That ride from Port Az to Crystal Falls was the longest of my life. It was well past midnight when I tore up Beth’s driveway. Maybe it would have been smarter to make less of an entrance. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered until I saw her with my own eyes.

I pounded on her front door. Her motion lights came on and every dog in her neighborhood started to bark. Good. Let them. Let the world know she had a member of the Dark Saints at her doorstep that night. God help any man who tried to come between us.

Beth came to the door. It was two o’clock in the morning, but she was fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Her eyes were red from crying. Without a word, she stepped back and let me in. She crumpled in my arms as I came to her.

“You’re okay?” she whimpered. I said the exact same thing to her at the exact same time.

“Baby?” I showered her face with kisses, feeling up and down her arms. She was safe. She was whole. Adrenaline coursed through me. In my mind’s eye, I saw Beth like I saw Sean the last time. Instead of his bloodless face laying on a coroner’s slab, I saw hers. No. I would never let it happen. They’d have to kill me first.

“It was all over the news.” She sniffled. “I called you a dozen times. Why didn’t you answer? Oh God. I thought …”

“Shh. Baby, I’m okay. It’s okay.”

She shook her head. “It’s not. Don’t lie to me. It’s started. They shot up Woody’s. Were you there? Danny, your face. Your hand. There’s blood.”

She pulled me into the kitchen. Grabbing a cloth, she ran it under cold water and pressed it to my bloodied hand. I couldn’t feel pain. I could barely breathe.

“What happened?” she asked. I went to her kitchen table and sat down. She sank into a chair beside me and smoothed the hair away from my eyes.

“I can’t talk about it,” I said. “You don’t need the details anyway. I just had to ... Beth. He said …”

“They came here,” she said, her voice dropping. “I should have told you but I didn’t want you to fly off the handle. I didn’t want you to take their bait.”

My blood heated. She looked so scared, so small. I’d seen that look on her face before. Sean used to put it there. That Hawk’s whispered words turned my heart to stone. I should have killed him when I had the chance.

“You have to tell me exactly what happened,” I said. I didn’t want to scare her, but knew she was already terrified.

She ran a hand over her face. “Two nights ago,” she said. “A guy broke into the house. He was here when I came home. He didn’t do anything to me. He was just here to rattle me. He wore a Hawks cut, Danny. His name was Milo. He wanted to make sure I saw it. That’s why I didn’t tell you. It’s what he wanted.”

Something broke inside of me. It felt like a waterfall. I’d kept a wall around my heart where Beth was concerned. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to have to face my own guilt for the choices I made and the things I put her through. But as I took in the sight of her, pale, beautiful, whole, the wall crumbled.

“Did he hurt you?” My words didn’t sound like my own. It was as if I existed outside myself, floating in some corner, watching. Then Beth touched my cheek and tethered me back to my own body.

“No,” she said, her eyes glistening with tears she held back. “No, Danny. He didn’t hurt me. I told you. I don’t think that’s why he came. He wanted to make sure I knew he was a Hawk and that I told you about it. So whatever happens, whatever you do. I’m begging you, don’t play into it.”

She came to me. It was as if she could brush away every shield I’d built to protect us both with just the soft touch of her hand against my cheek.

They had been here. My enemy had put his hands on her. I knew in my heart it would break me for good if anything ever happened to this woman.

My raw need took over. I was stupid to think I could be strong or stoic where she was concerned. Beth’s skin flushed with her own desire. She was just as scared as I was. Her thirst just as strong.

“Beth,” I whispered.

“Shh. Don’t. Don’t say anything. Don’t tell me the fifty reasons why this is a bad idea. I already know them all. Right now, I don’t care.”

I pulled her to me. We sank to the kitchen floor together in a jumble of limbs. I couldn’t get her jeans down fast enough. Or mine. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I’d ever manage to get this woman to a proper bed before lust drove me mad. For now, the answer was no. I would take her on the damn kitchen tile. To hell with it all.

I was hard as steel for her. Beth wriggled out of her jeans and I tore at her thin cotton panties. I slid my hands beneath her t-shirt and found her pert nipple pebbled for me.

I needed this woman. I was starved for her. There were a million reasons why I should have just got up and walked away. But I was selfish where Beth was concerned and at that moment, no power on earth could have taken me from her.

“Deacon,” she whispered. I loved my name on her lips. I was Deacon. I was Danny too, but I wanted to claim her again as I was. She arched her back and spread her legs for me.

“God,” I gasped. She found me, closing her fingers around my rigid cock. She was slick and hot as I drove myself home. I planted my hands on either side of her head and hovered over her. I wanted to stay like this forever. Her slippery walls enveloped me. It was home.

Beth touched my face. Her cheeks flushed with her rising desire. She was everything. She was mine. God might damn me for being selfish. It would be worth it. God help us both.

I moved in her, loving the way she twitched around me. She was tight and warm and I knew what heaven felt like. Beth curved herself around me, hooking her ankles behind me. I slid my hands up her thighs, spreading her even wider. Then I picked up a faster rhythm. Beth gasped with pleasure. She quivered with every move I made. Tiny beads of sweat formed on her upper lip. I dug my fingers into the floor to keep traction.

I shifted my weight, pulling Beth on top of me. I wanted her to ride me. I wanted to watch her move. She pulled her t-shirt over her head and threw it against the wall. Braless, her breasts hung heavy. I reached up and kissed each nipple, rolling it gently with my tongue. I loved the little noises she made as she picked up her own rhythm, grinding against me. I wanted her to take her pleasure first. I could feel her sex throb against me.

Beth fucked me with abandon. I knew she felt what I did. She was scared. So was I. I couldn’t make her promises I knew she needed. I could only offer her this. Here. Now. And she took it.

When Beth came, she threw her head back, arching her dark hair over her shoulders. I laced my fingers through hers and kept her upright. I pressed my hips into her, filling her as far as my dick would go.

“Danny!” She screamed my name as her orgasm ripped through her. She was wet and wild, gushing all around me. It drove me to the edge. I never wanted this feeling to stop. I knew in my heart it would have to last us both. Maybe forever.

As her legs quivered, I got my hands on her hips and rose off the floor. Rock hard, I stayed inside of her as I got to my feet and carried her into the bedroom. Her hair brushed my shoulders, light as a feather. I lay Beth gently on the bed.

“I want to look at you,” I said, my voice thick with lust. Beth squirmed, still feeling her afterglow.

God, she was gorgeous. She trembled, parting her legs. Her nipples peaked as I ran my hands down her smooth, silky thighs. I primed myself, ready to lose myself in her all over again. She let me. Beth reached up and guided me into her. I went deep. Her juices coated me. Beth. My sweet Beth. I went up on the balls of my feet, sheathing myself to the root.

Then I took her. Claimed her. Made her mine forever. Beth clutched the sheets as I picked up the pace. I could feel her rising again. She met me thrust for thrust.

“Baby,” I whispered. Then I lost myself. My seed poured out of me. Beth took it all. I came fast and hard. She cried out my name. First Danny, then Deacon. She took me. I made her mine.

Then I gathered her against me and held on tight. Beth sighed against my chest and threw one leg over my hip. We were sticky with each other. Beads of sweat poured down her temple. I wanted more. I wanted it all.

I peppered Beth with soft kisses, moving down the column of her throat. Time stopped. It had to. Because when the sun rose, I knew everything might change forever. I heard my phone ringing in my jeans in the kitchen. I knew I should answer it. It was Bear. It was the club. But for these few precious moments, I shut it all out and lived only for Beth.