Bella pulled her car into the driveway, scrubbed her hands down her face and sighed. She really wanted to scream instead.

Watching Diesel and Zak at each other’s throats had disturbed her more than she was willing to admit. She loved them both and the two men were normally close, so it was up to her to make sure that conflict didn’t happen again.

Which meant getting Axel out of her life once and for all. He needed to stop coming to the bakery practically every day. He needed to stop teasing her with his tongue on her cupcakes. He needed to stop licking her frosting.

She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, “Fuck!” inside the empty, quiet car.

Muttering “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she shoved open the driver’s door, yanked her keys from the ignition and got out. Stomping down her short paved driveway, she walked right up to his truck which was parked at the curb, still running. Since that night three months ago, he no longer bothered to hide the fact that he followed her home.

She yanked open the passenger side door of his truck and climbed in, slamming it shut. Staring out of the windshield, she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

After a few heartbeats, she said, “He wants to kill you, you know.”

“He’s not going to kill me.”

“But he wants to.”

“Maybe so.”

She twisted in the seat to face the man. The cab of the truck was dark, the only light coming from the glow of the dash. Music played at a low volume from the radio and the heater fan running created a steady hum as it chased the late fall chill out of the vehicle.

She studied him, even in the dark. “You have to stop coming to the bakery.”

“I’m not going to stop, Bella.”

“You need to stop following me home.”

His voice was like warm dripping honey when he answered, “I want to make sure you’re safe.”

Bella gripped her hands together in her lap to keep from shuddering as his words washed over her. She dug her fingernails into her palms to keep herself on track. “I have Diesel; he makes sure I’m safe.”

“Diesel didn’t keep you safe,” he reminded her softly.

She sucked in a breath. She didn’t need that reminder. And it wasn’t Diesel’s fault; he’d had no idea what had been going on. If he had...

“I’m not seeing anyone. There’s no one to keep me safe from.”

“Shadow Warriors. They’re not done with the Angels.”

“And they never will be,” she answered. Which was true. Until the last Warrior or the last Angel was dead and buried, they’d always be a threat. “If they want to get to me, neither you nor D will be able to stop them.”

“I could if I’m in your bed every night.”

She sighed. “Let me start from the beginning since you’re apparently not getting it... He wants to kill you, you know.”

Axel huffed out a breath. “He’s not going to kill me.”

Bella pressed her hands to her face and shook her head. “You’re so fucking stubborn.”

“So are you.”

She dropped her hands back into her lap and they stared at each other for a few heartbeats in the dim light of the truck cab.

“Bella,” he whispered, his voice holding a promise that she needed to ignore.

But she couldn’t ignore it.

She leaned forward and shut his truck off before pulling the keys from the ignition. The interior went completely dark.

“Once and done,” she murmured.

“What?”

“Once and done,” she said louder and with more conviction.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. We’re going to do this once and then we’re done. Got me?” She tossed his keys into one of the cup holders in the center console. “Get out of the truck.”

When he didn’t move and just sat staring at her in the dark, she closed her eyes, gathered her strength and shouted, “Get out of the fucking truck!”

Then she heard the driver’s door open and him get out. She finally opened her eyes and opened her door, climbing down. She left the door open and pointed to the passenger seat as he came around the front of his Dodge, his face an unreadable mask. “Get in.”

“Bella,” he whispered again, but did what he was told, pulling himself up into his truck and settling into the passenger seat.

Even with just the distant street light, she couldn’t miss the bulge in his jeans.

“Are you sure—”

“Get it out.”

“Bella...”

“Get. It. Out.” If he fought her, she would die right there on the spot. They needed to do this without argument. Just do it and get it over with. Once and done.

He could stop coming to the bakery. He could stop following her home.

She could get rid of him from her life. From her...

Fuck.

He could stop causing turmoil in her life because of the club, the brothers and from him being a fucking cop.

It would never work between them. So this just needed to be once and done.

Get it over with and he could move on. So could she.

Only he wasn’t moving. He sat like a fucking statue in his truck, staring at her. He was going to make her do everything!

Standing next to the open door, she ripped open the top button of her jeans then tugged the zipper down. She shimmied out of them, not giving a fuck if any of her neighbors saw her outside on a cold November evening pulling her pants off.

She didn’t give a fuck about anything but getting this over with.

After kicking off her boots, she peeled her jeans down her legs one at a time, leaning on the door for balance. Once her feet were free, she whipped the jeans and her boots over his lap into the truck and climbed in only wearing her heavy, loose sweatshirt, panties and socks. She got in and straddled his lap, facing him.

“Shut the fucking door.”

Without a word, he pulled the door shut and hit the power locks, closing them in together.

“You didn’t get your dick out,” she said, sitting back on his thighs and reaching for the waistband of his jeans.

He grabbed her wrists and stopped her. “Bella, I don’t have...”

She shook her head and ripped free of his grip. “I don’t care.” She found the top button and unfastened it, then snagged the zipper.

“But...”

She froze, her fingers still on the zipper tab, his hot length against her palm under the denim. “You know my uterus was destroyed. You know that. Don’t pretend you don’t.”

He released a harsh breath. “I don’t want you like this.”

“This is the only way you’re going to get me, Axel. Take it or leave it.” His mouth opened, but before he could speak, she cut him off. “This is your one and only chance. It’s this or nothing.”

“I need to touch you everywhere.”

“No.”

“I want to see all of you.”

She shook her head. “No. You don’t get that.”

“I’ll get it. Maybe not this time, but I will.”

“No, Axel.”

His broad hands cupped her face as he pulled her closer, capturing her lips. Lightning shot through her as his tongue forced its way inside, sliding against hers, teasing gently. She moaned and tilted her head enough to let him take the kiss deeper. She rocked her pussy against his thighs as he reached up and tugged her hair free from the bun she wore while working at the bakery.

Her long hair spilled down over her shoulders, then he dug his fingers in tightly, grabbing handfuls and pulling her away.

“I want you,” he whispered.

“I know,” she whispered back.

“Not like this.”

“I know.”

“But if this is all you’ll give me, then I need to take it.”

“I know.”

“Will you be mad at me for taking what you’re offering?”

She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them and regarded him in the dark. She could make out his features clearly enough but not enough to read his expression. “No. I told you to take it or leave it.”

He nodded, releasing her hair and reaching down to finish unzipping his jeans. With a buck of his hips, he pulled his pants down far enough to release his erection between them.

Then his palms slid up her bare thighs until they met at her panties. “I want these off.”

“No, just pull them to the side.”

He fisted her panties in his hands and jerked them, ripping them apart.

“Axel,” she groaned.

“Fuck, Bella. Fuck.”

His fingers found her center, sliding between her folds, pressing, exploring, then circling her clit. She moaned, dropping her forehead to his collarbone. She inhaled his too familiar scent as he continued to stroke her plump, slick flesh, and teased her now hard nub with his thumb.

She gasped when he slipped two fingers gently inside her. Rocking her hips, she rode his fingers, surprised at how wet she was becoming. She didn’t think that could happen anymore. She hadn’t tested the theory since she hadn’t been with anyone since that fateful day.

Not one person.

Until now.

And when his fingers curled deep inside her, he awoke something she had forgotten all about.

Desire. Want. Need.

Urgency.

Desperation.

She rocked her hips faster, encouraging him to keep it up. She cried his name against his throat when his hand snaked up under her sweatshirt and into her bra. She arched her back as he tugged one aching nipple then the other.

“Take it off, I want my mouth on you.”

She shook her head. “No. Leave it on.”

“Bella... I know.”

Her heart thumped heavily in her chest at his confession. “I know you do.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do.”

He blew out a harsh breath but said, “Next time.”

There wasn’t going to be a next time. She already told him that. Once and done.

“Next time I want my mouth on you everywhere.”

She ignored him, instead concentrating on what his fingers were doing to her, the response they drew from her from being both deep within her core and kneading her breast.

God, it felt so good. How could he feel so good?

“You’re so wet. I want to taste you.”

She wanted that, too, but it was impossible in the cab of his truck.

When he twisted her nipple roughly, she gasped and ground down onto his hand and then something wondrous happened. He crushed his lips to hers as she gasped again when an orgasm ripped through her. Her toes curled, and her fingers grasped his shirt as she held on for dear life. Every muscle in her body went liquid as she shuddered on his lap.

As the last of the waves waned, he slipped his fingers from her and pulled his mouth away enough to whisper, “Holy shit.”

Yeah, she had the same thought.

She couldn’t remember ever having a reaction quite like that coaxed from her before. She had only been dominated in the past by a man who couldn’t care less if she enjoyed their contact. In the end, it wasn’t important to him if she got satisfaction from their sexual encounters or not. It had been all about his release, never about hers. She had been his property, his to do with what he wanted.

Unfortunately, she had been the fool to allow it, to put up with it for so long.

Axel murmuring her name against her lips drew her thoughts back to the present. His breathing was ragged, his chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. Reaching between them, she encircled his cock with her hand, running her thumb over the crown to find silky precum beading at the tip. He was hot and velvety smooth within her fingers.

He groaned when she squeezed him gently. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to make a mess between us. I want to come inside you.”

She wanted that, too.

His hands gripped her ass cheeks and he jerked her forward and up, until the tip of his cock was at her opening, sliding between her folds.

“It’s all you, baby,” he moaned, his head falling back against the seat, but he kept his eyes tipped to her.

She shifted slightly to make sure he was lined up perfectly and sank down onto his lap slowly, until there was nothing left of him. He filled her completely.

Biting her bottom lip, she closed her eyes, reveling in the fullness, the stretch, the relief of him finally being inside her. All these years of wanting him, needing him, but keeping him at arm’s length washed over her. He was finally hers if only for this brief time.

Once and done.

His fingers dug deeply into the flesh of her ass as he encouraged her to move, to lift and lower on his hard length. She followed his lead, going slowly, savoring his scent in her nostrils, his taste on her lips, as she rose and fell on his lap, taking her time, appreciating everything that made up the man she’d wanted for so long.

She wanted—no, needed—to draw this out, to take this slow, because this was the only chance she would get with him. This was the only opportunity she would allow.

Once and done.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “You’re so tight, baby. So tight,” he hissed, then grunted as she began to move faster. “I’ve wanted you so much for so long...”

“Ax.”

“I’ve wanted you to be mine forever...”

“Axel, stop.”

“You’re finally mine.”

“Stop! Stop. Stop. Please.”

He needed to be quiet, he couldn’t say those things to her. She couldn’t let him slip through that crack she opened only to let him in temporarily, just for this one time. If he slipped in, she’d never get him back out. And she couldn’t allow that.

His hips bucked off the seat as she increased her pace, trying to let the motions drown out his words.

“Bella...”

She clamped a hand over his mouth and rode him harder, at a more frenzied pace, ignoring the kisses he placed into her hand, ignoring the tip of his tongue tracing her palm.

When he nipped her, she jerked her hand away, balling it into a fist.

His hands slid from her ass up her back and under her sweatshirt. He snagged her bra, unfastening it. And before she could stop him, he forced both the front of her sweatshirt, along with her bra, up and over her breasts, dropping his head quickly to capture a nipple in her mouth.

“Nooo,” she groaned.

He didn’t stop, and the pulling sensation on her aching flesh made her back bow in an attempt to press herself deeper into his mouth. While her mind fought him, her body didn’t. It encouraged him to take more than she was willing to give.

Sucking hard on one nipple, he rolled the other between his forefinger and thumb, no longer being gentle, instead giving her what she didn’t realize she even wanted.

“Bella,” he murmured against the damp, heated skin of her breast.

“Don’t. Please... be quiet.”

He shifted the two of them on the seat so he sat up straighter and he drove his hips up harshly, the denim of his jeans rough against her bare thighs and her sensitive flesh.

He sucked a nipple deeply into his mouth and the sharp scrape of his teeth against the tight tip made her shudder against him, made her core clench tightly around his length.

A noise escaped deep from within his throat and he dropped his hands back to her ass, grabbing handfuls of her flesh to hold her still above his lap. He was no longer letting her keep the pace. He controlled it now with the lift and fall of his hips, fucking her hard and fast. She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and squeezed, while her other cupped his cheek as she pressed her forehead to his and gasped for breath.

“Axel,” she groaned. “Yes...”

“Yes,” he grunted, pounding her relentlessly until he said, “Baby, you’re soaking me.” Then his body stuttered, lost its rhythm, and he sank down onto the seat, allowing her to follow.

She ground her hips in a circle, needing to feel him as deeply as possible, unable to take any more of him inside her, even though she tried desperately.

Once and done, she reminded herself, as she felt the crack begin to split wider.

No, no, no.

Here and now. That’s it.

That’s all she had to give him.

She shoved her face into his neck and bit him hard. With a sharp curse, he shuddered beneath her, dragging his hands through her hair until he had a good hold and jerked until her neck arched and he took her lips again, swirling his tongue into the recesses of her mouth. She raked her nails down his chest, her fingers getting caught in the cotton fabric of his shirt. Tugging it up frantically, she raked her nails down his chest once again, this time into his skin. He broke off the kiss and stared into her eyes.

“Jesus, Bella.”

“Make me come again,” she panted. “Once more... Please.”

All the breath left him as he thrust up and she ground down to meet him. He dropped one hand between them and, finding her clit, he pinched it hard.

She cried out, rocking her hips back and forth against his hand, driving his cock deeper.

She was there. He took her right there. To that elusive edge and then without hesitation he shoved her over. Her body became boneless, weightless, and she cried out his name as she free fell, pulsating around him. Everything about her melted against him, the pieces of them fitting together almost perfectly.

Not quite, but almost.

With a groan, his fingers dug into the flesh of her hips as he stiffened beneath her and lifted his hips once more, his cock twitching and throbbing as he spilled himself within her.

For the longest time, his body remained hard, stiff, his eyes closed, and his lips parted. Then he collapsed into the seat once more, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close, not letting her retreat.

His breath came as harshly as hers as she tried to slow her breathing, her heart still pounding a rapid beat in her chest. When he cupped her face softly, she closed her eyes to avoid what she knew she’d see in his... even in the darkness of his truck cab.

“Bella,” he whispered.

She shook her head, then turned it away from him before opening her eyes. She spotted her jeans and her boots on the driver’s seat and she pulled them to her chest, putting up a wall between them even though they were still connected intimately.

“No. You got what you wanted.” She twisted in his lap and shoved open the truck’s passenger door, letting the cold night air rush in.

“Bella,” he said more firmly, grabbing at her arms, trying to keep her on top of him.

She pushed away, breaking their connection, scrambling out of the truck, even though she was naked from the waist down. Even though she could begin to feel him sliding from her, the warm silky fluid rolling down her inner thighs.

She shook her head, holding her clothes tightly against her pelvis.

“No, Axel, you got what you wanted. Now stay away from the bakery. And stay away from me.”

She shut the passenger door before he could get out and ran to the house. Unlocking the door, she rushed inside, slammed it shut, twisted the deadbolt, slid the chain home, then punched the code into the alarm’s keypad.

Slamming her back against the door, she slid down to the floor, and pressed her face against her bent knees.

A long, low wail escaped her before she could contain it. Then she sat there for the longest time, Axel slipping from her body one drop at a time until she felt empty once more.