He pulls up down the block from my house and kills the engine. “Be careful,” he says. “Your brother might know something.”

“You think he’ll go to my parents?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I doubt it.”

I stare at him, my heart still pounding from earlier. I thought I was going to get hurt back there, maybe even get killed, but he saved me. The Walker brothers are going to be pissed, but I realize that I don’t care. I’m more and more convinced that they’re the ones who did this to begin with, the ones that got Luke locked up from the start.

I open my door. “Come with me,” I say.

“I can’t,” he answers. “We can’t be seen together.”

“Come with me,” I repeat, stepping out of the car. Without thinking, I cut across a lawn and head back toward the woods.

I hear Luke’s door open and shut, and he hurries to catch up with me. He doesn’t say anything as we walk into the woods together.

My heart’s beating so fast, and has been since the shed. When the brothers appeared, I thought this was all over, but I should have known better. Luke can take care of me and both of those bastards if he has to, and he proved it today.

What really scares me, though, is the thought of losing him. I kept thinking he’d get killed, murdered right there in front of me, and I wouldn’t know what to do. My whole world was in peril, and I was so scared I could barely breathe. But he got us through it.

And I realize how badly I need him. As soon as we get close to the creek, I turn and face him. I have so many things I want to say to him, so many things he needs to know.

But I don’t get any of that out, because he pulls me against him and kisses me.

I kiss him back, and that’s enough. Desire pulses through me, heightened by what just happened. I fumble with his belt, sliding my hand down the front of his jeans to feel his massive cock stiffening in my palm.

I stroke him and he pins me up against a tree, kissing me desperately. I’m so happy to be alive, so happy that I can keep this going with him. His lips linger on my neck and I pull his cock out, stroking him as he reaches down to unzip my jeans.

“You were perfect,” he whispers in my ear. “I’ll never let them get close to you.”

“I know that.” I gasp as his fingers find my pussy, slowly stroking me.

“This is mine. Every inch of you is mine. I can’t let them take what’s mine, not ever, not again.”

He presses his fingers deep inside of me and I gasp. He kisses my lips, his taste on my tongue, and I can’t help but moan as he slowly strokes me again.

I bite his lower lip as he fucks me with his fingers again. I stroke his cock fast, feeling his thick shaft, his soft tip. I need him so badly I can barely breathe.

He slides his hands out and grabs my hips. He turns me around, pushes me against the tree, tugging my jeans down more, exposing my wet pussy to the cold air.

His hands palm my ass. “Fuck, girl,” he whispers in my ear, pinning me against the bark. “You’re trouble, you know that?”

“Yeah,” I gasp as I feel his cock teasing me from behind.

“Lots of fucking trouble.”

I moan as he slowly sinks himself inside of me.

“But you’re worth it,” he grunts, filling me up.

I grip the tree as he rocks himself in and out of my pussy, fucking me from behind. We’re out in public and I know anyone could walk past and see us, but I don’t care.

He grabs my hips and starts to fuck me. He pins my right wrist up above my head and slaps my ass with his left palm. I gasp as the pain stings and makes the pleasure even better, more enticing as it rolls through me. He fucks me hard and deep, fast and rough. We’re not making love right now, we’re fucking, because we’re alive.

And it feels so good. The pleasure is so much sweeter because of what almost happened earlier. I need this so badly, need the pleasure and the pain of him, need to feel alive. He grabs my hair roughly, slamming his cock into me, sensing my need. I reach back and turn my head, putting my palm on his cheek and kissing him as his cock buries itself into my tight pussy.

I move my hips back, sliding along his shaft. I’m soaking wet, and I should be cold, but he’s fucking me so hard, taking me so rough, that I don’t feel anything but him. He pins me back up against the tree, pulling my wrists behind my back, slamming into me from behind.

“Fuck, girl,” he groans. “I need this pussy every day. This perfect round ass. You know I dream about this ass?” He releases my wrists with one hand and slaps my ass, nice and hard. “Nothing fucking sexier than my handprint on your perfect skin.”

I buck back against him, needing more. He fucks me harder, slaps my ass. I push back against him and that only drives him harder into me, making me hurt, making it feel so fucking good I can barely breathe.

I feel my orgasm growing inside of me, ready to come out. He’s fucking me like an animal, taking me fast and rough. It’s what I need, what makes me feel so alive.

“Come on, Luke,” I groan. “Make me come.”

“You want more?” he grunts. “You think you can handle it?”

“Come on, asshole.”

He wraps one hand around my neck, not tight, but enough to know it’s there. He fucks me harder, ripping into me, and I let the moans escape my lips with wild abandon. I throw my head back, feeling him, feeling it all.

I come hard then, orgasming on his fat cock. He fills me rough and deep, railing into me as my body explodes with pleasure, twitching out of control and intense. I can barely handle it, but he holds me there, pinning me in place, ramming his cock between my legs.

I hear him grunt and I feel him coming inside of me. I move my hips, sliding back and forth, riding him as he comes, filling me. I gasp and groan, and we finish together, panting, drawing in air. He wraps his arms around me as he slides out and holds me there, tight against him.

We get ourselves together and he leans against the tree, watching me.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asks suddenly.

I look at him, my head cocked to the side. “What do you mean?”

“What I’m doing,” he says, his face serious. “It’s dangerous. I can stop, if you want me to. We can just… be a family.”

That word sends my heart racing all over again. I want nothing more than to be a family with him. I could move out of my parents’ house and live with him and Max. We can be a real couple, have a real life together. We could put all of this behind us and just live, just be happy, just be a family.

But I can’t ask that of him. I know I can’t, not after what he’s been through. Not after how far we’ve come. We’re so close to getting him what he wants, to finding out the truth. And frankly, I worked hard for this as well. I can’t just back down.

“I’m sure,” I say softly, feeling anything but.

He nods once. “This is your chance. Say the word and I’ll back down for you.”

“No,” I say. “I can’t.”

“You can.” He steps toward me, tipping my chin up. He kisses my lips softly. “You can.”

I take a deep breath. Everything in me yearns for this. “No,” I say again.

He looks intensely sad, but I think he understands. “Okay,” he whispers. “We’ll see it through.”

I nod and he pulls me against him. He hugs me close and I don’t know what I’m thinking, what I’m feeling, but I know this is the right thing to do. We can’t back down. We can’t give up.

We can’t let the bastards win.