The attorneys at Jenkins and Masterson were no help.

Desk jockeys at best, the original attorney who’d put together the trust had died long ago, leaving the trust and all its details in the care of the office.

All contacts listed on the original trust were gone, leaving us with a goose egg.

The disappointment at coming up with nothing, was sitting more heavily on Bree than she wanted to admit but I could sense the tension knotting her shoulders.

And if that wasn’t obvious enough, the fact that she kept biting her cuticles was another red flag.

We returned to the safe house and after I fixed some quick dinner — Bree wasn’t much of a cook — we ate in relative silence until it came time for bed.

Bree hesitated at the bedroom, unsure of our sleeping arrangements.

“You’re not sleeping anywhere but beside me,” I said, my hand on the small of her back.

She glanced up at me, something akin to relief in her expression, but simply allowed me to shepherd her into the room.

I wasn’t going to pretend that I was going to keep my hands to myself. Not even close.

I needed to feel her against me, skin to skin.

Bree lifted her arms as I removed her shirt.

Eyes closed, she let me slowly pluck each article of clothing from her body.

The ceiling fan worked lazily to push the summer air around the room.

The humidity hung in the air like a blanket.

Being naked was preferable to having clothes stick to our bodies anyway.

I wanted to kiss away the turmoil in her expression, chase the shadows beneath her eyes.

But it wasn’t only for her.

There was something driving at me, insistent that I claim what was mine.

It didn’t matter how many times I’d been inside her, it was never enough.

I wanted so much more.

Never in my life had I suffered from such an obsession with a woman.

A part of me wanted to demand why she had this hold on me, just so I could find a way to break it.

Another part of me wanted to savor every minute like a greedy bastard.

It was the two opposite sides that constantly battered my thoughts.

I was messing with fire.

Except I wasn’t the one who would burn when it all went south.

And make no mistake — it would all crumble like a house of cards at some point.

Bree would be the one to take the hit.

I would walk away because that’s what I was trained to do.

Make no attachments.

Get in, do the job, get out.

Bree’s head snapped back on a groan as I spread her legs to slide between her thighs.

With each deliberate thrust, I watched the pleasure spread across her beautiful face, that open expression of pure ecstasy a shot of pure arousal hurtling through my veins.

Watching Bree cum was fast becoming my favorite pastime. I loved how she lost all sense of time and space, her chest rising and falling with each pant as I fucked her.

Those perfect breasts — full and ripe — bounced with each flex of my hips.

The abandon with which Bree succumbed to her own pleasure was like heroin and I was the junkie ready to tie off at a moment’s notice.

Her mouth dropped open an a moan as my name fell from her lips and I knew she was so close.

I could drag it out, tease her, but after the day she’d had...I wanted to give her this gift.

Bree came quickly, shuddering, clenching all around me, clinging to my shoulders as her long legs wrapped my torso.

I followed seconds later, needing to let go, too.

Several long, sucking breaths later, I disposed of the condom and rolled onto my side to pull Bree into the cove of my arms where she settled perfectly.

The sweat had begun to dry on our bodies, my lids starting to droop when Bree broke the silence.

“I don’t know anything about you.”

My eyes opened as I privately tensed. I never shared details about my life. To anyone.

I was a ghost for good reason.

“There’s nothing to tell,” I said. “Go to sleep.”

But I should’ve known Bree wouldn’t listen like a good girl and drop off to dreamland.

No, instead, she turned to face me, a small frown on her face.

“All I know is your name is Dexter. What is your last name?”

That was easy. “Lansing.”

“Is that your real name?”

I couldn’t lie. It would’ve been easier if I could but...damn it, Bree was in my head. “No. Well, the Dexter part is real.”

“What’s your real name?” she pressed.

“I don’t give out that information,” I answered, hoping my firm tone sent a message that I wasn’t going to budge on that score.

“Where did you grow up?”

I sighed. Twenty questions. My favorite game. “Boise, Idaho.”

“For real?”

“No.”

She made a sound of frustration. “Stop lying to me. Just tell me straight, who the hell are you?”

Instead of answering, I kissed her hard, silencing her questions under the insistent attention of my tongue.

Bree melted quickly.

I went down on her again, savoring the unique flavor that was all Bree.

She came almost immediately, keening her release with a shudder and a gasp, breathless as she begged, “No more...I might die...”

I smiled and collected her to my side where she settled like a good girl this time.

Within a few moments, her deep, slow breathing followed and I knew she was out.

But sleep didn’t find me as quickly.

A movie I didn’t want to remember kept flickering behind my eyelids each time I tried to close my eyes.

Broken bones.

Being helpless.

Vulnerable.

No one lifting a finger to help.

The first man I ever killed had been my father.

Self-defense.

My records sealed because I was a minor.

The miserable son-of-a-bitch would’ve killed me if I hadn’t defended myself.

And I hadn’t cried a single tear.

The county therapist hired to sort me out said it was shock and that I would cry eventually when it all caught up to me.

That day still hadn’t happened.

I would never cry for that bastard.

Why the hell was that memory surfacing to fuck with me?

I hadn’t thought of that time in my life for a long time.

Bree shifted in my arms as if sensing my tension.

I brushed a soft kiss on the back of her head and she relaxed on a contented sigh.

Maybe I was stressed about the possibility I really did have super sperm and right now Bree was pregnant with my kid.

I stilled as the magnitude of that possibility washed over me.

I wasn’t qualified to be anyone’s role model.

Much less a kid’s.

I would never subject an innocent to the fucked up fuckery going on in my head.

Primal awareness sharpened my thoughts as my grip tightened around her.

I would kill anyone who tried to hurt Bree.

But who would protect her from me?