Harley slid into the driver’s seat of the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon that King had insisted she drive. The black and white vehicle was built to withstand even the roughest terrain on the expansive wildlife refuge King called home, but she loved it because it was sporty as pure hell. Harley was quickly becoming spoiled by the vehicle’s luxurious bells and whistles as she traversed the streets of Louisville. The thing probably cost more than she made in a year. Every time she climbed in, her blood pumped a little faster and she got excited like a little kid.

“Don’t. Fucking. Move.” The cold steel blade against her neck made the words unnecessary. The man’s voice seemed somehow distorted. The rearview mirror had been pushed out of position so she couldn’t see who was threatening her. Fuck!

“Look, calm down, okay? My purse is here on the front seat. There’s about a hundred bucks in there. You’re welcome to it. Nobody has to know about this. All I want to do is go home, seriously. I’ve got no beef with you at all. Just take whatever you want.”

“Oh, I intend to. Now, drive!”

Damn straight, I’m going to drive—straight to my boyfriend’s house so he can take that knife and shove it straight up your ass. Even in the midst of a crisis, she was struck by the surreal notion that she and King were a couple.

Harley started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. She turned the car in the direction of the animal refuge. He hadn’t given her any directions to follow, so she was going to get as close as she could. As the blade pressed against her neck, she thought maybe having a boyfriend who was a killer wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Listen, let me save you some trouble, okay?” she said soothingly. “Seriously, I don’t think you realize who I am. I’m going to give you one chance to save your life. My boyfriend works for dangerous people and they aren’t going to be happy if you hurt me.”

“Shut up! This isn’t about your boyfriend or his buddies. This is between you and me – got that?” the garbled voice said.

“Got it. Absolutely. Look, could you just take the knife away from my neck? You’re making me nervous and I’m still getting used to driving this tank.”

“I’ll do you one better than that, darlin’.” This time it was a real voice—King’s voice, no less.

“Damn it, King! You motherfucker! Why would you do that to me?” she shrieked indignantly as she pulled over to the shoulder and heaved the gear shift lever into Park. She was firmly in fight-or-flight mode and prepared to let her temper blow sky high. But when she turned around and saw the lopsided grin on King’s face and that damn dimple winking at her, she couldn’t stay mad – which infuriated her even more. One look at this sexy man and every bit of her anger went bye-bye. How maddening.

His face became somber with an almost wistful cast to it. “I needed to know, that’s all. I had to find out how you’d handle yourself if shit got real. And I needed to show you how easy it would be for someone to try to take you away from me. I won’t let that happen. No way. Baby, I’ve got it bad for you.”

He shook his head as he once again pondered the situation he found himself in. No matter how much he tried to remind himself that love at first sight didn’t exist, all the logical reasoning in the world couldn’t loosen the stranglehold this woman had on his heart.

Harley turned back around and tilted her head back onto the headrest on a sharp exhale. “Years off my life…” she muttered as she resumed the drive home. She smiled to herself because, yeah, the refuge was quickly becoming ‘home’, as was the man draped across the backseat of her tricked-out Rubicon.

When she parked in front of his house, he jumped out and opened her door for her. There was that lopsided grin again. Damn him. A smart ass with manners. She playfully shoved him in the chest and followed him when he took a couple of steps backwards. “You’re not out of trouble, you know.”

“I’m in the doghouse?” he grinned.

“No. Worse. I’m going to stick your ass out there with that crazy monkey of yours.”

He pulled her close and rubbed her back. He let his fingertips trace her curves as he savored the feel of her safe in his arms, while she rested her forearms on his chest and played with a button on his shirt. “It’s making me crazy thinking about someone taking you,” he muttered. “I know what I did back there was crazy.”

“Yep.”

“And I know sticking a knife to your throat was ludicrous.”

She pulled back just far enough to narrow her eyes at him. “Ya think?”

King grimaced. He pressed her cheek onto his shoulder so he could nuzzle her neck. “What’s crazier, though, is the way my heart isn’t listening to my head. I keep telling myself I can’t have feelings for a woman I barely know. But my heart’s not listening, Harley. You really are my Summer, baby. This feels like, you know, how it is when sparks fly when two strangers meet on vacation in an exotic city they would never have been in otherwise. But fate saw to it to put them in that particular spot at that particular moment. Their souls recognize each other, and they don’t question it. They just hold on to each other as long as they can because they know they never would have met if fate hadn’t intervened.”

She gazed up at him, shaking her head even as she worried that her wobbly knees might give out. “Who are you?”

He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t know if I’m making sense to you or not. Hell, it doesn’t make any sense to me. All I know is I can’t lose you after the summer is over. This thing between us? What started out as cartel business has taken over my whole life, my whole heart. I know I should do the right thing here and give you your freedom…but when I think about letting you go, darlin’, I just can’t.”

She reached up, fisted a thick handful of his hair, and kissed him, her lips hungry as they tried to tell him what words couldn’t say. And just like that, his fears melted away.

In that moment, Harley knew she would never leave him. Opening up to her hadn’t been a sign of weakness at all; it had taken courage for King to do that. It was the best thing he could have done with a woman like Harley, who had seen more than her share of testosterone-fueled pissing contests in her childhood. To her, King was the perfect combination of everything good and perfect in a man. She didn’t want to lose him either.

King’s cock chose that moment to get in on the action, and she couldn’t help but smile when she felt it pressing against her belly. She thrust playfully against him. A growl escaped his lips and his nostrils flared as he lifted her up onto the hood of the car. His hands tore at her clothing as he untied her scrubs and lifted her smock and bra off. She kicked off her shoes and socks and slid her pants off, biting her bottom lip with anticipation. With his eyes riveted on the frantic strip show happening on the hood of his car, King wrestled with his own clothes until they were both naked and panting in front of his house in broad daylight.

He came at her hard with no warning, lifting one of her legs over his shoulder as he slammed into her to the hilt. This wasn’t the same gentle soul who had revealed his emotional needs to her moments earlier. This was a man taking what was his.

“Mine,” he growled, gritting his teeth as he dug his fingers into her hips. Closing his eyes on an agonized groan, he slammed into her again, grinding against her clit with each thrust. “I want you wild under me. Fucking mark me,” he hissed as he felt her pussy clench and ripple around him, signaling her impending release. His lips claimed hers in a frantic, searing kiss that bound them together even as their bodies went up in flames.

Harley curled her fingers into King’s back and raked her nails across his skin as she came apart in his arms. The searing pain set him free and he seemed to lose all remnants of civility. His thrusts took on a mindless and animalistic pace. His shallow gasping breaths against her lips were punctuated by throaty, hoarse grunts every time his cock bottomed out against her womb. His skin was slick with sweat. His muscles rippled beneath her fevered touch. His own hands were brutal as they roamed her body and roughly explored her curves, leaving a trail of red, angry welts in their wake.

The base of his spine tingled and burned in the seconds before his hips locked on a harsh downward thrust. He gripped her shoulders and pulled her down harder onto his cock. “Fuck, baby…” he whispered against her skin. He trailed his open mouth along her shoulder before biting down on the curve of her neck with a groan, shuddering as he emptied himself inside her.

With his arms wrapped tightly around Harley, he lowered his torso over her, bracing his weight on his forearms. “Fuck me,” he gasped, laughing softly at his somewhat fuzzy recollection of what amounted to a sexual rampage.

“What was that?” Harley asked, still dazed from her own mind-blowing climax.

“Fuck if I know, but we’re doing that again,” he chuckled. “Shit, baby,” he said softly as he raised up enough to look down at her love-drugged face and stroke his thumb over her swollen, puffy lips. “I stand corrected; I don’t think I need to worry about anyone else hurting you. We’re obviously going to fuck each other to death.”

For the first time in – forever, maybe -- King felt peace descend on his soul. He hoped it would stay but he was a realist: a lifetime of serenity could only come from a clear conscience. He had committed too many sins. But this woman, his woman, had become his Summer. With her in his arms, King’s pain, anguish, and demons were all laid to rest.