“You are trying to undo me.” Her voice sounded scratchy.

  “There’s no trying about it, honey,” he muttered against her lips, then worked his way down her neck, lingering behind her ear to whisper, “I’m going to make you come so many times tonight, you won’t be able to feel your legs.”

  Her heart surged with excitement, but it wasn’t just for the pleasure he was promising. It was the way he vowed to send her to the stars, like it was a gift he wanted to give her because he wanted her happiness.

  “Please…”

  She felt him smile against her skin as he bent to lick one of her nipples. All her focus had been on the ache growing and swelling between her legs and the man bestowing bliss on her. But now…she tossed her head back under the shower spray, her long, pleading cry echoing off the tile.

  “That’s my girl,” he praised as he switched to the other breast and his fingers inside her shifted, moving, pressing on a spot that had her eyes flying wide open, her body lifting on tiptoe, and the pleasurable pressure under his fingertips nearly dissolving her spine.

  “Yes. Yes. Yes…” The chant fell from her lips. Laila didn’t even know what she was saying, only that she craved everything Trees was doing to her.

  Then he swiped his thumb across her hard nub again and growled. “There you are, just about to tip over. Now look at me.”

  She did. His green eyes glowed with a tender demand that made her heart skip as their stares fused. The electric connection jolted down her spine, spreading to every nerve and far-reaching appendage. Tension strangled her throat, and she barely squeaked out a plea. “Trees?”

  “That’s it. Stay with me. Don’t look away.”

  “I cannot.”

  “Good. Come for me now, little one. Fall, and I’ll catch you.”

  Laila didn’t know if it was his voice or his permission or the cocoon of safety she felt in his arms, but everything inside her released. She surrendered herself for him, to him, allowing him to wring her inside out. As pleasure surged, firing through her veins and shutting down thought, she shuddered and became a shocked, gasping puddle of satisfied woman.

  Seconds later, her legs threatened to give out. But Trees was already there, squatting in front of her to plant his mouth on her still-pulsing flesh.

  She was so sensitive and she stiffened, but he was gentle, patient, planting almost chaste kisses for slow minutes on her lower abdomen, her hips, her trembling thighs, then finally her puffy mound. She should have felt overwhelmed and exhausted by the climax that had overtaken her whole body. But the moment he slid an experimental drag of his tongue against her distended clit, she choked in a shocked breath, thrust her fingers in his wet hair, and let out a stunned gasp.

  He took that as a sign to attack.

  A heartbeat later, he opened his lips over her sex, laved her hard button again, then sucked it into the heat of his mouth, showing absolutely no mercy.

  “Trees!”

  “Hmm,” he hummed into her most sensitive spots.

  With that one syllable, her entire body torqued up again. She hadn’t quite finished descending from the last peak, and another one was about to replace it—bigger, stronger, threatening to turn her legs to jelly.

  “Trees!” she gasped even louder.

  He didn’t bother answering, simply sucked her clit harder and ruthlessly rubbed that spot inside her.

  She took off like a rocket, her head seeming to explode as she screamed in pleasure so loudly her ears rang. That seemed to spur Trees on. He kept at her, reading her body perfectly, knowing just where to touch her, when, how hard, how long, how much as he cajoled every last ounce of ecstasy from her.

  Then she fell limp against him, her legs all but giving out.

  “Oh, little one…” He stood and shut off the water, then gathered her in his arms and left the glass enclosure, heading toward his bed. He didn’t bother with a towel, seemingly not caring if his mattress got soaked. He simply lay back, then lifted her over him. With one hand, he held his cock up to her waiting, clutching sex. With the other, he pushed her down and filled her until she hissed at the stretching of her flesh necessary to accommodate his length and girth.

  Quickly, he lifted her again, settling for a shallow thrust and a seductive rhythm. But the effort was costing him. She could see that on his face.

  She wrapped her fingers around his shoulders, nails burrowing into his skin, and shook her head. “No. No… I want all of you.”

  When she positioned herself directly over him, wriggled her hips, and pumped down, every last inch of him slid inside her. It burned. She hissed, swearing she could feel his length up half her body. But the pain was its own sort of ecstasy, and she tossed her head back, arching her breasts and losing herself in the sensations.

  He gritted his teeth and gripped her thighs so hard it would leave bruises. For reasons she didn’t understand, the idea aroused her. Reminders of their passion they could study later with pride? Laila wasn’t sure, but when his whole body shuddered under her and he growled her name, she lit up.

  “Fuck.” His raspy curse filled her ears the way his hard cock filled the rest of her—completely, until she could think of nothing else. “You take every inch of me and squeeze me so goddamn tight. The minute I get inside you, all I want to do is take you in every way possible, make you come, and mark you as mine.”

  When he said things like that, her brain melted. So did any remaining resistance. Her body should have been sated in the shower. She definitely should have stopped aching for the bliss of his touch after he’d heaped open-mouthed pleasure on her sex. But no. Now that she was stuffed full of this man, Laila wondered if she would ever get enough of him.

  “Please,” she begged, not even understanding what she was pleading for.

  Her breasts felt heavier and achier. Her folds were so engorged and sensitive. Every bit of her body felt electrically alive.

  “Come,” he demanded.

  Again? Was he insane?

  “I do not think—”

  “Then don’t,” he ground out. “Just feel—and let go.”

  He tensed beneath her and lifted her up his heavy stalk. Gravity slid her back down. It was good. So good. The pending orgasm that should have been impossible climbed and gathered quickly, suddenly becoming inevitable. She was sputtering and gaping, dying for him. But he was holding back.

  “No! More.” Her demand came out like a wail, high-pitched and entreating.

  Trees gripped her hips tighter. “I can’t. I’ll hurt you.”

  “No. No. I swear. More. Please. Now.”

  “Fuck. Little one…”

  “Trees.” She caught his gaze, praying the need on her face would say what her voice seemingly couldn’t.

  He froze, gripped her lower, fingers digging in tighter. More bruises. They would be delicious. She couldn’t wait to see them tomorrow, and she wasn’t sure why.

  An almost inhuman sound poured from his chest and erupted from his throat. Then he lifted her all the way up his cock before slamming her back down in an unmerciful, implacable pounding that had her silently screaming and digging her nails into him as the need to climax poured through her veins like lava. She gushed out in another feverish peak that left her near limp and boneless.

  But Trees still wasn’t done.

  He rolled her to her back and kissed her feverishly, delving into her mouth with an urgency that left her dizzy and thrilled. He drank as if her tongue held some elixir he would die without. Laila opened totally and gave him her all.

  Then he lifted her thighs around his hips and drove deep inside her in one long thrust. She cried out, her head swimming, need rising inside her again. Trees set a hard, hammering rhythm, his whole body moving, his bed shuddering.

  Laila grabbed him tighter and held on, arching her breasts up to him, lifting her hips in offering and tilting to take him even deeper.

  He groaned out long and low, seizing her wrists in his hand, his fingers biting as he anchored them above her head. “Grab the headboard. Don’t let go.”

  She didn’t question him, and she didn’t hesitate, merely wrapped her fingers around the metal slats and gripped as if her life depended on it. But she couldn’t touch him, and she needed more—of his scent, of his flavor, of his flesh.

  Her lips burned a path up his shoulder, stretching to nip at his neck before she reached his jaw. “I love the feel of you inside me. You fill me up, give me both pleasure and pain and”—she bit at his chest as he pummeled her again and hit a spot that nearly sent her soaring for a third time—“oh!”

  “I’m never going to stop, Laila.” He maintained his wild pace as he reached up and covered her hands with his, gripping the iron rungs of his headboard and using the leverage to work his way harder and deeper. “Do you hear me? I love you. You’re it for me. Marry me.”

  Yes! she shouted silently. There was nothing Laila wanted more than to spend her life with Trees, having a safe home, building a future, having his children, and sharing their love.

  She doubted that kind of happiness was in her future. How could she and EM Security ever vanquish their powerful enemies so that she could live out her dream? She couldn’t accept. He didn’t deserve a lifetime of her danger, but she owed him as much truth as she dared. “I would love that. Because I love you.”

  As if that flipped some switch inside him, he hardened and swelled inside her even more, slamming her with a force that rattled her body even as he set her on fire. “Oh, fuck. Laila… Fuck! I need you to come with me.”

  It was incredible and insane, but she wasn’t far from another explosion even more incendiary than the last. “Yes.”

  “And as soon as this shit is over, I’m going to put a ring on your finger and a baby in your belly. You’re mine.”

  She closed her eyes and sank into the fantasy of having Trees by her side each day, inside her every night as she swelled with his sons and daughters. He squeezed her hands tighter and forced her mouth open for his kiss.

  Her entire body detonated with an involuntary buck and an ear-piercing cry.

  Seconds behind her, his thrusts picked up pace. His breathing turned harsh. He bared his teeth and stared into her eyes. “Mine,” he growled again, his heart thundering against hers.

  Then he let go with a hoarse cry, filling her with warm jets of fluid and all his love.

  Breathing hard, he held her close and punctuated their pleasure with a tender kiss before he brushed a curl from her cheek. “I love you, Laila. I’m going to keep you safe so I can make you mine.”

  Tears stung her eyes. He’d undone her in every way possible tonight, but his words now stripped her bare all the way to her soul. “Trees…”

  “I mean it. I will—no matter what it takes.”

  She knew he meant it. And that’s what worried her most.

  Chapter Nine

  A few hours later, Laila slept beside Trees, curled into a ball on her side, her back cuddled against his chest, one hand beneath her chin like a contented cat. He dropped his palm to her head, fingers stroking a curl from her cheek, knuckles gliding over her soft skin.

  He wanted her here, by his side, forever. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her that he intended to put a ring on her finger and a baby in her belly ASAP. The urge wasn’t logical, which he usually was. Instead, it felt like a biological imperative, and Trees couldn’t explain why.

  Was he trying to make a family now to replace the one he seemingly no longer had in West Virginia? No, he could pick up the phone and call home if he wanted to. It wasn’t as if they weren’t speaking to him. More like they didn’t have a use for him. Then why was he so consumed with the idea of making Laila Mrs. Scott?

  Was this some possessive caveman thing? A bit. Maybe more than it should be. But a big part of him wanted to give her safety, security, comfort, love—all the things she’d never had. And in turn, she would give him something that, Zy excepting, he’d had very little of in life: acceptance.

  From the time he’d been little, he’d been freakishly tall. As kids, other boys had avoided him. Girls had feared him. As a teenager, he’d been useful in pickup basketball games but not friendships. He’d been hungry for companionship and love. The opposite sex, now filling out bras and wearing makeup, had been a beautiful lure. They’d buzzed around him aplenty. At first, he’d loved it. He’d wanted a girlfriend. Then he realized they’d merely thought fucking him was something between a curiosity and a challenge.

  As high school graduation approached, he’d taken a few college campus tours. He’d had the grades to go. He’d even been offered a basketball scholarship. But matriculating hadn’t been for him. Socializing with kids during his weekend campus visits? It had been the same everywhere he went. If his height and quiet nature hadn’t turned people away, being a poor miner’s kid had.

  He’d joined the army instead. Easier. Safer. Less need to fit in. Not too long after that, he’d been blessed with Zy’s friendship. It had been great—more than enough, he’d told himself—for years. But since his bestie had paired off with Tessa…Trees had to admit he’d started yearning again for more.

  Laila loved him. She’d nearly given her damn life to prove it.

  He’d be an idiot to let her go.

  But to keep her, he had to make sure she was safe—once and for all. Not for one minute was Trees naive enough to think that Laila was in the clear. Ramos still wanted her. And after she’d outed him to Montilla, the crazy son of a bitch would come after her for vengeance. Montilla had a use for her, too. Everyone knew Laila would do anything for her nephew. If the drug lord took her captive, he’d be one step closer to getting his hands on Jorge, the grandson he’d never met, supposedly to groom the toddler to someday take over his narcotics throne.

  Everywhere he looked, Laila was in danger.

  He’d also managed to dig himself a grave. Killing Victor’s brother, Hector, then taking Laila from the surviving Ramos brother had put a target on his back. Now Montilla had cause to want him dead, too. After all, he’d helped free Kimber from captivity and shot the son of a bitch.

  He’d be an idiot not to realize that he had mountains to climb and obstacles to overcome before he and Laila could have any sort of future. But he was determined to do whatever he could to make that possibility a reality.

  No more sitting at home, trying to solve this defensively. Time to play offense.

  After slipping from bed, Trees donned a clean pair of boxers, then headed out to the kitchen. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. He had an uneasy feeling, like they were standing in the calm before a raging storm. If Matt or Ghost had encountered anything that looked like an intrusion, they would have told him…but Trees couldn’t shake the feeling that someone—probably multiple someones—was out there, just waiting for an unguarded moment.

  With a sigh, he plopped down at the kitchen table and grabbed Victor Ramos’s phone. He launched Ramos’s Abuzz account without any prompt for a new password. The cartel had been using the social media platform Zy’s father had once owned and was now selling as a part of his imminent divorce. The chatter among Ramos’s contacts had died down over the past week, but there was still plenty of dirt.

  The most recent post made his blood run cold.

  As of a few days ago, a spy Ramos had inside Montilla’s organization had claimed el jefe was in a coma, but when he awoke, he would be out for Ramos’s blood. Victor had written back to ask if Montilla would consider their feud settled if he served up the cabrón who had shot him.

  No reply, at least not one visible in the chat. But the message string gnawed at Trees. Ramos knew exactly where he lived. It was only a matter of time before he showed up. With Laila here, that made her vulnerable, too.

  Sure, he could defend his property. He’d updated and equipped it to deal with most any possible apocalypse. But he’d never imagined he’d be fighting off a cartel and their criminal assets while trying to defend the woman he loved.

  It was too much to risk. There was too much at stake. He’d examine the rest of the phone later. He had to get Laila to safety now.

  Trees retrieved his own phone and flipped through his contacts. Which of his bosses would be the least difficult in this fucked-up situation? None of them, but he hoped Laila providing them Kimber’s location so the team could rescue their sister provided her some cred with the trio. Plus, her sister was paying them to keep her safe. That should mean something, too.

  Finally, he settled on the brother who seemed most straightforward, least likely to waste time growling about the fact he was emotionally in deep with Laila, and quickest to help him come up with a plan.

  He tapped the screen. Hunter Edgington answered on the first ring. Though he’d probably been asleep, his voice didn’t sound scratchy or slurred at all. “What’s up, Trees?”

  “I think I have a situation. Or I will if Laila and I stay here.” He explained the contents of Victor’s Abuzz account in a few succinct sentences.

  Hunter paused a fraction of a second, then jumped into action. “I agree. Pack up. Get ready to head out. Matt and Ghost still there?”

  “Should be. I’ll check in with both as soon as we hang up.”

  “Good. Laila will head out with Matt to another secure location. I’ll find one in the next hour.”

  With Matt? His boss intended to separate him from Laila? “No. Where she goes, I go.”

  “Stop thinking like a guy who fell for a client and start thinking logically. Ramos will expect you to be together. If he can get two for one, that just makes you a juicier target.”

  Trees ran that advice around his mental track…and had to admit Hunter was right. Laila was even more at risk if he was with her. He fucking hated that fact. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I need to do some legwork. I’ll text you when I find a location for Laila.”

  “Where should I go?”

  “The office. My brothers and I will meet you there.”

  “Who will be watching Laila while we’re meeting? Just Matt? He’s great, but alone he won’t be enough to defend her.”