Page 66 of Nanny for the Single Dad Cowboy
When he pulls back, his forehead rests against mine. “I am never letting you go,” he whispers, conviction solid in his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere.” My voice trembles, but it’s steady in meaning. “I want this. I want you.”
Something in his eyes shifts—the walls crumble, replaced by warmth that feels like fire. He touches my face, my jaw, mymouth, as if to make sure I’m real. Then he gathers me close again, our bodies fitting together in a way that feels inevitable.
The world shrinks to the space between heartbeats, to breath and heat and the sound of his name on my lips. Everything else fades away: the fear, the secrets, the ache of everything we’ve been through. What’s left is this—skin, warmth, trust.
His movements are careful, deliberate, as though he’s afraid I’ll vanish if he touches me too roughly. I anchor him instead, pulling him closer, whispering his name into the dark. He murmurs things against my skin I can barely catch—pieces of gratitude, wonder, maybe even disbelief. I answer with my hands, tracing the path of his scars, reminding him he’s whole.
We shift from lovemaking to fucking, and I love every minute of it. He drives in and out of me relentlessly, driving me to the edge and back before I can climax.
He pulls out and flips me over, pulling me up so that my ass is in the air, before thrusting back into me. My scream is muffled by the pillows as he pounds into me without mercy because he knows I can take it.
“You’re mine,” he grits out.
“Yes,” I groan, biting my lower lip.
His hand lowers to my pussy and rubs on my clit as he continues thrusting in and out of me, his other hand on my boobs holding me to him.
“Jace,” I scream as I come, my walls clamping around his cock.
Jace pumps in me twice more before coming with a grunt. He holds me as he lowers us to the bed, taking me with him, laying me on his chest, our legs wound around each other.
I press my lips to his shoulder. “I love you,” I whisper.
He turns his head just enough to kiss my hair. “And I you. More than you will ever know.”
He shifts slightly, his arm tightening around me, pulling me closer in his sleep. It makes me smile. Even when he’s resting, he holds on like he’s afraid I’ll slip away.
I nestle into him, feeling the steady thump of his heartbeat against my back. The warmth of it seeps into me, chasing away every lingering shadow.
For the first time in a long time, I’m not afraid of tomorrow. I close my eyes and let the dark take me, safe in his arms, safe in the quiet.
26
JACE
The shrill of a phone ringing cuts through the beautiful dream I’m having of Tessa in a white dress, walking down an aisle toward me. The sleeping beauty in my arms groans in her sleep, burying her face deeper into my chest.
“Shut it off,” she grumbles.
I blindly reach for the phone on the nightstand, my eyes blinking repeatedly to make out the name on the screen. “It’s Sienna.”
At the mention of her best friend, she sits up straight and picks up the call. “Si, it’s five a.m. What’s up?”
“Did I wake you? Sorry, this couldn’t wait.”
Tessa sits more alert now. “Talk to me.”
They are loud enough for me to hear both ends of the call.
“I think I’ve got something. I back-traced the hack on my phone. Whoever’s been monitoring us slipped up—the packet bounced through an unsecured node in Nevada. I followed it back.”
My girl’s hand shakes on her phone, so I sit in and hold her close. “And?”
“There’s a trail. It’s partial though. IPs routed through layers of proxy, but one of them ties back to a company that doesn’t officially exist. Name’s Alveon Global Logistics. But get this—it’s a shell. Registered to a man named Richard Kane.”
My jaw tightens at the name. Tessa looks up at me, eyes wide but burning with focus.
