He shrugged, completely unperturbed by my surprise.
“I guess you must have gotten them all out already.”
But I knew I hadn’t.
I got the worst of them out but not the tiny shards.
Somehow, his body had pushed them out by itself.
I was amazed.
I smiled up at him and was immediately ensnared in his eyes.
They were misty and hot with desire, his golden irises burning like molten lead.
I felt his rough palms on mine and they sent tingling shards of electricity through my entire body.
He drifted toward me and, without saying a word, began to kiss me.
I put up no resistance and let him do what he wanted with me.
He reached for the back of my dress and unzipped it.
I shrugged my shoulders, letting it slide to the floor.
I removed his shirt and marveled at his incredibly chiseled torso and grew giddy about which part I would feast on first.
I nibbled on his hardened nipples and felt along the intricate edge of his bulging six-pack.
But there was another part of his physiology that’d perked up even more at my advances.
His cock.
It was rock hard, probing, and strained at the front of his pants.
His size was intimidating but I felt up to the challenge.
He pressed himself against me and kissed the base of my neck.
I guided him down to my exposed nipples and encouraged him to suckle.
He did, without hesitation.
I threw my head back and reveled in the feel of his tongue slurping at me.
He tucked his hands under my ass and squeezed me gently but firmly.
It was heaven.
At least, while it lasted.
The loud roar of a powerful engine usurped my attention and I knew immediately we were in trouble.
I sighed and shook my head.
“Why can we never get a break?”
I raised my head to peer through the window that looked out on the front-drive.
To my irritation, the thing I thought had made the sound was right there.
Liam’s cruiser tore up the driveway at a reckless speed.
“I knew he wouldn’t leave it at that. I knew he had to make things worse.”
Clint sat up and joined me, his face so close I could practically taste him.
The cruiser slammed on its brakes and skidded to a halt.
Before the dust cloud could die down, the door opened and a figure stepped out.
It wasn’t hard to figure out who it could be.
It was Liam’s cruiser, and my parents had precious few enemies in this town.
His uniform was crisp and without dimple, and he wore shades that masked the vindictive expression he had to be wearing.
He arched his neck up to peer at us, and framed by the window the way we were, must have painted a very compromising position.
There was something sinister about the way he peered up at us like that as if he was the one in control, not us.
“We should leave,” I said. “Before he causes more trouble.”
“We’re not leaving,” Clint said, taking my face in his hands and kissing me on the lips. “Not before we’re ready to. I defeated him before. I can defeat him again. We just need to tell him the way things are, that we’re together and he can’t bully you into loving him. Because you don’t, do you?”
How could he even ask such a thing?
“Of course not. I’ve never loved him.”
I love you.
I’d always thought it was crazy for someone to fall in love at first sight.
Love was a big deal.
How could you know someone on such a deep level like that without first getting to know them?
And yet, here I was, in love with a stranger without a memory.
I guess everything was impossible until it happened to you.
Clint slid out from under me and pulled his pants on.
“Where are you going?” I said.
“To speak with him.”
Panic leaped into my heart and my hand flashed out and snagged his wrist.
“I don’t want you to go out there.”
Clint buttoned up his shirt.
“You saw what happened last time.”
“That’s why I don’t want you heading out there. He doesn’t take failure well. He’ll be more dangerous this time.”
Clint leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
“He’s not dangerous. I am. It won’t take a minute. I’ll be right back.”
His belt buckle rattled as he tightened it.
I loved that sound when it meant he was getting naked.
Now I hated that it signaled he would leave me.
If he was so determined to head out there, who was I to stop him?
“Be careful. He’s still armed.”
Clint gave me a wink and crossed the room.
He listened at the door to make sure neither of my parents was outside before slipping out and proceeding down the stairs.
I hastily pulled on my clothes and leaned my forearms against the window frame to peer at Liam below.
He just stood there, thumbs hooked in the front of his pants, his expression mostly hidden by his shades.
Seeing him so calm sent a chill to my core.
That isn’t like Liam.
I wasn’t sure where that thought came from or why it even popped in my head.
After all, he’d arrived in Liam’s cruiser, wore Liam’s uniform, and looked every inch like him, so how could it not be him?
Despite all that, my instincts wouldn’t relent.
There was something somehow very wrong about him as if he were attempting to look natural, attempting to look calm.
And his presence was commanding.
It was the version of Liam that he’d always wanted to be.
The quietly powerful—and feared—leader of the town’s police forces.
That status and outward projection had never failed to escape him because he tried so damn hard to make it work.
Something had happened to him between the earlier incident and now, I realized.
Another shiver shook me.
Something terrible and unspeakable had happened but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what.
The front door opened and the screen door smacked against the doorframe as Clint descended the few steps to the driveway.
His footsteps faltered just a moment—blink and you would miss it—but it was there.
He must have noticed what I had.
The small but recognizable change in Liam’s countenance.
A serpent of concern nipped at my insides.
Run, I wanted to shout. Run, my love. Find somewhere safe.
But I was frozen in place, my sweaty palms pressing against
