“Jesus, baby, you’re so tight,” Tyke grunts. “Fuck.”

“Tyke,” I moan. “Oh God.”

“Come for me, beautiful girl. Give it all to me. Let me know my cock does that to you.”

That word. Oh, that word. I shudder.

“S . . . s . . . say that again,” I demand, shocking myself.

“My cock, baby. It fucking loves you. Your pussy feels so fucking good around me.”

Oh. God. Yes.

I rock harder. His finger works fast.

“More,” I gasp. “More.”

“I can’t wait until it’s your mouth wrapped around my dick, sucking, those sweet lips making me come.”

That does it for me. The most amazing explosion erupts in my body. I scream loudly, and my body shudders with the most sensational pleasure I’ve ever felt before in my life. I clutch Tyke’s shoulders, jerking and flinching as each wave of pleasure rolls through my body. I faintly hear his grunt, then a curse, and then he explodes inside me, too.

I drop forward, pressing my head into his sweat-slicked shoulder. He wraps an arm around me, and we sit like that for a long time. When our breathing calms down, I lift my head and meet his eyes. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”

He reaches over, stroking my face. “Me too, little one.”

“Does it always feel that good?”

He chuckles. “I hope so.”

Oh, so do I.

~*~*~*~

NOW –Pippa

Tyke runs the sponge over my back as the hot water cascades over us. We’re in the shower after yet another amazing love-making session, and I’m utterly exhausted. Tyke is washing me, moving his fingers over my skin, and occasionally pressing his lips to my shoulder. I close my eyes and take it all in, every beautiful second of it.

“Tyke?” I whisper as he washes between my legs, flaring my core to life once more.

“Mmmmm?”

“Is this . . . us . . . permanent?”

He stops washing and turns me around to face him. “You think we’re not permanent?”

I shrug. “I wasn’t sure exactly what is happening. You kind of just came in and claimed me.”

He studies my face. “You’re mine, Pippa. You’ve been mine since the first moment I laid eyes on you. I don’t plan on giving you up.”

“You don’t?” I smile, loving how my heart swells.

“Fuck no, baby. You’ve already put yourself in here.” He puts a fist to his broad chest.

I step closer, pressing my lips to his. He kisses me hard and fast before spinning me back around.

“Do you like Rainer?” I ask.

“I don’t know him,” he says tightly.

“He’s important to me, Tyke.”

He sighs. “I know that, and I’m not about to tell you that he can’t be in your life. I just think he wants you more than you know.”

“I know, Tyke. I’ve always known.”

He pauses behind me. “You do?”

“Of course. Rainer has loved me since we were slaves, and I can see in his eyes he still does. That hurts me, because I can never love him back the way he wants. I love him, but I’m not in love with him. I never was. He’s my best friend and I adore him, but I can’t be any more than that to him.”

“He know that?”

“We’ve never discussed it.”

“Maybe you should.”

I let out a huff of air through my nose. “Yeah, maybe.”

He leans down, kissing my neck. “He’ll understand, darlin’. If he loves you, he’ll get it.”

“He already does,” I say sadly. “He always has. He’s never pushed anything; he was just a rock to me when I had nothing. I’ll love him forever for being that. I just want him to be happy. I want him to love someone as much as I love you.”

I stop when I realize what I’ve just said. Neither of us moves. We’re both still, just standing with water cascading over us.

“You love me?” Tyke says, his voice thick.

I turn and look up at him. “More than my own soul.”

He flinches and reaches out, cupping my jaw. “You fuckin’ love me?”

“Yes, Tyke, I love you.”

He closes his eyes, letting that sink in. “Fuck, baby.”

He looks at me again, and there’s a deep, beautiful understanding in his gaze.

“They told me you were unable to be fixed. All these years I’ve been by your side, holding back because they told me you didn’t need that kind of drama, that I was no good for you, and that my demons and your demons would never work. Yet what do you know? Those two demons got married and they’re making it work.”

I laugh softly. “Two of a kind perhaps makes one whole.”

He strokes my cheek with his thumb.

“I love you too, Pippa. Have since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

“You do?” I say, my bottom lip trembling.

“Fuck yeah, I do.”

I think maybe, just maybe, this is the best moment of my life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

NOW – Pippa

“Tell me about your accident?” I say, snuggling into Tyke on the main couch later that day.

He frowns, his brows furrowing. Then he starts talking. “It was just that—an accident. I was riding my bike; it was wet and dark. People don’t respect bikes, you know? They don’t look out for them, they don’t care about them. I had my light on, but this car pulled out in front of me, even though he sure as shit heard me coming. I smashed into the side door, hit it so hard I was thrown from the bike. I don’t really know what happened after that—all I know is I woke up and my legs had been crushed by a wheel, mine, the car’s, I don’t know. I couldn’t walk.”