Sunlight filters in through the curtains, and my automatic response is to shove my head beneath the pillow. Except instead of soft fabric beneath my face, it’s a hard chest. I drag my eyes up to find Gunner splayed flat on his back while I use him for a pillow. He looks uncomfortable, but a smile curves his lips when he sees I’m awake.

Visions of last night flood my sleep-addled brain, and I squeeze my thighs together as I wonder if it really happened. I’m deliciously sore, so I know I didn’t imagine it. I gave my virginity to an ex-convict who’s hotter than the devil himself. But one glance into his deep chocolate eyes, and I have no regrets about it. I would do it all over again. And in fact, right now, I can’t think of anything better.

“Morning, sunshine,” he murmurs.

“Morning.” I slide off his chest and curl into his side, and Gunner stretches, his biceps rippling with tension before he rolls to face me.

“You could have moved me,” I say sheepishly.

He leans in and peppers my cheek with a kiss. “You looked so peaceful. There was no way I could even think about it.”

“It’s the first good night of sleep I’ve had in a long while,” I admit.

He frowns. “Yeah, about that. We need to fix this situation, Allie. I’m not okay with you being out here on your own.”

“But I live here. This is where I grew up. I don’t want to leave.”

“I’m not asking you to give the place up,” Gunner says. “But until I can get a handle on this situation with your stalker, I want you to come stay with me. I’ll give you a ride to work every morning and pick you up at night.”

I drag the sheet over my bare breasts as I sit up. “You can’t fix this for me, Gunner. If you get involved, that’s only going to make him come after you.”

“Good,” he says in a challenging tone. “Let him come. I’ll be waiting.”

“Not good,” I argue. “I don’t want him to bother anyone else. This is my problem—”

Gunner sits up beside me and shakes his head. “I meant what I said last night, sweetheart. You’re mine now, and I intend to protect you. This guy thinks he can harass you because you haven’t had anyone around to tell him otherwise, but he’s got another thing coming.”

“I don’t want you to do anything that could get you in trouble.”

Gunner pulls me against him, tucking me into his arms. “I thought you said you trusted me?”

“I do.” I fidget with the hem of the sheet between my fingers.

“Well, then that’s all you need to remember, Allie Cat. I’ll handle this the right way, okay?”

When I look into his eyes, I believe him. And I’m so tired of trying to deal with it on my own. I’m so tired of nobody listening to me or telling me they can help. Realistically, I know I can’t go on like this. Not sleeping and constantly stressing about where Brad might be. If Gunner wants to help me, how can I refuse?

“Are you sure it will be okay if I stay at your place?”

“More than sure.” He kisses my temple. “In fact, I insist on it.”

I nod and lean into him. His fingers stroke over my body in a way that makes everything feel so right. I’m at peace, and it’s been so long since I felt this way.

“Are you sore this morning?” he asks.

“A little.”

A sleepy satisfaction passes over his face. “Why don’t we take a shower then? I’ll help you get cleaned up.”

I’m not sore enough that I can’t clean myself up, but I’m not going to tell him that either. Because the idea of washing his body—soaping up my hands and stroking him in the shower—sounds like the perfect way to start my morning.

Gunner helps me from the bed, and I wrap the sheet around me before showing him into the bathroom. It’s an adequate space with all the basics, but having Gunner in here with me makes it feel so much smaller. He’s still naked, and in broad daylight, I can see every muscular inch of him. Including the heavy muscle between his thighs that was inside me last night. I squeeze my legs together and debate whether I could actually take him again this morning.

He makes himself at home and turns on the faucet, adjusting the temperature and testing it with his hand. His butt flexes as he leans forward, and when he turns to look back at me, he’s wearing a smirk.

“Enjoying the show?”

“Yes,” I squeak.

“I don’t think you’re ready for another round just yet there, tiger,” he says. “But you better drop that sheet and get your cute little ass over here, so I can clean you up.”

My fingers curl around the sheet, and I smile at him in challenge. I don’t know why, but I’m finding that I enjoy pushing his buttons. I want to see how far I can go. Gunner recognizes what I’m doing, and he arches an eyebrow at me.

“So that’s how you want to play it, huh?”

“What?” I ask innocently.

He saunters over to me and tugs my body into his, smashing his cock against my belly. “You know you’re kind of cute even when you’re being a brat.”

“Kind of?” I look up at him.

His lip tilts at the corner. “You know you’re cute. The question is, how did I get so lucky to have you walk into my life?”

“You can thank Brad,” I groan.

A dark look passes over Gunner’s face, and he shakes his head. “No. This has nothing to do with Brad. Even if he wasn’t part of the equation, I would have found you.”

He seems so serious that I can’t remember what game we were playing before, and now all I want to do is melt into him. Which I do. And Gunner seizes the opportunity to peel my fingers away from the sheet, wrapping them around his shoulders instead.

The fabric falls to the floor, leaving me naked and vulnerable to him, and Gunner doesn’t waste any time as he scoops me up in his arms as if I weighed nothing more than a feather. He carries me into the shower and presses my back against the wall, grinding his hips against me as his lips find mine.

He tastes like happiness. And suddenly, I’m terrified that this is all going to go away somehow. That he will disappear from my life just like everyone else, leaving a gaping hole that I’ll never recover from.

“Gunner,” I moan against him. “Tell me that I’m yours.”

“You’re mine,” he murmurs against my lips.

But his words aren’t enough. I need so much more. I need to feel him. To feed off that desperate craving he has for my flesh. I drag my fingers through his hair and squeeze his hips between my thighs, trying to narrow the distance between us. He’s hard again. And I’m wet again. He wants it as much as I do, but my efforts are futile because he puts a stop to it before it even gets started.

“You’re sore,” he reminds me.

“I don’t care.”

“Well, I do.” He taps me on the nose. “I’m not going to fuck you this morning.”

I open my mouth to protest, and he brings his fingers to my lips.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I told you I’m here to take care of you, and I mean it.”

Before I can process what that even means, he hoists me up in his arms, tossing my legs over his shoulders and leaning me back against the wall. His face is between my legs, and I’ve never been so open with anyone. Nobody has ever seen me this way, and I’m nervous. But those thoughts go right out the window when Gunner squeezes my ass in his hands and buries his face between my thighs.

I arch into him, and his tongue lashes against my clit. Sparks shoot through my nerve endings, rendering me senseless. All I can do is hold on while he sends me into oblivion.

“God, you taste so sweet,” he groans against me. “I could do this all day.”

I try to speak, but it comes out as gibberish as the convulsions begin to take over my senses. It’s so intense, I can’t think. I can’t even breathe. I feel like I’m going to pass out. Blood thrashes in my ears and spots fill my vision, and then it happens. I come undone, a flood of relief pulsing through my core all the way down to my toes.

Gunner grunts out his satisfaction and nuzzles his face against my thigh, kissing the soft skin there before he untangles me and slides my body down the shower wall. He helps me right myself and holds me until I regain my balance, and I can’t help noticing that his cock is saluting me. It looks even bigger in the daylight, and I still can’t figure out how he even fit it inside me. But I want to relieve him the way that he relieved me. And when I wrap my fingers around him, he shudders.

“Allie—”

“Shh.” I sink to my knees before him. “I want to take care of you too.”

Gunner doesn’t say another word about it, but when I wrap my lips around the head of his cock, an agonized growl erupts from his chest. His eyes look drunk with lust and satisfaction as he pets my hair, urging me on. He’s too big to fit all the way into my mouth, so I take as much of him as I can.

I’ve never done this before, but I’ve read a lot of Cosmo, and judging by the sounds he’s making, I’d say I must be doing an all right job. After a few minutes, his body tenses, and he thrusts his hips forward to meet my mouth. We fall into a natural rhythm, and I become enrapt at the sight of this large, foreboding man completely powerless to me right now.

“Allie,” he chokes out as he tries to pull away.

I dig my fingers into his hips and refuse to let go, milking his cock until he can’t hold back anymore. He explodes into my mouth with a long, pained sigh. I swallow what he gives me and then keep sucking him until he’s too sensitive to handle any more.

“Come here.” He reaches down and helps me up from the shower floor, kissing my face with a reverence that I’ve never seen from anyone before. “You are so fucking perfect. Do you even realize that?”

I bury my head into his chest. “I’m glad you think so.”

He kisses my forehead and wraps his arms around me, holding me close. “I’m not letting you go, sweetheart.”

I look up at him and smile. “Good, because I don’t want you to.”