“We can’t have this,” Neal Watt says. He’s an older man, gray hair, heavyset with light blue eyes and a nice suit.

“I know that,” I say. “I’m working on it.”

He sighs, shaking his head. “You know, I was close with your father. He was a good man. We took his dying wish into consideration and gave you this job, but Amelia, I’m not so sure that was a good idea.”

I lean back in my chair and glare at him. “What do you want me to do? The board is on Ingram’s side. I presented a good contract to you all, but you turned it down.”

He frowns. “We never saw any contracts.”

I stop, surprised. “He didn’t bring it to you?”

“No,” Neal says, laughing. “Never. You have one?”

“I do,” I say. “Well, I did. We’re working on a revision.”

“Please, bring it to the board. At this point, I bet they’d take anything. We can’t have this strike last very long.”

I nod. “I understand.”

He smiles softly. “Your father was a good man, Amelia, and I think I see some of him in you.” He stands up. “Bring us that contract.” Without another word, he leaves my office.

I lean back in my chair. The miners walked out on the job this morning, and the board sent Neal down here to dress me down, clearly. But that’s not the worst part of this.

How could I be so stupid? I took Ingram at his word and assumed that he really did bring the board that contract, but clearly I was stupid. I don’t know why I thought he was telling the truth, but this makes sense. Of course they never saw that contract. Ingram doesn’t have some magic control over them, he just lied from the start.

But now it’s too late. Samuel walked out on the job, and now the miners are striking. I’m on thin ice with the board, and Ingram’s getting into position to knock me down and take over the CEO job.

I can’t let that happen. He’d be the worst thing possible for this company and for the whole damn town. I have to get Samuel to stop the strike and to agree to our original contract.

I turn to my computer, trying to get some work done. A couple of hours pass, when suddenly a loud bang pulls me from my screen.

I look up, frozen. I hear the bang again, and I know exactly what that sound is. I get up and walk quickly out of my office. Everyone else is looking around, worried.

“Okay everyone,” I call out. “It’s okay! Everyone please just stay here while we investigate.”

“Those were gunshots,” Janet says softly.

“Stay here,” I say to her.

I run back into my office and call security, but they don’t answer. I head back out and down the elevator, toward the front of the building. The security guys have an office there, and I figure I can report the gunshot to them directly, skip the fucking phone system.

Instead, as soon as I get into the lobby, there are a ton of people crouched down. Outside, there are some figures moving, and I realize with a start that they’re fighting.

And one of those figures is Samuel.

I run to the door, not thinking. Someone shouts for me to stop, but I just ignore him. I throw open the door and watch as Samuel smashes the butt of a gun into the face of a guy in a suit, dropping him to the ground. Samuel roars and throws the gun away before smashing his fist into another guy’s face. He knees the guy in the gut and throws him into a bush.

The third guy stumbles back and tries to run, but Samuel grabs him and throws him to the ground. He kicks the guy in the gut twice.

“Samuel!” I scream, and he looks up, shocked.

“Amelia,” he says, and then he grins. His mouth is bloody and his eye is puffed already. “They wouldn’t let me come see you.”

I don’t hesitate. I run over to him and throw my arms around his neck. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” he says.

“There were gunshots.”

He laughs. “The fucker missed.” He spits red onto the ground. “Come on, we should go.”

I let him lead me away from the building. I go with him, not thinking about how it might look. I’m not worried about that at all. I’m only worried about Samuel.

We get into his truck and he starts driving. “What happened?” I ask him. “What the hell was that back there?”

He tells me the whole story, starting with the walkout this morning, and Boone getting attacked, and finally ending with the three goons attacking him.

“I think they were Ingram’s boys,” he says. “I recognized the one from that meeting we had.”

“One of his lawyers?”

He shrugs. “He wasn’t a lawyer.”

I chew on my lip, shaking my head. “Samuel, this is crazy.”

“You’re telling me.” He shakes his head. “Fuck, Amelia. I wanted to kill those guys.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

He grins at me as we pull into the driveway of his house. He gets out and stalks inside. I have to hurry to follow him.

Once inside, I stop in the doorway. “Hold on,” I say. “Wait.”

He looks back over his shoulder at me. “What?” he asks, surprised.

“There was… a gunshot. A few, actually.” I stare at him, standing in the doorway. “You didn’t…?”

“No,” he says, laughing. “But they fucking tried. Nobody got hurt.”

“They tried to kill you?”

He shrugs a little and heads back into his kitchen.”

I follow him slowly. I’m not afraid of Samuel, but I’m definitely a little wary right now. He’s clearly amped up from that fight, and it’s pretty scary that he was able to take down three guys like that… and they had guns, too.

When I get into the kitchen, Samuel’s standing near the sink with a glass in his hand. He tosses his head back and it takes me a second to realize that he’s drinking. There’s an open bottle of whiskey nearby, which he uses to fill his glass again. He sighs and turns toward me, sipping this second glass.

“Are you really trying to tell me that Ingram tried to kill you right out in front of that building?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “No, I don’t think that was his intention.”

“What happened, then?” I cross my arms, getting annoyed that he’s not giving me straight answers.

He sighs. “I came to see you, but Ingram wasn’t about to let that happen. He sent his goons out to stop me… and this time I didn’t get sucker punched.”

“That asshole,” I whisper.

“The gun was just a product of the moment,” he says. “I think the guy was afraid, and he made a stupid mistake, bringing that thing out.”

“So you, what, disarmed him?”

“Pretty much.” He sips his whiskey again. “Ingram sent guys to hurt some of my people.”

That surprises me. “He did what?”

“Because of the strike this morning. One of our guys, I think you met him, Boone, Ingram’s boys broke into his house and beat his ass, almost put him in a damn coma.”

I have to sit down. This is all too fucking much. Ingram sending guys with guns to stop Samuel from seeing me and attacking workers in their homes… it’s too far, even for Ingram.

“I can’t believe he’s doing this,” I say finally.

Samuel sits down across from me. “Believe it,” he says softly. “I have guys out right now protecting the other late-shifters. And Boone’s going to be okay. But it could have been worse.”

I meet his gaze, and I suddenly can see all the pain and suffering there in his expression. I knew he cared about his guys, but I had no clue how deep it really went. This is eating him up inside, destroying him, and it’s so clear on his face. The pain isn’t just from his injuries. It’s from the injuries of his people, and the war we’ve suddenly found ourselves in.

I don’t know why, but I have to go to him. It’s a sudden, visceral feeling, needing to touch him. I stand and walk around the table. He leans back in his chair, watching me with eyes full of emotion. I stop in front of him and slowly straddle his lap until I’m sitting on him, arms around his neck, hair spilling down around us.

“This can’t keep going on,” he says softly, though I don’t know exactly what he means.

“You won’t let it,” I say.

He nods once, one hand on my hips, the other in my hair. He pulls me closer and kisses me, exactly the way I need.

Pleasure and desire race through me. I kiss him back, grinding my hips against him as he pulls my hair tight again. Chills of pain and pleasure mix, tingling, making me gasp into his kiss.

Everything out there, it’s all fucked up. Even this is a little fucked up. I’m carrying his baby and he has no fucking clue. But I can’t think about any of that. I can’t let myself, for both our sakes.

He needs the truth about our baby, but not yet, not now. Not when this just happened.

I can do something, though. I can make him feel better, and in the process, maybe I can feel a little bit better too.

I sit up slightly and reach back. I can feel his hard cock through his jeans, and I slowly stroke him as I kiss him. He grunts as I move backward, crouching down in front of him. He watches with a small smirk as I unbutton his jeans and tug them forward. I get them off and he watches as his boxer briefs follow next.

I get onto my knees, leaning forward. I take his thick, big cock in my hand and slowly stroke him as he runs his fingers in my hair.

“You want to suck my cock?” he whispers softly. “Make the pain disappear?”

I nod and meet his gaze. “Please,” I whisper back.

He smirks slightly in response and pulls me up to meet his lips. When he’s done kissing me, he pulls back. “If anyone can fix it, you can.”

I take his cock into my mouth and suck his tip hard. I feel suddenly desperate, crazy for him, losing my mind as I let him slide his big dick into my throat. I gag but that doesn’t stop me. I suck him faster, hands working his shaft, jerking that big cock off as I suck him. He barely fits in my mouth, but I love the way he tastes, the way he grunts his pleasure, the way he takes me by the hair and presses his cock between my pretty lips and fucks my mouth like I’m his to use however he pleases.

And I am his to use, however he pleases.

I’m dripping wet, soaked with excitement. I reach up between my legs, pushing my skirt up around my hips, and I find my own wet pussy. I meet his eyes, cock in my mouth still, as I push my panties aside and slowly start to rub my own clit.

He groans and I can see the fire ignite in him. I press my fingers inside of my pussy at the same time that I take his cock into my throat. I moan as I suck him and I touch myself. It drives me wild, pushing me to suck him faster, dirtier, wetter. I don’t care if I’m sloppy and filthy as long as he’s groaning and it feels good.

I pull back, fingers on my clit, and I stroke him. He meets my gaze and pulls me up to him again, kissing me, but this time he stands. He kicks his pants and boxers away and pulls me around, bending me over the table roughly. He roughly pulls my panties down, making me gasp as his thicker fingers push into my wet pussy.

“No matter what happens, I know one thing for sure,” he says.

“What?” I ask.

He slaps my ass. “This cunt is mine.”

Without another word, he presses his cock inside of me. It catches me off-guard as pleasure and pain burst through my body, pushing me deeper into ecstasy than I already was. He’s so thick and long. I’ve never felt a man like him inside of me before, and he fills me so easily. Every time is still a new surprise as I push back against him, wanting more, taking every inch of him.

He pulls my arms behind my back as he starts to fuck me. He’s aggressive and angry and it feels so fucking good as I push back against him, riding his thick cock as he fucks me deeper.

He pulls my hair back again, slaps my ass hard, and I know he’s going to leave a red handprint. I grip the table and push into him, feeling his cock slice me in two. My eyes practically roll into the back of my head as he rides me, and I need more, I need everything.

Almost as if he can hear my thoughts, he pulls back and takes me off the table, pulling me against him. He wraps my legs around his hips and pushes me up against the wall near the living room, pinning my hands above my head, kissing my lips hard as his other hand teases my clit. He bites my lower lip and I groan as he carries me into the living room, still kissing me. He pushes me down onto his rug, on my back, and spreads my legs wide, pressing his cock deep into my pussy.

I groan as he fucks me like that, legs spread wide. He’s relentless as I keep my hands above my head, his cock slamming into me. He starts to tease my clit as he spreads my legs wider and I know I’m so fucking close it almost hurts, but he doesn’t let me come yet.

He puts his thumb in my mouth and I suck it as he fucks me. He rips open the front of my blouse, tearing off buttons, but I just gasp as he feels my breasts through my bra. He fucks me harder, teasing my clit again, making me moan, making my hips move against him.

I know I can’t hold it back any longer. I lean forward, up on one elbow, and I push back against him, hands on his ass. He fucks me rough, ceaseless, unrelenting, like a fucking animal, and I take his big dick so deep it almost breaks me. I come hard, body sweating, outfit ruined, but I don’t care about anything else in the world in this moment. All I care about is getting off, coming hard on his big fat cock, and he knows it. He takes my body, uses me, makes me feel better.

And when he comes, he pulls himself out of my pussy and strokes himself. He comes in thick spurts across my body, covering my stomach and my tits, ruining my bra, but I don’t care. In the moment, it feels right, and I’m amazed at how much he comes.

He groans and when he’s finished, he collapses onto the floor beside me.

“Thanks for ruining my outfit,” I say.

He grins. “You’re welcome.” He kisses me softly. “I’ll get you another one.”

“You better.” I can’t help but grin at him, though. I kiss him back, and soon we’re up in the shower, my clothes in his washing machine. I forget all about everything else as we shower together, talking, laughing, kissing, cleaning each other’s bodies, and it feels right.

There’s only one thing nagging at me. The same thing that’s been nagging since the start of this. Just the baby, growing inside of me, the baby Samuel doesn’t know about, not yet.