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“Mum, I’m on my way now. I’m sorry I’m running late, but I got tied up at the bank talking to the guy about consolidating my credit card debt.”

My day off that was supposed to be relaxing had turned into a big fat mess of stuff not going right after I’d left Skylar. To say I felt a little frazzled was an understatement. Especially after Linc had called and asked me if I’d go out with him and the kids for a family dinner on Saturday night. I didn’t know where he was going with this, but it didn’t feel like anywhere good. If I said no, the kids would get upset because they loved us all being together. If I said yes, it could give Linc the wrong idea. Why was there no manual for divorced couples to consult in times like this? There freaking needed to be one.

“Darling, don’t stress and don’t speed. You know my blood pressure goes through the roof when I think you’re speeding.”

“Mum, you have low blood pressure.” Jesus, my mother was a drama queen at times.

“Well, Lily, I can assure you it is high when you put me under pressure.”

“Fuck, Mum, how am I putting you under pressure? I’m not speeding. I promise.” I tacked the promise bit on the end there because she liked it when I made her promises. She didn’t much care if they were broken; she just liked to think people were working hard for her benefit. My mother liked attention. I still wasn’t convinced I actually came from her.

“Please don’t swear. You know I don’t like it.”

I’d had enough of this conversation. We weren’t getting anywhere with it. “I gotta go. The cops are probably out doing random checks on people using their mobiles while driving, so I better hang up before they catch me.”

“Oh my goodness, why aren’t you using your hands-free?”

I was, but I liked to freak her out sometimes. “Shit, Ma, I see a cop. Hanging up now.”

By the time I got home, she may have had a stroke from her high blood pressure.

I was the worst daughter.

I was going to hell for the grief I gave my mother.

I pressed the accelerator a little harder in an effort to get home faster so I could make sure she didn’t have a stroke.

Jesus, now you’re buying into her drama.

I sighed.

This was one long-ass day. And it was only going to get longer because I still had to get through dinner out with my mum and the kids. What I needed was to think happy thoughts for the rest of this drive home. I’d fill my well with happy, then I’d do dinner, and then I’d have a long bath. With some wine.

King.

Shit, shit, shit.

Why did my mind instantly go to him when it searched for happy?

Because he made you very happy the other night, Lily.

My legs squeezed together as I remembered his mouth on me, his fingers inside me, and his tongue working me. The man was skilled, that was for damn sure. Not to mention skilled at saying no. I couldn’t figure him out. And I still couldn’t get him out of my mind.

I indicated to turn into my street and a few moments later, pulled into my driveway, surprised to see two bikes parked outside. I parked in the garage, grabbed my stuff and hurried inside to find out who was here. And came face-to-face with King when I stepped inside my home.

Coming to an abrupt halt, I frowned. “King?”

Good God he looked good today. It was in the way his clothes clung to his body. I’d always had a thing for black tees stretched across muscles, and he wore one today. My eyes were also drawn to the tattoos covering his arms, his fingers, and the small patch of chest I could see. I couldn’t drag my gaze from them.

“We’re almost finished and will be out of your hair soon,” he said, confusing me.

I finally looked up at him. Ignoring the way he watched me with heat—the kind that made me squeeze my legs together again because it reminded me of the way he’d looked at me the other night—I asked, “What do you mean? What are you nearly finished?”

My mother bustled in at that moment, smiling the smile she reserved for men she really liked at King. “King, while you’re here, do you think you could possibly check the oil and water in my car please?”

My eyes bulged. And I finally lost my shit after holding it in all freaking day. “Umm, can someone please explain what universe I’ve stepped into here?” I looked at King and asked, “Why are you in my house?” before looking at my mother, and asking, “And why are you casually asking him to check your car like you guys are good mates?”

King’s lips twitched as an amused expression crossed his face. “I’m changing your locks.”

I stared at him. His answer hardly answered any of my questions. “Why are you changing my locks?”

Mum stepped forward, almost in between King and me. “Lily dear, King filled me in on the news that Linc still has a key, and he told me you asked him to stop by and do the locks. I don’t know why you didn’t tell me about Linc. I swear, that man—”

I grabbed King by the wrist and dragged him into my bedroom. I would have preferred to drag him anywhere but my bedroom; however, it was the only room in the house where I could be guaranteed privacy. Once I had him in there, I closed the door behind us, placed my hands on my hips and demanded, “How do you know about Linc? And why would you lie to my mother about me asking you to change my locks?” I held up a finger, letting him know not to talk yet because I had more questions. “And while we’re on it, how did you even know I wanted my locks changed? Did Skylar tell you? And why would you think it was okay to just drop on over and change them without asking me?” My eyes widened as one more thing crossed my mind. “And fuck, why would my mother just let you in?”

I was out of breath by the time I got all that out, and sucked some air in as I waited for his response.

He didn’t speak straight away, but rather, just stood there watching me with that same amused expression of a few moments ago. And then—“That’s a fuckload of questions.”

“Yes! And I’d like answers to them please.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but the door to my bedroom flung open, interrupting him.

“Lily, I really need—” My sister’s mouth snapped closed when her eyes landed on King. “Oh, my,” she said, looking him up and down, “You must be the hot biker dude I’ve heard all about. Lily wasn’t kidding when she said you had muscles to die for.”

I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole, which was a strange thing for me. I didn’t tend to get embarrassed easily, and not with men. If I liked a guy, I didn’t hide that from him. But for some reason, I didn’t want King to know I’d been discussing his level of hotness with my sister. I felt shy with him, which really freaking confused me.

You didn’t feel shy with him the other night.

Oh God, shut up. I was drunk.

Thanks to what my sister had just revealed, and the thoughts of Saturday night now in my head, I blushed. I, Lily Bennett, a thirty-three-year-old woman, stood in front of a biker I wanted to have sex with, and freaking blushed. And he didn’t miss it. I knew this because heat flared in his eyes again as he watched me do it.

I threw up my hands. “You all need to leave. Now! I need a moment.”

Brynn reached for King’s arm and dragged him out of the room while informing him, “When Lily needs a moment, it’s best to give it to her. Trust me on that.”

Once the door was closed, and I was alone, I collapsed onto my bed and exhaled loudly. I felt all mixed up. Muddled. My life had turned messy, and the train I was on seemed to be hurtling so fast I couldn’t get off. The thing was, though, it had been this way for a long time, and I hadn’t felt so flustered with everything before. This was a new development, and I couldn’t tell what caused it.

I walked into my ensuite and splashed some water over my face. Staring at myself in the mirror, I mentally repeated some affirmations that usually calmed me.

I am fearless.

I am doing my best.

I am kickass.

Shit.

It was King.

He was the new development in my life.

It didn’t matter how many affirmations I repeated, they wouldn’t get rid of this nervous energy that seemed to be camped out in my tummy.

Why did I like him so much? I mean, the man was moody all the time. He was impatient. He yelled a little too much for my liking. He was demanding. So freaking demanding. He argued with me over stuff that really didn’t need arguing over. I mean, I specialised in helping people with headaches, so he should just let me help him with that. There were a lot of things not to like about him.

But damn, there were a lot of things I did like that I had no control over liking. Why did God insist on giving us no control over who we were attracted to? I blamed God for this either way. Because, quite freaking honestly, if I could choose, I’d choose not to want King. He was hard work, and that was the last thing I needed in my life.

The sound of my bedroom door opening and then clicking shut startled me. Bloody Brynn never did pay much attention when I told her to give me a mome—

King appeared in the doorway behind me.

I gripped the vanity harder and tried like hell to quiet the swarm of butterflies flapping in my stomach. It was a useless exercise, though, because they kept on flapping as he stood there watching me.

“I’m not finished having my moment,” I finally managed to get out.

He didn’t move, just continued watching me. “I heard you telling Skylar about your ex and the locks. I didn’t lie to your mother. She just didn’t listen to what I said. I can’t tell you what possessed her to allow two men she didn’t know into your house, but I’m not going to stand here and say I shouldn’t have done it. You needed locks. I could make that happen.”

“I’ll tell you what possessed her. You.” I turned to face him. “You are the bossiest, most controlling and demanding man I know. And you’re good-looking. My mother didn’t stand a chance.”

His nostrils flared as heat filled his eyes again. Closing the distance between us, he slid his hand around my waist and pulled me hard against him. “I fucking swore to myself I wouldn’t touch you again, but you’re hell on a man’s restraint.” He dropped his gaze to my neck as he brought his free hand up to grasp it. Circling his thumb over my throat, he said, “The taste of you is burned into my memory, and for the fucking life of me, I want more.”

Having him this close, our bodies pressed together, was too much for me. My mind, already a mess, burst into a thousand streams of thoughts. My skin pebbled with just as many feelings. But every last one of them disappeared the moment he slipped his hand into my pants to find my pussy. His eyes didn’t leave mine for a second. They took in the pleasure I experienced with each stroke of his finger.

The world fell away as King stripped every last thought from my mind.

“Fuck,” he growled when I bit my bottom lip and moaned. His strokes became rougher, and our bodies moved together as he reached deeper and worked me harder. The pain from his fingers digging into my neck barely registered.

I was floating.

Soaring.

So high.

And then, in a flurry of fingers and lips and tongues, I careened over the edge into more pleasure than I ever thought possible. It wasn’t until I came down from the high that I fully realised we were kissing. I’d processed that fact when he first claimed my lips, but I’d been completely lost in the moment that I kissed him without thought. With King, I didn’t think; I felt. And it felt so good that nothing could break that moment.

Needing more, I moved my hands to his face, clutching him like I was afraid he would disappear any moment. He seemed to like the way I held him because he growled again and deepened our kiss. His tongue dominated mine as he consumed all my senses.

I never wanted this kiss to end.

I wanted a lot more, and I didn’t want it from anyone but him.

His body jerked suddenly, and he let me go. Taking a step back, he muttered, “Fuck.” His eyes were a raging storm of emotions as he said, “I didn’t come here to fuck you.”

Breathless and with my thoughts all still in a jumbled mess, I said, “You haven’t fucked me.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I may not have had you with my dick, but I’ve had my mouth, fingers and tongue all over that sweet cunt of yours, Lily. I’ve made you come twice. That’s close enough to fucking you.”

“I want more.”

“You don’t.” Even while he said that, I knew by the way his eyes wandered down my body that he wanted this too.

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because I have nothing to offer you but the kind of sex that will fuck you up.”

“I’m not looking for a relationship, King.”

“And I don’t have one to promise you, but you’re not listening to me—I’m not into your standard sex. The shit I want… you wouldn’t.”

I moved close to him. “And you’re not listening to me. I want you to fuck me up. I want it rough. I want you to leave me raw. I want pain. I’ve only ever had sex a few ways, and I’m bored with that. I want to try it your way.”

He took all that in and watched me silently while he processed it. I thought I saw the moment where he lost the war with himself—the moment where he would agree to what I wanted—but then he shook his head once and forced out, “No.”

Before I could argue with him again, he stalked out of my bedroom, the door slamming behind him.