mine alone.

Her head rests beneath my chin. I can feel each breath as it rises and falls against my chest. We’re both slick with sweat, lungs still working through the weight of everything that came before. The room is quiet. The kind of quiet that feels earned.

Her leg is tangled with mine. One of her hands rests over my heart, not moving. Mine is wrapped around her back, fingers splayed across the curve of her spine. Her skin is warm. She hasn’t spoken. Neither have I.

There’s blood under my nails. I should care. I don’t.

I shift just enough to pull her closer. She doesn’t resist. Her body presses to mine like it’s where she’s supposed to be. No hesitation. No apology.

She’s quiet for a long time, but I can feel the way her breath changes, how her body tightens just slightly before she speaks. “I’ve known for weeks,” she says. “I didn’t want to believe it at first. I kept thinking maybe I was just late, maybe it was stress. But I knew. And I was terrified.”

Her voice is raw, but not falling apart. She’s not hiding anymore. “Not because I didn’t want it. I did. I do. But because I didn’t know what you’d feel. If it would trap you. If you’d think I did it on purpose. If it would make you walk.”

I keep still, let her talk.

“I would stand in front of the mirror and try to picture your face when I told you. Sometimes, you were quiet. Sometimes angry. Sometimes, you just walked out. And every time I imagined it, I thought—maybe it’s better if I just keep it to myself.”

She shifts slightly, her hand brushing over my stomach like she needs something to hold on to.

She doesn’t move her hand right away, just keeps it there, as if she’s waiting for me to pull away. When I don’t, she finally speaks again.

“They still want me to marry Elvin.”

Her voice is quieter now, but not unsure. It’s something more bitter than fear.

“They’ve been pushing it harder lately. Pressing dates. Talking like it’s a done deal. I haven’t said yes, but I haven’t said no, either, and that feels worse.”

She swallows, then presses her forehead to my collarbone.

“I hate the way they look at me. Like I’m something to manage. A piece of the family they don’t know what to do with, so they’re just shoving me into the next acceptable box.”

I slide my hand up her spine, slow and deliberate. She doesn’t flinch. She leans in.

“I keep thinking if I let it happen, everything gets easier. No scandal, no explaining, no one asking why I picked you.”

I feel the weight in that last word—how much she means it. How scared she still is of what choosing me will cost her.

“I don’t care if it’s easier,” I say. “I care if it’s what you want.”

She lifts her head and looks at me, eyes shining. “Marrying Elvin is not what I want. I want you. I want this.”

Her eyes draw up over my chest to look at my face, and I pause. I brush my thumb across her cheek, slow, steady, feeling the way her breath catches under my hand. She’s watching me now, fully locked in, like she’s waiting for something heavier.

“I need you to understand something before this goes any further,” I say. “I’m not the man your father wanted for you. I’m not clean. I don’t play by rules that protect anyone outside this circle.”

Her expression doesn’t change. I go on.

“I’ve put men in the ground. I’ve buried secrets and covered blood. I’ve lied, stolen, threatened, and worse—for my family, for the people who matter. That’s the life I was raised in. It’s the life I still choose. And if you’re with me, it means you’re in that world too.”

She stays silent, but there’s no fear in her eyes. No hesitation. Just the steady weight of her love pressing back against every ugly truth I lay down.

“I know who you are, Lochlan.”

“I don’t think you do,” I say. “Not all of it.”

“I do,” she says. “I knew before you walked through my door tonight. I knew the night I let you touch me for the first time. I knew what kind of man I was choosing. And I chose you anyway.”

I breathe that in. Let it settle.

“All I care about now,” she says, voice low, “is that my father is safe. And that this baby is safe. That I am.”

I close my eyes for half a second, then look at her again. There’s no part of her I want more than this—the honesty, the steel under the softness, the way she trusts me with her fear.

“No one touches you,” I say. “Not ever again. Not while I’m breathing.”

She nods, but I see the last piece of uncertainty still flickering behind her eyes. I lean in, hold her face in both hands, and say it again.

“You’re mine. And I will kill for you if I have to.”

Her eyes don’t waver. “I know.”

I run my hand down the side of her arm again before I move. The sheets shift as I sit up. She doesn’t reach for me, but her eyes stay on me the whole time. I find my shirt at the foot of the bed and pull it on. The adrenaline’s back, slow at first, but rising. My hands are steady now, my mind clear. Everything else can wait. The Doyles can’t.

Evie watches me dress without asking where I’m going. She already knows. I sit at the edge of the bed and reach for my boots. “I need you to stay here.” She doesn’t argue, but she doesn’t look away, either. “They won’t stop,” I say. “Not after tonight. Not after I laid hands on one of theirs. Someone’s going to answer for what he did to you.”

She pulls the blanket tighter across her chest, not because she’s cold. “You’re going to kill him?"

I look over my shoulder, meet her eyes. “I am."

She doesn’t respond, but I see the coldness in her gaze, the way she approves silently, though she will never say it. Then, I finish lacing my boots, stand, and cross back to her. I bend, kiss her forehead, then linger there, breathing her in for one last second.

“You stay put. No going out. No taking calls. No opening the fucking door unless it’s me or someone I send. Promise me.”

She nods. “I promise.”

I kiss her again, harder this time, then head for the door. And when I leave, I leave with one thing in my blood. War.