Crying into his mouth, he yanks me away from the wall and starts moving us across the room. The backs of my knees hit the bed and I go down. His hand never leaves my hair, and his mouth never leaves mine as he shifts me higher onto the bed.

When his mouth finally does leave mine, I don’t even have a second to plea for him to come back. His warm breath trails along my neck, and I memorize the way his beard feels against my skin and the way his tongue feels against the pulse of my neck. His hand travels up and curves around my ribs, close to my breast, and then his thumb sweeps over my nipple, causing my legs to lift and wrap around his hips.

When his hand drags down the top of my dress and bra, I lift my head to watch his mouth lower over my nipple. The first tug from his mouth has me coming out of my skin. His hand in my hair tightens then moves to cup my other breast over my dress. I’m drenched as his weight presses into me, his mouth devours my breast, and his beard drags roughly against my skin. I’m close—so close I know I’m going to come from just this. Shifting to the side, his hand at my breast travels down, and I feel the cotton of my dress slide up my thigh as his fingers trail up higher until their warmth is close to my core.

“Ev,” I breathe, running my fingers through his hair as his fingers slide over my panties.

“Soaked through,” he grunts, releasing my nipple, trailing his lips back up and taking my mouth again. My hips lift, my hands moving to hold on to his biceps as he pushes my panties to the side and his fingers circle my clit. That’s all I need. My head falls back and an orgasm washes over me, lighting everything up with its intensity. I float off to outer space, completely lost in its vastness. Coming slowly back to my body, I feel my dress roughly pulled off before I’m moved again. My head hits the pillow, my panties ripped down my legs.

Watching him tear open a condom, I whisper, “Evan.”

When his eyes lock on mine, I see something familiar looking back at me, something I can’t even begin to understand, something damaged and raw, and it has my legs lifting to wrap around his hips and my arms sliding around his back, wanting to hold him. At my touch, his jaw locks and his forehead drops to mine, pushing into me. My breath leaves on a whoosh and my eyes slide closed. He’s so big—not just long, but thick—and it’s been so long that the stretch of pain I felt the first time comes rushing back.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs.

My eyes open, and I watch as he watches where we are connected. “Oh, God,” I whisper, dragging my nails up his back.

“Look at me, June,” he demands roughly, and my eyes I didn’t realize were closed slide open and lock on his as he slides in and out of me slowly, so slowly I feel every inch of him, every single centimeter, as he possesses me. “I could die right here, right fucking here, and know I felt heaven at least once,” he snarls as his nostrils flare.

Feeling tears begin to gather in my eyes, I lift my head, bury my face in the crook of his neck, and wrap myself around him. My orgasm hits me suddenly, stealing the air from my lungs and my heart from my body. Filling me one last time, he plants himself deep inside me and groans against my neck as his arms wrap around my back, holding on to me so tight it’s hard to breathe. So tight, it makes me feel as if he is trying to fuse us together.

A loud sob rips from my throat, and he rolls us to our sides and rubs his hand over my back, talking softly as I cry into his chest.

Chapter 5

Evan

Pulling the blanket up over us from the end of the bed, I hold June against me, feeling each one of her tears soak into my skin. It kills me that she’s crying. I hate even more that I’m the reason for her tears. I shouldn’t have taken her. I should have done things differently, taken my time with her, slowly built back what we once had. But when I saw the look in her eyes from across the room, the same look that was in her eyes the other day when I was on my bike, I couldn’t stop myself.

Hearing her sobs die down, I jerk back my chin and notice her eyes are closed and her body has gone soft. Pulling away, I go to the bathroom and take care of the condom, wash my hands and face, and then go back to her and pull her right back into my arms. Her words from last night have been playing through my head since the moment she hightailed it away from me. Her telling me I was always good enough for her really hit home.

When I left last night, I went for a ride to give myself some time to think. By the time I got back, I knew one thing for sure—I needed to find a way to get her back, to get us back to what we once had. She was the best thing that ever happened to me, the reason I fought to live and to get better after I got back stateside.

Pressing my lips to the warm skin of her forehead, I rest them there. I know I’m going to have a battle on my hands. I hurt her, I know I did. I also know it’s going to take a lot for her to trust me. She’s strong, and stubborn as hell, but I’m banking on the fact that she feels the same pull I do, like I can only breathe right when we’re together. My men and I used to joke that you never appreciate the beauty of what’s under your own feet until you’re walking through a minefield. This thing between us is a minefield of a different kind. Between our history and what I did to her, I’m going to be working hard to make sure we get through to the other side intact.

Lying there, I soak in the feeling of her in my arms, the same thing I did last night while she slept. I missed her so goddamn much—not just her body, but her smell, her laugh, and the way she looks at me like I hold the key to heaven and have personally granted her access through the gate. I’m not stupid enough to think I can sleep with her once and be back to where we were before. I know I’m going to have to work at proving myself to her. I’m gonna have to prove that with me is the best place for her.