I stare down at my phone. Did that motherfucker just hang up on me? Figures though, he’s probably busy with Taylor having makeup sex. I roll over onto my side where Pax still lays sound asleep, one leg out of the blanket and the other tucked inside. I giggle. Frost used to sleep like that too. I brush away the loose strands of her hair and think to myself if anything or anyone was to hurt her. I draw in a breath. I don’t fear for the person who dares hurt my little girl. Paxton McKenna Walters is my daughter, and I am the monster under her bed. My door creaks open and I jolt up slightly.

“She still asleep?”

“Frost!” I whisper-yell. “What are you doing here?” I look at the alarm clock that is on my bedside table. “It’s three a.m.!”

He continues to walk in more, removing his boots and then his shirt. I can see the ripple of muscle from the casting of the hallway light, and my mouth waters. Oh, this is not a good idea.

“Frost…” I warn.

“Woman, shut up. I ain’t here to fuck you.”

He shuts the door and suddenly it’s as dark as the obscurest midnight, with the only lighting coming from the red numbers on the alarm clock.

The mattress dips, and it’s then I realize he’s on the other side of Pax.

“I couldn’t sleep. Needed to be near her.”

Her. Of course. I exhale. He isn’t into me anymore, I get that. I just need reminding every now and then.

“Okay.” Then he must pick up Pax’s head and place it on his outstretched arm because his hand touches my forehead. He doesn’t move it, though.

After a few seconds, once he’s relaxed and settled, he starts…

“Why’d you call me tonight?” There’s something unnerving and raw about having this conversation with him in the pitch-dark room with nothing but Pax between us.

“I told you why.”

“Why me?” he further asks.

“Because you know I don’t like storms and I don’t know, who else was I supposed to call.”

“Chase?”

“Why do you always bring him up?”

“Because he’s always fucking there.”

I turn my back to him but forgot that Pax is so short, being two and all, so my ass accidentally presses against his crotch.

A hiss escapes his mouth and I jolt forward. “Shit, sorry.”

His hand comes down to my ass, and he squeezes roughly. “You’re fucking lucky she’s in this bed with us, woman.”

I swallow, and suddenly, I really can’t sleep. After about thirty minutes, the frustration and heat from having him in bed, feeling his dick press against my ass and then his hand grabbing me there, all come back to haunt me. I moan in annoyance, flopping to my back in a huff. Maybe I should sneak one out. He won’t know, I bet he’s asleep.

Now my eyes have adjusted to the darkness a bit better, I can see the profile of his face, his eyes closed. “Don’t even fucking think about it, Ella.”

I growl again, rolling to my side. “Fine. But since we’re all back on track and I know where I stand with you, which by the way, is on the other side of Pax, literally, then I need to start dating. It’s been way too long.”

There’s a long pause, and I can feel the air shift. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Actually, no. He can’t say anything.

“How many since me.”

I laugh, but it comes out sarcastic. “None, Frost.”

“Then you ain’t fucking no one.”

I laugh again. “Yeah, right.”

“Ella…” he warns.

“Shut up, Frost. Or you can go home to your woman.”

“That’s it.” The bed levels, I hear footsteps round the bed and chills break out over my spine. Oh no. Here I was using Pax as a safety net for my smart ass replies. He rips the blanket off me, grabs me by the wrist and yanks me up. “Bathroom, now!”

“Fine!” I whisper-yell at him, walking to the bathroom and flicking on the dim light.

He walks in behind me and I turn, about to cuss him out, but he backs me up against the wall, his hand coming to my throat and his lips smashing down onto mine. I fight it, I do, but I fail. The only fight I’ve ever lost was the fight between Frost and me. My arms wrap around his neck, and my legs squeeze him between my thighs.

He growls into my mouth, then pulls back, one palm pressing against the wall behind me and the other squeezing my ass cheek. “You gonna fix that attitude? Or do I need to fuck it out of you?”

“Frost!” I hit him with the back of my hand. “You have Taylor!”

His head jerks back. “Like I give a fuck. I ain’t a noble man, Ella, you and I both know that, and don’t ever fucking call her my woman again. There’s only one girl who has ever come close to wearing that title. She has a smart fucking mouth and a lethal right hook.”

I pull my bottom lip into my mouth. “Why are you here? What are we doing?”

“You’re mine.”

“Frost—”

“What?” he cuts back to me like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “Taylor will be gone. She was just a means to an end. A revenge fuck that turned into something else…and there’s somethi—”

“—Put me down,” I interrupt him. He complies, which is fucking surprising. “End things with her, then we can talk. But I’m not going to sleep with another girl’s man.” I push past him and head for the door.

“Hey!” he growls, and I freeze, my back turned to him. The blood in my veins turns chillingly cold, setting goosebumps to break out over my flesh and igniting every survival instinct inside of me.

I can sense him coming closer until I feel his lips brush against my ear and his warm chest press against my back. “I ain’t hers. I’m yours, Ella. When the fuck are you going to wake up.”

Deep breathing. In and out. In and out. I open my eyes. “When she’s gone.”