Page 109 of Outlaw

Being Linc Shephard’s, loving him, having his heart—it was all I’d ever wanted.

Fifty-One

Branwen

The summer heat beat down fiercely, and I was thankful for the little shade I had. I glanced out at Stevie as she splashed in the water, and I was tempted to join her. Getting wet would cool me down. If I took off my cover-up, she might see the hickey on the top of my right boob and the small outline of where Linc had spanked my bottom so hard that he’d left a handprint. My bikini bottoms didn’t cover it well.

I loved having him leave marks on me, but hiding them from our curious four-year-old was difficult.

For the past two weeks, I’d lived in my own fairy tale. Well, almost. It was as close as I was likely to ever get, but thinking about that would take away my current bliss. Linc was in my bed at nights, and I woke up in his arms every morning. He kissed me whenever we had a moment with no eyes on us during the day. He had taken Stevie and me to the movies. We’d gone backto the zoo, with him this time, and gone on picnics. It felt like a real family.

Today, he’d had to go handle family stuff early and said he wouldn’t be back until late. I’d wanted to sulk at the idea of him being gone, but that wasn’t fair. He couldn’t always be by our side.

Giving in to the temptation of the cold water, I stood up and slid my cover-up off. I’d keep my bottom turned away from Stevie’s view. She’d be so busy; she wouldn’t be paying attention anyway. I bent over to grab the towel on the other side of the lounger bed when I heard footsteps and stood back up to turn around.

Linc was closing the distance with long strides as he came toward me.

He was back early, and happiness rippled through me. When he reached me, he grabbed the towel I was holding and wrapped it around my body.

“Fuck, I’m gonna be hard now that I saw my handprint on your ass,” he said in a hushed whisper as he looked down at me.

“I was going to cool off in the pool,” I told him.

He held me in the towel. “Not yet. We have company,” he said, then let go of me to turn around just as one of his lawyers turned the corner from stepping down off the patio and headed this way.

“Wh-why is your lawyer here?” I asked nervously.

Was this about the divorce papers? I hadn’t thought about those in weeks.

He patted my towel-covered bottom, but didn’t reply.

“Stanz, you remember Branwen,” Linc said.

Stanz was holding papers and a pen. I felt sick. Was he signing the papers? Why now?

“Yes, of course. It’s good to see you again,” he replied.

I gave him a shaky smile. “You too,” I lied. It was not at allgood.

Linc’s gaze moved back to me. I turned to look up at him for answers that just might break my heart yet again.

“Stanz has all the legal work handled to have Stevie’s last name change to Shephard. He just needs your signature, and then he can file it.”

I blinked. Stevie’s last name. We’d never talked about it. He had never brought it up. I wasn’t sure what to think. He was her father, and the only reason his name wasn’t on her birth certificate was because he hadn’t known about her. But shouldn’t he have asked me or just mentioned it? Why bombard me like this?

Was that what this had all been about? The past two weeks. The family time. Being together. Sleeping in bed with me. Had he been prepping me to just do whatever he told me to? Panic, disillusionment, and—as always with him—pain. Eventually, it came.

Stevie called out for him and told him to watch as she did a trick. I stepped past him, no longer able to make eye contact. Taking the papers from Stanz, I looked down at them.

He held out a pen and showed me where to sign. Once I was done, he took them, and I turned to look back at Linc, who was watching me.

“All you had to do was ask me. When have I not given you what you wanted? I’m an easy yes for you, aren’t I, Linc?”

Tears clogged my throat as I thought about all the nights I’d thought I saw something in his eyes when he looked at me. But it was always me and my wishful thinking. Emotion boiling over inside me, I let out a sob I hadn’t wanted to.

“Heck, Linc, you’ve owned my heart for most of my life. I’ve loved you for so long that I can’t remember a time when I didn’t. With that kind of power, why not use me like your puppet? Because I clearly allow it.”

Spinning around, I started for the house. Stevie had heard me. I was too loud. I’d let myself break down in front of her.

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