Life has a funny way of working out, of moving forward when you think it has stopped, stuck in the past. I hadn’t known what life was like, not truly, not fully, until Cameron opened me up, saw inside, let me see who I really was. Maybe I would have found out what I liked, how I wanted to spread my wings and fly, experience life in my own way, sooner or later. Maybe I didn’t need a man who shared the same darkness I did to know I wasn’t broken, wasn’t ruined.

Maybe it took a man who was just as scuffed up as me to know I wasn’t alone.

Even as a year had passed, my life revolving on my terms, on my time, I still felt like that lost girl. And when I saw Cameron, felt his hands on me, heard the words of his possession, of his dark love, then I felt alive. I wasn’t a victim, not unless I made myself one.

Never again.

I sat behind Cameron’s desk at the estate, going over the club paperwork, the finances, the employment history. I was in charge of helping Damien hire on new staff, vetting them out, making sure they could be trusted, even if they’d just be delivering drinks to customers. It was what I wanted to do, be a part of something bigger. It might not be the most prestigious job, a path I saw myself doing, but it allowed me to be near the man I loved, and earn my own money—even if Cameron insisted on taking care of me in all ways.

The sound of the door opening had me glancing up. Damien stood in the doorway, his hands behind him, his body ramrod straight. “He’s here.”

Just then my cell rang, and I picked it up and saw Cameron’s number flash along the screen. As if on instinct my body warmed, became soft, and everything in me was alive with awareness…anticipation.

“You’re ready, baby?”

His deep voice pierced right through me, and I glanced at Damien, feeling my face heat, my body reacting to the sound of Cameron’s voice.

“Yes.” I disconnected the call, stood, and smoothed my hands down the evening gown Cameron had sent to the house for me to wear. I turned and faced the window, seeing the gleam of his black Mercedes coming up the drive, the sun glinting off the exterior, the windows tinted so I wasn’t able to see him.

He was taking me out, and although Cameron never did anything normal, and this wouldn’t be a dinner and chick-flick kind of night, he made sure each and every second we spent together was intimate and special. At least that’s how he made me feel.

I left the room when the Mercedes came to a stop. I felt Damien follow behind, his big body always a constant. Over the last year, and honestly well before I was even in this situation, in this relationship with Cameron, Damien had always been there. He was the silent enforcer, the man who looked after me, made sure Cameron had his back watched at all times. He was a part of us in his own way, and the truth was if he wasn’t around, I would feel this loss. It was strange, but that was my world now.

I opened the front door and stepped outside, the sun already set, the moon high, and the lights of the estate in full bloom. My heart started beating even harder, even faster. Damien was already moving toward the back of the Mercedes, and when he opened the door and Cameron stepped out, that puzzle piece fit right back in place inside of me.

For a second Cameron and Damien stood by the car and spoke softly. I didn’t need to know what they said, didn’t need to wonder if there was shady back-alley shit going down. This was the life I’d agreed to, the life I wanted to have for my own. Cameron was the man I wanted by my side.

“Leave us,” Cameron said to Damien, and also to the driver, who I hadn’t noticed get out of the car until now. When it was just Cameron and me, the familiar heat I felt with Cameron filled me. “Come here,” he commanded, his voice smooth yet hard. I moved toward him, and once I was close enough he could reach out and touch me, he did just that. I was in Cameron’s arms seconds later, the heels I wore not even having me come up to his chin. He was strong where I was fragile. He was masculine where I was feminine.

He was the vast openness where I was the darkness. He swallowed me whole without even trying, without even needing to.

“I’ve rented out the theater. It’ll be us. Only us.”

“Just the way you like it,” I said and tipped my head back to look at him. He didn’t smile, didn’t really show me any emotion, but he didn’t need to. The way he looked at me, that possession in his eyes, told me all I needed to know. I was his world.

“I like to keep you all to myself. Always.” He held me tighter. Cameron would never be called sweet or gentle, not in the traditional sense. But that’s not why I loved him, not why I came back and stayed with him. I did so because he gave me what I needed, craved.

And I gave him what he needed.

Before Cameron I was a bird with clipped wings, living in a rusted cage, the door locked, the key thrown away. But now I flew high, experienced the world, let my wings spread out, and the wind rush over me.

“What do you see when you look at me?” I asked, staring into his eyes, seeing that darkness focused on me. With his hands on my face, his body pressed tightly to mine, I felt like I’d never fall.

“Vastness,” he said softly. “You're my ocean, Sofia. I can't see anything else but you.”