Page 157 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

She pressed her hands to my chest, exploring, claiming me as surely as I claimed her.

I punished her sweet pussy, driving us higher and higher until she screamed my name for the world to hear.

“Yes, that’s it. Come for me.”

Her breath stuttered out in a long, ragged moan that would stay with me forever.

I flipped us again, and she looked untethered, like a storm ready to break. The rhythm built quickly, the fevered need pushing me on as my balls tightened a moment before my abs.

“Fuck, I’m coming,” I groaned.

The couch creaked beneath us as I thrust hard and came. I eased out just enough before driving into her again, and again, and again, until there was nothing left. Flopping forward, I caught myself before all my weight landed on her.

My panting was loud, and our bodies were slick with sweat. Outside, someone laughed, oblivious that the world inside this space had narrowed to skin and breath and the threat of loss.

I leaned down, pressing my forehead to hers.

“Look at me,” I demanded softly.

She did. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and yet burned with ferocity, alive in a way that made me ache.

“This,” I said between breaths, “is not something I can ever walk away from.”

Her hands gripped my shoulders, pulling me down, until there was nowhere else for me to go. The pounding of our hearts was the only sound for a long time.

“I love you,” she whispered. The tension snapped, violent in its intensity.

Her nails bit into my back as she clung to me, and I held her just as tightly, not letting her drift even an inch. She buried her face against my neck, breathing hard, her body softly shaking as she cried.

I stayed like that for a moment longer, catching my breath, feeling the tremor still running through her body. Then I stood and carried her to the bedroom, setting her down gently before crawling in beside her. My hand went to her hair as she rested her head over my heart.

I held Kaylani to my side, possessiveness coiling through me until it felt like I would choke. I held her as if she might disappear when I blinked. The world moved on around us, unaware. But for now, she was still in my arms.

She wasn’t gone.

“You chose me,” I murmured, voice low and certain. “That makes you mine. And if anyone tries to take you from me…I won’t fight fair.”

She pressed a soft kiss to my chest and closed her eyes as I tightened my grip on her.

Chapter

Forty-One

KAYLANI

Goran fell asleep with his arm wrapped around my waist, his fingers tense as if he feared I might vanish. The irony cut deep, a bruise to my soul that would never heal.

I lay there for a long time, staring at the trailer walls, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing. Outside, the show grounds were quiet. Generators hummed low. Somewhere nearby, a horse whinnied.

Normal sounds. A normal night. But nothing about this felt normal.

Goran shifted slightly in his sleep, tightening his hold unconsciously. His face was softer like this. The hard lines of worry had smoothed away. The stiffness in his jaw was gone. In the dim light, I could see a bruise on his cheekbone, another under his eye, and the dark marks along his hip and ribs. He hadn’t flinched once, hadn’t acted like they hurt. But seeing them made my chest ache.

Those marks had been from one arrest.

What would he look like after a week in a federal detention center? A month? A year?

No. I couldn’t allow that to happen to him.