Abi smiled at me from across the kitchen island. She had made coffee and a batch of muffins.

“Are you always on that thing now?” she asked, motioning to my tablet.

“It’s the best way to stay connected to TS,” I explained.

She crossed her legs, showing the edge of her bottom. She was wearing one of my T-shirts.

“It’s still hard to wrap my head around the company.” She pulled off the top of a blueberry muffin. “You invented the Connect Tech and it took off.”

“There’s no doubt it changed my life.” I took a sip of coffee. My eyes hadn’t moved from the soft skin along her thigh. “But what do you want to know?”

“Ok. Yeah. I’d like to ask you some questions, Mr. Billionaire Taylor,” she teased.

I laughed. “You can’t call me that.”

“Ok, just Mr. Billionaire then.”

I shot her a warning stare. “What do you want to know?”

“Do you like it?” she asked.

I laid the tablet next to the basket of muffins. “Sure.”

“That’s not very convincing. Does it make you happy running a company?”

I inhaled. “I haven’t thought about it like that. It gives me something. I don’t know that I’d call it happiness. Security, I guess.” I winked. “No pun intended.”

Her laughter was light. “At least you still have a sense of humor.”

“I try.”

“Tell me something about it. What’s your favorite part?” She held the coffee between her palms.

“Other than the money? Hmm.” I pressed my lips together.

“I’m serious, Reid. How did you go from a security contractor to owning a billion-dollar company? That’s a huge change. There has to be something meaningful in it for you. Something that drives you.”

That was the purist in Abi. She thought everything had to have a sense of purpose. All intentions were meant for a positive outcome. She didn’t accept that sometimes people did things because they were stupid. Or because they were dark and hopeless. And sometimes people did things because they had nothing else to do. Boredom. I wondered if the shooting had changed her perspective on the human spirit.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I still protect people.” My eyes flashed to hers. “Just not on a one-on-one basis. That’s something I feel good about. I employ thousands of people. I’d like to think they enjoy their jobs. And I make a shit-ton of money. I found a way to use a skill I had to invent a device that makes people safer. Families can sleep better. I don’t say it, but yeah, I’m fucking proud of Taylor Securities.”

“Well you should say it.” She grinned. “What you’ve done is incredible.”

I walked toward her. I brushed the hair from her shoulder. “You know what I hate about it?”

She searched my eyes. “No. What?”

“That I did it without you.” My palm flattened against her thigh, pushing the T-shirt up her hip.

“We’re not going back though.” She shook her head. “Only forward.”

I nodded. “I’m never doing any of it without you again.”

Her hands raised toward the ceiling as a drug the shirt over her head.

“You’re so damn sexy,” I growled.

I lifted her from the barstool and sat her on the corner. I shoved my boxer briefs to the floor. My cock sprung free, bobbing between her legs. I saw the hungry look in her eyes. My perfect Abi.

I could suffocate if I wasn’t inside her. She was my oxygen. My light.

I spread her legs as I pulled her ass to the edge of the counter.

Abi dug her heels into my back as I thrust my cock inside her hot velvet pussy.

“Fuck,” I groaned, gripping her lower back.

She leaned back, jutting her tits forward. I never felt anything like her. She gripped and clutched my dick like she owned it. Her walls were a vise and I was her prisoner as I fucked her senseless on the kitchen counter.

“Oh shit, Reid,” she whimpered as I hammered into her. I had a great angle on my feet, pumping inside her with certain strokes.

“You feel so good.” I buried myself inside her. This perfect woman. The woman I’d risked everything for.

Her nails clawed into my back as I picked up the pace, driving us closer to our orgasms.

“I-I’m going to…” Her eyes closed and I watched as she came in my arms.

I only wanted to fuck her more. Love her more.

She vibrated and fluttered around my cock as she climaxed with gulps and screams. Her toes curled around me and I felt my spine cinch around the point of no return. It rammed into my balls before I exploded inside her.

“Oh fuck, baby,” I howled, reeling in how fucking fantastic it felt to be inside her like this.

I pressed my forehead to hers. She lowered her legs and I wrapped my arms around her.

“You sure you don’t want to stay at Big Bear longer than today?” I teased. “I promise you’ll never stop coming if we stay here.”

She sighed. “Don’t tempt me.”

I lifted her from the counter, cradling her to my chest.

“Now what?” she asked sleepily.

“Now we shower.”

She nodded. “And morning nap?”

“Whatever you want.” I jaunted down the hall.

Her eyes opened and stopped in front of the master suite. “I want this, Reid. This is what I’ve always wanted.”

My chest contorted with the pain I had caused her. The pain I had put us through.

“It’s yours.”