Three more weeks pass, things continue to go as planned, except now Liam comes into work with me and Zander. He’s coming to learn the ins and outs of my casino. Catherine feels that Liam should switch between the two casinos to give of us all more time to be home with our families. If we all take shifts on different days, it will help, I just hate giving up control. But I will need the help, especially when the baby comes.

I start to learn that Zander is more on contract work, he mainly works as needed. But when he does work, he comes home exhausted and sometimes bloody. I look at the clock and see it’s one in the morning and Zander still isn’t home.

But now I hear the doorknob jiggle. He walks in and I see him limp. He walks straight into the bathroom and I can’t help but follow. I open the door and see him stripping down.

“Murphy, go back to bed.”

I see him struggling to get his shirt off. I rush over to him and grab his shirt. “Let me help you.”

When I remove his shirt, I see he’s all bruised and scraped up. He starts to undo his pants and then sits down on the side of the tub. I bend down and help him get them off. That’s when I see why he limped in, his calf is stitched up.

“What happened?”

“Do you care?”

“Just tell me.”

“I went to collect and the guy was ready for me. I had to chase him. When I knocked him down he had a knife and stabbed my leg. My back got bruised and scraped when we rolled down onto the gravel road. But don’t worry, he’s way worse off than me.”

“Zander!”

“What? It’s fine. Look, it’s already been stitched up. I might need a day or two to heal, but I’ll be fine.”

He stands and walks to the shower. “I know this might be asking too much, but do you think you can wash my back and sides? I need to make sure it gets cleaned well so no infections set in.”

He gets into the shower and I decide to help him. So, I strip out of my bra and panties. He watches me the whole time with heat in his eyes. I walk into the large shower and he leans back into the water spray. The man is hot, damn him. He turns his back to me and I start washing his back gently. I feel all the cuts under my fingers as I wash the blood away. He leans his hands on the shower wall and I then start on his sides. Before I know it, my hands have a mind of their own as I start washing over every hard ridge of his body. My hands trail further down onto his tight ass, down to his muscular thighs. When my hands rise back up, I start washing the back of his strong wide shoulders down to his full muscle-bound arms. I don’t know what I’m doing. But I am full on bathing this larger than life man. When I hear him moan he turns around, facing me. He pulls me closer to his body under the spray. My hair gets wet as our bodies are pressed together slippery with soap. He leans down to kiss me and I let him. I am powerless to fight against him. He then kisses down my neck and back to my ear.

He whispers, “I need you, baby. Please let me have you.”

I’m in a trance so I say nothing. Suddenly, he picks me up and I wrap my legs around him. My back hits the shower wall as he kisses me harder and desperate.

“Please, baby, say yes. Let me love you. You’re driving me crazy.”

I look into his eyes and see the need because I feel it too. He penetrates me, making me holler out, “Fuck, you feel so good.”

He remains still while he kisses me with so much passion I can barely breathe. Once he starts thrusting I’m a goner. He feels so right, so good. He fucks me the only way I ever want to be fucked. He does it with so much emotion. No matter if he goes slow or fast and hard, he never loses connection with me. He never makes me feel like I’m being used. He thrusts in and out with a purpose. His hand starts to slide between us.

“I need you to cum, I won’t last long. You want to cum for me?”

“Yes, Zander, yes.”

He starts rubbing my clit as he sucks on my neck. It doesn’t take me long before I am screaming his name and exploding on his cock.

He stills. “Damn, Red, you’re squeezing the hell out of my cock.” I can’t wait, I don’t want to stop, so I start using my body to fuck him back, making him shout out my name. He slams his hand against the shower wall and growls in my ear. “Woman you’re going to kill me. I can’t hold out anymore.” He explodes, filling me full of his warm cum. He’s breathing heavy in my ear and then I feel kisses along my neck. He slides out of me and lets me back down gently.

We look into each other’s eyes. I catch a tear roll down my face. Damn this pregnancy; I find it harder to hold my emotions in.

I wipe my face and tell him, “I can’t, Zander, I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

He looks deep into my eyes and I know he feels my sincerity. I am determined not to let him in. He backs away, walking out of the shower. When I hear the door slam I slide down the wall and cry. I can’t believe I had sex with him again. I promised I wouldn’t and now I can’t take it back. Maybe I will be the one to hurt him, but I can’t be the one to get hurt.

By the time I make it to the bedroom, he’s gone. I lay in bed wondering if he’ll be back tonight or not. Part of me wants him here and part of me hopes he stays away. That’s the only way I can trust myself is if he isn’t here.