Page 116 of Rock On

“This right here, when we’re connected in the most intimate way possible, is when you’re most vulnerable. I never realized that when we were married before, but I figured it out at Harmony Place. You like it rough because it eliminates this type of connection…and protects you in a way.”

“I never needed to be protected from you!” I said in surprise.

“Maybe not consciously, but you were keeping me at a slight emotional distance, just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

He reached out and gently kneaded one of my butt cheeks, pulling me closer to him, his cock sliding even deeper. “You tell me.”

Our eyes locked and a million scenarios floated through my mind.

Because he was right.

I’d been holding on to a tiny piece of soul, just in case… he stopped loving me. Just in case it turned out a simple California girl wasn’t enough for one of the biggest rock stars in the world. Just in case our life wasn’t satisfying, especially once we found out we couldn’t have kids.

“Just in case our life wasn’t enough for you,” I whispered.

“Aw, baby. You’re all I’ve ever needed. You and my band, but mostly you, because I can still make music without them. I can’t do much of anything without you.”

“Oh, Tommy.”

“Marry me again, Harley? On Thursday, just like we planned?”

He moved, sliding halfway out and then gliding back in.

A slow, practiced movement that made me moan.

“Oh, fuck…yes.”

“Yes, you’ll marry me or yes, you like when I make love to you?”

“I…” I lost my train of thought as he started to pull out again.

He pushed back in.

“You what?” he whispered, his eyes laser focused on mine.

“I can’t think when you’re inside me like this.”

“You’re not supposed to think. Just feel. Feel how much I love you. How much I want you. How good it is between us, even when things are tough.”

“Tommy…” I groaned as he pulled all the way out to the tip.

“Look at me, baby.” He didn’t move and I whimpered.

“Look. At. Me.” He repeated himself in that deep, sexy, commanding voice I loved so much.

My eyes moved to his, and as I stared into them, I saw my entire world.

Our love, our life, our child—our child, because River had somehow always been his. Almost as if Carter had done it on purpose, giving us something we thought we’d never have. I didn’t know where that thought came from, but I suddenly knew it to be true. He’d known he wasn’t going to be around to raise his son. He’d always known he would die young.

River had been his gift to us.

“I know,” Tommy whispered. “Me too.”

He couldn’t know exactly what I’d been thinking, but it didn’t matter.

All that mattered was us, this moment, and the forever waiting on the horizon.