“Don’t be afraid,” I said as I ran my finger down her cheek.

Maddie’s eyes closed as she sighed, but when they opened, she took a deep breath and whispered, “I am not scared. I… I cannot explain what I am feeling right now.”

My cock twitched again, and groaning, I shook my head. “Maddie, I… I… I need…”

“I know,” she rasped. Her hand lifted to land on my face. “I understand you Flame. And I am beginning to understand myself. What you and I are to each other.”

“And what’s that?” I asked gruffly.

Maddie bowed her head. “Everything.” My heart missed a beat, then she lifted her head and said, “Love.” Maddie’s hand dropped down over her racing heart, and she whispered, “You, to me, are the only one I could ever love.”

I fought against my clogged throat. But with what just came from her mouth and my hand touching her thigh, I couldn’t. I couldn’t catch a fucking single breath. Groaning, I crashed my lips to hers once again, but Maddie’s hand pushed my chest back and she said plainly, “Flame. Take us home.”

Her cheeks were blazing red, but I nodded my head. I removed my hand from her thigh and clenched my hand into a ball. It felt different. Touching her that closely had felt different.

Then Maddie’s hand was in mine and she said, “Let us go home. I wish,” she took a deep breath, and leaning closer, her forehead kissing mine, said, “I wish to be alone with you. I wish to… touch you more. I wish to see you more… I wish, I think… I need to show you my love.”

Dropping her hand, I turned in the seat. My skin felt on fire. My soul felt on fire. But this time, I wanted the heat to stay. Because it was burning off the bad memories in my head, and it was filling me with Maddie’s light.

In my fucking head was Maddie’s light.

As I started the engine, Maddie’s hand sipped low on my stomach, my cock reaching for her touch. And with her mouth at my ear, she said, “Home, Flame. Take us home.”

She didn’t have to ask me again.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Maddie

I did not know what had overtaken me. But it was both terrifying and liberating at the same time. My body felt alive with Flame’s touch. On my thigh was a brand, the searing brand of Flame’s touch.

And my heart swelled when it had not felt like that of Brother Moses. It felt… special, and right, and only good things.

And after fearing I would never see him again, any barriers I had left crumbled to dust when I saw him running my way. I forgot to breathe, watching his dark eyes set on mine. In that moment, I had no past, nor did he, it was just us. One boy and one girl feeling the heady relief of reunion after separation.

And all I had wanted him to do when he was before me, was to hold me. I wanted to feel small and protected under the heaviness of his inked and pierced arms. I wanted to feel his hot skin beneath my cheeks, and I had wanted to feel his soft lips on mine.

And he had delivered. He had cared for me so softly. And I could see the same desperation to feel one another’s touch reflected in his eyes. And then something else took root. A feeling between my legs. A craving to have more of him. Because, and I was sure of this, I would never feel like this about anyone else. So mindless and free with my body and touch, so at ease and willing to fall into his arms.

And that is when I knew. I knew that what I was feeling was love. It had to be. Because it was all-encompassing and irrational, yet at the same time it felt so perfect and true.

And it had to be true, because in front of me was my Flame… and I was his Maddie. Two fractured souls made whole only by the other’s unconditional love.

My arms tightened around Flame’s waist, and I pressed a kiss to his shoulder, smelling the leather from his cut, as a falling tear from my eye was swept away in the cool breeze.

Flame stiffened, but I knew it was not from abhorrence of my touch. No, he too was feeling the same searing sensation that ran through me, running through him. And it was heady, and frightening, and delicious, in the most beautiful of ways.

The Hangmen compound appeared on the left, and my heart kicked into a sprint knowing that in just a few minutes we would arrive at the cabin. And I knew that after tonight, our lives would change forever.

Because they had to.

There was no way to stop what was coming for us with the force of a hurricane. And there was no desire for it stop either. It would finally free us both. In the only way it could—with each other.

Flame veered onto the dirt path that led to his cabin. He pulled to a stop and switched off the engine.