She blinked up at me. The bewilderment in her eyes squeezed my damn heart. How had she doubted any of this? Hadn’t I made it clear with my insane actions when it came to her?

  “You love me?” she asked slowly, as if testing the words.

  “Yes. It might go beyond that. Infatuation, devotion, fascination. You completely enchant me.”

  The smile on her face was all I needed. With that smile, my world was right. Everything was perfect. She was mine.

  Thirty-Six

  Aspen

  Chewing on my bottom lip nervously, I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Levi to come upstairs. He had been in a meeting for over an hour. Blaise was here, and all the guys were in his office.

  Things I knew now: Blaise was the next boss for the Mafia family. Which made sense. He wasn’t like the others. He was intimidating. The others also treated him with respect. Levi had grown up with Blaise. This was the only life he’d ever known.

  If I didn’t love him, I wasn’t sure I could accept all this.

  It had been two weeks since my abduction, and when I had asked about Gina and AJ, he had simply said, “We handled it.”

  I had asked if that meant they’d killed them.

  He would just repeat, “We handled it. I can’t give you more details than that.”

  With my broken arm, I hadn’t been able to return to the hospital, and I was beginning to worry that I would never get to go back. The one week I’d gotten there, I’d loved it. Well, except for the part where AJ had taken me. I was worried about Haisley, but Levi had said contacting her wasn’t possible. When I tried to push it, he’d distract me. Normally, it involved his mouth.

  Today, I had gone online and found some other volunteer options that I would like to do. Asking Levi about them made me nervous. He had been taking me with him almost everywhere. As much as I enjoyed that, I also knew that it wasn’t something he could keep up. At some point, Blaise was going to stop it. When I wasn’t with Levi, I was here in his room. It seemed to be the only way he could focus on something else. That had to stop.

  The bedroom door opened, and Levi walked inside. Would the sight of him ever not cause butterflies in my stomach? I hoped not.

  His eyes locked on me, and a crooked grin touched his lips. “Waiting on me?” he asked.

  “Yes. I wanted to talk to you about something,” I replied.

  “Okay.”

  I licked my lips and nodded. I could do this. He wasn’t going to be mad.

  “I, uh, found a food pantry at a local church that needs volunteers.”

  “No,” he replied before letting me go any further.

  “There’s also a children’s clothing closet that needs—”

  “No.”

  Sighing, I stood up. “I can’t just stay here.”

  “You don’t. You go with me.”

  “I can’t keep following you everywhere. You have work, and I feel like a puppy, tagging along. It’s going to get annoying for you. And I need a purpose.”

  Levi walked over to me, and his hand wrapped around my waist. He was going to try and distract me.

  “You being with me will never annoy me. I love having you close.” His voice dropped to that husky whisper.

  He lowered his head, and I placed my hand over his mouth.

  “Don’t. You are trying to distract me. I want to talk about this.”

  He reached up and moved my hand from his mouth. The wicked grin made his eyes twinkle. “And I want to get my tongue between your legs. I’ve been thinking about it all fucking day.”

  I shivered. Ugh. This man.

  “Levi.” I said his name as sternly as I could. “I need a purpose!”

  His hands went to his belt, and he began to unbuckle it. “You’re mine.”

  “That is not a purpose,” I argued.

  My gaze kept going to his hands as they worked on getting his belt off. Why was that turning me on?

  “You’ve got a real sassy mouth tonight,” he told me.

  “I just don’t understand why I can’t go volunteer.”

  He raised his eyebrows at me. “Because it’s not safe. You have to stay with me.”

  I put my hands on my hips. Or my hand and my casted hand on my hips. “I can’t always stay with you!”

  Levi slid his belt out of the loops, but I didn’t drop my eyes to look. I was not going to get distracted.

  “You know, baby, I’m beginning to think you are trying to get spanked.”

  My eyes flew open wide, and this time, I did look down at the belt in his hand. I’d heard the stories from the others, and Gina had been pretty explicit. Levi had never touched me with his belt before, and I was curious.

  “Where is my good girl?” he asked, cupping the side of my face with his free hand.

  I lifted my eyes to meet his. “She’s not feeling very good tonight.”

  His hazel eyes darkened as he studied me. The desire there was unmistakable. Levi wanted to spank me. Did he miss it? The spanking? Was I brave enough for that?

  “Take off your clothes,” he ordered, running the belt through his hand as he watched me.

  “I don’t know,” I replied nervously.

  I wanted to please him, but I’d never even been spanked as a child. It was the unknown of it that seemed overwhelming.

  “Are you arguing with me, sweetheart?”

  I shook my head.

  “Then, get naked.”

  It wasn’t like I hadn’t stripped for him before. But I’d never done it while he held a leather belt in his hands, staring at me like that. I took my time getting everything off, then stood in front of him, looking at the belt.

  He took two pillows and placed them closer to the end of the bed. “Get up there. Prop up so your arm is comfortable, but put that ass in the air.”

  The excitement in his words surprised me. This really got to him. If he needed this, then I could do it. The last thing I wanted was for him to start looking elsewhere.

  I climbed onto the bed and used the pillows under my stomach so my cast wasn’t getting any of my weight.

  “Fuuuck,” he said in a hoarse whisper. His hand ran over my bottom gently. “Sweet round ass. I want to make it red. Put my marks on it.”

  His marks? Oh God. He was going to hit me that hard? I closed my eyes tightly.

  The touch of his lips on my back startled me. I looked back at him. He was grinning at me and held my gaze as he continued kissing down my back until he reached the butt he wanted to make red. He ran the leather over my back, then down my bottom.

  “You’re always such a good girl,” he said. “Never giving me a reason to spank you.”

  His expression had gone dark, and he had a hungry look. Like a predator. Seeing him like that as he gazed at my butt on display caused a tingle between my legs. The dangerous Levi was never in the bedroom with us. His gaze was always adoring and worshipful. But this … this was its own twisted thrill.

  His eyes flared just before his wrist flicked the belt, and it slapped against my skin. I gasped, jerking from the sting of it, but I was unable to stop watching him. He almost looked euphoric. His other hand went to his jeans, and he unbuckled them, shoving them down until his cock was free. He wrapped his hand around it and pumped it before his belt swung and hit me again.

  “AH!” I cried out louder this time.

  He’d hit me harder. His eyes swung to meet mine as I watched him over my shoulder.

  “You get red so easy,” he panted. “I’m going to lick and kiss that sweet ass when I’m done.”

  That was as messed up as this was, but I had to squeeze my legs together and squirm because it aroused me.

  “You like that,” he growled as he gave me another strike from the belt, followed by another and another. “Bad girls get spanked. My good girl wants it. I can see your pussy getting wet.”

  I moaned as he continued. The sting had started to get more numb, but his dirty words and the animalistic gleam in his eyes were bringing me closer to a climax. He dropped the belt and moved to the bed, then went to his knees so he could do exactly what he’d said.

  The swipe of his tongue over my tender flesh had me making all kinds of needy sounds.

  “My sweet baby,” he murmured as he licked. “Taking a belt for me.” His tongue moved lower. “Open these legs for me. Let me taste all that sweet cream.”

  I was so close. Opening for him, I gripped the covers under my hand just as his mouth made it to my needy spot.

  “YES!” I cried out, and my release broke free.

  As I spasmed, his hands grabbed my thighs, holding me open as he continued to lick me like a man possessed.

  “LEVI!” I shouted his name when the second orgasm came right behind the first.

  His mouth left me, and I opened my mouth to beg him not to stop when the head of his thick cock pushed inside of me.

  “I need you coming on my cock this time,” he groaned. “Fuck, I love this pussy.”

  My body shook as the nirvana took over, sending pleasure pulsing through me. Levi’s hands grabbed my hips as he began thrusting into me hard and fast. I started to come down from my high just as the warmth of his release began to fill me and Levi shouted my name.

  “Wait,” he panted. “Just … fuck … it keeps … a little more …” His body trembled behind me as he grunted while his release continued.

  He lowered himself over my back. His heavy breathing was so close to my ear. “Fuck, baby, spanking your ass got me excited. Are you okay?”

  I smiled, trying not to laugh. Now, he was worried if I was okay.

  “Let’s see. I had two incredible orgasms, and now, I’m full of your cum. I think I’m doing really well.”

  His low laugh made my stomach all fluttery. He moved off me and stood up. “You want me to clean you up, or you want to keep my cum up inside you? I prefer it stay inside that tight little cunt.”

  I moved off the pillows, tossing them back to the top of the bed before crawling up to them and lying down. “I want it in me,” I assured him.

  He took his jeans the rest of the way off, then tugged his shirt over his head before walking over and climbing into bed beside me. “In that case, I’m gonna have to fuck you again before we go to sleep. You know the territorial shit makes me horny.”

  I smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. He’d successfully distracted me, but I loved this man so much that I couldn’t seem to care. I’d try again tomorrow.

  Thirty-Seven

  Levi

  Standing in a motherfucking church was the last place I wanted to be. The elderly lady, Wilma Dodd, who oversaw the charity services at the Baptist church, had been given the job of showing me the food bank facilities and all that was required to run their charity. The place was far from being safe. There were entirely too many weak spots.

  “How does a larger kitchen and workspace sound?” I asked her, not wanting to listen to the weekly menu.

  Wilma stared up at me. “That sounds wonderful, but I don’t know how much more we can handle at the moment due to funding.”

  “What do you spend monthly on the food bank and prepared meals?” I asked her.

  “The congregation covers the cost with their giving. Some months are better than others.”

  “Mrs. Dodd, give me an amount that would be ideal,” I told her, losing patience. I didn’t like being away from Aspen this long.

  She straightened. “Well, ideally, we could keep the food pantry stocked and feed one hundred mouths a week if we could bring in three thousand dollars a month. We get donations, and that helps—”

  “Ten thousand dollars a month then and a larger kitchen and workspace.”

  She frowned. “What are you saying, Mr. Shephard? I don’t think I understand exactly what you’re here for. I was told your fiancée wanted to volunteer and that you were important and needed to be shown the process.”

  The things I would do for that girl. I almost smiled, thinking about her face when I told her about this.

  “This isn’t a secure enough location for me to allow my fiancée to work here; however, this is important to her. She wants to volunteer. In order for me to allow that, I need her to be safe. I am offering to give you better facilities and fund the entire cost monthly.”

  Her mouth fell open. She snapped it shut. “You … you want to give us ten thousand dollars a month? Why … we could feed hundreds of mouths a week. With a larger kitchen, we could make more meals. Possibly even deliver to the shut-ins. I’ve wanted to do that, but we just don’t have the means.”

  “I’ll throw in a delivery van.”

  “Oh my,” she gasped. “That’s very generous of you, Mr. Shephard. I’ll go speak with the minister. The board will have to approve it, but I am sure they will. Happily! This will make a big impact on our community. May the Lord bless you!”

  The Lord wanted nothing to do with me.

  “Have them contact me when a decision has been made,” I told her. “Thank you for your time. I have an appointment I must get to.”

  “Yes, of course! You will hear from us soon!” she called out.

  I headed for the SUV, where Kye sat, waiting on me. Climbing into the passenger side, I closed the door.

  “What the fuck was this stop about?” he asked me.

  We had been on our way back from paying a visit to Haisley Slate. That had surprised us both. Not what we’d expected. Allowing AJ to live no longer bothered me. I’d listened to Aspen, and she was right. AJ might be a fucking lowlife gang member, but he had a shit ton of younger siblings to help take care of with their single mom. They needed him. Haisley had also checked out but that didn’t mean I trusted her or AJ. He was a Viper and she was his sister. Saxon was going to be ordered to keep his distance.

  Gina hadn’t been my decision. Blaise had called that one. Although it was what I’d wanted done. It was something that Maddy could never know about.

  “Aspen wants to volunteer at their food bank,” I told him.

  He pulled out onto the street. “You seriously going to allow that after the shit with AJ and Gina?”

  I sighed and rubbed my temples. He had no idea about the shit I’d do to make Aspen happy. “Not here. But I offered to supply them with a larger kitchen and workspace. That way, I can control the security.”

  He let out a laugh. “Look at you, helping the good church folks.”

  I took my phone out and checked Aspen’s location. She was still at Blaise and Maddy’s. The women were having a pool day, which was also Trinity’s bachelorette party before she and Huck eloped in two weeks. As much as I hated being away from Aspen, it gave me time to handle some things.

  “Where to next?” Kye asked me.

  “The vault,” I told him.

  “Underground?”

  “Yes.”

  “You have something to put in there?”

  I glanced at him. He was a nosy fucker. “I have something to get out.”

  Kye raised his eyebrows. “You have shit in the vault?”

  “Is this fucking Twenty Questions?”

  He shrugged. “I just thought it was the old families who kept stuff there. Other than Garrett.”

  I sighed and laid my head back. “My family is the oldest family that isn’t a Hughes.”

  “Shit, that’s right. So, you get to keep things in there?”

  “I only intend to take one thing from the Shephard family belongings in the vault.”

  When I didn’t say more, he hit the steering wheel. “You can’t just say that and not tell me!”

  I turned my head to look at him. “You are annoying as fuck. You know that?”

  He just grinned. “Just tell me.”

  “My great-great-grandmother’s engagement ring. No woman in the family has worn it since she passed away because the men in my family couldn’t find a woman they felt worthy enough for it.”

  Kye slowed down, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see him looking at me.

  “Watch the damn road,” I told him.

  “Fucking hell,” he said. “You’re gonna ask Aspen to marry you.”

  A slow smile spread across my face. “Yeah, I am.”

  My phone rang, interrupting Kye’s next words. It was the church. They didn’t waste any time, but I hadn’t expected them to. They were probably afraid I’d change my mind. If they only knew I’d have offered more if they’d asked.

  Thirty-Eight

  Aspen

  The text I’d received from Levi two hours ago said for me to pack an overnight bag and wear the blue romper he’d bought me. I planned on bringing up the volunteering thing again with him tonight since my cast had been taken off yesterday. I was ready to work again, but I was excited about going somewhere with him. I also packed my white sundress because other than the romper, it was the most expensive piece of clothing that I owned. When I asked about what I would need, he had been vague, saying that I didn’t need much.

  I had just slipped on my sandals when the door to my bedroom opened and Levi filled the entrance. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a light-blue button-up shirt, and boots. His hair was pulled back neatly in a bun. I was breathless. This man was beautiful, and he was mine.

  “You’re only allowed to wear that with me,” he said, leaning against the doorframe as he took me in slowly.

  “You were the one who told Six to buy it for me,” I replied.

  His eyes met mine. “I told him to buy whatever it was you seemed to like. He didn’t tell me that the blue romper was so damn short.”

  “I told you I didn’t need it.”

  His arm dropped from the frame, and he walked into the room toward me. “But you wanted it. When you want something, I want to give it to you.”