Thad sat on the corner of the mattress, his boots planted on the floor and his jeans puddled around his ankles. Lena stopped in front of him after having walked out of the bathroom naked and held a condom in her hand. He looked sexy still in his leather vest with only his cock and the upper half of his legs bare.

"Found some in the cabinet," she said.

After having sex with him the first time, she realized she'd left her birth control pills at home. While the pills were for her peace of mind, she required condoms regardless.

Thad released the fisted hold on his dick. "Put it on me."

She ripped open the package, leaned over, and rolled the condom on his cock. God, he was a beautifully built man. Solid, sturdy, cut, and overwhelming. Everything he succeeded in doing with/to/for her, he'd done by pure determination, until she folded. Normally, that forceful personality would turn her off, but he coupled it with tenderness, touches, and thought. It might take him awhile to answer her, but he thought about every choice he had before giving her honesty. There was nothing impulsive about him, and it was his common sense that attracted her.

She trusted that he could see that things needed to be different with her and he'd come around to accepting their relationship for what it was at the moment and not think of a future with her.

She straightened and let go of him. He took her hips in his hands and turned her until she faced away from him.

"Back up and sit." He guided her.

She bumped into his knees, widened her stance, and reached between her legs to grab onto his knees for balance before she lowered herself. His cock pressed against her pussy.

"Slide down on me," said Thad.

She let herself go down, inch by inch. Panting through the fullness with her on top of him, she marveled at the different sensations. Sitting on him, her back to his front, his cock filled her more than normal and put pressure where pressure normally wouldn't go.

Thad placed his left hand on her stomach. "Now, relax."

She leaned against his chest, letting her head fall to his shoulder. Even sitting on top of him, his height surrounded her. He made her feel tiny compared to him.

"I can't move in this position. My feet don't touch the floor." She swung her feet, sighing at the pleasure warming between her legs, pulsating around Thad's hardness.

"You don't have to move." He slid his right hand down her stomach to between her legs.

She stiffened and then shuddered as his middle finger skimmed her clit sending a jolt of pleasure through her. "Oh...that's nice."

He brought her wetness up to rub around the small nub and simultaneously cupped her breast with his other hand. She reached down, wanting to touch him, but in her position, she couldn't make contact with anything but the side of his thigh. She was held captive, vulnerable, at a disadvantage.

She moaned in pleasure. Or, at an advantage.

There was something extremely intimate about being at Thad's mercy. She rolled her head against his shoulder, imprisoned to the arousal sweeping through her.

Her heartbeat accelerated.

Her breathing quickened.

Her body quivered.

She warmed.

She ached.

Underneath her, Thad remained steady, controlling, and hard. So, hard.

His cock pulsed inside of her, stretching her to unbelievable fullness. Her pussy convulsed in rhythmic beats around him. He rolled her nipple, sending pulses through her chest. She opened her mouth and gasped for air, wanting to hold her orgasm back and finding it impossible.

"You're going to come." His lips found her neck, and he licked, sucking on her gently. "Then, you're going to make me come."

"Yes," she whispered, not knowing how that would be possible or what she could do.

He'd rendered her useless.

Sitting on his lap, impaled on his cock, she couldn't even lift herself up. He wasn't moving his body. Only his fingers moved—one made lazy circles until her lower stomach was coiled tight and her toes dug the air looking for purchase, and the other titillated her beaded nipple.

She squeezed his thighs with her hands and held on at the moment her orgasm grabbed hold, ripping a low moan from her as her pussy spasmed in pleasure.

"Yeah, babe." Thad groaned in her ear before his neck arched and took his mouth away from her body.

His thighs hardened, shook, and jolted with his release. She exhaled on a relieved and exhausted laugh as his chest heaved finding his breath. That was...wonderful.

He'd done all the work and yet came hard seconds after making her feel as if she controlled the situation. Nothing could be further from the truth.

He melted her. She wanted to be everything for him. Not only when having sex, but she also wanted to bring more to his life and become important to him. She'd found herself at the next level in their relationship and had no idea how she'd arrived. That self-awareness should've arrived with a new fear, but she was happy and excited.

There would be time to slow down later and protect Thad from getting hurt. And, he would when he found out it was impossible for her to love someone.

His cock shrank, sliding out of her. "Damn."

He lifted her in the air and stood her on her feet, holding her waist until she gained her balance. Then, he stood.

She looked to make sure he hadn't lost the rubber while coming out of her and exhaled in relief when he removed the condom. She went up on her toes and kissed him deeply. Her body, still warm from having sex, cuddled close to him. She wanted to lay in his arms. To talk. To ask him how it was possible that he made her feel more alive when he was near than when they were apart.

He kissed her back quick. "I need to get rid of the condom."

She watched him walk away. Getting redressed, she went downstairs. After using the main bathroom, she went into the kitchen and stood at the sink, drinking a large glass of water.

A low vibration started and stopped. She set the glass down and looked around the kitchen and found Thad's phone on the table at the same time it vibrated again and quit. Picking up the cell, she glanced at the screen. He'd missed six calls.

"Hey, Thad?" she called, walking toward the stairs, planning to take the phone to him, and met him coming down the steps. "Your phone is going crazy."

He kissed her before he looked at his cell and gave a non-committable hmm.

"Something wrong?" she asked, following him back into the kitchen.

"Tina and George need help moving." His thumb scrolled on the phone. "And, Jessie, a woman in the office at Port Loaders, wants me to come over with my truck and remove her hot water heater."

"You'll be leaving?" She opened the fridge, removed the jug, and poured him a glass, knowing he drank whole milk most of the time instead of water. Passing the drink to him, she said, "My offer is still open. I could have Gomez come here to talk with me. I wouldn't be alone. That way you can help your friends out."

His brows lowered as he looked at the screen and he drank some milk. "No, that's okay. They can find someone else to help them. Wayne also left a message that he wants us to come over earlier. Apparently, there's been more information on the drifter case."

She rubbed his back. "That's good news, right?"

He nodded, setting down the glass on the counter. "I'll call Gomez and have him meet you at Wayne's house in an hour. You can talk to him while I meet with Notus. When we're done, we can swing by Vavoom's and have dinner. Do you want to eat there or take out?"

"Take out," she said, always preferring her own company—and now Thad's—to that of being in public. That was also why she enjoyed her job. Besides those she worked with, the only communication she had with the public was by telephone. Emergencies became non-issues because she couldn't see the tragedies, the crimes, the disasters. It was all about following the rules and answering the right way to pass the call on to the appropriate channel.

"Okay, Gomez will meet with you in an hour." He slid his phone into his vest pocket.

She looked down at her jersey shirt, jeans, and bare feet. "I'll finish dressing."

His phone vibrated again, he read the screen. "Shit," he mumbled. "Josh locked his keys in the car. I'll text Chuck and see if he has the time to run over to Josh's house and get the spare."

"You're in high-demand," she said walking out of the room.

She had no idea who any of these people were in Thad's life. Assuming they were his friends, she wondered how long it would be until he tires of her and misses hanging with the people who wanted to be in his life.

Thad followed her upstairs. She grabbed a pair of socks out of her bag and sat on the bed, looking up at him. The reminder of Thad's generous friend circle leveled out her mood. He had his life. She had hers.

"Hey." He sat down beside her. "I'm not going to leave you to go help everyone. I can find others to lend a hand."

She patted his thigh. "No, you misunderstood. I don't mind if you help your friends out. In fact, I don't want you to rearrange your life because I'm staying here."

His brows lowered. "But I'm going to because that's what I want to do."

"That's silly, Thad." Softening her opinion, she kissed him and then concentrated on putting on her socks. "You have an active social life and need to keep that up. That's what friends do for each other. I work twelve-hour shifts, four days a week, and will be going home eventually. Our time together will shrink, so don't lose contact with your friends for my sake, just because I'm staying here."

He continued frowning. She put on her shoes, double knotting the laces. Thad kept staring at her. He should be relieved. She had no designs on tying him down.

She put her foot on the floor. Turning to Thad, she caught him watching and said, "What?"

"When someone is in my life, I will always be there for them," he said.

"That's what makes you special. But, I don't expect to take up all your free time. You have your club, your missing person cases, your day job, your family, your friends. We'll work everything out, and I'll be happy about spending time with you when it's convenient." She nudged her shoulder against his, and when he refused to reply, she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Especially, if we have sex like we did today. I liked that."

His body straightened. She let go of him. He reached behind him, took out his wallet, and removed a picture. She caught a glimpse of a girl smiling into the camera. From the look of the photo, it was one that everyone gets when they're enrolled in public school.

Thad handed her the picture. "That's my sister, Thalia. She's eighteen in that picture. It was her senior year. A year later, she was abducted, raped, and killed. I was supposed to pick her up after work and her boss, for some reason, let her off an hour early. Thalia called the house to let me know the change of plans, but I wasn't home. I was out riding with Notus. Thalia..." He exhaled harshly. "Decided to walk the two miles home instead of waiting for me. Her and Rich, a Notus member, planned to get together that night and knowing my sister, she wanted more time with him. She never made it home. If she had, maybe I'd be a different person. Maybe Rich would still be an active member, instead of fucking riding away from St. John's. We don't know if he's alive or he just doesn't give a shit anymore about the MC. If I would've been home to help out my sister, Thalia would still be alive. So, when I say you are part of my life, that means we're going to be close, Lena. It means I'm going to be here for you. It means nothing will happen to you."

She closed her eyes at the pain vibrating in Thad's voice. The husky, fragile quality that came from painful memories that refused to go away.

She opened her eyes and pulled his head down and kissed him. "I understand."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

She recognized the scars of the past that remained for a lifetime. The changes he'd made in his life to protect what he holds dear. While she bore different scars, she understood the driving determination not to repeat the past.