“Mom let me bring the skates you got me!” Elliott said by way of greeting when the elevator doors opened.

Hudson watched her glide into his penthouse apartment like she owned it, holding the door open for me as well.

I shifted my weight in the elevator, unsure if I should accept his invitation to come inside or not. The man had devoured me both body and soul—the images from my couch burning my mind every second we’d been apart. I wanted more. I wanted him. More so, I wanted to give myself to him completely, and that scared the hell out of me.

“I won’t bite,” he said, his voice low, gravely. “Unless you want me to,” he said even quieter.

My eyes flashed wide before searching out Elliott inside the massive apartment, but she’d already settled herself on the oversize couch near his mounted flat screen.

“Come on,” he said. “Elliott has been here a handful of times. It’s time you see the place, too.”

I sighed and gave him a soft smile, walking past him and inside. Our arms brushed as I entered his home, and chills raced across my skin.

A simple contact and I was right back where I’d been after dinner last week.

Him on his knees before me.

His mouth undoing me.

His lips, delicious and perfect and doing their best to send me into orbit.

The way his tongue danced between my thighs, teasing and flicking before sliding inside with such…claiming.

“Want something to drink?” he asked, strolling to his kitchen.

“No, thank you,” I said, my voice a bit breathless from the memories. “I’ve got to be at work soon.”

He nodded from behind his kitchen island, his hands on the marble.

I took in the penthouse—the hardwood floors, the clean lines of gray that decorated the sleek cabinets, the crisp marble of his kitchen island. The penthouse had an open floorplan, with the kitchen leading right into the family room, which was decorated in similar smooth tones, with a lush couch and custom built-ins bordering his flat screen. A corridor off the family room held a few doors, as well as a staircase that led to more rooms, all of which I assumed were bedrooms and bathrooms, and knew I should not explore those under any circumstances.

Because there was something that happened to me when Hudson and I were alone—some kind of…unleashing. A magnetic draw that pulled taut and seared until I spanned the distance between his body and mine.

Not that I couldn’t feel that connection now.

I could, and maybe that is what scared me most. That I enjoyed the man’s company just as much as I enjoyed his mouth on me.

If it were purely physical relief, then maybe I’d feel somehow more in control.

But it wasn’t.

I liked him.

And I hadn’t liked anyone in that regard in a long time.

I blew out a breath, my pumps clicking against the hardwood as I made my way over to the wall of windows that peppered his kitchen and living room. Elliott had already slipped her skates out of her bag, her socked feet sliding on the floors as she rounded the corner and disappeared to where I knew Hudson had a room filled with synthetic ice. She looked so relaxed and at home, I was shocked she hadn’t already claimed a room here for herself.

“Some view,” I said, my eyes wide as I stared at the Space Needle that filled the skyline. The sky was crystal clear, a blue that almost matched Hudson’s eyes.

“That’s why I bought the place.” He was right next to me, close enough to touch but refraining.

Bought.

He’d been able to buy this penthouse, own it, without a second thought.

No doubt the place cost three times what it was worth because of its stellar location. Right in the heart of the city. We could walk to Pike’s Market if we wanted.

I could work every day for the rest of my life and never afford a place like this.

I kept my eyes on that skyline, my mind reaffirming my worth. I was proud of the life I’d carved out for Elliott and myself. Proud that I’d earned my degrees, secured a position ahead of my time, and managed to ensure Elliott wanted for nothing throughout it all.

Sure, I could marvel at this place. Wonder at the way Hudson was able to live his life—a well-earned life at that. I could acknowledge that Elliott fit right in amongst the luxuries only a lot of zeros on each paycheck afforded, but I wouldn’t feel ashamed.

I refused to.

Because I could still remember—with painful clarity—what it was like to be hungry. The nights that were too long because my stomach was hollow. Because I’d had to choose to feed my baby over myself. Or choose diapers over clothes for work.

Ten years were the only thing that separated me from the scrounging girl I’d been to the self-reliant woman I’d become. Did I wish I could give Elliott a life like this? Sure, who wouldn’t?

But we were happy.

We were fed.

We were safe.

Though, I wouldn’t mind her enjoying herself and Hudson’s company as long as he…stayed with the program.

Which is exactly why the heat between us was dangerous.

“I know I’m quiet,” Hudson said, jolting me away from the view I’d lost myself in. I turned to look up at him, staring down at me. “But sometimes you seem like you want to outdo me.”

A soft smile played on my lips, and I shrugged as I clicked over to his kitchen island, running my fingers over the smooth marble. “Admiring your life, is all,” I said.

He followed me after taking a quick peek around the corner to check on Elliott—an action that made my heart melt.

“Admiring,” he said when he stopped on the other side of the island. “Or hating?”

I furrowed my brow. “Why on earth would I hate your life?”

It was his turn to shrug, those massive shoulders rippling each muscle beneath. “Some people hate the life. Sometimes I do. The paparazzi, the media in general, the way it draws unwanted attention at the wrong times.”

I nodded. I’d learned as much from working Connor’s case. He’d almost lost everything because of one cold paparazzi with an agenda. Of course, Hudson had been wrapped up in it too, but he hadn’t had as much at stake. Not that his career was a small stake, but nothing compared to a child. Luckily, Hannah had gotten her happily ever after. Ivy too.

I wondered how they managed it, the women who dated or married the Sharks. The life seemed pitted against smooth relationships, and yet watching them? It was like they were this huge family, stronger than blood and more passionate than fire.

A longing ached in my chest—the idea of having that kind of support system, a band of brothers and wives there to help you no matter what.

“It’s beautiful, too,” I blurted, and he tilted his head. “I mean,” I said, realizing he couldn’t see inside my head, thank God. “The family you have. The bond. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, to experience. The way you rallied around Hannah and Connor. The way you clicked into place with these guys even when you’d just transferred over. It’s…beautiful.” I chuckled at my overuse of the word.

Hudson’s lips twitched into his barely perceptible smile as he slowly came around the island to stand directly in front of me. The heat from his body was like a drug, and with it so close? God, it was hard to think of anything else but wanting to touch him, feel him.

“It’s not always like that,” he said, his voice softer somehow. “I wasn’t as close with my previous team.”

“You weren’t?” I assumed the camaraderie of the team mindset is what bonded them together, regardless of where.

“No,” he said, and that rare darkness I sometimes saw in him flashed across his eyes. He cleared them in a few seconds. “There is something about these guys—Gage and Rory and Warren and Eric and Connor and Lukas and…” he snorted. “Don’t ever tell them, okay?”

I nodded.

“But they’ve become closer to me than my own brother,” he said, shaking his head. “Not that I don’t love my kid brother, but he’s a mess. And we don’t see each other every day like I do the guys.” He sighed. “When I got traded it was a relief and a terror. I knew I didn’t need to get along with any of the Sharks. Knew the only thing I needed to do was what I was good at—play hockey—but I wanted it.”

I shifted closer to him, fully tuned in. The man rarely said much about himself, and this…he was showing a vulnerability I’d never seen before.

“I was tired of the coldness between me and my teammates back home,” he continued. “Tired of the tension it caused off the ice, too. And when that final straw...” He cleared his throat, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “Well, when I came here,” he said. “I found more than I’d ever hoped for.”

His blue eyes were locked onto mine when he said the last words, and a warm thrill raced through me. Something potent and tangible crackled between us, so sharp and hot I drew in a shaken breath.

He didn’t mean you.

He meant his new brothers. His new family. His team.

Not you.

Not us.

“See,” I finally managed to say. “As ruthless as I may think hockey is…” I grinned at his cocked brow. “It’s also this beautiful collection of connections. What you found is rare,” I said, folding my arms around myself. “You should do everything you can to hold onto it.”

His playful look fell, the seriousness in my words sinking in.

“I’ve behaved,” he said. “Much to my PR rep’s happiness.”

I chuckled, the tension loosening from my muscles. “Yes,” I said. “I would absolutely behave if I were you. Langley is a fierce woman I’d never want to cross.” I’d only met her a couple of times from working with Connor, but she was just wild and fierce enough to keep the band of Sharks in check.

“Shea,” Hudson said, reaching out like he might graze a finger down my folded arms but thought better of it.

“Hmm?” I asked, my eyes never leaving his, that energy pulsing between us. So hot and intense I had the urge to drop to my knees right there in his kitchen and repay the favor he’d done for me. More than that—I wanted him in my mouth, wanted to worship him like he had me. Knew that he would let me be in control, that he wouldn’t take over and use my mouth as nothing more than—

“Don’t you have work?” His question jolted me out of my tangle of desires.

“I do!” I stood straighter, trying like hell to blink the lust out of my eyes.

Shoot, I was going to be late.

I rushed around the corner and waved goodbye to Elliot. “Don’t work too hard,” I called to her over my shoulder.

“Always,” she said, not bothering to slow down from her skating.

“Thank you,” I said, my hand on Hudson’s front door.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” he said, wrenching the door open for me. “You don’t need to thank me. I love that kid,” he said, his eyes toward the room where Elliott was.

Something warm bloomed in my heart, but I told it to freeze.

“I will never stop saying thank you,” I said, my voice cracking.

He sighed. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll never stop telling you not to. We’ll just argue the point forever I guess,” he said.

I swallowed around the lump in my throat.

“Fine,” I managed to say, forcing a smile to my lips that felt more shaken than sturdy. “See you after work. Call me if you need anything.”

“I’ve got this,” he said. “Go. Help people.”

I parted my lips to say thank you again, but he stopped my words with his finger. My heart raced, my blood soared at that simple touch on my lips, and maybe it was the lust lingering from my fantasy before, or maybe it was the delicious soreness between my thighs I could still feel…but I wrapped my lips around the pad of his finger and sucked.

The low growl that rumbled from his chest?

It made me molten.

A simple sound and I was practically purring for him.

I swirled my tongue around that finger, my hands gently gripping that massive forearm as he stood statue still. I looked up, locked eyes with him, and his gaze…it was fire and ice and plucked every one of my nerves into a tingling frenzy. The taste of his skin in my mouth wasn’t enough—I wanted all of him.

Work. Cases.

I sighed, almost whimpered, as I slowly drew his finger out of my mouth, and took a step back. He held my gaze, his chest rising and falling, and we didn’t need words. I could read him clearly enough—the promise in his eyes, the want, the leash he held himself on.

God, he was perfect.

Knew what I needed.

Understood my fears and my past without me ever telling him.

I tried to convey that appreciation, that understanding, between us. Tried to silently show him how much I felt him, felt our connection, before I hurried out the door like he’d burned me.

Like I couldn’t get away fast enough.

Which was partly true.

Because he was making my head spin.

I love that kid.

Forever.

The words unfurled and burst and swam through my head, making me slightly dizzy as I drove toward my office.

Of course he loved her.

Everyone loved her.

She was amazing.

But the words, the declaration, they sank into that warm piece of my heart. That small sliver of melted ice that had only started to beat and hope again since Hudson came into our lives. I hadn’t realized it, hadn’t acknowledged its presence, but it was there. Shining with hope and desire and all the things I wasn’t supposed to allow myself.

Because I couldn’t risk Elliott’s heart—couldn’t risk her being burned because I’d been careless with mine.

Her father had never wanted us, and I couldn’t stand the thought of another man walking out on her.

Hudson is different.

Those warm pieces of me fought for him, for his character, for the wonderful man I knew he was.

But the cold, icy fingers of fear were stronger, and they told me to tread carefully.

Which, wasn’t I always?

The hot memory of his mouth on me begged to differ.

A few passionate moments wouldn’t be the end of the world though, and Elliott had no idea.

We were fine.

We were safe.

And the rest? I’d figure it out along the way.

“You stupid bitch!” the guy’s voice cracked, still so much a boy, and miles to go to be a man.

I heard him before I’d even opened my car door.

Adrenaline raced through my veins, every alert hair standing on end as I bolted from the car.

I’d been screamed at enough in my life that survival mode took over the second I was around it again. Didn’t matter that it was directed at Melissa and not me. I was ready to draw blood, full mama bear instincts flooding my system.

I stomped up to where Melissa was clutching a crying, wiggling Liam. Her hands occupied with something so precious, of course she couldn’t grab the pepper spray I’d given her.

She had called me ten minutes ago, saying Devon was outside her work. Said she was going to try to talk some sense into him. Thought she might be able to keep him away if she was firm.

I had advised against it, but I couldn’t tell her how to live her life.

But I damn sure wasn’t going to let her go through it alone.

I’d gotten in my car faster than I could blink and phoned the police on my way over.

I knew how likely the situation could escalate—not only had I lived it, I’d seen it countless times over my career.

“He’s mine,” he said. “You’re mine. You come home where you belong.”

The kid couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen, not that age really mattered when muscles and size could dominate. But there was always a choice when hit with real life as a youth—step up or step down. Melissa had chosen to do whatever she could for her son. Him? He only wanted what he felt he was entitled to, not what was best for his child.

“Melissa,” I said, my shoulder practically touching hers.

“Who the fuck you think you are?” He took two steps toward me.

I backed us up.

“You think you can come into my life and take what belongs to me? Fill her head with ideas she has no business thinking about?”

“I suggest you calm down,” I said, ignoring his accusations. “Or there will be consequences.”

He laughed.

And it was a manic sort of laugh that chilled my blood.

“What are you going to do?” He eyed all five-feet-one-inches of me. Even in heels, I was no match for him. “You best be on your way. What’s between me and her isn’t about you.”

“It is,” I said, keeping my voice firm as Melissa soothed Liam. “She’s under my protection.”

That laugh again.

“You need to leave,” I said. “Now.”

“Okay,” he said, his jaw sticking out. “I’ll leave. With them.”

“No,” Melissa half-said-half-wailed. “It’s over. I don’t want anything from you. You’re free of any responsibility. Just leave us be.”

His eyes narrowed to slits at her words.

I felt the tension rise to the red-zone—years of attuning my senses to the silence before the eruption.

“He’s my son.” A lethal cold tone.

“No, he’s not!” she snapped.

Fuck a duck.

The spark in his eyes flared, and my body jolted, reacted purely on instinct.

Protect the baby, my blood screamed.

And in the span of a heartbeat, I’d stepped between Melissa, between Liam, and him.

Took the fist meant for her.

Stars burst behind my eyes, that familiar sting of split skin and a shaken brain.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I heard Melissa scream.

Heard the baby wail.

Saw the flash of red and blue lights.

Saw him sprint the opposite direction like a coward.

“Ms. Lansing!” Melissa was properly screaming now. “Ms. Lansing!” She had one hand on my shoulder as she crouched in front of me.

When had I sunk to my knees?

I fingered my cheek, warm blood coating my nails.

Damn.

I didn’t cry, but groaned at the throbbing.

Years.

It had been years since I’d had to control my reaction to getting hit. Had to hide the pain, swallow it until it forged an iron wall inside me.

“Easy street or hard street, Shea?”

His voice, like some damned ghost resurrected because of the physical pain, echoed in the throngs of my throbbing skull.

“Are you okay?” Melissa asked, her entire body shaking so much it made mine tremble.

“I’m fine,” I managed to say and glanced at Liam.

His eyes were wide as saucers as he took in the flashing lights of the police car.

I sighed, hating that he’d seen it.

Hating that it didn’t matter how young he was—tonight, this event, would shape a piece of him.

“I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t be,” I cut Melissa off and pushed to my feet to face the officer heading our way. “This is just more evidence for your case.”

I held up my hand, waving off more protests from her, and started answering the officer’s questions, being sure to give him every single detail. One day, they would catch this guy, and put him where he belonged.

Then Melissa would be safe.

Liam would be safe.

An hour later, I dropped them off at the home, watching as she walked toward the door, still clutching Liam like she might never let him go. I understood that all too well, and I couldn’t help but notice how damn young they both looked as they disappeared into the home.

With them safe behind the doors, I sank further into my seat and forced myself to drive.

The adrenaline still surged through my veins, and I knew when it left my system I would be a fucking mess.

But Elliott was waiting for me, and I needed my arms around her now more than ever.