Carolyn and I walked into the kitchen and tossed our keys into the bowl on the counter by the door. It had been four and a half weeks since her car had been shot up, but it was finally ready. Like my car, getting the glass and sheet metal fixed had been a quick and easy repair, the interior of her car was much more heavily damaged, and like with my car, it had taken time to obtain all the parts.

The interior shop had called me yesterday to inform me the car was ready, so she’d taken a half day off from work so we could drop off the rental car and pick up her Mustang. With her car in the drive, everything was back to normal. My garage door had been repaired, my car had been returned the Monday following my scornful, threat-filled conversation with Rock, and ten days after my car, she had hers.

Carolyn was surprised Rock hadn’t made his retaliation by now. She still thought he would, but I was starting to believe that he’d realized the blackmail wasn’t going to work and decided to drop it. I swung her around and swooped her into my arms. I smiled down at her. She was lovelier than ever, her bruising and split lip just a memory. I kissed her, allowing my lips to linger.

“Bailey won’t be home for another ninety minutes.”

She purred. “You think that’s enough time?”

“If we get to it.”

“What are we waiting on then?” she asked as she caressed my manhood.

“You’re home!” Bláithín said, stepping into the kitchen from the bedrooms.

I’m sure I blushed since she had to have seen Carolyn holding my cock, but she was a big girl. “Yeah. We’ve got some things to talk about.”

Bláithín smiled. “So I see. Should I take Bailey for ice cream or something, to make sure you have plenty of time to finish…talking?”

Carolyn and I both snickered. “No, but thank you for the offer,” I replied. Since Bláithín was onto us, I decided there was no point in pretending we weren’t going to do what we were going to do. I tugged on Carolyn’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go into the bedroom and intercourse.”

Carolyn twittered out a laugh. “Excuse us, Bláithín. Thom and I have to go do some hard negotiating.”

Bláithín grinned. “Aren’t you two bold?” Her smile spread. “If I hear ructions when I get back with Bailey, I’ll take him outside.”

I winked at her. “That’ll be great, thanks, and you can explain to him what’s going on.”

Bláithín laughed. “I’ll take him outside, but I think I’ll leave the explaining to you.”

“Ructions?” Carolyn asked as we entered out bedroom.

“Maybe the Irish equivalent of ruckus? I’m not sure, but I think I’d like to hear you ruction.”

“Maybe I’ll make you ruction instead,” she countered as she melted into my arms.

I caressed her lips with mine. “Maybe we’ll both ruction.”

“Oh God, I hope so,” she breathed, “and at the same time.”

“Mutual ructions,” I whispered, taking her lips again.

We kissed and touched, my fingertips delighting with the warm softness of her flesh as they lightly roamed her body, my ears with the sounds of her sighs and quiet gasps, my lips with the taste of her skin. We undressed each other leisurely, taking our time, allowing the closeness we felt to pull us together. I lowered her to our bed, how I thought of it now… our bed, our home, our life.

I hovered over her, watching her eyes, losing myself in their infinite depth. “What?” she asked, her face soft, a tiny smile at her lips. I lowered myself to lie lightly on her, the feel of her body against mine warming more than my skin. I searched for words, wanting to tell her how important she was becoming to me, how important she had become to me. I searched her face, looking for answers.

“Thom?” she whispered, her smile fading. “What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t speak, my emotions striking me mute. I lowered my lips to hers, kissing her softly, trying to show her all the things I wanted to say, but couldn’t. She returned the kiss, her eyes bright as I slowly lifted my head.

I studied her face, burning every detail into my memory. “I love you,” I finally blurted, the welling of my feelings for her forcing the words out.

She snickered, her face twisting with her smile. “Not yet you haven’t,” she said, but her smile began to fade as her eyes opened wider. “Wait, do you mean that?”

Now that the words were out there, like a crack in a dam, my love for her began to pour forth, forcing the crack wider and wider until I was overflowing with need to tell her.

“Yes,” I said, my smile so wide my cheeks hurt. “I’m falling wildly, madly, desperately in love with you.”

I wanted to shout it to the world, to run down my street screaming to anyone that would listen that I was falling madly in love with Carolyn Andrea McDowell and never wanted to stop. She studied my face, her gaze locked onto mine. She looked concerned, confused, maybe even a little upset with my words, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

“It’s okay if you don’t—” I began, but her kiss stopped me.

I’d never been so well kissed. We devoured each other as we drew together. When the kiss finally dissolved, she pulled my face into her neck.

“I love you too,” she whispered so softly I wouldn’t have heard it had her lips not been so close to my ear.

I rose to look into her face, unsure if I’d heard her correctly, but the softness of her expression and the tiny puddle of tears in the corner of her eyes told me everything I needed to know. I kissed the tears away.

“Don’t cry.”

She slowly rocked her head. “I’m not. You’re so good to me.”

“And you to me,” I replied, pausing as I caressed her cheek with my thumb. “Remember when you said you wanted to be the woman I thought you were?” She nodded, her eyes bright. “You are.”

Her face crinkled. “You’re going to make me cry,” she whimpered.

“Never,” I promised.

“I want you,” she whispered.

“I want you.”

“Then take me.”

I adjusted my position and settled into her, her soft gasp at my passage always enough to make my heart pound faster, but never more than this moment. I began to move in a slow easy rhythm, making her mine as she made me hers.

Her eyes closed, I watched the pleasure play across her features, drawing pleasure from giving it. Her eyes opened and she smiled, dragging her nails lightly along my chest in ten crackling lines of pleasure that caused me to hiss through bared teeth.

“You like that?” she purred.

She was a playful, dynamic lover, a lover that could twist me up with pleasure like no woman before her. “You know I do.”

I’d barely finished speaking when she gently tweaked my nipple, causing me to gasp and lunge into her as the pleasurable sting of her play amped me up. I smiled down at her, my teeth bared in an erotic snarl as I held myself deep. She did it again, on the other side. I gasped and lunged into her again, my body not mine to control, and before I could recover, she dragged her nails up my back. She knew exactly what she was doing, her scratches and pinches taking me to the edge of pain and the peak of pleasure. I gasped as I arched my back, throwing my head back, my mouth open as I pushed my cock in as deeply as possible.

“Fuck…” I gasped.

I’d learned this was the kind of shit she did when she wanted a good fucking, and I was going to give it to her. I exploded into motion, pushed up on stiff arms so I could pound her hard and deep. She groaned, her nails raking down my arms. I fucked her good for a long moment before dropping onto her, burying my face in her neck, the only way I could stop myself from coming. Pushed up on my arms, I could watch her under me, the slosh of her breasts and the pleasure on her face made me need to come every time, but I couldn’t not watch. She was too sexy, too beautiful, she was like a drug, and I had to have my fix.

I pounded into her, gripping her ass as I did, something I knew she liked. She began to moan softly, her nails biting my back until she clamped down on me, her womanhood a velvet vise. I focused, my own orgasm leaping close, her bliss trying to drag me over the cliff into the abyss. I struggled against my rising pleasure, grunting softly as I wrestled with my need, thrusting into her as she raptured, wanting to extend her orgasm as long as possible.

She relaxed and I stilled my hips with a sigh, thankful I’d been able to hold on. She kissed me, deeply, passionately, her post rapture kisses so deeply erotic they alone can almost make come if I was barely hanging on.

As my need subsided, I began to plunge into her again, but she twisted her hips. We tumbled and she came to rest on my chest, her smile going straight to my cock. She reached between us and guided me into the center of her womanhood again.

“I love you,” she murmured as she began to move.

“And I love you,” I whispered.

She pumped her hips, watching my face. After a long moment, the sensations began to flay me, my climax building with her every movement. I closed my eyes, one hand going to her thigh, the other to the back of her neck to pull her into a kiss. She rode me hard for a long moment. I groaned in effort, losing the battle against my orgasm.

“You’re going to make me come,” I breathed.

“I’m going to come again,” she gasped.

I ground my teeth, desperate to hold my release until she came again, but she wasn’t making it easy. Her breasts were puddled on my chest and her head was back, her mouth open and eyes closed as her face twisted in pleasure.

I began to sizzle, every nerve crackling as my orgasm tried to overwhelm me. Her soft pants, the movement of her breasts on my chest, the feel of her womanhood caressing my cock, her quiet moan, they tormented me until I cried out softly.

When I fought my orgasm until I was overwhelmed, as I was doing now, I came so fucking hard, and this time was no exception. I clamped her to my chest as I came, ever pulse of my seed burning the length of my shaft with the force of my expulsion.

I held her tight, fighting the need to roar in pleasure as she fucked me, my body burning with erotic fire. She groaned, hard and deep, as she shuddered and clamped down on me. She continued to pump her hips, her fingers biting into my shoulders, her body rigid as she stilled. I held her tight as she quivered, suddenly relaxing with an explosive release of breath.

We were still for a long moment before she looked at me, a satisfied smile on her face as she touched my cheek. “I love you,” she murmured as she took my lips.

I luxuriated in the caress of her lips, my hand going to her head to hold her in the kiss, prolonging in this singular perfect moment. We drank our fill and she sighed out of the kiss, my cock still inside her as she lay on my chest.

“I love you,” I whispered.

She lay unmoving, her hand caressing my shoulder and arm, her breath warm and soft on my skin. “What does this mean?”

“Nothing. Everything,” I replied as I stroked her hair.

She was quiet for a long moment. “Yeah. Nothing has changed, has it?”

A smile tugged at me lips. “Nothing has changed,” I agreed. “Except now you know you’re more to me than someone to warm my bed at night.”

“Was that all I was?” she asked.

“You were never just that.”

“You’re sweet.”

“You’re amazing.”

“So are you.” She paused. “And not just in bed.”

“You’re welcome,” I teased and grunted softly as she pumped her hips a few times, my cock sliding inside her making me twitch.

“And you’re welcome,” she sighed before kissing me on the chest.

I was getting drowsy, and I was pretty sure she was asleep when my phone began to ring. In any other situation, I would ignore it, but everything that had gone on with the Ravens, and with Bailey and Bláithín not at home, I felt I had to check it.

I slid Carolyn to the bed, waking her as I did. “What?” she murmured.

I hurried to the wad of my pants on the floor, but the phone stopped ringing before I could fish it from the pocket. I glanced at the screen. It was Bláithín and a chill passed over me. I dialed the number.

“Dad?” Bailey said, his voice full of fear.

“Bailey?”

“Dad…I’m scared. Men on motorcycles are kicking the car.”

I heard a thump. “Where are you?” I asked, my hand gripping the phone tightly.

“Coming home from school.”

“Are you still driving?”

“Yeah.”

I heard another thump. “You tell Bláithín not to stop. No matter what, she is not to stop! Tell her!”

“Dad said not to stop, no matter what.”

“I won’t!” Bláithín’s voice came from far away, but I could hear her terror.

“I want you to hang up and call the police. 9-1-1, right?”

“We already did.”

“Then you keep coming home and you don’t stop for anything, not red lights, not stop signs, nothing. You tell Bláithín that. You’re not to stop, okay? If the men get in front and try to make you stop, you run over them. It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m scared, Dad.”

“I know, buddy, but I need you to be brave for Bláithín, okay?”

I heard another thump. “I’ll try.”

“I’m going to stay on the phone with you until you get home, okay?”

“They’re leaving,” he said. “Dad, they’re leaving.”

“That’s good, but tell Bláithín not to stop except for the police, okay? Tell her now.”

“Dad said not to stop except for the police.” There was a pause. “She said okay, and to tell you we were getting on the motorway.”

“Okay, good. You should be safe now.”

I walked in tight circles in the bedroom, totally unconcerned with my nakedness. I told Carolyn the story as I held the phone to my ear and she dressed, listening Bailey as gave me a running commentary of their drive.

“We’re turning onto our street,” Bailey said.

“Okay, pal. You’re safe now. I’ll see you in a couple minutes.” I ended the call. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker,” I snarled as I jammed my legs into my boxers and pants.

“This is all my fault,” Carolyn said, her voice weak. “I should have never told him your name.”

“This is nobody’s fault but the fucking Ravens,” I snarled. “I gave him a chance, but coming after you, and now Bailey?”

I heard the garage door go up and I shrugged into my shirt as I stomped to the kitchen, Carolyn following in my wake. Bailey stepped into the kitchen and ran to me, throwing his arms around me. I hugged him fiercely, then looked to Bláithín. She was standing to the side, her hands clasped in front of her, her head hanging low.

“Come here,” I said, holding an arm out. She rushed to me, and I wrapped her in a hug. She coughed out a sob and sniffed. I kissed her on the top of the head. “You did good. You did real good.”

“This is my fault,” Bláithín murmured.

“No. It’s Scott Rockford’s fault.” I held Bailey and Bláithín for a moment until Bláithín stepped back. I crouched down. “You did good too,” I said pulling Bailey into a proper hug.

“I was scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared,” I whispered. “I was scared too. But you did what you had to, you helped Bláithín even though you were scared. But you won’t have to worry about them much longer. I’m going to take care of it, okay?”

He pulled out of my arms. “How?”

“You let me worry about that.”

The four of us inspected the car as Bláithín and Bailey gave us the play by play. The car was bent all to shit, boot marks on the doors and fenders from where the bikers were kicking it. Carolyn asked a few questions. We all knew it was the Ravens even though the four men that had attacked Bláithín and Bailey weren’t wearing their colors. I patted the car on the roof as we went back inside, silently thanking the little car for keeping my family safe.

“Bláithín, will you start dinner, please? I have some business to take care of.”

“Yes, sir.”

Carolyn followed me to the bedroom. I closed the door and dialed. “Rock! Go!”

“You fucked up,” I sneered. “I gave you a chance to walk away, but you went after my son. I’m going to fucking bury you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you don’t. But you will. You fucking will,” I growled before I ended the call.

She looked at me. “I should go.”

I glared at her and took a deep breath, letting go of my anger and fear so I wouldn’t take it out on her. “Go where?”

“Away. Out of your life. Maybe if I leave he’ll—”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. This isn’t about you anymore. You’re safer here with me. I’m going to hire security for us, all of us, and I’m going to make the Ravens wish they’d never heard of me.”

She looked at me and swallowed hard. “They’re never going to stop.”

I smiled at her without humor. “They’ll stop when they’re all in jail or in the ground.” She stared at me and I went to her, pulling her into my embrace. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”

She nodded slowly. “I hope you’re right.”