“Hellcat! Where are you?” I call out, moving through the house as I go. Fuck, it’s been years since I came so close to losing Dani and I still panic when I can’t find her. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that feeling. It might make a man a pussy to admit fear, but losing Dani is a fear that I doubt I’ll ever get over. “Damn it, Dani!” I growl, having gone through the entire house and not finding her. It’s only when I get to our bedroom that I begin to breathe easier.

Our bedroom has a door that leads out to a private screened in porch that overlooks Cherokee Lake. There’s a ceiling fan and a large, cushioned outdoor bed that Dani uses to read, and sometimes to sleep on. Hell over the years we’ve probably used that bed more than the one in our bedroom.

The sun is coming up over the lake and the sky is a brilliant array of colors and hues of blues, purples, pinks, oranges and white. It’s gorgeous, but it pales compared to the beauty of my woman who is standing with her back to me, watching the sunrise. In the time that we’ve been together, she’s only gotten prettier. She’s come into herself, comfortable with who she is and she feels safe… If I never do anything else in my life, I know I’ve given her that and I’m satisfied.

“Isn’t it awful early for you to be cursing me already, Cowboy?” she asks, turning to look at me and smiling. Her smile makes my stomach clench in hunger and my heart beat double time. Just a simple thing, but it brings me so much joy that it’s hard to describe.

“I couldn’t find you,” I mutter, walking out to her. She immediately turns into my arms and wraps her arms around me. She strains up to kiss me briefly on the lips and then pulls back. Her beautiful brown eyes are sparkling. They do often, usually when she’s mad—but it’s not anger in them today.

“I’m always here, Zander,” she whispers. “I’d never leave you,” she says and she puts her ear to my heart and her fingers bite into my skin, as she holds me close.

“You’re sad,” I sigh, kissing the top of her head.

“I’m just worried over Ryan. He’s out there… alone.”

I nod in reply. There’s not much I can say to make her feel better. She’s talking about my President Diesel’s son. Diesel left the Savage Brothers, putting me in charge. He wanted to go dark and make it hard for enemies to find his boy. The plan didn’t really work since Diesel was left for dead somewhere in Montana and Ryan has gone missing. Diesel is still in a critical care unit in Montana. It’s all a big mess. A big fucked up mess.

“We’ll find him Hellcat. You know me, I’m not going to give up until I have him back here safe and sound.”

“I do know that,” she says, pulling away so she can look up at me. “If anyone can do it, it will be you,” she says and they aren’t just empty words, my woman has complete faith in me—probably more than I deserve.

“How’s Dakota dealing with Ryan missing?” I ask her and her body tenses for a minute.

“He misses him. They’re brothers in all the ways that count except blood. He’s spending a lot of time with his girlfriend.”

I grin despite myself. “Hellcat—”

“Don’t you tell me he’s old enough to have a girlfriend. I don’t want to hear it,” she mumbles.

“I don’t want to tell you what I was doing when I hit my teen years,” I joke.

“That’d be a good thing. If you tell me, it might give me a headache tonight.”

“Dani—”

“And every other night,” she grumbles under her breath.

“That will never happen, darlin’, you like what we do in bed together as much as I do,” I laugh.

“Ugh. I do, but you’re entirely too cocky, Cowboy.”

“That’s your fault though. A man can’t help but be cocky when he was a woman like you by his side.”

“You always were such a smooth talker,” Dani murmurs, sliding her hand along the side of my face and looking at me tenderly. It’d be a beautiful moment, if there wasn’t so much sadness in her eyes.

“We’ll find him, Dani. I promise,” I tell her, making a vow I have every intention of keeping.

Dani has kept Ryan almost as much as Diesel has. Ryan won her heart when we first moved here and Dani became a mom to him, when the child desperately needed one. Dakota is older than Ryan, but he too bonded with the little boy right away.

Being in Tennessee has been good for Dani. I knew it would be. She’s found a home here and having Ryan and Dakota has allowed her to be the mother she always deserved to be. We’ve adopted more children after Dakota too. We’re in the process of trying to adopt another little girl. That will make five and I think we’ve decided to stop after that. I’d like some alone time with my wife before we get too damn old to enjoy being alone. Dani is happy. Most of the time shadows of her past have completely disappeared. Every now and then something will rear its ugly head and I work hard at beating it back down. With a past like Dani’s she’ll probably always have some ghosts. Her biggest one is thinking she doesn’t deserve to be loved. I can’t make her understand that without her, I wouldn’t want to be here. She’s the air in my fucking lungs.

She brings both her hands up along the side of my face, holding me and stares at me. Our gazes are locked and our heartbeats are practically beating in time to one another.

“If anyone can get Ryan back alive, Zander, I know you can. You can do anything, sweetheart.”

“Dani—”

“You saved me when I didn’t want saving. You gave me a life I’m thankful for every day. You’re my hero, Zander.”

“Damn it, Hellcat, you’re going to make me late.”

“Huh? I thought you weren’t going to Montana this time and were sending Ice and Fury instead?” she says.

“I am, but I’m driving them to the airport. We have to leave in thirty minutes.”

“Then I don’t understand, Cowboy, I—”

“There’s no way I’m leaving here without fucking you now.”

“I…” she stops and her eyes widen as she watches me take off my cut. “You’re serious?” she asks, as I toss my cut onto a chair. I pull off my T-shirt with a grin.

“Get to strippin’ woman. I don’t have all day here.”

“So you’re saying I’m going to get a quicky?” she laughs, but she’s already taking off the loose dress she’s wearing.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re so worn out you nap and when you wake up, I’ll be back to give you more,” I tell her and that’s the second vow I’ve given her today that I intend to keep.

“Don’t just stand there, Zander. Get to moving and put your money where your mouth is,” she urges, standing in front of me in nothing but a bra and panties.

I don’t look away as she starts to unhook the bra. Her fingers tremble. She’s still more than a little self-conscious about her body even after all this time. Her scars mean nothing to me, except reminders of how I almost lost part of my soul, but she thinks they make her less beautiful… less valuable.

Maybe someday I can make her see there’s nothing about her—not one thing—I would change.

By the time she has the bra off, I’m naked and waiting. I’m not taking the time for her to get rid of her panties. I’ll get those myself. Instead, I grab her and throw us down on the soft mattress below. She squeals and laughs—the sound, at least for now, all joy.

“You’re crazy, Cowboy,” she murmurs, kissing me.

I suck on her lips and when we break apart, my hands are already pushing her panties down her body.

“Crazy for you, Hellcat. Completely crazy for you.”