“It’s not. Promise, she whispered, reaching to touch me and guide my cock between her legs.

Her heat enveloped me and my groan answered hers as I slid inside her, not stopping until I was balls deep and aching to fill her with my seed.

“Don’t promise what you can’t control,” I said roughly, slamming my hips down again and again.

She didn’t fight me once, arching up to match me. Her heels dug into my ass as I worked her over, urging me deep, harder.

Rougher.

Sweat beaded between us as I obeyed, taking us to a place where no one else existed, where nothing could hurt her. And when she screamed into my chest she took me with her, her sweet pussy milking me endlessly.

I followed willingly to the woman I fell for back in a beach in another town and chased across the country for a second chance at love on a beach.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SKYE

I curled on Hudson's chest, listening to his heart slow its frantic pace. My thighs were sticky, and he hadn’t made an effort to clean me but I got it. And...I kinda of liked the marks he left on me, something I never liked from anyone else, and certainly not–

My eyes squeezed shut as I burrowed into his chest and let out a horrifyingly weak and pitiful sound.

“It’s okay. He can’t hurt you anymore. Promise.” Hudson’s finger stroking my hair never wavered.

“I know. I just hate that he still takes up space in my head.”

“Want me to remove that for you?” Before I could take another breath I was on my back, staring up into the face of the man prepared to do anything to make me happy.

Little did he seem to know that he’d already done that–removed the threat to my existence that always hung over me.

When Archer gave me my assignment, I shook my head. “No. No fucking way. Sir,’ I spat placing the folder back on his desk. “I won’t be involved with him again.”

“But you have asked to fix the problem he presented in the past. What changed?” Acher asked, ignoring the rejected case file.

“This is putting me right in with him. Rebuilding trust like what we had was– that it was alright. This is far from okay.”

Archer nodded, steepling his fingers. “You’re right. It’s not alright. Do you know how many women have died because of him? Indirectly, some,” he ignored my gasp. “Others, because he tired of them, or they talked about his business. You thought he was bad, Skye, but the truth is he’s trafficked women, drugs and ruined more lives than either of us can count on both hands. Are you prepared to let that slide?”

He held my gaze and I was the first to answer.

“No, sir. I’m not.”

I kissed Hudson, snapping us both out of a place where we were lost in our heads and brought us back by complete accident. “I want a lot of things, Hudson, but I don’t think I can have nice things.” I offered him a sad smile. “Like you.”

The best you’ll get from me is a shitty partner who might fold at the worst time.

“What if I want something else?” Hudson wrapped me tight in his arms, tangling his legs around mine until I wasn't sure where he began, and I ended. “What if I think we’re okay for more?”

His eyes begged me to give this a try and my traitorous heart ached to say yes.

“No.” I shook my head. “Tonight can’t happen again.”

Hudson reared back, a hard look on his face. “You’re right. It can’t.” He pushed back from me, leaving me in a pile of fake polyester bear fur, trembling a little from the force of our lovemaking.

Because Hudson didn’t fuck No matter what he said, his sort of love started fun and got heavy fast. Really fast.

And I lived on a slow lane to solitude somewhere. Being caught up with him wasn’t the best thing for either of us. And yet, I wanted him.

“Hudson?” I grabbed a crochet pink blanket—so, so much pink–and wrapped it around myself. Not that it covered much, but that wasn’t the point. “I’m sorry.”