She wants to kill him. Looks like she wants me to get in line because if he comes after her, I will fillet him like a fish. No one will find his body. I will wipe him from existence. Wipe him from her mind. He will never win.

“You won’t get a chance,” I tell Savannah.

She looks so confused. Oh, my sassy Savannah, don’t you get it? “I will kill him myself if he comes near you. He will never lay a finger on you again—no, he will never even see you from a distance. When he’s out, and he steps foot in this town, he has a death sentence on his head. I will end him.”

Savannah launches herself away from me and out of the bed. She’s back to pacing at the foot of the bed. I relax back into the headboard. I know I can protect her and I will protect her. Savannah will never have to worry about anything else again.

“No,” she hisses at me. “Absolutely not.”

Too late, gorgeous. I already decided. “He will never hurt you again,” I tell her.

“I know,” she says fiercely. She turns toward me, looking every inch of the goddamn warrior she has become. Hands on her naked hips, hair wild from her fingers, and eyes hungry for a win. My cock twitches in my briefs. “I will protect myself, Liam. You are not getting involved.”

“Like hell, I’m not. Get your ass back over to me,” I tell her. “I wasn’t done holding you.”

She huffs, but I see the twitching of her lips. She will continue to deny it, but I know she likes it when I act the dirty barbarian. She crawls up the bed toward me, never breaking eye contact. She puts herself right next to me, flesh to flesh.

“You really want to stay?” she asks in wonder.

“I’ve wanted to stay with you since the first time I saw you,” I tell her earnestly. “You’ve wrecked me.”

“Even after I tell you I plan to murder someone?”

“You’re exacting revenge, getting the justice you deserve, and it will be self-defense. Let me ask you something.”

She cocks her head and raises an eyebrow.

“If you heard he was released, but he never came after you, would you find him and kill him?”

“No,” she tells me.

“You’re not a murderer, baby. You’re a survivor and a warrior. You will protect yourself and those you love. That’s different. You just plan to send the bastard to hell if he does try to come after you.”

“He will,” she promises. I don’t doubt her, but I hope she’s wrong. If she’s right, I will protect her with my life. I know if she allowed it, she would have an army of protection.

“I’m not going anywhere, gorgeous. You’re stuck with me.”

She laughs and kisses my chest. “Being stuck with you isn’t so bad.”

“Is that a compliment?” I ask her, smirking.

“Don’t get used to it,” she tells me, full-out grinning, even after the night we’ve had with tears, heartache, and more. Seeing her grin is like a blind man seeing a sunrise for the first time. My heart stops beating, my breaths stop coming. I’m stunned by her beauty and the happiness shining in her eyes.

I attack her mouth, sealing my lips over hers, unable to hold back any longer. She’s mine. I’m hers. Now it’s time to seal us together in the greatest possible way. I roll her on her back, settling myself on top of her.

Framing her face with my hands, my weight balanced on my elbows, I ask her, “Are you ready for this, Savannah?”

Her back arches up, pressing her chest into mine. “Yes, Liam. I’m ready. I’m ready for it all.”

My lips descend on hers, sucking them into my mouth. I run my tongue along the seam of her lips, begging for entrance for a taste of her luscious mouth. I groan when my tongue slips inside. Her hips grind on my erection. Savannah wraps her legs around my hips, weaving her hands in my hair. I relish the sweet tug when I bite down on her neck before leaving it with my tongue, soothing the mark.

My hands move to her breasts. She moans, pressing herself farther into my palm. I knead them, kissing a trail down her neck and chest. I roll one nipple between my thumb and forefinger, sucking the other through the lace of her bra. She cries out my name, making me groan around the stiff peak in my mouth.

I lift her off the bed, popping the clasp of her bra. I go to my knees and stare down at the gorgeous girl in my bed. Her soft curves are on display.,the vibrancy of her tattoo making her body into a work of art. Savannah’s dusky rose nipples are erect points. Her hair is spilling around her head on my pillow. She is a dream.

Her hands slide up my thighs to their junction. My cock is so hard, the bulbous head is peaking from the top of my briefs. She pulls them down, freeing me. Her small hand doesn’t even wrap around my girth. She pumps my dick from root to tip a few times before I pull her hand away groaning, already missing the sensation. I’m too worked up. I can’t have her touching me right now.

I get up from the bed, intent on grabbing a condom.

“Where are you going?” Savannah’s voice is laced with lust.

“Condom,” I tell her, my voice just as gravelly and filled with need.

“I have an IUD. I—I trust you.”