Riana woke up alone.

The bed was familiar now—big, clean, and comfortable. And there was faint light shining dimly from the hallway.

She never slept in pitch darkness anymore.

But when she rolled over and opened her eyes, she saw the other side of the bed was empty. The covers were warm and rumpled from where he’d been sleeping but Cain was no longer in bed.

She wasn’t surprised or particularly concerned. She knew immediately where he was.

Sometimes she just went back to sleep when she woke up and found he was missing. But this was the third night this week. So she rolled out of bed and padded barefoot out of the house.

Both moons were nearly full, and the night was clear so there was plenty of light illuminating the expansive yard and the sloped fields surrounding the house. Cain’s ranch was vast, and it had taken her weeks to grow familiar with the endless stretches of land. But she knew where she was going now.

The soft grass was cool beneath her feet, and she wished she’d put a wrap around her sleeveless nightgown before she’d come outside. The weather here was milder than on Earth, but the evenings were brisk this time of year.

She found Cain exactly where she’d expected him to be. He was stretched out on a blanket, on the top of a hill behind the main house. He didn’t have a shirt on, but he was wearing the soft, pull-on pants he usually slept in. His arms were crossed behind his head, and he was staring up at the stars in the sky.

He didn’t turn his head or speak as she approached, but when she lay down beside him he reached out for her, pulling her snugly against his side and keeping his arm around her.

“Did you have another one?” she murmured, feeling like she needed to speak softly so she wouldn’t disturb the quiet serenity of the evening.

“Yeah.”

Cain had been having nightmares semi-regularly since they’d escaped. He might go weeks without one but then something—usually stress or an emotional disturbance—would trigger them again.

His nightmares were always the same. Being trapped in a small space in the dark. Being helpless to get out, to respond, to move.

Riana’s two months in the prison had traumatized her as well. But Cain had been locked up a year longer than her.

“That’s the third time this week.” She stroked his chest, enjoying the feel of the firm flesh, hard muscles, and coarse hair. His body was still as tight and muscular as it had been in prison. He was a physical man, and he worked hard every day on this ranch.

Riana worked hard too, but it was work she’d grown to love as much as Cain did. He raised a kind of hybrid cattle that had been brought here from Earth several generations back. He had horses too, and Riana had delighted in learning to ride.

There were a lot of planets like this in Coalition space—on the outskirts, overlooked by those in authority, rustic and backward in the popular conception.

But Riana loved the simplicity and the natural beauty—especially since the natural beauty of Earth and the major planets of the Coalition had been used up ages ago. And she also loved how far removed this planet was from the notice of the Coalition. She felt at peace here. And at home. For the first time in her life.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up.” Cain’s voice was low and gruff, but his hand was gentle as it stroked her hair. “I try to be quiet.”

“You didn’t wake me up. I think I just know when you’re not in bed with me.”

“Sometimes I sleep better out here.”

It wasn’t difficult to understand why. If your fear was enclosure, being boxed in, then the vast fields, endless sky, and fresh air of this spot was as far from that as possible. Sometimes Cain just couldn’t stand to be inside.

When a night was as gorgeous as this one, Riana could hardly blame him.

So she scooted up and draped herself on him, caressing the strong lines of his face with one hand. “You haven’t had three nightmares in one week for a long time. Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Something must be troubling him. He would always be the strong, silent type—and he’d never spill out all his feelings like she did—but they’d made a lot of progress in their relationship over the last eight months. And he was always honest with her when she asked him directly.

He gazed up at her, his blue eyes reflecting an expression she saw a lot now—made up of tenderness, possessiveness, and something like awe. “You’re so beautiful.” He reached up to push her dark curls back from where they’d been grazing his chest. She’d let her hair grow long and washed it sometimes twice a day.

Riana smiled, although she was deeply touched by the simple compliment. “Don’t try to distract me with flattery,” she told him. “Has something been troubling you? Does it have something to do with this?”

Placing her left hand on his chest, she stared down at the ring on her finger, the one he’d given her last week.

Presenting a woman with a diamond ring for an engagement was an old-fashioned custom that wasn’t followed by most couples anymore—the general consensus labeling the little ritual outdated and out of keeping with Coalition values and sensibilities.

But Cain was an old-fashioned guy. And when he’d asked her to marry him last week, he’d given her the diamond ring she was wearing.

It was the best gift Riana had ever received.

Cain picked up her hand from his chest and pressed a kiss into her palm. “I’m not getting cold feet, if that’s what you think.”

“I didn’t think that.” She shifted above him, her hip grazing his groin. And she was surprised and pleased to feel that he had grown a little hard—just from having her body draped over his. “But I wondered if you were worried about something related to us.”

He didn’t respond immediately. Just idly stroked her hair. Then finally he murmured, “I think you know what it is.”

“I do,” she admitted, leaning down to press a little kiss just to the side of his mouth. “But do you think you can tell me anyway?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in a conscious effort to break down the defenses of stoicism that came naturally to him and that had solidified to a frightening extent during his experience in the Hold.

But he’d come a long way since then, and now he told her the truth. “I still don’t think I deserve you. I don’t deserve to be so happy. After the way I acted there—after what I became there.”

Riana exhaled discreetly, relieved he’d finally gotten it said. “That’s silly,” she whispered, adjusting to rest her cheek on his chest, thinking he’d feel more comfortable talking about this if she wasn’t staring at him.

“I know. But sometimes I felt…like an animal there.”

She frowned, caressing the side of his flat belly. “You were not an animal. I saw who you really were. I knew you were strong, but I could also see your…your humanness. That’s why I chose you.”

“Maybe you saw a glimmer of it, but there wasn’t much left at that point. When I first saw you, I wanted you so much. You were so beautiful and brave and untouched by the grim reality of the Hold. You were the only light I’d seen in that whole dark year. I wanted it, so I just took it.”

He’d never shared so much about how he’d felt the first time he’d seen her or what his motivation in coming to fight for her had been. Despite the seriousness of their conversation, Riana was moved by his admission. And she felt a little thrill of girly delight that she’d provoked such a reaction in this powerful man.

“You didn’t take it,” she objected. “I offered it to you. Would you have come out of your cell at all if I hadn’t let you know I wanted you to?”

“No,” he admitted slowly.

“See. Stop beating yourself up. You weren’t perfect—you were terse and kind of pushy at first. But I wasn’t perfect either. And if I had been in that prison by myself for a year, I would have been a lot less human than you were with me.”

He didn’t respond but one of his hands had slid down to cup her bottom.

“I love you, Cain,” she murmured, leaning up so she could look down at his face. Her hair spilled down around both of them. “I fell in love with you in that prison. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with someone who had just selfishly taken what he wanted from me. You gave as much as you took.”

For just a moment, his eyes looked almost anguished and desperate. “I hope so.”

Realizing that she wasn’t going to be able to talk him into believing her, she leaned down to kiss him—deeply, softly, lovingly. He responded immediately, his hands clutching at her and his mouth opening hungrily to hers.

When she broke off the kiss, she murmured against his mouth, “Are you happy, Cain?”

“You know I’m happy. That’s where all the guilt comes from.”

She kissed him again, brushing her fingers along the tight skin of his scalp, feeling the light texture of the dark hair he still shaved close. “How happy are you?”

He didn’t want to release her lips, but when he finally broke off to breathe he said thickly, “I feel like every dream I’ve ever had—even the ones I never knew I wanted—has come true.”

She wanted to melt from pure joy and tenderness. She rubbed her body against his hard one, realizing he had grown more erect. “Me too,” she breathed, kissing little lines around his face. “That’s how happy I am too. I was lonely and aimless all my life. And you’re the one who has helped me change that. If I’m this happy to be with you, why should you ever feel guilty about it?”

Cain had grabbed her hips and was holding her pelvis against his, and she gave a pleased mew at the feel of his erection against her groin. “Good question,” he muttered, giving a little buck up into her.

Deciding the time for discussion had passed, Riana pulled her little nightgown off over her head so she was naked to the open air and night sky. Cain reached up to cup and fondle her breasts as she pushed down his pants to free his cock.

She was fully aroused by the time she lined up over him and slid down to sheathe his erection with her pussy. She rode him slowly for a minute, rocking over his prone form and taking sensual enjoyment in the feel of his cock sliding inside her.

He lay still and watched her move, his eyes never leaving her face and bare body.

After a few minutes though, his body grew tighter and his hands closed down hard around her hips. “Riana,” he said thickly, “Can you come, baby?”

She didn’t really care if she came or not. Her heart was too full of everything else to feel particularly urgent about an orgasm. So she leaned over and whispered, “If you want to take over, you can.”

Evidently, Cain wanted to take over. He flipped them over, holding her body in place so his cock didn’t slip out of her slick channel. Then he began to thrust from between her legs. When she bent her knees, he grabbed them and pushed them closer to her chest.

Riana gasped at feeling him inside her from this new angle and from the way he was forcefully shaking her body against the soft ground.

Cain’s face had broken out in a sheen of perspiration, and he was gazing down at her with hunger and love. “So good,” he gritted out. “So beautiful. So good. Love you so much.”

She whimpered at his words and at the intensifying sensations at her center. She knew how much he loved her, needed her, adored her—and she’d never known what it was for someone to feel that way for her before. The way their love had begun might have made things more complicated but it didn’t change the reality of it now.

And she was going to come. Knowing that he loved her. And knowing that she loved him.

Her body tightened in preparation as his thrusting became fast and hard.

Then she cried out wordlessly as the tension shattered inside her, her body shaking and clenching and pulling him into climax as well.

He claimed her lips as he came, groaning into her mouth and stroking her lips clumsily with his tongue. She kissed him back, still whimpering out the pleasure of her orgasm.

They lay together in a sated tangle of naked limbs until barking interrupted the quiet night.

Riana giggled as she turned her head to see a large, brown dog approaching at a dead run.

“You’ve got to teach him,” she said, squeezing Cain with her arms and her legs, “That I’m not in trouble every time I scream.”

Cain chuckled too, the delicious vibrations from his amusement shaking his whole body. “He gets worried. Max is a very devoted dog.”

Riana had been astonished and delighted when she’d learned that the dog Cain had loved so deeply was still alive. She’d assumed from the way he’d spoken about him in prison that the dog had died.

But Max was still alive. And Cain’s business partner—the man who had generously kept the ranch going during Cain’s long absence—had also made sure Max was well taken care of.

She’d almost cried that first day, when Cain had been reunited with the dog who clearly adored him. She’d had to make a quick exit, so Cain wouldn’t see her overcome with such silly emotion.

But Max did have an unfortunate habit of coming to the rescue any time she cried out in some way. If she was genuinely in trouble, it would be very convenient. But most of the times she was crying out with an entirely different emotion.

Max snuffled around Riana’s face to assure himself that she was all right. She patted him on the head, and Cain gave him instructions to lie down a short distance from their blanket.

Cain’s cock had softened inside her and his semen was leaking out of her pussy, but she didn’t want to move and she didn’t want to let go of him. She loved the feel of his weight. Loved the sight of the clear sky—endless and vibrant above her. And she loved the tender security of knowing she was in Cain’s arms. She was home.

Out of the blue, she asked, “When you fought Thorn for me and brought me back into your cell, if I had said no, I didn’t want to fuck you, would you have forced me anyway? Or would you have thrown me out of the cell if I refused?”

It took Cain a long time to answer. He nuzzled at her neck and breathed deeply as he considered his response. Then he said, “No. I was pretty far gone then, almost an animal, but I would never have forced you or thrown you out.”

It was an admission she’d needed Cain to make. For him, not for herself.

She’d already known.

Riana had picked the right man in those first minutes in the Hold. If she’d picked anyone else to protect her, to give her body to, her life would have been utterly different. She wouldn’t have had this future.

She wouldn’t have Cain.

So she held on to him, as tightly as he was holding on to her, knowing neither one would let go.

But she spoke in a teasing, victorious voice that made Cain growl. And all she said was, “That’s what I thought.”

***

Author’s Note: I wrote this book several years ago, and nearly everything I’ve written before and after it has been contemporary, so I’m not even sure where it came from. I do have an idea for a follow-up book about Hall, though, so if all goes as planned, Release should be out later this year.

You can find a short excerpt from one of my contemporary novellas on the following pages, and if you’d like to stay up-to-date on sales and new releases, then you can sign up for my monthly newsletter, in which I share news for both my Noelle Adams and Claire Kent pennames. You can sign up through the link .