Adele was right. It was nice to stretch out in a bed this large…and soft. Bron couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept on a bed this luxurious. He could fault James Hook for a lot of things, but not his choice of bedding.

More importantly, Adele seemed to be enjoying the afterglow as well.

Her warm body draped across his. Her fingertips drew lazy swoops and circles over his skin. Her red hair splayed across his chest. He raked his fingers through the strands, savoring the silky feel. It was magnificent.

She was magnificent.

He’d taken plenty of women to his bed before, screwed them hard enough to leave him sated and them breathless, but no one had ever made Bron feel this way.

Content.

That was the emotion filling his chest. The feeling that there was nowhere else he’d rather be, no one else he’d rather be with. The feeling that he could lie in this bed forever and play with her hair—and the rest of her body—without complaint.

After a few moments, she shifted, lifting her head just far enough to look him in the eye.

“Tell me more about this house you’re going to build,” she said.

Bron’s brows dipped down in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“You know, the house in the clearing by the river.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do,” she said, giving him a playful smack. “How could I forget? You looked so happy and hopeful when you talked about it.”

Happy. Hopeful. When had those ideas become one in his mind?

“What do you want to know?” he asked.

“What’s the house going to be like?” she asked with a sigh. “Big? Little? Cozy? Open?”

“It won’t be as large or as grand as this house,” he said.

She laughed. “I figured. But I didn’t ask what it wouldn’t be. Paint a picture of what it will be.”

He let out a breath and pushed her hair back from her face. Damn, she felt wonderful. Soft and warm.

He dropped his head back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. For the first time, he let his mind wander, thinking on what he wanted.

What he truly wanted.

“It will be sturdy,” he said. “Built from the strongest trees of the Western Woods. But the interior won’t be dark. There will be windows to let the sunlight through and look out on the glen, and I’ll build a big stone fireplace in the center of the main room, so the house will always be warm and bright during the long winter nights.”

A sweet smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

“That sounds heavenly,” she said, resting her head against his chest. “Not quite perfect though.”

“No?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Nope,” she said. “It’s missing something.”

“Like a bedroom?” he asked. “And a bed as large and soft as this one?”

“Not exactly what I was thinking,” she said with a laugh. “Though, don’t get me wrong, I like the addition.”

“Then what would you add?” he asked.

“A bed of flowers out front,” she said. “And probably one in the back too.”

“Flowers?” His lips pulled down in an exaggerated frown. “Why would you want that? They’re a waste of useful gardening soil.”

“And some paint would be nice. Yellow, I think,” she pressed on as if she didn’t hear him. “And a blue door.”

He craned his neck and looked at the top of her head. “But you can’t see what color the outside of the door is when you’re inside the house. Why do you care what color it is?”

“Because I do,” she said as if that were the only answer that mattered. “And I like blue.”

A wide smile spread across his face. “So it’s your house now?”

She shrugged. “I did say I might come visit you sometime.”

What he would give to see the expression on her face right now. To see if she were blushing or teasing…or both.

“Then let’s make a deal, sweetness,” he said. “If you promise to come, I’ll promise there will be a blue door waiting for you.”

A satisfied sigh escaped Adele. She draped her arm over his chest and pulled herself in tight.

“Deal,” she said.

Bron laid his head against the pillow and closed his eyes. In all the years that he’d been alive, of all the battles he’d fought and pleasures he’d sought, nothing had come close to the perfection of this moment.

Nothing.

* * *

For the first time, Adele woke up before Bron.

She couldn’t help but smile as she opened her eyes. She wasn’t exactly surprised to find that her head was still nestled on his chest, or that her arm was still wrapped around him.

It was telling that even in this huge bed, she would choose to sleep molded up against him instead of stretching out. There was something so comfortable about him, something so right.

The clock across the room read six forty-two. Too early to get up, too late to fall back asleep. But not too early for coffee. Besides, she needed to make herself useful. After all, she couldn’t lounge in bed naked all day. Well, she thought, looking down at Bron’s naked body. She could, but that didn’t mean she should.

He stirred as she sat up, but she gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

While the coffee brewed, hopefully she could find them something to eat. Breakfast in bed sounded good. Better than good. It sounded like heaven.

The hardwood floor was cold against her bare feet, but she strangely enjoyed the sensation. She went to grab one of Hook’s shirts from the closet, but was surprised to find a set of women’s clothes hanging alongside his. After muttering a few words of apology she knew no one could hear, she snatched a dress off a hanger and headed downstairs.

Halfway to the kitchen she understood Bron’s point about his friend’s house. It was far too big, not to mention too lonely. The only sound in the whole place was the slight creak her feet made on the staircase.

Even though it beat the hell out of sleeping on the concrete at the shipyard, this place still wasn’t her style. Not like the house Bron had described last night.

That house sounded like a dream.

Probably because it was one.

A sweet, beautiful dream, far away from the horrible reality she was facing.

Adele rolled her shoulders back as she entered the kitchen. She lifted herself up on tiptoes and rummaged through the cupboards for the coffee. There had to be a bag of grounds in here somewhere.

She felt a twinge of guilt looking through someone else’s kitchen. This wasn’t her food, after all. She wasn’t at a hotel waiting for room service. She was stealing, plain and simple.

She’d have to make it up to this James Hook somehow. Maybe she’d cut him a check after all this was over, thanking him for his hospitality. It was the right thing to do.

She flipped open another cupboard and stopped short.

A note hung down from the shelf, written in dark ink.

No, she realized. Not ink. The words were scrawled in blood, creating a dark reddish-brown stain that marred and crinkled the paper when it dried.

Come to the shipyard. Come alone and I’ll spare the hunter. Run, and I’ll slaughter you both.

Adele swallowed hard. There was no doubting who the message was from…and who it was meant for.

She grabbed the crystal around her neck. She expected to feel the same cold tremble of fear that she had the day the Redcap had tried to wrench Silver from her neck, but not this time.

This time, the burst of emotion that ran through her was potent enough to almost knock her on her butt.

Pure belief shot up her arm. Belief in her abilities. That she was courageous enough to fight the Redcap head-on. That she was smart enough to figure out how to defeat him, and strong enough to see it through.

Adele shook as she struggled to process the feelings Silver was sending her.

The Redcap didn’t care about Bron anymore. This note made that crystal clear. Somewhere along the line his focus had changed. Maybe when she’d snatched away his power. Maybe when she’d stabbed him in the back. It didn’t matter.

All that mattered was that the threats had changed.

She had changed them.

Which meant she could end them.

And for the first time, she had an idea of how. Not that it was going to be easy. Not by a long shot.

Adele reached up and tore down the note. She couldn’t risk Bron seeing it. She couldn’t let him know a thing.

He would never allow her to do what needed to be done, and even if he did, he would never let her go alone. He’d need to be there to look after her, to rush in and save her, because that’s who he was.

He wasn’t some mindless killer. He was her protector. Her friend. Her lover.

But now it was her turn to protect him.

She rifled through the drawers until she found a box of matches. She crumbled up the note and laid it down on the cold marble before lighting one of the corners. In a few seconds the paper was gone, nothing more than a pile of ash.

Adele wiped the remains into the sink then ran like hell back up the stairs.

“You were gone awhile,” Bron said in a sleepy voice as she stepped back into the room. “I was just about to come looking for you.”

“I was getting us some breakfast,” she said.

He popped open an eye and gave her a skeptical look. “And yet you’ve come back empty handed.”

“I didn’t know where anything was,” she said, climbing back into bed. “I thought we could try again once we were both up.”

“A much better idea.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her near. His brows pulled together. “You’re shivering.”

“It was cold downstairs.”

He opened his eyes all the way, and she could see that they were swimming with desire. “I can think of a way to warm you up.”

Adele almost felt bad for accepting his kisses, for allowing her body to come alive under the sensual assault of his hands and tongue. Except now she knew this might be her last opportunity.

Her last chance to show him how much she cared.

Her last chance to love him.

* * *

There was something different in Adele’s kisses.

Bron felt it in the brush of her lips, in the sweep of her fingers, in the cadence of her breath. This wasn’t the languid woman who had left him minutes before. Her whole body was tight. Desperation flowed through her—and not because she was burning with need.

He pulled back and looked at her. Conflict shone in her eyes, bright as the sun.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she answered too quickly.

A lie, and a bold one at that.

“Tell me,” he said.

A shaky smile lifted her lips. “I was just thinking how happy I am.”

There was a note of truth in her voice, and he was surprised how much that thrilled him. But that wasn’t the whole truth. She was hiding something. Something that was burning a hole inside of her.

She bit her lower lip. Her gaze flickered to the side. She was weighing her options, deciding what to tell him.

Eventually, her gaze steadied, and there was nothing but honesty in her eyes.

“I’m worried,” she said.

“About the Redcap?”

She nodded.

That’s what he thought. He ran a hand through her hair and cupped her chin gently, not letting her break away.

He leaned in and reverently kissed her lips.

“We’ll find a way to kill the Redcap, I promise,” he said. “Just like I promise to protect you to my dying breath.”

Her trembling only worsened. “That’s what I’m worried about. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

He shook his head. He didn’t understand why she was so concerned.

“Why not?” he asked.

Tears nearly crested over the edges of her big blue eyes. “Because I’m in love with you.”

Everything inside Bron went still. Her words echoed in his head.

It wasn’t possible. There was no way.

“Say that again,” he demanded.

She blinked and a tear coursed down her cheek.

“I love you, you big oaf,” she said again.

Bron’s heart hammered in his chest. His lungs tightened until he was afraid he might never breathe again. His pulse throbbed in his temples.

Yes. There it was. Tightening and throbbing—it had to be love.

Her confession was everything that he’d been afraid to hope for.

The thought overwhelmed him. He didn’t know what to do with the emotions running through him.

Except to kiss her again and again.

So that’s what he did until moans of pleasure fell from her lips. Only then did he pull away.

“Nothing is going to happen to me,” he said. “You have to believe that.”

A strange light burned in her eyes. “I know.”

Her words were true enough, but the certainty with which she said them made him wary. But before he could ask her what she meant, she rolled him over on his back and threw her legs over his waist.

Bron wasted no time pulling the dress over her head and running his hands down the curve of her breasts. Her nipples hardened against his fingers. She moaned in pleasure and his cock swelled in answer, pressing into the soft V of her legs.

He longed to thrust his shaft deep inside her, feel her body tighten around him again.

But Adele kissed her way down his chest, her fingertips leaving a trail of desire. She wrapped her fingers around his shaft, and he let his head fall back against the pillow. But that pleasure was nothing in comparison to the sensation a moment later when her lips surrounded his cock.

“Adele.” Her name ripped from his lips. He wasn’t sure if he was begging her to continue or to stop, but as her tongue swirled around his head, he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to.

She just felt too damn good. Every part of her, from her tongue to her body to her heart. Every part of Adele made his soul come alive.

And damn if he didn’t want to accept what she was offering. Every bit of it.

But he wasn’t satisfied to just take from her.

He needed to hear her moans. Needed to feel her pleasure mixing with his.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her up, settling her on his cock in one smooth motion. She slid all the way down in one thrust. She closed her eyes, pleasure overtaking her.

They ground together. Moving in unison. Like they were made to fit together, born to be like this.

It didn’t take long for Adele to cry out. The sound reached his ears just as the walls of her pussy tightened, wrenching a climax from the depths of his soul.

* * *

Adele kept her head on the pillow as Bron made his way to the shower.

“Would you like to join me?” he asked.

She couldn’t help but blush, even though she knew after everything they’d done with each other, she should be long past embarrassment. But she wasn’t. There was something about seeing his naked, perfect body walking across the room from her that made her feel like she was getting away with the forbidden.

Maybe she would always feel that way.

That was the hope.

Except right now hope was slapping her across the face, screaming that it wasn’t something that she could take for granted.

No, if she wanted a future filled with joy and sturdy houses with blue doors then she had to work for it.

Even risk her life for it.

“Sure,” she said to Bron as he flicked on the light in the bathroom. “I’ll be there soon. I just want to lie here a little longer.”

He laughed and kept going to the bathroom. “Don’t lounge too long,” he said.

She forced a smile. “I won’t.”

At least that was the truth, if nothing else was.

She sat up the second the bathroom door clicked shut. She waited until the shower turned on before she rushed to grab the borrowed dress Bron had tossed on the floor. With a sad glance at the bathroom door, she pulled it over her head and started for the stairs. Adele paused as she passed the kitchen.

She couldn’t leave without telling Bron something. The worry would eat him alive, and she knew better than anyone how agonizing that could be. So, she rushed over, scribbled a note on a pad, and left the paper on the counter for him.

It wasn’t the best goodbye…and she hoped to God it wouldn’t be her last.

But she couldn’t worry about that right now.

Now, she needed to get moving, before he came looking for her.

She flew out the door and raced down the street, calling for a car as she went. She met the rideshare a couple of blocks away. As it took off down the road, she prayed that Bron would understand…and that a few minutes head start would be enough.

She grabbed the phoenix cage and held on for dear life. Even though its warm pulse was strong, the voice inside Adele’s head was stronger.

And for the first time, it wasn’t filling her with dread.

This time, the truth came through loud and clear.

She was doing the right thing.

She only hoped that when this was all over, Bron would agree.