“Don’t let Hope see me like this,” Daphne slurred from the backseat of his car. “Please.”

“Don’t worry. You can spend the night at my place,” Brook Lynn said.

He made sure to scout the land surrounding the house before allowing the girls to exit. As Brook Lynn tucked the pair into bed, Jase checked the locks on the windows and doors, making sure everything was secure. He even put Sparkles in the foyer as a guard dog. Tomorrow he would be installing a security system.

He drove Brook Lynn to his house and scouted that land, as well. No sign of foul play. But he could feel old habits fighting their way to the surface, the urge to glance behind him every few minutes intense, as was the urge to jump at every noise.

Once inside, Brook Lynn rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, and it felt like his lifeline to sanity.

In the kitchen, Beck and Hope sat at the table, playing a game of Monopoly. Hope punched the air in front of Beck’s face, saying, “Suck it, Uncle Beck. You owe me two bazillion dollars in rent.”

“Hey,” Jase said.

“Daddy! You’re back!” Smiling, the little girl raced over to hug him. “Where’s Momma?”

“She’s having a sleepover with her friend Jessie Kay.”

“No fair.” Hope pouted up at him. “I want to have a sleepover, too.”

He was going to be putty in her hands for the rest of his life, wasn’t he? “How about you have a campout on the couch? Uncle Beck can sleep on the floor.”

“Sweet!” She waved at Brook Lynn, and Brook Lynn waved back.

“Where’s West?” he asked Beck.

“Holed up in his room.”

Good. “I’ll be holed up in my room with Brook Lynn. We’ve got a few things to discuss.” Tension had been crackling inside him since he’d reached the restaurant. He strode over, kissed Hope on the cheek then whispered to Beck, “There’s been trouble. Guard her with your life. Brook Lynn and I will take your place in a few hours.”

Beck nodded without hesitation.

Jase took Brook Lynn’s hand and stalked to his bedroom. He shut the door behind her, sealing them inside, and faced her. He’d been so scared for her safety. He needed to reassure himself that she was here, that she was with him, that nothing was wrong.

He gathered her into his arms, taking comfort from the warmth of her body against his. “I need you,” he said and jerked off his T-shirt.

“Yes.” Brook Lynn pulled off her top, and arousal blistered through him, the flames too hot to bear. As many times as he’d been with this woman, as much as he craved her, he’d never wanted her like this.

Her bra came off next, and then she dropped her arms to her sides, staring over at him with wild anticipation. She had to feel it, too. The need to be cemented in the here and now...to drown in pleasure. He closed the distance in three long strides.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he said. “Ever. To anything.”

“You told me that you wanted to be a part of me,” she said, “and you are, no matter how far apart we might be. You got your hooks deep, deep in my heart, and they aren’t ever coming out. I’m not ever going to leave you, Jase. I’m yours. Now...forever.”

In a lightning-fast move, Jase picked her up by the waist and carried her to the wall, where he pressed her flat, her feet dangling in the air. She gasped as the cool plaster met her back. He held her there, suspended, her breasts at eye level. Her nipples puckered for him. Just then, they were the only two people in the universe. He couldn’t think past the bliss of having her in his arms.

“Do you,” he said sharply, giving her a tiny shake with each word, “have any idea how gorgeous you are?”

* * *

UNDER THE INTENSITY of this man’s emerald gaze, she felt gorgeous. He radiated a rawness she’d never seen from him before, laced with something that went far deeper than hunger...animal starvation.

Slowly he lowered her, a sultry glide that left her panting. They were so close, her bare chest moving against his every time she breathed.

Then he stepped back, as if the contact was too much. His lips peeled back from his teeth in an almost-scowl.

“Undress,” he said. “Remove it all.”

Bossier than usual tonight, but she understood the reason, knew he hadn’t quite let go of concern for her. She licked her lips, nervous and excited, aroused to the point of pain. They’d done so many things with each other and to each other. Stripping should have been more of the same, but there was something different this time, something even more than the rawness and starvation.

Trembling, she removed her skirt and underwear. Completely naked, she stood in place, pinned by the fervency of his emerald gaze.

“You know I love you,” he said. “But I’m not sure even love is a strong enough word for what I feel for you. You’ve wrecked me, angel, broken me and put me back together again. I will never be the same—I don’t want to be the same.”

The beauty of his words stunned her, electrified her to the depths of her soul. Trembling legs carried her around him, across the room. She draped herself over the edge of the mattress facedown, shivering with an arousal so sweet she’d never known its like.

Glancing over her shoulder, she whispered throatily, “Come here and take me,” surrendering all to him.

Waves of heat reached her before his hands ever slid down her spine, yet she jolted at the first moment of exquisite contact. Goose bumps broke out over her skin, sensitizing her to his touch. And touch he did. Again and again, dragging his fingers over the ridges of her spine, over the globes of her bottom, down her legs. It was like being licked by flames. As if, as the flames burned, they wafted dark, drugging smoke through the air, every inhalation filling her head with a fog of desperation.