Page 89 of Forbidden Need

“Couldn’t have said it better,” Niall agreed.

All focus tracked to Connel. “You are charged with upholding the law, Superintendent. Shouldn’t you also obey it?” he asked. “Want to go quietly or make a dramatic exit the city won’t soon forget?”

Whatever his decision, she’d said her piece. Life was so exhausting. If she didn’t walk away, she’d end up screaming the place down. Connel would handle her father; he’d done it before and wouldn’t shy from doing it again.

Walking away, she wanted to just be for a minute.

“Sersha?” Lachlan’s call stopped her at the bottom of the spiral staircase. “We’re your family.”

“You’re my family, Lach,” she said before turning around. “Strat is my family. Conn is my family. The McDades, even the Doherty. That man…” She nodded toward their father. “To be family, you have to understand it. You have to care and love it more than you love yourself. Strat knows what it is to love a daughter. That guy…” She nodded toward Ronald without looking at him. “He loves only himself.”

“You’ll regret this.”

“I do regret it,” she said. “I regret not doing it sooner.”

Going up the stairs, her pulse slowed. Strat could get himself killed. The only completely innocent party on their side, Strat didn’t deserve to pay for her decisions.

She got a drink and went to the bedroom, though it was the bathroom she ended up in. Past the shower, staring into the pristine mirror, the only remnant of her meltdown was her own memory.

She didn’t hear him, but he was there. “Sorry about the mirror.”

Moving closer, his reflection joined hers. “Was easily replaced,” he said, bowing over her to kiss her collarbone.

When her head turned that way, he lifted just a little. “You knew,” she said. “Motion activated cameras?”

Nudging her head aside, he kissed her again. “Aye.”

Closing her eyes, she couldn’t believe she’d fallen for it. “Your men don’t hide things from you.”

“This place is as much yours as mine.” Daly had said that too. “Stag’s doors will never be closed to you.”

“This isn’t Stag, this is your private space.”

“And yours.”

“Is he gone?”

“Aye. Talk to me.”

Spinning around, she tossed back the drink and put the glass on the vanity. “After.”

She pushed him to the wall, but he flipped them around, forcing the air from her lungs. The confinement, the trap of him holding her there with his body, eased her every ache.

“Beat of My Heart,” he growled, slamming his mouth onto hers.

That was it. His way of telling her, showing her, that nothing was beyond his limit. Whatever she’d done, he didn’t even need to hear it to know he’d support her.

An almost sob dammed in her throat as she struggled for breath. He came lower, capturing her wrists to hold them on the wall above her head.

The prison wasn’t needed; she wasn’t going anywhere. Captivity wasn’t its purpose. Holding her still, crouching to push himself against her hips, holding them fast, was a gift. His way of showing her she was under his control, his protection. His way of taking care of her.

A kiss wasn’t enough, she whined, the sound vibrated in the union of their mouths. If she could fall to her knees and beg, she would.

God, she needed him. Not sex. Yes, she wanted it, but he steadied her. Balanced her world. Anchored her cause.

When his mouth left hers, a desperate gasp strained her throat. He didn’t let her go, thank God. His forehead landed on hers, pressing into her almost painfully to fix her in place.

“You are never alone.”

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