Page 17 of A Burning Rage

We’ll be all right.

I’ll keep you safe.

I’ll keep our family safe.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he murmurs as he leans down to kiss the tears leaking from my eyes.

I didn’t even realize I’m crying.

He strokes me slowly, long deep thrusts, heating up my insides. He continues with a single-minded thoroughness until my body seizes up and I cry out as my climax hits me hard. He covers my mouth with his, swallowing the high-pitched keening sounds coming from me. My vagina clamps down on his erection, squeezing hard, and triggering his own climax.

I revel in the feel of him coming, spurting liquid heat into my body. As his thick erection pulses inside me, my body milks his, until we’re both replete.

Still lodged inside me, he rolls us onto our sides, facing each other. Occasionally, he thrusts deeply, groaning with pleasure as his erection slides easily inside me.

With a sigh, I close my eyes and press my face to his bare chest, breathing in his warm, male scent. He’s my safe place. I want to stay like this forever, just the two of us, joined as one.

I don’t want to think about the monster who is, once again, a threat to us.

* * *

When I return home from work the next day, I find Bridget sitting on the family room floor reading to the kids. Ava is sitting on her lap with her thumb in her mouth, and Luke is sitting beside Bridget, leaning against her arm as he listens to her read. We’re so blessed to have both of our moms living close by, alternating childcare.

“How’s it going?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen.

Bridget climbs to her feet and comes to greet me with a hug. “We had a great day,” she says. “How are you doing?”

I shrug. “About the same.”

Giving me a sad smile, Bridget pulls me into her arms again and rubs my back. “It’ll be okay, honey,” she murmurs. When she releases me, she says, “How would you feel about having some company this evening for dinner? The girls suggested we all chip in and have a pot luck dinner this evening. How does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful,” I say, grateful for a distraction. Being around family always lifts my mood.

“Great. I’ll let them all know.”

Around five o’clock, the doorbell rings.

“I’ll get it,” Sam says as he walks into the kitchen. He pivots and heads to the foyer.

“I’ll get it, too!” Luke cries as he races after Sam.

A moment later, a stream of McIntyres, along with my mom, comes through the front door. Many of them are carrying a covered dish or a bowl or a basket.

“Dinner has arrived!” my sister-in-law Annie says.

The rest of the McIntyre women follow her into the kitchen—Sophie, Molly, Lia, and Jasmine. Aiden and his twin sisters race to the family room in search of Luke and Ava. Molly is pushing her one-year-old daughter and infant son in a double stroller. Sophie has her toddler, Mia, perched on her hip.

“Hi, everyone,” I say, with the first genuine smile on my face that day. “Thank you all so much for coming.”

Bridget steps forward to hug my mom. The two grandmas are very close.

The women arrange the dishes on the kitchen island.

“We brought brownies!” Lia says as she sets a foil-covered platter down. “And before you ask, no, I didn’t make them. I don’t bake. Jonah made them from scratch using a recipe he found online. Trust me, they’re awesome. I know because I’ve already eaten four of them.”

Before I can ask where the guys are, we hear a bellow of male laughter coming from the vicinity of Shane’s home office. I guess that answers that.

A moment later, Shane comes strolling into the kitchen along with his three brothers, two brothers-in-law, and his dad. “We’ve got company.”