She’d devastated me, but she’d done that pretty much from the beginning.

Lying in bed with her pressed up in front of me, I let her rest.

In a bit, I’d wake her up and take her again…and again…maybe in another seventy-two hours or so, this gut-deep need would fade a bit, not be so painful.

But I didn’t know.

In her sleep, she grumbled, wiggling around and turning to face me.

I couldn’t help but smile as she mumbled my name and threw an arm over me. Stroking that arm, I said, “I’m here, pretty lady.”

I’d always be here, too.

I wasn’t ever going to be without her.

Not again.

If she’d let me, I would’ve taken care of her and Nicky a long time ago. But Thea’s pride was a big thing and pride was something I understood.

No more.

No more.

She murmured under her breath again and arched, her breasts pushing against me. As she moved, she brought her knee up, then slid it down. My cock stirred, then began to pulse in response to the hand she’d just settled on my belly.

Catching her hand, I went to relocate it.

She wouldn’t budge.

“You awake?”

She eased her head up, pale blue eyes staring at me through a tangle of long blonde hair. “Um.”

“Good.” I rolled her onto her back, spread her thighs, and entered her.

We needed to talk, but there would be time for all of that later.

Much, much later.

* * *

“I’m going to have to go before long.”

We had breakfast in bed.

I’d ordered it from a local place that delivered and had brought everything in before Thea started to stir.

The smell of coffee and bacon changed that. If I was a nicer guy, I would’ve let her sleep in later because we’d been up until…well, it was no longer night when we’d finally gone to sleep and it was nine now. If we’d gotten six hours of sleep, I’d say we’d done well.

But I felt better and more rested than I had in a long, long while.

I also couldn’t stay too much longer without checking in with the guys—we had standing rehearsals at noon most days of the week and if I knew anything about Mac and Sly, they’d be curious about the woman who I’d caught up in a lip-lock, then disappeared with shortly thereafter.

Well, Mac might not be curious.

He’d figure it out.

He knew enough about Thea—and how I felt about her—to know that I wasn’t going to fall head over heels and land mouth first on someone—or anyone—other than her.

Sly knew only the barest bit about Thea and I doubted he’d understand enough to really get it.

I’d have to tell them.

Things had changed, all in the span of a heartbeat last night.

And those changes would affect them, too.

“Nooo…” Thea rolled over and threw her leg over mine, then her arm over my waist. “You can’t. You just got here.”

I chuckled, then, before she could even draw a breath, I moved, flipping her over and pinning her under me.

“I can wait a few more minutes, I guess.” Settling between her thighs, I tucked my cock against the wet heat waiting there for me. I didn’t enter her. We’d hardly slept and we hadn’t spent a lot of time talking either. I kept wanting to, and she mentioned it a few times herself, but then she’d do something like…oh, hell, breathe…and that hunger that had burned inside me like dragon fire had taken over.

It seemed like it had consumed her as well.

“Just a few minutes?” she teased, her lips moving against mine as I lowered my head.

“How much more do you want from me, woman? You damn near wore me to the bone.” Catching one thigh, I brought it up and angled my hips.

She lifted hers.

We both shuddered as I sank inside her. She was swollen and slick and felt better than anything.

Catching her hand, I twined our fingers and pressed the back of her palm into the mattress by her head. Her long blonde tresses spread around her head and her light blue eyes fluttered close as she moaned. “More, LeVan…please.”

“I’ll give you more,” I promised. I’d give her everything. I’d only been wanting to do that for close to half my life. Rubbing my mouth against hers, I said, “Open for me, pretty lady. Let me taste you.”

She did, her lips parting on a sigh and I groaned as I took her in, teeth and lips and tongue. I licked at the inside of her mouth, starving for her. She tasted the same, and different. Sweeter, spicier.

The muscles in her pussy contracted around me and I shuddered, my spine arching as the pleasure raced down to tickle my balls. I wasn’t about to come yet, but damn was I tempted.

Everything about her was a temptation, a tease, a promise, a wish.

And finally, she was here.

The thought of that, the reality of her was enough to drive me mad and I moved on her harder, faster. She cried out and I swallowed the scream down.

Her fingers tightened on mine while she cupped the back of my neck in her free hand, her nails biting into my skin.

“Thea,” I groaned.

She made a low, soundless noise deep in her throat and it was enough to drive me insane.

Or maybe I was already there.

Rolling to my back, I took her with me, watching as she rose up over me, her breasts lifting to the sky. Her nipples had gotten darker and my mouth watered, just looking at them. She brought her arms up, linking her fingers behind her neck.

That just displayed those pretty, perfect tits even better and I reached up, cupping them in my hands as she began to move, riding me slow and lazy. It wasn’t enough.

I wanted to play with those soft, sweet tits but I needed more of her. Grabbing her hips, I thrust up.

She cried out, her eyes widening as she met my gaze.

“Tease,” I muttered.

A smug smile curled her lips.

It disappeared, though, as I thrust up again, harder, faster, using my hands to lift her, then drag her down.

A cry rolled from her lips, bounced around the room. There was no teasing left, no time for it, no room for it.

“Thea,” I groaned, fighting back the need to come as her inner walls clenched around me like a vice. Just like that, I could feel her hovering on the edge and once she went over.

“No holding back, LeVan.” She slid her hand between her thighs.

I swore as I caught sight of her slim fingers, toying with her clit peeking out from her swollen folds.

Holding back?

What in the hell was that?

A harsh shudder wracked me and I felt the warning spasm race down my spine to my balls just as Thea’s head fell back on a low moan. Her orgasm hit her just a few seconds before mine came on and the two of us were lost in each other yet again.

* * *

“Look what the cat dragged in.”

Sly’s mouth was set in its normal sardonic smile, but there was a note in his voice that assured me his mood was not normal.

I’d been prepared for that.

It didn’t help that I ended up being a few minutes late for our regular rehearsal—I’d shot them both a text to let them know, but since I was almost always early…and never late…I wasn’t surprised Sly had more to say on the subject.

“So who was the lady you caught in a lip-lock without so much as a hello last night? Interesting move, Lev, by the way. Can’t say I’ve ever gotten that lucky.” Sly stood in a wide-legged stance on the stage, juggling four wine bottles as he watched me, his sharp green eyes narrowed.

“Her name’s Thea.” I leaped up on the stage and grabbed one of the spare bottles sitting on a nearby table, tossing it to him. He caught it without breaking rhythm. “We’ve…known each a while.”

“I kind of figured. You didn’t exactly kiss her like you weren’t…acquainted.” Sly caught one, two, three—all five bottles with a flourish and put them down before focusing his entire attention on me. “Who is she? And I don’t mean her name. I don’t give a rat’s ass what her name is.”

Mac joined us on the stage and I could see the debate in his pale eyes—Do I tell him to let it go or what? He wanted to tell Sly to lay off, I could tell that much. But at the same time, he wanted some answers himself. Oh, he knew the basics about Thea, but he didn’t know the whole story.

Sooner or later, I’d tell them both.

Should I have told them now?

Blowing out a breath, I went to shove my hair back only to touch a scalp that was nearly naked. I still wasn’t used to the change in my hair and I sometimes wished I hadn’t cut the heavy weight off. Skimming my hand over my scalp instead, I rubbed the back of my neck as I studied the two men who’d stood with me over the past few years. We’d built something together, the three of us.

We were going to keep on building it, too.

I guess I ought to tell them.

* * *

“Let me get this straight…” Sly was the first to speak—as always. He was staring at the floor. “This lady’s own mother put that kid you pulled on stage last night into an institution just to keep you two apart? She hates black people that much?”

“Hell, it’s more complicated than that.” I gave him a brief rundown about the history between my parents and Thea’s mom, but he was still flabbergasted—and it took a lot to throw Sly off his stride.

Even Mac looked vaguely disturbed, but when I glanced at him, he had nothing to say. Granted, he knew most of it.

“And you haven’t talked since…all you ever got was the note from her friend.” Now Sly looked even more disgusted.

Because I knew him, I knew the direction his thoughts were going and I held up a hand.

“Don’t. Thea was dealing with enough shit. Her mother knocked her around for so much of her life.” I clenched my jaw at the thought of it, remembering light bruises on Thea’s cheek, marks on her arms from hands that gripped too tightly. “She never admitted to it, but I saw marks on her, bruises. She didn’t get them from climbing trees or playing hopscotch either. And Nicky…”

“Please tell me she didn’t beat him,” Mac said, finally speaking up.

The man had little tolerance for abusive people, and he had good reason, better than most people, I knew for a fact.

“No.” I met his eyes. “Thea did tell me that much. I think part of the reason she caught so much hell was because she was constantly taking the heat off him when he did something that reminded his mother he was something less than perfect in her eyes.”

“Sounds like the bitch should look in the mirror,” Sly suggested. Then he shrugged. “Or should have. Too late for her to do much reflecting now.”

He didn’t sound sorry about it either.

Truth be told, I wasn’t either.

I’d been raised to respect the value of human life—my father was a fucking doctor. But it was hard to respect or value the life of a woman who had so little regard for the two lives she’d brought into the world.

“Thea let herself be the punching bag and when her mama said jump, she jumped,” Sly said.

“Stop making it sound like she was some cowed little baby,” Mac said before I could so much as form a single word—and I had a lot of them.

Anger stumped me and I took a step in Sly’s direction, but Mac’s hand slapped against my chest.

“You don’t know what it’s like to have someone else to protect, Sly. When it’s just you…” Mac shook his head. “It’s probably different. But Thea had to think about someone else. Wrap your head around it, okay?”

Sly opened his mouth, then abruptly, he snapped it shut. He gave me a terse nod. “Sorry, man.”

I don’t know what it was that went through his head, but it had to have been something profound.

“The two of you spent…what…eight years apart?” Mac said, looking back at me.

“Yeah,” I replied, squeezing the word out through a tight throat. “Her mother was diagnosed with liver cancer just over eight years ago and she confronted Thea about us right after she found out. Thea…” I stopped for a moment, looking away. “That was a few months before I met you. You pretty much know the rest.”

“And now she’s here,” Sly said slowly. “Did the two of you always plan on…reconnecting?”

“She told me she’d wait for me.” I met his eyes levelly. I thought of the knight sitting on my desk in my office, the onetime she’d reached out to me since all of this had started. Her way of letting me know she’d seen my answer. “She said she wouldn’t ask the same of me, but she knew I’d do it anyway. I would’ve waited a lifetime. In the end, eight years was nothing, really.”