I wake up with my arms snugly wrapped around Ella’s waist and my hard cock pressing against the crack of her unbelievably plump and sexy ass. I slowly grind my hips, enjoying the throb of pleasure that courses through me as her full cheeks tease my shaft.

“Damn, if this is how I get to wake up from now on, I don’t think I’ll ever get out of bed,” I growl in her ear and let my hands roam up to her heavy tits.

Ella edges back against me, pushing her ass into my cock shamelessly. It gives me dirty ideas about how we can start the day. “Oh, no!” She jumps up suddenly, leaving me hard and confused as she stares over at the alarm clock in a panic. “I have to go.” She looks just as flustered as the last time she spent the night. Like she’s about to go into full meltdown mode.

“Hey, get back here.” I grab her hand and tug her back onto the mattress next to me. “You’re done with all that, remember? No more curfews, no more slavery, you’re staying with me now. I’m taking care of you,” I reassure her as her muscles unknot and she slowly sinks back into the bed.

“I forgot,” she breathes, like she doesn’t fully believe she’s not in trouble somehow. “It’s been six years that I’ve been living under Sylvia’s rules. It just feels so strange to know it’s finally over.”

I trace my fingertips down her back, exploring the curve of her waist before trailing them over her round hip and down her thick thigh. I can’t stop touching her, pressing against her, holding her.

I’ve never felt the world slip away like it does when I look into her eyes. I’ve been with other women who made my passion light up. However, it was different. This is different. When I’m with Ella, she makes me crazy, like the aching need for her is screaming from every cell inside me.

Even after we’ve fucked, I still want her as close as possible. Like an addict, I feel shaky and weak when she’s not next to me. Just breathing her in makes my senses come alive. Just getting lost in her eyes makes the world more beautiful somehow. Just kissing her lips can make every problem I’ve ever had temporarily float away into the atmosphere.

“Well, now you never have to go back there.” I kiss the tip of her nose.

“No, Jackson, I do have to go back.” Her eyes widen and I squint at her with confusion.

“What are you talking about? You’re not going back to that house. Why would you?” Irritation claws at my throat as I remember the way it felt when she screamed at me to go. How I couldn’t make sense of her decision. Obviously, I understand now why she did what she did. But to go back now? It makes no sense.

“I have to,” she pleads with me. “In my room, I have a picture of my family. It’s the only one I have. They’re all gone now. All of them were murdered. It’s the only thing I have to remember them by. I can’t just leave it there. I can’t let Sylvia and Raymond throw it out when they decide to empty my room into the trash.” Her lips tug down in the corners as her eyebrows knit together.

“Daddy?” Chloe calls out to me from the other room.

“Yes, honey, I’m awake. I’ll get us some breakfast in a second, okay?” I call out as I realize what I need to do.

“Okie dokie smokie,” my daughter jokes with me and I smile.

“I’ll help you get your picture back, Ella, I promise. First, let’s have some breakfast and then I’ll call my mother and get her to stay with Chloe. I don’t want to take her there again.” I clench my jaw, knowing that this time I won’t be backing down from the monsters who have kept Ella under lock and key for so long. “We’ll go today and get your things, okay?” I brush my thumb over the side of her soft face and watch as Ella’s eyes glimmer with happiness.

“Thank you, Jackson.” Her soft accent is like music in my ears. “You’re my hero.” She kisses me.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this”—I drop my voice theatrically—“but I was a Navy SEAL.” I throw my shoulders back and stick out my chest like I’m doing some kind of contorted Superman pose.

“I know.” She laughs. God, I love her laugh. “I think there’s a little stuffed owl around here somewhere that proves it, right?” She giggles and I laugh at her burning me.

“Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” I sit up and grab my pillow, gently lobbing it at her. “I see how it is.” Over Ella’s laughter I can hear Chloe getting up in her room and I realize we need to get some clothes on before this gets really awkward. “All right, let’s get dressed and grab some breaky”—I nod at the door—“before that little munchkin sneaks in here.”

Ella slides out of bed, taking my breath away as she fumbles around for clothes. My God, she’s simply stunning. Literally, I’m stunned just by the way her soft curves move as she dresses. I have to remind myself to quit staring and get up, but even then, it takes a real effort to make my legs reach over the edge of the bed and for my feet to hit the floor.

This feels like the beginning of something new for me. Something amazing. And I can’t wait to see how much better it gets.