“Nice digs,” Kian murmured as we climbed out of the car.

I was too tired to really take in much of anything, but I’d seen Nicco’s home before, and I had to admit…he did have nice digs.

Joelle climbed out of the car, a numb look on her face as she looked around. She hadn’t asked anything else about Nicco, and I was glad. I thought it was better to have that conversation sitting at a table, or maybe curled up on the couch with a pint of ice cream for each of us.

Taking her arms in my hands, I squeezed lightly. “It’s all going to be okay now,” I told her.

“Papa can make me go back,” she said, her voice shaking. “I’m sixteen, Suria. I’m a minor.”

“If he finds you, and if he tries, we’ll go to the police,” I told her. “We’ll tell them the truth about what’s been happening in the clan. My mama was made to marry too young. So was yours. They tried to make you marry when you didn’t want to. Sooner or later, it has to stop.” I thought about it a moment, then added, “We need to help Trice too.”

Joelle looked stricken at the idea of our cousin being forced into the same situation. “Yes, we need to help them all.”

I nodded. “Maybe we should send an anonymous letter to the cops anyway, so they can go in and try to find a way to make it stop. We can give the names of some of our cousins and other girls in the clan who were forced to marry. Maybe one of them will be ready enough for an escape that they’ll talk.”

Joelle listened, wide-eyed, and when I was done speaking, she nodded. “I think I want to do that. You’re right. It has to stop. I don’t want anybody else to feel the way I have the past couple of days.” She leaned against me, and her slim shoulders shook as she started to cry. “I’m sorry I called Trice. I didn’t think he’d be able to find us. If I’d known he was listening…”

“It’s okay, baby.” I squeezed her tight. “It’s over now.”

I gave her another minute, then pulled back. The men had already walked up to the front of the house, giving us the illusion of privacy. Taking her hand, I linked our fingers and said, “Come on. There’s somebody you need to meet.”

Up on the porch, I ushered Joelle in front of me, keeping my arm around her shoulders as I steered her toward Nicco. “It’s a little late for all of us, but guess what, Joelle?” I hugged her, feeling giddy and almost insanely free in that moment. We’d made it. We’d gotten away. “We have a brother. Joelle…this is Nicco. Nicco…I’d like you to meet Joelle. Our baby sister.”

Joelle’s mouth dropped open.

Nicco took a step forward. Like he was speaking to a skittish animal, he offered a hand and kept his distance as he said, “It’s good to finally meet you, Joelle.”

She stared at his hand like it belonged to an alien.

Then she lunged herself at him and threw her arms around his neck, laughing that bright, happy laugh that always made me smile.

I sniffed a little as tears burned my eyes. I blinked them back. Whether they were happy tears or not, I wasn’t going to cry on a day like this.

A huge yawn cracked my mouth wide open as Nicco led Joelle to a bedroom.

“You’ll all stay here until this is blown over,” Nicco said softly. “And it will blow over. We’ll make sure of it.”

Joelle looked at him with trusting eyes and nodded.

Me, I looked at him and asked, “How can you be so certain?”

“Because I know you’ll never go back and you’ll never let your sister go back.” He gave me a grim smile and added, “Neither will I.”

My chest loosened a little. “Sure?”

He hesitated a moment, then added, “I’ve got contacts at the district attorney’s office in LA County. I’ll make a few discreet phone calls. This mess with forcing teenaged girls into marriage is something that has to be stopped. Pressure from the right place, the right people will do it.”

“Some attention from the police will help,” Kian said. “I know a lieutenant in the police department, and…well, he’s got connections.”

Some of the tension seemed to drain from Joelle.

And me.

I was almost limp with fatigue and relief as Nicco led Kian and me to a room. “If you’d prefer separate suites…?” He left the question open-ended.

“This is fine,” I assured him. “I appreciate you letting us stay with you.”

“Don’t say that,” Nicco said softly. He cupped his hands over my shoulders. “We’re family.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You’re welcome here as long as you like.”

Once we were alone, I turned to Kian and practically fell against him. I’d been doing my best not to wobble on my feet for the past hour, but my strength was running at an all-time low. “Thank you,” I mumbled against his chest.

He swept me up into his arms. “You don’t need to thank me.”

“Yes, I do.” Rubbing my cheek against the hard muscles under his shirt, I sighed in contentment. He laid me down on the bed, and I watched through heavy lashes as he stripped my shoes away. “You helped me take care of my sister. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

“I didn’t do it because I wanted gratitude, Suria.” He pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

“Then why?”

“You’re too tired. We’ll talk in the morning.”

I wanted to argue with him, but my tongue seemed to glue itself to the roof of my mouth, and my eyelids weighed about five pounds each, making it impossible to open my eyes.

“Okay. Talk in the mornin’,” I mumbled.

Sleep grabbed me so fast, I didn’t even know if he said anything after that.

Morning peeked through the narrow slit in the curtains, a white-gold light that indicated it was probably late morning. I lay there, letting my brain acclimate and adjust to where I was.

A hard thigh brushed against mine, and I rolled onto my side to watch Kian as he slept.

His face was free from the strain that had tightened it for the past couple days.

He was a beautiful man. Reaching out, I traced a finger down his nose. He didn’t even stir. I continued on down to his mouth. He remained still. Curious, I sat up, the covers moving with me and falling to my waist. The movement tugged them away from Kian’s chest, and I placed my hand just over his heart. It beat in a slow, steady rhythm and I moved my hand on down, dragging the blanket and sheet with me.

He started to stir just as I reached his hips, and I moved, throwing the blankets aside. Grasping the skin-skimming boxers he wore, I dragged them down his hips just as his lashes lifted. “Good morning,” I said. Then I bent over him and took him in my mouth.

He groaned and arched up, one hand fisting in my hair.

I sucked on his cock, feeling him as he went from morning hard to achingly I’m ready to fuck hard. I swirled my tongue around the head of his shaft and felt him shudder. When he arched up and shoved himself deeper into my mouth, I swallowed him down as much as I could.

He made a low, harsh noise in his throat that I loved, so I did it again and again. I kept it up until my eyes were burning and I was gasping for air. As he fisted his hand in my hair, I gripped his thighs, pricking him lightly with my nails.

We moved together, me stroking down and him arching up with shallow thrusts of his hips. The taste of him was salty on my tongue, and I sucked on him, greedy for more.

He rasped out my name. “I’m going to come if you keep that up.”

Good. I did it again, and again.

Hot semen splashed and hit the back of my throat. I swallowed and kept on moving, draining every last drop from him.

When it was over, I laid between his thighs with my head pillowed on his belly. He had one hand on my neck, the other curved over my shoulder.

“That’s the best wake-up I’ve had in my entire life,” Kian said, his voice a sleepy rumble.

I laughed and pushed up to smile down at him.

“My way of saying thank you.”

He gave me a pained grimace. “I don’t want you saying thank you. I didn’t do it for thanks.”

As he eased away from me, I sat up and wrapped the blanket around me. “Why did you do it?” I asked softly. “You’ve got every reason to hate me, but instead, you helped me.”

“I couldn’t hate you, Suria,” he said, looking over his shoulder at me. He looked away then, a heavy sigh escaping him. When he finally looked back, his mouth was set in a rueful smile. “What I feel is pretty much the opposite.”

I blinked, sure I must have misheard him.

“I don’t know if it started the day you told me about your sister, or if it was when you went to talk to my mom and you apologized despite the fact that you were scared to death…or maybe it was when you stood there in front of your father and told him he couldn’t make you stay. Somewhere along the way, I started to fall in love with you. So…no. I couldn’t hate you, and helping you help your sister…what else was I going to do?”

Tears burned my eyes as I stared at him. “You love me?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I don’t expect you to feel the same. Not yet, at least. I can’t imagine how hard it is for you to learn how to trust somebody, but I’m going to be right here. I’m going to show you how to trust somebody. You’ll learn to trust–”

I caught the rest of his words with my mouth, climbing into his lap to kiss him better. “I already trust you,” I said between kisses. “Here I was wondering how I’d be able to let you go when I’d gone and fallen for you.”

Kian pulled back, his eyes meeting mine. “What’s that mean…fallen for me?”

“Well…” I shrugged. Reaching up, I traced his mouth with my finger. “I don’t have pretty words like you did, but I’m kind of in love with you too.”

He caught my hand and dragged it down. Then, as his eyes darkened to something close to navy, he leaned in and kissed me.

I guess he didn’t need pretty words.

“Tell me again,” he said after the kiss broke. “Tell me again.”