“Just five more minutes,” I moan as Sebastian lifts me into his arms from our sex-warmed sheets.

“The baby will be up soon. A shower will rouse you.” Setting me down in the bathroom, he sets his sunglasses on the counter, then leans in to turn on the shower.

Snickering at the red lips plastered all over him, I say, “Me thinks we’re showering because you don’t want to walk into the office like that tomorrow.”

He snorts. “The guys can pound sand, but my clients might give me the side-eye if I show up looking like a Valentine’s card.”

Smiling, I glance at the metal plate on the ceiling of the shower. “Make it rain, please.”

He leans in to switch the shower to rain mode, and as I rub the chill bumps on my arms I glance around the bathroom, ready to hop into the shower’s warmth.

I happen to catch a glimpse of my backside in the big mirror behind me, and I do a double take. “Are you kidding me?”

One butt cheek reads: Sweetest Ass and the other reads: Bash’s Booty. He’d also written All Mine! in big bold letters across the center of my back.

I swivel back to my husband as he pulls me under the warm rain shower, frowning. “Bash’s Booty? Really, Sebastian? You’re such a guy!”

Completely unrepentant, he wraps his muscular arms around me, his deep voice vibrating against my chest. “You branded me your way, I branded you mine.”

Water pings off his dark hair and strong jawline. Droplets cling to his dark lashes, highlighting his blue eyes. God, he’s so handsome. My heart starts to race all over again. I slide my hands over his hard chest and along his abs, appreciating his strength, both physical and mental. I’m not sure I would have been able to get through losing my aunt without him by my side. I feel incredibly blessed to have this amazing, big-hearted, domineering man in my life.

His gaze drops to my breasts and he slowly trails his fingers along the curves before brushing his knuckles over my nipples. “Joey might own these most of the day, but when we’re alone, they’re all mine, Little Red.”

Before I can say a word, he clasps my waist and effortlessly lifts me up. I grab onto his shoulders to find purchase, digging my fingers deep as he sucks on each breast with a new level of intimacy I never expected.

The second he lowers me back to my feet, his eyes have shifted to a darker shade of blue. “Turn around.”

The command in his voice makes my pulse thrum and my body throb all over. Why can’t I seem to get enough of him? “If you insist, Mister Black.” Smirking, I turn and rest my arms on the shower wall above my head.

Sebastian’s hand covers my wrists, his warm body pinning mine in place. “I do.” Pushing my wet hair away from my neck, he commands in my ear, “Spread your legs.”

Biting my lip in anticipation, I do as he says and welcome his thick cock sliding inside me.

“Talia…Fuck,” he groans as I push back and clamp hard around him.

The second time I flex my muscles, he smacks my ass, then grips my skin in a fierce hold. “Goddamnit, woman. You’re going to break me,” he pants, rocking against me.

I smile, enjoying the sting and the feeling of power over him, but it’s short lived when he moves his hand around my thigh and easily finds my clit. “Two can play at this game.”

It takes him mere seconds to get me so jacked that my legs are shaking. Barely able to stand, I babble for him to give me release.

His arrogant chuckle quickly turns into a low groan, telling me that he’s just as close. I arch, changing the angle, and with a primal grunt, he pinches my clit as he thrusts deep, sending me over the edge right along with him.

My hair still damp from our shower, I sit at the small table Sebastian set up for me in our bedroom and open my laptop.

With everything going on and then the birth of our baby, I haven’t been able to work on my book, but now with the house quiet, I finally have some time to myself to think. The notes from my lunch meeting with Jared are spread out next to the laptop, reminding me not to “go off script” for my readers’ sake.

As I rest my fingers on the keyboard, I think about the journey my character has taken. She’s forever changed by those she lost at the villain’s hand, including herself.

As am I. 

I will always carry the memory of my aunt’s frail body in the hospital with me. Her last days, especially.

When I wasn’t feeding or bonding with Joey, I spent every minute I could with Aunt Vanessa. Even though she finally regained the ability to chew and talk, and her cuts began to heal and her bruises faded, my aunt continued to deteriorate before my eyes. It was heartbreaking and hard to watch her body’s internal clock wind down much too soon.

On the fourth day, Sebastian insisted on pushing my wheelchair. “It’s really okay if Cass takes me,” I said once I settled into the wheelchair with Joey in my arms. The last couple of days, I’d carried Joey with me all the way to the ICU unit, then handed her to Cass before I wheeled myself in. It was like I needed to hold her small body and see her sweet face as long as I could. Going in to see my aunt was getting harder to do without bursting into tears. Her eyes were dimmer, and it felt like each day she lost even more weight.

As Sebastian wheeled me past the elevator and continued down the same hallway, I looked up at him, cradling Joey close. “Why aren’t we taking the elevator?”

“Not today.” Stopping the chair in front of a patient room door, he squatted beside me. “Vanessa asked to be moved out of ICU.”

My heart squeezed with worry. “But why? She needs constant care. To be monitored—”

“She doesn’t care, Little Red.” He slid his fingers under my hair, cupping the back of my neck. “She only wants to hold Joey.”

I glanced toward the door. “But she could die,” I said, tears starting to fall.

He touched my cheek, brushing away the wetness. “Be brave, Talia. This is a happy day for Vanessa to finally meet our baby. Those video calls just weren’t the same, so if this day is her last, then let’s make it the best damn day she’s ever had.”

I swallowed back my emotions and pulled Joey close, whispering, “Let’s go see Aunt Vanessa. She’s waited a long time to meet you.”

My aunt’s eyes brightened the moment we wheeled into the room. Sebastian hadn’t even gotten me to the bed yet and she was already holding a shaky hand up for the baby. I smiled at her impatience. “Put your arm by your side and make a nook. I’ll settle Jocelyn Vanessa in with you so we can talk.”

She quickly lowered her arm to her side, but looked up at me as I stood to settle Joey between her body and her arm. “Vanessa?” she asked, her smile trembling.

I put my hand on her frail arm. “Of course. Joey’s named after each of her grandmothers. She will always carry a part of you with her, Aunt Vanessa.”

As my aunt returned her gaze to Joey and gently touched her red hair with fingers poking out from her cast, I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Sebastian folded his hand on my shoulder, his presence and strength keeping me from openly sobbing.

My aunt was oblivious to my sadness. She and Joey were in their own heavenly bubble. 

We stayed all day, and Aunt Vanessa died that night, holding my hand and baby Joey tucked against her.

I blink back to the present, Jared’s notes suddenly blurred by the mist in my eyes.

The heroine in my book has overcome so much, and now that she’s tracked the villain down and he knows that she survived, he threatens every bit of that peace she’s found. He will come after her. He’ll never stop. Will she be able to defeat him without losing herself in the process?

My thoughts shift to my own real life villain and the last conversation I had with Simone.

“Choose, Talia,” she taunted. “Will you be able to forgive yourself if you don’t leave right now to stop your aunt from pushing that button?”

I wouldn’t forgive myself. Lowering the gun, I turned and reached for the doorknob. 

Simone’s low, knowing laugh crawled over my skin. “I knew you were too weak to own your part in Amelia’s death. So run along and protect a dying woman instead, Little Red. I’ll be seeing you…”

“No, you won’t!” Pivoting, I fired without thought, moving purely on protective instinct.

Simone's line of sight jerked to the bullet hole in the wall behind her, then she quickly turned back to me. Folding her arms, she narrowed her gaze and chuckled. “You can’t hit the broad side of a barn. I’m going to dye your child's awful red hair blonde. She’ll be my mini me, which is how it should be.”

“You won’t touch her again, not fucking ever.” The deafening echo of the gun going off instantly took me back to that day I shot Walt as a young teen. Only this time, youthful fear didn’t drive my actions, motherly instincts did. The moment Simone slammed to the floor, my heart jerked. I didn’t breathe for several seconds while I waited.

Her low moan rumbling from the floor pushed the air from my lungs. Still seething, I curled my fingers tighter around the gun’s grip. A beat passed before I lifted my finger from the trigger and forced myself to walk out.

The baby sighs in her sleep, pulling me back to the present. I glance over at Sebastian napping in the middle of our bed, his big hand cradling Joey as she finishes her naptime on his chest. The love I feel for my family shakes me deeply. They are everything to me. 

I turn back to my laptop and flip Jared’s notes over. You’re wrong, Jared. I know exactly what it takes to get someone to go down a very dark rabbit hole. And my readers will too. All it takes is the right motivation. 

I start typing, and the farther into the chapter I get, the faster the words come. An hour later, I’m done. I can’t believe how fast I wrote that final chapter, but it’s all there, fully formed and complete.

I make a few edits, then read over it once more, pleased with the journey my character has taken by the end of the story. She knows her heart and where she stands. Exhaling a deep breath, I send it off to my editor.

“All done?” Sebastian says quietly.

“Yes, done and sent.” Standing, I grab his sunglasses from the nightstand, but when I start to hand them to him, he shakes his head and smiles. “I’ll use them every so often, but I’ve come to realize how much I benefit seeing like this.”

Setting the glasses back on the nightstand, I sit on the bed and face him. “What do you mean?”

He reaches up and runs his fingers through the waves in my air-dried hair. “With all colors muted and nothing to distract me, I see so much more, Talia. The tiniest of micro-expressions really stand out.”

Noticing some lipstick he missed from our shower, I smile my amusement. “And what is my micro-expression telling you right now?

He studies me for a second as the baby starts to stir and wake. “You’re trying to decide if you should tell me that I still have a set of red lips on my neck before I go to work tomorrow.”

I gape. “How did you get all that from a smirk? I’m not that easy to read.”

Grinning, he taps next to his eye. “Super powers.”

An email pings on my laptop, and as I stand to see if it’s from my editor, I hear Sebastian whisper to the baby, “Shh, don’t tell Mama, but I saw it in the mirror.”

Inwardly chuckling, I pretend like I didn’t hear it. And the father-daughter bonding has begun. Lord, help me!